Hey, that’s Nathan for You. Now that the strikes are over, Nathan Fielder (the real one) can promote his new Showtime show The Curse as much as he wants. And in classic Fielder fashion, he’s picking a weird way to do it. Maybe the marketing team told him “just see whatever you can do,†but he heard “start beef with Anyone But You� Fielder saw an opportunity when the latest trailer for the upcoming rom-com Anyone But You dropped, preceded by a short clip of Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney bantering in front of a blue background. Here’s a recap of all the trolling that ensued, somehow leading Powell to urge Fielder to show his hole and Anyone But You director Will Gluck to issue a Notes-app apology.
Whose movie/show is it anyway?
On Thursday, Sony Pictures dropped a new Anyone But You trailer, featuring an introductory clip in which Powell and Sweeney playfully argue about whose movie it is. Less than 24 hours later, Fielder uploaded a parody to social media. He put on a polo as Powell and recruited The Curse co-star Emma Stone to step in as Sweeney. The dialogue was the same, except this duo said “show†instead of “movie.â€
Sweeney left a couple laughing emojis on Fielder’s Instagram. Over on X, Powell had a cheekier response. He posted a screenshot of his butt from the trailer along with the caption, “@NathanFielder it doesn’t count unless you go the hole way…â€
Fielder defends himself
Mere hours after he uploaded his Friday video, Fielder posted a Notes-app statement suggesting that the Anything But You marketing team had actually plagiarized The Curse’s clip, which he claimed was shot more than six months ago. “As artists, doing these types of promos, we just read the scripts we are given with unyielding trust that the creative we are performing is wholly original and not lifted from competing projects or generated by AI (a continued fight that aritsts around the world are trying to put a stop to),†he wrote. “It’s unfortunate that Sydney, Glen, Emma, and myself have been put in this situation.†Still, there are no hard feelings here — he concluded in his statement that he and Stone will both be in the front row to see Anyone But You on opening night.
The truth is revealed
Will Gluck, the director of Anyone But You, finally weighed in on Friday evening. “In today’s era of cancel culture, sometimes it’s better to just own your mistakes. We did indeed steal the trailer launch idea from The Curse, and for that, we deeply apologize,†he wrote on Instagram. In the spirit of coming clean, he also confessed to another transgression: “We also appropriated your poster for our campaign. We had planned on releasing it next week but for obvious (and legal) reasons, we no longer will be doing so.†(Naturally, a picture of said poster was still included in his post.) Gluck concluded that “we will all be watching The Curse when it premieres in January.†That seems sincere enough, except for the fact that The Curse debuted on Showtime in November.