Month: February 2022

When she’s not emotionally destroying Euphoria fans, or emotionally destroying Spider-Man fans, Zendaya is a headstrong small business owner named Sally, who sells seashells by the seashore. Super savvy!

In a new ad from website builder Squarespace, Zendaya plays Sally, who is super sick of shoddy seashell sales. She turns to the site to help market her seashells to people who don’t live near the beach because, to be honest, why would you buy seashells when they are already free? Sally quickly turns her seashell shack into a seashell empire, which is the main lesson from the childhood tongue twister, for some reason.

The colorful alliteration-filled ad is directed by Edgar Wright, also known for his terrifyingly vibrant Last Night In Soho. It also featured narration and a small cameo by rapper Andrew 3000, who sails away on the shore

In a newsflash that will surprise absolutely no one: Marjorie Taylor Greene is complaining about social media. Again. Last month, she had so much to say about being permanently banned from Twitter, that even her own followers were begging her to shut up. At roughly the same time, she was temporarily suspended from Facebook, which only added fuel to her fiery rhetoric. So when Mark Zuckerberg’s company attempted to silence the Georgia congresswoman again this week, albeit temporarily, she reacted in her typically overreactive way.

As The Daily Beast reports, Greene took to her Gettr account (basically, Twitter for people who have been kicked off Twitter for sharing insane conspiracy theories) on Sunday night to lament the fact that she was “in Facebook jail for three days for offending the Communists at Facebook by defending children from needless masking that many of us consider child abuse.” Of course, none of that was true.

(Greene, mature adult that she is, also used the opportunity to take a swipe at Stacey Abrams, calling her “obese and in the highest risk factor for Covid co-morbidities.”)

What Facebook objected to was Greene’s assertion that forcing children to wear masks was tantamount to “child abuse” and that “Masks do not stop the spread of COVID.” The Daily Beast reached out to Facebook (a.k.a. Meta), who confirmed that the company did indeed delete MGT’s post, because it violated their community guidelines because of her erroneous “claims that wearing a face mask properly does not help prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

More importantly, Greene was not in “Facebook jail,” as the many other posts she made to Facebook following her ‘Masks = Child Abuse’ should have made clear to her. Yet when The Daily Beast reached out to Greene’s team for a comment, they did not respond.

(The Daily Beast)

Dope Don’t Sell Itself, the new album from 2 Chainz and allegedly his final trap rap project, is out now via Def Jam. During its rollout, Chainz has kept up a steady stream of content, including a live television performance of “Lost Kings” with Lil Durk and Sleepy Rose, a fire LA Leakers freestyle over Pharcyde’s 1992 classic “Passin’ Me By,” and music videos for “Million Dollars Worth Of Game” with 42 Dugg, “Pop Music” with Beatking and Moneybagg Yo, and “Neighbors Know My Name.”

Adding to that latter category, yesterday, 2 Chainz shared the off-roading video for “Free B.G.” In it, Chainz and a crew of motorsports enthusiasts take over a vacant airplane hangar to do donuts and wheelies on ATVs and dirtbikes while a whole fleet of scantily-clad women twerks to the Mannie Fresh and Mondo-produced beat. The lyrics pay homage to Mannie’s former labelmate B.G., with Chainz calling himself a hot boy — borrowing from the name of the quartet which B.G. belonged to with Juvenile, Lil Wayne, and Turk — and chanting to free the incarcerated rapper, who was convicted of gun possession and witness tampering in 2012 and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.

Watch 2 Chainz’s “Free B.G.” video above.

Dope Don’t Sell Itself is out now. You can stream it here.

WARNING: Spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett below.

After putting the pieces in place for a confrontation between Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and the Pyke Syndicate, who have been make aggressive moves to wrest control of Jabba the Hutt’s empire from the fierce bounty hunter, The Book of Boba Fett finale delivered on that setup as war broke out in the streets of Mos Espa. The finale also put things in place for The Mandalorian Season 3 (and possibly another Star Wars spinoff…), so we’ll break down the highlights of the epic showdown.

The War with the Pykes

While holed up in the bombed out ruins of the cantina owned by Garsa Fwip (Jennifer Beals), Boba Fett and what’s left of his operation prepare for an assault from the Pykes. Mando (Pedro Pascal) assures everyone that a garrison from Freetown will be arriving to help after he spoke to Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) in the previous episode. However, Mando is unaware that Vanth was gunned down by the ruthless bounty hunter Cad Bane, who has a long history with Boba and has been enlisted by the Pykes.

The situation gets worse as the entire city turns on Boba’s team, which now consists of the Krrsantan and the scooter gang from Episode 3. The Pykes also roll out massive fighter droids with energy shields putting Boba’s forces up against the wall. Even with the Freetown garrison showing up to avenge Vanth, it’s not going well.

Mando and Grogu Back Together At Last

In a cliffhanger ending to the previous episode, Luke Skywalker gave Grogu the choice of taking Yoda’s lightsaber and becoming a Jedi or taking Beskar chain mail and returning to Mando. Clearly, the little guy chose Mando as the two are reunited in the midst of the chaos after Grogu is unceremoniously dumped on Tatooine by R2-D2. Nice, Luke. Real nice.

Boba Fett Finally Rides That Rancor

After planting the seed all the way back in Episode 3, and with the help of Danny Trejo, no less, Boba Fett finally gets his Rancor on as he rides the monstrous beast into action and proceeds to turn the tables by absolutely wrecking the Pyke’s giant robots. However, Boba’s ride will be short-lived as he’s forced to confront his past.

Showdown with Cad Bane

In a callback to their first showdown on The Clone Wars animated series, Boba and Cad Bane stare each other down in the streets, and once again, Bane proves he’s the quicker draw than Boba. However, while gloating over his victory, Bane gives Boba the chance to knock the blue alien on his back and stab him through the chest with his Gaffi stick from Boba’s time with the Tuskens. If you were pumped about Cad Bane’s live-action debut, our condolences.

Fennec Shand Does What She Does Best

With Cad Bane and the Pyke’s fighter droids wrecked by Boba Fett’s forces, what’s left of the Pykes attempt to pacify the other Mos Espa crime lords, who are now turning on them. Their squabble is short-lived as Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) not only assassinates but the remaining crime lords who betrayed Boba Fett. The bounty hunter’s claim to Jabba’s territory is now secure as he gets to work ridding the planet of the spice trade that caused so much destruction.

An End-Credits Scene With Some Handsome Implications

While Timothy Olyphant’s Cobb Vanth is presumed dead, the end-credits reveal that’s not the case as he’s seen healing inside Boba Fett’s Bacta tank. Will he show up in Season 3 of The Mandalorian or is Olyphant getting his own Star Wars series? We don’t know yet, but it does provide some exciting opportunities now that The Book of Boba Fett has wrapped up has closed its first chapter on the fierce bounty hunter’s new life.

The Book of Boba Fett is currently streaming on Disney+.

“Don’t quit your day job” is a piece of advice that is usually doled out in a snarky kind of way. But Amy Schneider’s record-breaking run as a contestant on Jeopardy! has put her in the rare position where stepping away from the 9 to 5 drill could prove to be a very smart, and lucrative, move. So she has gone ahead and done just that, as she announced on Twitter late Tuesday afternoon

As the New York Post reports, Schneider won just under $1.4 million during her impressive 40-game Jeopardy! winning streak, making her the winningest woman in the beloved game show’s history. And now she’s ready to try and parlay the attention she has drawn to leave her full-time gig as a software engineer and see what life is like as a “public figure.” Just what that entails is a still a bit of a question mark for Schneider, though she has shared that she has always wanted to write a book and is using her newfound free time to finally put together a proposal.

She also recently told the New York Post that she’s looking to do some traveling with her partner, Genevieve Davis, and it looks like Ireland might be first on their to do list. “I mentioned on the show that we wanted to go to Ireland, and while we’re still finalizing it, it’s looking like we’ll be there for St. Patrick’s Day,” Schneider said.

While Schneider has said that she believes interim host (and fellow former champ) Ken Jennings is the ideal person to become the permanent host of Jeopardy!, she also wouldn’t be against trying to fit into Alex Trebek’s shoes and host the show herself. “Whether I’d actually even be good at it, I don’t know,” she said. “But yeah, I‘d certainly consider it if somebody asked.”

(Via New York Post)

The first teaser for the final season of Better Call Saul is so cryptic, it doesn’t even reveal when the season will premiere. But last week, co-creator Peter Gould tweeted, “Best cast and crew in the universe!” along with a photo of a director’s slates for “613,” as in season six, episode 13, which is the series finale. So, it shouldn’t be too much longer.

Speaking of the finale, the New York Times profiled Bob Odenkirk for the Sunday edition, and reporter Jonah Weiner was on set the day after Odenkirk read the script for the first time. “You like it?” Rhea Seehorn asked her co-star. He replied, “It’s a lot in there, a lot to think about. I think I like it, but I was pretty wiped out when I read it in the middle of the night. I think it’s a challenging way to go, to finish the series. It’s not flashy. It’s substantial, and on some level it’s things I hoped for, for years, in this character’s brain. On the other hand, yeah, I have to read it again. But what I like about it is, it’s not cheap. It’s not easy. It doesn’t feel cartoonish. It’s pretty great, I think. It’s pretty great.”

The Nobody star continued, “I would wanna end with this kind of character-development focus. That’s what it’s about, instead of something that just has guns in it. I guess there’s a few guns, but they’re not like in other episodes.” I’m 99.9999999 percent sure he’s not taking a shot (no pun intended) at Breaking Bad, but the finale did come to mind.

Odenkirk’s reaction to reading the script makes the final episode sound heavy, but don’t worry, he spends “a fair amount of time doing crimes this season. Just stupid crimes.” Kim might die (please don’t die, Kim), but Slippin’ Jimmy is immortal.

(Via the New York Times)

The first event of the NBA’s All-Star weekend is the Celebrity Game, which usually features a number of very funny moments sprinkled throughout a not particularly great basketball game. Of course, giving fans a good game is not the primary objective of the Celebrity Game — the hope is the event can celebrate the city and make some people laugh while some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment play 5-on-5.

On Wednesday, the rosters were announced for this year’s Celebrity Game, which features some veterans of the game, some professional athletes, and also, coaches Bill Walton and Dominique Wilkins. Here’s who is going to participate:

Team Walton

Jimmie Allen
Noah Carlock
Brittney Elena
Machine Gun Kelly
Dearica Hambry
Nyjah Huston
Matt James
Quavo
Ranveer Singh
Alex Toussaint
Anderson Varejao

Team Nique

Anuel AA
Justin Bibb
Kane Brown
Myles Garrett
Booby Gibson
Tiffany Haddish
Jack Harlow
Crissa Jackson
Anjali Ranadivé
Gianmarco Tamberi

We highly recommend that no one on Team Walton — with the exception of maybe Anderson Varejao — lets Myles Garrett back them down in the low post, because there is no way that will be fun. The broadcast booth for the game will consist of Cassidy Hubbarth, Richard Jefferson, and Kendrick Perkins, while Monica McNutt will be the game’s sideline reporter. The game is scheduled to take place on Friday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN.

Icelene Jones, the widow of the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, sued the rapper’s band, Wu-Tang Clan, on Tuesday, citing a decade’s worth of unpaid royalties, according to Variety. Jones is asking for at least $1 million, alleging that Wu-Tang Clan Productions paid no royalties to ODB’s estate from 2011 to July 2021. When royalties were paid out, it was only in the paltry sum (relatively speaking) of $130,000.

The basis for the suit is a 1992 recording agreement between ODB and Wu-Tang Clan Productions, which is owned and operated by Wu-Tang founder RZA, that promised 50% of net earnings on the publishing of his copyrighted songs as well as 50% of net earnings from the sound recordings — two very similar but slightly different subsets of income generated by artists’ music. Think of the first as all the money from the use of the songs in movies, TV shows, film trailers, and during sporting events, while the latter would be the actual sales of the songs via online and physical purchases, streaming, and radio play (not to mention, the auctioned, ultra-rare album, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin). The suit says that royalties from merchandise have been withheld, as well.

Although the estate has received some payments from Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. in 2019 and 2020, the suit alleges that this is well short of the royalties actually owned. The estate has requested accounting from the time period in question but says it has not received it in all this time.

Even though Kanye West has spent the past week (it’s only Wednesday, people) acting out against his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, the volatile producer/fashion mogul apparently still wants to reconcile with her — even if he also seems to realize that to do so would take an act of God. Kanye posted to Instagram yet again today, this time crafting a grid of photos from Kim’s new Vogue cover story, writing in the caption: “GOD PLEASE BRING OUR FAMILY BACK TOGETHER.”

Kanye certainly hasn’t been helping the supreme deity on that count. Early this week, he lashed out at Kim over managing a TikTok account for their daughter North against his wishes, and after she rightfully called him out for repeatedly making their private problems public, he doubled down, posting even more accusations that claimed she tried to bar him from spending time with their kids, forced him to take a drug test, and even put out a hit on him as if the Kardashians were a mob family rather than reality TV stars.

Meanwhile, in the Vogue cover story, Kardashian herself cast even more doubt over the potential for reconciliation, saying, “For so long, I did what made other people happy. And I think in the last two years I decided, I’m going to make myself happy. And that feels really good. And even if that created changes and caused my divorce, I think it’s important to be honest with yourself about what really makes you happy. I’ve chosen myself. I think it’s okay to choose you.”

She also not-so-subtly calls out Kanye’s passive-aggressive behavior. “You could be so hurt or angry at your ex, but I think in front of the kids, it always has to be ‘Your dad’s the best,’” she said. “Make sure you are your co-parent’s biggest cheerleader, no matter what you’re personally going through.”

Dominic Fike is at an important point of his career, as he’s in the midst of his first major acting role as a cast member of hit HBO series Euphoria. He’s doing well in music, too, of course, and he’s rubbed shoulders with some major figures in the industry, including Halsey; Fike featured on “Dominic’s Interlude” from Manic. Now, Halsey has used a clip from Euphoria to share a story about the first time they met.

Halsey tweeted a clip from the show, in which Zendaya’s character hits Fike’s character in the head and says, “He’s a liar and a f*cking snake. F*ck you!” Halsey wrote alongside that, “me and dominic fike when we first met and he told me he thought i was 35 even though im only one year older than him.”

Indeed, Halsey is 27 years old and was born on September 29, 1994, while Fike is 26 and was born just over a year later on December 30, 1995.

Halsey added in another tweet, “ive been doin this so damn long every one is tryna put me in the grave today. y’all better be careful! im 27 the universe might be listening [skull emoji].” Some of their followers apparently weren’t too keen on Halsey’s reference to the infamous “27 Club,” which features a group of famous celebrities who died at 27 years old, as they followed up, “too early in the day for dark humor i see. im sorry im kidding ily!!!”

Hours later, she added, “‘why would u share this’ because it’s funny as hell. i have a kid and i’ve been making music for 10 years i don’t blame anyone who is surprised by my age [crying emoji] y’all suck the fun outta everything.”