Month: September 2021

R&B star Miguel and his longtime partner Nazanin Mandi have announced their separation today. In a statement to People the couple said “they wish each other well,” and a statement from a rep to the magazine also said that “after 17 years together, Miguel and Nazanin Mandi have decided to separate and have been for some time now.” Though they were together for over a decade, the pair decided got engaged back in 2016 and were married in 2018 at the the Hummingbird Nest Ranch in Simi Valley, California. Now, after three years of marriage, they’ve decided to call it quits.

Plenty of couples have experienced turmoil or dissolution during the pandemic, but it’s nice to see that these longterm partners are apparently able to make that call while staying on good terms. As for Miguel, he announced a return in the spring of this year, letting fans know that Art Dealer Chic Vol. 4 was coming in April. The Art Dealer Chic series was one that began early in his career, so along with the new installment he also made the earlier EPs from the series available on streaming for the first time. Other than that it’s been a quiet year for the R&B star, but a divorce is often the catalyst for a new creative era, so we’ll see what the future brings for him.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage was one of the many blockbusters that received a massive delay due to the pandemic. But it’s finally out on Friday, exactly one day shy of a full year after it was once supposed to drop. And to whet appetites for the big day, Sony dropped a brief clip showing a daring prison escape unlike anyone’s seen before.

The clip finds Woody Harrelson’s serial killer about to be executed in a gas chamber. But instead of wiping him out, it only awakens the Kraken — or Carnage, a rival symbiote to our hero’s still foul-tempered Venom. It lasts only 45 seconds, and the cutting is so fast that the version in the full movie is bound to be much longer and even nastier.

Sony also released another video, a short behind-the-scenes doc finds director Andy Serkis talking about how the sequel is more of an “odd couple” comedy. We’ll get to see even more of Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock quarreling with his much tetchier alien symbiote, not only out and about but in the apartment they now unwittingly share. So they’re basically Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison, only with far more smackdowns.

You can watch the clip in the video above and the vignette below. Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits theaters on October 1.

Billie Eilish has quickly become one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, as her debut album, subsequent documentary, and this year’s second album have revealed. She might be young, but she’s got her career under control, and seems to be very involved with all the collaborations and partnerships that are coming her way after the industry success she’s experiencing.

Today’s new partnership, though, might be one of the most high-profile she’s done — a collaboration with Michael Jordan on not one but two Jordan silhouettes. While it might be par for the course for a rapper with the kind of reputation Billie has to be working on sneakers with MJ’s brand, it’s pretty rare for a pop star! She’s definitely showing her range with the partnership, and the two sneakers are very different, just like her two albums are. Take a sneak peek below:

One set is the lime green color that permeated her When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go debut album era, and the second is a deep, warm beige, the overarching palette of her Happier Than Ever record that dropped just a few months ago. Both shoes are available for purchase right now on her website. Check them out here.

The fight for Britney Spears’ autonomy from what seems to be an incredibly controlling, potentially illegal conservatorship continues on. Though it was fans who initially prompted the #FreeBritney movement to investigate her situation, a documentary from The New York Times called Framing Britney Spears catapulted the singer’s abusive situation out of conspiracy territory and into mainstream recognition. Legal shifts in the case over the last few months have led many to believe the conservatorships should be abolished, particularly when Britney publicly addressed the court herself asking for this, but so far the process has been moving slowly.

Last week, a follow-up documentary from The New York Times might’ve potentially helped speed up the process. One of the bombshells included in the second doc, Controlling Britney Spears is that Britney’s father and conservator Jamie Spears was secretly recording the singer in her home as part of his extensive surveillance and monitoring. California’s two party consent rule for recording makes this illegal, Since this news broke, Britney’s new lawyer Mathew Rosengart has filed a motion requesting Jamie be immediately suspended from the conservatorship as soon as the next hearing, September 29, and that the conservatorship itself be terminated promptly.

In a statement obtained by Variety Rosengart said that her private communciations are a “sacrosanct” part of the legal system and invading this is a “disgraceful violation. “Unauthorized recording or monitoring of Britney’s private communications — especially attorney-client communications, which are a sacrosanct part of the legal system — represent an unconscionable and disgraceful violation of her privacy rights and a striking example of the deprivation of her civil liberties,” he said. “Placing a listening device in Britney’s bedroom would be particularly horrifying, and corroborates so much of her compelling, poignant testimony. Mr. Spears has crossed unfathomable lines. Ms. Spears will no longer be bullied or extorted, nor will she further tolerate her father’s abuse, with its apparent misogynistic underpinnings.”

There will definitely be updates one way or another after her next hearing this Wednesday, September 29.

If you’re feeling down about not being able to get your hands on a PlayStation 5, just imagine how you’d feel if you were the star of one of the console’s biggest exclusive games and still couldn’t figure out a way to snag one. Unfortunately (but also, let’s be real, hilariously), this situation is exactly what unfolded for Deathloop voice actor Jason Kelley.

Just one day before Deathloop hit shelves, the game’s official twitter account shared a video of Kelley (the voice actor behind the game’s protagonist, Colt) in the recording studio hyping up the game and encouraging fans to pick up a copy. He then joked they should also send a copy of the game and a PlayStation 5 his way, implying that despite working on a title for PlayStation and the console being nearly a year old, the voice actor still hadn’t managed to get ahold of one, leaving him unable to play his own game.

The short video quickly caught the attention of fans who both praised Kelley’s Deathloop performance and were shocked the actor didn’t have a console or even a copy of the game, for that matter. Fortunately for Kelley however, his video also caught the eye of Pete Hines, the senior vice president of global marketing and communications at Bethesda — the parent company of Deathloop developer Arkane. Within ten minutes of the video being shared, Hines responded to it, stating he could “probably help [Kelley] find a PS5,” so he could enjoy his own “amazing performance.”

While Hines’ offer to send Kelley a PlayStation might have come as a shock to some considering Sony’s biggest competitor, Microsoft, purchased Bethesda earlier this year, it turns out Hines is just a really nice dude. And not only is Hines a really nice dude, but he’s also a really nice dude who comes through. Two weeks later, we now have confirmation Bethesda has in fact sent both a PlayStation 5 and a copy of Deathloop to Kelley. Kelley shared the big news during an interview with JumpCut PLAY, stating:

“I was just notified by Bethesda that a PS5 was made available and is going to be shipped to me, with the game as well. So, I’ll be playing the game… I’m super excited.”

While it seems like it will still be a while until everyone who wants a PlayStation 5 has one and perhaps even longer until Xbox fans finally can play Deathloop on the console of their choice, we’re just happy things ended working out for Kelley.

Facebook, the social media site your uncle gets his misinformation from, is pulling back from a plan to make a social media network just for kids. According to a blog post from the square picture’d sibling Instagram, a plan to make an Instagram Kids social media site has officially been put on pause following a wide array of backlash for all the reasons that likely just popped into your head.

You can pretty much take your pick from a long list of problems when it comes to the reason the company decided to pull the plug. Social media’s impact on brains both young and old is still being studied but the early returns are not good, and there is a long list of controversies the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company has endured in recent years as the massive entity comes to grips with its impact on the real world.

The company’s been accused of aiding in sex trafficking in the past due to lax moderation, for starters. Then there’s that same moderation problem that has led to the radicalization of countless thousands of people to conspiracies like QAnon or anti-vaccination nuts because of a mysterious algorithm that has more power over society than you can even imagine.

But as Variety notes, a likely reason the app got put on pause is a bit more political. Like, “the government actually getting involved to regulate these massive online entities because they’re (probably) a public health risk” political.

The move to pause Instagram Kids comes three days before the Sept. 30 House subcommittee hearing “Protecting Kids Online: Facebook, Instagram, and Mental Health Harms,” at which Antigone Davis, Facebook director, global head of safety, is the sole witness scheduled to testify.

It’s no surprise, perhaps, that Facebook continues to insist in Dril-like fashion that this is actually a good idea despite the news.

Mosseri, in a blog post Monday, predicted that critics of “Instagram Kids” will interpret the pausing of the app’s development “as an acknowledgement that the project is a bad idea. That’s not the case. The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is far better for parents than where we are today.”

That logic may have some semblance of truth, but it’s also fair why no one really seems to trust a company like Facebook (or Twitter or any other one that currently exists) to handle it properly given the current state of things. The Variety story digs into exactly why an Instagram Kids could be so dangerous for so many given how damaging Being Online can be to young people.

The decision to pause Instagram Kids also follows a Wall Street Journal report earlier this month that cited Instagram’s own research showing that Instagram is “toxic” for teenage girls. For example, 32% of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, “Instagram made them feel worse,” according to a March 2020 research report conducted by Instagram that was shared on Facebook’s internal message board, per the WSJ report.

…

In fact, according to Raychoudhury, on 11 of 12 well-being issues, teenage girls who said they struggled with difficult issues also said that Instagram made them better rather than worse.

It’s all fairly harrowing stuff, and while Facebook may be trying to be less toxic to humanity it’s easy to understand the skepticism basically across the board on it all, even in the American government itself. All of this a good reminder to log off every now and again, regardless of your age. It’s good for your health.

[via Variety]

Louisville was never known as a hotbed of hip-hop but in recent years, the city’s profile has risen considerably thanks to the success of hometown heroes like Bryson Tiller, Jack Harlow, and EST Gee. Harlow especially has had a standout year; riding the wave of his No. 2 hit “What’s Poppin,” he managed to turn that buzz into a No. 5 chart debut for his debut album, Thats What They All Say, and turn himself into a fixture of pop culture thanks to a string of viral moments and his placement on Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby.”

A big part of Harlow’s rise was a boost from Tiller on the song “Thru The Night” from his 2019 mixtape Confetti. However, before that collaboration, Harlow counted himself one of Tiller’s biggest fans, telling Complex in a new interview today that he was actually “totally jealous” of his fellow Louisvillian when Tiller first crossed over in 2015 with “Don’t” and Trapsoul.

“I’d hear Outkast, or I’d hear Drake, or I’d hear Kendrick Lamar talk about where they’re from and rep it,” Jack explains. “And I was like, ‘Who’s going to do that for Louisville?’ Bryson Tiller comes out. I’m in awe. I’m inspired. And I’m totally jealous. And I’m just like, ‘Oh my God, this guy got it.’”

In addition to “Thru The Night,” the two Kentuckians also teamed up with their late fellow local Static Major for “Luv Is Dro” from Jack’s new album. You can read Complex‘s full profile on Harlow here.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Denver Nuggets have dreams of winning the Western Conference this season after two trips to the conference semis and one conference finals appearance in the last three years. Nikola Jokic comes into 2021-22 as the reigning NBA MVP and seemingly gets better each season, and has plenty of talent around him if the Nuggets can get and stay healthy.

Jamal Murray being able to return from an ACL tear is near the top of the list of needs for this Nuggets team if they are to compete with the best in the West, but not far behind is another step forward into superstardom from Michael Porter Jr. The Nuggets’ sharp-shooting forward is entering his fourth season as an NBA player, but only the third on the court after sitting out his rookie season with a back injury. Last year saw him become one of the NBA’s most fearsome big shooters and his continued growth as an offensive weapon could hold the keys to the Nuggets taking another leap as a team.

Denver has high hopes for a player they stole in the 2018 Draft due to his injury red flags, and they have now committed to him long term, inking Porter Jr. to a 5-year, designated max extension on Monday.

The deal is worth $172 million for now, but could jump to $207 million if MPJ makes it onto one of the three All-NBA teams next season. That is obviously a big if, but he undoubtedly has the offensive talent to make a case for himself, particularly in a season where he’ll be the second star to Jokic for much of the year until Murray can return.

Not long ago, Oreo started selling special Pokémon-themed versions of their cookie. They taste just like any other Oreo, but these ones are special because they have images of Pokémon on them. Not only that but, in the spirit of Pokémon, the individual cookies have different rarities. So some images are more likely to be in a package than others. This is cool because fans of Pokémon know that rarity is a big part of the universe and is essential to making the goal of “catching them all” fun.

Unfortunately, what Oreo didn’t take into account is that anytime Pokémon is involved there are going to be people clamoring for it. We might not ever reach the peak of Poké-mania of the 90s’, but people’s love for the franchise, now across several generations, has never been stronger. This love is also quite lucrative for resellers and scalpers. Pokémon-themed apparel sells out instantly these days as fans, and scalpers, clamor for them. While some want them for personal collection and enjoyment, the ones who want them to resell usually have less respectable intentions.

That resale market demand has led to sellouts of merch like trading cards at such a level that shoppers started getting violent with each other at department stores. The stores responded by no longer selling the cards in-store. And now it seems we’re seeing some of those same Pokémon resellers go after the cookies. A quick search on eBay can find the rarest of the cookies, such as Mew, selling for literal thousands of dollars. Of course, others are trying to attack the market inefficiency and sell it for a much cheaper $100 or $200. Unless you want the complete set, which currently can run from $42 to $400.

This might seem silly to some, but anyone that’s been keeping an eye on merchandising over the last couple of years could have predicted it. The desire to own limited-time memorabilia is extremely trendy right now. The direct cause of it is unknown, but there are a few theories as to why it’s happening.

YouTube

In recent years, one of the most popular trends of YouTube videos at the moment is unboxing videos. These videos are simply someone opening up a package of some kind and talking about what’s inside it. They’re extremely popular and some YouTube channels have as many as 2.6 million followers doing that as their main thing.

These videos were originally very popular with children, but as young adults with money to spend started watching them, it made them interested in some of their old hobbies. So they started collecting, just as they did as kids, and it eventually became popular enough to be something that scalpers could find a lucrative resell market on.

Nostalgia

Nostalgia is a powerful tool. The kids who grew up playing and watching Pokémon are now old enough to spend their own money. So they decide to spend it on something that is nostalgic for them. Things like Pokémon cards were extremely popular back in the day. Now, with a renewed interest, they’re arguably more popular than ever. So popular that the Pokémon Company had to create a brand new Twitter account specifically for the card game.

People Are Bored

Across the board we saw new interest in hobbies take place throughout 2020, as people became locked inside their homes. Without the ability to go do what we usually would we needed a way to spend our time, and money. While some people chose to make the best sourdough ever, others got really into old hobbies. We saw a rise in retro gaming and we definitely saw an increase in people spending their money on Pokémon cards.

When a bunch of people have nothing to do, money to spend, and an enjoyment of Pokémon they’re going to consider getting some cards. While cards had definitely been regaining in popularity up to that point, a strong case can be made that it reached a peak when everyone suddenly lost all their usual hobbies. Evidence supporting this is eBay saying that sales for Pokémon Cards in particular increased “574 percent” from 2019 to 2020, and it’s not like this is the only place this was happening.

Digital trading cards, like the NFT-based NBA Topshot, became extremely popular in 2020 as well. When Target had to ban the sale of trading cards from their stores it wasn’t just Pokémon cards. Sports cards were banned as well because they too had seen a shocking increase in sales. Funko Pop! saw record sales in the fourth quarter of 2020. People want merchandise and they splurged on it in 2020.

So it sadly wasn’t that shocking that people started trying to sell Oreos for literal hundreds if not thousands of dollars because it was just following the trend. A trend that has shown no real signs of slowing down anytime soon.

9-1-1 (FOX, 8:00pm) — A record heatwave’s (predictably) causing all of Los Angeles to go into blackout mode, which sparks (also predictable) mayhem for the 118. Elsewhere, Maddie’s condition is causing concern all around.

Ordinary Joe (NBC, 10:00pm) — It’s like Sliding Doors but with TV Prince James Wolk (Watchmen, Mad Men, Political Animals, Zoo) and no Gwyneth Paltrow. If that’s not enough to make you climb aboard, consider that Wolk will not only play a rock star (!) but also a nurse and a police officer, all during parallel timelines following a pivotal choice after college graduation. This week, the trio of different Joes are all attempting to come to terms with the 9/11 anniversary while in very different romantic places.

Roswell, New Mexico (CW, 8:00pm) — Jones is stuck in Max’s body while a duo’s attempting to make headway with Dallas, and Heath is the subject of a related search.

Y: The Last Man (FX on Hulu) — The acclaimed graphic novel gets its due as a dystopian TV drama starring Diane Lane as the globe’s de facto president. Her son becomes, as the title suggests, the very last man on Earth following an apocalyptic event that pretty much obliterates the Y chromosome. FX recently made it known that although the Y appears to refer to the chromosome, the show will take a nuanced approach and not operate on a merely gender-binary level.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Sturgill Simpson, Jon Stewart

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Snoop Godd, Chris Colfer, Mickey Guyton

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Billy Bob Thornton, Miriam Margolyes, Nick Baglio

In case you missed these weekend picks:

Foundation (Apple TV+ series) — Isaac Asimov’s classic novel gets a heady adaptation starring the always great Jared Harris and Lee Pace. The sci-fi story revolves around exiles who are working to rebuild civilization even as the galaxy falls apart (sounds familiar!). A great deal of attention has been paid to the epic scale of the show, which Apple TV+ appears to want to be its Game of Thrones. The good news here, though, is that the story won’t closely adhere to the books, which should (hopefully) prevent the same sort of finale-season conundrum that we saw with Thrones.

Midnight Mass (Netflix series) — Get ready, The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor addicts, because creator Mike Flanagan’s back to cause us more horror fits. This happens to be his favorite project so far and revolves around an isolated community that lives on spooky Crockett Island, which gets even spookier due to a charismatic priest’s arrival. Naturally, a whole lot of supernatural shenanigans are afoot, but human nature (as we are currently experiencing in-real-life these days) can often be scarier than the ghosts that people can dream up. It’s dark, real dark.