Late yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter wrote an exclusive story about how Universal had dropped Kristen Stewart from its Snow White & the Huntsman sequel plans, writing that it was being “reconceived” as a spinoff movie about Chris Hemsworth’s character, the Huntsman. It got sent to me no less than five times this morning and covered on every movie site on up to the NY Daily News, because people like hearing that Kristen Stewart got fired. No one really likes her outside of Twilight fans. The only problem is, it’s not really true. Universal was always planning for a sequel that focuses on Chris Hemsworth. This according to the Hollywood Reporter’s own reporting.

Universal chief Ron Meyer said that while the upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman doesn’t appear to lend itself to a sequel, Universal thinks it can do more movies based on the character of the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) if it is successful.

That was in April. This morning, they wrote:

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the sequel to June’s Snow White, which starred Stewart, Hemsworth and Charlize Theron, is being reconceived as a spinoff movie. It’s unclear whether director Rupert Sanders will return, though one source with ties to the production says he will. However, screenwriter David Koepp, who had been hired to pen the continuation of the original film, is being settled out of his rich contract, according to sources, as the project is being transformed into something other than the movie that Koepp had been hired to write.

The move comes in the wake of Stewart, 22, and the married Sanders, 41, apologizing publicly for a romantic affair after compromising photos of the duo were published in July. (Stewart was dating her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson.) While it might have been awkward for Stewart and Sanders to reunite for a sequel, it is not clear why the decision to move forward without Stewart was made.

Ah, now we see the motive, a nice excuse to write “Kristen Stewart Rupert Sanders Affair Robert Pattinson Awkward” in an article. You know, just to catch people up! Huh, I wonder what KATE UPTON’S BARE BREASTS HOLDING A KITTEN think about this. *cough* LESBIANS!

Meanwhile, every other source seems to say that Universal hasn’t made any decisions about whether Kristen Stewart will be back. So, the actual news part of the story seems to be that David Koepp is out and Universal is looking for a new screenwriter, a situation that’s pretty common with big piles of sh*t that no one really wants to write. At this point, saying K-Stew got fired from the Huntsman sequel is about as true as saying saying Snow White & the Huntsman gave Bob Hoskins Parkinson‘s disease. (What? An exclusive source told me “it’s possible.”).

Do you see why Hollywood people are so insular? They got me to write 400 words without stating the obvious: that Snow White and the Huntsman was a dopey movie that barely had enough content for a short, let alone two movies. Now, let us never speak of this again.

[picture source. hat tips: RopeofSilicon, Hitfix]