What Next | A Cancelled Actor Scripts His Comeback

Slate Culture

Slate Podcasts

Arts, Tv & Film, Music

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jonathan Majors was an actor on the rise—indie credits, prestige television, a Spike Lee joint, a superhero film. But all of that looked like it was over when Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment in 2023. Now Majors is back on the promotional circuit for the film “Magazine Dreams.” Is this evidence of the #MeToo movement’s waning power, or is it more of the same from an industry that’s always eager for a man’s redemption story? Guest: CT Jones, culture writer at Rolling Stone Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Megan, and I've got a new podcast I think you're going to love.
0:05.2	It's called Confessions of a Female Founder, a show where I chat with female entrepreneurs
0:09.1	and friends about the sleepless nights, the lessons learned, and the laser focus that
0:14.6	got them to where they are today.
0:16.5	And through it all, I'm building a business of my own and getting all sorts of practical advice along the way that I'm so excited to share with you.
0:24.9	Confessions of a female founder is out now.
0:27.9	Listen, wherever you get your podcast.
0:36.6	If you've got 20 bucks in a laptop right now, you can stream a movie that just two years ago was being set up as Oscar bait.
0:46.2	It won a special jury award at Sundance. Its star was being called a Marvel.
0:53.4	The movie is called Magazine Dreams.
0:57.6	What's the hype around this movie?
1:00.8	Well, I think we're talking about films that come out of these festivals.
1:06.2	They're always usually around some kind of conflicted character.
1:10.6	There's a lot of tension, less plot.
1:13.5	And these are really when actors are putting their hearts and souls into saying,
1:19.1	you should give me a gold statue.
1:22.5	I called up C.T. Jones at Rolling Stone to talk about it.
1:28.1	Critics were like, this is taxi driver, but about bodybuilding?
1:34.5	Yes, Jonathan Majors plays a bodybuilder who has an obsession with the sport itself
1:40.3	that devolves into an obsession with a close friend.
1:45.0	I mean, the New Yorkers during St. Felix said Jonathan Majors was being compared to Sidney Poitier when this got released, yeah?
1:53.0	Yeah, and I totally understand that.
	...

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