Month: June 2022

Could it be possible that Trump’s “Truth Social” network can’t handle the truth? It sure seems like the platform is in total meltdown mode over the Jan 6 hearings. And it’s semi-understandable why the collective group’s feeling ruffled feathers. Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner didn’t score points, but at least what The Kush said didn’t appear to upset them. It was when (Soon-To-Be-Former) Favorite Trump Child Ivanka threw dad under the bus that things got really rough. Ivanka looked like a “deer caught in the headlights” while admitting that she believed ex-Attorney General Bill Barr’s conclusion that there was no evidence of tangible voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

In other words, she believed that her dad lost the election. This makes for an awkward family Thanksgiving, especially since Trump lashed out in response while claiming that she was “checked out” and didn’t know what she was talking about. Well, Trump also reportedly posted this on Truth Social: “The so-called ‘Rush on the Capitol’ was not caused by me, it was caused by a Rigged and Stolen election!”

The delusions are running high, for sure. And don’t even mention the hearings over there unless you want to be permanently banned. Yep, that’s correct:

So much for free speech from the free speech champions, right? Twitter’s full of chatter about the many people who are being banned from Truth Social for daring to mention the hearings.

Pretty freaking wild. 2022 is proving to be as unhinged as 2016, and will things ever calm down, politically? Your guess is as good as mine.

Stephen Colbert found himself in the rare spot of having a tough act to follow as he delivered a live monologue on Thursday night, shortly after the first January 6 hearing aired in primetime. But, given how much there was to unpack, he wasn’t lacking in material.

Colbert kicked off his monologue by comparing the hearings to Stranger Things, in that “we met the monster years ago, and we’re pretty sure the Russians are involved. And, like the stars of Stranger Things, I have noticeably aged.” Colbert left no one untouched in his hilarious recap of the proceedings: He came down on Republicans who had brushed the whole thing off as a “nothingburger,” and marveled at the fact that Fox News opted to run commercial-free for two hours. “Do you know what that means?” The Late Show host asked. “Fox News is willing to lose money to keep their viewers from flipping over and accidentally learning information… But I’m really not surprised; that’s the first rule of any cult: never leave the compound.”

But Colbert was most shocked by the moment in the hearings when Liz Cheney “hit the president where it hurts him: right in the Ivanka. Because they rolled in footage of the First Daughter’s reaction in her testimony to [former attorney general Bill] Barr calling her father’s charges of election fraud BS.”

Ivanka, looking like she was beaming in from another planet, shocked everyone when she testified that “I respect Attorney General Barr, umm, so I accepted what he was saying.” While Papa Trump is apparently on the warpath over her comments, even “truthing” about it on TRUTH Social, Colbert assumes his feelings about his favorite child’s seeming betrayal are more complicated than that.

“That must have been a bittersweet moment for the president,” Colbert said. “She finally screwed him.”

You can watch the full monologue above.

Earlier this year, Madonna declared she’d love to go on a world tour with Britney Spears and re-create their famous 2003 MTV Video Music Awards kiss, saying, “Not sure if she’d be into it, but it would be really cool. We could, like, reenact the original kiss.” Well, the two aren’t touring together, but they did get the chance to re-create the VMAs smooch, doing so at Spears and Sam Asghari’s wedding yesterday.

Page Six shared photos from yesterday’s ceremony and following reception, and one of them shows Madonna and Spears sharing a simple closed-mouth kiss. Another one sees the pair looking at the camera, sharing an embrace, and smiling. Other photos from the reception show who else attended the wedding, a list that includes Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Paris Hilton, Donatella Versace, and others. (Hollywood Life and E! News also have photo galleries of guests arriving at and leaving the wedding.)

Page Six also offers details about what the wedding day was like, noting that the ceremony was attended by about 50 guests. When guests arrived, they were “greeted by a Cinderella-style carriage completely covered in flowers and other gorgeous floral displays.” During the ceremony, Spears wore “an off-the-shoulder white gown with a corset top and thigh-high split” while Asghari went with a traditional tuxedo.

Stranger Things is a remarkably well-cast show, but with all due respect to Millie Bobby Brown, Jamie Campbell Bower, and the legend Winona Ryder, the MVP of season four is Sadie Sink.

The Taylor Swift fanatic, who plays Kate Bush-loving Max on the hit show, is getting serious Emmys consideration for her performance in episode four, “Dear Billy,” which is being called “one of the greatest Stranger Things episodes of all time.”

Netflix recently shared a video of the cast reacting to Max’s escape from the Mind Lair from “Dear Billy” (Gaten Matarazzo is literally on the edge of his seat) as well as a breakdown of the scene from Sink. “That was shot over, I think, it might have been a week we spent on that, or four days, I guess. A lot of time spent in a harness,” she explained. “It was pretty intense. And all the vines and stuff, none of that is there. We did get really lucky this year because Vecna was pretty much fully practical effects, which made it easier for me so I’m not staring at a man in a green suit.” Or a tennis ball.

Here’s what that looks like:

Stranger Things 4 returns for two more episodes on July 1.

The Recording Academy has the Grammys, MTV has the VMAs, and Indiecast has the Indiecasties: a special, highly sought-after distinction honoring the best and worse of indie music. In this week’s episode, hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen nominate artists for several mid-year Indiecasties awards and discuss the most memorable indie music discourse thus far in 2022.

As for Indiecasties categories, Steven and Ian choose seven groupings: Most Valuable Album Cycle (in terms of Indiecast banter content), Music Writer Twitter Story Of The Year (which also provided a fair amount of banter), Memory Holed Album Of 2022 (albums released this year they’ve already forgotten about), Them? Album Of The Year (the biggest discrepancy between critical acclaim and what they’ve heard/felt/seen), Most Fun Narrative Of 2022 (some trends they saw among indie artists), and 2021 ‘Rediscovered’ Albums (projects they would rank higher from last year). Among artists recognized in these categories are Arcade Fire, Harry Styles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Father John Misty, Big Thief, Wednesday, and more.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 91 below, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

WARNING: Spoilers for The Boys Season 3 Episode 3 below.

As part of his efforts to re-exert his dominance over the Seven, Vought Industries, and pretty much the whole world at this point, Homelander (Antony Starr) has been welcoming The Deep (Chace Crawford) back to the team, despite his assault on Starlight (Erin Moriarty). However, the increasingly sadistic Homelander isn’t making it easy on The Deep.

During a particularly wild and graphic scene that might turn you off seafood for a while, Homelander pressures The Deep into eating a raw octopus to prove his loyalty. Like Aquaman, The Deep can communicate with sea creatures and has no desire to eat his friend “Timothy,” who The Deep is also sexually attracted to. (The show is wild, folks.) After some profane prompting from his wife, The Deep grossly devours Timothy and secures his return to the Seven.

Now, you’d think an organization like PETA would condemn the graphic devouring of an octopus, but nope, they’re actually giving The Boys an award. The organization has presented the Amazon series with its “Tech, Not Terror” Award for using CGI in the “thought-provoking and cruelty-free scene.” Via Comic Book:

“The Boys’ real heroes are working behind the scenes, creating a realistic CGI octopus so that animals can live in peace,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “PETA is celebrating this series for helping viewers see every octopus as an individual like Timothy, not as an entrée or as entertainment.”

Turns out PETA loves how Timothy was presented as a “highly intelligent” character “with a family,” and most importantly, he was entirely CGI so no animals were hurt. What a time to be alive.

(Via Comic Book)

Demi Lovato recently announced their new album Holy Fvck, a pivot from commercial pop to a heavier, edgier sound. The lead single “Skin Of My Teeth” proved that; it’s electric guitar-driven and Lovato’s vocals are brazen and unafraid, detailing their struggles with addiction.

Last night, they brought that anthem to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing it live for the first time. It’s cathartic and Lovato’s voice is stronger than ever, and they’re dressed in all black while shredding on a matching guitar, surrounded by fog.

“I’ve definitely been through a ton,” Lovato told Fallon during their interview. “That’s no secret to the world. After going through even more stuff last year, I came out of treatment again and I realized I really want to do this for myself and I want to make the best album possible. Something that really represents who I am. And I think the best way to do that and the easiest way to do something the most authentic is to do it clean and sober. So I made this album clean and sober. I can’t say that about my last album. But this one I’m really proud about.”

Watch Lovato perform “Skin Of My Teeth” above and watch them chat with Fallon below.

Holy Fvck is out 8/19 via Island. Pre-order it here.

Back in 2004, Britney Spears got married to childhood friend Jason Alexander (not the Seinfeld actor), only for the marriage to be annulled just a matter of hours later. Fast-forward to yesterday and Spears got married for a third time, this time to Sam Asghari. The ceremony was reportedly an intimate one in Spears home, but it wasn’t without incident, as Alexander tried to crash the wedding while broadcasting his efforts on Instagram Live. Alexander was eventually stopped by security.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, it wasn’t clear what consequences Alexander would face, but now he have some answers: TMZ reported last night that Alexander was charged with trespassing, vandalism, and two counts of battery related to his run-ins with Spears’ security. He apparently also has a felony arrest warrant for larceny in another county and remains in custody.

NBC News reports Alexander was initially arrested on “suspicion of an outstanding felony warrant out of Napa County from 2016,” then “subsequently arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery, vandalism and trespassing in Ventura County,” per a Ventura County sheriff’s spokesman.

Mathew Rosengart, Spears’ attorney, spoke with TMZ, saying he’s “absolutely livid” about Alexander’s actions. He also noted that Spears is fine and added, “I am personally working with the sheriff’s department to ensure Mr. Alexander is aggressively prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Neither Spears nor Asghari have shared anything about the wedding on social media and have therefore not publicly reacted to the Alexander incident.

If Tucker Carlson wanted to snipe at every comment made by every person who spoke during last night’s first primetime January 6th hearing, he could have gone full Mystery Science Theater 3000 and riffed with his guests from the sidelines. Instead, he spent essentially the entirety of his Thursday night show boasting about how Fox News was the only American news network not broadcasting the hearings… while the hearings played on the screen behind him.

Carlson kicked off his show by declaring how ridiculous it was that networks were preempting their regularly scheduled programming “to bring you yet another extended primetime harangue from Nancy Pelosi and Liz Cheney about [insert Tucker fake-mad voice] Donald Trump and QAnon.” Apparently traumatized by missing a week of Young Sheldon, the Fox News host went on to boast that his network was “the only American news channel” (news?) that wouldn’t be carrying the “insulting” and “deranged” “propaganda” live, because “They are lying and we are not going to help them do it.”

The only problem was: The hearings were playing right over Carlson’s shoulder, and occupying about three times as much screen space as his head.

It was really just a taste of what the next hour would bring, as Carlson welcomed a seemingly never-ending string of MAGAites like failed 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, sports columnist Jason Whitlock, and American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp—who, per The Wrap, claimed that, “When the political violence benefits [Democrats], they turn a blind eye toward it. When it doesn’t, they want to put people in jail.”

In downplaying the events of January 6, Carlson and his guests brought out all their greatest hits, including their baseless claims that the “Black Lives Matter protests” of the summer of 2020 were much more deadly than the Capitol riots and that Trump offered to call the National Guard in to assist the Capitol police. Except, as Cheney noted during the hearings, Trump never made that call.

To prove how serious they were about protesting the hearings, Fox took no commercial breaks during Carlson’s show (or Sean Hannity’s, which followed). Meaning that they looked ridiculous and possibly lost money doing it.

(Via The Wrap)

It’s been over six years since Beyonce released 2016’s Lemonade, her most recent album. Since then, fans have been clamoring for new material from her, and while there’s no news of an LP just yet, it looks like something is going on: Last night, the profile pictures from Beyonce’s accounts on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook were removed, leaving a default profile picture icon in their place.

Naturally, this left fans wondering just what the heck is going on here. Making some sort of sweeping social media change has become an indication that something big is happening, so some fans believe (or at least hope) that new Beyonce music is on the way.

Elsewhere, there are those who aren’t that optimistic. Another theory that has been floated out there is that Beyonce’s social media activity has something to do with her Ivy Park clothing line.

It could also just mean nothing, as there’s a recent precedent for that: Last year, profile photos on Destiny’s Child social media accounts were changed, which had fans thinking the group was reuniting. What was actually going on, however, was just a routine refreshing of the group’s social media pages, as Mathew Knowles, Beyonce’s father and the group’s manager, noted a reunion was not in the works.