{"id":737043,"date":"2026-07-01T14:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T14:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/737043\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T14:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T14:29:13","slug":"sinister-smear-campaign-against-film-critic-who-wrote-negative-supergirl-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/737043\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinister smear campaign against film critic who wrote negative ‘Supergirl’ review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSupergirl\u201d\u00a0earned\u00a0just $65.5 million worldwide in its first four days in theaters, despite a $170 million budget \u2014 branding it an indisputable bomb<\/a>.\u00a0The film would need to rake in $295 million in order to break even, according to our sources. (Spoiler alert: It won\u2019t.)<\/p>\n

But the tentpole\u2019s dismal math isn\u2019t the most compelling subplot to emerge from the Milly Alcock-led film\u2019s disastrous opening weekend.<\/p>\n

On June 24,\u00a0Variety\u2019s Owen Gleiberman published a withering review<\/a> of \u201cSupergirl,\u201d prompting a spate of hit pieces across the blogosphere aimed at the magazine\u2019s chief film critic.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a sampling of the headlines: \u201cYou Don\u2019t Have to Like \u2018Supergirl\u2019 But Writing a Sexist Review Just Makes You Gross,\u201d \u201cVariety\u2019s Mean-Spirited \u2018Supergirl\u2019 Review: Who Was It Really Targeting?\u201d and \u201cSupergirl Deserves Better Than the Current Media Feeding Frenzy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gleiberman compared Alcock, 26, to \u201cKristy McNichol crossed with the Feral Kid from \u2018The Road Warrior\u2019 in oversize Penny Lane sunglasses.\u201d Penske Media via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The takeaway was clear: The award-winning critic poses a greater threat to the intergalactic order than heavily pierced psychopath Krem of the Yellow Hills (the villain of the film played by Matthias Schoenaerts).<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for rumors to start circulating that a member of Alcock\u2019s team \u201cplanted\u201d at least one of the stories that focused on Gleiberman\u2019s age (\u201clate 60s\u201d), and accused him of having \u201ca reputation for being out-of-touch with certain things.\u201d Said things are not specified. <\/p>\n

A rep for the Aussie actress said: \u201cAbsolutely not true!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcock faces off in the film against Krem of the Yellow Hills, played by Matthias Schoenaerts Warner Bros. Pictures via AP<\/p>\n

Adding to the conspiracies, at least one of the writers who name-checked Gleiberman took an all-expenses-paid trip to the \u201cSupergirl\u201d set in London, making their hot take seem less than objective.<\/p>\n

Each story had a different grievance with Gleiberman\u2019s review: One glommed on to his characterization of Ana Nogueira\u2019s screenplay as \u201ca comic-book movie with the worst script I can remember,\u201d while another bristled at Gleiberman\u2019s description of Alcock as \u201cKristy McNichol crossed with the Feral Kid from \u2018The Road Warrior\u2019 in oversize Penny Lane sunglasses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Momoa, who previously portrayed Aquaman, was added to the cast to play the bounty hunter Lobo. Courtesy of DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n

\u201cCriminal Minds\u201d star Paget Brewster allegedly told a critic she \u201csucks\u201d before apologizing. Justin Lubin\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

A rep for the magazine tells Page Six Hollywood: \u201cVariety has a long history of supporting our critics and encouraging them to express their honest and independent points of view. We fully stand by Owen Gleiberman and his review of \u2018Supergirl.\u2019\u201d (Full disclosure: I worked with Gleiberman at Variety for three years.)<\/p>\n

The Gleiberman pile-on left film critics rattled and confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, I think Kristy McNichol is awesome. And the Feral Kid from \u2018The Road Warrior\u2019? Milly Alcock is made to look scrappy. So, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re unfair analogies. That line seems pretty harmless to me,\u201d says one critic at a rival publication. <\/p>\n

(One online piece slamming Gleiberman alleged that, \u201cRight-wing circles on social media have been using screenshots of the Feral Kid [played by Emil Minty in the 1981 film] to body shame Alcock and criticize her appearance for weeks now.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Seth Rogen complained about reviewers during a recent podcast. YouTube\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

Alcock\u2019s film didn\u2019t take flight at the box-office. Warner Bros. Pictures via AP<\/p>\n

Another critic calls the\u00a0outrage aimed at Gleiberman\u00a0\u201cembarrassing,\u201d but shrugged at its novelty. \u201cA version of this has been going on for a long time by forces far more powerful than\u00a0these\u00a0people,\u201d the critic notes.<\/p>\n

All this comes at a time when critics are under siege.<\/p>\n

On June 27, \u201cCriminal Minds\u201d star Paget Brewster lambasted a ScreenRant writer on X over a story that made some seemingly benign critiques of the TV drama. \u201cYou don\u2019t know that bad pics and bad reviews can lead to 350 people losing their jobs. Sell vintage. Work at a shelter. Do something better than what you do now. Because right now you suck,\u201d Brewster wrote, drawing immediate backlash from other critics. (Brewster apologized and deleted the post.)<\/p>\n

The movie has kicked off a film critic controversy. Warner Bros. Pictures via AP<\/p>\n

Likewise, \u201cYellowstone\u201d creator Taylor Sheridan recently dismissed mean critics with a two-word sendoff: \u201cF\u2013k \u2019em.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Seth Rogen bizarrely suggested this week during a podcast interview tied to his new movie \u201cThe Invite\u201d that critics can be too insensitive. \u201cI think if most critics knew how much it hurts the people that made the things that they are writing about, they would second guess the way they write these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

(It\u2019s worth noting that Sheridan enjoys some of the best ratings on television, and Rogen has received rave reviews for \u201cThe Invite\u201d as well as his most recent TV series, \u201cThe Studio.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Alcock attended the starry \u201cSupergirl\u201d premiere in NYC. Christopher Peterson \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Some defenders of the film say it has been unfairly targeted. Warner Bros.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, at least one of the authors who penned a Gleiberman hit piece isn\u2019t backing down. The writer published a new piece on Tuesday with the headline: \u201cWhen Will Trade Publications Learn From Their Mistakes and Stop Doubling Down?\u201d<\/p>\n

The writer expressed outrage that Variety was recirculating Alcock quotes from a May cover story on social media that might provide fresh meat for her \u201ctrolls.\u201d (It\u2019s a common practice to re-social snippets from a cover story to coincide with a film\u2019s opening.)<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen where the film\u2019s final tally will land. Warner Bros.<\/p>\n

Reporters we talked to were quick to note that the \u201cdoubling down\u201d verbiage about Variety, and the lament about Alcock\u2019s cover story being resurrected amid the disastrous opening, were being shared by vested parties on Team Supergirl. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSupergirl\u201d\u00a0earned\u00a0just $65.5 million worldwide in its first four days in theaters, despite a $170 million budget \u2014 branding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[9417,88,2695,1506,206,7412],"class_list":["post-737043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-dc-comics","tag-entertainment","tag-film","tag-hollywood","tag-movies","tag-superheroes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}