Month: June 2024

It’s fine to speculate if Harley Quinn, a fictional character, is pregnant in Joker: Folie à Deux. But maybe, y’know, don’t when it’s an actual person? On Tuesday, Lady Gaga, who plays “Lee” in the Joker sequel, responded to the rumors that she’s expecting a child on TikTok. “not pregnant— just down bad cryin at the gym,” she wrote for the caption, referring to a line from the song “Down Bad” on Taylor Swift‘s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. Gaga also used her platform to encourage people to register to vote.

Swift shared her thoughts on the pregnancy speculation in a reply to Gaga’s TikTok. “Can we all agree that its invasive & irresponsible to comment on a woman’s body. Gaga doesn’t owe anyone an explanation & neither does any woman,” she wrote, along with the kiss mark emoji.

Swift has been outspoken in the past about people commenting on her body. “I remember how, when I was 18, that was the first time I was on the cover of a magazine. And the headline was like ‘Pregnant at 18?’ And it was because I had worn something that made my lower stomach look not flat,” she told Variety in 2020. “So I just registered that as a punishment.”

You can see her reply to Gaga’s TikTok below.

Janet Jackson is back on the road for her long-awaited Together Again Tour. With a music career spanning over 40 years, fans from of all generations are looking forward to dancing to Janet‘s many, many hits.

Janet’s shows are always unpredictable, but fans who were at the Thousand Palms stop of the Together Again Tour last night (June 4) noted via Setlist.fm that Janet went through nearly all of her iconic eras, performing the biggest songs in her catalog.

You can see Janet’s full setlist below.

Janet Jackson’s Together Again Tour setlist

1. “Night”
2. “2nite”
3. “Slolove”
4. “Rock With U”
5. “Throb”
6. “All Nite (Don’t Stop)”
7. “No Sleeep”
8. “Got ‘Til It’s Gone”
9. “That’s the Way Love Goes”
10. “Love Will Never Do (Without You)”
11. “What Have You Done For Me Lately”
12. “Nasty”
13. “The Pleasure Principle”
14. “You Want This”
15. “When I Think Of You”
16. “Diamonds” (Herb Alpert cover)
17. “The Best Things in Life Are Free”
18. “Control”
19. “Son Of A Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)”
20. “Take Care”
21. “Let’s Wait Awhile”
22. “Again”
23. “Any Time, Any Place”
24. “I Get Lonely”
25. “With U”
26. “The Body That Loves You”
27. “Make Me”
28. “All For You”
29. “Alright”
30. “Escapade”
31. “Miss You Much”
32. “Feedback”
33. “So Excited”
34. “Would You Mind”
35. “State Of The World”
36. “The Knowledge”
37. “If”
38. “Scream (Michael Jackson cover)”
39. “Rhythm Nation”
40. “Someone To Call My Lover”
41. “Together Again”

Fresh off another stellar pay-per-view at Double or Nothing, AEW is approaching arguably its biggest event of the year when the promotion returns to Wembley Stadium for All In. But when you ask AEW CEO Tony Khan about the mindset of building up to one or two tentpole events, he focuses on the high standard AEW has established for its slew of pay-per-views.

Just this year Revolution served as a backdrop to Sting’s retirement match, Dynasty gave us Swerve Strickland becoming the first Black world champion in AEW history, and Double or Nothing offered an incredible match for Mercedes Mone’s AEW in-ring debut.

There’s not one singular pay-per-view that AEW is building toward where you can expect the biggest matches and moments, rather the promotion has established a precedence that each event is a can’t miss. And it’s why Double or Nothing wasn’t solely built around Mone’s electric debut, but it had a collection of strong matches with the added surprise return of former world champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

“It’s a great time celebrating the five year anniversary of AEW. And five years after MJF arrived here, he returned for a great celebration at our Double or Nothing pay-per-view,” Khan tells Uproxx Sports. “He is healthy and in better shape than ever, motivated, and we’re excited to have MJF back in AEW. It’s perfect timing for MJF to return as it’s going to be a huge summer for AEW. This Wednesday night on TBS will be the first time we’re seeing MJF in AEW on television all year.”

When MJF returns to weekly television this week, he’ll face an uphill climb to overtake the likes of Strickland and Will Ospreay, who have seamlessly filled in as two of the company’s bonafide stars in his absence.

Khan says he’s a “huge believer” in Strickland as a “great champion for AEW” and calls Ospreay “one of the greatest athletes ever in wrestling.” Ospreay will face off against the winner of Wednesday’s championship match between Strickland and Roderick Strong.

“(Ospreay) has a tremendous mind for the wrestling business. Will Ospreay has great ideas. They often permeate in his matches and in his tremendous promos. I think he’s wrestling at such an elite level. And I think he’s the perfect challenger for the world title in AEW right now,” Khan says.

As stars evolve inside the ring, AEW is continuing to find new avenues outside of it as well. The promotion partnered with the TBS/TNT marketing team to release shoe championship belts while The Young Bucks launched a shoe collaboration with Reebok and Champs, selling out 3,000 pairs of the Reebok AEW Pump Omni Young Bucks Zone II.

“Matthew and Nicholas (Jackson) are very entrepreneurial particularly when it comes to footwear and the shoe business,” Khan says. “Their ideas and thoughts for the shoe release have been embraced and TBS and TNT have really enjoyed working with AEW on the release of the shoes. I think definitely it’s been very promising results for this release. And based on that, I would imagine there’d be more opportunities to do more partnerships around shoe releases for AEW.”

On the women’s side, “Timeless” Toni Storm is on one of the best runs of her career and the in-ring debut of Mone offered no signs of ring rust despite more than a year away from the squared circle. Khan says Mone has been a “home run in AEW” and called her TBS championship win over Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing an “instant classic.”

“I know it means a lot to Mercedes to be the face of TBS and the champion of the network with the longest tradition of carrying pro wrestling of any channel in America with over 50 years since the debut of pro wrestling on TBS. And now Mercedes is a huge part of that indelible tradition,” Khan continues. “I think our fans have now seen Mercedes is one of the elite wrestlers on the planet and that’s the standard they can expect from the TBS champion Mercedes Mone here at AEW.”

The possibilities are endless with Mone on the roster, with dream matches across the board. Injuries have kept fellow stars Britt Baker and Jaime Hayter sidelined, with the former’s last match in September 2023 and the latter now missing more than a year, but Khan is looking forward to working them back into the fold.

“Dr. Britt Baker is one of our original stars and she’s been out injured for an extended period of time. I’m very eager to get Britt back here. She’s somebody that’s been part of AEW all along. And we’d love to have her back in the mix very soon,” Khan says.

“Her longtime friend, and also a former AEW Women’s world champion Jamie Hayter has also been out for an extended period of time with injury. Jamie Hayter’s timetable is still pending. But I think having Jamie Hayter back in AEW would be fantastic. And I would love to have Jamie Hayter back working in AEW anytime and whenever she’s healthy and capable of doing it would be great for us.”

Vince Staples started his world tour in Cologne, Germany, on Monday (June 4). While the US still has a few months to wait before the Black In America Tour, Vince’s Black In Europa leg of the tour gives fans a sneak preview of just what songs he’ll be performing in his 24-song set.

While there are obviously selections from his new album Dark Times, the setlist — which comes courtesy of Setlist.fm — is made up of tracks from all across his recent discography, including his 2022 album Ramona Park Broke My Heart and his 2021 self-titled album. The show concludes with a pair of fan favorites from his first two albums: “Norf Norf” from Summertime 06 and “Big Fish” from Big Fish Theory.

Vince Staples 2024 Tour Setlist

01. “Freeman”
02. “Aye! (Free The Homies)”
03. “Children’s Song”
04. “Shame On The Devil”
05. “Stay Away”
06. “Papercuts”
07. “Government Cheese”
08. “Rose Street”
09. “Player Ways”
10. “When Sparks Fly”
11. “Law Of Averages”
12. “Lil Fade”
13. “Étouffée”
14. “Taking Trips”
15. “Mama’s Boy”
16. “Lemonade”
17. “Radio”
18. “DJ Quik”
19. “Are You With That?”
20. “Black&Blue”
21. “Little Homies”
22. “Magic”

Encore:

23. “Norf Norf”
24. “Big Fish”

Vince Staples US Tour Dates

10/14 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern*
10/18 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5**
10/20 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner*
10/21 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall*
10/23 — Toronto, ON @ History*
10/24 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem*
10/26 — Detroit, MI @ Masonic Cathedral Theatre*
10/28 — Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre*
10/30 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom*
11/02 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo*
11/03 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom*
11/05 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield*
11/06 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall*

Welcome To Derry seems like the most non remarkable set of words at first glance, until the connection clicks for Stephen King addicts (and those Constant Readers). The title, of course, refers to Maine setting of the frequent TV watcher and horror maestro’s It franchise, which first surfaced onscreen in a 1990 miniseries starring Tim Curry. Years later, director Andy Muschietti rebooted the source material in 2017’s It and 2019’s It Chapter Two with the help of scribes Gary Dauberman, Chase Palmer, and Cary Fukunaga.

Both of those films were straight-up hits, so Welcome To Derry has been birthed as a prequel series. Obviously, this means that Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, and Finn Wolfhard won’t be making appearances as the Loser’s Club unless a time machine somehow becomes canon in this story. However, a significant (and downright vital) common element was recently revealed. It’s time to get down to business on what shall come.

Plot

The Warner Bros. Television series begins in the 1960s with the origin story of Pennywise the killer clown while he begins to prey upon his first scores of victims by feeding upon their fear. Also, Andy Muschetti not only developed the series (while teaming up with Barbara Muschietti, who produced the It movies) but is also directing several episodes. That information has been public for awhile, but a key question remained: would Pennywise appear in the flesh, and if so, then who would portray the demonic entity?

There was a danger here of Pennywise being recast, which would have been a shame since Bill Skarsgård went through the paces of fan scorn due to an early costumed photo and then earned his evil-clown stripes. Now, it’s hard to imagine anybody else portraying Pennywise even though Skarsgård wasn’t the first, but some excellent news recently developed, via Deadline:

A familiar face is coming back to terrorize the children of Derry, Maine. Bill Skarsgård is set to star in and executive produce the Max It prequel series Welcome To Derry (working title). He will be reprising the title role as It/Pennywise from the hit 2017 New Line movie It and its sequel, It Chapter Two.

Notably, what happens in this series will largely be unfamiliar to previous Pennywise viewers since the story will take place before the events of the initial cinematic defeat of Pennywise and a blood oath for the Losers Club to return and vanquish the demonic clown again. Despite diving into previously uncharted territory, however, the project received a thumbs-up from King (“Red balloons all around!”), who is thrilled that Andy and Barbara Muschetti are doing the honors. Likewise, the Muschetti siblings are all over this adaptation of their almost-lifelong obsession:

“As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King’s It until the thick paperback fell to pieces. It is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our It movies. We can’t wait to share the depths of Steve’s novel, in all its heart, humor, humanity, and horror.”

Cast

As mentioned already, the audience will not have to warm up to any Pennywise other than Bill Skarsgård. Additionally, expect characters portrayed by Madeleine Stowe, Stephen Rider, Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige, Chris Chalk, and James Remar.

Release Date

Max will stream the first nine-episode season in 2025 with a specific date to come.

Trailer

Too soon for a full-on trailer, but a peek at first-look footage can be seen at the 1:30 mark below.

Ice Spice has had a pretty busy day so far, announcing the release date of her long-awaited debut album Y2K, and now, the dates for the accompanying tour, which will include several festival appearances overseas throughout July and 17 dates in the US through July 30 and August. The “Think U The Sh*t” rapper, also released her new single, “Gimmie A Light,” last month, will be hitting New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and more on her cross-country trip, finishing up in Miami Beach on August 31. Her album Y2K will release just before she returns to the US, on July 26. Cash Cobain, whose breakout song “Fisherrr” Ice Spice remixed, will join her as opening act.

Tickets for the tour will go on sale on June 7 at 10 AM local time, with a Citi presale beginning today at 1 PM local time. You can see the tour dates below and find more information here.

Ice Spice 2024 Tour Dates

07/04 — Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival^*
07/05 — Gdynia, Poland @ Open’er Festival^*
07/07 — Vienna, Austria @ Rolling Loud Europe^
07/11 — Costinesti, Romania @ Beach, Please! Festival^*
07/12 — London, UK @ Wireless Festival^
07/13 — Frauenfeld, Switzerland @ Openair Frauenfeld^*
07/18 — Dour, Belgium @ Dour Festival^*
07/30 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
08/01 — Montclair, NJ @ The Wellmont Theater
08/02 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
08/04 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
08/06 — New York, NY @ The Rooftop at Pier 17
08/09 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
08/11 — Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
08/13 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
08/14 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
08/17 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
08/19 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
08/21 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
08/23 — Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
08/25 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory Deep Ellum *
08/26 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
08/28 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
08/31 — Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater

Danny McBride and Jody Hill have built themselves a mini-empire on HBO. It began with the debauched baseball comedy Eastbound & Down before McBride teamed up with Walton Goggins on Vice Principals, which was misunderstood at the time but has since found a cult audience. Speaking of cults: The Righteous Gemstones, the deliriously funny religious satire about a family of frequently feuding (and very rich) televangelists, is McBride and Hill’s most popular show yet — and maybe their best.

The Righteous Gemstones has aired for three seasons, and has been renewed by HBO for a fourth. What can fans of Edi Patterson’s brilliant line readings, swirling a glass of milk like wine, and Uncle Baby Billy’s musical numbers expect from season 4? Here’s everything you need to know, including plot details, a potential premiere date, and returning cast members.

Plot

When last we saw the Gemstones, Baby Billy’s dream of hosting Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers came true; Eli mourned the death of NASCAR driver Dusty Daniels, who left his land to the family; Kelvin and Keefe agreed to “live and let live”; Judy and BJ embraced Amber’s “The System,” which is definitely not a scam; Giden expressed an interest in becoming a preacher to the Eli; and, oh yeah, there was a monster truck montage. What a good show.

It appears the Eli and Gideon scene is the most important for season 4, however. For once, John Goodman teased in an interview with TV Insider, “something is going right” for the family patriach. How will Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin react to their father finding his potential protege in someone who isn’t them? Probably not well! For now, however, all we can do is speculate about plot details (including whether Kelvin and Keefe will Make It Official) because the cast and writers haven’t said much of anything about season 4.

It will, however, involve “males to portray Civil War Confederate and Union Soldiers” and “those with vehicles from 90’s – 2001,” but only if the automobiles are in “good shape.” Your beat-up 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier won’t suffice.

Cast

Until reported otherwise, expect everyone to return, including John Goodman (Eli Gemstone), Danny McBride (Jesse Gemstone), Edi Patterson (Judy Gemstone), Adam DeVine (Kelvin Gemstone), Cassidy Freeman (Amber Gemstone), Tony Cavalero (Keefe), Tim Baltz (BJ), Skyler Gisondo (Gideon Gemstone), Gregalan Williams (Martin), and Walton Goggins (Baby Billy).

Release Date

The Righteous Gemstones season 4 started filming in May 2024 (“We Are So Back,” an Instagram post from Rough House Pictures announced, along with a mandatory pic of a clapperboard). Based on previous production cycles, it’s unlikely any new episodes will premiere before the end of the year. Boooooooo. Counterpoint: now there’s something to look forward to in 2025.

Trailer

Hey HBO, stop misbehavin’ and start releasin’ the season 4 trailer.

The Utah Jazz recently went through a rebrand that simply did not go over very well. Their minimalist highlighter scheme fell flat and looked uninspired, and the frustration with the new look only grew when you saw them up against their tremendous purple mountain throwbacks.

Thankfully, the Jazz saw the public reaction to their new unis and those throwbacks and made the correct call to go through another rebrand that built off of those throwbacks for an entirely new uniform set. The team unveiled the new uniforms on Wednesday, to a much better response from fans.

The new uniforms will arrive in phases, as they can’t completely rid themselves of the highlighter look until the 2025-26 season. That means next year the black Jazz note uniform and the purple throwbacks with white lettering will join the white and black highlighter uniforms as their four options. Then, in 2025-26, they’ll go fully to the mountain look, with the reimagined purple and white mountain uniforms taking over as their full-time, standard fit. They will also unveil a fourth uniform in 2025 as their City Edition look.

It is a considerable upgrade, and while you could argue they should’ve done this in the first place, I will give them credit for not trying to double down on a bad idea and being willing to listen to the people in order to get the look right.

Illuminati Hotties has announced her new album Power, arriving later this summer. Last month, Sarah Tudzin, the creator of Illuminati Hotties, teased the album with “Can’t Be Still.” Upon the announcement today, Tudzin has shared “Didn’t,” the album’s lead single, which features Cavetown.

On “Didn’t,” Tudzin asks herself “What if I just didn’t” live by the expectations of others, or put so much pressure on myself?

In the song’s accompanying video, Tudzin is seen riding in the back of a double-decker bus, enjoying the sights of Los Angeles, eating In-N-Out Burger, and snapping pictures with her disposable camera. Though Cavetown doesn’t appear in the video, the bus is driven by comedian Caleb Hearon, who lip syncs Cavetown’s verse.

Toward the end of the video, Hearon and Tudzin share somewhat of a heartfelt moment, in pure humorous fashion.

You can see the video for “Didn’t” above and the Power cover art and tracklist below.

1. “Can’t Be Still”
2. “I Would like, Still Love You”
3. “Throw (Life Raft)”
4. “Rot”
5. “Falling In Love With Somebody Better”
6. “The L”
7. “Sleeping In”
8. “Didn’t” Feat. Cavetown
9. “You Are Not Who You Were”
10. “What’s The Fuzz”
11. “YSL”
12. “Power”
13. “Everything Changes”

Power is out 8/23 via Hopeless Records. Find more information here.

Houston’s rapping meteorologist Adam Krueger is at it again, sneaking another set of fan-favorite bars into his weather report. Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has been literally everywhere lately (arguably, too many places), so why not the local news?

Rap fans online were tickled when they learned Krueger had incorporated the song into his latest report for CW39 Houston, imitating Kendrick’s emphatic ad-libbing as he noted an incoming heatwave. “Wop wop wop wop wop! We get hit with a heat index well over 100,” he lamented. He also sneaks in a nifty rhyme name-checking NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton. The important thing to note, as he says in a follow-up about the viral popularity of the clip, is that he’s not choosing sides in the battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake (which is basically over anyway, right?).

Krueger has been entertaining rap fans with his bits for over a year, after taking a fan suggestion to recite rap lyrics during his report on TikTok. He began going viral in 2023 when he started quoting Eminem lyrics during his report, along with bars from Cardi B and Snoop Dogg. He also does songs from pop groups, suggestions from grade school students, and more, but generally gets the biggest reactions online from raps.

He isn’t the only rap fan news man who practices his hobby on the air. MSNBC’s Ari Melber has gone viral a few times thanks to his insightful breakdowns of popular rap verses from Jay-Z and quotes from the Notorious B.I.G.