The daily gossip: Anya Taylor-Joy leads epic 'Furiosa' trailer, Felicity Huffman felt she 'had to break the law' in college admissions scandal, and more

1. Anya Taylor-Joy leads epic 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' trailer

What a lovely day! Warner Bros. has dropped the first trailer for "Furiosa," the long-awaited "Mad Max: Fury Road" prequel starring Anya Taylor-Joy. Set 15 years before the events of "Fury Road," the film follows Furiosa as she tries to find her way home after being taken from her family. Taylor-Joy takes over the title role from Charlize Theron, and the trailer revealed the movie's full title is "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." Chris Hemsworth plays the villain, a warlord named Dementus, and he's unrecognizable under a mustache, beard and prosthetic nose. "The question is, do you have it in you to make it epic?" his character asks, speaking in an Australian accent. George Miller returned to direct the film. The trailer was mostly well received, although some fans complained the visuals don't look quite as impressive as "Fury Road." Will this be the second time a director named George is knocked for making a prequel with too much CGI? Warner Bros. Pictures

2. Felicity Huffman felt she 'had to break the law' in college admissions scandal

Felicity Huffman is ready to talk about it. The "Desperate Housewives" star has given her first interview about her role in the college admissions scandal. "It felt like I had to give my daughter a chance at a future," she told KABC, "which meant I had to break the law." Huffman served 11 days in prison after paying $15,000 to have her daughter's SAT results falsified. Though she now feels "undying shame," the actress recalled thinking at the time that she would "be a bad mother" if she didn't get involved in the "criminal scheme," fearing her daughter wouldn't get into the colleges she wanted to. Huffman apologized to "the academic community" and those who "work really hard to get to where they're going legitimately." She has joined the board of directors of a nonprofit organization called A New Way of Life, which helps formerly incarcerated women, as she said she wants to use her "pain" to "bring something good." KABC

3. Jussie Smollett loses appeal of conviction in hate crime hoax case

Jussie Smollett may soon be headed back to jail. The "Empire" star has lost an appeal of his conviction on disorderly conduct charges after he allegedly lied to police about being the victim of a hate crime that he orchestrated himself. Charges against Smollett were initially dropped in 2019, but he was later indicted again after a special prosecutor re-examined the case. He was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to 150 days in jail. Smollett's attorneys appealed the conviction, arguing the actor being charged again was an example of double jeopardy. But the Illinois Appellate Court has now dismissed this, with Judge David R. Navarro saying "the state was not barred from reprosecuting Smollett," according to The New York Times. Smollett, who maintains his innocence, had only served six days before being released pending an appeal. His spokesperson told The Associated Press that his team is "preparing to escalate this matter to the [Illinois] Supreme Court." The New York Times, The Associated Press

4. Taylor Swift's publicist blasts claims of secret Joe Alwyn marriage

Look what Deuxmoi made her do. Taylor Swift's publicist, Tree Paine, has issued a rare public statement slamming false claims about the singer. Specifically, she spoke out on X, formerly Twitter, against the celebrity gossip Instagram account Deuxmoi, which has repeatedly claimed that Swift secretly married her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn. "She DID have a ceremony in either 2020 or 2021 in the UK and it was described to me as a 'marriage' by more than one person," a recent Deuxmoi post insisted. "It was NEVER made legal." Although no reputable sources have backed this up, Deuxmoi declared that "I will die on this hill." But according to Paine, the allegation is totally false. "Enough is enough with these fabricated lies about Taylor from Deuxmoi," Paine wrote. "There was NEVER a marriage or ceremony of ANY kind. This is an insane thing to post. It's time for you to be held accountable for the pain and trauma you cause with posts like these." Tree is bringing the Paine. X

5. Is 'Thanksgiving' the next great horror franchise?

Get ready for leftovers, as a sequel to Eli Roth's holiday slasher "Thanksgiving" is on the way. "[We're] going back for seconds," the director announced on Instagram. Based on a fake trailer made for 2007's "Grindhouse," "Thanksgiving" stars Patrick Dempsey and Addison Rae and sees a masked killer slice up residents of a Massachusetts town on Thanksgiving. Somewhat surprisingly, it received largely positive reviews from critics. Roth said he and screenwriter Jeff Rendell are "going to take a year off so we can really, really write a great script," meaning "Thanksgiving 2" will hit theaters sometime in 2025 — "probably around Thanksgiving," he quipped. The first movie has been compared to "Scream," and the sequel announcement comes as "Scream" itself implodes, with stars exiting the series left and right over controversial Instagram posts, scheduling conflicts and battles over pay. But it's worth noting the company that makes "Scream," Spyglass, produced "Thanksgiving," so don't be shocked if the sequel has no turkey due to a salary dispute. Instagram