Year: 2024

It’s never too late for a sequel, as Tom Cruise so effectively made it clear with the release of Top Gun: Maverick nearly 36 years after the original film. So even though Mel Brooks is about to turn 98 years old, he thought that it was time for a Spaceballs sequel, nearly 37 years after the initial movie. Brooks always has the last laugh. Sorry, Tom! Maybe you should have waited a little longer.

Variety confirmed that a sequel to the 1987 comedy film is in the works, with Josh Gad (Olaf from Frozen, naturally) co-writing and starring in the film.

Earlier this week, Gad posted the news to Instagram, saying “My phone has never exploded as hard as it did today. We are very excited! Early days still, but working with the legendary Mel freaking Brooks to make something worthy of this franchise and his legacy has been a dream come true.” The flick is being produced by Amazon MGM Studios.

Spaceballs is a cult classic parody film that draws inspiration from Star Wars, Planet Of The Apes, and Star Trek. In 2020, star Bill Pullman said that if there would be a sequel, Brooks would have to be in charge. “It’s up to Mel. Ask him if he has too much money and that’s why he doesn’t do it,” he said. Maybe he ran out of money, because the time is now.

Josh Greenbaum is slated direct the film, which was co-written by Gad, Benji Samit, and Dan Hernandez. Gad added that he and the crew “worship at the alter of all things Brooks” and they are working “alongside Mel to make sure you get what you’ve waited 37 long years for. EVERYTHING.” Those are some big space shoes to fill.

(Via Variety)

April brought some big news: Ashanti confirmed that after she and Nelly rekindled their relationship, the two were engaged and expecting a child. Well, it looks like the story may actually be deeper than that.

According to a TMZ report today (June 19) that cites “public records,” the two are actually already legally married, and their marriage date is listed as December 27, 2023.

The document apparently doesn’t note the city in which the two got married, but it was supposedly in St. Louis County, which would suggest that the wedding was likely in Nelly’s St. Louis hometown.

The two do not appear to have had a wedding ceremony yet, so if the report is accurate, perhaps they wanted to get the legal aspect of the marriage done and take their time planning a ceremony.

Meanwhile, Ashanti just told Entertainment Tonight about Nelly’s surprise proposal, revealing that it was a “beautiful, intimate moment” at home.

It was a surprise, but she wasn’t caught totally off guard, saying, “I felt like it was gonna come soon. I didn’t know when. And the way that it happened was just so funny.”

As for the wedding date, that’s not currently clear, as Ashanti said, “We’re both extremely busy, obviously with the baby coming, everything else takes the back seat.”

Whenever an actor is ready to reprise the character that made them famous, it normally means that they have found the exact right circumstances to bring said character back to life. Michael Keaton thought that 30-plus years was enough time in between his Beetlejuice reprisal, while Hugh Jackman waited for Ryan Reynolds to offer up a big paycheck for him to reprise his role of Wolverine. For Jon Hamm, however, all he needed to reprise his role of Don Draper was a call from Jerry Seinfeld and a stale toaster pastry.

Hamm appeared in Unfrosted, Seinfeld’s first movie since the acclaimed 2007 cinematic adventure Bee Movie, as Don Draper, his infamous Mad Men character. Hamm hasn’t sported Draper’s suit since the series ended in 2015. Surprisingly, he was only on board when John Slattery got involved.

Of the return, Hamm told The Hollywood Reporter, “I was of two minds. I told Jerry, ‘I don’t enter into this lightly. I’m not trying to be too precious about this, but I don’t want to devalue it.’” He said. It’s very important to keep Draper’s integrity intact since he basically works in PR.

Hamm continued, “[Seinfeld] goes, ‘I understand that, but this would be very funny.’” Seinfeld prides himself in knowing what’s funny, it seems. But Hamm wasn’t convinced. He added, “Then I called Slattery and said, ‘If you don’t do it, I won’t do it, but it could be really funny.’ He goes, ‘Why wouldn’t we do it?’” Shockingly, they did it. And it was harder than Hamm expected to get back into that Draper mindset… and suit.

“I look at pictures now and God, I’m, like, 20 pounds heavier, 10 years older, and it’s just like, yuck. But it was literally like putting on a very familiar, very comfortable suit. You’re just like, ‘Oh sh*t, I can do this.’” He added. So he did!

You can watch the clip below:

Unfortunately, it was slightly overshadowed by that fact that Unfrosted wasn’t very good. But at least he got a nice suit out of it.

Unfrosted is now streaming on Netflix. Bee Movie is not.

A pandemic-era favorite is making a comeback. Today (June 19), super-producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland announced that Verzuz will make a return via a partnership with X (formerly Twitter).

The news arrives months after Tim and Swizz purchased Verzuz from previous partner Triller, now owning 100 percent of the Verzuz platform, while retaining their equity from their time with Triller. As a result, X will now have distribution rights to Verzuz, which will now broadcast on the platform that has over 550 million users.

“We are beyond thrilled to have found the best partner for Verzuz,” said Swizz in a statement. “Not only are we excited to have Verzuz on X, we’re excited to help X build the biggest entertainment company in the world. I would like to thank Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Brett Weitz, Mitchell Smith and the entire X team for believing in the Verzuz vision. We can’t wait to get to work.”

Verzuz has seen several hip-hop and R&B artists — like Brandy and Monica, Nelly and Ludacris, Gucci Mane and Jeezy, and more — duel off, playing hit-for-hit within their discography. Verzuz has produced over 40 episodes, generating 100 million-plus live views and over 70 billion impressions.

At the time of writing, no new Verzuz face-offs have been announced, but we imagine Tim and Swizz have some exciting competitions in the pipeline.

“We are thrilled to partner with X, the most innovative platform globally,” said Timbaland in a statement. “Our goal has always been to bring Verzuz to the world which we can now do bigger than ever.”

For the past decade, rapper and entrepreneur 50 Cent has had television in a chokehold — notably with the Power franchise, as well as his series BMF. Given his sucess in the realm of TV, 50 is taking his on-screen endeavors to the next level.

Back in March, 50 launched G-Unit Studios, a 330-acre compound, in Shreveport, Louisiana. While this is an exciting new chapter in 50’s career, some people started comparing his endeavors to those of producer, director, and writer Tyler Perry.

The Root even published an article titled “50 Cent Preparing to Be a Tyler Perry Rival?“, which 50 immediately shut down. 50 took a screenshot of the article and wrote an Instagram post, noting that things are going well on his end, and that he’s not in competition with anyone.

“I’m doing great but you’re getting it fvcked up, if you think me and Tyler will be at odds at any point,” he said in the post’s caption. “He’s helping me, already going out of his way to aid my progress. So in the nicest way cut the sh*t!”

G-Unit studios is set to open August 8, per an announcement on 50’s Instagram page. You can get a first look at the studios above.

A mother on TikTok shared a heartfelt moment when her 9-year-old daughter opened up about her self-image concerns, wondering about her appearance as she grows up. The story was a wonderful example of a mother delicately dealing with an issue that far too many young women face. It was also a difficult moment because the conversation brought up the mother’s body issues as well.

The conversation happened while the two were clothes shopping at Target. “My 9-year-old’s saying she’s fat, and this is because she has to wear adult sizes versus kids ’cause she’s really tall, just like me,” Mackenzie Waddell told her 222,000 followers.

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“She kept calling herself ‘fat’ and that she had too big of a butt and that the other kids her age don’t have to wear adult clothes,” Waddell continued. “I reminded her that I, too, had to wear adult clothes when I was her age ’cause I was really tall just like she is.”

@missmommymack

Im so devastated that she feels that way about herself. 💔

The discussion led to a question that was hard for the mother to hear.

“… she asked me if she was gonna look like me when she grew up. And I asked her, ‘Do you mean big like me? When you grow up?’ And she said, ‘Yes. I’m not trying to be mean mom, but I want to look like Aunt Sarah, not you,’” she recalled.

Her daughter’s remarks hit her right in the heart, but she responded with perfect composure. “I kept a brave face and said, ‘As long as you are happy and healthy, and you love yourself, that’s all that matters. No matter what size you are,” Waddell said.

The mother was sure not to take it personally, but it still cut close to the bone. “And was I hurt? Yeah, I was. But she didn’t mean to hurt me. It just really sucked. Yeah,” she concluded.

The post went viral, receiving over 1.7 million views and over 2,000 comments. The most popular commenter thought that Waddell should tell her daughter to avoid commenting on people’s weight.

“You should tell her she hurt your feelings. She needs to know. You did a great job supporting her in how she feels. She has to learn that skill also,” Char8201 wrote.

However, many women responded with nothing but love for how Waddell handled such a challenging situation. “You responded beautifully, momma. She’s still learning and these are the moments where we provide that guidance, even when it hurts,” Mavv13 wrote. “Oh mama. Thank god she feels comfortable to talk to you openly,” tirrelltribe added.

After the tremendous response to her video, Waddell responded with another post, educating people about how one’s weight doesn’t necessarily mean they eat unhealthy. “A lot of people like to assume that plus-size people don’t know how to eat healthy or are unhealthy. When, in fact, we’re not,” Waddle said.

She added that her daughter lives a healthy lifestyle but avoids having conversations about weight with her because “That’s what traumatized me.”

@missmommymack

Replying to @user3838812846970 she will always be perfect, no matter what.

This article originally appeared on 9.28.23

There is certainly no shortage of stories from women highlighting the glaring disparity between society’s expected responsibilities of husbands vs. wives. Some are a bit more lighthearted, poking fun at the absurdity. Others reflect utter frustration and had-it-up-to-here-edness with partners not doing their share of the work.

However, self-proclaimed “Clueless Husband” J Fisher’s honest, thoughtful retrospection on the subject shows that it’s not just female partners noticing that things need to change.

In a now-viral TikTok video, Fisher describes how he used to consider himself the “main character” of his relationship.

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What exactly did that look like? Early on in his marriage, it looked something like this:

“Say we’d be going on a trip. My partner at that point in time would be doing the laundry, vacuuming the house, making sure the dishes were done. I would think, I would literally think like, ‘Well, yeah, we don’t have to do that. That’s you wanting to do that. It’s not what I want to do,’” he explained in the clip.

@jfisher62 What NOT to do as a husband #fyp #husbandsoftiktok #wivesoftiktok #fairplay #parenting #feminism #dismantlethepatriarchy #relationship #marriage #support #partnering ♬ original sound – J Fisher

Fisher later shared how his wife would then get everything ready for said trip, while he would simply pack for himself. This continued even after they had kids. It became worse, actually.

“My partner would do all the work to get all of them ready to make sure they were bathed, snacks packed, and I would get myself ready.”

Looking back, Fisher can plainly see how this behavior was “not okay.” But how did he think this was acceptable in the first place? After some reflection, he realized that it was simply the standard being modeled to him from an early age.

“I saw my own father do this quite a bit where he would take care of his own needs. So, I know I didn’t learn it from nowhere,” he said. “But I also had to unlearn it because it never was okay. I thought that my role was to do all these things outside of the home and that the home was women’s domain. I saw that modeled and even taught as the way it should be, but, oh my gosh, is that not partnership? And that sucks.”

After coming to this revelation, Fisher’s opinion is that if you approve of this division of labor, that you “shouldn’t be in a relationship.”

Hard to argue with that.

Hoping that he can further illustrate a better partnering mindset in a way that “may help it click for some guys,” Fisher has all kinds of insightful TikToks focused on taking accountability and expanding emotional intelligence. In them, he often names therapy, setting boundaries, finding community and accessing personal joy (rather than relying on a partner to fulfill all emotional needs) as major tools for creating a more equal relationship.

@jfisher62 Good intention ≠ Truly loving 💔😔 “I’m Sorry” doesn’t begin to do it justice. #fyp #foryoupage #marriage #longtermrelationship #partner #husbandsoftiktok #wivesoftiktok #accountability #healingjourney #grief #stagesofgrief #dabda #acceptance ♬ original sound – J Fisher

And perhaps the best part—there doesn’t seem to be so much shame around the subject. Fisher acknowledges his own goodwill while still admitting to displaying less-than-healthy behavior. It’s hard not to feel like if maybe this kind of honest, yet compassionate reexamination of gender stereotypes were more commonplace, we’d all collectively be a lot farther ahead.

This article originally appeared on 5.4.23

Most people don’t really think about the inner workings of a computer, nor do they think about how the internet works. Unless you’re in the field of technology, nothing about how websites are generated or how search engines get their information is given much of a second thought.

As long as everything works as expected and loads quickly, people don’t generally care to know how things happen in the mysterious cloud that is the entirety of the internet. Now that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is free for use, there’s just as little thought put into the mechanics of how it works. Granted, people are worried about other implications of AI, but what signal sends what where, isn’t on the radar of average internet users.

The Piedmont Environmental Council sat down with “Now This” to ring the alarm on a relatively unknown fact about the use of AI–it’s detrimental to climate change.

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That likely sounds dramatic. How could a program free on the internet cause ill-effect to the climate? Humans have been in a race to combat climate change globally for decades. We’ve been hearing about making the switch to renewable energy, using public transportation, and recycling as key ways to reduce our impact on the quickly changing climate. There has not been a public service announcement about…the internet.

Since AI is a little more involved than “just the internet,” it is requiring more energy to power it.

“A lot of people think of the internet as just being in the cloud. Really it is taking up this huge space of these gigantic computers, which are data centers,” Julie Bolthouse, Director of Land Use for Piedmont Environmental Council tells the outlet.

There are over 300 data centers in Northern Virginia alone, that take up over 100 million square feet and use a lot of energy.

Ann Bennett, Data Center Chair of Virginia Sierra Club explains, “artificial intelligence requires servers to run much hotter. Water cooling will be necessary and where will that water come from?”

“One ChatGPT request for example, that’s the equivalent of pouring out a bottle of water and powering a lightbulb for 15 minutes. If you multiply that by billions of requests, you can start to see the cumulative impacts,” shares Ashish Kapoor, Senior Policy Analyst at Piedmont Environmental Council.

Watch the entire interview below:

AI may be an interesting new piece of the internet but with our climate already reaching crisis levels according to multiple scientists, there may be a few things that need to be worked out. Hopefully as the technology evolves and environmental agencies keep an eye on the unforeseen consequences, a more sustainable system will be discovered for the continued use of AI.

No matter our age, we all want kindness and respect from our peers. No one enjoys being judged or criticized, and negative comments about our appearance sting even if we don’t want them to.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t always stop people from pointing out things they think we should change about ourselves. Issues like hair shaming and body shaming are all too common, despite greater awareness of the hurt they cause.

Elementary school teacher Natalie Ringold shared a lesson about this phenomenon, and though it’s geared toward kids, it’s one a lot of grown-ups could take to heart as well.

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Holding a tube of toothpaste, Ms. Ringold explained when it’s appropriate to say something about someone’s appearance and when it’s not.

See on Instagram

“If somebody can’t change something about themselves in 30 seconds or less,” she said, “then you shouldn’t be mentioning it to them.”

She gave examples of things that do take 30 seconds or less, such as if someone’s shoe is untied or they have something stuck to their shirt or their fly is unzipped. For those things, it’s okay to tell the person (politely, and in private if it’s something that might embarrass them to point out in front of other people) so they can fix it.

But if it’s something that would take more than 30 seconds to change or isn’t even possible to change, like their hairsytle or hair color or body shape, then that’s not something you should comment on.

“Your words have power,” Ms. Ringold said. Squeezing toothpaste out of the tube, she explained that when you say something about someone that they can’t change in 30 seconds or less, it can be hurtful, and just like toothpaste once it’s out of the tube, you can’t fully take it back once it’s out there.

“You try to apologize, you try to take the words back…and you try to undo what you said, undo what you did. But it’s something they couldn’t change about themselves, and so it get very messy. You can’t totally take those words back. You can’t totally fix it.”

“Your words have power and your words matter,” she said. “If you walk out of this room spreading kindness to the people around you, spreading love to the people around you, that is what truly makes a difference.”

Ms. Ringold shared that she does this lesson with her students on the last day of school because she wants them to remember this concept for the rest of their lives. People in the comments were so appreciative of the message for all ages.

“I think many adults need to hear this message!”

“Exactly my thoughts. A lot of adults need to hear this too.”

“BLESS YOU!!! As a person who was relentlessly racially harassed as a child, I wish this was taught.”

“If they are old enough to be mean on purpose they are old enough to be kind on purpose.”

“This should be required viewing for anyone who wants to join social media.”

“This made me cry. Can I start my college courses with this?”

“I saw you post this and had this conversation with my 4th graders!! It helped so much!!”

Here’s to teachers teaching lessons beyond academics, helping kids learn that their humanity matters just as much as their grades.

Ariana Grande is one of the most technically skilled singers in all of pop music, but recently, it’s her speaking voice that has been making news. A clip from her recent interview on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed podcast has been making the rounds, and in it, Grande speaks in a voice that sounds lower than usual before returning to the higher-pitched voice she most commonly uses in public settings these days.

Why Does Ariana Grande Change Her Speaking Voice?

Grande actually admitted that she does change her voice intentionally and broke down why: In a comment on a TikTok video, Grande explained, “habit (speaking like this for two years) and also vocal health [tea emoji] i intentionally change my vocal placement (high / low) often depending on how much singing i’m doing [crying emoji] i’ve always done this BYE.”

She also previously explained this in a much older video that has been making the rounds in response to the Podcrushed clip. In it, Grande says, “I’m speaking in a slightly higher placement than I usually speak in, because I’ve been doing a lot of interviews all day and I’m trying to keep my voice healthy.”

So, there you have it: Grande is so serious about her craft and preserving her vocal assets that she regularly uses a non-natural speaking voice.