Month: July 2024

Rick Ross will never look at Canada in the same way after what happened to him in the country recently: After playing Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss “Not Like Us” at a festival in Vancouver, Ross would up involved in a brawl that seemingly saw him get punched in the face (“seemingly” because Ross doesn’t seem to think he actually did get punched).

Whatever it was that happened, 50 Cent has been having fun with it.

50 was performing in Canada this past weekend and he said to the crowd, “I can’t believe what y’all did to Rick Ross!” He then went back and forth with a fan who jokingly said they were the one who struck Ross.

This is just 50’s latest instance of referencing the Ross brawl. On July 1, he said in a video shared on social media (as XXL notes), “Hey guys. I just saw a very unfortunate situation that took place in Canada, and I want to say to everyone that I hope that that brother made it home safely. I hope that he now has a different perspective and a better sense of what to do and what not to do while you’re out in the world. That part where that young guy went like — he did this little move and sh*t and got knocked the f*ck out — that does not reflect him. That reflects his camp.”

Nicki Minaj fans in Romania were left disappointed this weekend.

As NME notes, Minaj was supposed to perform at Saga Festival in Bucharest yesterday (July 7), but that same day, the rapper announced she would not perform.

Minaj wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

“Out of concern for the well-being of our team and myself, I have been advised by my security detail not to travel to Romania’s festival tonight due to safety concerns regarding protests in the area. I look forward to seeing you all at another time. As a mom, I have to make sure I’m making sound decisions for me to make it home to my son and for my team to make it home to their families. To not heed the advice of security at this time is simply not what I think I should be doing. I love you and thank you for your understanding and support.

I am very excited to see my fans this Friday in London for another very special headlining show at Wireless Festival.”

This comes after Minaj was apparently the target of Megan Thee Stallion lyrics on the new album Megan, such as this one from “Figueroa”: “I’m a motherf*cking brat, not a Barbie / On go with any b*tch that wanna start it.”

The demise of the Golden Age of Television has been greatly exaggerated. Haliey Welch, the “Hawk Tuah Girl” who went viral for her “spit on that thang” advice on how to drive a man crazy in bed (which The Simpsons did NOT predict), is close to landing a deal for a reality show.

According to TMZ, “the viral sensation’s generating buzz among Tinseltown producers who want to base a reality TV show around her life. We’re told big-name showrunners and producers are reaching out to people in Hailey’s orbit to discuss what kind of show they can create as a vehicle for her.”

Maybe this is what Vince Gilligan’s mysterious new show is about.

Welch also filed trademarks to make as much money as she can from “Hawk Tuah” merchandise that overeager boyfriends will buy for their annoyed girlfriends. She’s off to a good start: Welch sold at least $65,000 in hats within the first two weeks of Tim & Dee TV posting the video on their channels, and over the weekend, she raked in $30,000 for three appearances in New York City. There’s probably thousands more that haven’t been reported on. Besides, it’s only a matter of time before she joins Cameo (but not OnlyFans).

(Via TMZ)

Pretty much ever since Oasis broke up, there have been calls for the band to reunite. Given that there’s always at least an underlying tension between Liam and Noel Gallagher, though, a comeback continues to remain unlikely. That hasn’t stopped folks from wishing, and that includes Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl. As for Noel, he wishes Grohl would just shut up about it.

On a recent episode of Matt Morgan’s podcast (as NME reports), Gallagher said, “I did actually bump into Dave [at Glastonbury 2024]. He was about three feet away from me when I was watching LCD Soundsystem and he was staying in the same hotel I was staying in. I would just like him to wind his f*cking neck in about Oasis. I wouldn’t talk to him. I haven’t got time for that f*cking mob any more.”

He added, “I haven’t got f*ck all to say to him.”

This isn’t their first public spat: During a festival performance in 2019, Grohl called for Oasis to reunite, and Gallagher responded by calling for Foo Fighters to break up.

This comes shortly after Gallagher made waves for his comments about Glastonbury, saying, “It’s getting a bit woke now, that place, and a bit kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signalling. I don’t like it in music — little f*cking idiots waving flags around and making political statements and bands taking the stage and saying, ‘Hey guys, isn’t war ­terrible, yeah? Let’s all boo war. F*ck the Tories man,’ and all that. It’s like, look: play your f*cking tunes and get off.”

Adaptations are a tricky business, especially when you’re translating a world as vast and complex and infused with magic as George R.R. Martin’s. Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss discovered that the hard way when their series outpaced the author’s writing, forcing them to fill in the blanks in a fantasy madlibs exercise that tainted the legacy the show’s first few seasons had earned. It wasn’t that every off-book turn was bad, but whether you quiz a show fan or someone who’s read every installment in Martin’s Ice & Fire universe, they’ll probably offer the same answer as to when GoT took a turn for the worse. (Somewhere in season five, we’d argue).

All that to say, jumping ship and navigating un-plotted waters in Westerosi lore is a brave, foolish thing to do. And yet, House Of The Dragon’s fourth episode does just that – reimagining one of the defining battles of the Dance of Dragons to elevate it beyond its source material. And that seems to be a consistent storytelling theme of Ryan Condal’s series, a show that’s basically flipping the middle finger to the “but the book is better” crowd, to the benefit of both readers and watchers alike.

Drawing like for like comparisons to Martin’s work is futile and pretentious, most of the time. If you enjoy his books, great, but if you come to this place for the dragons and the witches and the ice zombies, that’s okay too. We (and Nicole Kidman) welcome you. But with HoTD, things feel different. This is a show that rode the coattails of another prestige drama to inception, one that exists thanks to the success of Weiss and Benoiff’s work. It’s also a series that was handicapped from the get-go by its predecessor, given the unenviable task of curating all of GoT’s good will, while distancing itself from the backlash of its final season. Essentially, House of The Dragon needed to be the best of both worlds – HBO’s and Martin’s. To do that, Condal and company have been taking bold, storytelling risks, few more fascinating than the Battle of Rook’s Rest.

To explain fully, we’ll have to break our own rule and reference Martin’s Fire & Blood novels. (Apologies.)

In the book, the Battle of Rook’s Rest serves as a devastating blow for both the Blacks and the Greens. A squabble over a minor castle that’s meant to bolster each side’s image more than strategically advance their position, the Greens hope to take the Crownland keep to cut off Dragonstone – Rhaneyra’s power seat – from the rest of Westeros. The Blacks hope to keep one of their council members happy by protecting their interests. It’s a political move – and a personal quest for revenge for Criston Cole – on both page and screen, with a few key additions. In the book, Aemond and Cole’s plot to divert their attentions from Harrenhal to Rook’s Rest is a calculated move that everyone seems on board with. Aegon rides into battle with Aemond, the two a seemingly united front against Rhaenys and her dragon, Meleys. But HoTD retcons that choice, painting Aegon as a sullen manchild out of his depth at his council’s table and within his own family. He’s undermined by the brother he’s taunted and bullied his entire life, humiliated by his inability to speak his mother tongue or scheme a few steps ahead like his younger sibling. And his Hand, the man who serves as his most trusted advisor, has been holding secret meetings with the royal spare, planning his war without his knowledge. It takes sibling rivalry to a whole new level, and sets the stage for Aegon’s choice to defy the good council of his mother, ride into battle drunk on a young, inexperience mount, and waste the element of surprise both Cole and Aemond have worked so hard for. It also paves the way for Aemond’s betrayal, his choice to hold Vhagar back, let Aegon take to the skies on his own and have fate decide the outcome.

Aemond knows Meleys is larger than Sunfyre, that Rhaenys is more formidable than his brother, and that the chances Aegon could be seriously injured or killed are far to high to simply sit back and wait. But he does, only intervening to use the excuse of rescuing his king from certain death to set his brother (and torturer) on fire. If the brothers ride into battle together, book-style, this deception and betrayal doesn’t happen, and Aemond’s unbothered response to seeing the charred remnants of his attempted fratricide doesn’t hold the same weight.

Nor does Rhaenys’ sacrifice, one that differs from her book counterpart’s in key ways. On the page, Rhaenys is already patrolling Rook’s Rest, surprised by the attack and hoping for aide from Rhaneyra during the battle. On the screen, Rhaenys volunteers for the fight, suspecting that she’ll meet at least one dragon in the air, making for an emotional sendoff with Meleys at Dragonstone. She nearly defeats Sunfyre and maneuvers a path of escape for herself before turning back, intent on ending the conflict by ending Aemond.

In the book, she and Meleys are trapped on both sides in a downward spiral that ends only with Vhagar emerging unscathed. In the episode, however, the choice to attack not once, but twice, hoping for victory but expecting death, feels like a callback to Rhaenys’ controversial act of mercy in season one. Back then, she could’ve ended the war – and, according to Aemond, saved Lucerys’ life – by burning the Hightowers to a crisp. She didn’t, holding out for peace, counseling Rhaneyra to do the same even after the death of her child and an assassination attempt, trying to stem the bleeding of her House. Perhaps, for Rhaenys, the Battle of Rook’s Rest is a somber epiphany, a final realization that she can’t prevent any of this, that the war didn’t start with a stolen crown or a damaged eye or a passed over heir. It always was, because the men in power always are. But without the choices HoTD made in changing up episode four, that moment – in all its frustrating, heartbreaking glory – wouldn’t have landed as hard.

House of the Dragon has a track record of enriching its source material, one that’s not confined to just this battle. The show has done it by altering Alicent and Rhaenyra’s relationship, turning them from foes to friends and putting them under a microscope so that we could witness the injustices (big and small) they faced as women in this patriarchal hellscape. The series has done it with Daemon, a rogue prince given more emotional motivation than his apathetical shit-stirring counterpart on the page, with Viserys, a paranoid old man who loved his daughter fiercely until the very end, with Laenor’s death and Alicent’s affair and the Blood & Cheese tragedy. Flipping the script with Rook’s Rest isn’t unprecedented, it’s proof HoTD is perhaps even more exciting of a show than its predecessor because it’s willing to take risks and take it’s time setting up their payoffs.

Sorry to say, none of that makes watching dragons die any easier though.

(Spoilers from HotD and George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood will be found below.)

Some might say that House of the Dragon took too long to get to the airborne acts of war in the second season, although I feel as though this phase started a bit too early in Season 2, Episode 4, “A Dance Of Dragons.” I simply wasn’t yet prepared to see Rhaenys and Meleys perish in the Battle at Rook’s Rest (at the hands of Aemond and Vhagar), and their deaths will be addressed by colleague, Jessica Toomer, in post-episode analysis that will be published separately.

Here, our focus is the near-fatal clash between Aemond and Aegon, the result of a years-long rivalry that has been exacerbated in recent weeks by Aegon ascending to the throne and having no clue how to lead the realm. Last week, Aegon made matters more tense by bullying his nude brother in a brothel, and this week, the obnoxious young king was dressed down by Aemond for “naming imbecilic lickspittles to our Kingsguard.” That Aemond delivered these words in High Valyrian makes them even more cutting:

One of those “lickspittles,” Criston Cole, happens to now be the King’s Hand despite leaving Aegon’s wife and children unguarded while getting busy with Alicent. It was this omission that made the Blood and Cheese attack possible, although this didn’t seem to register with Aegon. (Meanwhile, Criston is attempting to rally parts of Westeros by shouting that Rhaenyra is the “whore of Dragonstone,” and man, he simply will not get over that rejection, right?)

Within the brotherly quarrels, Aemond is absolutely correct that his brother is not fit to lead, although what materializes at the Battle at Rook’s Rest is far less clear cut. Clearly, Aegon grew frustrated after Alicent told him to simply “do nothing” as king and hopped on Sunfyre to join the battle. Predictably, Aegon and Sunfyre were soon in peril at the claws of Meleys, and Aemond seized the chance to set brother ablaze while Sunfyre was tangled up with Meleys during mid-air combat. (And it looks as though the book will follow what happened in GRRM’s Fire and Blood and allow Aegon to survive, although he was badly burnt and incapacitated in the process.)

This outcome follows shortly after Aegon humiliated Aemond in the brothel:

As Jessica Toomer described last week, Aemond has become “a coiled snake” full of resentment for over brother’s tormenting, and he did not hesitate to unload on his brother in a situation where he surely cannot be blamed for fire exchanged in the sky. Arguably, Aemond might have also meant to finish the job with Aegon’s life when Criston Cole approached.

With that said, viewers are decidedly torn. Some are aghast at Aemond’s betrayal, especially after Aegon was so relieved to see his brother:

Although others remain on mini-Daemon’s side no matter what:

House of the Dragon airs new episodes on Sunday nights.

My therapist has warned me against watching any more of House of the Dragon. This comes after episode four’s Battle of Rook’s Nest sparked such a visceral reaction that I dedicated an entire hour session to cursing George R.R. Martin, Ryan Condal, and really any fan who’s complained about season two’s sluggish pace and lack of aerial action. I have real problems, she says, childhood trauma to resolve, an inability to feel emotions on a deeper level, object permanency issues – I don’t need to be devoting so much energy to pondering why a fictional story would introduce the concept of majestic flying beasts only to murder them in the most brutal ways possible. I certainly don’t need to be using a dumb little show about dragons to philosophize about the destiny of mankind to destroy or question why we’re so quick to ruin everything good in life. (A prestige drama about silver-haired sibling fuckers riding ancient fire-breathing lizards is good, so why have we been quietly chanting, “Fight. Fight. Fight,” anytime two or more take to the skies in Martin’s TV universe?)

Like everyone else who’s been on this emotional rollercoaster since those early Game of Thrones days, I’m familiar with Martin’s morbidity fetish. If something or someone can die in his fantasy world, they will, likely in the most gruesome, nauseating way possible. We’ve seen little girls burned at the stake, looked upon pregnant women with butchered bellies, listened to the sounds of men torn apart by rabid dogs. Death isn’t just an aspect of life in Westeros, it’s a spectator sport and the prize is our collective post traumatic stress in watching it play out. And this may be too revealing an admission, but of all the shocking slaughter we’ve been privy to almost all of it pales in comparison to what we witnessed in episode four’s “A Dance of Dragons.”

In the show (as in the book), the Battle of Rook’s Rest is a turning point in the war between The Greens and The Blacks, a power grab for a strategic stronghold that’s more about the projection of victory than any real ground gained. The futility of it all – this idea that a tiny castle perched on the coast whose only real value rests in its geography – makes all of the bloodshed and loss harder to stomach, especially when it comes to the non-human casualties. When we spoke with Condal about House of the Dragon’s measured march to war this season, he previewed episodes like this by teasing that “war moves slowly, then all at once.” He was right about that – Rook’s Rest surprised everyone, even the boy-king sitting his throne, wondering why his brother and Hand held more interest for a pawn in the Crownlands than Harrenhal’s seat in the Riverlands. But Condal was wrong about something else, that dragons are like nuclear bombs. In terms of sheer destructive capabilities? Maybe, but those final scenes in episode four, moments when we watch these sentient beings used as cannon fodder for the pointless squabbles of pathetic, small-minded men made me question if this entire show is just one big mistake.

Don’t the dragons in Martin’s universe deserve better than this? The people certainly don’t, so I truly have no qualms with watching Aegon’s (Tom Glynn-Carney) skin melting from his bones or Aemond’s (Ewan Mitchell) eye detaching from its socket or that Velaryon prick’s head being sliced from his shoulders. Even the tragic accidents – the still-births and slow-decaying of kings feel … not satisfying, but expected, understandable, reflective of the injustice of life. Bad things happening to good people and all that. But dragons dying because a chosen heir was born female or two little boys got into an argument once or an abuse victim was jealous of her best friend or an old man, high as a kite in his dying moments, couldn’t get his story straight? That’s worse than unfair, it’s idiotic. And it calls into question exactly how we should view these creatures in the larger context of Martin’s universe.

One strength of House of the Dragon is its insistence on fleshing out the bond between dragon and rider. Where Game Of Thrones presented them as unruly children of an ambitious young queen, sometimes obedient, sometimes an absolute menace, the dragons of HoTD are older, wiser, more tame. Whether they’ve bonded with their riders at birth or been claimed following the death of a Targaryen descendent, they’re seen more as oversized pets that can kill rather than mythical beasts that once were extinct. The banality of living in a world with dragons is something that ultimately contributes to the war within House Targaryen. (When harnessing the catastrophic power of a leathery-winged monster is seen as a right deigned by divinity of birth, not a privilege or a responsibility worthy of respect, war can come too easily.) But, in watching the Battle of Rook’s Rest, specifically the interactions between dragon and dragon rider, how these beings are treated becomes a sticking point. Because they’re not pets – what sane person would take their dog or cat into battle, sacrifice their life for someone else’s cause? (Even seeing one off leash in the park is cause for concern these days.) They’re also not mindless weapons made of metal who can’t think or act for themselves. In Martin’s writings, they’re described as highly intelligent, perhaps more so than some humans, driven by instincts, quick-tempered but incredibly loyal and attune to their rider’s emotions. They’re imbibed with magic and broken by it too as magic is what first allowed Valyrian dragonlords to mount them. So perhaps, one could argue they’re more like horses. Yet, their lifespan, their connections with each other, and their tie to nature itself – the loss of dragons signaled the start of Westeros’ long winter – serves as proof that even that analogy is lacking.

Neither of these definitions answer how Targaryens themselves view dragons, these beings they’ve grown up with and mastered, they’ve relied on and used for their own gain, they’ve awed over and discarded in equal measure. When Rhaenys (Eve Best) rides to her death on the back of Meleys, they share a moment of doomed clarity, devastating and frustrating too, because, while Meleys is given that rare moment of recognition, she has no agency to refuse. Her rider isn’t just leading her into battle, she’s wielding her claws and fangs and flame to rip apart her brethren, beings she’s known far longer than the Targaryen on her back. But then, at least Rhaenys seems to regret that inevitability, comforting her friend and resigning them both to their fate while Aemond unleashes Vhagar’s wrath with gleeful abandon, stomping soldiers in the ground, roasting his own brother, and springing traps for smaller dragons with no hope of besting his own. Even Aegon, so sure of victory that he leaves the safety of the Red Keep to enter the fray, prioritizes his ego and public image before the health and safety of his mount, Sunfyre, risking the only symbol of power he owns for hollow glory.

In the grand scheme of things, dragons were probably always going to be props for mans’ downfall in Martin’s fantasy world, an object and advantage more than a living thing with autonomy. No amount of lore will change that so digging into the whys and hows of dragon riding may be a moot point – and, even more annoyingly, my therapist may have been right all along. But if episode four proves anything, it’s that we may have been wrong in asking to see more of them in action. If we’re just going to tear them apart for the shock of it all, what really is the point?

It’s been a history making week for WNBA rookies, as the day after Caitlin Clark became the first WNBA rookie to ever record a triple-double, Angel Reese broke a tie with Candace Parker for the most consecutive double-doubles in league history with her 13th in a row in a Sky loss to the Storm on Sunday evening.

Reese made early headway on the record-breaking double-double with her first board leading to her first bucket, as she hauled in a long offensive rebound and drilled a midrange jumper early in the first, as she got off to another hot start for Chicago.

By the third quarter, she’d already hit double figures in rebounds and a bucket late in the third got her the points needed to break the record.

Reese did her best to keep the Sky in the game, posting 17 points and 14 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes, but that and Chennedy Carter’s 21 just weren’t enough to go up against Nneka Ogwumike (24 points and 13 rebounds), Jewell Loyd (20 points), and the Storm.

Still, it is an incredible accomplishment for Reese to put her name in the WNBA record books and pass a legend like Parker in the process. Her rebounding ability is truly spectacular, and she’s shown a remarkable consistency in production as a scorer and rebounder that we’ve never seen in the WNBA before, and is the reason she’ll be an All-Star later this month.

Justin Bieber made a surprise cameo at Coachella 2024. But the “One Less Lonely Girl” singer was notably missing from other major stages, including Usher’s Super Bowl Halftime Show set, despite being in town.

According to Lil Jon, Bieber just wasn’t ready for the bright lights back in February. However, yesterday (July 6), Bieber was more than prepared to return to the stage to help Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant celebrate their pre-wedding festivities.

Bieber put one of his first solo shows for the billionaire couple since canceling his Justice World Tour in 2023 due to medical complications. Well, if Ambani could get Rihanna to temporarily return from her musical hiatus, Bieber should not have been that difficult—especially considering that he has been slowly returning to the limelight.

Based on clips of the show shared to TikTok, Bieber performed a mixture of his biggest hits, as well as his guest verse on Wizkid’s smash song “Essence (Remix).”

According to Page Six, Justin Bieber’s performance costed the couple a pretty penny. The outlet alleges Bieber was paid $10 million to entertain the exclusive crowd. As one of Asia’s wealthiest businessmen, Ambani won’t lose any sleep over the booking fee.

The men’s USA Basketball team began training camp this week in Las Vegas, as the star-studded 12-man roster made the trek out to the desert for a week of practices and scrimmages with the Select team as they ramp up towards the Olympics in Paris at the end of the month.

After failing to medal at the World Cup last year, the top American stars all agreed to join forces for the Olympics to try and win Team USA’s fifth straight gold medal. Older stars like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant decided to go for one last ride with Team USA, and the only holdovers from the World Cup roster are Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton.

The question for USA Basketball is never talent, but getting the team to play together and manage the egos of 12 stars who suddenly find themselves in roles they often have never been asked to play. Striking the balance between letting guys do what they’re best at but also making sure they play team basketball is the biggest challenge for Steve Kerr and his coaching staff, and it’s always fascinating to see who ends up in the biggest on-court roles.

At least early on, one of the young guns, Anthony Edwards, seems to believe that he is still the No. 1 option for this Olympics team, telling reporters as much after Sunday’s scrimmage and noting that he feels it’s on the other guys to fit in around him.

It’s possible Edwards will be right. The older guys on the team might not want to shoulder the burden of being the top option and might be happy to cede that title Edwards and his younger, fresher legs. That said, it’ll be fascinating to see how this team comes together, because the last USA squad with Edwards on it was not able to find that cohesion and got taken out by Germany in the semifinals and Canada in the bronze medal game to go home without any hardware.