Month: August 2024

Saturday Night Live is gearing up for its 50th (!) season on air, which will feature a slew of comedy specials alongside some big cast changes.

Earlier this week, cast member Punkie Johnson revealed at a stand-up show that she would not be returning for the upcoming 50th season of the show. The comedian took to Instagram to address the news: “I just want to let you know after four seasons, I will not be returning to SNL for the 50th,” Johnson said in an Instagram video with the caption: “SNL I LOVE YOU … LOOKING FORWARD TO WHATS NEXT!!!” Johnson confirmed that there is “no bad blood, no bridges burned, no hard feelings” from her exit. Johnson was added as a featured player in 2020 before being promoted to the main cast last year.

Then today, Molly Kearny, the show’s first nonbinary cast member, announced their departure as well. “Reflecting on the amazing 2 seasons I got on this show, it was such a dream come true. So incredibly grateful for this period in my life. So much love to all my big hearted buddies behind the scenes who make the magic happen every week. So many bald caps, so little time. It was a true honor to work with such a talented group of writers and DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE CAST,” they wrote on Instagram.

Kearny joined the show in season 48 alongside Michael Longfellow, Marcello Hernandez, and Devon Walker. It’s unclear if Longfellow, Hernandez, and Walker will be returning for season 50. The rest of the cast from season 49 includes Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, and Colin Jost, who is bravely fighting a foot infection while reporting on the Olympics. No new cast members have been announced.

Separate from the actual season, which will premiere on September 28, the 50th anniversary special will air on Sunday, February 16, 2025. Yes, the Saturday Night Live special will air on a Sunday. The jokes just keep comin’.

(Via Deadline)

Not many things are unanimous in the world of basketball. One thing that is: Steph Curry is the best shooter of all time. The longtime Golden State Warriors star has captivated basketball fans dating back to his college days for his seemingly limitless range, and as a result, he’s one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest players of all time.

This summer, Curry is suiting up for the United States at the Olympics for the first time, and during a shootaround on Friday, he showed off his ability to knock down jumpers. The catch: He did this by shooting the ball, having it hit the ground once, and bounce into the basket. And not only that, but he managed to do it with some pretty freaky consistency.

It is safe to say that we will not see Curry attempt this in a game, well, ever, but at the very least, I do think this confirms that he is one of the best HORSE players to ever live. Funny enough, the guy who might have that title is Team USA teammate Kevin Durant, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that I’d really like to see KD and Steph play HORSE against one another.

The talk of Lollapalooza 2024 is Chappell Roan and her huge crowd, but it was nearly something much scarier.

Following her set on Thursday at the music festival, Kesha claimed that a prop knife that she brandished during her performance of “Backstabber” was replaced with a real one without her knowledge. “sooooo apparently the prop knife went missing and they replaced it with a real butcher knife stolen from the kitchen. and i didn’t know. till now. so watch that again…” she wrote on X.

Thankfully, Kesha is fine, and she was able to finish her 15-song set.

Kesha recently released “Joyride,” the first single (and first song on her own label, Kesha Records) from her upcoming still-unnamed album. “In my brain, when I wrote the song, I couldn’t sleep that night,” she told Paper Magazine. “Because I was like, oh my god, it’s a hit! In my brain! I just kept playing it, and driving around playing it, it’s so fun. It’s a way for me to channel pure joy and excitement. Sometimes I’ll just put it on if I’m having a day. I’ll put it on, and it’s like magic. I get really excited. I feel like music is magical like that.”

All it takes is one hit. It’s a saying that the music industry carries in their back pocket 24/7 as it’s applicable to both rising artists and the biggest superstars around. Jordan Adetunji is the former, but there’s no doubt that he feels like a star nowadays. The Nigerian singer by way of Belfast, UK, skyrocketed to fame thanks to his hit record, “Kehlani.” The song, released earlier this year, quickly tallied over 25 million streams and earned Adetunji a record deal with 300 Entertainment. As if that wasn’t enough, “Kehlani” is about to get a second burst of life after Kehlani herself issued a remix with new verse.

“Making a song about Kehlani was a no brainer to me, her confidence and huge cultural impact is something I love!” Adetunji said earlier this year about the song. The love was felt by Kehlani previously shared videos soundtracked by the song on TikTok. The new remix further proves her love for the song, as well as her support for Adetunji who already had a career trending in the right direction thanks to past records like “Zack & Cody” and “Decay.” Now, thanks to “Kehlani” as well as help from Kehlani, Adetunji has all the eyes on him to prove he’s here to stay. Like I said, all it takes is one record.

With the “Kehlani” remix out now, as well as its matching visual (which you can watch below), we caught up with Jordan Adetunji to learn more about him and discover his inspirations, influences, and aspirations for this week’s Uproxx Music 20 column.

• Leo Waters’ ‘On Waters Ave’ Trusted The Process In The Face Of The Unknown
• Blk Odyssy’s Obsession With Love Leads To An Eye-Opening Heartbreak On ‘1-800-Fantasy’
• Samara Cyn Is A Cool, Calm, And Collected Lyricist Worth Getting Excited About
• Elyanna Proudly Bares Love, Culture, And Home On Her Sleeve With ‘Woledto’
• Josh Levi Makes Love Sound Like The Feeling Of A Lifetime On ‘Something More’

What is your earliest memory of music?

My earliest memory of music was watching the “Smooth Criminal” music video on TV and trying to do the lean forward move.

Who inspired you to take music seriously?

One thing that inspired me to take music seriously was The Weeknd when I listened to Kiss Land for the first time.

Do you know how to play an instrument? If so, which one? If not, which instrument do you want to learn how to play?

I play the trumpet.

What was your first job?

Being an artist.

What is your most prized possession?

My most prized possession is my PSPgo.

What is your biggest fear?

Not trying what I’ve always wanted to do or see.

Who is on your R&B Mt. Rushmore?

Joe, The-Dream, The Weeknd, and PARTYNEXTDOOR.

You get 24 hours to yourself to do anything you want, with unlimited resources: What are you doing? And spare no details!

I’m going to Japan and exploring the city for hours doing everything I possibly can.

What are your three most used emojis?

, , and .

What’s a feature you need to secure before you die?

The Weeknd.

If you could appear in a future season of a current TV show, which one would it be and why?

Lupin.

Which celebrity do you admire or respect for their personality and why?

Justin Bieber, his life has been raw.

Share your opinion on something no one could ever change your mind about.

Everything is timing. Your time will always come.

What is the best song you’ve ever heard in your life and what do you love about it?

“Butterflies” by Michael Jackson. I love everything about it.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform, and what’s a city you’re excited to perform in for the first time?

Japan. Japan.

You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you and the location where it would be held.

Justin Bieber, Willow, Jaden, and XXXTentacion.

What would you be doing now if it weren’t for music?

I’d be creating or designing a game.

If you could see five years into the future or go five years into the past, which one would you pick and why?

Five years into the past, I’d try to save people I love the most with the knowledge I now have.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

You’re right. It’s going to happen, remember it’s about timing.

It’s 2050. The world hasn’t ended, and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

True definition of art. Different brush each time but still such beautiful work. I want people to see different eras. And different eras to my creativity of my story.

Charlie Hunnam’s long-running role as Jax Teller on Sons of Anarchy has stuck with him. Heck, Apple TV+ even promoted the Shantaram series with a photo of Charlie on a bike even though he barely rides during a entire season. That series, unfortunately, arrived after a prolonged and disastrous production that turned into a money pit. And so, despite an enthused audience, Charlie will no longer portray Linbaba the reformed bank robber, but we know that this type of character (see also Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen) is where Hunnam thrives onscreen.

To his credit also, Hunnam knows which projects to avoid, and since that mythical reunion project for Sons of Anarchy might remain a fantasy, it’s time to talk about how Hunnam will bring his crime-soaked swagger back to TV.

Plot

This project sounds exactly like what Hunnam needs to back into an episodic groove after Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, and the “criminal” element is even stated right there in the Prime Video/Amazon’s series title, although it sounds like other criminals will be dragging Hunnam’s character on the show.

Criminal, a series built upon “an interlocking universe of crime stories” involving multiple criminal families. As in Netflix’s Hit Man) as a car thief along with Kadeem Harrison (as a boxer), Emilia Clarke (as an armed robber), Richard Jenkins (as a friend of Leo’s late father), Luke Evans (as a former thief turned military man), John Hawkes (as a criminal underworld shark), Gus Harper, and Dominic Burgess.

Release Date

The show entered preproduction in April 2024 for filming in Portland, Oregon. A streaming date for 2025 looks totally plausible, although Amazon hasn’t tipped their hand on a window yet.

Trailer

No footage = no trailer, but I have a hunch that Hunnam would prefer that no kissing scenes appear in this show. Here’s proof via Team Coco:

Spotify’s new exhibit honoring women in hip-hop had a glaring omission, and some fans are pretty upset about it. The Gold Standard Exhibition has taken over The Hole Gallery in New York City with portraits painted by Manon Biernacki, who depicted Cardi B, City Girls, Doja Cat, Flo Milli, GloRilla, Ice Spice, Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, Saweetie, and Sexyy Red in a realist style reminiscent of Renaissance paintings. However, when images from the show hit social media, fans of one rapper in particular — Nicki Minaj — expressed their displeasure.

“And no Nicki ??” questioned one. “Wow Spotify the most streamed female rapper of all time ??” Another railed, “Nicki gottaaaa be on the mfn ceiling somewhere because this is ridiculous. Y’all gotta be out y’all rabbit a$$ minds.” One more added a slew of other women in rap to their complaints, writing, “where is lil kim, nicki minaj, missy elliot, lauryn hill, iggy, salt n pepa? if this is the bar then the bar is an inch off the floor.”

Of course, there are arguments to be made for any number of “exclusions,” but at the end of the day, there were no criteria given for the selections other than that they’ve all got relatively recent releases currently trending on Spotify. While that number would include Nicki Minaj, it would also include a bunch of other names that weren’t selected. None of that will ever prevent the Barbz from lashing out, but then again, if they didn’t have something to complain about, would they even be the Barbz?

In an ever-changing world, there are only a few things that we can always count on, and one of them is the on and off-screen relationship between Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay. We may never truly know if their characters ever end up together romantically, but these two are in it for life.

For the upcoming season of Law and Order: Organized Crime, Meloni is set to pen his first-ever episode. Not only that, but he also confirmed that Hargitay will pop over for a quick visit, “Oh, girlfriend’s coming on,” he told TODAY.

“It is awesome,” Meloni told PEOPLE of his new writing gig. “But it’s responsibility so I don’t want to mess it up,” he said. Law and Order: Organized Crime recently made the jump from NBC to Peacock ahead of season five. Meloni will write episode two of the season, which just began production.

Meloni also confirmed that there is much more to explore when it comes to Benson and Stabler’s longstanding relationship. “I know [Olivia] Benson will be with [Organized Crime] for a moment there,” he revealed. “I’m going to have an opportunity to… I don’t know,” he says. “I’ll tell you what. Hopefully, uncover, peel away a little bit more of the onion or uncover a little more depth of feeling between them.”

This isn’t the first time the duo have teased the future of Bensler. Earlier this year, Hargitay was on board with exploring the budding romance. “I met his showrunner. They want us together, and Chris and I were talking about it, and it’s time. It’s time now for us,” the actress told Variety. “This was a long time not being in each other’s universe. That’s why we did the calls and stuff like that. But we’re excited to get back in there, get back in the ring.”

The 26th season of Law and Order: SVU will premiere on October 3rd on NBC.

(Via People)

Who is the Tom Cruise of Westeros? This is not a rhetorical question to spend hours arguing about with your friends at Buffalo Wild Wings before you angrily walk home after eating one too many cheese curds. There’s an actual answer: on a dragon, it’s Baela; on land, it’s Rhaenyra. Let me explain.

House of the Dragon director Geeta Vasant Patel talked to The Washington Post about the influence a pair of Tom Cruise action movie franchises had on season 2 of the HBO series. In episode 3, “The Burning Mill,” Baela is riding on Moondancer when she spots Criston Cole and his un-merry men and chases after them. Unfortunately, they duck into the woods before the dragon can set them on fire and enjoy some cripsy Criston jerky, but at least the scene helped showrunner Ryan Condal understand Baela as a character.

“We were trying to explore what Baela’s personality was. Ryan was experimenting with different angles. And one day he came in and he said, ‘She’s Maverick,’” Patel said, referring to Cruise’s character in Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The risk-taking actor (who is closing out the 2024 Summer Olympics by jumping out of a plane, because of course he is) inspired another scene from that episode, when Rhaenyra sneaks into King’s Landing to talk with Alicent.

A later scene in the episode, in which the show’s heroine Rhaenyra sneaks through King’s Landing, was modeled after Mission: Impossible. Instead of Rhaenyra finding her way through the capital city with ease, Patel directed the scene into something Ethan Hunt-ish in which Rhaenyra has to evade guards, slip behind walls, and even wear a disguise. “And then we ran with it and expanded what was like three lines of a page into a day of shooting, because we just expanded into something very suspenseful,” Patel says.

Which Tom Cruise movie will the season 2 finale be influenced by? If Daemon starts singing a Bon Jovi song, we’ll know the answer.

(Via The Washington Post)

Outside Lands Music Festival 2024 is mere days away. Between August 9 and 11, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park will host performances by The Killers, Sabrina Carpenter, Post Malone, Sturgill Simpson, and more.

Although music is the event’s main focus, there are plenty of side quest for festivalgoers to indulge in. One of the most talked about things to check out on the event grounds is STIIIZY and Outside Lands Festival’s cannabis collaboration. Continue below to learn more about it.

How To Buy STIIIZY & Outside Lands Festival’s Cannabis Collab

The Los Angeles-based, award-winning cannabis company STIIIZY is set to roll out their limited-edition line with the event, at Outside Lands Festival 2024. As part of their collaboration, attendees can purchase three tailored cultivations. The items include a 40’s pre-roll multipack of Purple Punch (an Indica strain), All in One THC Pen of Magic Melon (a Sativa strain), and a five-pack of Stiiizy Edibles, Blue Raspberry Blast (an Indica strain).

To lean into the experience, the company’s Grass Lands booth is an immersive weed cultivation experience at Grass Lands of a 30-foot cannabis grow cultivation replica, 60 life-like cannabis plants, 8 LED grow lamps, and real equipment from STIIIZY’s indoor cultivation.

In a statement, Brian Kim, Director of Marketing at STIIIZY, discussed the first of its kind link up. “We’re proud to announce our partnership with Outside Lands,” he said. “Dropping limited time only products to the public for the first time in our company’s history. Customers and fans can find it at Northern California STIIIZY retailers, or festival goers can visit us at our grow activation onsite during the festival.”

To secure one of the limited-edition releases, you must head over to STIIIZY’s activation at the festival, as it is not available for purchase at their storefronts or online at this time. Find more information here.

One of the coolest stories at the Paris Olympics revolves around the United States’ women’s water polo team and their No. 1 fan, Flavor Flav. The long and the short of it is that Flavor Flav offered to be the team’s sponsor after learning about how the players have to work to support themselves as they chase their dream via a tweet from the team’s captain, Maggie Steffens. As a result, he’s gone to all of their games in Paris and enthusiastically cheers them on.

The team is quite good, too, as they came in second in their group and earned a spot in the knockout stage. And as it turns out, Flavor Flav isn’t the only celebrity who made it a point to show the team some love, as he was joined by none other than Guy Fieri on Friday.

This is, quite possibly, the most wholesome thing that I have seen in my entire life, although as Rodger Sherman pointed out, it is shocking that Guy didn’t make a Flavortown pun anywhere in here. And fortunately, the pair got to sit there and watch as the Americans picked up a win. The team blew out France, 17-5, in their final game in Group B.