Month: April 2024

It’s been two months since Larry David infamously attacked Elmo live on the TODAY show, and despite the Curb Your Enthusiam‘s star apology, there’s still some bad blood in the Muppet community.

While promoting the Season 2 premiere of Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Jim Henson puppeteers John Tartaglia and Dan Garza revealed that they were “taken aback” by David’s reportedly impromptu attack on Elmo. While they confirmed that the puppeteer working the little red monster that day wasn’t injured, the situation could’ve quickly gone sideways.

Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“You know, there was a person’s hand inside of there and that wasn’t a pretty planned thing. And so the puppeteer in me was like, ‘Oh my god, that’s super dangerous. Like, you just grabbed someone’s hand and twisted it,’” Tartaglia said, confirming that ultimately the puppeteer was OK. “People forget all the time, all the time that there is somebody inside of these characters when you don’t see us. And so, it’s a risk that we take.”

While the two puppeteers are obviously not thrilled with David’s Muppet assault, they do acknowledge that it’s a testament to their artistry when people don’t realize the human being in the mix.

“That’s the magic in our job, is that we bring these critters to life and you forget that there’s a person attached,” Garza said. “And, if I’m doing my job, right, and I’m wearing a sparkling neon suit, and I’m puppeteering live in front of you, and you’re still making eye contact with the puppet? Then I’m doing my job. I’ve seen big-time executives turn into 8-year-old children and tear up when they all of a sudden [connect through this puppet.]”

Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Today (April 1), Kim Kardashian’s shapewear and clothing brand Skims unveiled new items in its Stretch Lace and Fits Everybody collections. To help with the big reveal and model the fresh looks, they recruited pop favorite Sabrina Carpenter. In some photos and videos shared today, Carpenter confidently models various pieces from the new collections.

In a statement (as Billboard reports), Carpenter said, “I loved the femininity of the whole creative. I feel very excited SKIMS chose me to be the face of this campaign as I’ve always been a fan of the brand.” She added, “I love both collections, especially the delicacy of the Stretch Lace and the second-skin feel of Fits Everybody. Every piece I wore was super flattering and so comfortable, which of course is always a given with SKIMS!”

Barry Keoghan certainly approves, as he commented on Carpenter’s Instagram post sharing the photos, “[fire emoji] [hot face emoji] barbie emoji.”

The collection is set to launch on April 3, but the new pieces can be browsed on the Skims website right now.

Meanwhile, in a recent Cosmopolitan interview, Carpenter gave her own Cosmo sex tip, saying, “I mean, at the end of the day, my whole thing right now is, whatever you do, don’t get pregnant. That’s the way I’m living my life. So that’s my sex tip: Be smart. Use protection. […] But, in a real way, my advice is: Do whatever feels most comfortable to you. You can be curious and ask questions, but a lot of it is just going to be you learning yourself. So do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable and safe. Boring answer.”

Find the photos and videos below.

This past Saturday was meant to be celebratory for the Gen V cast: it was the first scheduled table read for season two. Instead, they heard terrible news. Chance Perdomo, the actor who played Andre Anderson in The Boys spinoff series, had died in a motorcycle accident. He was 27 years old.

On Monday, Perdomo’s co-stars, including Maddie Phillips, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, Shelley Conn, and Sean Patrick Thomas, released a joint statement about his tragic death on social media. “Our hearts are with Chance’s loved ones as we grieve this shocking loss,” it reads. “We will remember the special moments we had together, his infectious smile that could light up any room, his warm hugs and the authenticity he carried with him always. Rest in peace dear friend, you will be deeply missed. Love, The Gen V Cast.”

In a separate tribute, co-star Lizze Broadway wrote, “Remembering my beloved friend and cast mate, Chance Perdomo, whose passing has left a profound void in my heart. Chance possessed so many interpersonal gifts that I treasured deeply. He was a vital part of my growth as an individual, his gentle spirit lifting me up when I needed it most. To me, he was and always will be my superhero. I am in shock and grieving his loss deeply. Rest in peace, dear Chance. You will forever hold a special place in my heart. I love you.”

Patrick Schwarzenegger added, “This hurts. A lot. What a young talented actor, and a great friend – gone way too soon. Was a pleasure to work with him in GenV. RIP Chance.”

Filming for The Boys season two has been pushed back indefinitely.

(Via Variety)

Prior to Sunday’s Elite Eight game between Texas and NC State, ESPN cameras showed the coaches from both teams speaking with NCAA officials after realizing one of the three-point lines was considerably shorter than the other.

Somehow this was not noticed over the course of four Sweet 16 games, and the Longhorns and Wolfpack chose to play the game on the mis-marked court rather than delay things to repaint, with NC State winning and advancing to the Final Four. It was truly unbelievable to see a court with one three-point line marked at the wrong distance at the NCAA Tournament level, and plenty of fans, coaches, and players rightfully torched the NCAA for another apparent example of not putting the same level of effort or attention to detail into the women’s tournament as the men’s, where it’s impossible to think this would happen and not be noticed for days.

Throughout the saga on Sunday, the NCAA did not divulge the dimensions of the incorrect line, waiting to do a full investigation and have a laser measurement to get exact figures. On Monday, we learned the one line was nine inches shorter at the top of the key than it’s supposed to be, with the explanation being that the center hole, which they measure the court lines from, was punched in the wrong spot.

While you can certainly see how that may happen, it doesn’t explain why there’s not a bit more quality control in double checking the measurements for a major tournament — or how someone didn’t go “hey, that three-point line looks way closer to the free throw line” while looking at it from the press box. I’m sure that will become a standard practice here in the future, but it shouldn’t have taken this kind of embarrassment for that to be the case.

While Gwyneth Paltrow is known for using her Goop lifestyle brand to push everything from an infamous foray into steaming her lady business to selling $15,000 gold vibrators for Christmas, the Iron Man star likes to keep things surprisingly vanilla when it comes to her marriage to Brad Falchuk. Although, she did say their relationship was like “choosing” her dad, so maybe not totally vanilla.

Anyway, during a recent Q&A in her Instagram Stories, Paltrow was asked if she’d ever be interested in polyamory. She is not, which should’ve been obvious considering she hasn’t talked it about every single chance she gets. That’s how polyamory works, right?

Via Vanity Fair:

“Have you ever considered a poly relationship?” one follower asked in a text box, allowing Paltrow to expand on whether her marriage to Brad Falchuk might have room for another. (Not room like the bedroom that ex-husband Chris Martin had in her home at some point after their split, but another human person, specifically.)

“No thanks!” Paltrow wrote in response. But she’s not here to stop you from pursuing all your coupling dreams. “Not for me but have no judgment. I’m a one man kinda gal.”

So there you have it. Gwyneth Paltrow is all about the monogamous joy of making her husband terrified to cook around her.

“I cooked for Gwyneth at the beginning of our relationship,” Falchuk told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. “But when she watches me in the kitchen, I can feel her eyes on me — the way I’m chopping or the way I’m frying. (Laughs.) I’m just too uncomfortable. So, not anymore. And why would I cook when she’s so good at it? I’d be nuts. Should I throw the football or should Tom Brady?”

(Via Vanity Fair)

Mitski looks like an actor from a silent film.

It’s hard to imagine it wasn’t intentional, but during her incredible performance at Los Angeles’s Shrine Auditorium on Thursday night, the question kept springing into my head: I wonder if Mitski likes Babylon. She certainly dressed the part, with baggy trousers and a tucked-in dress shirt standing in contrast to what most performers — particularly those who dance for a good portion of the night — wear. You half expected her to put on a pork pie hat and some suspenders.

That dancing also recalled the Buster Keatons of days past — along with obvious influence David Byrne — as Mitski offered playful contrast to her often somber music, doing bits where she strummed an imaginary guitar on “The Frost,” mimicked a dog on all fours during “I Bet On Losing Dogs,” danced with a beam of light for “Heaven,” and balanced on a chair like it were the edge of a building on “First Love/Late Spring.” The gestures and movement of every dance were exaggerated to reach the cheap seats, the larger-than-life physical inflections similar to those of an actor stripped of their voice, using their body and expressions to convey complete emotions. It was, to put it bluntly, incredible.

If you’ve seen Mitski before, you are aware that her live sets have long gone beyond the singer-songwriter tunes that have most earned her attention. She follows a tradition of recent indie artists like Justin Vernon and Sufjan Stevens in knowing that their popularity demands them to expand past their folky roots. It’s easy trying to contain an artist like her with obvious, reductive signifiers like “sad girl,” and she is under no obligation to prove such a point. But as she whole-heartedly sold her heightened choreography, it did underscore that quiet music can fill up the biggest spaces, if backed up by the right amount of confidence and creativity.

Of course, it wasn’t just her performance, or that of her 7-piece backing band, that made for one of the best tours of this young year. The new arrangements on beloved tracks like “I Don’t Smoke” and “Love Me More” were certainly enough to stand on their own. But the overall creative direction, both for this show and for the entire rollout of The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We, has shown Mitski to be every bit the Capital A Artist who considers the complete presentation of her work as essential to the artform. We highlighted her merch design and album packaging in Uproxx’s inaugural Sound + Vision Awards for just this reason, but her tour finds the vision at its most vibrant and complete.

No moment better signify this than Mitski’s performance of her genuine, bonkers-huge hit, “My Love Mine All Mine.” Out of nowhere, strings of amorphous shapes came down from the lighting rigs and surrounded her, catching and reflecting light back on the audience. In contrast to the confetti and pyrotechnics that punctate arena concerts, this was a showstopping visual moment that was able to take the audience’s breath away at the set’s most crucial moment, without making her seem like Coldplay. But even beyond this, things like lighting, color, shadows, and shape were all employed in deliberate fashion, so that every movement of her 90-minute set felt meticulous and purposeful.

Mitski, for her part, seems to be doing her best to adjust to new heights of popularity. She’s long been off social media, she lets the incessant “I love yous” from the audience roll off her back — except when mimicking a particularly masculine exclaimer — and she has her fans helping police the overzealous in attendance. It’s almost as if there is an invisible wall around Mitski that her fans help to maintain, to allow their favorite artist the space needed to create her best work. On Thursday night, it all seemed worth it, with Mitski’s creativity flourishing in a limitless manner. Mitski can’t be contained, her art is wild and free.

Every week, Billboard unveils the top 10 songs on the latest Hot 100 chart. The most recent rankings, for the chart dated April 6, are out now, so let’s run down who had this week’s biggest hits.

10. Ariana Grande — “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)”

Grande’s single has had a quick descent since it debuted at No. 1 two weeks ago: It was No. 3 last week, and now it’s barely hanging on to top-10 status.

9. Future, Metro Boomin, and The Weeknd — “Young Metro”

Future and Metro Boomin’s new album We Don’t Trust You had a major week on the Hot 100, as “Young Metro” is just one of five songs from the project in this week’s top 10.

8. Future and Metro Boomin — “We Don’t Trust You”

“We Don’t Trust You” is one of the others, and the only one on which Future and Metro aren’t joined by another artist.

7. Jack Harlow — “Lovin On Me”

It’s been a few months now, but “Lovin On Me” is still floating around the top 10 after a bit of a drop from No. 4 last week.

6. Future, Metro Boomin, and Travis Scott — “Cinderella”

Travis Scott managed to land a pair of songs (more on that later) in this week’s top 10 thanks to linking up with Future and Metro on their album.

5. Hozier — “Too Sweet”

Hozier’s three albums have all performed well on the charts, but in terms of singles, he’s been sitting in “one-hit wonder” territory for years now with “Take Me To Church,” which peaked at No. 2 in 2014. “Too Sweet” is having a real moment, though, as the song debuts at No. 5 this week, making it his highest debut on the chart and his first top-10 single since “Take Me To Church.”

4. Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”

“Lose Control” actually managed to hit No. 1 on the chart last week, but it lost control of the top spot and slid down to No. 4.

3. Benson Boone — “Beautiful Things”

Boone, another chart newcomer with his recent hit, also had a bit of a decline this time around, moving down from No. 2.

2. Future, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, and Playboi Carti — “Type Sh*t”

Future and Metro secured the top two spots on this week’s chart, and they got some help from Scott and Carti to do it with “Type Sh*t.”

1. Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar — “Like That”

This week represents a major milestone for Metro, as “Like That” is his first No. 1 single as an artist (as opposed to as a producer). For both Future and Kendrick, “Like That” is their third No. 1 song. The tune is Metro’s third No. 1 as a producer, as he was also on the boards for The Weeknd’s “Heartless” and Migos’ “Bad And Boujee.”

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

(Spoilers for The Ones Who Live will obviously be found below….)

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live brought this universe’s greatest love story (sorry, Glenn and Maggie) to a season finale over the weekend. From there, AMC’s zombie-involved focus — at least from the previews shown during the subsequent Parish broadcast — appears to currently be on teasing Daryl Dixon Season 2: The Book Of Carol. Will there, however, be any more of the spin off with Michonne and Rick Grimes?

Surely, viewers would not be disappointed to see these two moaning once more in a second season of The Ones Who Live, but that could present bigger downsides than benefits because (as many devotees recognized on Twitter) this season ended in a way that gives Rick and Michonne the happiest ending possible, and a moderately realistic one at that. Michonne brought Rick home, and they embraced Judith and R.J, who was wearing apparently wearing Rick’s old hat, as previously worn by both Carl and Judith.

Why potentially nix that beautiful ending with a second season, in which tragedy could (and surely will) strike again? Exactly. This season finale delivered the catharsis that viewers wanted to see, and as of now, no followup season has been confirmed. However, here are suggestions that Rick and Michonne will appear elsewhere, possibly in a crossover series, which sounds like a fine compromise.

Let’s go back to the “will it happen?” question with what’s been said so far…

Speaking to Television Critics Association last winter, Scott Gimple and Danai Gurira were understandably staying mum on the subject. More recently to Entertainment Weekly, Gimple declared that the story is “definitely going to go somewhere… But it might just be in my brain. It might just be my fan fiction.”

Whereas Lincoln then suggested that a crossover could be in the works: “Never say never. There are other very important characters in the universe that are still wandering around and alive that I think it might be quite exciting to have them breathe the same air and see how long they survive together.”

In other words, keep your eyes open for confirmation of Crossover City.

Drea de Matteo is making serious dough on OnlyFans. Denise Richards is doing even better. InTouch reports that the Wild Things, Starship Troopers, and Drop Dead Gorgeous (a great triple feature of misunderstood ’90s films) actress earns $2 million every month from the subscription-based platform.

“Once I started to learn about it, I really think that the creators of the site really took the best of every platform of social media and put it into one site,” Richards previously told KTLA about her decision to join OnlyFans. “We all post pictures with ourselves with bathing suits on Instagram and some of the other sites that there’s no difference other than you actually own the content.”

Richards isn’t the only member of her family on there: her 20-year-old daughter with ex-husband Charlie Sheen, Sami Sheen, also runs a popular OnlyFans account.

“I have to say, I wish I had the confidence my 18 yr old daughter has,” Richards wrote on Instagram in 2022 in response to the backlash to Sami joining the platform. “And I also can’t be judgemental of her choices. I did Wild Things & Playboy, quite frankly her father shouldn’t be either. And to be able to ignore the negativity at her age? It took me many years & I still sometimes struggle. I’m in awe of her ability to be able to shut out the noise.”

(Via InTouch)

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter has been out for a few days now, but some fans are unhappy as the vinyl editions of they album they ordered are starting to arrive: There are reports that not all of the album’s songs are included in the physical edition.

What Songs Are Missing From Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Vinyl?

As fans have noted (like ones in this Reddit thread), “Spaghettii,” “Flamenco,” “The Linda Martell Show,” “Ya Ya,” and “Oh Louisiana” are reportedly not included on the currently available vinyl pressings of the album. The same is also reportedly true for the CD version except for “Flamenco,” which is on the CD.

Cowboy Carter is 79:03 in total length. A standard 33 RPM vinyl record can contain up to 25 minutes of audio per side, so 50 minutes per record. However, Cowboy Carter is a 2LP release, so across the LPs, there would be more than enough room for the complete album’s running time in the 100 minutes of total space. Meanwhile, CDs can hold up to 80 minutes of audio, so the album’s length shouldn’t be an issue in that format either.

As some have pointed out (and as unboxing videos like the one below show), the tracklist of the songs actually included on the vinyl and CD editions isn’t printed anywhere on them. What does appear on these physical releases is a QR code, which, when scanned, brings you to music.beyonce.com. This page displays the full Cowboy Carter tracklist, not the truncated tracklists from the physical releases. The tracklist also isn’t visible anywhere on Beyoncé’s online shop. So, essentially, fans had no way of knowing which songs would be excluded from these releases before buying them, or that any would be cut at all.

As for why this happened, some theorize that last-minute changes were made to the album and re-pressing the vinyl would have been impractical or too costly. Some upset fans said they plan to file a chargeback or dispute for the transaction.

Cowboy Carter is out now via Parkwood/Columbia Records. Find more information here.