Category: News

Questlove has dedicated his lengthy and highly-decorated career to uplifting Black people. He’s launched his new publishing imprint Auwa Books. He’s organized the 50th anniversary of hip hop tribute at this year’s Grammy Awards. He’s made public archival footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival for his Oscar Award-winning, documentary Summer Of Soul. He’s spoken out against the erasure of African-American studies in Florida schools. He’s done it all. Yet despite all of his accomplishments, still, to some, all Black people look alike.

After “Because I Got High” musician Afroman was sued by several Ohio police officers because he used footage of their botched raid of his home, Questlove took to Instagram for an epic storytime. Long story short, back in 2003, Questlove got mistaken for Afroman and was chased through London by fans of the musician.

In the post shared to Instagram, Questlove writes, “Man. The one time in my life I got chased in a city unprepared ‘Speed Demon’ video style was when I had a day off in London. I thought I’d hang around the old neighborhood and go record shopping. I had zero clue that ‘Because I Got High’ was a massive hit in Europe.”

When spotted by, as he put it, “[t]hree drunk dudes,” shouting, “Oh sh*t Afroman! ‘because I got high,’” things quickly escalated. Questlove continued, “[It] started with three dudes, and then they got belligerent, and now the site of me speed walking only confirms their drunken notions. Now it’s 4….soon 7. Now, I’m crossing the street, almost getting hit cause I forget the traffic goes the opposite way. Now it’s a mob of 11 yelling and singing ‘Because I Got High.’”

Questlove confesses the experience “[w]as more annoying than dangerous.” Still, he’s “Slightly irked that I know to this day those mofos for the last 20 years have been the life of the party giving their version of spotting a one-hit wonder who refused to show his gratitude when they acknowledged him.”

This weekend sees the end of two mega-popular entertainments: John Wick with Chapter 4 and Succession with Season 4. It’s a bittersweet development: Both are going out on top rather than fizzling out, and besides all things must pass anyway. Still, it’s sad to think of a future without either, and though there’s a chance both may live on in some fashion. Succession’s own creator is feeling pretty verklempt, too. In fact, he kind of wishes someone would have stopped him from ending things.

Caught on the red carpet by Variety at the Season 4 premiere last week, Jesse Armstrong said that he feels the ending has a “natural” feeling, that it gives the whole show a decent shape.

“That’s how I pitched it to my writers’ room, kind of hoping I’d get argued out of it so we’d see a way to do more seasons, because I love working with these people,” Armstrong said. “I think there’s a feeling of completeness and rightness to the shape of the show.”

Armstrong even knew how it was going to end “pretty early” on, and whatever it is he stuck with it over the years. He took inspiration from the conclusions of some previous HBO juggernauts, including the magisterial closer to Six Feet Under as well as the controversial capper of The Sopranos. He hinted that the one he came up with, though, is “bespoke.”

So get ready for Succession to go bespoke.

(Via Variety)

It may not be any fun if the homies can’t have none, but one Mississippi news anchor learned the hard way that sometimes it’s for your good to avoid temptation. WLBT journalist and meteorologist Barbie Bassett’s on-air use of rapper Snoop Dogg’s lyric and signature slang catchphrase was the reason why she might be out of a job.

During a broadcast, as Bassett and her co-anchors discussed the entrepreneur’s latest collaboration with the wine company, 19 Crimes, she closed with a line that the musician popularized in the early 2000s, “Fo shizzle, my nizzle.”

On the surface, the phrase that has appeared in several of Snoop’s songs as a throwaway lyric, may seem innocent enough. However, when translated from AAVE (African-American Vernacular English), it means, “for sure, my n****.”

Although the network has not released a formal statement, Bassett is no longer listed under the news team on its website. Bassett’s professional biography has also been scrubbed from the website.

When the clip went viral on social media, people called for Bassett to be rehired as it was a simple mistake. However, in another clip Bassett used the term “Grandmammy” to refer to her coworker of color’s grandmother. “Mammy” is a negative stereotype of Black women seen in earlier films where Black women were domestic servants to white families. Users now feel that Bassett’s use of the term “nizzle” was intentional.

To be clear, Basset did apologize for using the term “grandmammy.” But she hasn’t issued one for using the term “nizzle.” This isn’t the first time an anchor used Snoop Dogg’s lyrics on air.

After the first major glimpse of Lady Gaga dressed as Harley Quinn on the set of Joker: Folie a Deux hit social media, fans of the deranged character were quick to chime in with their opinions. Singer, musician, and producer Grimes was one of them. Despite her best efforts to be “infinitely less accessible,” she couldn’t resist jumping online to comment.

Never one to hold back her opinion on anything, especially the Grammys, Grimes weighed in on a character of whom she considers herself to be an authority. Taking to Twitter, she shared that she believes Gag will do just fine in the role, writing, “I probably have the most opinion about Harley Quinn of anyone, but taking on Robbie’s utterly iconic performance [is] gonna be near impossible for anyone besides Gaga.”

Grimes isn’t the only one with full confidence in Lady Gaga’s abilities. Actress Margot Robbie, who played the character in three separate films, including 2020’s Birds of Prey, also believes the singer would do the character justice.

“I think [Gaga’s] going to do an amazing job,” Robbie told ET. “I’m so excited, it’s all I could’ve ever hoped for Harley was that she would become one of those characters, kinda like Batman or Hamlet, that gets handed from actor to actor; everyone gets a go at playing them. So, I think it’s just credit to her as a character that people want to see her in multiple iterations. I’m excited.”

Spoiler: This post contains a major spoiler for John Wick: Chapter 4.

John Wick returned to theaters for the first time in four years this weekend, but the event was bittersweet. That’s right, the world’s favorite puppy avenger eats it at the end of his fourth adventure. Keanu Reeves will be back, however briefly, in the forthcoming spinoff Ballerina. But clearly that’s not enough for Lionsgate, the films’ distributor.

As per Deadline, Joe Drake, the company’s group chair, was so thrilled that the fourth Wick made a fortune — $73.5 million domestically, $137.5 worldwide — that he can’t bear the idea of losing their biggest cash cow.

“We’re not ready to say goodbye to Keanu with this franchise,” Drake told Deadline. He and his team are already dreaming up an “alternative,” adding, “There’s a lot of different things that we can do.”

It’s not just all the money John Wick 4 has made. It’s how much it entertains people. “I’ve seen this movie five times in the last week,” Drake said. “I can see the way that the audience moves him.”

In a recent interview, series director Chad Stahelski said Lionsgate honchos were shocked when he revealed they were going to kill off the company’s most popular character. “The response was, ‘What are you f*cking thinking?’ The note was, ‘Are you f*cking insane?’” he recalled. “And Keanu and I just smiled and said, ‘Yeah.’ We decided we wanted to tie everything together, and we were like, ‘How do you give a proper goodbye?’ So that’s how we sold it to the studio because, at some point, this has gotta end, man.”

Well, apparently not.

(Via Deadline)

When news of Taylor Hawkins’ untimely passing hit the internet, rock fans and musicians around the world were stunned to hear about the beloved drummer for the Foo Fighters. Messages flooded social media, with people sharing just how much he would be missed, speaking to his lasting legacy. To commemorate the one-year anniversary of his death, Belgium rock band Black Box Revelation partnered with Studio Brussel to coordinate an epic tribute performance in his honor.

Bringing together 100 drummers, Black Box Revelation led the musicians as they reworked Foo Fighters’ 1997 song, “My Hero,” off their album, The Colour and the Shape. Filmed live at Sportpaleis Antwerp in Belgium, the last venue in the country where Hawkins played prior to his passing, the tribute was that much more meaningful.

Each musician poured it all into their individual performance to ensure the group’s thunderous sound was without flaw. Studio Brussel’s visual direction only heightened the chills viewers felt as the camera panned around the arena to soak up the feelings of each player.

In one of their final messages last year, The Foo Fighters reflexed on Hawkins’ passing in a statement, writing, “As we say goodbye to the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known, we are reminded of how thankful we are for the people that we love and cherish most, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us,” adding, “Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were — and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a very different band going forward.”

Watch the full tribute performance above.

Saturday, March 25 marked the one-year anniversary of the tragic passing of Taylor Hawkins. The untimely death of the musician, most known for his outstanding contributions as the drummer for the Foo Fighters’, shook the music world. During the Hawkins tribute concert last year, some of the most impact rock musicians came together to play in his memory. One of those musicians included Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam (and formerly Soundgarden).

After taking time to grieve the loss of Hawkins, at the top of the year, fans began to flock to social media to offer suggestions on who’d like to see take up his mantle in the band. Although Josh Freese, of Devo and The Vandals was one of the mentioned drummers, rumors began to circulate that Matt Cameron had filled the position.

However, Cameron took to his Instagram Stories to deny that he would be joining the Foo Fighters. In a brief post, Cameron wrote, “FYI, the internet rumors are false. I haven’t joined the Foos.”

It is unclear whether Cameron was asked to join and declined or if he wasn’t asked at all, but the musician wanted to ensure fans that either way, he wouldn’t be joining his old pals. In the past, Cameron has raved about Hawkins’ abilities, shooting down backlash from fans after he claimed his words were taken out of context during an interview with Rolling Stone.

Saturday brought shocking news: Jonathan Majors, a rising star with two hit films currently in the North American box office Top 10, was arrested by NYPD. The actor was charged with strangulation, assault, and harassment of a woman. A representative for Majors claimed he had “done nothing wrong” and that they were looking to clear his name posthaste. Now a lawyer representing him has gone into more details about the incident.

“Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows,” said lawyer Priya Chaudhry in a statement. They said they were “quickly gathering evidence” to prove his innocence, which includes “video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations.”

Together, Chaudhry stated, proves Major did nothing wrong. As for the alleged victim, Chaudhry claimed she had had an “emotional crisis” and had been taken to a hospital after the incident. She added that the NYPD is “required to make an arrest in these situations, and this is the only reason Mr. Majors was arrested.”

Chaudhry concluded by saying, “We expect these charges to be dropped soon.”

Stay tuned for more information.

It looks like Harry’s house might need to prepare space for a new special guest. Harry Styles has attempted to keep his romantic pursuits out of the public eye, but as one of the biggest stars in music, that’s next to impossible. The “Falling” singer has dated quite a few high-profile women, the latest being actress and his Don’t Worry Darling director Olivia Wilde. The pair called it quits back in November.

Over the past few weeks, rumors have circulated around social media that Styles was putting himself back out there and had begun dating a secret woman. Now, after video footage of him making out with model Emily Ratajkowski in Tokyo, Japan emerged, fans believe they now know who that mystery person was.

Not everyone was convinced. As the news of Harry Styles and Emily Ratajkowski maybe dating hit social media, fans quickly chimed in to say that this was just some elaborate publicity stunt.

Neither Styles nor Ratajkowski have publicly confirmed that they are an item. However, as far as the public knows, they are both single and ready to mingle. Last year, Ratajjowsjki separated from film director Sebastian Bear-McClard, with whom she shares a child. She subsequently dated Pete Davidson.

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour has already smashed a few records. On opening night, the singer dethroned fellow pop music superstar Madonna’s record for the most-attended woman concert in U.S. history. With a set list spanning three hours, even professional athletes are giving the “Snow On The Beach” singer praise for her on-stage performance. But Swift is even changing things up.

On Saturday, March 25, during the tour’s stop in Las Vegas, Swift brought out musician Marcus Mumford to sing their song “Cowboy Like Me.” The track, released in 2020, appeared on Swift’s Evermore album. Despite having a strict “no guests” on tour rule, the singer made an exception as the two performed the track live for the first time ever.

In a video grabbed by fans, Swift can be heard saying, “Las Vegas, Nevada, you are so lucky because we do have a special guest with us tonight.” She then introduced her collaborator before revealing that Mumford was indeed the guest.

Turning to Mumford, she asked, “Would you sing ‘Cowboy Like Me’ with me?”

Although Mumford has included the ballad in his live performance setlist quite a few times, according to Setlist.Fm, last night was the first time the duo had the opportunity to do so together.

Watch the clip below.