Category: News

Emily Ratajkowski made a lot of headlines in November 2021 with her theory on why Pete Davidson dates so many gorgeous ladies. Fast forward about a year, and Emily filed from divorce from Sebastian Bear-McClard and whaddya know, the stunning model started dating Pete Davidson. This was the kind of news that felt like it should be exciting, but then the above image surfaced, and the pair looked awkward at best. A Knicks game is not the best place to get to know each other, perhaps? Emily didn’t seem too into it (nor was Ben Stiller looking particularly blown over ^^^ about the pairing), and Emily and Pete went their separate ways a few month later.

No one knew why this was the case, although it was speculated that her subsequent public reference to strong women could provide fodder. From there, Emily went on to date Eric Andre, which also seemed like something to get excited about, but in TMZ’s coverage of the event, their public debut also showed Emily looking less than thrilled. What gives? Emily delivered some insight on her High Low with EmRata podcast while chatting with guest Tommy Dorfman. As she hints, she wants to date casually, but she also knows that other dudes that she happens to be seeing are, well, seeing paparazzi photos of her out with other dudes. It makes her feel uncomfortable, via PEOPLE:

“It’s been really hard because basically, any time I go on another date, everybody knows, so the other guys I’m dating see it, and it has been kind of difficult because of course they’re like, ‘Oh, didn’t talk to her last night,’ and then you know, there’s pictures of me out to dinner with someone else.”

“They know exactly where I’m at even with things that I don’t necessarily want to share, and they don’t necessarily want to know,” she continued. “So, that’s been a whole other aspect of just trying to keep things casual and also be cognizant of people’s feelings, and that’s been kind of tricky to navigate.”

That makes sense, although it must be noted that Eric Andre at least appeared to enjoy his date with Emily, even if she can’t get comfy being so public with dates these days. Emily also revealed, however, that she has no regrets about getting divorced. As she told Dorfman, she doesn’t see divorce as a “a sad thing” because “I know a lot of people who are unhappily married for a very long time because they’re so afraid of divorce and I don’t think that’s a good way to live.” So when she hears that people are getting divorced, she thinks, “Good for you.” She needs to bottle that advice and sell it.

(Via PEOPLE)

On Wednesday, PlayStation owners were abruptly told in an email that the PlayStation Plus Collection exclusive to PlayStation 5 owners would no longer be available starting on May 9. While many of the other features of PlayStation Plus such as its monthly games would still be available, anyone who is interested in the 19 free games better log on and claim them before they run out of time.

Unfortunately, while having a free collection of incredible games as soon as you turn on your PlayStation 5 was a really nice perk, it is really unlikely PlayStation decides to walk this decision back. Thankfully, claiming the games is incredibly easy and doesn’t even take up too much time. You simply go to the collection under the PlayStation Plus tab and select each game you want to claim. Once the game is claimed you have it in your library to download and play whenever you want. There is no downside whatsoever to going into the collection and claiming every single game even if you have no plans of ever playing it.

So with that in mind, once you have finished claiming all 19 games you should definitely think about downloading and playing these five. It’s a good variety that should hit most preferences.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Uncharted has always been a franchise that is best known for its large action setpieces rather than its story. That changes in Uncharted 4 which is without a doubt the best plot of the entire franchise, and if recent rumors that the series is finished are true then it’s one heck of a note to go out on. Even now its settings are just as gorgeous as they were when it first released on the PlayStation 4 back in 2016. It is a masterpiece of a game and if there is a single game on the entire PlayStation Plus collection that you should play then this is the one. As a personal note, this is the first Uncharted game I ever played and I loved it so much I went back and played through the entire franchise after missing it the first go around.

Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight is the final game in the Arkham trilogy and it is a really spectacular close to the franchise. Everything about this game is full of references, stories, and characters that fans of Batman will adore. While some do consider it the weakest of the trilogy, largely because of the Batmobile segments, it is still a really spectacular game with standout performances from the entire voice cast. It doesn’t do too much new, but it never needed to. It’s more of the same fun that Arkham Asylum and Arkham City previously provided and that is perfectly okay! It is also unfortunately one of the final Batman performances we got from Kevin Conroy before his passing.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

Who doesn’t love a good ole fashion platformer? Why not get three for the price of one, or in this case none, with the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy? It’s a remake of the first three Crash Bandicoot games, all classics, and is sure to challenge even the most veteran of platforming fans. It’s a very faithful remake with all of the classic levels expertly remade from the ground up, but with a few qualify of life choices here and there to make all three games meet modern standards. It even added in two new levels, Storm Ascent and Future Tense. Both are full of challenges for newcomers and longtime fans of the franchise. If you play this and enjoy all three games then a sequel, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was released back in 2020 and is still readily available.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was a return to form that fans of the franchise had long been demanding. Resident Evil has never been a stranger to campy dialogue or leaning in on the action, but many fans were thrilled to see Biohazard return the franchise to its routes as a horror game. Set in a first-person perspective, it will frighten just about anyone but it doesn’t stray too far from what makes Resident Evil unique. It still has its ridiculous moments, but they feel less like a hooking point and more like a breather between the game’s more scary setpieces.

The Last of Us Remastered

The Last of Us is not a zombie game, but instead a story about people set in a world that happens to have zombie-like creatures. It’s not a game about saving the world or finding out a way to get society back on track; it’s a character driven story surrounding Joel and Ellie as they go through and experience that is going to change their life forever. It’s a masterpiece of a game, but can be extremely difficult to get through on an emotional level. If you have not played through it yet and are interested in giving it a shot, maybe thanks to the TV show, then there is no better chance for PS5 owners than right now.

Here is the full list of 19 games available until May 9:

• Batman: Arkham Knight
• Battlefield 1
• Bloodborne
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (Zombie Chronicles Edition)
• Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
• Days Gone
• Detroit: Become Human
• Fallout 4
• Final Fantasy 15
• God of War
• Infamous Second Son
• Monster Hunter World
• Mortal Kombat X
• Ratchet and Clank
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
• The Last Guardian
• The Last of Us Remastered
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
• Until Dawn

A recent report from the January 6 committee contained an interesting little item about Donald Trump‘s activities after losing the November 2020 election to Joe Biden. In the lead-up to his “Stop The Steal” rally, which ultimately ended in an insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol building, Trump reportedly tried to trademark the phrase “Rigged Election!” Ever the faithful sidekick, Jared Kushner apparently tried to fast track this effort.

Trump’s blatant attempt to cash in on his “Big Lie” was first flagged by Los Angeles Times columnist Nicholas Goldberg:

The email, written just days after the 2020 election and titled “POTUS requests,” was addressed to Trump son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner. It said: “Hey Jared! POTUS wants to trademark/own rights to below, I don’t know who to see — or ask.”

Below, the phrase “Rigged Election!” is highlighted in the email. Kushner forwarded the request on to various aides, saying, “Guys — Can we do ASAP please?”

According to Goldberg, had Trump been successful in locking down the trademark, “the goal presumably would’ve been to sell merchandise using the phrase, raising money for himself or his campaign or his legal defense or whatever.”

Obviously, Trump’s effort to claim ownership of “Rigged Election!” went nowhere and there’s no indication whether he actually filed a trademark and/or was talked out of it by his lawyers who no doubt used such dense legal arguments as “Are you crazy?” or the always effective “Dude, I’m not going to jail for this.”

(Via Los Angeles Times)

Harrison Ford isn’t a Freaks and Geeks fan. It’s not that he dislikes the show; he just hasn’t seem it. The man’s busy playing Han Solo and Indiana Jones for the 12th time, y’know?

Ahead of the premiere of the Apple TV+ series Shrinking, which stars the two actors, creator Bill Lawrence revealed that Ford was unaware of Jason Segel’s filmography — or even who he is. “Hey, this is a really good script. Will I be in the second one more?” Ford asked Lawrence, who replied, “You can be in it as much as you want.” Ford wondered who else is in the cast. “I’ll have Jason Segel call you,” Lawrence said. Ford’s response: “Who’s Jason Segel?” Lawrence: “Uh, I’ll send you some movies first.”

I hope he started with the Dracula musical scene.

Anyway, Ford appeared on Wednesday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he was asked about his lack of Jason Segel knowledge. “Not true,” he said. He’s seen the David Foster Wallace biopic The End of the Tour, he claims, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And what did Ford think of it? “Nice penis.” What a compliment!

You can watch Ford’s interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert above.

Yesterday (February 1) was an exceptionally busy pop culture news day, headlined by two major reveals: Beyoncé announced her Renaissance tour and Tom Brady retired again. Those two stories kind of overshadowed a big music moment: The 2023 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nominees were announced. Among the nominees is Missy Elliott, and she’s thrilled about earning the nod in her first year of eligibility.

The rapper wrote in a celebratory Instagram post, “I have cried my eyes out [crying emoji] I am so HUMBLY GRATEFUL for this nomination with also 14 other Amazing artist so grateful To All of you & my fans who been through this journey with me I Thank You also 4 helping me get here [purple heart emoji] YOU ROCK.” She added in a similar tweet, “I’ve always dreamed big but to be nominated for this is bigger than I dreamed.”

In another tweet, she explained the historical context of her nomination and its importance, writing, “This is so important for us women in Hiphop because there’s never been a female rapper nominated & hopefully this nomination will open the door [folded hands emoji] [purple heart emoji].”

Indeed, Billboard notes Elliott is the female hip-hop artist to be nominated for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

So far, the only hip-hop artists to get inducted into the Rock Hall are Eminem, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, NWA, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur, and Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five.

A few days ago, the nominations for the 2023 Juno Awards (Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys) were announced. Some music fans took notice that Arcade Fire is nominated for Group Of The Year, a nod that comes after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Win Butler last summer. Now, Juno organizers have explained themselves.

In a statement sent to CBC Music, the Canadian Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences said, “We look at Arcade Fire’s nomination for group of the year as one for the entire band. While we take the allegations very seriously, in this situation, we are also honouring the rest of the band for their success. We hope the allegations against Butler will not detract from the achievements of the other group members.”

After the nominations were announced, folks took to social media to voice their displeasure over the Arcade Fire situation. Journalist Jill Krajewski tweeted, “i’ll say it again: abusers in music constantly use their bands as both lure and cover for their violence. it’s impossible for @TheJUNOAwards to honour arcade fire without enabling win butler.” Canadian musician Jenn Grant wrote, “Arcade Fire nominated for @TheJUNOAwards group of the year??! Do we think that the musical group OTY representing this country should be made up of a lead singer who uses their power to act with sexual violence towards underage women? NO WE DO NOT!!!!”

Others made reference to how differently the Junos handled a related situation a few years ago. One Twitter user explained, “For reference, when the allegations against Jacob Hoggard emerged in 2018, Hedley was rightly pulled from the Juno Awards show and their nominations that year were rescinded. Win Butler and Arcade Fire apparently merit different treatment.”

For years, sharing one’s Netflix password with friends and family was frowned upon but not verboten. No more. The streamer that started it all (which has fallen on hard times, though so have most others these days) announced long-in-the-works plans to crack down on multiple people leeching off the same account. But what happens if you do it anyway? That’s still up in the air, but the streamer may implement sometime in America that they’ve already tested doing elsewhere around the globe.

As per Forbes, in some countries Netflix has simply charged people a little extra if they share their account with someone they don’t live with. In certain places it’s not much: a measly $3 add-on. Or they may force people to fork over for another account, even their cheaper, ad-supported version. In other words, it’s still up in the air.

As for now, Netflix’s plan sounds like a bit of a pain, as per their own site:

Signing into Netflix outside of your home may lead to the device in use being blocked from Netflix. This could prevent you from signing into new devices while traveling, but Netflix has devised a workaround. Traveling users who want to use Netflix on a hotel smart TV, company laptop, etc. can request a temporary code from the service when signing in. This will give them access to their account for seven consecutive days.

Sounds like bad news not only for people who didn’t feel like shelling out Netflix’s ever-escalating monthly subscription price, but also people who regularly use their account on multiple devices, such as catching up on shows at the gym while monotonously plugging away at an elliptical machine. Whatever the case, the streamer may have pissed off a key horror icon.

Zara Larsson is having a good year so far following the recent release of her song “Can’t Tame Her,” which shows her fun side, and she explained is about the way she is “very loud and I try to stay true to myself and surround myself with people who care about me, so we can all help each other and protect each other.”

Unfortunately, it looks like no one protected her from this PR mess. The singer attended the P3 Guld, an annual awards show put on by the Norwegian radio station RK P3, in a controversial dress. It’s adorned with logos of many metal bands such as Cannibal Corpse and Behemoth, but the biggest one is Burzum.

If you don’t know Burzum, their Wikipedia page should keep you occupied for some time. The project is Varg Vikernes, a neo-Nazi who was convicted for murder and arson. However, Burzum still maintains a lot of defenders today because of the 1996 cult-followed album Filosofem.

I think it’s safe to say that Larsson never took a trip to the Wikipedia page. In a statement, she said, “Oopsie, had no idea. Just thought my clothes looked cool. … It was unfortunate. … To clarify, it was not their merch I was wearing.”

Last fall, amidst the failed red wave during the midterms, the GOP didn’t take back the Senate but they did earn a painfully slim majority in the House. They don’t have much power, but what they can do is sow chaos. That’s what Matt Gaetz has been doing ever since the House reconvened in early January. He helped drag out Kevin McCarthy’s ascent to the Speaker role for days, which almost ended with an intra-party fight. On Wednesday, he proved to be a performative, time-wasting nuisance.

As per Mediaite, the attention-loving MAGA representative derailed the House Judiciary Committee’s meeting for a good half hour by introducing an amendment to their rules. He proposed adding that they open each meeting by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. One problem: As Democrat Jerry Nadler pointed out, the House already opens each session by doing just that.

“I would oppose it simply on the grounds that, as members know, we pledge allegiance every day on the floor,” Nadler said, “and I don’t know why we should pledge allegiance twice in the same day to show how patriotic we are.”

Instead of getting down to business, Gaetz’s amendment only led to snipping between members of both parties. Republican Mike Johnson accused Nadler of skipping the pledge, which Nadler denied. Eventually, Democrat David Cicilline called Gaetz’s bluff, proposing they add an amendment to the amendment blocking anyone who supported the Jan. 6 insurrection, as Gaetz has.

“If we adopt this amendment, then we will be truthful in representing that stating this pledge is an affirmation of your defense of democracy and the Constitution,” said Cicilline. “It’s hard to take that claim seriously, if in fact, an individual who in any way supported an insurrection against the government of the United States is allowed to lead the pledge.”

Eventually Gaetz won. Cicilline’s amendment did not. So now lawmakers will have to say the Pledge twice on days, just so you know how patriotic people like Gaetz are. Maybe he just feels a tinge of guilt for trying to overturn the will of the American people, all to install a guy who lost re-election. Anyway, looks like it will be a long, annoying two years.

(Via Mediaite)

Smino is currently out on the road playing shows on his Luv Is 4Ever Tour alongside JID. Both unveiled new material last year, with Smino’s album Luv 4 Rent and JID’s EP The Forever Story. Opening for them are emerging artists SwaVay and Jordan Ward.

While JID’s setlist for the gigs is widespread, Smino’s can be found through resourceful playlists on streaming apps like Tidal and Spotify. They show the rapper opening with “Klink” and closing with “No L’s”; it’s heavy with new tracks, but still has classics.

Check out the full setlist below, and find the rest of the tour dates underneath.

1. “Klink”
2. “Curtains”
3. “Flea Flicka”
4. “Rice & Gravy”
5. “Spinz”
6. “Z4L” feat. Bari & Jay2
7. “90 Proof” feat. J. Cole
8. “Blu Billy”
9. Tequila Mockingbird”
10. “Matinee”
11. “Netflix & Dusse”
12. “Defibrillator”
13. “Louphoria” feat. Cruza
14. “Pro Freak” feat. Doechii & Fatman Scoop
15. “Pizano”
16. “No L’s”

02/02/2023 — San Diego, CA @ SOMA San Diego
02/03/2023 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
02/08/2023 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
02/10/2023 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
02/13/2023 — Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
02/14/2023 — Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
02/15/2023 — San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre
02/16/2023 — Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
02/18/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
02/21/2023 — St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
02/22/2023 — Miami, FL @ Oasis Wynwood
02/24/2023 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
02/26/2023 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
03/01/2023 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
03/03/2023 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
03/07/2023 — Wallingford, CT @ Dome at Toyota Oakdale Theatre
03/09/2023 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues Boston
03/12/2023 — Montreal, QC @ MTELUS
03/15/2023 — Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
03/17/2023 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
03/18/2023 — Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe
03/21/2023 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
03/23/2023 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
03/24/2023 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Minneapolis
03/25/2023 — Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
03/28/2023 — Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center
03/29/2023 — Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works