Month: May 2023

Taylor Swift doesn’t forget. The singer keeps in touch with her past, playing her previous albums on The Eras Tour and re-recording all of them as well. Her ex Taylor Lautner and his wife, also named Taylor, made a joke on TikTok about the forthcoming new version of Speak Now: “#prayforjohn,” they wrote, referring to another ex, John Mayer.

On Monday, May 22’s episode of Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, another ex, Joe Jonas, made a brief statement about their relationship, which happened in 2008. “I’m cool with Taylor,” the Jonas brother said. “We’re cool.” He then mentioned her fan. “I hope to think they like me … No one f*cks with the Swifties, you know?”

Swift and Jonas have appeared to be on good terms. In June of 2021, he was asked in an interview, “If you could re-record any song from the Jonas Brothers catalogue, which one would you choose and why?” He responded with praise of Swift, saying, “ I think I would probably re-record our entire first album. Just do something like what Taylor did recently, which I thought was really clever.”

Earlier this month, the “Anti-Hero” singer announced that Speak Now is the next LP to be released as a re-recording. It arrives on July 7.

Donald Trump has gone through a lot of lawyers over the decades, some of whom have turned on him but good. His latest team must be ready to throttle him. On Monday, E. Jean Carroll’s legal team filed another defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump after he defamed the day after a jury found him guilty of…defamation and sexual misconduct. How did Trump react? Well, by defaming her again, of course.

As per Raw Story, Trump once again grabbed his phone — which his lawyers no doubt wish they could confiscate — to repeat the same lines that have already gotten him sued twice.

“I don’t know E. Jean Carroll, I never met her or touched her (except on a celebrity line with her African American husband who she disgustingly called the ‘Ape,),” Trump wrote. “I wouldn’t want to know or touch her, I never abused her or raped her or took her to a dressing room 25 years ago in a crowded department store where the doors are LOCKED, she has no idea when, or did anything else to her, except deny her Fake, Made Up Story, that she wrote in a book. IT NEVER HAPPENED, IS A TOTAL SCAM, UNFAIR TRIAL!”

He wasn’t done:

“The Carroll case is part of the Democrats playbook to tarnish my name and person, much like the now fully debunked Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, the 51 Intelligence Agents, FBI/Twitter Files, and so much more. It is being funded and tried by Democrat operatives, although this was denied by them, and when they got caught in the lie, the Clinton appointed judge would not let us use it in trial. Time will prove him to be highly partisan & very unfair. Where’s the dress she said she had?”

Annoyed as Trump’s lawyers must be, at least they’ll be making bank. After all, he has plenty of other legal woes, including the inconveniently scheduled trial for the Stormy Daniels fiasco.

(Via Raw Story)

We’re only days away from The Little Mermaid hitting theaters. It’s been a wild ride for Halle Bailey, whose audition for the titular role was so powerful it made everyone in the room cry.

Representation has been a big part of the conversation surrounding the film. Last year, Bailey revealed what her grandparents told her in response to racist backlash to her role. “It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement,” she explained, “telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you.’”

In a new cover story by Glamour, Bailey talked more about how happy she is to be able to inspire young Black girls by starring in the movie. “When I saw those for the first time, I just cried,” she told the magazine about viral videos of them reacting to her as Ariel. “I was sobbing uncontrollably. The fact that these babies are looking at me and feeling the emotions that they’re feeling is a really humbling, beautiful thing.”

Bailey also touched on what representation she’s experienced in media that inspired her, mentioning Anika Noni Rose in the 2009 animated The Princess and the Frog. “I know how much of that movie changed my whole perspective on life,” she explained. “Wow, this is possible. Black princesses are possible. We deserve to take up these spaces too.”

The Little Mermaid arrives in theaters on May 26.

Rick Dalton, a fictional character from a film and later a novelization, is “dead.” He was 90, which is perhaps incredible given his drinking and smoking habits. Quentin Tarantino, who created him in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (and who was played by Leonardo DiCaprio), made the announcement over the weekend, then vowed to devote the next episode of Video Archives, the podcast he runs with his Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary, to further exploring his life and career. Well, guess what? In this the alternate reality that is Hollywood, Dalton almost worked with John Carpenter.

As per IndieWire, Dalton delved further into Dalton’s (again, fictitious) career post-Hollywood, which continued to be hills-and-valley. On the plus side, he got himself another beloved screen character to go along with his Bounty Law antihero Jake Cahill. He wound up playing Eddie Karpinski, a vigilante who wields a flamethrower (with which Dalton was already very adept) across three films: The Fireman, The Fireman 2, and The Fireman 3: CIA Crackdown. He even directed the third after 48 Hrs. legend Walter Hill turned it down.

On the negative side, he lost out John Carpenter’s The Thing. He would have played Garry, the stuffy station commander ultimately played by Donald Moffat.

Tarantino said Dalton’s life immediately after the events depicted in Hollywood took a strange turn. Torching a hippie Manson clan members (alongside two taken out by his buddy/stunt double Cliff Booth) inevitably turned him into a conservative hero…despite not being a conservative.

“So he got invited to, like, the Republican Convention, alright, because it became this thing for, like, Nixon’s Silent Majority,” Tarantino explained. “And he’s a lifelong Democrat but he went and they fucking dug him. Rick was very happy being dug. But they put him on Johnny Carson after that and he was a big hit on the Johnny Carson show, and then all of a sudden, because of the notoriety, he started doing better TV shows. He went from, like, doing Land of the Giants and Green Hornet to doing Mission: Impossible.”

Back in 2021, Tarantino flirted with chronicling Dalton’s entire (fake) career in a book, called The Films of Rick Dalton.

“It’s written as if Rick is real. You know, they have The Films of Charles Bronson and The Films of Anthony Quinn. Well, it’s done like that, with synopsis and then some critical quotes from the time,” Tarantino said. “And the book goes through every one of Rick’s movies that he did, leading to the end of his career in 1988, I believe, and every one of his episodic television shows.”

That obviously hasn’t happened yet. What’s more, Tarantino has a history of announcing projects that never materialize.

But since his wacky-sounding next film could be his last — and since he’s already published two books since the release of Hollywood, one a collection of film criticism — maybe he’ll actually get around to it.

(Via IndieWire)

One of the earliest moments in afrobeats 2022 impressive year came when Rema released his debut album Rave & Roses. The project was initially highlighted by the 2021 hit song “Soundgasm,” but more than a year later, “Calm Down” has proven to be the undeniable smash from the album. Following a remix with Selena Gomez, “Calm Down” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making him the first Nigerian artist to earn a top 5 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rema celebrated the overall success of Rave & Roses with a deluxe reissue, titled Rave & Roses (Ultra), that added four more songs to the album. One of those is “Charm” which now has a new video attached to it.

Rema’s new video for “Charm” puts his lady’s man persona on display for the slick-talking record. The singer shows off his dance moves and whisks a woman into his arms all while singing about the charm and other qualities he brings to a woman and how it makes it hard for her to leave him.

“Charm” joins “Holiday” as another fan-favorite from the Rave & Roses (Ultra) project. The latter record was one of two songs from Rema used for an engaging performance on The Tonight Show.

You can watch the video for “Charm” above.

Rave & Roses (Ultra) is out now via Mavins World/Jonzing World. Find more information here.

Donald Trump is juggling so many legal cases it’s hard to keep track of them. On Monday, the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit against the former president got a sequel, which will find her once again suing him for defamation. A mere day later, he got some more bad news: The Stormy Daniels case unveiled its first trial date. And to say it’s inconvenient for him is to put it mildly.

As per Mediaite, New York City Judge Juan Merchan has named March 25, 2024 as the first day of the Daniels trial. That’s a ways off, but it’s also smack dab in the middle of primary season, after Super Tuesday but before key contests in New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. That means that instead of hitting the trail, he might have to sit stewing in a courtroom, maybe even taking the stand.

None of this was lost on the defendant. Soon after the news, Trump took to his rinky-dink Twitter clone to fume:

Just had New York County Supreme Court hearing where I believe my First Amendment Rights,“Freedom of Speech,” have been violated, and they forced upon us a trial date of March 25th, right in the middle of Primary season. Very unfair, but this is exactly what the Radical Left Democrats wanted. It’s called ELECTION INTERFERENCE, and nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before!!!

The Daniels case has already made history. In April, Trump became the first U.S. president in history to be indicted on criminal charges. And there were a lot of them: 34 counts of falsifying business records, most of them related to the Daniels hush money payment.

Will Trump be able to multitask, defending himself in court while also stomping around the country, trashing the likes of Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, and whoever is still vying for the Republican presidential ticket at that point? He’s always been a prolific agent of chaos, so maybe?

(Via Mediaite)

When former professional athletes and sports talk pundits argue on television, there is always the temptation for the former player to drop in something about how the other “never played the game.”

It’s part of why former players becoming analysts are so valuable, because they have been in those moments and can speak from experience, but at times it can be a bit of a low blow. The all-time example is Jalen Rose roasting Skip Bayless’ high school stats, calling him “Water Pistol Pete” in one of the great moments in morning sports talk history.

On Tuesday, while discussing LeBron’s comments about having “a lot to think about” regarding his future and potentially retiring, J.J. Redick grew frustrated with Stephen A. Smith and took a shot at Smith’s college career at Winston-Salem State University, with Brian Windhorst awkwardly sitting in remotely waiting to get to make his point.

Later in the show, Redick offered an apology to Smith, admitting he let Stephen A. get under his skin and he was “a little flustered” and resorted to the “you’ve never played at this level” tactic. He also apologized for getting confused where he went to school, as he got a lot of pushback on Twitter from folks giving him a history lesson about the importance of Winston-Salem State Basketball and, particularly, coach Clarence “Big House” Gaines, for whom Smith played.

Stephen A. brushed the whole thing off, but you can tell how much he enjoyed getting an apology from Redick and, more importantly, the admission that he’d gotten under his skin. That’s what Stephen A. lives for, and J.J. has to know by now that he can’t let Smith’s antics rattle him into saying things he may end up regretting.

There’s something undeniably romantic about proposing to someone at Disney World. The park is filled with wonder and built on the belief that big dreams can come true. That’s probably why after three and a half years of dating, Mac, 31, and their then-boyfriend, Alex, 29, got the same idea when they took a recent trip to the Magic Kingdom.

The couple arrived at the park in the morning and met with Mac’s aunt and cousin. Mac’s real reason for inviting them on the trip was to film their surprise proposal. However, Mac didn’t know Alex had already told them he planned to propose during the fireworks show that night.

This put Mac’s cousin and aunt in a funny place because they had to hide two secrets.

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In the viral video seen over 13 million times on TikTok, Alex and Mac appear to be posing for a photo in front of Cinderella Castle when Mac gets down on one knee to propose. This sets Alex into a fit of laughter, and he gets down on one knee and pulls out a ring to propose as well.

@herecomemac

what can i say? we share one brain cell 😂 now we share more! (and have a partner reveal! he’s a fairly private person, which is why he hasn’t popped up in my tiktoks yet. I can no longer call him my boyfriend 🥰) huge shoutout to @Generic Millennial NPC and @littlestinkah for filming ❤️ #justengaged #proposal #proposalvideo #waltdisneyworld #magickingdompark

“What can I say? We share one brain cell, now we share more,” Mac chuckled in the caption of the viral clip. “And have a partner reveal! I can no longer call him my boyfriend. Hit me with that Uno Reverse card.”

The couple received over 20,000 comments on the video. Most of them were people wishing them well on a new life together.

“They are truly meant for each other,” one commenter wrote. Another added, “Tell us you’re soulmates, without telling us you’re soulmates.”

“So adorable. They were both on exactly the same page,” shared a third.

“You get a ring, you get a ring, we all get a ring. Congrats,” another wrote.

How often do you see both parties in a proposal get down on one knee? The good news is that they both said yes.

“Both of us said yes,” Mac said in a follow-up TikTok. “Our rings match, mine is white gold, and then his is sterling silver.”

@herecomemac

update to the proposal video! also, Alex is 5’8″, so not too much of a short king, I’m just 6’2″ 😂😂😂 this was just off the cuff while we’re sitting for a snack and overwhelmed by all the love 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Mac thinks it would have been funny if Alex jokingly said no before pulling out his ring.

“Yes, it would have been the funniest thing on Earth if that laughter was like a ‘No, no of course not,’ and then he pulled out the ring. But no, he had planned to do it at the fireworks that night. So, just funny happenstance,” Mac said in a video.

However, the couple never made it to the fireworks show that night because Alex was too tired. But the next day they continued their vacation with a trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Mac later revealed that the two had met while working at a job they no longer have in December of 2019 and began dating a month after meeting. Currently, they live in Central Florida about two hours from Disney World. The couple plans to get married in October 2024 with a Halloween-themed “spooky” wedding.

Teachers make a lasting impression on their students and that seems to be amplified when you have the same teacher for multiple years. Students that take certain classes like band and choir have more time to spend getting to know their teachers through long rehearsals, competitions and ceremonies. You build a bond with the teachers and classmates which makes goodbyes at graduation hard.

When a teacher retires, there’s no coming back to visit your old teacher because you were in town and eventually you just settle for carrying them in your heart. But what happens when they call you back for one last song? You show up. Jim Stanley was retiring after teaching choir for 30 years, and instead of a typical retirement party, he decided to invite all of the alumni from the past three decades to sing one last song together.

Stanley knew his crew because they had one rehearsal together before they were due to perform with him directing the group. This mash-up of old and new alumni sound as if they’ve always sung together under his directorship.

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@watchmaggiepaint

Thank you, Mr. Stanley. When Mr. Stanley retired, he sent out an invite to all his old students, inviting us to come sing and be directed by him for one last day. I blocked it in my calendar and didn’t work a wedding, specifically so I could go to my small home town and sing for one last time with all the people I grew up knowing. It was so emotional. So many memories flooded back, we had the strongest choral program of a town our size, all because of Stanley. Many of us became artists and mysicians professionally. Reuniting and seeing the life path of each former student was wild. SHOUTOUT to Lisa for the solo, she is amazing. #mrhollandsopus #choralmusic #teacher #inspiring

Maggie Smith Kühn uploaded the video of the rehearsal on TikTok where it racked up over 2.2 million views.

“When Mr. Stanley retired, he sent out an invite to all his old students, inviting us to come sing and be directed by him for one last day,” Kühn wrote in the caption. “It was so emotional. So many memories flooded back, we had the strongest choral program of a town our size, all because of Stanley. Many of us became artists and musicians professionally. Reuniting and seeing the life path of each former student was wild.”

The camaraderie and emotions that must’ve flowed during that rehearsal and subsequent performance had to be immense. There are few things that can top the feeling of perfecting a difficult piece of music when you’re a musician. While the night was about Mr. Stanley, everyone involved will likely remember this for the rest of their lives.

Watch the final performance below, the soloist is Lisa Lowe Douglas and she clearly has maintained her vocal abilities. What a beautiful moment to share.

@watchmaggiepaint

Replying to @CoffeyKaffeine Here it is! Lisa Lowe Douglas performing “City Called Heaven” directed by Jim Stanley. #choralmusic #mrhollandsopus #inspiring #lisalowedouglas

A Ukrainian influencer poured fake blood on herself at the Cannes Film Festival red carpet as a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“On the red carpet of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, I came out in a dress in the colors of our flag and poured red paint on myself. I used my chance and with this act I reminded what is happening in Ukraine!!!” wrote Ilona Chernobai on Instagram, where she has over one million followers. “I am very glad that my act spread all over the world media! People should not forget about us! The action was in support of the occupied territories and our people who live there! All the people of Ukraine.”

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Cannes banned Russian delegates from the festival in 2022, writing in a statement, “We will not welcome official Russian delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government.” As the 2023 edition continues, the Ukrainian League of Cinemas called on participants of the festival to halt all business with Russia rather than support “terrorism,” causing industry professionals to weigh the moral cost of working in the country against the financial upside of releasing films in the Russian market.

Chernobai is banned from attending the festival, “but it’s worth it!!!” she continued. “I am proud of myself that I was able to! Although it was very, very scary. GLORY TO UKRAINE.” You can see the protest here.

(Via Variety)