Hillsong · Freeway Phantom · Horses
Plus: A first look at "Killers of the Flower Moon"
the true crime that's worth your time
There’s no shortage of prestige-y true crime to take in this weekend. The best news is that we have a couple different commitment levels, which means your schedule can dictate what you consume, as opposed to what sometimes feels like an opposite scenario. (But maybe that’s just me.)
You’ve got: two free hours and a fresh attention span
Four-part docuseries The Secrets of Hillsong drops its first two episodes today: On broadcast, they’re on FX at 10 PM, while for streamers Hulu is the place to be. Watch for Sarah’s coverage of the show on Vanity Fair late today (we’ll share the link when it’s up), but for now I’ll direct you to a couple other outlets:
The Secrets of Hillsong Makes a Damning Case Against a Megachurch [Primetimer]
Our friend Mark Blankenship says the show about the celeb-beloved church “is a structural marvel, pounding its complex story into a satisfying shape,” and compares it to The Vow.
The biggest revelations from the new ‘Secrets of Hillsong’ docuseries [Washington Post]
One of the nice things about a scandal or crime that has yet to be covered to death (cough Zodiac cough) is that there are actual revelations to be discovered in independently reported projects. According to the Post, those include Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz’s claims that he was abused as a child, that he suffers from substance use disorder, and that he ended up with a job (at least temporarily) with an ad agency.
'The Secrets of Hillsong': All the Celebs Affiliated With Pastor Carl Lentz and the Controversial Church [Entertainment Tonight]
Some of this article isn’t fair, as it links folks to Lentz on the basis of large events they both attended, or photos in which they both appear. Like, are you telling me Spike Lee had any idea who he was posing with?
But the article still gets my seal of approval for reminding us, yet again, that Oprah Winfrey is responsible for unleashing so very many problematic people on the world, including Lentz.
You’ve got: an hour-or-so-long commute
Freeway Phantom, the Celeste Headlee-hosted podcast about the 1970s-era slaying of at least six Black girls in Washington, D.C., dropped its first two episodes this week, which means you’ve got enough to listen to to get you somewhere and back. The podcast is famously produced by actor Jay Ellis, which is an odd fit but why not, really?
Per Deadline, “Headlee has spent the past two years sifting through boxes of documents and interviewing investigators and family members,” and retired D.C. police detective Romaine Jenkins, who worked on the case, is also a participant. The full series will run for ten episodes, and its parent studios (Tenderfoot TV and iHeartMedia) are clearly trying to nab our attention, announcing Thursday that they have bumped a longstanding reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction in the unsolved case to $300K.
You’ve got: to force yourself to clean a semi-dirty room
I’m operating here on the assumption that 45 minutes is all anyone here can stand to spend tidying a single room in their home, so forgive me if you feel you need more or less. For that task (in my case, my disaster of a kitchen) I’m proposing late Thursday’s episode of NYT podcast The Daily, in which reporter Rachel Abrams speaks with attorney Ali Diercks about her role in the paper’s bombshell 2018 report on then CBS-head Les Moonves’ alleged pattern of abuse and harassment.
At the time of the story’s publication, Diercks acted as an anonymous source. This week, she “waived her anonymity to discuss the costs of her coming forward and what she thinks about her decision years later,” saying that she’s terrified of the repercussions from her decision to come out from the shadows.
So, that’s my weekend, from alert viewer Saturday morning (Hillsong) to enraged cleaner (The Daily) to multiple-errand-runner (Freeway Phantom). But what about you? What true crime is on your agenda this weekend? — EB
Hearsay
She had multiple abortions as a child. Her abuser didn’t expect what came later [SF Chronicle]
This longread from Raheem Hosseini is paywalled, but the link above is a “gift” link so y’all can view it. I’ll admit that my finger hesitated before I clicked on this one, because the elements of sexual assault and abortion often lead to a true crime yarn that ends in disappointment and frustration. Not so with this case, however: though what survivor Ruth Elizabeth Solorzano (an actor who’s appeared on shows like Blue Bloods) endured is truly awful, this is a tale of endurance and triumph.
It’s also a story that everyone who opposes all abortions should read, so feel free to use my gift link to send to your conservative Catholic aunt or that high-school classmate with the Live Action t-shirt on their Facebook profile. — EB
Apple released the first trailer for Killers of the Flower Moon last night. As we all know, this is the Scorsese/DiCaprio feature based on David Grann’s book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, which I will note is available at Sarah’s bookstore, Exhibit B, for only $17.
Deadline has a deep and meaty cover story on how the project came about and how its high-profile team came together, including an interview with Scorsese after you’ve scrolled way down. The 3-hour and 26-minute movie (uuuugh) premieres at Cannes on Saturday, while the rest of us will have to wait until its in-theatre release October 6. — EB
Chef Co-Owners of Hollywood Hotspot Horses Trade Assault and Animal Abuse Accusations [The Hollywood Reporter]
L.A. restaurant Horses is a big dining deal, but in recent months rumors have been swirling that the co-owners, husband-and-wife chefs Liz Johnson and Will Aghajanian, were involved in a contentious divorce. Court filings revealed this week tip the food-world gossip into true crime territory, as Johnson is claiming that Aghajanian was not only physically abusive to her, but that he killed animals — specifically, their pet cats — for fun.
The LA Times broke the story, in a lengthy, paywalled report that acknowledges that Aghajanian denies all charges. The NYT soon followed, as did the Washington Post, and Eater LA has an elegant (and free to read) aggregation for anyone pay-blocked from all those sites. All these pieces quote generously from Johnson’s claims of harm to the family’s cats, so this is a skip if you’re feeling tender around felines. There’s no way this doesn’t end up as an ongoing story — or even an adaptation — as the news unfolds, though, so you might want to rip the band-aid off now. — EB
Monday on Best Evidence: It’s a subscriber-only issue, but it’s also day one of my birthday week sale, so perhaps that will be the day to upgrade?
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