Entertainment
Buffy Star Died Hating Sarah Michelle Gellar
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
It has been a very rough time to be a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the last year, Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy’s sister, tragically died. Last week, Hulu officially killed the TV show revival that was going to bring Buffy Summers back to the small screen. Most recently, Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander Harris, died at the age of 54.
It didn’t take long for his former Buffy costars to write memorial posts on social media platforms such as Instagram; some were better than others, but all of them were moving in their own way. However, as someone who had been keeping up with the Xander actor before his death, I am haunted by a secret that the fandom doesn’t really want to talk about. You see, Nicholas Brendon hated Sarah Michelle Gellar, and he made a series of very nasty, very public allegations about her mere days before he died.
The Zeppo’s Last Ride
This came in the form of Facebook, where Nicholas Brendon went live on March 14, less than a week before his untimely death. The video seems that much more surreal now: Brendon is constantly moving back and forth in a rocking chair (he had an eclectic passion for rocking chairs) while violently coughing; he blamed the smoke from his cigarette, joking at one point that he sounded like Bane. During the 45-minute video, he discussed several aspects of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before suddenly and unexpectedly leveling various accusations against lead actor Sarah Michelle Gellar.
The comment started innocuously enough, with Nicholas Brendon saying, “I believe that the way that the show ended shouldn’t have ended the way that it did.” Soon, though, he singled out Sarah Michelle Gellar, claiming that “She worked really hard, but she sort of f***ed the show, in a way.” Specifically, he hated how “She told everyone she was leaving way too late into the series, so [creator] Joss [Whedon] was not prepared for that…it wasn’t fair to the crew, the cast or the show.”
A Surprise Defense Of A Canceled Icon
Speaking of the controversial showrunner, Brendon was seemingly one of the last of the Buffy actors to openly support Joss Whedon. In this same Facebook video, he argued that Hulu should not have tried to reboot Buffy without Whedon’s involvement; however, Whedon quietly retired from public and professional life after multiple allegations that he created a hostile work environment and was personally toxic towards his cast. After Cordelia actor Charisma Carpenter made a series of damning allegations about Whedon, she was openly supported by Buffy actors like David Boreanaz, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
While Brendon had not often publicly criticized Gellar, many read his continued defense of Whedon as an indirect criticism of her. For example, the Buffy Summers actor offered a short and simple stance of support for Charisma Carpenter, writing, “I stand with all survivors of abuse.” Meanwhile, Brendon supported Whedon and minimized allegations against him, claiming they were just “bullsh*t…cancel culture.”
In that creepy Facebook video right before he died, Brendon didn’t mince words: in addition to continuing his full-throated support for Whedon, he also blamed Gellar for wanting to stop acting in Buffy the Vampire Slayer after Season 7. Previously, Gellar claimed that she wanted to leave the show because she was physically and mentally exhausted; she wanted to enjoy life with her new husband (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), and she felt there was nothing new to do with her character. It didn’t help that, like many Buffy fans, she really hated Season 6.
Saying Goodbye To Our Childhood Hero
Sadly, Brendon saw her departure as a personal attack that took away his meal ticket. To some degree, he was right: he never had any major roles after Buffy ended. Arguably, though, this was due less to his skills as an actor and more to the very public drug and alcohol addictions he suffered from. By all accounts, Gellar was always supportive of Brendan, whose struggles went all the way back to their Buffy days. But that support didn’t keep Brendon from seeing her as an enemy in the end.
All of this adds another layer of tragedy to Nicholas Brendon’s untimely death. His career peaked decades ago, and he obviously resented Sarah Michelle Gellar for leaving the show and prematurely ending the greatest role he would ever have. Given enough time, Brendon could still have been a part of any future attempts to reboot Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now, though, he was taken from us far too soon, and in a horrific twist, he died hating the woman who helped make him famous.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for May 29, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re an animal lover.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: E-I-E-I-O
The words are related to animals.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe barnyard animals.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Farm Animals.
NYT Strands word list for May 29
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Cows
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Farm Animals
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Goats
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Chickens
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Sheep
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Horses
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Ducks
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Pigs
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 29, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you have a sensitive nose.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Seas
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Green: Bad odors
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Blue: Found in an estate
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Purple: Acronym
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Oceans
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Green: Sources of distinctive smells
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Blue: Kinds of rooms in a mansion
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Purple: What “PA” might refer to
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1083 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Oceans: ARCTIC, ATLANTIC, INDIAN, PACIFIC
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Sources of distinctive smells: AMMONIA, BO, DURIAN, WET DOG
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Kinds of rooms in a mansion: BILLIARD, DRAWING, POWDER, READING
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What “PA” might refer to: FATHER, PENNSYLVANIA, PROTACTINIUM, PUBLIC ADDRESS
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
Jimmy Kimmel gleefully roasts Trump over record low approval rating
The midterms are getting closer, and — according to some polls — Donald Trump’s approval rating is lower than ever before.
“He is now down to 34 percent. He has the same approval rating as Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” says Jimmy Kimmel in the monologue above from Thursday night’s show. “Not only is Trump at his lowest point, he’s also two points behind JD Vance. I don’t have a joke for that, I just want to make sure he knows he’s two points behind JD Vance.”
Kimmel goes on to bring up White House spokesman Davis Ingle’s official response, in which he pointed to Trump’s win in the 2024 election as “the ultimate poll.”
“OK, yeah,” says Kimmel, “but now it’s May of 2026 and everybody hates him.”
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