Month: January 2024

Late last year, Justin Timberlake was in the headlines because Britney Spears wrote some troubling allegations about their decades-old relationship in her memoir. To start this year, Timberlake made his musical return with “Selfish” and “Sanctified,” two singles he performed on the latest SNL, from the forthcoming Everything I Thought It Was, his first album since 2018, and now, Britney Spears is making headlines for reacting to Timberlake’s new music.

Yeah, it’s confusing. Let’s unpack it.

“I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book,” Spears captioned an Instagram video of Timberlake appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as per Variety because Spears’ Instagram is now private. “If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry. I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song ‘Selfish.’ It is soo good and how come every time I see Justin and Jimmy together I laugh so hard ??? Ps ‘Sanctified’ is wow too.”

In her memoir, The Woman In Me, Spears claimed the she was pregnant with Timberlake’s child before having an abortion, and that Timberlake cheated on her with another celebrity.

Timberlake has not publicly commented on anything from Spears’ memoir, though he did seemingly confirm all of it had been on his radar while performing in Las Vegas last month — saying “no disrespect” before singing “Cry Me A River,” his hit song long been associated with his split from Spears in the early 2000s.

Over the weekend, before Spears’ co-signed Timberlake’s new music, Britney Spears fans trolled Timberlake by sending Spears’ 2011 song, also titled “Selfish,” to No. 1 on iTunes.

The best part about Ghostbusters is that there will never be a shortage of ghosts to bust (people die every day!), so theoretically, we could have more Ghostbusters movies for decades to come. With Paul Rudd!

The latest installment in the Ghostbusters universe is Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, a direct sequel to the surprisingly fun Ghostbusters: Afterlife which brought Paul Rudd aboard the Ectobmobile with a group of ghost-curious teens. The upcoming adventure will not only bring back your favorite ghosts, but the guys busting them look pretty familiar too. Here is everything we know so far about the upcoming sequel.

Plot

Ghostbusters: Afterlife took place over 30 years after the second Ghostbusters film and brought the Spengler family to a haunted farmhouse in rural Oklahoma. In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spenglers head to the far-away land of New York City, where both generations of Ghostbusters unite against the bad guys and must stop the world from freezing over. Honestly, Ant-Man would have no chance here. Check out the official synopsis:

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

It seems like the film will continue to blend comedy and spooks, but actor Kumail Nanjani says that it’s heavy on the scary stuff. “There’s some really, genuinely scary stuff,” Nanjani confirmed last year. “The scary stuff is actually scary.”

Cast

There’s something for everyone here: the cast brings back Gen Z icons McKenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard alongside People’s Former Sexiest Man Alive Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon from Afterlife.

But the fun doesn’t stop there: the original Ghostbusters Ernie Hudson, Dan Akroyd, Annie Potts, and Bill Murray all returned for Frozen Empire because, honestly, who else are you gonna call? Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim also got calls, because they are also in the film.

Most importantly, the film was able to bring the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man back on the payroll, along with a dozen of his little monstrous marshmallow buddies.

Release Date

The film is set to hit theaters on March 22, 2024.

Trailer

The latest trailer gives us a glimpse of the gang as they reunite in the iconic firehouse and also allowed Bill Murray to say the line: “tall, dark and horny.” Check it out below.

Why can’t Republicans be normal about Taylor Swift?

Previously, MAGA-loving conservatives had a meltdown when the pop star started dating Travis Kelce after the Hall of Fame-bound Kansas City Chiefs tight end appeared in a Bud Light commercial and advocated for getting the COVID vaccine. They’re still angry about that, but now they’ve added conspiracy theories to the nuttiness.

Following Sunday’s AFC Championship game where the Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens to advance to the Super Bowl, conservative commentator Jack Posobiec wrote on X, “Thinking about when Taylor Swift called out the Soros family in 2019 for buying the rights to her music and then how she came out a super liberal in 2020.” Vivek Ramaswamy, the failed Republican presidential candidate who called his wife a “throat surgeon,” had quite the response. “I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month. And I wonder if there’s a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall. Just some wild speculation over here, let’s see how it ages over the next 8 months,” he posted.

Wild is right. Leaving aside calling Swift and Kelce, who are at the peak of success and talent in their respective careers, “artificially culturally propped-up,” it’s unclear what the Chiefs in the Super Bowl has to do with Joe Biden.

The Boys star Erin Moriarty has been subjected to plenty of unsavory online treatment (over the years) due to certain corners of the internet aiming poison at her character, Starlight/Annie January. What Moriarty has dealt with goes far beyond occupational hazard, and she got frank in a new Instagram post, in which she stated, “You learn to become teflon and move on.”

Still, the current online ruckus grew to such a degree that Moriarty felt the need to address it, given that ex-Fox News host Megyn Kelly joined in with “disgustingly false” accusations that Moriarty indulged in plastic surgery. Granted, Kelly’s mini-rant arrived via her Sirius XM show, yet the Vought/Fox News comparison has been made on countless other occasions (and certainly by The Boys itself), so it’s not difficult to see how Moriarty accidentally assumed that was where Kelly made the remarks.

Additionally, the actress explained how the current photo in question (which has been removed from her Instagram) was the result of “major contouring,” which a makeup team had done after Moriarty had endured a difficult week, including a lack of sleep the night prior:

“You never know what someone is going through, social media is a platform that is not representative of a whole person, and irregardless there is no excuse for the words that have been spoken directly to me or about me. Shame on you Megyn Kelly. Shame on you, Fox News (vought incarnate). Implying that my photo is reflective of women being in a worse place is as false as my conviction in saying that if you resigned, you would be leaving women in a better place.”

Moriarty continued to call out Kelly for using a decade-old photo (for comparison’s sake) while labeling it as fairly new:

“Megyn used a photo taken ‘a year ago’ according to her, that had in actuality been taken about a decade ago before I was of LEGAL DRINKING AGE (I’m about to turn 30) as an example (maybe do some research that would take 30 seconds).”

Moriarty explained that she was indefinitely stepping away from social media and only leaving her Instagram account active for this statement. “We’re all subject to levels of bullying throughout our lives but I am horrified.” She then added, “This is becoming harassment. This is becoming false news.” You can watch Megyn Kelly’s accusations against Moriarty below.

One of Latin music’s most influential producers and songwriters is making history at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Edgar Barrera, who is a driving force in globalizing the música Mexicana genre, is nominated for Songwriter Of The Year. He is the first person to be up for that award for all Spanish-language songs. The Mexican-American maestro scored massive música Mexicana hits last year with Grupo Frontera, Bad Bunny, Shakira, and Karol G.

“I feel like I’m representing the whole Latino community because I’m the only Latin nominee in the general categories,” Barrera says about his nomination. “I feel honored and so blessed to be there.”

Barrera has worked as a songwriter since 2012. He was born in McAllen, Texas, but also grew up in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Living life on both sides of the US-Mexico border inspired him to bridge the gap between both worlds in his music. Throughout his career, Barrera has crafted hits in the tropical, reggaeton, and pop genres, including writing for Madonna, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, and Jennifer Lopez. But it’s Barrera’s work in música Mexicana that earned him the Songwriter of the Year nomination.

Barrera was instrumental in turning norteña-cumbia act Grupo Frontera into global superstars. Then, Bad Bunny jumped on the band’s genre-bending smash “Un x100to” last year. Shakira and Karol G later turned to Barrera to explore Mexican genres like corridos and Tejano music. In fact, pretty much any música Mexicana hit most likely has Barrera’s name in the credits. Over Zoom, he talked with Uproxx about the stories behind his hits, the importance of his Grammy nomination, and how he’s supporting the next generation of songwriters.

How do you feel to be nominated for Songwriter Of The Year at the 2024 Grammy Awards?

For me, it’s a big surprise because I never expected this nomination at the American Grammy Awards because all my songs are in Spanish. That makes me feel that the culture and the movement that we have going with Mexican music and Latin music is becoming more global every day.

I know you write music for all genres, but what does it mean for you to have helped push música Mexicana into the mainstream?

I’ve always been around música Mexicana since the very beginning. It’s not something that I just started doing months ago when this blew up. It’s been constant work and a long journey. I’ve been working with developing artists in the música Mexicana space even before this became global. The first música Mexicana song that went into the global charts and the Billboard Hot 100 chart was “Botella Tras Botella” by Christian Nodal in 2021. The song that came after that one was “Ya Supérame” by Grupo Firme, which I was also a part of. It’s been a process with artists like Nodal, Grupo Firme, and now Grupo Frontera. Now we have Peso Pluma and that’s making [global música Mexicana hits] something that is happening more often. I’m happy to be part of this whole journey since the very beginning.

Speaking of Grupo Frontera, you’re having big success with them. Why did you decide that you wanted to work closely with them?

The guys are from my hometown. They’re actually from McAllen, Texas. I was working a lot with a lot of artists around the world. I was working a lot with Colombian, Puerto Rican, and Venezuelan artists. I wanted to go back to my community and help out a local band from my hometown, try to put them on the map, and write for an artist that’s just like me. I just wanted to give back to my community and that’s how I launched [my record label] Borderkid and started working with Grupo Frontera.

Growing up going between Mexico and the US, would you say that influenced the way you make music?

Yes! 100 percent! I grew up listening to Mexican music and being at the border is like being in the middle of both worlds. I look at it as being in the middle of the pop world and the Mexican world. I’ve been trying to make música Mexicana sound the way I translate it and the way I see it – to do it differently. My music represents a lot of who I am and where I’m from.

How would you describe the experience of working with Bad Bunny on Grupo Frontera’s song “Un x100to”?

Working with Bad Bunny is always an amazing experience. It’s something that we never thought was even going to be possible. It just shows you that anything can be possible through music. We have Bad Bunny, who is the biggest artist in the world, working with a band that was just barely getting their name out there. Having one of the biggest songs of the year was just a blessing.

How did the song “Mi Ex Tenía Razón” come together with Karol G?

Karol is a big fan of Mexican music. She’s also a big fan of Selena. I went into the studio with her, she showed me her love for Selena’s music, and told me, “I want to do a song that kind of reminds everybody [of Selena] and give that nostalgia to my audience – to make them feel what we felt when we listened to Selena.” It was a really good experience with her, trying to find that sound, and relieve that energy.

Shakira did her first corridos song “El Jefe” with you and Fuerza Regida. What was the story behind that collaboration?

That was a whole different experience because Shakira wanted to try something out with new sounds. Going in with Shakira, who is an artist that is not afraid of trying new stuff, that was special. Having Shakira looking into our [Mexican] culture and wanting to be a part of it just makes our culture bigger.

In your songs, you often bring together artists and genres from different worlds. Why are those fusions important for the future of Latin music and música Mexicana?

It’s been very important. That’s another thing I was talking to Peso Pluma about yesterday while we were working. The way that we are doing stuff nowadays is that we’re open to working with everyone and that’s something that new generations are embracing. We’re not afraid of working with people that maybe don’t relate to our music or that don’t speak the same language. You wouldn’t see that in the música Mexicana space before. You would never see a collaboration. Not even between música Mexicana artists. There were always solo songs. We came with a different mentality and with this mentality, I feel that it’s helped everybody out. It’s making everything bigger and bigger.

Peso Pluma posted a photo of your writing session with him on Instagram. What can you tell us about what you’re working on with him?

The vibe was just amazing last night working with him and Chachito, who is an amazing writer from the corridos space. A lot of the comments were like, “Oh my God! Having Chachito, Peso, and Edgar in the same room is just going to be crazy.” People are excited. I’m excited and Peso is excited. He was very hyped and happy to have us there collaborating with each other.

What can we expect from you and your label Borderkid this year?

I’m expanding my label. I’m making new moves. I’m signing new artists and new writers. It’s also important for me to give opportunities to writers and producers to work with the artists that I’m surrounded with. I’m making the family bigger.

What do you want to achieve or accomplish next?

I just want to continue making music. I’ve never done music to try to win any awards. The awards come on their own. The awards are like the results of my hard work throughout the year. For me, it’s about making music that makes me feel good. Like yesterday, being there in the studio with Peso Pluma was great. Whatever else comes out of it is just extra.

If you haven’t heard, men are really mad about Taylor Swift attending NFL games, even though she is hardly shown on the broadcast, and the biggest crime she is committing is minding her business and enjoying her life. Meanwhile, Eminem flipped off San Francisco 49ers fans during Sunday’s (January 28) NFC Championship Game between the Niners and Em’s beloved Detroit Lions, and — I know this is wild — the NFL didn’t immediately crumble.

Unfortunately for Detroit, the Lions did crumble. Detroit thoroughly dominated the first half, holding a 24-7 lead at halftime in Santa Clara, California, before San Francisco made the unlikeliest comeback and won 34-31 — and it was cruel, even by Detroit Lions’ standards.

Eminem took the loss in stride, writing on X (formerly Twitter), “So proud of the
@Lions Thanks 4 an amazing season!!!! We’ll b back!!!”

For context, the Detroit Lions have, by many metrics, been the sorriest franchise in North American professional sports for the entirety of my life (and probably much of yours, as well). Earlier this month, in the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend, the Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years by defeating the visiting Los Angeles Rams (and former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford), 24-23. Eminem would have been happy to suit up to help the Lions in their Divisional Round matchup against Tampa Bay, as he said in a satirical Instagram video, but the Lions actually could have used him in San Francisco.

At any rate, Super Bowl LVIII will be played by the 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, February 11, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Lately, “Rap Twitter” has been in shambles over the genre’s latest high-profile feud between Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj. Today, Minaj released “Big Foot,” in which she disses her “Hot Girl Summer” collaborator after Megan deftly referenced her marital woes on “Hiss” last Friday (January 26). While fans fuss and fight over which of the two is on top (so far), here’s a timeline of how we got here.

Megan And Nicki Release “Hot Girl Summer” — August 2019

As Megan enjoyed her breakout year, she coined the phrase “Hot Girl Summer” to lay claim to the warmer months when her lively music would reign supreme. Naturally, when it came time to release a song of the same name — and its music video a month later — she recruited the woman who has arguably been the biggest influence on the modern wave of rap it-girls that have exploded onto the scene since 2017.

Unfortunately, it looks like love fest was short-lived, as things apparently soured between them rather quickly (you might notice that this is a common occurence with Nicki’s collaborators). A livestream in which the two women met for the first time could be the reason, as Nicki later cited Meg plying her with alcohol as one of her reasons for changing course on Thee Stallion.

Megan And Cardi B Release “WAP” — August 2020

So, a couple of things here: When Megan decided to accept Cardi’s invitation to collaborate on “WAP,” she surely must have known about Cardi and Nicki’s longstanding beef — and Nicki’s policy about picking a side and staying on it.

While Meg choosing to ignore Nicki’s dictate to shun Cardi almost certainly got under the elder rapper’s skin, the success of “WAP” in comparison to that of “Hot Girl Summer” might have been the factor that sent her over the edge. While “Hot Girl Summer debuted and peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100, “WAP” not only started at No. 1 but it also spent four non-consecutive weeks there and became the hottest topic of discussion in that span, for good or ill.

Nicki Minaj Airs Out Megan On Queen Radio — September 2022

During Nicki’s September 11 episode of Queen Radio, she took the opportunity to declare a few of her latest rap beefs via a series of “blind items,” lashing out at Latto for praising rap’s newfound parity for women and insinuating that Megan had encouraged her to get an abortion while plying her with liquor during her “drive the boat” era.

Although Megan herself was skeptical that Minaj accused her of anything (bless her; she always looks for context before believing the tweets, which is a good policy for all of us, honestly), she was eventually forced to accept that Nicki had pulled a Nicki and decided her friend was actually her enemy. She’s basically the Joseph Stalin of the rap world.

Nicki Releases “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” Taking Shots At Megan — March 2023

When Nicki returned to the spotlight in early 2023 to release her single “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” sharp-eared fans quickly noted a line that appeared to be a shot at Megan Thee Stallion. “700 on them horses when we fixing to leave / But I’on f*ck with horses since Christopher Reeves,” she raps, seemingly alluding to Meg’s rap name, which is slang for for “tall, thick woman.”

She also seemingly cited Meg’s recent brand deal with a certain snack brand, sniping, “Dorito b*tches / Mad that they nachos (not chose).” The previous year, Meg had appeared in a Super Bowl ad for the flavored tortilla chips, making “Red Ruby” a pretty clear shot across her bow.

Megan Releases “Hiss” — January 2024

They say revenge is a dish best served cold and nearly a year passed before Megan got hers. In the meantime, she cleared her calendar, freeing herself of her label deal, and waiting for the outcome of the assault trial against Tory Lanez for shooting her in the foot. With favorable outcomes in both cases, she finally turned her attention back to rap beef, taking inspiration from a cold-blooded predactor on “Hiss.”

In addition to smacking down a bunch of her biggest detractors, she aimed a haymaker at Minaj, rapping, “These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law.” The line refers to a mandate requiring sex offenders to register with local governments and preventing them from living near schools — a law that applies to Nicki’s husband, Kenneth Petty. Nicki and Petty have been locked into a legal battle with his alleged victim over claims they’ve been harassing her to retract her 1995 testimony so he can get off the sex offenders registry.

Nicki Strikes Back With “Big Foot” — January 2024

All of which brings us to today. After Nicki spent the three days since the release of “Hiss” going off on Twitter — you can see a sampling of her tweets below — she responded with a diss track of her own, “Big Foot.” Lashing out with abandon, she repeats some of the most common complaints about Megan’s shooting ( “F*ck you get shot with no scar?”), the younger rapper’s label deal (“‘Fore I hit Carl and buy your catalogue”), and sales (“still ain’t topped ‘Red Ruby’”). This won’t be the end of the drama; all anyone can say for certain is, if you’re already tired of seeing Nicki and Meg on your timeline, it might be time to log out for a good long while.

Tribute videos were once a gesture typically reserved for players that had a lengthy tenure with a team, but now just about any player that has more than a cup of coffee in a city is greeted with a cutup of highlights in their first game back after joining a new team via trade or free agency.

Sometimes they are absolutely warranted, but we’ve jumped the shark a bit when it comes to who gets honored on the Jumbotron, as teams feel almost compelled to denote any former player’s return. What makes it even stranger is that the players themselves aren’t always the ones who want that treatment.

As the Phoenix Suns get ready to make their first trip to Brooklyn to face the Nets since trading for Kevin Durant, the future Hall of Famer wants to make it very clear that he does not think he should get a tribute video from the franchise he spent four years with. As Nets fans debated on Twitter whether he should get one, KD hopped in the replies to plead his case to the Nets to pass on the video tribute, noting it will make the night better without it.

Durant knows the video is likely to draw a mixed reaction at best, with some cheers but plenty of boos considering how the Nets Big 3 era crumbled before it ever even got started. The Nets never made it beyond the second round of the playoffs while Durant was there, despite coming KD’s big toe away from the conference finals in 2021, and he knows that he didn’t deliver on the hopes of what could’ve been. Injuries, locker room turmoil, and trade requests were more frequent in Brooklyn than playoff wins, and KD is at least self-aware enough to know that group didn’t live up to the billing and, as such, there shouldn’t be an attempt at a touching video remembrance of his time there.

Donald Trump‘s hair functions like a mood ring: it changes colors based on how he’s feeling.

“The hairdressers get mad at him, but can’t show it, as Trump can’t sit still as he needs at least to sit still for at least 30 minutes for [his hair color] to take,” an insider told Page Six after people noticed Trump’s hair looked different than usual during a recent appearance at a Manhattan federal court.

The stylist continued, “Trump’s hair color can vary wildly from dark blonde to light — to bright orange — depending on how long his hairdresser can get him to sit still and let the color do its job.” The former president is “so impatient that he rarely gives the stylist the 30 to 45 minutes… The shorter time he gives them, the more orange his hair gets, as it takes time to get the darker blonde locks he associates with his younger years.”

The 30-45 minutes that Trump is forced to sit still is probably when he does most of his posting on Truth Social.

We further hear that, “The former president hates sitting with the dye on his hair, and is always rushing the hairdresser thus his color can change every few weeks. And it gets lighter every time he washes it.”

Trump cares so much about his ridiculous hair, but it sounds like he treats the people who maintain it like crap. McDonald’s employees know what that’s like.

(Via Page Six)

The holidays have been over for quite some time now, but that hasn’t stopped the sudden swirl of interest in a mystery from Home Alone that has apparently bothered people for decades: Where did the McCallister family get their money?

In the classic film that instantly launched Macaulay Culkin into the top-tier of child star fame, young Kevin not only lives in a massive Midwestern mansion, but his family is seen taking an extravagant trip to Paris and sitting on wads of cash, which they use to pay for the pizza that causes the infamous ruckus that kickstarts Kevin’s dream (and very near future) of living alone.

The topic of the McCallister’s money has become so persistent, that Catherine O’Hara was asked about the viral mystery during a recent interview to promote her role in Argylle.

Here’s what she told PEOPLE while talking about the iconic McCallister home:

“I was aware of how beautiful it was, but no, I never thought of their money. That’s not where my head was when I was doing [the movie]. Of course, they all went to Paris, didn’t they?” she says.

“I guess Peter had his own religion,” she quips of her on-screen husband, played by the late John Heard. “Church of the McCallisters.”

Jokes aside, O’Hara tried to put the issue to rest by offering a definitive answer.

“People have these theories, where’d they get their money?” she said. “Maybe he inherited it… they inherited it.”

There you have it, folks, the actual mom from Home Alone says the family money was inherited. You can stop accusing poor Peter McCallister of being in the mob now.

(Via PEOPLE)