Month: August 2024

Charli XCX made it into Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and onto former US President Barack Obama’s summer playlist with Brat, her sixth studio album that hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The Kardashian/Jenner family is the closest thing this country has to a monarchy, and Charli XCX has infiltrated them as well.

On Monday, August 19, Charli XCX was revealed as the face of Kardashian’s latest Skims campaign. The British pop star modeled Skims Cotton in photos shot by Petra Collins. Charli XCX also posted a humorous behind-the-scenes video from her photoshoot.

“Skims empowers people to feel confident in their own skin, which is the essence of Brat,” Charli XCX said in a statement, as per Variety. “I am excited to be working with a brand that understands that comfort and style don’t need to be compromised. Shooting with Petra for this campaign was a dream, and I was so excited to get on set and wear these timeless, sexy pieces. Also the puppies were beyond cute.”

The Skims Cottons collection is comprised of the Cotton Rib Split Bralette, Cotton Rib Boxer, Cotton Fleece Shrunken Waffle-Lined Zip-Up Hoodie, and Cotton Rib Bikini. The collection will become available for purchase at noon ET on Wednesday, August 21, on Skims’ official website.

Charli XCX follows musicians such as Sabrina Carpenter, Lana Del Rey, Cardi B, Usher, Ice Spice and PinkPantheress, SZA, Rosalía, and Snoop Dogg as Skims models.

It was rumored last week that Dakota Johnson and Coldplay leader Chris Martin had called off their engagement and had broken up. Those reports were quickly refuted, though, and now Johnson herself seems to have quietly chimed in.

As E! notes, Johnson was spotted out in Malibu, California on August 16 (alongside Blake Lee and Jeremy Allen White). In a paparazzi photo, she appears to pretty intentionally be flashing an emerald ring on her ring finger, seemingly the same ring that sparked engagement rumors in 2020.

An August 16 report from The Daily Mail claimed Martin and Johnson “have called off their engagement and split for good after drifting apart,” and that Martin had “now accepted the relationship is over — and it’s best to move on.” The publication also said that Johnson “was pictured last weekend without her emerald engagement ring as she walked her dog in Malibu where she used to live with the Coldplay frontman.”

Hours after that, TMZ refuted the report, writing, “Dakota Johnson and her fiancé Chris Martin are still rocking it despite the buzz they broke up over clashing schedules … which TMZ has confirmed is nothing but a false alarm. A rep for Dakota confirms to TMZ … their breakup is not true — the couple remains happily together.” They added, “A source tells TMZ Dakota was right there cheering on Chris at Coldplay’s Helsinki show just 2 weeks ago — and to top it off, the band’s new video for ‘feelslikeimfallinginlove’ released around the same time was produced by Dakota’s own TeaTime Pictures.”

The third season of Abbott Elementary scored a mention in Uproxx’s “Best TV Shows Of 2024 (So Far)” list. Last month, Quinta Brunson confirmed the upcoming fourth season will feature a “crossover” episode.

“We will be doing an interesting crossover this season,” the creator of the acclaimed ABC comedy said, per Variety. “I’m not gonna tell you with who, or with what, or where, or when, but it’s really exciting and I think it’ll change television as we know it.”

Tyler James Williams has an idea.

“I would love to see Solange [Knowles] as a cousin,” Williams told People. “I feel like we look alike. It’s like us and then my dad is Orlando [Jones]. Yeah, I think Solange would be great. Just add a family member.”

Williams has earned three Primetime Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Gregory Eddie on Abbott Elementary.

Through the first three seasons, the list of star Abbott cameos includes Vince Staples, Questlove, Zack Fox, Kevin Hart, Ayo Edebiri, Andre Iguodala, Jason Kelce, Jalen Hurts, Brandon Graham, and Gritty.

Sexyy Red has made her case to appear on the show, so maybe she’ll join the list when Abbott Elementary returns for its fourth season premiere on October 9.

Haliey Welch, a.k.a. Hawk Tuah Girl, has gone from having no social media presence to over 2.3 million followers on Instagram in less than two months, ever since she taught the world to “spit on that thing.”

When asked by TMZ if any famous people have slid into her DMs, Welch (who is capitalizing and making bank on her viral fame) mentioned rapper Yung Gravy. “He wants to take me on a date and I was like, nah, I don’t know about that,” she said while making the cut it out gesture.

You can watch the video (which appears to have been filmed the same day that Hawk Tuah Girl threw out the first pitch at a New York Mets game, causing everyone to lose their minds) here.

This isn’t the first time that Yung Gravy has taken Michael Scott’s Wayne Gretzky quote to heart. After Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello announced their split last year, the “Betty (Get Money)” rapper wrote “LETS F*CKIN GOOOOO” on Twitter and shared a headline about the breakup in an Instagram Story, adding multiple saluting emojis. As far as we can tell, the Modern Family actress has not accepted his advances.

It doesn’t sound like Hawk Tuah Girl is going to, either.

Olivia Rodrigo has been on the Guts World Tour for months now, but it sounds like she’s spent about half of it asleep, as she just spoke about just how much sleep she gets while on the road.

In a recent interview with Complex, Rodrigo was asked how she spends her time on tour and she said, “Oh, wow. Well, I sleep so much on tour. I sleep for 13 hours a day sometimes. I’m so exhausted. So that passes a lot of the time. But I’ve just been reading and I’ve been watching all of my comfort shows. I’ve been watching Sex And The City every day to make myself feel like I’m grounded and at home [laughs].”

Rodrigo has long been a fan of getting her REM cycles in: She told People something similar in 2023, saying, “I sleep so much when I’m on tour, it’s kind of crazy. There were some nights where I was just so exhausted from playing a show that I would sleep for 14 hours. Eating healthy is important and also having people that you really love come on the road with you helps a lot — people who can replenish your energy and nurture you.”

Find the full Complex interview here.

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever seem to have used their month off from the Olympic break wisely, as they’ve come out and won their first two games in impressive fashion. After beating the Mercury 98-89 on Friday, the Fever turned right back around and thumped the Storm in a 92-75 rout that saw them runaway in the fourth quarter, led by Lexie Hull’s red-hot shooting game.

A night after putting up a 29-point, 10-assist, 5-rebound performance against Phoenix, Clark had another big game in the win over Seattle, boasting 23 points, nine assists, and five rebounds in the win. While Indiana eventually pulled away for a lopsided win (they hit 11-of-12 shots, including 8-of-9 from three, in the fourth), things were tense in the third quarter, as the two teams went back-and-forth. Early in the third, Clark missed a three and slapped the stanchion in frustration with herself and got T’d up for it (video here). It was a soft T, as you usually only see one handed out if someone throws a ball off the stanchion, not slaps it with their hand.

After the game, Clark was asked about the T and said the referee told her she got it for “being disrespectful to the game of basketball.”

“I got a technical for basically being mad at myself, because I missed a three and then went and hit the backboard. And he told me it was ‘disrespectful to the game of basketball,’” Clark said. So, I don’t know, it reminded me of the technical I got in college where I said ‘dammit,’ where it’s like a personal frustration. Had nothing to do with my team, had nothing to do with the refs, had nothing to do with the other team, it’s just because I’m a competitor, and I felt like I should be making more shots. But I think he fired me up to continue to play a lot harder. I thought we got a lot better after he did that, so I want to thank him for that.”

We’ll see if the league upholds Clark’s T upon review, but it certainly seems like one that could’ve been ignored. However, it might’ve given Clark a little extra juice, as she noted she played a lot better after that, so perhaps it wasn’t all bad.

Hell hath no fury like a pop standom scorned. Kesha fans are leading the latest backlash storm online. Supporters of the “Tik Tok” singer noticed that Kesha’s name was mysteriously removed from one of her biggest collaboration and sprung into action.

Yesterday (August 18) over on YouTube, Kesha’s name vanished from the title of Pitbull’s song, “Timber.” Shortly after, folks took to Reddit to speculate about what led to the video title’s modification. But, Pitbull took to his X (formerly Twitter) page to nip any rumors of beef in the bud.

After recently purchasing the naming rights of Florida International University’s stadium, Pitbull knows just how important titling is.

In screenshots captured by Pop Crave (viewable here), Pitbull wrote: “Kesha and I have an incredible song together. Nothing will change this. Team Pitbull is looking into this matter. Always nothing but love for Kesha. Dale!”

Users online weighted in on technology mix up.

“Happy that Pitbull is standing up for Kesha like this,” wrote one user.

“Same situation happened with ‘Taki Taki’ they removed Selena’s name. I think it’s just a glitch,” penned another.

“I don’t know why anyone even doubted Pitbull. He doesn’t like anyyyy drama surrounding his brand. Love, light and booty rocking,” joked another.

The RIAA diamond certified record was released in 2013 and featured on Pitbull’s album, Meltdown. As of today (August 18), the official video’s view count on YouTube sits at 1.5 billion.

Unfortunately, Kash Doll has become the latest celebrity to experience a home burglary. Yesterday (August 17), the “Bossa Nova” rapper confirmed that her Atlanta residence was broken into by armed intruders on August 15.

Although Kash Doll confirmed that she was present at the time of the incident, her children’s father and fellow rapper Tracy T was. While the blended family should be privately regrouping after the frightening matter, Kash Doll was seemingly forced to publicly break her silence after rumors began to circulate surrounding the foiled plot.

In a video (viewable here) shared to her Instagram page, Kash Doll slammed a local community leader for spreading the claim that she operated a “drug house.”

“I normally don’t put the internet in my business,” she said. “Because I just feel like you share certain things, and you keep certain things to yourself, right? But I’ve been violated bad since I in Detroit. I guess people were looking at my story, and they see that I’m not home. And they found that this was the best opportunity to run inside my house and get all my Birkin bags in Atlanta. However, that’s cool; they got caught.”

Kash Doll then filled followers in on what happened during the break-in. “They got into a shootout with my child’s father,” she said. And the police got all of them. Yeah, we ain’t took no L.”

She then turned her attention to Ronnie Mayers, a Brookhaven community leader, for his alleged remarks to a local news outlet regarding the incident. “He went to the news and told them that my house is a drug house,” she said. “The sacrifices I make, how hard I work, everything that I do; for you to just associate me with drugs, just because I’m young, Black and successful. That’s crazy! That you went to the internet, no, you went to the news my n**** and told the news that me and my child’s father is running a drug house.”

According to Fox 5’s Atlanta affiliate, three of the suspects (Eugene Burns, Davion Harper, and Tyson Kamari Kirksey) were detained after leading police on a chase. Burns was reportedly shot after firing at the police and is being treated for his injuries. A fourth suspect still remains at large.

Back in February, we learned that the Los Angeles Lakers spoke with the Golden State Warriors about a potential trade that would’ve sent LeBron James north to San Francisco and paired him with Stephen Curry. James was asked about those talks and said he learned about them when everyone else did — via a Woj tweet — indicating things never got very serious, and that was about where that conversation ended.

However, after seeing James and Curry dominate together in Paris at the Olympics, there has been a new round of discussion about whether the two could team up at some point before retiring. That led Marc Stein to do a little digging on those pre-deadline talks, where he learned from a source that those conversations between the two teams owners ended as soon as Rich Paul got wind of talks, as James’ agent reportedly “implored” the two sides to drop the conversations in an effort to keep LeBron from the backlash of another move.

It is believed that the Lakers would have reluctantly entertained trade conversations with the Warriors before last February’s trade deadline if James wanted them to seriously engage Golden State on a potential deal. Yet league sources say that the reported talks between the teams at the time never got that far in large part because James’ agent Rich Paul was adamantly opposed to the idea of James swapping Southern California for Northern California.

Sources say Paul implored both teams to scrap the concept — despite some owner-to-owner dialogue between the Warriors’ Joe Lacob and the Lakers’ Jeanie Buss and Green’s determination to lobby James to push for relocation to the Bay Area — largely because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash over switching teams for the fourth time in his career.

This showing up in a piece that also includes reporting that the Warriors felt like the Clippers and Jazz weren’t negotiating in good faith in George and Markkanen trade talks leads me to believe this is a further effort from Golden State to show effort in adding star talent around Stephen Curry. After Curry’s sensational Olympic run, it’s clear he’s still capable of playing at the highest level, and there is some pressure on them to build a contender around him.

As for the perspective from Paul’s side, James has caught heat when moving teams in the past so I can fully understand wanting to keep that from happening again — particularly if LeBron wasn’t fully on board with the plan. While there would undoubtedly be some of that coming his way if he was dealt to the Warriors, given where both teams are right now, I’m not sure the response would be as negative from the general fan as they maybe fear. In any case, the conversations never got further than the very preliminary stages and this probably isn’t really “a thing,” but it’s also mid-August and we don’t have a lot else going on in the NBA world, so the LeBron-Steph combo is something fun to think about.

Travis Scott’s appearance at Fanatic Fest NYC yesterday (August 17) was full of surprises. The “My Eyes” rapper announced as wrestling legend Rey Mysterio’s tag team partner. But, he also treated attendees to an impromptu performance. Scott’s surprises didn’t stop there.

During a panel chat (view here), Travis Scott hinted that his mixtape, Days Before Rodeo, would be uploaded to streaming services soon. Now, the official re-release date has been shared. Continue below for all details.

When Will Travis Scott’s Mixtape Days Before Rodeo Drop On Streaming?

Today (August 18), Travis Scott took to his X (formerly Twitter) page to announce that his mixtape, Days Before Rodeo, would be re-released everywhere on August 23. The post (viewable here) featured archival video footage of Scott and his collaborators in the studio working on the fan-revered body of work.

At caption of the upload pointed followers to Scott’s official website for more information. Over on the webpage, it outlined that in addition to the mixtape being accessible on streaming services, Scott is offering a special red vinyl pressing of Days Before Rodeo, which is rumored to include additional tracks. Find more information here.

With the project celebrating its tenth anniversary on August 18, fans couldn’t be happier.

Artwork

Tracklist

1. “Days Before Rodeo: The Prayer”
2. “Mamacita” Feat. Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug
3. “Quintana Pt. 2”
4. “Drugs You Should Try It”
5. “Don’t Play” Feat. Big Sean and The 1975
6. “Skyfall” Feat. Young Thug
7. “Zombies”
8. “Sloppy Toppy” Feat. Migos and Peewee Longway
9. “Basement Freestyle”
10. “Backyard”
11. “Grey”
12. “BACC”