Month: May 2024

On Sunday (May 19), the New York Knicks were eliminated in round two of the NBA Playoffs in a blowout game 7 by the Indiana Pacers. While their loss could be attributed to any number of factors, including a litany of injuries to core players like Julius Randall, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, and Bojan Bogdanovic, one New York native has an alternative theory involving one of his own great rivals.

Nuclear-grade troll 50 Cent posted a photo on his social media feeds of Ja Rule holding and kissing the Larry O’Brien trophy, adding the caption, “If you’re wondering why the Knicks couldn’t get the W, here you have it. SMH who let this fool touch the trophy?”

I’m sure whenever Ja Rule took the pic, he was just enjoying a rare opportunity as a basketball fan, but had no idea he was feeding his longtime foe the perfect opportunity to resurrect their rivalry while making a timely joke about the Knicks’ basketball misfortunes. But we all know 50, who can’t resist the chance to poke fun at other peoples’ miscues, would have something to say about the Knicks’ loss.

The Knicks’ Playoff run is definitely over for 2024, but fans have good reasons to be optimistic about the future. Taking the potential conference champs to seven games with a roster like a disaster triage tent is encouraging, and should the group manage to remain healthy all the way through next season, they’ve got a real shot at championship contention.

Birds can be pretty amazing companions, many birds live a lot longer than dogs, giving you a buddy for life depending on when you buy one. Some parrots can live up to 50 years, while the longest living cockatoo lived to be 82-years-old, which is why if you get one of these amazing talking feathered friends, you should make plans to put them in your will. Literally, it’s advised that you put these long living birds in your will so there’s a plan in place.

But their long lifespan isn’t the reason people can’t get enough of these birds as pets. Just like children, these birds learn to mimic what you say and how you say it, which allows them to engage in endearing moments. In a video compilation uploaded to social media by @themothergothel, you get to see their adorable behavior play out in front of you. A blue ringneck parrot is captured loving on some brand new baby birds and it’s the sweetest thing.

In the video you see the bird approach a baby bird and give it a loud smooch before saying, “want to pet the baby.” Another clip shows what appears to be the same bird giving kisses to a different baby bird saying, “I love you” over and over. It’s beyond adorable and repeats again with two little nearly featherless baby birds soaking up the attention. It’s not clear if this is a bird rescue, someone that really loves birds or if it’s different birds that look and sound strikingly similar. People’s hearts melted at the interaction.

“I love that the parrot is clearly demonstrating its understanding of the expressions of endearment it has learned from you,” one person writes.

“I cannot believe parrots are real and we’re so nonchalant about it,” someone marvels.

“The bird actually transferred the love that you gave him and repeated the act to his babe,” a commenter gushes.

Parrots are indeed real and somehow we’re just used to these guys flying around talking like humans. If you needed a little serotonin boost, watch the video below and you’ll probably get more than enough to make you smile.

@themothergothel This melted me 🥹 #parrotsoftiktok #love ♬ original sound – 🌏💫 MG💫🌏

This article originally appeared on 3.18.24

Amazon’s Reacher is currently filming its third season (this time with crustiness) while adapting another Lee Child book. That show won’t return until 2025, so is there a way for fans of the Big Guy to get their fix before then?

Not quite. However, there’s some positive news for a show that many hoped would keep the Reacher vibes alive. That would be Tracker, which premiered on CBS after this year’s Super Bowl and surely changed its title from The Never Game (as based upon Jeffrey Deaver’s same-named book) to remind people of Reacher and convince them to give the newer show a shot, which worked.

There’s no Big Guy here, but Justin Hartley does portray a semi-loner character who travels and does solve mysteries. Unlike Reacher, however, Colter Shaw (the “tracker” character) doesn’t stumble into crime-solving mode but does so while bounty hunting. The show captured a strong enough viewership in its first weeks for CBS to feel optimistic about greenlighting more. Now that the procedural’s season finale has aired, here’s the verdict:

Will There Be A ‘Tracker’ Season 2?

Back in March, Hollywood Reporter revealed that CBS renewed Tracker:

The series launched Feb. 11 in TV’s best time slot – after the Super Bowl – and now ranks as the No. 1 show, according to Nielsen’s most current data, with 16 million multiplatform viewers. The network says Tracker is its most watched new series since Big Bang Theory prequel Young Sheldon debuted in the 2017-18 season.

Now that Young Sheldon is done and dusted, it’s up to Tracker to carry the ratings torch. That will likely happen in 2025, by the way, so yep, there’s a wait for both more Reacher and Tracker, but the good news is that CBS is already cracking on NCIS: Origins, which could arrive in late 2024, if you’re hankering for a new procedural fix.

In 2018, Brittany Howard departed Alabama Shakes and subsequently released her triumphant debut solo album Jaime in 2019, resulting in five nominations and one win at the 2021 Grammys. Most recently, Howard released What Now in February, announced a co-headlining fall tour, and voiced the titular character in Netflix’s Thelma The Unicorn. Still, even with such overwhelming solo success, Howard is open to a future reunion with Alabama Shakes.

“I’m not tired of being asked about it,” Howard told Entertainment Weekly. “It is a beautiful part of my history as a musician [and] changed my life. I love the music we made together. I was just listening to ‘Always Alright’; I haven’t heard it in 10 years.”

Howard added, “As far as what happens in the future, I just follow the curiosity. I feel like if there’s a beat there and the creativity’s calling me there, then that’s something that we’ll have a conversation about, me and the guys. I wouldn’t say the door’s completely closed.”

Alabama Shakes consisted of Howard, Heath Fogg, Zac Cockrell, and Steve Johnson. The Alabama-bred band was founded in 2009 and released two albums, Boys & Girls in 2012 and Sound & Color in 2015. The latter won Best Alternative Music Album and was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2016 Grammys.

Fans at Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer Tour stop in Chicago got to have a taste of her upcoming tequila. Meg announced the tequila brand, Chicas, on X (RIP, Twitter.com), writing, “CHICAGO HOTTIES YOUR CHICAS IS READY yall get to have thee FIRST EXCLUSIVE TASTE OF MY NEW TEQUILA DROPPING SOON #hotgirlsummertour”

During the show, Meg also brought out the new hometown superstar, Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese, who even made the 5’9 rapper look petite. That didn’t stop Meg from twerking on Angel as she performed, sending the energy in the United Center — ahem — sky-high.

For the remaining Hot Girl Summer tour dates, see below. You can also check out the setlist and tour merch at the links provided.

05/21 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden^
05/22 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center^
05/24 — Napa, CA @ BottleRock Napa Valley Festival*
05/26 — Boston, MA @ Boston Calling Festival*
05/28 — Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena^
05/30 — Memphis, TN @ FedEx Forum^
06/01 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena^
06/04 — Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena^
06/06 — Hollywood, FL @ Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino^
06/08 — Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena^
06/10 — New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center^
06/11 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center^
06/13 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center^
06/14 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center^
06/16 — Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
06/17 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena^
06/19 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center^
06/21 — Los Angeles, CA @ Crypto.com Arena^
06/22 — Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena^
07/04 — Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
07/05 — Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
07/07 — Paris, FR @ Zenith
07/10 — Amsterdam, NL @ Ziggo Dome
07/11 — Cologne, DE @ Lanxess Arena
07/14 — Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
07/16 — Birmingham, UK @ Utilita Arena
07/17 — London, UK @ The O2
07/27 — Washington DC @ Broccoli City Festival

^ with GloRilla

X-Men ’97 wrapped up its fantastically-received first season last week. But will it be the only season of the Disney+ animated series?

Nope! Season 2 is in the works, although it will be awhile before it debuts.

“It’s still an animatic phase. Animation takes so long to make as I’m sure you know. There was a great bit about this in Invincible season 2,” Marvel’s head of streaming Brad Winderbaum told Comic Book. “They just nailed it so hard, it is the greatest. And it takes a long time. Because the studio wants to see how successful the first season is before they greenlight the second season there’s a lag. We were lucky enough to get the greenlight before we aired so there’s maybe less of a lag. People are just going to have to be patient with us.”

X-Men ’97 creator Beau DeMayo, who was fired before the show premiered, told a Twitter follower that he wrote “a lot” of the upcoming season before his shocking departure. “I did write a lot of season 2,” he wrote. “However, unlike Season 1, I will not be heavily involved or leading production, cast records, design, editorial, post, music, etc., nor doing any production rewrites as it relates to the creative vision of the show.”

While waiting for more X-Men ’97, you can catch up with ol’ Logan in Deadpool & Wolverine (& Taylor Swift?). Tickets are on sale now.

(Via Comic Book)

Jake Gyllenhaal returned to the Saturday Night Live stage this past weekend to host the season 49 finale, but nobody really seems to care what he had to say as much as what he was wearing while he said it. Now he knows what it’s like to be a woman during fashion week.

In Gyllenhaal’s opening monologue, he made a whole stink about being the only person to accept the gig, but he decided to do so while wearing what looks like a Peter Griffin cosplay if Peter Griffin was a stylish nepo baby from Los Angeles.

The Road House actor wore a snazzy white button down paired with some olive-colored slacks, which is also the preferred uniform of the titular Family Guy himself. This was distracting for fans of the long-running animated series!

Gyllenhaal then went into an emotionally-charged cover of “End Of The Road” by Boys II Men, referencing the end of the season and the various other actors who were allegedly asked to host the finale, including Pedro Pascal and Zendaya. Neither of whom could pull off Peter Griffin quite as well as Gyllenhaal. Though Zendaya could probably do a pretty good Lois Griffin look if she tried.

On the other hand, his Fred Jones cosplay was spot on!

Sexyy Red is on a mission to #MakeAmericaSexyyAgain. The St. Louis rapper announced her new EP, In Sexyy We Trust, just ahead of the weekend, revealing its cover art and release date: May 24, the start of Memorial Day weekend.

Big Sexyy has had an eventful year so far. In February, she had her second child after appearing in Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” music video.

Since then, she’s appeared on the bills for a diverse array of music festivals, including The Roots Picnic, Dreamville Festival, and Hangout Festival. At the latter, she apparently hung out backstage with Lana Del Rey; the resulting video of the two dancing to Sexyy’s latest hit, “Get It Sexyy,” has been amusing fans over at X (RIP, Twitter.com).

Lana wasn’t the only surprising star that Sexyy’s been hanging out with lately. Early this month, the St. Louis native popped out to dance along with Zach Bryan during his Quittin Time Tour performance in her hometown, delighting the home of the Gateway Arch. Next up for Sexyy after dropping her new EP? She’s one of the performers billed to take the stage at New York’s Hot97 Summer Jam.

In Sexyy We Trust is out 5/24 via Open Shift/gamma.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is aware of this weekend’s developments involving Sean “Diddy” Combs. Mayor Adams joined PIX11 News on Monday morning, May 20, and was asked about “possibility rescinding” the Key To The City bestowed upon him by Mayor Adams last September.

“I think all of us were deeply disturbed by watching that chilling video of the young lady being assaulted by him, and the committee and the team — we’ve never rescinded a key before, but we are now sitting down to see what the next steps forward are going to be,” Mayor Adams said.

Last November, Cassie Ventura filed a disturbing, lengthy lawsuit in Manhattan Federal District Court, which cited years of abuse at the hands of Diddy, her ex. Diddy settled with Cassie in less than 48 hours, but, through his attorney, Diddy maintained his innocence. Cassie’s lawsuit opened the floodgates for several more women to file similar allegations and lawsuits against Diddy. In December, Diddy released a statement claiming that all of the allegations were “people try[ing] to assassinate my character” and alleged that all of the people coming forward were “looking for a quick payday.”

That statement did not age well. On Friday, May 17, CNN exclusively hotel surveillance video from 2016 showing Diddy physically assaulting Cassie, and Diddy issued a lackluster “apology” on Sunday, May 19.

When asked to clarify whether he is, indeed, considering revoking Diddy’s Key to New York City, Adams said, “We are taking everything under analysis, and the team will come back to me with a final determination.”

Watch the PIX11 News segment below.

The NBA Conference Finals are here after a wild weekend brought an end to the second round. In the West, the Minnesota Timberwolves will play host to the Dallas Mavericks, as both teams picked up stunning comeback wins over the weekend to punch their tickets to the third round. In the East, the Boston Celtics cruised through the Cavs in five games and will host the Indiana Pacers, who put forth the greatest shooting game in NBA Playoffs history to beat the Knicks in Game 7.

After an off day for the four teams remaining on Monday, we will be getting Conference Finals basketball every day for at least the next week. The NBA released the TV schedule for both series, with Pacers-Celtics starting on Tuesday on ESPN and Mavs-Wolves beginning on Wednesday on TNT, with each series playing every other day until someone has won four games. There are no late start times this year, given there aren’t any actual West Coast teams.

As a reminder, ESPN games actually tip about 15 minutes after the listed start time, while TNT games are typically just a few minutes after.

Eastern Conference Finals

Tuesday, May 21: Pacers at Celtics (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN2)
Thursday, May 23: Pacers at Celtics (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Saturday, May 25: Celtics at Pacers (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Monday, May 27: Celtics at Pacers (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN2)
Wednesday, May 29: Pacers at Celtics (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Friday, May 31: Celtics at Pacers (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Sunday, June 2: Pacers at Celtics (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Western Conference Finals

Wednesday, May 22: Mavericks at Timberwolves (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV)
Friday, May 24: Mavericks at Timberwolves (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV)
Sunday, May 26: Timberwolves at Mavericks (8:00 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV)
Tuesday, May 28: Timberwolves at Mavericks (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV)
Thursday, May 30: Mavericks at Timberwolves (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV)
Saturday, June 1: Timberwolves at Mavericks (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV)
Monday, June 3: Mavericks at Timberwolves (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV)