Month: June 2022

BTS are US chart titans now, but it took them a little bit to get here: Their debut project, 2 Cool 4 Skool, came out back in 2013. They broke through with 2018’s Love Yourself: Tear, which became their first No. 1 album in the US after debuting in the top spot. The chart-toppers poured in after that and now, they’ve added another: On the new Billboard 200 chart dated June 25, the group’s new anthology album Proof debuts at No. 1, making it their sixth chart-topping album overall.

It debuts on top thanks to 314,000 equivalent album units earned, most of which come from CD sales: The release had 266,000 album sales and was only released physically on CD, and of those sales, just 6,500 were digital albums. The 259,000 CD sales is the biggest week for an album on CD in the US since Adele’s 30 sold 378,000 CDs in its debut week this past November.

All in all, Proof had the biggest week for an album by a group, both in terms of units earned and albums sales. Overall, it’s second after the debut week of Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, with 330,000 album sales and 521,000 units overall.

This all comes after BTS said they were going on hiatus before backtracking and insisting they actually aren’t.

Read our review of Proof here.

Father’s Day saw tributes across social media, to dads both with us and not. For Lara Saget, one of the late comedian’s three daughters, she commemorated the holiday with a moving post to her father, who passed away suddenly in early January of this year.

An artist and educator, Lara took to Instagram with picture of her as a child, nestled beside her smiling father. “My dad wasn’t just my dad, he was my best friend,” her post began. “He wore his heart. He didn’t hide it; he wasn’t afraid of love. My dad simply wanted to share laughter and love with this world.”

She continued:

I have noticed how scary it can be to love that big, to open so fully.
It can be easier to be angry, fearful, negative.
Maybe because love has an infinite quality, it is boundless.

My dad taught me that it doesn’t matter what life throws, how hard, how painful, how seemingly impossible.
It doesn’t stop that love.
He chose love, always.

I commit to doing the same.
The love is right here.
And it’s my responsibility to give it to myself and to share by living in the love.

I love you infinitely, dad.
Happy Father’s Day.

Saget’s career opertated on two extremes. By day, he was the unfailingly warm and patient father figure of Full House and the affable host of America’s Funniest Home Video. By night, he was one of the bluest comics around, even in death. But from all accounts, he was never short of kind and full of love, and in what proved to be his final years he was more openly ruminative about mortality. You can see that side in the untold tributes that have poured in since his passing, including this new one from one of his daughters.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

More than most Pixar outings, Lightyear faced a bit of an uphill battle. There was its premise, which was still confusing people mere days before release. There was the two-pronged attack from conservatives, over its (brief) same-sex kiss and the recasting of a vocal role originated by the right-ish leaning Tim Allen. And while the end result is far from a box office boondoggle, it was such that good old Buzz wasn’t quite able to defeat the dinosaurs of Jurassic World Dominion.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Lightyear — which at one point was projected to gross somewhere between $70 and $85 million its opening weekend — “only” grossed $51 million. That makes it a disappointment rather than a disaster. It also means it came in just a handful of millions shy of last weekend’s box office champ, the sixth Jurassic Park entry, which added another $58.7 million to its cume.

Meanwhile, guess which movie made only $7 million less in its fourth weekend that Lightyear did in its first? Top Gun: Maverick, which has become Tom Cruise’s biggest ever moneymaker. The belated sequel made another $44 million for a total of $466 million, which makes it the highest grossing film of the year domestically — though it’s still about $50 million shy of Doctor Strange 2 worldwide.

So bad news for Buzz but good news for Tom, as well as for The Bob’s Burgers Movie, which opened the same weekend as Maverick and has managed to hang in the Top 5 ever since, albeit with a tiny fraction of what the Cruise starrer has Hoovered up. Still, a combined total of $29 million is a pretty good haul for the Belchers.

(Via THR)

On January 26, the Boston Celtics stood at 22-22 in 11th place in the Eastern Conference without a clear road map to title contention. First year head Ime Udoka struggled to implement a new switch heavy defensive system that required a high level of communication and trust to execute. A Celtic roster anchored by players mostly under 26 felt stale and the burden of early success hovered of the team like San Francisco fog. Boston had advanced to the conference finals in three of the previous five seasons, but their season and roster construction stood at a major crossroads.

Instead of making a ground-shaking trade, Ime Udoka delivered a strong but simple message to his team: play better. And that they did. Boston went 29-9 down the stretch finishing second in the Eastern Conference with the league’s best defense. They finally broke through the conference finals ceiling in their fourth trip, but after losing in six games to the Warriors, they new enter the offseason facing one of the most difficult questions in sports: How do they improve their roster to take another step forward next season without sacrificing what made them a Finals team this year?

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum proved their partnership worthy this season with their stellar 2-way play down the stretch of the regular season and throughout the postseason. Their offensive fit has always attracted doubt because their skill sets do not amplify one another, but that analysis shifts the blame in the wrong direction. Jaylen and Jayson have yet to play with a point guard that generates easy looks for the tandem without causing a constant fire drill on defense. While Jaylen and Jayson may not amplify each other on offense, they certainly do that on the defensive end. Life is very difficult when you constantly have to generate perimeter offense against two rangy athletic wings who have premiere rim protection lurking on the backline. The duo is a clear answer to Boston’s championship’s aspirations.

Tatum’s production throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs solidified his position as a top 10 player in this league. He out dueled Kevin Durant, Giannis Antentokoumpno, and Jimmy Butler in consecutive series while playing world class defense for 41 minutes a game; it was true superstar play. Game 6 in Milwaukee will go down as the defining game in Tatum’s young career where he scored 46 points while facing elimination and stuck dagger after dagger in the defending champs with his fourth quarter shot making.

However, in the Finals, Golden State put a black light on Tatum’s flaws showing the steps he still needs to take to reach the highest echelon of player in the NBA. Tatum struggled to generate clean looks within arc and completely lost the ability to finish at the rim. He shot 36 percent from the field, which is the second lowest mark in a series in his career. Golden State completely flustered Tatum on drives with their ability to shade towards the paint mostly behind Draymond Green’s defensive direction and execution. Tatum’s struggles in the paint were compounded by the his constant turnovers that seemed to infect the entire team. After an absolutely stellar season, Tatum failed to rise to the challenge in the Finals. To reach the promised land, Tatum will need to improve his playmaking and ability to dictate the pace of the game even when his jumper isn’t falling.

While Tatum struggled to control the game and limit turnovers, he did not receive much help from his starting point guard. Marcus Smart the true alpha and omega of the Celtics, for better or worse, also struggled to win the possession game for Boston. The Defensive Player of the Year is the emotional core of the Celtics, but Boston needed a steady hand to calm the waters against the Warrior runs he could not provide that during the Finals. Smart has always been the lightning rod of this Celtics core and instead of moving him at the trade deadline, Ime Udoka made Smart the full-time starting point guard. That unleashed the hellacious Celtic defense that spurred their run to the Finals, but Smart still leaves some meat on the bone as a playmaker at the highest levels of basketball.

The decision to ride with Smart will be a pivot point for the Celtics moving forward. Could they have won this series with a steadier point guard? Or would the defensive drop off put Boston too far behind the 8-ball on defense? That’s the line Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka will have to straddle moving forward in an Eastern Conference that will only grow more competitive.

They don’t have to look far to see the perils of running it back after a surprising playoff run. After falling just shy in 2020, the Heat got bounced in the first round a year ago with mostly the same roster before making some big additions last summer to vault back to the top of the East. The Hawks faced a similar fate after running it back coming off of a stunning Conference Finals run a year ago, and now are expected to make major moves this offseason got find their way back.

Boston should absolutely believe in its star duo and feel good about plenty of other areas on the roster — even hobbled, Robert Williams was nothing short of terrific in the Finals — but there are areas in need of improvement and not addressing those is a trap they can’t fall into. Success in the NBA only begets more pressure to back that up, and being able to be proactive in roster building is the greatest attribute an organization can have.

This Celtics team got a taste of the NBA Finals, but the resulting appetite will make every decision moving forward that much harder.

Coming off a week in which she announced this would be her final WNBA season, Sue Bird took the floor in her final game in New York City, the place she grew up and became a high-school legend. The nationally televised bout between Bird’s Seattle Storm and the New York Liberty was close throughout, and with the upstart Liberty within six points and under 30 seconds to go, Bird let a three fly.

The ball bounced a few times, Bird held her follow-through like a statue, and the game-sealing shot fell through.

As the buzzer sounded, a buzzing home crowd rose to their feet in salute as Liberty players and coaches embraced Bird. She raised her hands and thanked the fans for the send-off.

Bird acknowledged how cool it was to get one last chance to put on a show for friends and family so close to home, but determined not to let the moment get too sappy, she had one final message for Liberty fans.

“I don’t think the Brooklyn fans are going to like it,” Bird said, before looking directly into the camera and letting out a classic “BING BONG!”

Bird, who has in the past few seasons settled into a smaller role next to the young Seattle stars, was efficient and productive in her final Big Apple performance, scoring 11 points and knocking in three three-pointers. With a win over the Liberty, the team’s fifth out of the last six games, Seattle continued a strong start to the season as they hope to add one more trophy to Bird’s already full case.

For the last year and a half, Donald Trump has been one of the sorest losers in history. The former president has spent his post-office life baldly claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him, and much of his base gone with him in this delusion. But every now and then he accidentally tells the truth about how badly he got trounced.

During an appearance on CNN, Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former aide to Trump, recounted a story from November of 2020, shortly after the election was called for Joe Biden. Trump was watching his successor on TV with Griffin in the room, and at one point he “blurted out” a most curious phrase: “Can you believe I lost to this guy?”

That said, Griffin doesn’t think this tale — an anecdote, provided without audio — is the smoking gun some would prefer it was.
“I’m not of the mind that this is going to take down Donald Trump in a legal sort of way,” Griffin admitted. “But I do think it’s going to inform the public about a man who lost and couldn’t do what we’ve done for the entirety of our history, which is allow a peaceful transition of power.”

The revelation comes in the midst of the hearings for the Jan. 6 House select committee, which kicked off with NFL-level ratings. One of the hearings was largely devoted to the large number of aides and allies who believe the fact that he lost re-election and tried to tell him as such. That includes his oldest daughter Ivanka, whose testimony did not make her daddy happy. The next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 21.

(Via CNN)

In 2018, Pete Davidson made a joke about Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch. Conservatives were outraged and demanded that the (since departed) SNL stand-out apologize to the SEAL-turned-Texas representative. He did, on live television. Jump four years, and conservatives themselves are making fun of the fact that Crenshaw lost an eye in an IED explosion while defending the nation. But people haven’t forgotten about Pete.

It all started in May, when Tucker Carlson, angry that Crenshaw was calling out colleagues for not voting for a Ukraine aid package, came up with a sub-Trumpian insult: He called him “Eyepatch McCain.”

This weekend, some on the far right repeated that line to Crenshaw’s face. As per Mediaite, the lawmaker was attending the Republican Party of Texas convention when he was violently confronted by a group of far right wackjobs. Some of them identified as Proud Boys. One was Alex Stein, a far right social media activist, who filmed himself repeatedly repeating Carlson’s taunt, yelling “Eyepatch McCain” and calling him a “globalist.” He and the other activists were then escorted out of the building.

One witness said the activists “got physical with multiple people” and that Crenshaw’s campaign manager was “assaulted by being pushed aggressively into a pillar.”

As news of the incident became public, thought about Davidson, who made a silly joke for which he formally apologized, even inviting Crenshaw on SNL so he could do it in person, in front of the world.

As for Crenshaw himself, he later commented on the incident, tweeting, “This is what happens when angry little boys like @alexstein99 don’t grow up and can’t get girlfriends…”

Crenshaw has a habit of breaking with the increasingly extremist wing of his party, though he’s still a guy who posted a bizarre video of him threatening to beat up leftist protesters.

(Via Mediaite)

Lil Nas X has a new song, “Late To The Party” with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, on the way, which means the rapper is shifting into promotional mode. This is great news because as Nas has proven time and time again in recent years, when it comes to drawing attention to himself and his work, there’s nobody better than he is. So, naturally, Nas has come up with yet another hilarious way to get the word out about “Late To The Party”: Fake brand partnerships featuring offbeat promotions.

The first was with Grindr and as part of it, in exchange for pre-saving the song, the dating app is supposedly offering “free c*ck,’ per Nas’ Twitter.

The next one is a team-up with the meme “homophobic dog,” offering a chance to meet the pooch. Nas also wrote, “Do it now for a chance to see him live! calling you the famous word as seen on auntie diaries by kendrick lamar! hurry!”

The final one, as of now, is Nas and McDonald’s offering free Brazilian butt lift (a “free fat ass,” as the image states) to the first million people who pre-save the song.

In another post Nas ended up deleting, a fake partnership with Chick-fil-A promised a “free meal on Sundays” when you pre-save the song, the joke of course being that the restaurant has had multiple LGBTQ+-related controversies and is closed on Sundays.

While listeners won’t actually be able to take advantage of any of these promotions, Nas’ entertaining antics have probably earned him a pre-save anyway.

Far as screen pairs go, Martin Lawrence is better known for teaming up with Will Smith, who’s, well, a bit preoccupied these days. But he’s also shared the screen with another legendary entertainer: Eddie Murphy. Lawrence had a small role in the 1992 Murphy vehicle Boomerang, but they were co-leads seven years later, in the prison comedy Life. What’s more, their kids are dating. And if it gets even more serious, Lawrence knows who’s going to pay for the wedding.

Lawrence was on Jimmy Kimmel Live Friday, when the idea of him and Murphy becoming in-laws came up. When asked what will happen if his daughter Jasmin gets engaged to Murphy’s son Eric, Lawrence responded, “Imma try to get Eddie to pay for it.”

Kimmel also asked if the two could produce “some kind of comedy super-baby,” but Lawrence demurred, saying they give them their privacy. “We kind of just stay out of their business and let them do their own thing and respect their thing,” he explained.

Lawrence was on the late night show in part because of the BET reunion special for his old sitcom Martin, which aired on Fox in the mid-’90s. The show has been back in the conversation, even inspiring a collaboration with the Pistons last year.

Meanwhile, Jasmin and Eric first announced they were dating a year ago in an Instagram post.

You can watch Lawrence’s Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance in the video above.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Clipse, the duo of brothers Pusha T and No Malice, enjoyed its initial run from 1992 to 2010. While the pair took some time apart in the years following, they’ve staged a bit of a reunion in recent years, which kicked off when they featured on Kanye West’s 2019 song “Use This Gospel.” They’ve since hopped on other tracks together, but before this weekend, there had not yet been a live reunion on stage.

That was actually supposed to happen at Pharrell’s Something In The Water festival in 2020, which was ultimately canceled in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fest also didn’t go on in 2021 but it did finally return this weekend. While Clipse wasn’t listed on the festival lineup, they did actually stage their reunion this time around, as part of the Pharrell & Phriends set. For their time on stage (about 18 minutes), they did “Mr. Me Too,” Birdman’s “What Happened To That Boy,” “Cot Damn,” and wrapped up with “Grindin’.”

Even before this, 2022 has been a good year for Clipse. In 1999, the pair was ready to release their debut album, Exclusive Audio Footage, but it was ultimately shelved by the label. This year, though, the LP finally hit streaming services. On top of that, Pusha landed his first No. 1 album with It’s Almost Dry.

Watch the Clipse performance above.