Month: March 2023

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour has been a treat for everyone. There’s an array of breathtaking outfits, an insane 44-track setlist, and an unexpected dive into the stage. But it was even more special for a seven-year-old fan named Bella.

Gina Lanzino, Bella’s mom, made a TikTok about how her daughter wrote a letter to the “Love Story” singer.

“Dear Taylor, I’m your biggest fan,” it read, and asked the star’s favorite color. Gina explained in the video, “She says, ‘I’m gonna bring this to the show and make sure Taylor gets this letter. I was kinda like, ‘I don’t really think that’s going to happen, but let’s try.’”

The letter was delivered to Swift via an usher at the concert in Las Vegas.

“We were about halfway through the show when some people came to our box and they were asking for Bella. I had actually forgot about the letter by that time,” Lanzino said. “They [said], ‘We wanted to give this to you.’ It was the letter Bella gave to Taylor and [Taylor] signed it.”

“[Bella] did write her section number on the back but I really didn’t ever in a million years think that this was going to get returned to her. They filmed my daughter getting the letter back because they wanted to pass it back to Taylor.”

Donald Trump was certain he was going to be arrested last Tuesday. Or maybe it was Tuesday before that. It’s hard to keep track, like when the Mike Lindell kept pushing back his evidence that will “shock the country.” We’re still waiting, Pillow Man. And we’re going to have to wait a bit longer for the grand jury in Trump’s hush money case to deliver a verdict, as they’re going on break for most of April. Suddenly, the former president has “such respect” for them.

“I HAVE GAINED SUCH RESPECT FOR THIS GRAND JURY, & PERHAPS EVEN THE GRAND JURY SYSTEM AS A WHOLE,” Trump wrote in all-caps rant on Truth Social. “THE EVIDENCE IS SO OVERWHELMING IN MY FAVOR, & SO RIDICULOUSLY BAD FOR THE HIGHLY PARTISAN & HATEFUL DISTRICT ATTORNEY, THAT THE GRAND JURY IS SAYING, HOLD ON, WE ARE NOT A RUBBER STAMP, WHICH MOST GRAND JURIES ARE BRANDED AS BEING…”

It goes on, but you get the idea. Jimmy Kimmel called Trump’s post “the saddest damn thing I have ever read,” he said during Wednesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. “The great and powerful Donald Trump weakly kissing the all-caps asses of people he will never meet in a last-ditch hope he might somehow flatter them just enough to let him off the hook.” He added, “I haven’t seen anything this pathetic since he asked Stormy to spank him with a Forbes magazine. It is just sad with an exclamation point on the end of it.”

You can watch Kimmel’s monologue above.

Towards the end of 2022, Tory Lanez was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion. In the days following the verdict, though, it was reported that Lanez hired David Kenner, who previously represented Death Row co-founder Suge Knight and Snoop Dogg, and planned to appeal the conviction. Now, Lanez is going forward with trying to clear his name.

Rolling Stone reports that according to legal documents they’ve obtained, Lanez has filed a motion for a new trial. Lanez’s lawyers, Jose Baez and Matthew Barhoma, cite multiple grounds, such as a claim that the judge “erroneously allowed” jurors to watch “a September 2020 Instagram post from Lanez’s personal account claiming Megan’s now-estranged best friend Kelsey Harris was not the shooter.”

The motion reads, “The court erred on numerous questions of law in allowing the People to introduce this post, depriving defendant of a fair trial. The only acceptable remedy for this miscarriage of justice is a new trial.”

As for what happened with Kenner, Lanez told Rolling Stone, “Due to a scheduling conflict, David Kenner will no longer be a part of my defense team. I would like to thank Mr. Kenner for his hard work and wise counsel. Jose Baez will continue to represent me as first chair and Matthew Barhoma as second chair.”

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Last night (March 29), Billie Eilish fans in Mexico were excited to take to Mexico City’s Foro Sol venue for a stop on her Happier Than Ever tour. Things didn’t go as planned, though: The city faced heavy rain, as on-site videos like the one below show, and Eilish was forced to cancel the concert. She didn’t leave fans empty-handed, though, and actually ended up giving them a unique and memorable experience.

Although the show didn’t go on as planned, Eilish and Finneas managed to at least somewhat salvage the evening by offering fans who went through the trouble of showing up and enduring the weather. The two took the stage for an acoustic performance of six songs (as Setlist.fm notes): “Ocean Eyes,” “When The Party’s Over,” “Everything I Wanted,” “TV,” “Lovely,” and “Happier Than Ever.”

At the end of the performance, Eilish addressed the crowd, instructing them to hang onto their tickets because Eilish would reschedule the show. She added, “I have to say that what we just did was, was… I’ll remember that for the rest of my life. That was truly really special for me, I love you so much.”

Concert promoter Ocesa later revealed the performance has been rescheduled for tonight, March 30.

The Los Angeles Lakers exacted some revenge on two fronts in Chicago on Wednesday. The most important was picking up a 121-110 win against a Bulls team that beat them at home on Sunday, keeping themselves in good standing in the West play-in race.

The second part was getting Patrick Beverley back after he gave LeBron James a “too small” taunt on Sunday in the late fourth quarter. Instead of James returning the favor in Chicago, it was Austin Reaves who hit a jumper in the lane over Beverley and hit him with the same gesture, which had Anthony Davis cracking up on the court.

After the game, James was asked about his thoughts on Reaves getting back at Beverley for him, and James started with an earnest answer, noting it shows Reaves always has his back, before sending a little jab at his teammate for being a former Kobe stan and LeBron hater, saying he now forgives him for that.

Reaves’ old tweets about LeBron made the rounds when he joined the Lakers, as he was not shy about getting on his future teammate, and it’s pretty funny that LeBron has sat on that for two years before delivering a great line about them.

Cordae is having a big year. The 25-year-old rapper recently shared that his brand and record label Hi Level is collaborating with Puma. Meanwhile, he took part in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game last month alongside big names like 21 Savage, Janelle Monáe, and more. Not to mention, he’s expecting his first child with Naomi Osaka.

However, no matter how much his success grows, he’s emphatic on his devotion to staying authentic. On a recent episode of Uninterrupted’s The Shop, he discussed a time when he turned down something major for the sake of staying true to himself.

He declined recording on Maroon 5’s hit single “Memories.”

“I thought about, like, is it too early in my career to do a pop record this big, if that makes sense,” he said. “I say no to 95% of things now because I just try to make everything on brand to who I am as a human being. I know it sounds cliche, but I can’t ever lose that foundation because then I’ll lose the people.”

He added confidently, “I have no regrets whatsoever, but I just wonder what would be different if I did do that.”

Watch the full interview above.

Cordae is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Moneybagg Yo starred alongside GloRilla for his “On Wat U On” video to start this year and rocked Rolling Loud California earlier this month, but his fans are satisfied. They want the album, so he hopped on Instagram Live a few days ago to give an encouraging update.

“Y’all are on my ass about this album. It’s comin’! I just told y’all it was coming,” Moneybagg Yo said, according to a snippet captured by RapTV. “I wanna tell y’all the date bad as hell, but it’s close. It’s real close. I promise. I swear to God. I love y’all. I love my fans. I ain’t gonna lie.”

In an interview with Billboard published on March 16, Moneybagg Yo shared more details about Hard To Love, the aforementioned forthcoming 22-track album. According to the publication, he described Hard To Love as a “personal” title because “he finds himself hard to love.”

“At the end of the day to love me, you have to understand me,” he said.

He’s also been teasing the album on Twitter.

“Even tho I do this effortlessly I put in real work on this album, hope y’all enjoy,” the Memphis rapper tweeted on March 20, including a fire emoji, eyeballs emoji, and trophy emoji. That was followed on March 25 with an even more confident tweet, “I SWEAR WEN [sic] I DROP ITS OVAAAAA.”

Moneybagg Yo last dropped A Gangsta’s Pain in April 2021, which enjoyed two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — his first album to top the chart.

In another timeline, Trinity in The Matrix wouldn’t have been played by Carrie-Anne Moss. She would have been played by Rosie Perez. It’s something else imagining the sparkplug of Soul Train, movies like Do the Right Thing, White Men Don’t Jump, Fearless, and, more recently, Birds of Prey and The Flight Attendant as part of the stoic resistance against the evil computers in the Wachowskis’ game-changing dystopian saga. And maybe it would have happened had she not by her own admission totally screwed up her audition.

In a new profile of the Oscar-nominated actress by Variety, Perez reflected on the time she went out for what became one of the biggest franchise of the late ‘90s and early aughts.

“I was horrible. As I was walking out, I was like, ‘I know I didn’t get the job. I really sucked,’ and the Wachowskis were like, ‘No,’ and the casting director was trying not to laugh,” she recalled. “And then finally I looked at her and I go, ‘I really sucked,’ and she just burst out laughing. We all were laughing. I just gave the Wachowskis a hug and I said, ‘Well, good luck with this.’”

What Perez didn’t want to discuss was the time, when she was choreographing the Fly Girls on In Living Color in the early ‘90s, that she got into a feud with a pre-fame Jennifer Lopez. She brushed that one off, deadpanning, “I don’t even want to get into that.”

(Via Variety)

(WARNING: Spoilers for this week’s episode of Snowfall will be found below.)

Snowfall fans are still reeling from last week’s gut-wrenching episode. In the sixth episode of the season, “Concrete Jungle,” Jerome, a fan-favorite of the show, was shot and killed in a shootout with Kane. The tragic ending left viewers to try and decide who was at fault for Jerome’s death. In Louie’s eyes, Franklin is to blame as it comes as a direct result of their ongoing war. Some would say that it’s Louie’s fault due to her refusal to leave the drug game despite all the money and success she and Jerome had. Then there’s the obvious choice of Kane as he was, you know, the person who kidnapped Louie and forced Jerome to come back to rescue her, all to be killed in the progress. Regardless of who’s to blame, all parties involved have to pick up the pieces and move forward in this week’s episode.

In the seventh episode of the latest season of Snowfall, titled “Charnel House,” we’re met with a grieving Louie who is as cold as we’ve ever seen her. The episode begins with Jerome’s body being taken to a funeral home to be prepared for a casket, something that causes Louie to once again break down into a painful cry. For the rest of the episode, Louie’s emotions are only reserved for her late husband. She’s extremely cold and at times combative when speaking to Cissy who begs her to bring an end to the war. It continues when Louie speaks with Teddy about meeting and again when they actually meet towards the end of the episode. Louie’s distraught pain over the loss of Jerome is clear, and there’s no telling how that will affect everyone else.

Elsewhere in this episode, Franklin continues his search to find Teddy with help from Gustavo, who is in quite a jam. Wanda delivers some surprising news to Leon and it appears that the walls around Teddy could be closing on him soon — and it’s not directly connected to Franklin or Louie.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways that we have after season six’s seventh episode: “Charnel House”:

Louie Has Nothing More To Lose

Jerome was the only person Louie cared about, especially during the family war. In her eyes, everyone picked their sides and Jerome was the only one who was unconditionally beside her — Franklin was the enemy and Cissy, Veronique, and Leon were all beside him. It’s for this reason that she can look Cissy in the eye and shrug off her request to end the war for the sake of everyone. Cissy begs and tries to get Louie to listen, but if she wasn’t in support of a truce before Jerome’s death, there’s no way she will be now, and Louie tells CIssy just that. “You still got things you care about,” Louie says coldly to Cissy. “I don’t.” With Louie’s promise to Teddy that she’ll kill Franklin the second she gets the chance at the funeral, and her conversation with Franklin at the funeral, there’s no telling what her next move will be. We do know that it will be made to avenge Jerome’s death in one way or another.

Franklin And Gustavo’s Best Win Is To Find Teddy

Gustavo is backed into a corner with only one way out: he has to give up Teddy. The DEA, KGB, and Franklin each want Teddy, but for Gustavo, there’s no way to give up Teddy to each party and get out of the situation alive and out of jail. The DEA is dangling a presumably long sentence over his head for Teddy’s whereabouts while the KGB agent has infiltrated Gustavo’s home to threaten his family over Teddy as well. Then there’s Franklin, who simply wants to kill Teddy for stealing his $73 million. It leaves Gustavo in a sticky situation, but his choice may not be as hard as it seems. Franklin promised to give Gustavo $1 million in exchange for Teddy, and that is far better than any deal that DEA or KGB has offered him. With the DEA, Gustavo would just escape prison or serve a lighter sentence while with the KGB, he would get relocated to a safe place with just enough money to start a new life. If you ask me, $1 million is a lot better than both of those options. Plus, going with Franklin guarantees that Teddy will be out of their respective lives for the rest of time, something that’s a big win for both Gustavo and Franklin.

Leon Might Want To Consider Following Wanda

Amid all the chaos of the last few episodes, an underlying theme has been Wanda’s growing discontent with life in the projects. Remember, at the beginning of the season, Wanda was at her happiest when she and Leon were living their best lives in Ghana. It was Leon who decided they needed to return to LA as he felt guilty for leaving his home in a mess that he helped cause. However, for Wanda, her time in Ghana was the first moment in her life that she was finally able to escape the demons and pains that surrounded her in Los Angeles. So when she informs Leon in episode seven of her plans to move out of the projects, it comes as a shock to him but not so much to us watching at home. As I wrote after episode five, Wanda cannot grow where she wasn’t rooted. Furthermore, Leon might want to consider joining her as it’s clear that the world is crumbling around the Saint family. He claims to have a few more things to fix in the projects before letting go, but just like last time, it could all get ruined and destroyed once he leaves. For once Leon, save yourself.

Franklin And Teddy Should Both Fear Louie

There is no telling what Louie’s next move will be and that is something that should scare the hell out of Franklin and Teddy. In one moment, we see Louie meet with Teddy and assure him that if he wants Franklin killed after the funeral, she will get it done. Then in another, Louie is met with Franklin’s reminder of the promise she made to him at the warehouse, one that could involve helping Franklin take down Teddy. There’s no true confirmation on what Louie’s next move will be as eliminating either Teddy or Franklin will be beneficial to her and help her somewhat avenge Jerome’s death. It’s this uncertainty that should worry Franklin and Teddy. On one end, it appears that Louie will stand by her family and not allow anyone else in the Saint circle to be killed, but on the other, she could throw that all away and go after Franklin who she believes is to blame for Jerome’s death. There are three episodes left in the final season of Snowfall and it’s through those that we’ll find out what Louie’s decision is — if she picks either at all.

New episodes of ‘Snowfall’ are available on FX on Wednesdays at 10pm EST/ PST.

Nearly one year ago, FX renewed Snowfall for a sixth and final season, one that got underway last month. Over the past six years, Snowfall grew to be one of the most popular shows on television as it garnered over a million viewers for each of its episodes at its height. In its sixth and final season, Snowfall looks to conclude the crime drama on a high note with actor Damson Idris as the centerpiece of its dramatized retelling of the crack epidemic and its effects in South Central Los Angeles. While fans expected the Snowfall experience to be officially over after its ongoing season, it appears that a new spin-off is on the way.

According to Deadline, a Snowfall spin-off is reportedly in development and it is set to star Gail Bean, who currently plays Wanda in Snowfall. The spin-off is set to continue the original story set in the 1990s by shifting its focus from the crack epidemic to the Los Angeles rap industry that took the nation by storm during that decade. Bean’s Wanda character will serve as the connection between the original show and the spin-off and new characters will be brought on to continue the story. There’s no word on if any other characters from the original Snowfall series will appear in the spin-off.

Malcolm Spellman has signed on as the executive producer and writer of the pilot. Dave Andron (the co-creator of the original and showrunner of Snowfall), Trevor Engelson, Michael London, Tommy Schlamme, and Julie DeJoie will also executive produce the new series. A release date has yet to be confirmed for the new series.