Category: News

Last month, it was rumored that Avril Lavigne and Tyga are dating. This came as a surprise given that Lavigne only just got engaged to Mod Sun back in March 2022. Whether the Tyga stuff is true or not, Lavigne and Sun apparently have broken up: That was reported last week, and now Sun has seemingly confirmed it on Instagram.

In a post shared yesterday (February 28), Sun wrote, “In 1 week my entire life completely changed…I just know there’s a plan for it all. I’ll keep my head up + always listen to my heart, even when it feels broken [broken heart emoji] Being surrounded by love every night on tour has been an absolute blessing. I have the best friends in the entire world, thanks for always having my back. See you on stage.”

It appears Sun was blindsided by the break-up: After the break-up reports in late February, Sun’s representative told TMZ, “They were together and engaged as of 3 days ago when he left for tour so if anything has changed that’s news to him.” The publication also noted that Sun and Lavigne were seen together as recently as February, when they attended an event surrounding the 2023 Grammys together.

Lavigne has yet to publicly address the situation.

The Mandalorian basically pulled a Poochie on Cara Dune.

In the season three premiere of the Disney+ Star Wars show, its first episode since December 2020 (unless you count The Book of Boba Fett), Din Djarin (played by Pedro Pascal) is on a mission to find redemption in the living waters beneath the mines of Mandalore. To do so, however, he needs help from an old friend: Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), excuse me, High Magistrate Greef Karga.

The two catch up while walking around Nevarro, which is in need of a marshal (and a new IG-11 statue) to ward off pirates. “What about Marshal Dune?” Din Djarin wonders, referring to Cara Dune. “After she brought in Moff Gideon,” Karga replies, “she was recruited by special forces.” That’s the in-canon explanation for her absence, at least; in real life, Dune was played by Gina Carano, who was fired from the show (and a potential spin-off) for making “abhorrent and unacceptable” comments on social media.

“Cara was a big part and continues as a character to be part of the world,” executive producer Rick Famuyiwa told Deadline about her nonappearance. “It had to be addressed in the creative, and [Jon Favreau] took the time to think about that. It was something that was discussed as we knew it was going to have impact on the show, but at the same time, what has been at the heart of the show are the two characters — Din Djarin and Grogu — so ultimately it felt like a servicing of that, and around the Mandalorians.”

Anyway, that’s enough talk about Gina Carano. Here’s Baby Yoda hugging a Babu Frik alien.

As cute as ever.

First, Ed Sheeran launched a hot sauce line. Now, he’s readying a new album: After a bit of teasing, Sheeran announced – (aka Subtract), which is set to be the last of his mathematically-named albums following +, x, ÷, and =. The new project is set for release on May 5.

The album features 14 tracks (listed below), while the deluxe version has an additional four: “Wildflowers,” “Stoned,” “Toughest,” and “Moving.” Press materials note the project “revisits Ed’s singer/songwriter roots” and that Sheeran worked on it with The National’s Aaron Dessner after meeting through Taylor Swift. A press release also indicates that “the album’s fourteen tracks are seamlessly tied together by exquisite production from paired back, folk-leaning textures to bolder, full-band/orchestral arrangements.”

In a statement about the album, Sheeran explained how it came about after a particularly rough stretch:

“I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art.

Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts.

Within the space of a month, my pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth. My best friend Jamal, a brother to me, died suddenly and I found myself standing in court defending my integrity and career as a songwriter. I was spiralling through fear, depression and anxiety.

I felt like I was drowning, head below the surface, looking up but not being able to break through for air.

As an artist I didn’t feel like I could credibly put a body of work into the world that didn’t accurately represent where I am and how I need to express myself at this point in my life. This album is purely that. It’s opening the trapdoor into my soul. For the first time I’m not trying to craft an album people will like, I’m merely putting something out that’s honest and true to where I am in my adult life.

This is last February’s diary entry and my way of making sense of it. This is Subtract.”

Find the – artwork and tracklist below.

1. “Boat”
2. “Salt Water”
3. “Eyes Closed”
4. “Life Goes On”
5. “Dusty”
6. “End Of Youth”
7. “Colourblind”
8. “Curtains”
9. “Borderline”
10. “Spark”
11. “Vega”
12. “Sycamore”
13. “No Strings”
14. “The Hills Of Aberfeldy

– is out 5/5 via Atlantic Records. Pre-order it here.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Before she nabbed the role of reporter Gale Weathers, Courteney Cox tended to be typecast as nice. She broke through as Alex P. Keaton’s understanding girlfriend on Family Ties. She was Monica Geller on Friends. She even danced with Bruce Springsteen in the video for “Dancing in the Dark.” But Gale in Scream was a whole different beast — driven, sometimes unethical, not very nice. According to Cox, convincing director Wes Craven to let her muck with her image took some doing.

In a new interview with Variety (in a bit teased out by Insider), Cox reflected on one of her biggest roles, which she reprises — maybe or maybe not for the last time — in the forthcoming Scream VI:

“That’s a really fun character, especially at the very beginning when she was so ruthless. I was known from ‘Friends’ and ‘Family Ties,’ known as the girl next door and sweet. I had to talk to [director] Wes Craven and write him a letter and say, ‘I know that you don’t think of me as this person, but trust me, I really can be an absolute bitch,’” she says with a laugh. “It was over the top in the perfect way. You really care about the characters because they were unique, and you don’t laugh at them, you laugh with them because they’re smart. If they were dumb, they were supposed to be and they’re endearing.”

In the same interview, Cox — who just scored a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — also poured a small amount of cold water on Prince Harry’s Mad Libs-y claim that he once did shrooms in her house, saying she wasn’t really involved. Then again, she didn’t exactly deny that mean it happened.

(Via Variety and Insider)

Justin Bieber has been at the center of a conversation about the inescapable drama involving his current wife Hailey and his famous ex Selena Gomez. However, some serious news just broke about his Justice World Tour.

Last year in June, the “Peaches” singer postponed the start of his North American tour. “I’ve done everything to get better, but my sickness is getting worse,” he wrote about his battle with Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome. “My heart breaks that I will have to postpone these next few shows (doctors orders). To all my people I love you so much and I’m gonna rest and get better!”

In September, Bieber postponed the remaining 70 dates of the massive run. “After getting off stage, the exhaustion overtook me and I realized that I needed to make my health a priority right now,” he explained on social media. “So I’m going to take a break from touring for the time being.”

It was revealed in October that “all remaining dates of his world tour postponed to next year.” However, it’s 2023 now, and it’s not looking good. USA Today notes that the remaining concert dates were erased from Bieber’s website. Along with that, venues are announcing cancellations and fans on social media are sharing emails from Ticketmaster that the events has been canceled.

Sometimes when you want to know if your favorite musician is releasing new music soon, all you have to do is open Twitter and ask them. Or at least that’s the case with the indie-rock moguls Grandaddy.

Tweeting at the frontman Jason Lytle‘s personal account, a fan wrote: “Hi Jason. I do love your music very much. It has gotten me through so many times. And I appreciate you being active on Twitter. May I ask, what are your plans for new @Grandaddy and/or Jason Lytle music? Do you foresee live performances? Thank you.”

Politeness goes a long way, because Jason Lytle replied in a quote-tweet, writing, “Ha!…All somebody had to do was ask. New grandaddy Lp recorded and is getting mixed very soon. I don’t see why it can’t be released in the middle of this year. Live shows…hmmm…no idea.”

In our 2020 interview with Lytle, he discussed dealing with bad memories through making music. “So let’s say that you have something in your life that’s just tearing you apart,” he said. “And the only way to deal with it is to write it down in a journal, which lots of people do and it helps. You get it out. It’s on paper. You’re just like, ‘All right, it’s in physical form.’ There’s something kind of cathartic about that like, ‘All right, I feel better.’ And you just move on. You close the journal, you put it in the drawer. Maybe it didn’t fix you, but you feel a lot better.”

Ja Morant is usually the member of the Memphis Grizzlies who levitates and makes opponents look silly. During Tuesday night’s game between Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers, Morant instead watched from the sideline as Jaren Jackson Jr. threw down one of the nastiest putback dunks you will see this season at the expense of Anthony Davis.

Jackson broke up an attempted lob that Dennis Schröder threw to Davis during the fourth quarter while Morant was getting a breather. The other nine players beat him up the floor, so Jackson was behind the play as John Konchar attempted a runner that hit the back of the rim.

The benefit, however, was that Davis had zero idea that Jackson was right behind him. The Lakers star barely got off the ground as the frontrunner for league’s Defensive Player of the Year rose up and snatched the ball with only his left hand. Jackson didn’t even need to corral it and come back down, as he threw down right over Davis and got the crowd at FedExForum on their feet.

The entire Grizzlies bench got on their feet over the dunk, with Morant in complete awe in the middle of things.

Nicolas Cage was born to do many things. One of them is playing himself. Another is playing Dracula. After all, back in 1989 he did a kind of dry run for it without the bananas Vampire’s Kiss. But he finally go to play Bram Stoker’s seductive bloodsucker in the forthcoming Renfield, starring Nicholas Hoult as a modern day, less wackadoodle version of his familiar. And he thinks he only scraped the surface.

“You know, there are some minor moments here where you get to see some of the pathos in Dracula’s eyes,” Cage told Total Film (in a bit caught by Variety). “That made me think that maybe one day I might like to try for a whole movie where you’re really understanding the psyche of the character. I didn’t really have the time to delve into that here.”

Cage also said playing the role was destiny. “I also kind of always knew I had to do it at some point,” Cage explained. He even did some homework on the many previous big screen incarnations of fiction’s most popular vampire.

“I went back to Christopher Lee, in terms of his manner of speaking, but that was really only a starting point. I knew Christopher. I did a small scene with him in Season of the Witch, and I liked him very much. We had a lot of nice conversations, and he reminded me quite a bit of my father, August. So from then on, my dad sort of became the main inspiration for me.”

Renfield hits theaters on April 14.

(Via Total Film and Variety)

Dwight Howard‘s basketball playing career has continued over in Taiwan. While his team has struggled mightily and Shaquille O’Neal has used this as a way to continue his long-standing feud with his fellow ex-Magic and Lakers center, it seems like Howard is having a good time and putting up big numbers as a member of the Taoyuan Leopards.

His first year abroad included an All-Star nod, as Howard played in the inaugural T1 League All-Star Game on Tuesday. While his team lost — Team Infinity beat Team Beyond, 179-124 — the 8-time NBA All-Star won the game’s MVP award with a 37-point, 13-rebound, 8-assist performance. But that wasn’t all Howard did at the event, as he also participated in an NBA All-Star event that made its way over to Taiwan’s showcase of its best basketball players.

That’s right: Dwight Howard was in the Three Point Contest. Howard announced this back on Feb. 19 on his Instagram account — “I’m finally stepping out my comfort zone and doing what I know I could do despite what anyone has to say,” he wrote — and despite never being known for his ability to knock down shots from deep, he didn’t do too bad.

Howard’s 15 points despite taking too long and not finishing the final rack even though he had 70 seconds to complete the round was better than the scores put up by Julius Randle (13) and Kevin Huerter (8) during the NBA’s Three Point Contest earlier this month. Unfortunately for Howard, he was unable to get past the first round, as he would have needed to get 23 to move on.

As for the All-Star event that he’s won back in the States, Howard wasn’t a contestant in the Dunk Contest, as he instead judged the competition. He was, however, an important part of the final dunk of the evening, as the 6’2 Liu Chun-Ting of Tainan TSG GhostHawks jumped over Howard and threw down.

Lin did an admirable Mac McClung impression, as he was nearly perfect en route to winning the event.

Shakira‘s 2023 is looking bright. The singer just featured in “TQG,” a song and video with Karol G. Last month, she achieved her first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 single in over 15 years with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.”

Now she’s elaborating on her decision to work with the powerhouse producer Bizarrap for the latter project. It was, in fact, not her idea. It came from her son, according to a new interview in Univision. A translation by Pop Crave reads: “He sent an audio to my manager saying ‘you have to make my mom work with Bizarrap.’ Even when we were editing the video, he came in and said ‘Mom, you’re a bit far from the microphone. Let’s fix this.’”

Karol G opened up to Uproxx recently about the experience of working with Shakira. “She was very sweet! All the photos we have together, we are literally laughing,” she said. “There was a lot of pressure days before to shoot this video. I was super afraid of how the vibe and energy would be like, but when we were on set, it was incredible. We had a great time. We helped each other a lot. We had a lot of admiration for each other. When she was filming, I was there. When I was filming, she was there. We were cheering each other on. Everything has been special.”