Month: October 2024

There’s been a peculiar story swirling around the Taylor Swift universe over the past few days.

Earlier this week, a video from a charity auction surfaced. In it, an older-looking man buys a guitar, supposedly signed by Swift, for $4,000. Then, he proceeds to smash it with a hammer. It was later pointed out that the guitar wasn’t actually signed by Swift, but that they simply glued a signed photo from a vinyl edition of Swift’s album Midnights.

Why Did A Fan Smash A Taylor Swift-Signed Guitar They Bought For $4,000?

Gary Estes, the man who bought and destroyed the guitar, later explained what happened, saying:

“There was nothing malicious or anything about it. It was just a joke at an auction that we had to raise money for kids, right? And that’s all it was. There was nothing mean about it, nothing bad about it. It was just a joke that they were making up on the stage, and we just followed through with a joke.”

Craig Meier — a spokesperson for the Ellis County Wild Game Dinner, the event where the auction took place — said, “I know maybe it seemed to be malicious, but everybody was laughing. There were people there, at the time, who joked around that he’s mad because he doesn’t know how to play the guitar. Taylor Swift, it became a political thing, and that was kind of the gist of it, just a light-hearted bit of a dig at Taylor for coming out politically and entertainers using their influence to influence politics.”

As the amount of lawsuits filed against Diddy continues to rise, so, too, does the number of stories about his allegedly shady past.

A source told US Weekly that back in 2003, Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington and his wife, Pauletta, attended a party where Diddy was also in attendance. The couple “had been partying until dawn [with Diddy], and they had seen something and stormed out,” according to the insider, who added that Washington reportedly told the rapper “you don’t respect anyone.”

A few years before the alleged incident, Diddy predicted to Entertainment Tonight that his parties would eventually get him arrested. “They’re going to probably be arresting me, doing all types of crazy things just because we want to have a good time,” he said in 1999. “Whenever you bring up a different element into people’s environment, things that broaden people’s horizons, people get intimidated. It’s a lot of people out there that feel intimidated by it.”

Diddy — who has been denied bail — is currently locked up in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after being charged with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. He also faces “at least 120” new sexual assault lawsuits, according to HuffPost, including 25 underage individuals.

Pharrell Williams probably isn’t the first musician you would think of to have their life be turned into movie, let alone a Lego movie — until you take a look at how many hits he’s had a hand in.

With The Neptunes, there’s over a dozen top-10 hits, including “U Don’t Have to Call” by Usher, “Hot In Herre” by Nelly, “Rock Your Body” by Justin Timberlake, “Milkshake” by Kelis, “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg, “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani, and “Money Maker” by Ludacris. Pharrell also produced “Blurred Lines” and wrote “Happy” (which he also sings) and “Get Lucky,” two impossibly catchy songs that will be played at weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs until the end of time. So, yeah, with that context, the Pharrell movie Piece By Piece makes a lot more sense.

Here’s everything to know about Piece By Piece, including plot details, the voice cast, and when it comes out.

Plot

The trailer for Piece By Piece begins with Pharrell telling Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) that it would be cool “if we told my story with Lego pieces.” It’s not dissimilar from how it happened in real life. “That’s how the conversation went down in my head,” Neville told Variety. “I didn’t know what it was going to be, but it was going to be interesting and I was completely in.”

Pharrell was initially wary of participating in a biopic or documentary about himself because “everyone was doing them at the time, and I was like, ‘Hell no.’ I never want to do what everybody else is doing. Everybody’s taking the Lincoln Tunnel, then I want to take a plane,” he explained. “But when [Neville] finally said the magic words, ‘You can do it any way you want,’ I knew deep down inside that I wanted to do it through Lego.” Sounds like enjoyed Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga as much as I did (fun game!).

Piece By Piece features animated reenactments of key moments in Pharrell’s life and interviews with some of his famous collaborators, including Kendrick Lamar, Gwen Stefani, and Jay Z. Except they didn’t know they were going to appear in Lego form. “We purposely did not tell anyone that that would be the finished product. We wanted people to just answer the questions and really give their full, unedited reactions to the opportunity to do the interviews,” the hit-maker confessed. “Because if we would’ve said, ‘Okay, this is going to be in Lego,’ then people would have sort of curved what they were saying.”

Pharrell’s hope with Piece By Piece is to inspire people to follow their ambitions, as he did. “It’s never too late for you to go pick up a Lego set and make things and be a co-creator. It’s never too late to wake up to that. It’s never too late to gain that self-awareness,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “This is my dream, for people to have that.”

Cast

The voice cast consists of [famous person] as themselves, beginning with Pharrell Williams as, well, himself. There’s also Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Jay Z, and Snoop Dogg.

Release Date

It’s surprisingly been five years since the last big-screen Lego movie, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. That streak comes to an end on October 11, when Piece By Piece opens in theaters (the same weekend as Saturday Night, Terrifier 3, and We Live In Time — and they say counterprogramming is dead).

Trailer

You can check out the trailer for Piece By Piece below.

Netflix has done it again in a few ways. The streaming service has both scored viewership again in the rom-com department, and they’ve stirred up some controversy in the process with Nobody Wants This, starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. In this series, Bell portrays an agnostic sex-podcaster (what a set of words that is), and Brody signs on as a single Jewish rabbi.

The series launched on September 26, and by September 28, the kiss to end all kisses was circulating on social media, but not everybody has been enthused by this love story. In particular, the show has been accused of pulling a bit of a Sex and the City (with Charlotte and Harry‘s romance, she literally had the door slammed on her while attempting to convert to Judaism) by portraying some Jewish women as hostile to those not of their faith.

We’ll discuss that in a moment, but the streaming numbers (and not necessarily the controversy) will likely matter most on whether this story will continue, so let’s get to that question.

Will There Be A Nobody Wants This Season 2?

Before the series premiere, series creator Erin Foster revealed to Indiewire that discussions were already in process:

“We’re getting a really positive response. And so I think the conversations have definitely started to happen about a potential Season 2. The story in Season 1 unfolds really slowly. And so I think if there is a Season 2 I would want to just kind of pick up where we leave off and continue to take it slow, because I don’t want us to get too far ahead of ourselves. I mean, I want my show to be on the air as long as possible!”

Further, Foster told Netflix, “The show is not making any political statements because I’m not the person to make that statement. I didn’t grow up Jewish, I converted as an adult. I wanted to tell a Jewish story, but from an outsider’s perspective for someone who chose Judaism.”

However, Glamour‘s Jessica Radloff (author of The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series) takes issue with how one Jewish woman appears “to exist” solely “for the purpose of nagging her husband.” Radloff further argues that, as a whole, “We come off as controlling, marriage-hungry women who want to plan dinner parties and alienate anyone who doesn’t share those same dreams.”

Foster, however, has countered to LA Times that she wishes only to “shed a positive light on Jewish culture.”

The ball now sits in Netflix’s court for a potential renewal.

Faye Webster’s album Underdressed At The Symphony has a definite highlight of the first half of 2024. She’s not letting her run of new music this year stop there, though: Today (October 2), she unveiled “After The First Kiss,” a new single.

The song is the sort of lush and languid tune she does well, and the accompanying video is also a good time. The visual was directed by Kyle NG and it features warring LARP factions who find themselves in a heated battle.

It’s been a big year for Webster. Right at the top of January, she announced Underdressed At The Symphony by sharing the Lil Yachty collab “Lego Ring.” Then, she announced a tour in support of the record, a run that wrapped up recently. Webster also popped up on the Noise For Now, Vol. 2 compilation, sharing a live version of “Lifetime” in support of reproductive healthcare.

The most fun news, though, came a few days ago, when she hosted the Faye Webster YoYo Invitational, “a special event that will see a dozen of North America’s best Yoyo masters showcase their skills in a no-rules, no-limitations exhibition of their best tricks and routines.”

Watch the “After The First Kiss” video above.

The racketeering trial against Young Thug has slogged into its 140th day, and while not much of note has happened for the past 9 months since the last update, in the past month or so, there have been enough updates to fill a new primer. So, here’s everything that’s happened so far in the trial.

What Is Young Thug Charged With In The YSL RICO Trial?

Young Thug is accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The state argues that Young Stoner Life, Thug’s label, is actually a cover for Young Slime Life, a violent street gang responsible for assault, dealing drugs, and murder in the Atlanta area. Thug was also charged with possession of illegal firearms and possession of drugs with intent to distribute after a raid on his home.

What Are The Updates In Young Thug’s YSL RICO Trial?

In June, Young Thug’s defense attorney, Brian Steel, was charged with criminal contempt of court and taken into custody after refusing to tell Judge Ural Glanville how he found out about a meeting between the judge and the prosecution that took place without the defense present.

The resulting kerfuffle led to a number of attorneys in Georgia banding together to petition for a mistrial while helping Steel prepare his appeal. The uproar prompted a recusal hearing on July 1, resulting in Glanville being removed from the trial. His immediate replacement, Shukura Ingram, also recused herself, citing a situation in which her court deputy was discovered to have had an inappropriate relationship with one of the defendants in the case. She was replaced by Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.

This turned out to be a setback for the prosecution, as on September 30, Whitaker criticized Chief Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love for her handling of the case so far. Whitaker chastised the prosecutor for “hiding the ball” and “throwing this case together as you try it.” While Whitaker did not grant a mistrial — the latest round of motions for mistrial in the longest trial in Georgia history — it’s clear that even the court itself is beginning to lose patience with the case.

That’s where things stand as of this writing. The trial is still expected to continue into 2025, with more than 100 witnesses yet to testify.

The Las Vegas Aces are one loss away from their hopes of winning a third straight WNBA championship coming to an end. The Aces lost to the New York Liberty in Brooklyn on Tuesday night in their best-of-5 semifinal series, which put the Liberty ahead, 2-0, as things shift back to Vegas.

While the Aces have an uphill climb ahead of them, this is a team with championship experience, a deep roster, a great coach, and the best player in the world. And yet, in the aftermath of Game 2, Becky Hammon spoke candidly with the media about how difficult it is to win three titles in a row, and how distractions have followed the team throughout the year.

“Well, quite frankly, we haven’t had the edge all year,” Hammon said. “Now, we found it the last month, I feel like we’ve gained a lot of ground, but the feel was different from the jump. And this is why three-peating is hard. Let’s be real. The whole league has been pissed off for the last eight months, and my players are in commercials and this and that, and being freakin’ celebrities. And you get distracted. That’s why it’s hard. Because human nature is distracting.”

Hammon drew a parallel between the Liberty and her old team, the San Antonio Spurs, namely their series against the Miami Heat in 2013 which they lost in large part due to Ray Allen’s legendary shot at the end of Game 6.

“They lost it that year, the next year, they came back with so much drive, so much discipline, so much focus, that there was no way someone was beating them in 2014,” Hammon said. “That ball was popping. But they took a huge loss. Liberty took a huge loss last year, and I liken it to that a little bit where they had it, they felt like they had it, and we walked away with it. I did think we were the better team, but we were dealt a really freakin tough hand last year in the Finals, losing Chelsea and Kiah. So, I’m sure they feel like something was stolen, a little bit.”

The Aces will try to get the series back on track on Friday night, when they play host to the Liberty in Game 3.

Netflix is out there resurrecting interest for concluded shows right and left. Suits is the most obvious example with Dexter coming in a close second, although both have spin offs coming soon with Dexter even has both prequel and sequel series on the way. Then there’s FOX’s Prison Break, which ran for five seasons and ended seven years ago but is currently occupying three separate slots on Netflix’s current Top 10 Shows (English) roster.

With plenty of new eyeballs on the show, questions began to surface regarding a possible sixth season with the original cast, and that’s definitely not happening, especially since Wentworth Miller previously declared that he wasn’t interested in portraying Michael Scofield again,” and “I understand this is disappointing. I’m sorry.” However, better news for fans can be found in Hulu’s in-the-works reboot of Prison Break from an FX veteran showrunner. Let’s roll with what we can expect next.

Plot

Mayans M.C. co-creator Elgin James, who became the sole showrunner of the Sons Of Anarchy spin off after Kurt Sutter left the building, is executive producing a new Prison Break series, for which he’s also credited as lead writer. The show will be part of James’ overall continuing deal 20th Television deal and will stream on Hulu.

The show has been in the works since fall 2023 following James’ bloody end to his leg of the biker saga. Presumably, the show will leave the Wentworth Miller/Dominic Purcell dynamic fully behind, and the Hulu series will be what Deadline describes as both “a new chapter” and “a new incarnation” of the world in which Michael attempted to prove his brother’s innocence by landing himself in Fox River State Penitentiary as part of an intricate plan:

Described as a new chapter, the new installment is set in the world of Prison Break, sources tell Deadline. Details are being kept under wraps but it is not expected to involve the characters who were at the center of the original series and its followups on Fox, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln Burrows’ (Dominic Purcell), we hear.

Will the show air on FOX or FX, too? Hulu hasn’t let those details slip yet, but we should be hearing more details as James brings his vision full circle.

Cast

You gotta imagine that Elgin James would bring in a few of the Mayans M.C. crew members for this series. Emilio Rivera? Clayton Cardenas? I’d be seated for either or both options.

Release Date

No pinpointed release date has been publicized by Hulu.

Trailer

Does Elgin James know how to do prison fight scenes? Hell yeah.

Hopefully, Danny Pino wasn’t too sore after this shoot, but this scene does serve as a fine sample of what Elgin brings to the table.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that Sydney Sweeney is the new face of Dr. Squatch. The Euphoria actress was enlisted as the “Body Wash Genie” for a series of commercials for the soap brand. In one spot, she says “guys only want one thing” as she appears in a poof of smoke in a man’s bathroom (that “one thing” is a natural body wash). In another, she strips a fella’s clothes off with a snap of her fingers just as his girlfriend walks in on them.

The most wink wink nudge nudge ad of the campaign, however, has Sweeney soaking in a bathtub, like Margot Robbie in The Big Short. “Hello, you dirty little boys,” she says. “Are you interested in my body… wash?”

You can watch that one above, and the rest of the spots below.

“She’s not only a rising star, but someone who resonates across broad demographics – especially with women who are often the ones purchasing grooming products for their male partners or kids,” John Ludeke, Dr. Squatch’s vice president of marketing, told Marketing Dive. “We always want to be a meaningful contributor to culture, and having her personality drive this message for us through marketing is huge.”

Maybe once she’s done filming her “female Rocky” biopic, Sweeney can reboot everyone’s favorite movie about a charismatic genie: Kazaam.

It has been a minute since rap fans last heard from Dreamville’s Atlanta standout JID. Perhaps it’s due to the pugnacious energy that’s been floating around hip-hop all year, or maybe it’s due to the advice he got from Top Dawg Entertainment President Punch, but JID’s only real musical releases in 2024 after setting the year off with “30 Freestyle” have been features for Lyrical Lemonade and BIA.

However, it looks like he’s ready for a comeback, dropping a follow-up freestyle, “31,” with a video embracing the pugilistic theme of the year by combining his performance with clips from various combat sports. Lyrically, he also gets into the competitive spirit of 2024, throwing out such lines as “Place your top five in the archive” and “I could say I’m better than- hmm, but you already know.” Given how Dreamville’s head honcho J. Cole bowed out of his proposed battle with Kendrick Lamar, it looks like JID is picking up the label’s standard and out to avenge their honor.

If he really is coming back, he’s given fans plenty to look forward to, even without an official release on the books. In addition to the album he’s supposedly cooking up with Metro Boomin, he teased a collaboration with Atlanta up-and-comer Anycia that has fans salivating over the future.

Watch JID’s “31 (Freestyle)” video above.