Month: February 2024

Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer was arrested at a pro-Palestine protest on Monday during a taping of Late Night With Seth Meyers with President Joe Biden as a guest. She joined other protesters with the organization Jewish Voice for Peace, which “envision[s] a world where all people — from the U.S. to Palestine — live in freedom, justice, equality, and dignity.”

The New York Post reports that the actress, who also appeared in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, was “participating in the protest demanding a cease-fire to Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza.” She was photographed outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza wearing a “Cease-Fire Now” shirt while being escorted by an NYPD officer with her hands restrained behind her back.

Following the arrests, Jewish Voice for Peace wrote on Instagram, “Hundreds of anti-Zionist Jews and allies just took over NBC’s famed 30 Rockefeller Center headquarters in NYC to disrupt President Biden’s appearance on @LateNightSeth. Biden’s deadly foreign policy has funded and fueled genocide in Gaza.” The post continued, “The President needs to start listening to the American people – not the far-Right Israeli government indiscriminately bombing the people of Gaza, destroying 70% of infrastructure, including hospitals, universities and the electricity and water grids.”

Schafer was reportedly issued a summons for trespassing.

(Via the New York Post)

One of the most recognizable and most-heard pieces of music of the past 40 years was written by Koji Kondo. You may not know his name, but you know his work: Kondo is a composer for Nintendo, and his best-known piece of music is the original Super Mario Bros. overworld theme song. It’s an inescapably catchy tune, so much so that it even has an admirer in one of the greatest songwriters ever: Paul McCartney.

A new Washington Post feature on Kondo tells the story of the time Kondo and the former Beatle met in Japan. It explains:

“Super Mario Bros. released in 1985, and just one year later, Paul McCartney was humming the tune. The Beatle was on tour in Japan when he learned that Kondo and Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, were in attendance. He asked to bring the two game creators backstage. He and wife Linda McCartney approached the gentlemen, and the first noises that escaped their lips were those same six notes. Kondo recalls it as an ‘incredible moment.’”

McCartney was clearly a big Nintendo fan, even beyond this one meeting: A 1996 Time feature on Miyamoto notes, “Shigeru Miyamoto, 43, has reached the top in the rarefied world of video-game designers by consistently creating games that kids can’t resist. As a result, he’s as revered as a rock star — and not just in Japan. Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and movie directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have all traveled to Nintendo’s famed E.A.D. (Entertainment Analysis and Development) lab in Kyoto to meet the man known as the Spielberg of video games.”

There’s also the time that Miyamoto visited The Tonight Show and performed the Mario theme with The Roots:

Buddy Duress, who earned raves for his portrayal of a rattled ex-con in the Safdie brothers’ Good Time, has died, reports People. He was 38 years old. His death — which, according to his brother, stemmed from a “cardiac arrest from a drug cocktail” — occurred back in November 2023 but it’s only being made public now.

Duress had never acted on film before he met the Safdies — a fairly common occurrence in their movies. When they met, Duress had recently been released from Rikers Island for drug charges. He was also on the run after skipping out on a drug in-patient program. They cast him in their 2014 addict saga Heaven Knows What, in which he played a low-level drug dealer. After production wrapped, Duress was caught and sent back to Rikers.

“You know, I still look back at it. If I had went to that program, I wouldn’t have been in Heaven Knows What, and I probably wouldn’t be an actor right now,” Duress told SSense. “That’s the honest truth. I wouldn’t.”

Upon his release the Safdies cast him in Good Time as Ray, a just released ex-con who accidentally gets embroiled in the film’s shenanigans. He oozes authenticity, frequently stealing the movie from its dressed-down movie star. At one point he goes into his wild back story about how he got those nasty bruises on his face.

Duress appeared in a number of other indies and short films, including Person to Person, with Michael Cera and Abby Jacobson; The Mountain, with Jeff Goldblum and Tye Sheridan; PVT Chat with fellow Safdies alum Julia Fox; and Owen Kline’s Funny Pages.

He also continued to be in and out of prison. In 2019 he was arrested for grand larceny and returned to Rikers. Later that same year he was arrested for threatening to burn his mother’s house to the ground. He was arrested again for menacing and criminal possession of brass knuckles and a controlled substance.

“What happened is a tragic and frustrating loss of visceral talent,” Jon Karales, who directed Duress him in the forthcoming feature Mass State Lottery. “He lived like a cowboy and carrying the weight of that kind of life informed his skills and performances in a way that made him irreplaceable as an actor. He has unfortunately become the John Cazale of our generation.”

So pour one out for a complicated figure who burned but briefly.

Good Time now streams on Netflix and Tubi.

(Via People)

Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign‘s Vultures 1 collab album may be a hit among fans, but the album has not arrived without its controversies. Today (February 27), Billboard reports that Donna Summer’s estate has filed a lawsuit against West for interpolating Summer’s hit song “I Feel Love” on the Vultures 1 track “Good (Don’t Die).”

According to the lawsuit, West requested permission to sample the song, but was denied by the estate. West then rerecorded portions of “I Feel Love” to use on “Good (Don’t Die).”

“Summer’s estate … wanted no association with West’s controversial history and specifically rejected West’s proposed use,” attorneys for the estate wrote. “In the face of this rejection, defendants arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal ‘I Feel Love’ and use it without permission.”

The song has since been removed from streaming platforms, however, Summer’s estate is continuing to pursue legal action, as the song has already garnered many streams.

“This lawsuit is about more than Defendants’ mere failure to pay the appropriate licensing fee for using another’s musical property,” the estate’s lawyers wrote. “It is also about the rights of artists to decide how their works are used and presented to the public, and the need to prevent anyone from simply stealing creative works when they cannot secure the right to use them legally.”

Though the portions West used were re-recorded, Summer’s attorneys maintain that West copied the song, as the tunes sound too much alike,

“When listening to both songs, any average listener can immediately hear the distinctive similar melody and compositional elements present in both songs, which sound so identical that it appears Defendants may have gone so far as sampling the original master recording of Summer,” the attorneys wrote.

At the time of writing, neither West nor Ty Dolla Sign have directly commented on the matter.

Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Adele is putting her Weekends With Adele Las Vegas residency on hiatus. Today (February 27), the “Easy On Me” hitmaker took to Instagram to share a message with fans. In the note, she explained that she had been sick for a while and hasn’t had a chance to fully recover. As a result, she was ordered by doctors to take a break.

“Sadly I have to take a beat and pause my Vegas residency. I was sick at the end of my last leg and all the way through my break. I hadn’t quite gotten the chance to get back to health before shows resumed and now I’m sick again, and unfortunately it’s all taken a toll on my voice. And so on Doctors orders I have no choice but to rest thoroughly. The remaining 5 weekends of this leg are being postponed to a later date. We are already working out the details and you will be sent the information asap.”

The post notes that the shows scheduled for March 1 & 2, 8 & 9, 15 & 16, 22 & 23, and 29 & 30 are the dates affected by Adele’s impending hiatus.

Since beginning the Weekends With Adele residency back in November of 2022, Adele has performed over 80 shows. She is scheduled to perform 100 shows by the residency’s end.

When Beyoncé dropped two songs from her upcoming album of country tunes, Renaissance: Act II, she may not have expected to make history, but that’s exactly what happened. Her first single from the album, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” shot to the No.1 spot on the Billboard country music charts, making her the first Black female artist to hit that top spot. The catchy tune also topped the Billboard Hot 100 the last week in February 2024, a week after it debuted at No. 2.

Presumbaly, Queen Bey didn’t expect her song to become an Irish stepdance hit, though that’s also exactly what happened. And surely she didn’t expect it to be sung by Kevin Bacon to a bunch of farm animals, yet that also has happened.

Perhaps we should all have expected that, though. There’s a precedent here, after all.

Back in the summer of 2022, Kevin Bacon surprised the world by singing and playing a cover of Beyoncé’s “Heated” on his guitar while being surrounded by goats on his farm. At that time, many people had not yet discovered that the “Footloose” actor and his wife of 35 years, Kyra Sedgwick, have been living their best life on their Connecticut farm, singing and dancing together with their goats, pigs, alpacas and miniature horses. Now their little videos together regularly become viral delights.

Witness the joy of Kevin Bacon—or King Beycon, if you will—as he strums the mandolin and sings “Texas Hold ‘Em” with a little backup from his wife and pigs.

See on Instagram

Seriously, whenever you need a break from the challenges of life, head on over to Kevin Bacon’s Instagram. It’s the quickest way to put a smile on your face, practically guaranteed, and there’s frequently some kind of fun surprise. (Like, who knew Kevin Bacon played the mandolin?!)

Unsurprisingly, people are loving it.

“I love how much fun you too have. Loving life,” wrote one commenter.

“A couple of goats singing a goat’s song on a farm full of goats,” wrote another.

“Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra live on their farm, mind their business and spread joy. Occasional acting. 11/10,” shared another.

“I just want the kind of joy Kevin and Kyra have, for real,” wrote another. Don’t we all?

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have long been seen as #couplegoals by those who follow them. After all, most marriages don’t last 35 years, much less those that have been forged in the fires of fame. The two met and married as actors in Hollywood, but have managed to avoid the relationship pitfalls many of their colleagues have fallen into. If their videos are any indication, they are genuinely happy together in a way that all couples strive for, which is inspiring to see.

Perhaps the key is music and farm animals and living far away from the glitz and glam. Or maybe as Sedgwick has said, they just got lucky. Whatever the secret of their sweet relationship, we are here for it.

You can follow Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick on Instagram for more adorable musical farm animal fun.

Any adult responsible for raising a teen will tell you that not only do teens eat a lot and sleep nearly as much as they did as infants, they also grow quickly. Sometimes it feels like their growth spurts are literally happening overnight. You go to sleep with a squeaky voiced teenager that’s still shorter than you only to wake up to what appears to be a fully grown man wearing your child’s clothes.

It’s no wonder that parents can have a hard time keeping up with the ever changing clothes and shoe sizes that come with a growing teen. But Tamika Neal’s son has surpassed what would be considered the average height and weight of a 16-year-old, which means he’s also outgrown sizes carried in the stores.

According to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, boys aged 16 are typically between 5-foot-3 and 6-foot, weighing between 104 to 180 pounds. Jor’el Bolden is a towering 6-foot-5 and 380 pounds with a size 23 shoe.

Except, Bolden’s mom couldn’t find a size 23 shoe for her son to wear. Out of options, the mother son duo turned to the local news station in Missouri where they live, KCTV 5 to explain the inability to find shoes that fit him. It didn’t take long for the story to pick up steam and soon enough it caught the attention of someone that knows all too well how hard it is to find extra large shoes.

Shaquille O’neal, retired NBA player who stands at 7-foot-1, weighs 324 pounds and wears a size 22 shoe, came to the rescue. Entertainment Tonight got in contact with Bolden’s mother and informed her that Shaq wanted to speak to them. According to KCTV 5, the duo FaceTimed the NBA legend who informed them that they should be expecting something in the mail from him.

Shaq sent along three boxes full of clothes and 20 pairs of shoes for the teen, some of them were from Shaq’s own closet. Neal told the news station, “It’s better than Christmas morning, Santa didn’t send this, Shaq did.”

Neal explained to USA TODAY that Bolden has always had above average sized feet since birth. Due to his size, Neal had to forgo the cute soft baby shoes that usually come with baby outfits and resort to socks only. The only shoes Neal could find before Shaq’s gift was on eBay and were a size too small causing Bolden’s feet to hurt when he walked.

Since the mom was having such a hard time finding her son shoes, she had originally started a GoFundMe page to pay for custom shoes to be made, it has currently raised just over $12,000. After she went on the news, donations poured in, which Neal says will be used to go towards larger shoes when the time comes. Since Bolden is only 16, he will likely have another growth spurt which will require an even larger shoe size, but for now she’s thankful he can now walk without discomfort thanks to the NBA star.

““Thank you for taking the time and the money that you have earned to give to me when I needed it,” Bolden tells KCTV 5, “Thank you for all of the things that will come from it and that already have.”

This isn’t the first time Shaq has helped out a teen struggling to find shoes. March 2023, Eric Kilburn Jr. and his mom were struggling to find the 6-foot-10, high school freshman a pair of size 23 shoes as well when the NBA star reached out to gift him with new shoes. Maybe instead of the tooth fairy, Shaq is becoming the shoe fairy to some very lucky, very tall teenagers.

As one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood today, it would behoove Timothée Chalamet to ask some previous hot young actors about how to handle the business. Luckily he has. In a new chat with The New York Times, the Dune actor reiterated a story about how Leonardo DiCaprio had two pieces of advice for him.

“Well, Leonardo DiCaprio said to me, ‘No superhero movies, no hard drugs,’” Chalamet recalled. “Which I thought was very good.”

Chalamet has followed both rules; of his two franchises — Dune and Wonka — neither is a comic book movie. Instead they’re a brainy sci-fi epic and a kooky Roald Dahl musical where he sings and which made Hugh Grant miserable. That said, it’s not as though he hasn’t thought about breaking that one.

“But the movie that made me want to act is a superhero movie, The Dark Knight,” he said. “If the script was great, if the director was great, I’d have to consider it.”

That might not happen for a while. Comic book movies have been underperforming if not tanking for the last year (with one exception). Heck, Wonka made over three times The Marvels’ sad little haul. Then again, Hollywood might try to make a more serious comic book movie — something like Joker, to reignite moviegoers’ interest. If so, perhaps they’ll approach Chalamet, and he’ll just have to leave DiCaprio shaking his head.

(Via NYT)

Max Strus had the best fourth quarter of his life on Tuesday night, and as a result, the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to pick up a 121-119 win over the Dallas Mavericks. With Cleveland needing a shot in the arm on the offensive end to defend its homecourt, Strus scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, including four made threes in just over a minute to pull the Cavs within one point late in the frame.

Ultimately, Cleveland was able to get out ahead, but with two seconds remaining, Luka Doncic found P.J. Washington for a layup under the rim to give Dallas a 119-118 lead. With no timeouts remaining and both Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on the bench, Strus inbounded the ball to Evan Mobley, got it back, took a dribble, and launched from well behind halfcourt. It looked good leaving his hand, and he didn’t even need the backboard.

Strus, the team’s high-profile acquisition this past offseason via a sign-and-trade, got his 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, with all seven of his makes coming from behind the three-point line. The first six, it must be said, were from a whole lot closer than his seventh one.

Tyla is taking over. We are less than a month out from her hotly-anticipated self-titled album, which features hits like “Water” and “Truth Or Dare.” Ahead of the album, Tyla has partnered with Gap for a special new commercial.

In the commercial, the South African superstar dances to “Back On 74” by Jungle. She makes her way across the dancefloor, joining a group of dancers. Tyla and the dancers are seen wearing collections from Gap’s new linens collection, with the campaign appropriately titled ‘Linen Moves.’

Tyla spoke about the campaign to Complex, and during the conservation, she said her latest collaboration felt very natural to her.

“The commercials have always been very iconic and fun, not cheesy,” Tyla said. “It’s something that I connected with even before the offer. So it kind of felt like it was meant for me to do.”

She also shared that fashion, to her, comes just as naturally as music.

“I’ve always just loved clothing and playing around with that, trying new things,” she said. “I feel like now I’m also in a phase where I’m exploring more, which is exciting. So, yeah, I’m definitely a fashion girl.”

You can see the new Gap campaign above.

Tyla is out 3/22 via FAX and Epic Records. Find more information here.