Latest in Rub & Tug

EXCLUSIVE: New Regency will redevelop Rub & Tug into a TV series, with the pilot to be written by Emmy-nominated writer-producer Our Lady J. There is also a commitment to cast a trans actor to play the show’s lead role of Dante “Tex” Gill, the infamous transgender gangster who became an unlikely major figure in the…

Glenn Close, who starred in the 2011 film Albert Nobbs as a woman living life as the male title character, weighed in on the recent controversy over Scarlett Johansson’s casting in a transgender role. "My thinking right now is that people who are producing and directing properties like that need to go out of their way…

Peter Bart and Mike Fleming Jr. worked together for two decades at Daily Variety. In this weekly column, two old friends get together and grind their axes, mostly on the movie business. FLEMING: We haven't done this back and forth for a while, but it’s worth addressing the dangerous corner Hollywood studios have been…

Scarlett Johansson’s withdrawal from Rub & Tug, in which she’d been cast as a transgender man, is a game changer in Hollywood’s portrayal of the transgender community, GLAAD said today. The LGTBQ media-advocacy organization also cited “the transgender voices” who spoke out about the film. “Hollywood changed how…

Scarlett Johansson, who endured cries of whitewashing when she played the lead in last year’s Ghost in the Shell, this time has given in to public pressure. The actress today exited Rub & Tug, the Rupert Sanders-directed film in which she was to play the trans owner of a massage parlor. Johansson’s role in the project…

The backlash following Scarlett Johansson’s recent casting in New Regency’s mob drama Rub & Tug as a woman who identifies as man is not abating. Johansson was set last week to play the real live Dante “Tex” Gill in the pic to be directed by her Ghost in the Shell helmer Rupert Sanders. The plot centers on Gill, a…

Actress Scarlett Johansson is in hot water once again for her recent choice to play massage parlor owner Dante “Tex” Gill in the upcoming mob drama Rub & Tug. The real-life Gill was born as Lois Jean Gill, but identified as a man — which is a detail in the role that has sparked backlash. April Reign, who is known for…