'The Passion of the Christ' returns to cinemas — just when we need it most



Twenty-two years ago, something extraordinary happened in American movie theaters.

Across the country, audiences sat in near silence as the final hours of the Lord’s life unfolded before them. There were no superheroes, no elaborate special effects, and no English dialogue. Instead, we watched a brutally realistic depiction of a scourged and bleeding man carrying a cross through the streets of Jerusalem toward His execution.

Every person watching the film also carries a reality we prefer not to contemplate: With every passing day, we move closer to our own death and our own face-to-face encounter with the living God.

I saw "The Passion of the Christ" four times on the big screen — and I was hardly alone in going back more than once. Each viewing was emotionally overwhelming. I shed plenty of tears, but none more than during this scene, as Jesus is beaten nearly beyond recognition.

Shared encounter

Mel Gibson’s 2004 film became a cultural phenomenon. It ultimately earned more than $610 million worldwide and, for 20 years, remained the highest-grossing R-rated movie in domestic box-office history. More importantly, it became something increasingly rare in American culture: a shared encounter with the story at the heart of Christianity.

Now, "The Passion" is back.

From September 10 through 17, the film returns to theaters nationwide, newly remastered in 4K with Dolby Atmos sound. Audiences will also see an exclusive behind-the-scenes preview of Gibson’s long-awaited sequel, "The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One," scheduled for release in May.

For those of us who saw "The Passion" in 2004, its return offers an opportunity to revisit a remarkable cinematic experience. But nostalgia isn’t the most important reason to go.

An entire generation has never experienced this film in a theater.

The oldest members of Gen Z were only grade-schoolers when Gibson's epic debuted. Many were toddlers or not yet born. They’ve grown up in a radically different culture from the one that encountered "The Passion of the Christ" 22 years ago.

An urgent invitation

They should see it.

Not simply because Mel Gibson made a powerful movie, but because of whom the movie is about: Jesus Christ. The Word incarnate. The man who walked willingly toward Calvary, stretched out His arms on a cross, and gave His life for humanity.

That is exactly what makes this rerelease different from the return of some beloved Hollywood classic. We aren’t simply being invited to revisit a movie. We are being invited to contemplate an event that changed human history.

And just maybe we need that invitation now more than ever.

Look around.

Wars rage. Natural disasters bring scenes of devastation into our homes. Human life is discarded through abortion and euthanasia. Families are fractured. Loneliness, addiction, and despair afflict millions. Technology connects us instantly, yet people seem increasingly incapable of understanding one another.

The world is shaking. What will awaken us?

RELATED: Mel Gibson's long-awaited biblical sequel is finally happening

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Confronting the familiar

Christianity offers a startling answer. A crucified man.

The central image of the Christian faith is not a throne, a sword, or a display of worldly power. It is God giving Himself away.

“For God so loved the world,” Scripture tells us, “that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16).

"The Passion of the Christ" forces us to confront what those familiar words mean.

The scourging is difficult to watch. The road to Calvary is exhausting. The Crucifixion is horrifying, and that is precisely the point.

Sin is not trivial. Love is not mere sentiment. Our redemption came at a price.

Every person watching the film also carries a reality we prefer not to contemplate: With every passing day, we move closer to our own death and our own face-to-face encounter with the living God.

Seen in that light, "The Passion of the Christ" is not entertainment. Instead, it’s a question: Who do you say Jesus Christ really is?

The only question

It’s a question every human being should struggle with. It’s precisely the question that has drawn Christian leaders like Cardinals Raymond Burke and Gerhard Müller, Rev. Franklin Graham, and Pastor Samuel Rodriguez to tout the film’s rerelease — and to encourage Christians to prepare spiritually for what comes next.

The original film also changed what Hollywood believed was possible. Its enormous success opened new opportunities for religious filmmaking and raised expectations for how biblical stories could be portrayed on screen. The renaissance that followed eventually gave us productions such as "The Chosen," which has introduced the gospel to millions worldwide.

But "The Passion" remains unique; perhaps because it refuses to make Christianity comfortable.

It reminds us of Christianity’s astonishing claim: The Creator entered His creation. God became man. He suffered. He bled. He died.

For you.

And then comes the most important part. The story does not end at the cross. That’s why the forthcoming sequel matters.

Christ dies on Good Friday. But Sunday comes.

More than two decades after "The Passion of the Christ" first stunned audiences, its return offers our troubled culture another opportunity to stand at the foot of the cross.

A Video Game Trailer Just Beat Hollywood on Netflix
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A Video Game Trailer Just Beat Hollywood on Netflix

SPIDEY SENSELESS: Andrew Garfield still wants gay Spider-Man



Andrew Garfield is really committed to the bit.

The versatile star played Spider-Man in two feature films, but back in 2013 he shared a curious wish for the web-slinger.

'I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I'm dead.'

Why couldn’t he be gay?

The comments caught fire at the time, and more than a decade later, he hasn’t budged on the issue.

“I like the idea of a place where everyone is being honored and everyone is being included, and it was just a kind of act of saying, ‘Well, why not?’ And you’ll be telling on yourself if you have a strong opinion either way.”

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the fourth solo adventure in the Tom Holland-led series, shattered records mere weeks ago and is now in the top five grossing films of all time.

If it ain’t broke, why in the world would Hollywood want to fix it? Or is the MCU “telling” on itself for wanting the good box office times to keep rolling?

Goodbye, Dolly

We just can’t quit Dolly Parton.

The country music superstar passed last month at the age of 80, but interest in all things Dolly is just warming up. Parton’s songs zoomed up the iTunes music charts in the days after her death. Her estate announced that she previously recorded a special new song, “My Place in History,” to be released on her 100th birthday in 2046.

This week, an ABC broadcast of her beloved 1980 film “9 to 5” scored the network its biggest ratings for a film in over three years.

Meanwhile, country superstar Jelly Roll is still juggling the fallout from his disastrous week guest-hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” …

RELATED: GHOUL NATION: Pop culture's decade-long descent into cruelty and bloodlust

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Down with 'Uprising'?

“First reaction” stories should be relegated to fifth-rate movie blogs and Bluesky. These stories capture early film reviews from influencers who like almost everything.

If you need a reference point, the recent “Supergirl” earned solid "first reactions." Raves even. So there’s that.

Which makes the terrible “first reactions” to “The Uprising” genuinely newsworthy. Our friend Andrew Garfield anchors the film, based on actual events of a peasant uprising against King Richard II.

Director Paul Greengrass has made some great films, including “United 93” and “Captain Phillips.”

So what went wrong? The pacing, the dialogue, and the execution, apparently …

Clooney ... for her

George Clooney has seen the future, and he’s a mite worried about it.

You can’t blame him. He’s a big Hollywood star, and the rise of AI will dramatically impact his industry. Jobs will be lost. Old stars will be reborn (just ask the Val Kilmer estate that OK’d a digital Kilmer “comeback” for an upcoming film).

Clooney is keeping his sense of humor about the future and his own possible “comeback.”

"I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I'm dead. I would like that. I would like to avoid that."

We feel his pain. But if AI can fix old “Facts of Life” episodes and digitally remove Clooney’s mullet, it won’t be all bad …

Marvel make-'em-ups

When you think improv, names like Larry David, Robin Williams, and Colin Mochrie come to mind.

What about Thor, Captain America, and Ant-Man?

The upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday” began production without a finished script. Seems problematic for a movie with a budget north of $400 million, no? Not according to directors Anthony and Joe Russo.

The duo, who previously gave us “Infinity War” and “Endgame,” explained away the lack of a finished script.

We’re improvisation-based, rehearsal-based directors. We like to see what the actors bring to the characters, and sometimes you don’t get the actors until a few days or a few weeks before you shoot them. And a lot of the time, that’s when the magic happens.

“Doomsday” isn’t a comedy, but that defense is hysterical …

Blind casting

Wait … was “Saturday Night Live’s” Pat not available?

Actress Sandra Hüller of “Project Hail Mary” fame is set to star in the upcoming “Arbeit und Struktur” (“Work and Structure”), a biopic of the late German writer and artist Wolfgang Herrndorf.

Yes, Hüller is female and Herrndorf, best known for his 2010 coming-of-age best-seller “Tschick,” was a man.

The actress called the role a “profound challenge.” Hard to argue with that.

Masculinity is back — and it's coming from the most unlikely source



What happens when overtly feminized programming accidentally creates an uncontrollable star out of an accused chauvinist and sexist?

Television magic and unfettered populism.

'If you don't want to love me, [it's] up to you.'

One look at TLC's schedule, and it becomes abundantly clear the programming isn't courting a male audience.

"Double Lives of Suburban Wives" focuses on St. Louis housewives who make pornographic content (which has included fart porn), "1000-lb Roomies" focuses on two morbidly obese roommates, and "Sister Wives" focuses on polygamist families.

The shining star of the network though is "90 Day Fiancé."

With more than 20 spinoffs that include behind-the-scenes, reaction, and reunion shows, the universe revolves around couples who are from two different countries with a focus on trying to acquire a spousal visa in the United States; not exactly a conservative male viewpoint.

Accidental star

The show does huge numbers and inspires countless memes while overwhelmingly pushing pro-immigration and feminist positions.

Enter Sarper Güven. This Turkish national has allegedly slept with 2,500 women, recording his sexual encounters with a color-coded black book full of "X" marks that denote how attractive the women were.

With his wife shown as being constantly upset after getting new, horrid glimpses of his promiscuous past, Güven was immediately positioned on the show as the misogynist pig who needed desperate reformation.

There was only one problem: He refused to apologize.

"I never apologize because [it's] who I am, but I know I make mistakes," Güven told Blaze News in an interview.

Despite consistently admitting wrongs in an attempt to improve his marriage, Güven has endured constant browbeatings in both the recorded programming and group shows with other castmates. Yet despite how he is portrayed and focused on as what not to do, he has only become more popular.

Prized pig

Güven set out on a North American comedy tour earlier this year and has been selling out across the continent. At the time of this writing, the new stand-up comic has seven sold-out shows in Toronto, Canada.

RELATED: Shane and Joe show us what real activism looks like

Thomas Trutschel/Photothek/Getty Images

It's not Güven's past that audiences have identified with; it's his willingness to stand up for himself on a show that rarely rewards such behavior. When Güven''s American wife told a Brazilian cast member, "Go back to your country," he defended his partner and refused to back down, despite being an immigrant himself, on a show surrounded by immigrants.

The obvious pro-immigration sentiment of the show was finally challenged by a pair of people who weren't necessarily bothered by the immediate social consequences.

"I'm not perfect, not even close to being perfect," Güven said from a hotel room in Western Canada. "But that's me, and if you want to love me, that's me. If you don't want to love me, [it's] up to you. I come so honest and transparent. Maybe people love that, especially men love that."

Marital blisters

Güven's stand-up comedy routine sounds as much like a parody and a character as his on-screen appearances do, but he is vehement that it's all real.

Part of that has been his ongoing confession that marriage has changed him, with his commentary on the topic being what men relate to most.

Transparently, Güven talks about how he has changed from a flirtatious lady's man into a docile husband who just wants "peace."

"I don't see women using that word, term, a lot, you know, 'peace,'" the 45-year-old said. "It was not like this when [the relationship] started because I was an alpha male ... now whatever she asks we just do it as men because we don't want a fight."

RELATED: Ryan Reynolds says the 1980s were a traumatic and 'brutal time' — and people aren't happy about it

Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images for AB

The majority of Güven's set is a reflection of his marital woes — which he admits his wife hates — and it is garnering him more outside traction with those who don't know him from the show than was expected.

"Whoever comes to my show will relate something with their lives," he explained, providing more than a couple of hilarious anecdotes.

"Everything changed with marriage. I always [say] that before the marriage, even my sweat was sexy. She was smelling me all every day, and she was saying, 'I love your sweat so much, Sarper. You smell like a real man.' And we got married, brother, in two weeks: 'Did you eat garlic today? Did you take shower?' What happened, girl? I'm the same guy.”

Whether it's his Turkish way of talking in proverbs or his brutal honesty, Güven's inability to change himself from his factory settings has produced massive results and garnered him huge respect with men in an overwhelmingly female mediascape.

“If a man would be an electronic device, we probably would be a freaking toaster. Push the bread in, let the bread come out. Simple, one action at a time. Bread in, bread out for you. But a woman would be probably a mobile phone, a very smart, I mean the iPhone 16 Pro Max," he stressed.

"I sleep with one every morning, [and] I find everything changed, new settings, new rules, new update, you know. But always new terms and conditions for me."

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Why Hollywood Has No Successors For Dolly, Curry, Or Cullen

Thank God movies and records made Dolly, Curry, and Cullen immortal — because the odds are not in our favor that we will see the likes of their entertainment for a while.

Ryan Reynolds says the 1980s were a traumatic and 'brutal time' — and people aren't happy about it



Ryan Reynolds may have a point, but no one is hearing it.

Reynolds was talking about an upcoming film that focuses heavily on American culture in the 1980s when he described what he thinks the decade was really about.

'Sociopolitical tensions everywhere.'

'Gun' shy

Speaking to a reporter from the red carpet, Reynolds said that looking back at the 1980s now, the decade tends to be seen through rose-colored glasses and not for how it actually was.

"What's interesting about when you get far enough away from a time period that's quite distinct, I think there's always a lovely feeling associated with it. It's almost like you pave over all the trauma with, like, puppy dogs and ice cream," the actor began. "The '80s was a brutal, brutal time for people. It was a f**king mess."

Reynolds was born in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976 and grew up in the province. Now 49, he described the American 1980s as being filled with political tensions.

"It was a tremendous strife," he told Variety. "Sociopolitical tensions everywhere. We were still pretty fresh off a Cuban missile crisis, which was only like 15-20 years before. It’s a tumultuous period, but you look back at it now and you’re like, 'Oh, yeah. "Top Gun." Cocaine!' Like, no! It was really scary."

RELATED: Mark Ruffalo writes endless progressive letters — gets called racist anyways

Manhattan, 1984. Barbara Alper/Getty Images

Gag him with a spoon

A significant number of notable accounts disagreed with the younger actor's take, with women's sports advocate Jennifer Sey commenting, "Literally no one was talking or worrying about the Cuban Missile Crisis. What is he talking about?!"

"I was born in 1972 and grew up in the 80s. I have no idea what he’s talking about. The 80s were awesome," novelist Mathew Betley wrote on X.

Author Sarah Adams added, "The 80s were amazing, what the hell is this revisionist history."

At least one reader agreed with Reynolds, though, pointing to '80s issues like peer pressure and divorce.

"It was everyone for themselves," he wrote. "Teflon Reagan shining through the sooty shadow of Vietnam and overthrowing democracies in Central America. Quadrupled national debt. Even as a teen I knew it was a bulls**t decade."

RELATED: HBO star declares USA is suffering without Kamala Harris: 'Consequences of not trusting a black woman'

Right said 'Dead'

While the majority of comments strongly disagreed with Reynolds, perhaps the latter reaction was closer to what the "Deadpool" star was referring to.

Reynolds reportedly said that modern popular projects like "Stranger Things" paint a different picture of how society was. Particularly, he said the threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and Soviet Union was surging and the exodus of American manufacturing was devastating the working class.

This, along with AIDS, serves as the true reality of the time, Reynolds explained.

"I think when you look back at 2026 and this era, I think they're going to pick on the big-ticket items that don't really leave the footprint culturally that you would think it would. I don't know. ... I wonder what it's going to be. Is going to be like, 'Oh, the COVID era' or something. I have no idea," Reynolds concluded.

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Shane and Joe show us what real activism looks like



It all started on a patch of waterfront property in New York, right next to the East River.

The latest wave of perceived liberal activism made its way to Joe Rogan and Shane Gillis' ears through the sage wisdom of a traveling entertainer: They were tearing apart a park.

'The park should be defended!'

Instead of a sign-wielding mask-wearer debating the merits of universal basic income and banning landlords, the news came from comedian Ari Shaffir. Typically, Shaffir is telling tales about getting an exorcism in South America or doing stand-up comedy in China, but this time he was looking to stop the destruction of a beloved New York City landmark.

Shaffir told Rogan and Gillis about Manhattan's East River Park, land that had been torn apart by floods from Hurricane Sandy. In response, New York City officials planned to raze the park, add eight feet of dirt, and rebuild the park anew on top, all in the name of flood prevention.

Activists agreed with Shaffir and said removing access to the 57 acres next to the water was unfair to locals.

Gillis did not agree.

"You're not defending parks!" he said, badgering Shaffir. "F**k that park!"

"The park should be defended!" Rogan chimed in.

From that moment, "Protect Our Parks" was born: an impromptu news panel with no preparation and no censorship, addressing actual issues.

Averaging between 2 million and 5 million views per episode on YouTube alone, the series of podcasts has not only become one of Rogan's most popular iterations, but it has become a battle of political perspectives.

RELATED: CANCEL-PROOF: Tim Dillon's big, gay get-out-of-jail-free card

Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images

Across 17 episodes and counting, Gillis brings his Bud Light-American viewpoint, backed by historical knowledge. This is often at odds with Rogan's "question everything" mantra, while Shaffir offers real-world traveler's experience.

The fourth member of the group, Mark Normand, is admittedly usually on substances and just looking to add punch lines. He's not lacking in intellect; he just picks his punches.

The resulting conversations within the group often turn out to be newsmakers because of the sheer number of viewers each comedian represents. Normand has a quarter-million podcast subscribers on YouTube alone and another 2 million+ social media followers. Shaffir has well over a million combined, too. Add those to Gillis' and Rogan's reach, and each episode is dwarfing network news.

Most recently, discussed topics ranged from immigration and trans athletes to Ulysses S. Grant and the Civil War. The opinions are unpredictable.

When Rogan talks about how the WNBA "can't define what a woman is," or when Gillis declares America needs "somebody who’s willing to abuse their executive power," progressive minds will not be surprised.

But when Shaffir says the U.K. "hate[s] immigrants so hard," viewers understand this isn't an echo chamber.

RELATED: Pat McAfee refused to fold, and ESPN paid up. There's a lesson there for young men.

In fact, the show is far closer to a real discussion than anything cable news could hope to accomplish. No filters or network notes means Gillis can counter anti-American hearsay from Rogan while Normand criticizes Israel to Shaffir, even if viewers label the show as "compromised."

Critics have further attempted to demonize the podcasts for having hypocritical moments, or "effortlessly" forgiving "racism" by even having these discussions.

But others have seen the forest through the trees; friends don't let each other get away with everything. One video, seen 250,000 times, compiled Gillis' opposition to Rogan's political views. This is not exactly partisan programming.

Progressives should get on board with protecting our parks. If they want to chant, ad nauseum, "Show me what democracy looks like!" (and they do), perhaps they will get their answer by watching.

As for East River Park; the city agreed to reconstruct the area in parts to allow access to different sections at different times. However, the project that started in 2021 is still unfinished to this day.

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GHOUL NATION: Pop culture's decade-long descent into cruelty and bloodlust



Once upon a time, displaying the bloodied head of a U.S. president could get you canceled. And it did.

This was before cancel culture was a thing, a time when Americans had a shared sense of decency and found obviously heinous acts ... heinous.

Earlier this year, 'Saturday Night Live’s' Weekend Update teased a Trump assassination joke that roiled the crowd.

No need for context or explanations. The culture at large acknowledged certain unwritten rules of behavior that should be followed. Now, those rules are fading if not gone entirely. And we can track that descent, seen across the political landscape, from a pop culture prism.

Head case

Comic Kathy Griffin thought she was being clever by holding a pretend President Donald Trump head up high, ISIS-style, for a 2017 photo shoot she shared on social media.

The reaction was swift, furious, and uncompromising. Griffin had gone too far.

Few, if any, ran to her defense. She apologized and watched her D-list career shrink to the size of a thumb drive. Those were simpler times, when doing the right thing meant putting political tribalism aside when needed.

Love Trump? Loathe Trump? It wasn’t important. This was beyond the pale.

Something similar happened in 2015 involving another GOP leader. Word leaked that Will Ferrell was mulling a big-screen "comedy" about a dementia-addled President Reagan doddering around the Oval Office. The reaction was swift and furious and not just from the former president’s grown children.

Ferrell backpedaled, claiming he had never officially signed onto the project.

Even Madonna, who forged her brand from outrageous behavior, did a hasty retreat in 2017 when she shared her dream about blowing up the White House (with a certain leader inside, presumably) during a Women’s March event.

The pop superstar apologized for a good reason. Her thoughts were unbecoming of a celebrity of her stature.

That was then.

The cruel kids

Today, political culture is infinitely worse. Cold. Cruel. Violent, even.

Political pundits like Hasan Piker can cheer on the deaths of landlords, say America deserved 9/11, and praise Hamas over Israel after the Oct. 7 atrocities. Not only is he not shunned by polite society, but Democratic politicians scramble to appear beside him.

Major publications fawn all over him too. Big-city mayors can cozy up to terrorists and voters look the other way.

Ghoulish. It’s not happening in a vacuum. Pop cultural institutions are similarly ghoulish, celebrating violence while their audiences clap like seals.

Last year, DNC spokesman Jimmy Kimmel found something deeply funny about Tesla dealerships coming under vandalism attacks. The company’s owner, Elon Musk, had sided with President Trump during the 2024 election cycle and helped trim government fat from the workforce.

For that, he must be punished.

"People have been vandalizing Tesla vehicles, new Tesla vehicles. Please, don't vandalize, don’t ever vandalize Tesla vehicles."

The host said it with a sarcastic glint.

RELATED: Democrats created a Hasan Piker problem. Now they want everyone to forget it.

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Cheering chaos

Later that year, Kimmel leaned into some seriously Fake News, alleging that Charlie Kirk’s killer was part of MAGA Nation. The only credible suspect at the time was a young man who loathed Kirk’s politics, a far cry from a typical Trump supporter.

Kimmel and his writers knew that. We all did. The hosts said it, anyway, earning a week’s suspension from his ABC bully pulpit and becoming a free speech martyr to the press and the left (but we repeat ourselves).

Earlier this year, “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update teased a Trump assassination joke that roiled the crowd. Faux co-anchor Michael Che noted that the president had recently taken in a Broadway-style show.

“I think that’s cool that the president is going to the theater. I mean — what’s the worst that could happen?” The show’s hard-left audience cheered.

Late-night shows were occasionally caught by surprise at how vicious their audiences had become. They learned it from watching them, of course.

Baying for blood

Consider when Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” fame told his audience about Luigi Mangione’s arrest on charges he murdered a health care CEO by shooting him from behind.

The crowd booed in response, as if they wanted the killer to remain free (to kill other CEOs, perhaps?).

“Look, I’m sorry, guys,” a stunned Stewart said in response, like Dr. Frankenstein looking in horror at his creation.

Kimmel found it hilarious that some of his young, female staffers were Luigi fangirls in not-so-obvious disguise. He should have been ashamed of the revelation and kept it quiet.

Not Kimmel.

Just days ago, multiple late-night hosts mocked President Trump for hiding in a catering truck after the Secret Service learned of a possible threat on his life.

These threats are increasingly common in Trump’s second term. One would-be assassin came within inches of murdering the commander in chief at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally two years ago.

For late-night clowns, the latest assassination threat was merely a chance to torment Trump, not acknowledge the dangerous world we live in. Even the low-rated Jimmy Fallon, who isn’t as cruel as his competitors, mocked the moment.

Hollywood collectively warned us about Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. He would be cruel, they cried, unlike any prior president.

And, yes, President Trump has thrown some pretty sharp elbows over nearly six years in office. Hollywood, sadly, has proven to be far worse, echoing a societal race to the bottom.

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HBO star declares USA is suffering without Kamala Harris: 'Consequences of not trusting a black woman'



HBO actor J. Alphonse Nicholson made it clear he would rather have Kamala Harris as president, but his reasoning is likely to confuse his fans.

Nicholson stars as the father of a superhero in "Lanterns," an HBO series about the Green Lantern. Nicholson plays John Sr., the father of John Stewart, a character who first appeared in comic books in the early 1970s.

'I think this show hits it home that this black woman is the reason why this young man goes where he needs to go.'

Kamala corps

Appearing on the podcast titled "Frankie Finds," which airs on a channel that focuses heavily on race, the show began with an unironic discussion of how many black people were in the latest episode of "Lanterns."

"It was the most black people I've ever seen on a screener," the host stated.

"I think it's so interesting that you say it's such a black show, because I don't think people think of blackness when they consider the Green Lanterns and the Green Lantern corps," the host said.

Among the discussion's 50+ mentions of being black was Nicholson saying what he thinks one of the core themes of his show is: "I think this show hits it home that this black woman is the reason why this young man goes where he needs to go," he began.

The North Carolina native then pondered what it would be like if former Vice President Harris had won the 2024 election.

"Could you imagine where we would be right now if Kamala got up in there, dog?" Nicholson continued. "Could you imagine how it would've been? It'd be a lot different. So we're experiencing the consequences of not trusting a black woman," the actor added.

RELATED: Singer Jelly Roll cries on Jimmy Kimmel show after Trump-joke backlash: 'I am a Christian'

Call from the fun police

Not only should the population be unilaterally "trusting a black woman," according to Nicholson, but the same can be said for how to get a great superhero.

"And now we have this show ... that can kind of tell you how great it could be and how great of a superhero we can create and have — if you trust a black woman. It's really dope."

The bizarre discussion of "Lanterns" circled back to race frequently, but the 36-year-old seemed more hesitant than his host to relate everything to being black.

This is not the first time Nicholson has been in the headlines for some of his off-screen content. In 2022, the actor issued an apology following his participation in a skit based on one of his recurring characters.

Nicholson played a character named Lil' Murda for 18 episodes on the show "P-Valley," a show about strippers whose title stands for exactly what you think it does.

Nicholson's character was a closeted homosexual, and when he made a comedy sketch with some of his friends about that fact, he got a call from the fun police.

RELATED: Pat McAfee refused to fold, and ESPN paid up. There's a lesson there for young men.

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Murda one

Nicholson explained that the bit was his two friends did not want to smoke with him in real life because the character he played was gay, but that apparently went too far.

"The skit, I was told, was to be done to make fun of the rumors and the ignorance that people surround myself, and the character, and me having my own strain, and people maybe not wanting to smoke with me because of the character that I play on Lil' Murda," he said in a video on X.

"And so we're picking fun at the ignorance and the ignorance of those people that make fun and create those situations," Nicholson stated, before adding that he learned that "you can't make fun of ignorance."

The strange statement led to an apology to his loved ones and his "family in the LGBT community."

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