Month: May 2022

You can thank the artist very briefly not known as Prince for ensuring that one of the greatest sitcom couples of all time became a couple in the first place.

The music legend Prince was a huge fan of FOX’s New Girl, which ran from 2011-2018 and starred Zooey Deschanel as Jess Day and Jake Johnson as Nick Miller. Prince appeared as himself in a season three episode aptly titled “Prince” that aired in 2014. On The Kelly Clarkson Show on Wednesday, Minx star Jake Johnson told host Kelly Clarkson that Jess and Nick got together because it’s what Prince, inarguably the most important fan of the series, wanted.

Johnson, with his Minx beard intact, described Prince’s iconic arrival on set. “He came around and he was talking to Zooey [Deschanel],” Johnson said. “He looked at me and said to Zooey, ‘I would like to meet Nick now.’ Zooey looked at me and, obviously, whatever Prince wants…[Prince gets]. She walked over and was like, ‘Hey Nick, come over here.’ I met Prince and he was as nice as it gets.”

But it turns out the greatest musician of his generation and superfan, who passed away in 2016, came to the New Girl set with an agenda. “He wanted to live in the reality of the show, and he wanted Nick and Jess to be together,” Johnson said. “So he said he would do the show if he could help them get together. He got to live a little fantasy. He wanted them together, and we wanted Prince. Prince is the best.”

Given the direction of the show and the characters, Nick and Jess likely would have gotten together without Prince’s involvement, but Prince certainly made it happen quickly. Thank you for your service, Prince. You can watch video of the interview below.

Dr. Dre famously said he became hip-hop’s first billionaire (a title actually held by Jay-Z) back in 2014 when he sold Beats Electronics to Apple, but his boasting about it caused an ungodly amount to get cut from the final sale price. According to HipHopDX via The New York Times reporter Tripp Mickle’s new book, After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul, when Dre talked about the deal in a video posted on social media, Apple took the sale down $200 million due to a confidentiality clause in the initial $3.2 billion agreement.

If you don’t remember, the video was posted to Facebook by Tyrese, who was hanging out in the studio with Dre, both apparently drunk. As they shouted out South Central Los Angeles (Tyrese is from Watts, Dre is from neighboring Compton), Tyrese boasted that “the Forbes list just changed,” referring to the publication’s annual lists of top earners in the world of hip-hop. Dre backed up the brag, touting himself as “the first billionaire in hip-hop.” Interscope founder Jimmy Iovine, Dre’s partner in Beats, found out about the video from Diddy, who called him in the middle of the night after the video went up, prompting him to panic as Dre and Jimmy were invited to Apple’s headquarters by CEO Tim Cook.

They worried that the deal would get the ax, but instead, Cook used the opportunity to save Apple some money, adjusting the sale price by $0.2 billion. Ultimately, the deal worked out; Dre got to keep his boast, and Apple got to keep Beats, which is still paying off to this day. And really, what can you buy with $3.2 billion that you can’t get with $3 billion (although I’m sure he’d have loved the extra $100 million to give to his ex-wife)?

“Five conservative Justices on the Supreme Court are apparently poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and erase a woman’s Constitutional right to bodily autonomy, subverting the will of the vast majority of Americans and defying a half-century of legal precedent.” That’s how Seth Meyers kicked off his “A Closer Look” segment on Wednesday night, but that was just the intro of what was to come.

While Meyers discussed the “virtually unprecedented” leak of this magnitude in the history of the Supreme Court, what he was really interested in talking about was the painfully obvious irony of people complaining about the privacy of the court being violated, when said court’s goal is to ban women from having any right to privacy, or autonomy, when making decisions about their own lives, bodies, and health care.

But what irks Meyers most of all is the (admittedly unsurprising) way in which conservatives—who are set to “reap their biggest political victory in 50 years”—are still finding a way to paint it as a woe-is-us moment because of the leak itself. But what the Late Night host deemed the “most unhinged” reaction to the SCOTUS leak was a couple of bumbling Fox News hosts, including Mike Huckabee, referring to the leak of an unclassified document as “an insurrection.” Meyers wasn’t having it:

“Leaking a document is not an insurrection. January 6th, when a mob of rioters violently stormed the Capitol, that was an insurrection. In this case, someone posted a piece of paper online. Here, I’ll prove which one is worse: Do you think Mike Pence would rather be whisked out of a building by Secret Service while a mob chanted ‘Hang Mike Pence!,’ or read a leaked memo that said ‘Hang Mike Pence’?”

You can watch the full clip above.

“The reign of House Targaryen begins…”

HBO will attempt to wipe the bad taste that the Game of Thrones series finale left in many people’s mouths with House of the Dragon, a prequel series set 200 years before Bran was pushed out of any towers. Get ready for icy blonde wigs, dragons, and if you love Targaryen lore, folks, this is the show for you. “Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne,” Rhaenys (Eve Best), who got passed over for the Throne by Viserys (Paddy Considine), tells Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy as an adult, Milly Alcock as a youngster) in the teaser trailer above.

Daenerys, many years later, can relate.

A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has watched a couple of House of the Dragon episodes. and he’s very “pleased” with what he’s seen. “Those of you who like complex, conflicted, grey characters (as I do) will like this series, I think,” he wrote. “There will be plenty of dragons and battles, to be sure, but the spine of the story is the human conflicts, the love and the hate, character drama rather than action/ adventure.

House of the Dragon also stars Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans, while Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik are showrunners duty. The 10-episode season premieres on August 21.

WARNING: Spoilers for the Moon Knight season finale below.

After Moon Knight dropped its wild finale this week, which in true Marvel style, saw the Egyptian moon god Khonshu battle the alligator goddess Ammit in a Godzilla vs. Kong-style fight in front of the ancient pyramids, the big question is will the Oscar Isaac series return for a Season 2? The end-credits reveal of Moon Knight’s third identity, Jake Lockley, left the door wide open for more stories of the protector of the night, but the situation is apparently fluid.

The biggest issue is that Isaac is not contracted for any more episodes. Shortly after Moon Knight premiered, the actor made it a point to tell Variety that he didn’t want the “golden handcuffs” that keeps other MCU stars bound to the franchise, plus he just went through all of that as Poe Dameron in Star Wars. However, as a crucial part of the creative team, Isaac was given a considerable amount of freedom that could easily be used to woo him back as Moon Knight.

As for what that return might look like, nobody knows. Series director Mohamed Diab has been doing a round of interviews following the finale, and he’s been very transparent that Marvel has told him nothing. Via Deadline:

“Marvel doesn’t go with a conventional way, so even if they like the character and want to extend the world, it could be season 2, it could be a standalone film, or he can join another superhero’s journey,” added the director of the season one finale.

“I’m kept in the dark, just like the fans,” Diab added.

Moon Knight executive producer Grant Curtis told Deadline that he’s also in the dark. “Where Moon Knight lands in MCU after this, I actually don’t know,” he said.

However, Marvel may have already tipped its hand to the future of Moon Knight. A few days before the finale arrived on Disney+, Marvel teased the episode on Twitter and used some notable wording that caught fans’ attention. Despite Moon Knight being touted as a limited series, Marvel tweeted that the sixth episode would be the “season finale” not the series finale. While nothing is official at this point, and Isaac could be content with the surprisingly self-contained story that just wrapped up, we would probably hedge our bets on seeing the unusual Marvel hero return for a Season 2.

Moon Knight is currently streaming on Disney+.

A24 is producing a new television series about iconic Black entertainer Josephine Baker and her role as a freedom fighter against the Nazis. It’s called De La Resistance, and according to Deadline, the show has already found its star in a burgeoning modern icon, Janelle Monae. Monae will portray Baker as the show follows her exploits as a spy in the French resistance during World War II, as well as her adventures as one of the most celebrated performers of the early 20th century.

Monae is also billed as a producer for the series via her Wondaland Pictures imprint, through which the singer has a first-look production deal with Universal Pictures. Monae’s previous acting credits include roles in Harriet, Hidden Figures, and Moonlight, and will also appear in the upcoming sequel to Knives Out. Monae’s new book, Memory Librarian, is also out now. The showrunner is Jennifer Yale, who previously worked on outstanding television dramas such as See, Outlander, and Underground.

They’ve certainly chosen an intriguing figure, whose real-life exploits sound like excellent fodder for a film or TV series. After refusing to perform to segregated audiences in the US, Baker emigrated to Paris, where her racy revue became a worldwide phenomenon and left behind some truly iconic imagery (which Monae recently paid homage to at the 2022 Met Gala). After the Nazis occupied France, Baker became a spy for the Allies, earning The National Order of the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of merit, both military and civil.

Ludacris celebrated a major milestone in a place he holds near and dear this past Wednesday. Georgia State University, the college he previously attended from 1996 to 1998 before dropping out to sign with Def Jam, presented him with an honorary Bachelor of Science in Music Management degree during their master’s ceremony.

The Atlanta rapper addressed over 900 graduates seated in Center Parc Stadium, calling GSU his home before encouraging them to chase their passions and be leaders within their communities. With his wife, mother, and daughters in attendance, he even treated attendees to the chorus of his classic “Welcome To Atlanta,” to which many joined in rapping with him, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. His mother’s presence was especially meaningful, as she was initially concerned about him leaving school to pursue music.

“Mama,” he said, “I made it.”

Despite not completing his initial goal at GSU, the 44-year-old has given back to the university in multiple ways, operating as an artist-in-residence since 2019 and inspiring a law course focused on the music industry titled “The Legal Life Of Ludacris.” Ludacris is a three-time Grammy Award winner and was recognized by The Screen Actors Guild as Outstanding Cast In A Motion Picture for 2005’s Crash. He also recently created the Netflix series Karma’s World.

The embattled Madison Cawthorn is having quite a time these days. There’s an effort to (as with Marjorie Taylor Greene) remove him from the ballots for the midterms. That battle has to do with Madison’s alleged role in spurring on the insurrection, and as if that wasn’t enough scandal, the freshman congressbro (who recently divorced his wife of 8 months) has been attempting to explain away embarrassing video footage. He first (in the face of those lingerie photos) denied being a “drag queen” while calling footage (of his male cousin groping his crotch) “locker room talk.” He also described footage of himself naked and humping another man as mere “foolish, and joking” behavior.

Add all of this on top of Cawthorn’s strange claims of D.C. orgies, and it’s all very odd behavior from a lawmaker (who also won’t stop carrying firearms into airports). And since he can’t erase the leaks, he decided to confront the ballot challenge with a meme comparing himself to Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, which he perhaps hasn’t read.

This actually isn’t the first time that Cawthorn’s attempted to draw parallels between himself and one of the wisest wizards, one who’s essentially an angel. About a year ago, he made that same comparison to Olivia Nuzzi when she profiled Cawthorn for New York. And he tossed in some J.K. Rowling too:

Cawthorn described his new station in magical terms. “You think of a Harry Potter or a Gandalf in one of these great works of fiction,” he said. “They’re handed a wand. And you as the viewer, you don’t exactly know what they can do with that wand, but you know it holds incredible power. That’s a lot what it’s like coming into Congress, because there’s really no limitations onto what you can and cannot do in Congress. Aside from what the Supreme Court will allow you to do.”

Again, Cawthorn provides no depth to his claims, which is to be expected. There’s a strong possibility that he’s distracted, however, because if one has embarrassing photos and videos on the loose, there could always be more on the way. Politics!

Madonna famously has a long and colorful history with the Catholic church and now she wants to have a chat with the man in charge (at least here on Earth).

On Twitter today, Madonna reached out to Pope Francis, tweeting, “Hello @Pontifex Francis –I’m a good Catholic. I Swear! I mean I don’t Swear! Its been a few decades since my last confession. Would it be possible to meet up one day to discuss some important matters ? I’ve been ex communicated 3 times. It doesn’t seem fair. Sincerely Madonna.”

Madonna’s most notable run-in with the Catholic church was with her 1989 single “Like A Prayer” and its video, which featured imagery like burning crosses and stigmata, which led the Vatican to condemn the video. A couple years earlier, Pope John Paul II encouraged young Catholics to not attend a 1987 concert of hers in Turin, Italy. In 2006, a spokesperson for the Vatican said of her Rome concert, “This concert is a blasphemous challenge to the faith and a profanation of the cross. She should be excommunicated. To crucify herself during the concert in the city of Popes and martyrs is an act of open hostility.”

Whether or not Pope Francis is interested in meeting with Madonna, we know the religious leader is a big music fan, as he was recently spotted at a record store in Rome.

Total clown show Donald Trump Jr. had a lot to say about living in a clown show state—if you could make out what he was saying at all. On Wednesday, Don Jr. posted a video that was disturbingly reminiscent of the Micro Machines commercials of yore. Except totally devoid of any fun or whimsy.

Junior had some thoughts about the SCOTUS draft opinion leak, because why wouldn’t he? From what we could make out, he thinks the leak, which he called “unprecedented,” is a travesty. Either that or he was auctioning off a copy of the leaked document—again, it’s hard to understand someone who is speaking at a speed of 300 words per minute. But here’s what we think we heard:

“This kind of stuff never happens. I don’t know that I’m ever aware of a leak. This is not like congress, where everything leaks. And trust me, I’ve done enough testimony. Ummm.”

Seriously, he really did pause after his “testimony” comment.

“The Supreme Court does not have leaks,” Junior continued with anxiety-inducing overzealousness. “So if there is not a thorough criminal investigation into who leaked privileged documents about a draft decision from the United States Supreme Court, where a small, small—tiny handful—of people have access to it, then we live in a clown show state. We live in a clown show state, folks.”

Junior then went off on some weird tangent about NASCAR and nooses? He was clearly reading from prepared notes or a script, which made the whole exercise in nonsensicalness even more bizarre—though entertaining to witness.

You can watch for yourself below.

(Via Ron Filipkowski)