Month: May 2022

It’s been a little over a month since the entertainment world was shocked by the news of Taylor Hawkins’ death. The Foo Fighters drummer has been honored in numerous ways through messages on social media and performances of songs he helped craft. An example of the latter came during Pearl Jam’s recent concert in Inglewood, California. The band paid tribute to Hawkins with a performance of Foo Fighters’ “Cold Day In The Sun,” which features Hawkins as the song’s lead vocalist. Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron, who was Hawkins’ collaborator in their Nighttime Boogie Association side project, led the way on the “Cold Day In The Sun” cover.

“It’s never easy when you lose someone,” Eddie Vedder said about Hawkins before the band performed the song. “As you get older, you’ll notice it starts happening more and more. It’s just where you are on the timeline and where your friends are on the timeline. But sometimes, like this, it’s so unexpected.” He continued, “But also makes it harder because he was someone who truly, truly loved living life on this planet. So I guess the one thing we can be consoled by is the fact that he never wasted a moment, and he did live his life to the fullest. We just want more of it.”

This is not the first time that Pearl Jam has honored Hawkins since his death. Following his death, Matt Cameron took to Instagram to remember him. “I love Taylor Hawkins,” he wrote. “He brought so much joy and happiness to my life. I can’t believe he’s gone. I miss him already damn. My deepest love and condolences to the entire Foo Fighters organization and to the beautiful Hawkins family.”

You can view videos from Pearl Jam’s cover of “Cold Day In The Sun” above.

As 2022 got underway, it appeared that Kanye West would shift his attention to his eleventh album Donda 2. The project eventually arrived in February, but not in the traditional way that we might have expected. He decided that the album would be housed exclusively on his Stem Player website, and to this day, he’s yet to upload the project to streaming services. However, since releasing Donda last summer, Kanye has continued to share content from the album. He dropped a visual for “Hurricane,” the Grammy-winning standout from the album and now he’s announced that a visual for “Life Of The Party” is on the way.

The track, which features Andre 3000 and finds both rappers speaking about their mothers, will have a matching visual for it released later today. With today being Mother’s Day, it’s a perfect day to share the video for the song. The visual will be available to view on all streaming platforms starting at 9:45pm EST later tonight.

A press release for the video’s announcement also revealed that the visual will appear in the first TV commercial for Yeezy Gap Engineered By Balenciaga. New pieces from the collaboration, which has been described as a “creative exploration,” will debut in the commercial. The items will be available for release on May 25 at 9am EST/6pm PST on Yeezy Gap’s website as well as sites for Balenciaga’s online partners: Farfetch, Mytheresa, and Luisa Via Roma.

Later tonight, you can click here to watch the video for “Life Of The Party.”

Things haven’t been great for Meghan McCain. Since leaving The View last summer, she’s been quietly dragged by her former colleagues. She released a memoir, Bad Republican, which did well when it was released exclusively as an audiobook on Audible but tanked very, very, very badly when it belatedly hit hardcover. Now one of her father’s former aides has come for her.

On an otherwise chill Saturday night, Steve Schmidt — a longtime Republican strategist who was the senior campaign strategist on John McCain’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential run — had a mulit-tweet meltdown directed at his former boss’ daughter.

Saying he’s stayed silent about Meghan, even after “14 years of abuse and attacks,” he declared that “today is the day I have decided to respond.” He said, I was the first adult that @MeghanMcCain ever encountered that she heard the word NO from. I told her she was unimportant and that the Presidential election wasn’t about her.”

Calling her a “bully, entitled, unaccomplished, spoiled and mean,” Schmidt claimed that her father was “appalled” and embarrassed” by Meghan’s “conduct” on his campaign trail, when she was in her mid-20s. “The tantrums were beyond anything I have ever witnessed from any other human being. They were epic meltdowns that would test the range of Meryl Streep, Kate Winslett, Jodi Foster and Anne Hathaway on their best days. Raging, screaming, crying, at the staff, at the makeup people at Secret Service. Without any doubt it was the most rotten, entitled, spoiled, cruel, mean and bullying behavior I have ever witnessed.”

Schmidt also claimed that all reports about her diva behavior on The View were correct. “Everyone who has ever worked with @MeghanMcCain from @abc @TheView @JoyVBehar @WhoopiGoldberg and a thousand others have seen the unfiltered version of what the whole of America has seen,” he wrote. “That is why in a nation of 330 million people, 247 have bought it. Nothing new to learn.”

He was still tweeting about Meghan into Sunday, though he reserved some ire for her father’s running mate, notorious public health menace Sarah Palin. “She is an absolutely degenerate liar,” he wrote. “Pathological. Unfit. Unwell. She’s a quitter and a buffoon who has no business ever holding a position of public trust, ever. Not even as a crossing guard. Nothing.”

Meghan McCain has yet to respond to Schmidt’s meltdown. While Meaghan has prided herself as being an anti-Trump Republican, so has Schmidt, who helped found the Lincoln Project, the group of longtime conservatives who sought to ensure the 45th president only served a single term.

(Via The Daily Beast)

For decades, for over half a century in fact, the ever-regenerating hero of Doctor Who was a white man. Five years ago, that finally changed. Jodie Whittaker became the 13th incarnation of the one known only as “The Doctor,” making her the first woman to assume the role. The actress announced she was stepping down from the role, but her replacement won’t be another white man, or another woman for that matter. (Nor will it be Hugh Grant.)

The news broke over the show’s official Twitter account. “The future is here! Ncuti Gatwa is the Doctor,” the post read. Gatwa, a Scottish actor born in Rwanda, rose to prominence on Sex Education, on which he plays Eric, best friend to Asa Butterfield’s Otis and a young gay man from a strict Nigerian family. Gatwa is third-billed on the series but he’s known for stealing the show. For his work, he’s won a Scottish BAFTA for Best Male Performance back in 2020.

When Gatwa takes the reins, he’ll be the 14th incarnation of the Doctor, a mysterious character who travels the cosmos and through time in the phone booth-looking TARDIS, brainily saving the universe from baddies like the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Weeping Angels, and more.

The news was announced the same day as this year’s BAFTAs, where Gatwa is nominated for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. He was relieved to finally be able to talk about the new gig, which he scored back in February.

(Via Deadline)

A few months after a judge ruled that Britney Spears’ conservatorship must come to an end, a report revealed that Britney Spears signed a $15 million book deal with Simon & Schuster for a “tell-all” memoir. While Britney has yet to speak about the specific terms of that deal, she has confirmed that she is indeed in the process of writing that book. In various posts, the multi-Platinum pop singer has opened up about her process with the book, including how she feels about certain memories when she reflects on them. In a more recent post, Britney revealed that the book will arrive at the end of the year.

“I want to talk about secrets!!!” Spears wrote in the post. “The secrets I’ve had to hold the past 15 years I will say are honestly paralyzing.” She continued, “I had so many complaints I wanted to share and bring up only to be told to keep shut … but wait isn’t that what a woman of intellect is supposed to do. Speak up, rise to the occasion make people think.” Britney then explains how it felt to watch the media and other people incorrectly tell her story.

“Then I started to get mad angry ALL THIS TIME !!!,” she wrote. “Then all the offers of money to tell my side of the story …and all the documentaries were trash! I’m sure that was ignition to move me forward but honestly I just wanted to spit in any persons face that came near me.”

She concluded the post by writing, “Sh*t maybe now I will need a conservatorship ?! I’m bat sh*t f*cking crazy JUST KIDDING … Well not really !!! But I said.. just do a book … the easiest way possible and considering my fear of people I might have to write them off for the next decade !!! Sitting down and sharing my story might not be the safest thing for anyone!!! My book comes out at the end of this year … Once it’s released not sure whats going to happen folks.”

You can view Britney’s full post about her upcoming book and more above.

At long last, Arcade Fire returned with their sixth album We on Friday. The project presented ten songs across 40 minutes of music that the band first started putting together towards the end of 2020. We is the band’s first album since 2017’s Everything Now, but it’s also the group’s first project without their longtime multi-instrumentalist Will Butler, who departed the band at the end of 2021 just after We was completed. While moving on without Butler will certainly be different, Arcade pushes full steam ahead with a pair of performances on Saturday Night Live.

The band kicked off the night with a performance of “Unconditional (Lookout Kid)” that captured the band standing beside each other on the stage flushed in gold lighting as they coursed through the nearly 5-minute song. Next came “The Lightning I, II” in which the band gave a passionate performance of to close the night.

Arcade Fire’s recent performance on Saturday Night Live makes for the fifth one of the band’s lifetime following performances in 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2018. It also comes after the band announced their tour dates in support of We. Arcade Fire will hit the road at the end of August with a show in Ireland and continue for three months before bringing things to a close with a show in Toronto on December 1.

You can watch Arcade perform “The Lightning I, II” and “Unconditional (Lookout Kid)” in the videos above.

We is out now via Columbia. You can stream it here.

This week’s SNL did not hold back on the biggest issue in America right now: the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade, which would see free and legal abortion outlawed in almost half the country. They hit at it with their Cold Open. They tackled it during Weekend Update. But one sketch took on the lighter side of things, addressing a big, welcome distraction from the horrors of right now: that new Marvel movie that’s making a ton of money.

The same weekend that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was Hoovering up cash money, the film’s star, Benedict Cumberbatch, just happened to be hosting SNL. He made a brief but key appearance in one of the pre-taped segments, which focused on repertory player Chloe Fineman. Called “The Understudy,” the sketch followed her around on her main duties on the show: shadowing main cast members, learning their lines, and even doing spot-on impersonations should any of them get sick.

Fineman mimicked people like Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, and Aidy Bryant. But at one point she played a trick on Cumberbatch, appearing in his dressing room dressed up as the Scarlet Witch, the surprise villain of the new Doctor Strange, played by Elizabeth Olsen. Cumberbatch buys it, thinking it’s really Olsen. But then the real Olsen shows up. When both actresses claim to be the actual Elizabeth Olsen, Cumberbatch comes to a chilling conclusion: “Oh my god. The multiverse is real.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

SNL opened its latest episode by tackling the biggest story of last week: the leaked Supreme Court draft that revealed the right-leaning bench was on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade. The decision, when it’s finalized, likely in June, would remove protections from safe and legal abortions, endangering the lives of women in about half the country. But one dig at the decision wasn’t enough. On Weekend Update, they went all-in on the decision.

“Good evening, everyone,” Colin Jost said as the segment began. “Well, guys, tomorrow is Mother’s Day, whether you want it to be one or not.” Jost later addressed the leak. “The Court is usually careful, but they slipped up… and now they have to live with it forever. Sounds really unfair.”

Co-host Michael Che weighed in, too, wondering why Republicans were so obsessed with controlling women’s reproductive rights. “Maybe don’t think of it as abortion,” Che said. “Think of it as a patriot storming the uterus to overturn the results of an unfair pregnancy.”

Eventually Kate McKinnon made an appearance as Amy Coney Barrett, the justice hurried onto the bench in the final months of the Trump presidency, shortly after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who McKinnon has also played) and while Americans were already in the process of voting in the 2020 election.

“I just don’t understand why you need an abortion,” McKinnon’s Barrett told the crowd. “You can leave a baby anywhere in the United States. Just plop it!” She suggested leaving unwanted babies carried to term on a sidewalk or near a body of water. “Like Moses in a basket? Plop it. Like an infant in Jungle Book? ‘Do your nine,’ and then plop that baby and give it to a panther.”

She then told the crowd how she really feels. “You are a murderer if you have an abortion, but you are not a murderer if you put a baby in a bag in a mailbox,” McKinnon’s Barrett said. “I have seven children and a job and I make it work, so why every single other woman can’t do the same is beyond me—unless I’m missing something about class in America. Don’t answer that.”

You can watch McKinnon above and Jost and Che below.

Last week — on top of everything else the world is dealing with right now — a leaked document showed that the right-leaning Supreme Court is awfully close to overturning Roe v. Wade (with some help from Republican lawmakers). When the decision is finalized, as early as June, free and legal abortion would be outlawed in just under half the country. It’s no laughing matter, which is why SNL did what they could with the first sketch on their latest episode: They made fun of it.

In the leaked draft, Justice Samuel Alito tried to buttress his flimsy argument for overturning a 50-year-old case by citing, among other things, a treatise dating back to the 13th century. So SNL decided to go back to Medieval times in hopes of portraying his argument as surreally outdated.

The sketch finds host Benedict Cumberbatch lording over a small — and, of course, all male — group looking to make abortion illegal. “We should have a law that could stand the test of time,” Cumberbatch’s character says, “so that hundreds and hundreds of years from now, they will look back and say, ‘No need to update this one at all. They nailed it back in 1235.’”

When confronted by an actual woman — a peasant played by Cecily Strong — they assume she, who will soon have fewer rights than she did already, they blow up. “Uh-oh, woman hear ideas and it makes her think, ‘Why I no have those?’” said one of the men, played by Andrew Dismukes.

“I just don’t understand why you’re obsessed with this issue,” Strong’s character says. “What about the fact that no one can read or write and everyone’s dying of plague?”

“You think just because I have active plague, that means I have to wear a mask?” Dismukes responds. “It’s my body, my choice.”

Eventually Kate McKinnon shows up as a witch — or, well, just a woman over 30. “Worry not, dear girl, these barbaric laws will someday be overturned by something called progress — and then, about 50 years after the progress, they’ll be like, ‘Maybe we should undo the progress,’” she tells them. “I don’t know why all my visions from that time are very confusing. It seems like all the power comes from a place called Florida. And if you think our customs are weird. You should watch the trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard!”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Charles Oliveira (32-8, 1 NC) submitted Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 274 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, Saturday night, but the lightweight title will remain vacant for now.

The main event got thrown a major curveball during weigh-ins on Friday afternoon when the lightweight champion, Oliveira, failed to make weight and was stripped of the title that he’s held for nearly a year. Oliveira’s attempt to make weight saw him come in at 155.5 pounds, just a half-pound above the maximum weight for the title fight.

As for the fight, Gaethje and Oliveira traded big shots to open the fight, with the former champ stunning Gaethje, only for the challenger to respond with a huge leg kick. Gaethje sent Oliveira backward on the mat twice with two huge shots, the second of which opened up a nasty gash on the former champ’s left eye.

Oliveira snapped a big right that sent Gaethje on his back, then moved in to take his back and submitted the challenger to close out his night.

With the win, Oliveira now hasn’t lost in five years, including wins over Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Tony Ferguson. As for who he’ll fight now as the No. 1 contender for the lightweight belt, Oliveira said after the bout that he doesn’t have a preference, but did question if Conor McGregor is ready to step back inside the Octagon.