Year: 2022

Will Smith continued to open up about the now infamous moment at the Oscars where he walked onstage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about his wife. By candidly discussing how he failed as a human being, Smith is hoping to protect his upcoming film, Emancipation, from being overshadowed by the viral assault. The actor received a hand in that department from The Daily Show‘s Trevor Noah, who actually made Smith cry by being so gracious.

“[There are] many nuances and complexities to it, you know, but at the end of the day, I just, I lost it, you know,” Smith confessed to Noah. “I guess what I would say, you just never know what somebody’s going through.”

As Smith expanded on the personal journey he’s been on since slapping Rock onstage, Noah shared that he pushed back on a friend who called him and said that what everyone saw that night was the “real Will Smith.” Via The Hollywood Reporter:

The Daily Show host continued that things were becoming “relentlessly shi*ty” and Smith reacted for the first time.

“It was a lot of things,” the actor said. “It was the little boy that watched his father beat up his mother, you know, is that you know, all of that just bubbled up in that moment. You know, I just that’s not who I wanna be.”

When Noah told Smith he thinks he made a mistake and doesn’t think that’s who the actor is, The Daily Show audience cheered, and Smith began tearing up.

Smith agreed that he pushes himself too hard, and he’s been humbled by the experience that’s forced him to grapple with the fact that he’s human like everybody else.

“I’ve always wanted to be Superman,” he told Noah. “I’ve always wanted to swoop in and save the damsel in distress, you know. And I had to humble down, you know, and realize that I’m a flawed human, and I still have an opportunity to go out in the world and contribute in a way that fills my heart, and hopefully helps other people.”

Emancipation premieres December 9 on Apple TV+.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Spain’s annual Primavera Sound music festival unveiled the 2023 lineup today, and it does not disappoint. Next year’s bill includes Halsey, Kendrick Lamar, Rosalía, Calvin Harris, Depeche Mode, and another Blur reunion appearance. Hosted between Barcelona’s Ciudad de Rock (June 1 to 3) and Madrid’s Parc Del Forum (June 8 to 10), the acts will mainly remain the same for both weekends as the fest aims to stick to a “mirror” theme this year.

Other notable acts include Ghost, FKA Twigs, Måneskin, St. Vincent, The War On Drugs, Turnstile, Pusha T, Caroline Polachek, Maggie Rogers, Japanese Breakfast, Bleachers, Baby Keem, and many more.

“Look for yourself in the Primavera Sound 2023 line-up… and find yourself,” a statement read, via Billboard. “Because we assure you that you are there. After twenty editions, the festival is the mirror in which the community that will come from near and far to Barcelona and for the first time to Madrid next June looks at itself and recognizes itself, but after everything it has experienced, this reflection goes in two directions, marking the richest musical itinerary we can think of: Primavera Sound also looks for and finds itself in its own audience.”

Tickets for the two weekends of 2023’s Primavera Sound festival are available to buy beginning December 1. There are also options for VIP packages and one-day passes. More information is available via the official website.

Continue scrolling to view the full lineup.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jesse Eisenberg has worked with some of the best directors around, including David Fincher, Noah Baumbach, and whoever directed Now You See Me, the best movie I’ve ever seen about magicians who commit bank heists. Now, Fleishman Is in Trouble star is making his directorial debut with When You Finish Saving the World. The A24 comedy-drama stars Julianne Moore as Evelyn, who runs a shelter for survivors of domestic abuse. At home, she struggles to relate to her teenage son, Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard), who has a large online following for playing “classic folk rock with alternative influences.”

You can watch the trailer above. Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Evelyn (Julianne Moore) has devoted herself to helping people in hard times, but she struggles to connect with her son Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard), an aspiring internet star oblivious to the problems of the world. As Evelyn attempts to become a parent figure to an unassuming teenager she meets at her shelter, and Ziggy fumbles through his pursuit of a brilliant and politically conscious young woman at his high school, this emotional comedy reveals a funny and sharply perceptive portrait of a mother and son who may seem at odds but who are more alike than either would care to admit.

When You Finish Saving the World opens in theaters on January 20th.

There are very dramatic, possibly earth-shattering moments in every pop-culture watcher’s life where you (also very dramatically) remember where you are when they happened. In other words, I very much remember where I was while viewing the first brutal reviews of 2003’s Gigli. That movie pushed an existing press frenzy sky high, and soon after, co-stars Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck broke off their engagement. Nearly two decades later, the two followed up their surprise romantic reunion with a surprise Vegas wedding, and Lopez also stars in the upcoming, completely unrelated Shotgun Wedding (alongside Josh Duhamel), arriving Dec. 28.

That’s a lot to consider. For the moment, though, Lopez is promoting her ninth album, which is called This Is Me … Now. As expected, she’s feeling quite emotional, considering that a previous album, This Is Me, arrived in the wake of her 2003 breakup with Ben. And as she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, that split sent her on a “spiral” that lasted nearly two decades. Via US Weekly:

“It was so painful after we broke up. Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life. I honestly felt like I was going to die. It sent me on a spiral for the next 18 years where I just couldn’t get it right.”

As JLo explained, this new round with Ben “is even better than the first time.” So, she’s revisiting old feelings while cherishing new ones, and boy, it’s gotta be wild to come back together with “the love of my life” after gaining so much life experience on several levels. Not to mention that a certain someone acquired a Dunkin’ addiction over the decades. In all seriousness, however, Lopez also told Zane how she “wouldn’t even perform” songs about Ben from her 2002 album.

That’s all water under the bridge, however, and This Is Me… Now will arrive in 2023, marking JLo’s first studio album in eight years.

(Via US Weekly & Zane Lowe)

Adam Sandler wasn’t nominated for anything at the 2022 Gotham Independent Film Awards (Hubie Halloween was snubbed for a third year in a row), but he still took home a trophy. The Uncut Gems actor accepted the Performer Tribute to honor a career that has been guided by two principles: “People in prison need movies, too, and TBS needs content to show between all those basketball games.”

Sandler claimed that his daughters, Sadie and Sunny, wrote his speech, which he was asked to deliver in “that goofy Southern accent that you always do your dumb speeches in.” He agreed. “Dear well-dressed dignitaries, highly-educated hipsters, and various other plus-ones of The Gotham Awards, thank you for giving our daddy, Mr. Adam Sandler, this prestigious lifetime, all-time, primetime, G.O.A.T. achievement Tribute Award,” he said, sounding like a gravel-voiced Colonel Sanders. “It means a lot to him seeing that most of the awards on his trophy shelf are shaped like popcorn buckets, blimps, or fake mini-Oscars that say ‘Father of the Year’, which he sadly purchased himself while wandering in a self-pitying fog through the head shops of Times Square.”

Sandler then explained why his daughters weren’t in attendance:

“We wish we could be at tonight’s award show with all you sophisticated people, but Daddy said, and we quote, ‘I don’t want to spend the whole night that’s supposed to be about me and my greatness listening to you two newly pubertized buffoons screaming, ‘Where is Timothée Chalamet? And how can we squeeze that fine little Jewish ass of his?’”

You can watch the full speech below.

The group stage of the World Cup is almost over. Beginning on Tuesday, teams will start playing their final games in an effort to learn who will move on to the knockout stage. For the United States men’s national team, that means a matchup with Iran where the mission is simple: win and you’re in.

Heading into Tuesday afternoon’s game, which kicks at 2 p.m. ET, here’s how things stand in Group B:

England: 4 points
Iran: 3 points
U.S.: 2 points
Wales: 1 point

Every team is technically still alive, even if Wales…well, I’d probably not feel especially good if I was a Wales supporter right now. I am, however, a supporter of the United States, and as such, here are the three ways things could go for them on Tuesday afternoon.

The USMNT is heading home if…

…they don’t beat Iran. Obviously, it would have been preferable if the team didn’t need to get three points in order to move on — only drawing against Wales, where Walker Zimmerman’s clumsy and unnecessary challenge on Gareth Bale led to a penalty that remains the only goal the team has allowed in Qatar, looms quite large.

Having said that, a consolation is that the team is going into its final game knowing exactly what it will need to do from start to finish, and the objective will never change, no matter what happens. At no point will they need to switch their approach to the game up, as they will need to play to win the entire time. So, I guess that’s nice.

Is a draw or a loss possible? Extremely! The Americans have one goal and two total shots on target in group play. Both of these things have been a problem for a few months now, and while Iran got torn apart by England, that was more of a case of England having a really good day while Iran had a really bad day. Their defensive stinginess and organization played a major role in them getting to the World Cup, and they only need a draw to advance. It is not hard to imagine a gross, 0-0 slog that sends the Americans home and the Iranians into the knockout round. If I were Gregg Berhalter, I would simply tell the lads to score a lot of goals. My hunch is he is going to do this.

Assuming an England win over Wales, here’s how things would break down for the United States with a draw and a loss:

Draw: England 7, Iran 4, U.S. 3, Wales 1
Loss: England 7, Iran 6, U.S. 2, Wales 1

It goes without saying, but this wouldn’t be especially good for the Yanks. Let’s get to the better options.

The USMNT is finishing in second if…

…they beat Iran and nothing weird happens in England vs. Wales. The maximum number of points the United States can get is five. England is almost certainly going to beat a Wales team that looked terrible against Iran, listless against the United States, and will not have its starting goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey, due to a red card he received in the last game. Hennessey’s backup is a starter in the Premier League, Leicester City’s Danny Ward, but regardless, it is extremely difficult to imagine a world where Wales can get all three points here.

Wales is in a position where a win and a draw in the other game would put them through, so they have to go for it. Doing that against an England team that is much better, however, might be a terrible idea, especially if Gareth Southgate wises up and plays Phil Foden.

As for the U.S., the last section focused on their biggest issue, so let’s get to the good stuff. Their defense has not given up an open play goal, allowing 1.55 expected goals (which includes the penalty) against Wales and 0.77 against England, per FotMob. The center back pairing of Zimmerman, aside from that one bad decision in the box, and Tim Ream has been stout — Ream, in particular, has been outstanding — Antonee Robinson seems to have an unlimited gas tank at left back, and Sergiño Dest, whose best asset is his attacking nous, has generally been ok on the right. The midfield trio of Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, and Yunus Musah has done everything asked of them and then some, while Christian Pulisic and Timothy Weah have been dangerous on the wings, even if that last little something have evaded them save for Weah’s goal against the Welsh.

They have the talent to beat an Iran team that can be quite dangerous. Mehdi Taremi and Sardar Azmoun have been two of the top players at World Cup by non-penalty expected goals, but if the Americans can continue to defend and sniff out dangerous moments before they really get a chance to develop, they should be ok, especially if Matt Turner is as good as he has been when he’s been called upon. As for the whole “need to score goals” thing, keep your fingers crossed that Giovanni Reyna — who is the team’s best player at just making stuff happen — plays. (It’s been weird!)

Anyway, this is the most likely outcome. As of this writing, the fine folks in Las Vegas have the USMNT as -105 to win, while a draw is +240 and an Iran win is +310. England and the United States winning would mean the group ends with England on seven points, the U.S. on five, Iran on three, and Wales on one.

The USMNT is winning the group if…

…they beat Iran and stuff gets weird in England vs. Wales. Like, extremely weird. Like, weird in a way that makes me wonder if wasting your time by writing up this section is worth it. If the United States and Wales win, the U.S. wins the group, that simple. England would still make it through unless Wales pumps in a ton of goals. I am extremely confident that this will not happen, even with Harry Kane’s fitness being a question, but hey, England at a major tournament.

The other weird scenario: The United States wins while England and Wales play to a draw. If this occurred, the U.S. and England would have five points each. Basically, there is an extremely narrow path, should this happen, where the United States can overtake England. You can read this if you are interested in learning how tiebreakers work at the World Cup, and here is every single thing that can happen on Tuesday, according to the New York Times.

This scenario is mostly for fun. A good 99.9 percent of the realistic ones are the first two. That means, in all likelihood, Iran or the United States would play the team that wins Group A in the knockout round, which would mean one of Ecuador, Senegal, or The Netherlands. That group will get all sorted out earlier in the day — the first two teams play one another, while the Dutch take on Qatar, which has already been eliminated.

The Group A winners and the Group B runners-up would play on Saturday at 10 p.m. EST in the first game in the round of 16. We’re 90 minutes and stoppage time of soccer away from learning if the United States will be in that game.

When making an album these days, Taylor Swift usually recruits a select team of collaborators to join her on the project. Recently, that has consisted primarily of Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. They both contributed to Midnights, Swift’s latest, and apparently The 1975, despite not appearing on the final album, were involved, too.

In a recent interview with KROQ’s DTS Sound Space, Matty Healy noted how Swift heard some of The 1975’s new album Being Funny In A Foreign Language ahead of its release, through mutual collaborator Antonoff. He was then asked if he got to hear Midnights before that dropped and he replied, “Yeah. We actually worked a bit on that, but then the version of it never came out.”

That got some playful boos from some audience members, to which Healy responded, “No no no, that’s not how it works. It [didn’t work out] for reasons that are not to be criticized. She’s amazing.”

Back in October, Healy denied rumors of the band collaborating with Swift, saying, “Oh no, we’re not. We’d love to, love to work with Taylor Swift. Love Taylor Swift, think she’s one of the best songwriters. Yeah, no… we haven’t done that… we’d love to, though, wouldn’t we? She’s probably sat there just watching… just watching this, pining for a feature on a 1975 track.”

In recent months, many Kanye West associates have chosen to speak out against the rapper, all stemming from his antisemitic comments. Now, so too has longtime collaborator Pusha T.

In a new Los Angeles Times interview, Pusha was asked about he has “felt watching everything that’s happened with him over the last few months.” He responded, “It’s definitely affected me. It’s been disappointing. As a Black man in America, there is no room for bigotry or hate speech. So yeah. It’s been very disappointing, let’s talk straight.”

Before answering that question, he spoke about what it’s been like to work with West over the years, saying, “Writing and recording with Ye is a very special thing for me. We actually have a lot of the same taste, we love just barred-out rap. He would tell me things like, ‘Man, you just be the extreme version of yourself. And I’m gonna be the extreme version of myself.’ […] Creatively, Ye has meant freedom to me. A lot of times, people would try to get me to change certain things about my process, change certain things about me lyrically, change certain things about the content. He never has been like that. He always saw me for who I was and knew how to take it to the next level.”

Check out the full interview here.

The Lakers entered Monday night’s game with the Pacers feeling better about themselves than they had all season, riding a 5-1 streak that had them feeling like a playoff contender again.

The good vibes continued for most of the game against Indiana, as L.A. took a 9-point lead into the fourth quarter, saw a fan drill a halfcourt shot to win $75,000, and proceeded to expand their lead to 101-84 with just under 10 minutes to play. It was at that point that everything fell apart for the Lakers, as they saw the Pacers claw their way back to within a possession of L.A. in the final minute, where Indiana would miss three point-blank shots at the rim for the lead with 50 seconds to go.

While that proved to be a missed opportunity, the Lakers weren’t done providing the Pacers with multiple chances at the lead, and that proved costly on the last possession of the game with L.A. up 115-113. After a Myles Turner three for the lead missed, Tyrese Haliburton snagged a long rebound, got trapped at the elbow, and somehow managed to find Andrew Nembhard on the opposite wing, who was able to get off a game-winning three just before the buzzer to stun the Staples Center crowd.

It was a wild sequence that capped off a 32-14 run by the Pacers to close the fourth quarter, with Tyrese Haliburton (24 points, 14 assists) and rookie sensation Bennedict Mathurin (23 points, 8 rebounds) leading the way for Indiana. The Lakers got 25 points and 13 rebounds from Anthony Davis, but went away from the big man down the stretch, as he only had two fourth quarter shots after dominating much of the first three quarters. LeBron James was 2-of-8 from the field in the fourth quarter on a 21-point night, with Russell Westbrook providing a 24-point effort off the bench, but it wasn’t enough.

For a Lakers team looking to build momentum this is a brutal loss, and one they can ill afford as they look to reengage on the West playoff chase. On the other side, it’s a tremendous win for the Pacers who looked dead in the water in the early fourth but kept plugging away and improve to 12-8 on the season after many predicted they would be in the East’s basement this season.

As for how rare this comeback was, it’s the first such blown lead ever for the Lakers, while just the second by a LeBron James team in his 20-year career.

The Los Angeles Lakers are finally starting to feel some optimism about the 2022-23 season as they came into Monday night riding a 5-1 stretch with the Pacers coming to town.

It was an intriguing matchup chiefly for all of the trade chatter involving to two teams, with Russell Westbrook plus picks for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner being brought up numerous times since the start of free agency, but never getting done. Trade talks again swirled on Monday, with there being multiple reports about how the Lakers are approaching the start of trade season on December 15, and how their current stretch of strong play impacts how they’ll proceed.

The good vibes continued through three quarters at Staples Center, as the Lakers took a 9-point lead into the fourth quarter behind another dominant Anthony Davis performance and some solid shooting that wasn’t just reserved for those on the L.A. roster. Between the third and fourth quarters, the Lakers had a fan come out for a halfcourt shot worth $75,000 and, despite an unorthodox shooting form, he drilled it.

The best part is the Lakers bench erupting, with Anthony Davis greeting the fan in the middle of the court for a hug after he hit the Griddy and ran around dapping up those sitting courtside. This is also a reminder that if you’re going to hit a halfcourt shot at an NBA game, there is no better place to do it than a Laker game, because the $75,000 prize is considerably more than most other arenas, where you might get a car or $10,000.