Month: May 2023

Erykah Badu is set to hit the screen soon. Today (May 31), Netflix announced that the “On & On” singer will be joining the cast of the feature film adaptation of The Piano Lesson.

Badu joins the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, and Corey Hawkins in this post-Depression-era story.

The Piano Lesson takes place in 1936 in Pittsburgh following the Great Depression. The story chronicles the members of the Doaker Charles household and their family piano, which contains carvings and messages from an enslaved ancestor of the Charles family.

Jackson and Washington have previously starred in a Broadway adaptation of The Piano Lesson. This show recently concluded its run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre after playing 27 previews and 124 regular performances. This edition of The Piano Lesson is the highest-grossing revival of a play on Broadway and the highest-grossing August Wilson production on Broadway ever.

The show also earned two Tony awards — Best Revival Of A Play and Best Performance By An Actor In A Featured Role In A Play, the latter for Samuel L. Jackson’s performance.

At the time of writing, Badu’s role in the upcoming film adaptation of The Piano Lesson has not yet been specified.

Robert De Niro recently welcomed his seventh child at age 79, and Al Pacino might have responded, “Hold my cannoli.”

That’s possibly the worst The Godfather joke in history, but that’s the spirit of the occasion. Not only do the former Corleone actors have that Francis Ford Coppola franchise in common, but they also starred together in Michael Mann’s Heat and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. (What’s that you said about Righteous Kill? Never heard of it.) Now, they’re about to co-star in a real-life buddy comedy of sorts, given that both men will be changing diapers at an age when, well, they probably did not envision doing so.

Yet here they are. TMZ broke the news (and confirmed with Pacino’s rep as well) that Pacino’s girlfriend, Noor Alfallah (age 29) is 8 months pregnant. She’s been dating Pacino for about a year after previously dating billionaire Nicolas Berggruen (as shown below in 2019) and Mick Jagger.

TMZ notes, unavoidably, that “Pacino would be 100, God willing, when the child turns 18.” Granted, this will only be Pacino’s fourth child, so De Niro is still outdoing him with seven children, if this were to be considered a competition. And that’s where social media is running with this ball. Not only are Heat and “Disgusting Brother” jokes flying, but there’s a doozy involving Zoolander and Hansel (“so hot right now”).

(Note: TMZ has spliced together two Getty photos, seen here and here while reporting this story.)

(Via TMZ)

Donald Trump got roasted on Tuesday for a Truth Social post where he refers to his former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany as “milktoast,” and yes, he spelled it exactly like that. After leaving the Trump administration, McEnany has been working at Fox News, which has seemingly thrown its weight behind Ron DeSantis, prompting almost daily rants from Trump.

“Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on Fox News,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it’s not 34. She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. Fox News should only use REAL Stars!!!”

Despite Trump getting widely mocked for his “milktoast” spelling, it didn’t take long for a GOP politician to parrot the phrase, and directly to McEnany’s face. While appearing on Fox News later that evening, Rep. Chip Roy made a reference to Trump’s insult while discussing the latest debt ceiling deal.

Via Mediaite:

“First of all, you know, everything that we’re seeing out of the bill that’s been put forward, this deal hatched this weekend is pretty milquetoast if that word might mean something to you,” Roy responded, alluding to Trump’s slam.

After Roy wrapped up his debt ceiling remarks, McEnany moved on without acknowledging the Trump reference.

(Via Mediaite)

Blackpink’s Jennie is prepping for the streaming premiere of her role in HBO’s upcoming series, The Idol, which airs this coming Sunday (June 4).

Although the series has been met with controversy for its explicit scenes and alleged behavior from creator Sam Levinson in a Rolling Stone piece, the pop star is still expressing her excitement about the project.

Specifically, in a recent interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Jennie noted that her co-star, the show’s lead, Lily-Rose Depp, helped her feel more comfortable on the set.

“It definitely was a challenge, because I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” Jennie said. “It was like, breaking a wall for me. She really helped me a lot. Telling me about scenes, and it was very comforting to have her there. She just taught me to express myself and be comfortable with myself, to not be scared.”

She also spoke a bit about Levinson and why she thought she was a fit for the show.

“The fact that it was about the music industry fascinated me, and I thought I could bring something to the role,” she added. “It was an opportunity to just be myself and be brave. I didn’t really train for it, or prep anything. Sam wanted me to just be myself.”

Fans of Jennie will only have to wait a few more days to see her shine with new acting skills and learn more about her role in The Idol.

Ken is a feature-less doll, an everyman for no one. But there are people out there who believe Ryan Gosling is “too old” and “dry” (?) to play Barbie’s friend-who-is-a-boy in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie in example #42,974 why maybe it’s a good thing that Twitter is dying.

In an interview with GQ, Gosling was asked about the ageist criticisms.

“It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?” he said. “Everyone was fine with that, for him to have a job that is nothing. But suddenly, it’s like, ‘No, we’ve cared about Ken this whole time.’ No, you didn’t. You never did. You never cared. Barbie never fucked with Ken. That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told.”

Gosling, who described Ken’s job as “beach” (“What the fuck does that even mean?”), added with a laugh, “I care about this dude now. I’m like his representative. I’m like his representative. ‘Ken couldn’t show up to receive this award, so I’m here to accept it for him.’” If Gosling wins Best Oscar for his performance in Barbie, as he should, this should be his acceptance speech.

(Via GQ)

I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson has become one of the most beloved sketch comedy series of the past few years thanks to its completely bizarre humor. The show has produced some memorable music moments, too, like an Ezra Koenig song and the sketch where a recording session goes off the rails and ends up becoming about zombie skeletons (a song that Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard later covered).

Well, the third season just premiered on Netflix yesterday (May 30), and Robinson brought the music world into the fold this time, too: As Pitchfork notes, the season features new music from Turnstile and Christian Lee Hutson.

In “Children’s Choir,” a sketch from the fourth episode, there’s a song called “Listening” by Everything-You-Knows, a group consisting of Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, Pat McCrory, Daniel Fang, and Franz Lyons. Turnstile’s appearance in the show makes sense, since Robinson popped up at one of their concerts in 2021.

Hutson, meanwhile, wrote and performed a song called “Is This It” that appears in “Sitcom Taping,” a sketch from the second episode.

Check out the new season of I Think You Should Leave here.

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

Megan Thee Stallion has faced a ton of stress in her life lately thanks to the Tory Lanez trial. As for when she plans to drop new music, she’s going to need a minute.

In a new interview with InStyle, Megan said, “Fans can expect new music when I’m in a better place. Right now, I’m focused on healing.” The publication notes, “These days, that looks like spending time with her dogs, working out, bingeing TV shows, and simply finding new ways to protect her peace. You can now find her setting boundaries and incorporating rest days into her schedule to take care of both her physical and mental health.”

Meg added, “The music and entertainment industry can be a grind, so it’s important to take time off and avoid burning out. Life is all about balance.”

This comes about a month after Meg said in a different interview, “This is a rebirth of a happier and healthier me. I’m a survivor and I have — and will continue — to embrace the highs and lows of my journey. I’m excited to get back into music, because I have been so transformed. I’m playing around with new songs and new sounds that I can’t wait for everyone to hear.”

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

Stevie Nicks is currently on a co-headlining tour with Billy Joel, called Two Icons One Night Tour. After kicking off at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on March 10, the run stopped by the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee on May 19. It’s set to also hit Arlington, Philadelphia, Columbus, Kansas City, Foxborough, Baltimore, and Minneapolis.

The setlist so far for Nicks’ performance is packed with exciting cuts. It has her solo hits like “Edge Of Seventeen” and “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” during the latter of which Billy Joel joins her to sing the part of Tom Petty. It also contains several Fleetwood Mac songs, such as “Dreams,” “Gypsy,” and many more.

Late last year, her bandmate Christine McVie tragically passed and she penned a thoughtful letter to her and shared it to social media: “See you on the other side, My Love. Don’t forget about me,” she wrote.

Check out the setlist for the Nashville concert below via setlist.fm.

1. “Outside the Rain”
2. “Dreams”
3. “If Anyone Falls”
4. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Billy Joel
5. “Fall From Grace”
6. “For What It’s Worth” (Buffalo Springfield cover)
7. “Gypsy”
8. “Wild Heart”
9. “Bella Donna”
10. “Stand Back”
11. “Free Fallin’” (Tom Petty cover)
12. “Gold Dust Woman”
13. “Sara”
14. “Edge Of Seventeen”
15. “Rhiannon”
16. “Landslide”

Donald Trump famously demands utmost loyalty from his cronies. He doesn’t exactly return the favor. Cross or disappoint him in even the smallest way and he’ll turn on you. That’s what Kayleigh McEnany has learned. The former president’s fourth and final press secretary has been in the tank for Ron DeSantis since late last year, but it wasn’t until she claimed he wasn’t beating him in the polls as much as he is.

On Tuesday night, McEnany made an appearance on Jesse Watters Primetime, where she claimed Trump is “only” beating DeSantis by 25 points. That was enough to make Trump mad enough that he bestowed upon her her own nickname.

“Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews,” Trump raged. I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it’s not 34. While 25 is great, it’s not 34. She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!”

Trump insinuating that she’s a liar and that she isn’t a “REAL” star was one thing. But most people couldn’t get past the supposedly mean nickname: Did he mean to write “Milktoast” or does he really not know the word is “milquetoast.”

Whatever the case, people laughed at him.

Some thought it a weird insult.

Others remembered Trump’s past verbal blunders, like “hamberders.”

There were jokes.

Some took him literally.

Some argued that it was cruel of Trump to turn on McEnany considering how often she lied for him.

Others argued that one oughtn’t feel bad for Kayleigh McEnany.

Later that evening guest Chip Roy seemed to be reference the dust-up to her face.

(Via Mediaite)

Saweetie is having a big year. She hopped on a remix of Baby Tate’s viral “Hey, Mickey!” and she was brought out during Latto’s Coachella performance. Now, it looks like her love life has a lot going on as well.

The “My Type” performer has been rumored to be dating fellow rapper YG after the two were allegedly at Coachella together. They also both collaborated with Tyga on “Money Mouf” and Mozzy on “In My Face.” However, photographic evidence has surfaced Tuesday, May 30 of the pair getting close in Cabo.

Though fans are excited for romance in Saweetie’s life, they would also like new material from her, especially considering she’s been putting off her debut album for quite some time. In March, she talked about why it’s been taking a while. “I feel like a debut album is not something you just put out,” she said. “It’s not something you play with. I’m a Cancer, so I like to overthink sometimes, but I think you have to be really careful with that, and I take my art really serious.

“I’ve been through a lot of interesting experiences,” she added. “So, I wanna put that all into my album in the most artistic and organic way.”

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