With his short fade, skinny jeans, toned bod, and tattoos, Carl Lentz wasn’t like other men of the cloth. As the lead pastor of Hillsong NYC, a megachurch specializing in youth-courting “come as you are” sermons and “Coldplay for Christ” music, Lentz became a bona-fide celebrity, palling around with A-list congregants like Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Kevin Durant. He also served as team chaplain for the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets. At the height of his PR problems, Bieber even crashed with...
- 5/15/2023
- by Marlow Stern
- Rollingstone.com
After the success for Discovery+ of the three-part documentary “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed” earlier this year, sibling network TLC will air the series on linear cable for the first time, and will add a fourth episode, “Hillsong: The Newest Revelations.”
The docuseries will air over two nights on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, with “Hillsong: The Newest Revelations” premiering on TLC at 10 p.m. on the second night.
According to the announcement, “The brand-new hour on TLC will explore the most recent developments surrounding the Hillsong Church, including how the bombshell claims revealed in the docuseries have rocked the church and its members. The episode will offer new expert perspectives and uncover even more shocking details with added context.”
Variety can unveil the new episode’s cold open above, which reflects the aftereffects of “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed.” One woman says, “Once the documentary actually got released, it just opened a floodgate of conversation.
The docuseries will air over two nights on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, with “Hillsong: The Newest Revelations” premiering on TLC at 10 p.m. on the second night.
According to the announcement, “The brand-new hour on TLC will explore the most recent developments surrounding the Hillsong Church, including how the bombshell claims revealed in the docuseries have rocked the church and its members. The episode will offer new expert perspectives and uncover even more shocking details with added context.”
Variety can unveil the new episode’s cold open above, which reflects the aftereffects of “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed.” One woman says, “Once the documentary actually got released, it just opened a floodgate of conversation.
- 12/5/2022
- by Kate Aurthur
- Variety Film + TV
Carl Lentz's alleged mistress is divulging details about their "toxic" relationship. Ranin Karim, who claims she and the Hillsong Church founder had a months-long affair in 2020, discussed the scandal on the March 31 episode of MTV's Ex on the Beach. "I've been in toxic relationships. A lot of men sell you a dream," Karim said. "You know, I'm broke. I don't need to buy any more dreams." On the show, ten singles head to an island looking for love, unaware that their exes will also be showing up. Lentz, as you have probably guessed, is not the ex meeting Karim in paradise. Still, Karim did not waste any time revealing her headline-making past to the other...
- 4/1/2022
- E! Online
There’s so much new TV this week that we barely have time to write this intro. From the return of “Atlanta,” “Bridgerton,” “Riverdale,” and “9-1-1,” to Olivia Rodrigo concert films, mega-church documentaries and the long-awaited “Halo” adaptation, there’s simply Too Much To Watch. But hey, we know you’ll give it your best shot.
On with the television!
“Atlanta”
Thursday, March 24 at 10 p.m., FX
FX
More than four years after the previous season aired, “Atlanta” is back for its hotly anticipated third season. This season once again stars Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield and Zazie Beetz, and was directed by Glover’s longtime creative collaborator Hiro Murai. But this season of “Atlanta” is markedly free of Atlanta, as the new season follows Paper Boi (Henry) as he goes on his first international tour, with stops in London, Paris and Amsterdam. And while the protracted wait was,...
On with the television!
“Atlanta”
Thursday, March 24 at 10 p.m., FX
FX
More than four years after the previous season aired, “Atlanta” is back for its hotly anticipated third season. This season once again stars Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield and Zazie Beetz, and was directed by Glover’s longtime creative collaborator Hiro Murai. But this season of “Atlanta” is markedly free of Atlanta, as the new season follows Paper Boi (Henry) as he goes on his first international tour, with stops in London, Paris and Amsterdam. And while the protracted wait was,...
- 3/19/2022
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Hillsong is best known as the international church that has attracted a flock of A-list attendees, including Justin and Hailey Bieber, Chris Pratt, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Kevin Durant, and Kylie and Kendall Jenner. When Dan Johnstone first approached making a documentary about the church — the three-part Discovery Plus docuseries “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed” — however, his interest was far more wide-ranging.
“I was a child of the ‘80s and ‘90s,” Johnstone said in his first interview about the project, which he executive produced. “I was, like, a huge sneakerhead; I’m into music, I’m into fashion. I grew up in a religious household. And so I sort of followed Hillsong, and I just saw this church that had crossed through all of those barriers.”
Having worked with Discovery on two previous projects, Johnstone and his company Breaklight Pictures set out to tell the story of how Hillsong — the popular, scandal-plagued church...
“I was a child of the ‘80s and ‘90s,” Johnstone said in his first interview about the project, which he executive produced. “I was, like, a huge sneakerhead; I’m into music, I’m into fashion. I grew up in a religious household. And so I sort of followed Hillsong, and I just saw this church that had crossed through all of those barriers.”
Having worked with Discovery on two previous projects, Johnstone and his company Breaklight Pictures set out to tell the story of how Hillsong — the popular, scandal-plagued church...
- 3/14/2022
- by Kate Aurthur
- Variety Film + TV
Ex On The Beach will return to MTV, which renewed the dating series for seasons 5 and 6.
MTV also revealed that Season 5 will premiere on March 31 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt with a new crop of singles and exes. Featuring romantically embattled stars from Love Island, Big Brother, Too Hot To Handle, World of Dance, The Challenge, Double Shot at Love and Paradise Hotel, the cast navigates the excitement and heartbreak of romantic relationships with old lovers and new prospects while constantly being blindsided by the surprise arrival of their exes. As ex-lovers wash ashore, the daters will have to decide whether to rekindle a past flame or move on for good.
Season 5, which touts 12 hour-long episodes filmed at MTV’s global production villa on the Gran Canaria Island of Spain, will feature Derynn Paige, Ray Gantt, Da’Vonne Rogers, Bryce Hirschberg, David Barta, Kyra Green, Arisce Wanzer, Jonathan Troncoso, Ranin Karim...
MTV also revealed that Season 5 will premiere on March 31 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt with a new crop of singles and exes. Featuring romantically embattled stars from Love Island, Big Brother, Too Hot To Handle, World of Dance, The Challenge, Double Shot at Love and Paradise Hotel, the cast navigates the excitement and heartbreak of romantic relationships with old lovers and new prospects while constantly being blindsided by the surprise arrival of their exes. As ex-lovers wash ashore, the daters will have to decide whether to rekindle a past flame or move on for good.
Season 5, which touts 12 hour-long episodes filmed at MTV’s global production villa on the Gran Canaria Island of Spain, will feature Derynn Paige, Ray Gantt, Da’Vonne Rogers, Bryce Hirschberg, David Barta, Kyra Green, Arisce Wanzer, Jonathan Troncoso, Ranin Karim...
- 3/10/2022
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
Hillsong Church is getting the Hollywood treatment in Discovery+'s latest docuseries Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed. The streaming platform dropped the first trailer for the three-part docuseries on Wednesday, Feb, 16, previewing never-before-seen interviews with former congregants and other insiders. Those interviewed discuss the rise and fall of the megachurch, as well as the impact it had on their own lives. And though Ranin Karim wasn't a Hillsong attendee, she is able to speak to the downfall of pastor Carl Lentz, who was fired for sexual misconduct in November 2020. At the time, Lentz admitted to cheating on his wife, Laura, in a public statement, explaining, "I was...
- 2/16/2022
- E! Online
Discovery Plus has unveiled the trailer for its three-part docuseries “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed,” an investigation into the church made famous by its celebrity congregation, such as Justin Bieber, various Kardashians and other stars. All three episodes will drop on the streamer on March 24.
The series explores the rise of Hillsong, which was founded in Australia by Brian Houston as an offshoot of his father Frank’s Sydney-based Pentecostal church. Hillsong stood out by putting an emphasis on music as a part of worship. Later, Houston decided to export Hillsong internationally, and recruited pastor Carl Lentz to lead its New York City chapter. Lentz became famous in his own right — and was often photographed alongside Bieber and other celebrity congregants — until Houston fired him in November 2020 for “moral failures,” among other issues.
Ranin Karim, a woman with whom Lentz had an affair, which contributed to his downfall, is one of...
The series explores the rise of Hillsong, which was founded in Australia by Brian Houston as an offshoot of his father Frank’s Sydney-based Pentecostal church. Hillsong stood out by putting an emphasis on music as a part of worship. Later, Houston decided to export Hillsong internationally, and recruited pastor Carl Lentz to lead its New York City chapter. Lentz became famous in his own right — and was often photographed alongside Bieber and other celebrity congregants — until Houston fired him in November 2020 for “moral failures,” among other issues.
Ranin Karim, a woman with whom Lentz had an affair, which contributed to his downfall, is one of...
- 2/16/2022
- by Kate Aurthur
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Discovery+ has ordered Breaking Hillsong, a three-episode limited docuseries about the controversial megachurch Hillsong and its once-celebrity pastor Carl Lentz, from The Content Group’s Breaklight Pictures and the New York Post.
Breaking Hillsong will take viewers into the world of Hillsong, the Australia-based Christian megachurch with more than 150,000 global members that has recently come under scrutiny.
The non-fiction subscription streaming service has partnered with New York Post and investigative journalist Hannah Frishberg, who has written a series of articles on Hillsong and Lentz. Drawing on Frishberg’s articles as source material, Breaking Hillsong will chronicle the headline-making world of Hillsong, with exclusive, never-before-seen interviews, including Ranin Karim, the New York-based fashion designer whose five-month affair with Lentz led to his downfall.
The series will profile current and ex-members of the church who have come forward to share harrowing stories of trauma, abuse, financial and labor exploitation, homophobia and...
Breaking Hillsong will take viewers into the world of Hillsong, the Australia-based Christian megachurch with more than 150,000 global members that has recently come under scrutiny.
The non-fiction subscription streaming service has partnered with New York Post and investigative journalist Hannah Frishberg, who has written a series of articles on Hillsong and Lentz. Drawing on Frishberg’s articles as source material, Breaking Hillsong will chronicle the headline-making world of Hillsong, with exclusive, never-before-seen interviews, including Ranin Karim, the New York-based fashion designer whose five-month affair with Lentz led to his downfall.
The series will profile current and ex-members of the church who have come forward to share harrowing stories of trauma, abuse, financial and labor exploitation, homophobia and...
- 6/21/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Hillsong, the church that has had celebrity worshippers including Justin Bieber, Kevin Durant, and Selena Gomez, has been mired in scandal after its New York pastor Carl Lentz admitted an extramarital affair last year.
The church is now to be the subject of a limited documentary series from Queer Eye producer Scout Productions and Vanity Fair Studios.
It comes hot on the heels of an expose, published in Vanity Fair this morning, that includes new reporting on allegations of sexual assault, bullying, and the double standards to which congregants of color and those who identify as queer were at times held.
The investigation – American Pastoral – by Vanity Fair contributing editor Alex French and staff writer Dan Adler looks into the circumstances around Lentz’s firing and a culture at the church that had in many ways enabled him.
It looks at how the Australia-based megachurch, which averages more than 150,000 weekly congregants across 30 countries,...
The church is now to be the subject of a limited documentary series from Queer Eye producer Scout Productions and Vanity Fair Studios.
It comes hot on the heels of an expose, published in Vanity Fair this morning, that includes new reporting on allegations of sexual assault, bullying, and the double standards to which congregants of color and those who identify as queer were at times held.
The investigation – American Pastoral – by Vanity Fair contributing editor Alex French and staff writer Dan Adler looks into the circumstances around Lentz’s firing and a culture at the church that had in many ways enabled him.
It looks at how the Australia-based megachurch, which averages more than 150,000 weekly congregants across 30 countries,...
- 2/11/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Two weeks ago, Pastor Carl Lentz was fired from Hillsong Church and admitted to being unfaithful to his wife. On Tuesday, a woman came forward claiming to be his mistress. Ranin Karim, 34, told Vanity Fair that she and Lentz, 42, had an affair for several months earlier this year, up until the pastor’s wife […]
The post Ex Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz’ Alleged Mistress Comes Speaks About Their Affair appeared first on uInterview.
The post Ex Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz’ Alleged Mistress Comes Speaks About Their Affair appeared first on uInterview.
- 11/24/2020
- by Yati Sanghvi
- Uinterview
Just two weeks after celebrity pastor Carl Lentz was fired from Hillsong Church, a woman has come forward claiming she had an affair with the disgraced figure. Ranin Karim, a 34-year-old jewelry designer, told Vanity Fair in an interview posted on Tuesday, Nov. 17 that she met Lentz in May and after seeing his statement confessing to being unfaithful in his marriage, she felt she needed to speak up. "I know what I got myself into, but at the same time I wanted to do the right thing and walk, walk away," she told the magazine. "I am not a monster." Karim told Vanity Fair that Lentz initially told her he "managed celebrities" for his job and when he...
- 11/18/2020
- E! Online
Going into any year’s respective Oscar season, one area of Academy Awards is often unknown to the general public: the foreign film category.
With most of the film’s not getting the chance to screen outside of places like New York or La, many of the films that are nominated for the Best Foreign Film award seem to come out of nowhere, particularly knowing the process behind getting nominated (each country can submit only one film for consideration).
Well, with nominated films like A Prophet and The White Ribbon both hitting DVD earlier this year, and the award winner The Secret In Their Eyes still making its way throughout theaters stateside, Israel’s submission and subsequent nominated film, Ajami, has finally been released on DVD.
And I have to say, it was well worth the wait.
Ajami, named after an area of Jaffa where Jews, Christians, Palestinians and Arabs attempt to live together,...
With most of the film’s not getting the chance to screen outside of places like New York or La, many of the films that are nominated for the Best Foreign Film award seem to come out of nowhere, particularly knowing the process behind getting nominated (each country can submit only one film for consideration).
Well, with nominated films like A Prophet and The White Ribbon both hitting DVD earlier this year, and the award winner The Secret In Their Eyes still making its way throughout theaters stateside, Israel’s submission and subsequent nominated film, Ajami, has finally been released on DVD.
And I have to say, it was well worth the wait.
Ajami, named after an area of Jaffa where Jews, Christians, Palestinians and Arabs attempt to live together,...
- 9/5/2010
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ***
Scandar Copti, a Palestinian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, teamed up to direct the crime drama Ajami. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film, which seems more a result of that behind-the-scenes achievement than anything that occurs onscreen. Indeed, comparing it to some of Amos Gitai's better films (Yom Yom, Kadosh, etc.) it feels rather graceless, and compared to something like City of God,Ajami feels practically inert.
And yet the film is still effective in its own, small way. It follows several characters in five overlapping chapters, all set in one multi-ethnic section of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv. It begins as a man working on a car is gunned down in the street. It turns out that the real target was the neighbor who sold him the car, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), an Arab Israeli. Worse, Omar...
Rating (out of 5): ***
Scandar Copti, a Palestinian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, teamed up to direct the crime drama Ajami. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film, which seems more a result of that behind-the-scenes achievement than anything that occurs onscreen. Indeed, comparing it to some of Amos Gitai's better films (Yom Yom, Kadosh, etc.) it feels rather graceless, and compared to something like City of God,Ajami feels practically inert.
And yet the film is still effective in its own, small way. It follows several characters in five overlapping chapters, all set in one multi-ethnic section of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv. It begins as a man working on a car is gunned down in the street. It turns out that the real target was the neighbor who sold him the car, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), an Arab Israeli. Worse, Omar...
- 8/27/2010
- by underdog
- GreenCine
The Middle East is such a powder keg that we've come to assume every film from that region will be About the fact that it's a powder keg. Ajami is what you'd expect in that regard, but in nearly every other way it's a surprise, a bold and serious film about the frail threads that keep -- or fail to keep -- a society from falling apart.
The title refers to a rather sketchy neighborhood in the Israeli city of Jaffa, where Muslims, Christians, and Jews live uneasily with each other. To begin with, a teenager is gunned down outside his house. Our narrator, a young boy named Nasri (Fouad Habash), lives next door and reports that the intended victim was his 19-year-old brother, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), a decent young man who became a target for a Bedouin group only because Omar's uncle shot one of them. Sure, the guy...
The title refers to a rather sketchy neighborhood in the Israeli city of Jaffa, where Muslims, Christians, and Jews live uneasily with each other. To begin with, a teenager is gunned down outside his house. Our narrator, a young boy named Nasri (Fouad Habash), lives next door and reports that the intended victim was his 19-year-old brother, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), a decent young man who became a target for a Bedouin group only because Omar's uncle shot one of them. Sure, the guy...
- 2/17/2010
- by Eric D. Snider
- Cinematical
Kino International
Reviewed for New York Cool by Harvey Karten
Grade: B
Directed by: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Written By: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Cast: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Fouad Habash, Youssef Sahwani, Ranin Karim, Eran Naim, Scandar Copti
Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 11/19/09
Opens: February 3, 2010
The word on the street is that Israelis do some great things with technology, but movies are not their forte. Every once in a while, there.s an exception, in this case .Ajami,. a film whose appeal is nonetheless limited by its complexity. To get an idea of the film.s substance, think of Paul Haggis.s .Crash,. which interweaves a collection of characters during a two-day period in L.A., including a police detective with a druggie mother and thieving brother, a racist white veteran cop with an idealistic partner, an Iranian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith...
Reviewed for New York Cool by Harvey Karten
Grade: B
Directed by: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Written By: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Cast: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Fouad Habash, Youssef Sahwani, Ranin Karim, Eran Naim, Scandar Copti
Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 11/19/09
Opens: February 3, 2010
The word on the street is that Israelis do some great things with technology, but movies are not their forte. Every once in a while, there.s an exception, in this case .Ajami,. a film whose appeal is nonetheless limited by its complexity. To get an idea of the film.s substance, think of Paul Haggis.s .Crash,. which interweaves a collection of characters during a two-day period in L.A., including a police detective with a druggie mother and thieving brother, a racist white veteran cop with an idealistic partner, an Iranian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith...
- 12/2/2009
- Arizona Reporter
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.