Year: 2024

The boys of BTS are keeping the Army fed. While they are still serving their mandatory time in the Korean military, the BTS members, as individuals, have been maintaining a steady flow of song and album releases. Tonight (March 15), V has shared “Fri(end)s,” his clever kiss-off of a new single.

“Fri(end)s” arrives just six months after V’s debut solo album, Layover. On the track, V details the difficulty of trying to remain friends with an ex. But unable to handle this sort of emotional turmoil, he comes to the conclusion that it’s better to just simply throw in the towel.

“Friends / Just for now / Yeah but friends don’t say words that / Make friends feel like more than just / Friends / Just for now / Now I’m over pretending / So let’s put the ‘end’ in friends,” sings V on the song’s chorus.

In the song’s accompanying video, V expresses his duality as both a single man, and one in a relationship. As one of these characters, he appears happy and blissful, but as the other, bitter and lonely. But a plot twist at the end of the video gives the story an entirely new meaning.

You can see the video for “Fri(end)s” above.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the reigning, back-to-back Super Bowl champions, and Patrick Mahomes is the leader of a team with three Super Bowl victories in the last five seasons. Through that lens, any roster issue for the Chiefs is only relative, but Kansas City’s receiving corps went through some well-chronicled challenges during the 2023 campaign. In the end, the trio of Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Rashee Rice was able to drag the Chiefs over the finish line, but Kansas City hasn’t had a dynamic downfield receiver since Tyreek Hill was traded prior to the 2022 season.

On Thursday, the Chiefs made a splash in signing former Ravens and Cardinals wide receiver Marquise (Hollywood) Brown to a deal that could pay him up to $11 million for the 2024 season.

Shortly after the news broke, Mahomes seemingly acknowledged the transaction with a pretty clear sign that he is pleased to have another weapon in the fold.

Brown sometimes struggled to find his footing in two years with the Cardinals, and he appeared in only 26 of 34 possible regular season games. However, the 26-year-old former first round pick has a 1,000-yard season in his past, and Brown is a clear upgrade over the non-Rice members of Kansas City’s receiver room. The Chiefs splurged on Marquez Valdes-Scantling during the 2022 offseason, but that move never panned out and he was released two weeks ago. Brown slides into those shoes and, in theory, the combination of Kelce, Rice, and Brown should give Mahomes what he needs to make the Chiefs a threat for a three-peat — with a strong possibility for more receiving help to be on the way via the Draft.

Both the Los Angeles Chargers and Chicago Bears will likely have rosters for the 2024 NFL season that look quite different than the ones they finished with in 2023. Chicago is widely expected to take Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick, eventually trading Justin Fields and ushering in a new era with a new signal-caller, and one of their focal points this offseason is to surround Williams with more talent at the skill positions.

In Los Angeles, Jim Harbaugh takes over as head coach and will want to establish a new identity for the Chargers, one that figures to be more about physicality and leading with the defense. That has already seen some overhauling, with longtime receiver Mike Williams being released, and on Thursday a rather stunning move saw them trade their top receiver for the last decade, Keenan Allen, to the Bears for a fourth round pick.

If there were any doubt that Harbaugh and the new regime in L.A. would be overhauling things in full around quarterback Justin Herbert, trading the most productive receiver in franchise history should show that they are here to do things very differently. It also means where they go at No. 5 in this year’s Draft is much more in doubt, as they have to be considered a threat to go after one of the top receivers. For the Bears, adding Allen with a 4th round pick frees them up to look beyond just the receivers in this year’s Draft with the No. 9 pick, as they can now look at offensive line or the defensive side of the ball with Allen on the roster.

If there’s any team that could really use the end of the NBA season, it’s the Washington Wizards. Things have just not gone well for Washington this year, as the team entered Thursday night’s slate of games with the worst record in the league at 11-54 and are already eliminated from postseason contention.

Washington had to go to Houston on Thursday to play the Rockets in a game that Jalen Green completely took over. Green ended the night with 37 points on 15-for-23 shooting in a 135-119 win, and had the NBA’s highlight of the night when he clowned Wizards guard Jared Butler. After bringing the ball up the floor, Green had a head of steam, which he used to get Butler unbalanced thanks to a little help from Jock Landale. Green went behind his back and set Butler to the deck, so he took a second to celebrate what he did before letting it fly from three.

This might be the most disrespectful thing an NBA player has done to another NBA player since, ironically enough, James Harden crossed up Wesley Johnson and stared at him for a second. Let this be a lesson to anyone who tries to play defense against a Rockets guard, I suppose.

After an entertaining first half that saw the Suns and Celtics put on a shot-making exhibition on Thursday night in Boston, Phoenix was unable to hold that same standard in the second half as the Celtics ran away with a 127-112 win at home.

It was an impressive win from the Celtics as they continue to prove themselves as one of the league’s top contenders, and their ability to put on a dominant two-way performance against strong competition was on full display. Boston’s defense dialed it up another notch in the second half, and if it were any wonder as to where Boston finds its intensity on that end, that was laid bare in the fourth quarter after Joe Mazzulla called a timeout with three minutes to play to pull his starters.

Royce O’Neale decided to pull-up for a long, after the whistle practice shot, but there are no easy buckets to be found against the Celtics, even when play has been stopped, as Mazzulla made a full, leaping close out to contest the O’Neale shot as he walked out onto the floor.

You’ll fairly regularly see coaches get into a defensive stance on the sideline and might even see assistants leap up to try and distract corner shooters, but a head coach contesting an after the whistle shot is a first for me. Mazzulla apparently couldn’t help himself, and I guess if you’re going to demand it from your players you have to be willing to show it in action sometimes.

Busy Philipps recently helped orchestrate the “biggest comeback in pop music history” after her comedy series Girls5Eva was moved from Peacock to Netflix, and now she is looking to make the biggest comeback in late-night hosting since that other guy.

In 2018, Philipps debuted her very own talk show, Busy Tonight, where she would chat with various celebrity guests, including Julia Roberts, Tina Fey, her BFF Michelle Williams, and more. Then, like most shows these days, it was canceled after one season. Now, Philipps is getting a second shot at late night with Busy This Week, a new heading to QVC+. Oh, you didn’t know that the iconic home shopping network also has its own streamer? Time to catch up and order some decorative porcelain eggs for just three installments of $15.66!

According to the press release, the show will follow a similar premise as Busy Tonight:

During each half-hour episode, viewers will join Busy on the couch to get an unscripted take on whatever has kept us busy this week. From celebrity guest interviews and laugh-out-loud moments to personal stories and her favorite curated shopping finds, Busy will give her audience a healthy dose of [retail] therapy.

The show will launch May 8 with episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays, followed by four holiday-themed episodes later this year. Not only will you be able to watch Philipps, but you can also shop her looks from the episodes at the same time.

“When we tried to get a seat at the late-night table to bring this concept to life, there didn’t seem to be any room for women,” Philipps said in a statement. “But when we came to QVC+, they immediately recognized this was something special and we recognized their platform was perfect for reaching our audience. Instead of just giving us a seat, they gave us the whole table.” And that table can soon be yours for the low low price of $169.99!

(Via Variety)

The Boston Celtics played host to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night in the first game of TNT’s doubleheader, and the first half was an absolute delight (once they got the lights turned on for good) as the two teams showed off some incredible shot-making, with Boston taking a 65-60 lead into halftime.

The stars for both teams factored heavily into the mix in the first half, but the Suns got a somewhat surprising lift off the bench from Bol Bol, who was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field with a pair of threes as he chipped in 10 points off the bench to help Phoenix’s cause.

Bol’s biggest fan is Shaquille O’Neal, as the Hall of Famer drew the ire of his colleagues earlier this year when he compared Bol to Victor Wembanyama. Bol’s impressive first half meant Shaq wanted to take a victory lap on TNT’s halftime show, so he scrounged up what he could from the office and brought it on set to celebrate Bol’s performance to the dismay of the rest of the desk.

Shaq poured a box of Apple Jacks and a box of Corn Pops into a bowl and then poured hot tea out of his tumbler over it because he couldn’t find any milk, before happily scarfing it down yelling “BOL BOL BABY!”

In classic TNT fashion, Kenny and Ernie both poke holes in Shaq’s prop usage by noting he really should’ve just brought two bowls out, before being grossed out by him housing cereal with hot tea — with Shaq insisting it wasn’t that bad. I appreciate Shaq’s commitment to the bit, but I’m not sure Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, and hot tea is a combination anyone should be consuming all at once.

Tuesday’s NBA slate features six games, but the clear headliner of the evening took place at TD Garden in Boston. The Phoenix Suns visited the Boston Celtics for the second matchup between the two teams in the last five days, and it was televised nationally on TNT. In addition, most of the stars were on the floor in Boston, with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday in action for the Celtics against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and company for the Suns. However, the excitement briefly derailed just as the game was set to tip off around 7:30 pm ET because, well, the lights went out.

Unlike some other lighting issues, this was a full-on blackout, but full lighting resumed almost instantly. It happened so quickly, in fact, that the two teams simply continued to play, and the officiating crew did not stop play or legislate matters in any way. The tip had already happened and all that anyone missed was Bradley Beal collecting the ball, so rather than restart things they just let it go.

Just a few seconds later, Durant was burying a jump shot at the 11:40 mark of the first quarter, and all was right with the world.

As we approach the final month of the NBA’s regular season, there’s little drama regarding who will come out on top of the Eastern Conference, as the Boston Celtics have created a huge gap between themselves and the rest of the pack.

In the West, though, it appears like it will be a race all the way to the end for the No. 1 seed, as well as battles throughout the standings for playoff and Play-In positioning. With the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, and Oklahoma City Thunder all playing on TNT on Thursday night, the Inside the NBA crew discussed those standings and who they thought would come out on top, as the Thunder are fighting with the Nuggets and Timberwolves for that top spot.

Charles Barkley started his thoughts on the matter by taking some shots at TNT’s “sister network” ESPN, calling out the “idiots” over there who keep talking about the Lakers and Warriors “like they got a chance” when they are in 9th and 10th.

That led to Shaq pointing out they do technically have a chance because of the Play-In, which Barkley called “not real” and compared it to the CBI in college basketball. He said they should be thanking Adam Silver for making it up “so the Lakers and Warriors can get in.” It’s a great Chuck rant, because it is both funny and pretty accurate. The Lakers and Warriors do take up an awful lot of conversation on the four-letter’s shows, which is both unsurprising as they’re two of the league’s most popular franchises and a bit frustrating to fans of other teams. Barkley always loves when he can take a jab at another network, and in this case he got to do that and get in a brief Play-In rant thanks to Shaq.

Bullying is a huge problem. According to DoSomething.org, 1 in 5 students ages 12-18 in the United States are bullied during the school year, and approximately 160,000 teens have skipped school because of bullying.

So when Randy Smalls of South Carolina discovered that his teenage daughter was making fun of a classmate over her clothes and makeup, he took swift action.

Smalls instantly felt sympathy for Ryan Reese, a seventh-grader at Berkeley Middle School, having been bullied in his youth. So he took money meant for his daughter and went on a shopping spree with Ryan to get some new clothes and a makeover.

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Smalls’ wife and Ryan’s mother Richauna Reese are friends, but they weren’t aware of the bullying until recently. The families got on the phone after speaking to Ryan, and Smalls asked if he could take Ryan to buy new clothes and get a makeover at the beauty salon.

Smalls used money initially intended to buy his 13-year-old daughter some new clothes, but after learning about her bullying, he decided to spend the money on Ryan instead.

“I say, ‘When you laugh along, you’re co-signing the bullying,” Smalls told Yahoo News.

“My daughter was upset, especially because she is into fashion,” he said. “So she came with us and helped pick out Ryan’s new clothes.”

While his daughter was at church, Smalls took Ryan to the beauty salon and paid for twice-a-month appointments until the end of the year.

After hearing about the good gesture, local salons have also offered to keep Ryan looking stylish for the next few months.

Richauna, Ryan’s mother, told Yahoo News that her daughter was struggling after the recent deaths of her father, grandfather, and aunt, as well as non-epileptic seizures caused by the stress.

The shopping trip has helped Ryan immensely. “I wasn’t expecting it. I just started to cry. It (the bullying) was really sad for me because I had lost my grandpa, father, and aunt, and it really took me deep down in my depression,” Ryan explained.

“This is the first time I have seen a parent take such a stance on bullying,” Richauna added.

Smalls was overwhelmed by the response and says that it’s helped his daughter see her mistake.

“I didn’t expect for this to get big but I’m glad if other parents [can learn from it],” Smalls said. “My daughter learned her lesson.”

“As parents, we have to take responsibility for what our children do,” Smalls told ABC’s Strahan, Sara, and Keke. “We can teach our children, but when they go and are around other children they can veer off a little bit. When situations like this happen, we have to take action and be the parent and not the friend.”

And the pair seem to be getting along better for the experience. “They’re cool now,” Richauna said.

Watch to young girls break down the story in this adorable YouTube video:

This article originally appeared on 12.4.19