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Ashley Spencer

@ashleyspencer.bsky.social
936 followers 431 following 54 posts

Culture journalist + author of DISNEY HIGH. Words in The New York Times, The Washington Post, L.A. Times, etc. linktr.ee/amspen

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Reposted by Ashley Spencer
Robert @pradlin.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
I hope they offer this context next to the video, playing on repeat, in the Louvre.
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Reposted by Ashley Spencer
M. Kaspar @archomath.net · 08/05/2026
If you see an oral history of tom holland's umbrella lip sync battle performance, you must share an oral history of tom holland's umbrella lip sync battle performance
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
It exists! I interviewed backup dancers, producers, the costume designer, the song’s producers who granted the rights, and so many more who were involved: web.archive.org/web/20240227...
web.archive.org
An oral history of Tom Holland's sensational 'Lip Sync Battle' performance
The producers, choreographers, and dancers behind the "Umbrella" and "Singin' in the Rain" mashup explain how it came to be.
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HeyRatty @heyratty.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Matthew Lillard, a Fan Favorite, Still Has to Hustle for Work — After a period of joblessness when he had to sell his home and cars, the #Scream7 actor’s career is booming — whether Quentin Tarantino likes it or not www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/m... by @ashleyspencer.bsky.social
nytimes.com
Matthew Lillard, a Fan Favorite, Still Has to Hustle for Work
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Lizzie McGuire premiered 25(!) years ago today. Over the last few years, I've talked to a lot of the cast, crew and Disney executives about why that show was so special and how it helped reshape Disney Channel into a 2000s powerhouse. ⬇️
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
I interviewed Emily Henry, Tom Blyth, and Emily Bader about the People We Meet on Vacation movie changes and the merits of romance for the @nytimes. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/m...
nytimes.com
Unpacking ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ With Emily Henry and the Stars
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 06/12/2025
Josh Hutcherson found instant success as a child actor. But after his “Hunger Games” fame, it felt like it almost all went away. “From age 23 or 24 to almost 30, I wasn’t getting the kinds of roles that I wanted or cast in the things I was auditioning for. It was a brutal few years.” trib.al/DGUjhkJ
Josh Hutcherson sits on a red leather couch with legs crossed, wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and black shoes. Behind him is a large arched window showing the exterior of brick buildings. A headline reads: "Josh Hutcherson Is Back. He Never Wanted to Leave." Photo by OK McCausland for The New York Times
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Lisa Fung @lisafung.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
‘When you lose someone important early on, it reaffirms the fact that life is so fleeting. You owe it to yourself to find your passion and to pursue it.’ This is a lovely read by @ashleyspencer.bsky.social on Robert Irwin www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
nytimes.com
Robert Irwin Is Actually That Nice
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Met up with character actor William Fichtner for lattes and a long chat about his illustrious, scene-stealing career that includes Heat, Contact, Armageddon, The Dark Knight, Prison Break and about 100 other things. NYT gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/a...
nytimes.com
William Fichtner Really Is That Guy
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HeyRatty @heyratty.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
William Fichtner Really Is That Guy www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/a... by @ashleyspencer.bsky.social
nytimes.com
William Fichtner Really Is That Guy
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
It’s been 30 years since “Casper” and “Now and Then,” so I got brunch with Devon Sawa to reminisce and find out what his life was like then and now for The New York Times, ft. additional insights from Christina Ricci and more.
nytimes.com
This ’90s Teen Star Has Come a Long Way
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Boardwalk Times @boardwalktimes.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
🚨🎙️NEW POD ALERT🎙️🚨 Zach talks to @ashleyspencer.bsky.social, author of DISNEY HIGH. • Writing DISNEY HIGH 📘 • The evolution of Disney Channel 📺 • The stars of the era 🌟 • Top 4 DCOM's 📽️ • Growing up near Walt Disney World 🏰 • And so much more! 💫 boardwalktimes.net/the-zach-per...
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
What happens when a teen heartthrob grows up? I interviewed Chad Michael Murray for The New York Times to find out. He opened up about being a “not-nice guy” in his 20s, fame and his experiences on projects like “Gilmore Girls,” “Freaky Friday” and “One Tree Hill.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/m...
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Christopher McDonald embraces his “Happy Gilmore” alter ego, but Shooter McGavin’s popularity belies a half-century career and a storied life beyond the golf course. My NYT profile ft. additional insights from Adam Sandler, Jean Smart and more: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/m...
nytimes.com
Christopher McDonald Is Shooter McGavin. And a Whole Lot More.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 30/07/2025
In “Happy Gilmore 2," Christopher Mcdonald has officially reprised the role of Shooter McGavin. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” McDonald said in an interview with The New York Times. Read the full interview. nyti.ms/4moffAz
A headline reads: "Christopher McDonald Is Shooter McGavin. And a Whole Lot More" over a photo of Christopher McDonald. Photo by Adali Schell for The New York Times
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
A once-again relevant tidbit from my 2021 deep dive on The Rosie O’Donnell Show. www.vulture.com/article/the-...
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Reposted by Ashley Spencer
Maira Garcia @mairalg.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
I really enjoyed editing this profile of Kevin Williamson by @ashleyspencer.bsky.social. The creator of "Dawson's Creek" and "Scream" is channeling his family's story into the new Netflix series "The Waterfront" that's loosely based on his father. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
latimes.com
In 'The Waterfront,' 'Dawson's Creek' creator Kevin Williamson returns to his gritty roots
The main characters in Kevin Williamson's Netflix series are a multigenerational cast of adults whose lives are glossier and grittier than what audiences remember from the 'Dawson’s' gang.
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
I profiled Kevin Williamson, looking at the semi-autobiographical projects that have punctuated his career, from “Dawson’s Creek” to “The Waterfront.” Ft. insights from James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Melissa Benoist, Topher Grace & more for the @latimes. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
I interviewed Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks about their new whodunnit series, The Better Sister, and fighting to take control in Hollywood, for the L.A. Times. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
latimes.com
Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel on ‘The Better Sister’ finale and taking control
The co-stars and executive producers of Prime Video's 'The Better Sister' discuss making the limited series and the decades of experience in Hollywood that led them to it.
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Step aside, Moana, Elsa and Simba. In recent years, Stitch has quietly become one of Disney’s most popular — and most merchandised — characters. I reported on Stitch mania for The New York Times. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/m...
nytimes.com
‘Lilo & Stitch’: How a Fuzzy Blue Alien Became a Disney Cash Cow
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
“When I think about her, I think about how much I want to be alive.” That’s how Cate Blanchett described Uzo Aduba to me for this @latimes.com profile of the 3x Emmy winner/star of Netflix’s new Shondaland series “The Residence.” Online now and in print today. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
latimes.com
Uzo Aduba dons a detective's cape in 'The Residence'
Uzo Aduba stars as an eccentric, bird-watching sleuth in Netflix's new murder-mystery comedy, a role that feels revolutionary to the actor.
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Daniel Ford @writersbone.com · 11/03/2025
Episode 700: Magical With a Side of Chaos With @ashleyspencer.bsky.social Listen: www.writersbone.com/podcastsarch...
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Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Since folks are celebrating Bluesky's longer video capabilities with this particular clip, I'd highly recommend you read @ashleyspencer.bsky.social's glorious & delightful oral history of Tom Holland's "Lip Sync Battle" performance www.businessinsider.com/tom-holland-...
businessinsider.com
An oral history of Tom Holland's sensational 'Lip Sync Battle' performance
The producers, choreographers, and dancers behind the "Umbrella" and "Singin' in the Rain" mashup explain how it came to be.
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Huge DISNEY HIGH ebook sale today at all ebook retailers for only $2.99! If you haven’t read my book yet, now’s your chance to do so for mere pennies 💕 us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
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Reposted by Ashley Spencer
Daniel Ford @writersbone.com · 07/03/2025
Thanks to Eskor David Johnson for a fun discussion this week about his book Pay As You Go. We hit Episode 700 next Tuesday! We'll be chatting with @ashleyspencer.bsky.social about her book Disney High. Subscribe and tune in: apple.co/3XMnpcc
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Wrote a little bit about Michelle Trachtenberg's singular, special work in Harriet the Spy that inspired a generation of writers (including me). ashleyspencer.substack.com/p/in-michell...
ashleyspencer.substack.com
In Michelle Trachtenberg's 'Harriet,' Millennials Saw Themselves
As Harriet the Spy, 10-year-old Michelle Trachtenberg inspired a generation to become writers, journalists, and passionate observers of the world.
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
I fear Debbie Downer in 2025 is just all of us now. #SNL50
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
This actually sounds like a genius idea (and smart career move for Taylor Lautner). variety.com/2025/tv/news...
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
My most boomer complaint is the joy of watching Super Bowl ads used to come from an element of surprise. They lose value when they’re pre-announced and plastered in full on the internet. I want to be shocked by that celeb cameo! Aghast at that collab! Weeping at that baby horse!
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
30 years of BEFORE SUNRISE today 💕 Here’s a gift link to the oral history I did for its 25th anniversary. Still one of my favorites. www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/m...
nytimes.com
‘Before Sunrise’: The Making of an Indie Classic (Gift Article)
On a tiny budget and at the mercy of Viennese trains and Ferris wheels, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke managed to create ’90s movie magic.
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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
It helped that I was so enthralled reading @ashleyspencer.bsky.social’s book Disney High
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Gift link to the in-depth NYT story on the Blake Lively / Justin Baldoni saga, which is worth a read: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/b...
nytimes.com
Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and a Smear Campaign After ‘It Ends With Us’ (Gift Article)
Private messages detail an alleged campaign to tarnish Blake Lively after she accused Justin Baldoni of misconduct on the set of “It Ends With Us.”
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Jannae @heyitsjannae.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
This was one of my favorite books of 2024!!! Loved that Lalaine narrated the audiobook. My book club does a book gift exchange every year, and I’ll be bringing this one!!
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
I wrote a book about cable TV, child stardom, the business of being Disney, and an era when the High School Musical soundtrack outsold Beyoncé and The Beatles. It’s called DISNEY HIGH and it makes an excellent holiday gift! The cover even sparkles for a dash of festive flair.
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Daniel Ford @writersbone.com · 08/12/2024
Disney High orientation this morning with @ashleyspencer.bsky.social. If you’re in the holiday book-buying mood: us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Still dreaming about living in the Miracle on 34th Street (1994) apartment and watching the parade through those giant bay windows.
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Richard Rushfield @richardrushfield.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Here it is. When youve had enough DC-talk, here's the people who cover the world upstream from politics - the reporters and critics on the Hollywood beat in one lovely starter pack go.bsky.app/J1GQ3Ny
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Wicked opens and The Sex Lives of College Girls returns today. An abundance of Thursday riches about the complexities of college roommate friendships.
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Justin LaLiberty @jlalibs.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
There are currently only 22 films streaming on Netflix made before 1980 and not a single one made before 1960, with the oldest film on the platform currently being PSYCHO. I know I’m a broken record but: buy physical media, support your local library, etc etc
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Hot Frosty viewers: I interviewed Dustin Milligan for The New York Times, where he opened up about the challenges of playing the titular snowman and how Lacey Chabert supported him through the shoot. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2024/11/08/m...
The movie was shot during a chilly spring in Ontario, Canada, and Milligan filmed two scenes outdoors wearing only “a bulky beige pair of thong underwear,” as he put it, to give the appearance of near nudity as his character gains sentience.

But the cold proved less of an obstacle than the overall emphasis on his body. As someone with a “history of body dysmorphia and disordered eating,” Milligan said he had to come to terms with the frequent shots of Jack’s muscles and the appreciative commentary from the ogling townspeople.

“I was in on the joke of him being a spectacle,” Milligan said. “But it was also something that, to be totally frank, internally, there was a lot of navigation and a lot of care that I had to put into where my head was at day to day.”

He said he leaned on Chabert, who acted as a “partner and an ally” to help him “feel protected in those moments.”An image of the actor Dustin Milligan in Hot Frosty
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Some fun news: DISNEY HIGH is a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards! My humble tome about Disney Channel history managed to make the nonfiction shortlist with works by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Amy Tan, and John Grisham. Please vote to send it to the finals! www.goodreads.com/choiceawards...
goodreads.com
Opening Round: Vote for the Readers' Favorite Nonfiction of 2024!
Discover the Readers' Favorite Nonfiction in the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards.
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Hi! I’m a culture journalist whose work appears in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair & more. My first book DISNEY HIGH: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire just came out from St. Martin’s Press & I’d love if you’d check it out! bit.ly/DisneyHigh
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
If you need a distraction today: My feature on this year’s (relatively) spicy Christmas romances is in print in the Sunday NYT!
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 09/11/2024
Loved every minute of HERETIC. Vibes meet the moment. Sophie Thatcher is such a star, and Hugh Grant has perfected his charming villain schtick.
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Cat Babushka (Mon) @monanaliza.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Will watch
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
All I have to offer this week is a dive into the suddenly steamy-ish world of Netflix and Lifetime Christmas romances. Perhaps reading the phrase “holiday coitus” in The New York Times will make you smile. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/08/m...
nytimes.com
Netflix and Lifetime Christmas Movies Strip Down With ‘Hot Frosty’ and More
With “Hot Frosty,” “The Merry Gentlemen” and “A Carpenter Christmas Romance,” holiday fare is headed in a shirtless new direction.
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 12/02/2024
Thrilled to announce my book DISNEY HIGH: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire will be out from St. Martin’s Press on 9/24/24! And you can preorder your copy right now! bit.ly/DisneyHigh
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 24/11/2023
“Wish” director Fawn Veerasunthorn’s origin story might be even more inspiring than those of the heroines in her Disney films. I sat down with her at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank to learn more.
nytimes.com
Disney Rejected Her a Few Times. The ‘Wish’ Director Just Kept Trying.
After she was finally hired by the studio, Fawn Veerasunthorn worked her way up the ranks, and has applied that lesson of perseverance to her new film.
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Ashley Spencer @ashleyspencer.bsky.social · 10/08/2023
Disney struggled to find a way to continue its High School Musical franchise for years before Tim Federle pitched his bold new take. Four seasons later, the final season of the wonderfully meta HSMTMTS is out on Disney+, and my interview with the showrunner is in @nytimes.com.
nytimes.com
The ‘High School Musical’ Series Is Over. Tim Federle Takes a Bow.
After four seasons and the making of a superstar, the Disney+ series comes to an end. Its creator and showrunner unpacked the series and its finale.
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