Category: News

When the Los Angeles Lakers opened the 2023-24 season in Denver, they tried out keeping LeBron James on a minutes restriction as he began his 21st NBA season at 38 years old. The idea was to limit some of the wear and tear he’d deal with over the course of the season, as Darvin Ham and Rob Pelinka highlighted the depth they’d created on the roster that they felt would allow them to buy more time for James to rest.

In that opener, the Nuggets beat the Lakers 119-107, with James playing just 29 minutes and the Lakers being a +7 with him on the court and a -19 in the 11 minutes without him. By Game 2, James played 35 minutes in a win over the Suns and then 39 minutes in an OT loss to the Kings in their third game of the season, indicating the minutes restriction experiment had died after one game. The reason why? Well, for one it was clear the Lakers weren’t going to perform very well with James limited. Then there was the issue of LeBron absolutely hating it, making his frustrations known on the bench during that loss to Denver. On Netflix’s new “Starting 5” series, they show James telling the Lakers staff, “I hate this sh*t already. This sh*t’s garbage.”

James would elaborate further in a confessional, explaining that while he understands why the team thinks that might be the right decision, he knows his body better than anyone and what he can handle.

“The minutes restriction, it’s something I don’t agree with. I’ve never agreed with it,” LeBron says. “I prepare my body physically and mentally prepare my mind for battle. I’ve had conversations and talks and battles with my coaches, and I get it. But I also understand me, and I get me. And there’s nobody that gets me more than me.”

It’s pretty clear James was right, as he played 71 games a year ago, averaging 35.3 minutes per while posting All-NBA caliber numbers to lead the Lakers to the postseason. As he gets set to begin his 22nd NBA season with a new head coach in L.A., it seems safe to assume JJ Redick will not be trying out any minutes restrictions on LeBron.

Gordon Ramsay has built himself quite a social media presence: The chef has over 40 million followers on TikTok, and it’s thanks in part to his videos critiquing the culinary creations of other TikTok users. So, naturally, he had to weigh in on the Dua Lipa situation.

In case you missed it, Lipa went viral earlier this week. While at an Austin, Texas restaurant, Lipa poured herself a Diet Coke… and then added pickle juice and jalapeño juice. She posted a video of her and her unfortunate dining partners trying the drink on TikTok, and it understandably generated so many reactions. So, Ramsay had to get in on the action.

In a video shared on TikTok yesterday (October 8), Ramsay combines the ingredients in a red plastic cup, with plenty of skeptical head shakes along the way. “Seriously,” he says before taking a sip. A fraction of a second after the concoction passes his lips, Ramsay spits it out as he laughs. After some coughing, he exclaims, “Dua Lipa, for god’s sake, girl! You’ll ruin your vocal cords! Sh*t!”

Meanwhile, Lipa recently proclaimed she’ll be “hauling ass for the foreseeable” when she announced a run of 2025 dates on the Radical Optimism Tour (if her questionable drink doesn’t leave her bedridden, that is).

A year before The Fame made her one of the biggest pop stars in the world, Lady Gaga played in front of a few dozen people at Lollapalooza. On August 2, 2007, Lady Gaga & The Starlight Revue performed a seven-song set in the middle of the afternoon (I bet the people who went to Playstation: SingStar instead are kicking themselves). Footage of the full performance was thought to be lost, but it was recently uploaded to the internet by “an official Lollapalooza videographer,” according to the meticulously detailed Gaga wiki.

You can watch the set above.

Reflecting on the pre-“Bad Romance” performance earlier this year, Gaga commented, “i made that outfit myself — bought the mirrors at M & J trimmings and glued them on the bra. that was my mic. and my disco ball. i didnt have a lot and my dub plates skipped that day.”

That DIY outfit actually got her in trouble with the cops. “I was outside the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago and this policeman came up and told me my hotpants were too short,” she previously revealed. “They weren’t really pants at all, but he got upset and I got a citation. All people will have seen is this half-naked girl on the street yelling, ‘It’s fashion! I’m an artist!’

Here’s the setlist for the performance:

1. “Blueberry Kisses”
2. “Dirty Ice Cream”
3. “Disco Heaven”
4. “Brown Eyes”
5. “Summerboy”
6. “Paparazzi”
7. “Boys Boys Boys”

Lady Gaga plans to release her seventh studio album next year.

Tyler The Creator was among the performers at Austin City Limits this past weekend, and while in Elon Musk’s home state of Texas, Tyler decided to diss the controversial billionaire entrepreneur.

On the original version of “911/Mr. Lonely,” Tyler raps (per Genius), “My thirst levels are infinity and beyond / Sippin’ on that lemonade, I need a Beyoncé / Can’t see straight, these shades are Céline Dion / Sucks you can’t gas me up, shout out to Elon / Musk.” At ACL, though, Tyler performed the song and changed that last line to, “Sucks you can’t gas me up. Man, f*ck Elon.”

Here’s a clip of the performance.

“911/Mr. Lonely” was released in 2017 on the Flower Boy album. At the time, Tyler still had admiration for Musk. During a 2015 radio appearance, Tyler spoke about Musk’s decision to free up Tesla patents, saying, “Instead of holding that patent, he’s sharing it with everyone so car companies can get on that. That is so cool because some people would be selfish and keep that to continue to make money.”

He also had a Twitter (now X) interaction with Musk in 2016. Tyler tweeted, “I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY AND ANY IDEAS YOU HAVE AND STUFF GO FOR THEM NO MATTER WHAT N****S SAY SHOUT OUT ELON MUSK.” Musk responded, “Thanks Tyler,” and Tyler replied, “NO THANK YOU, KEEP PUSHING AND GOING AND TRYING THINGS.”

Scarface is a fighter—both in his respected rap career and life. Today (October 8), the “F*ck You Too” rapper shared an update regarding his health condition.

On August 23, Scarface took to his official Instagram page to tell supporters that he had undergone a medical procedure. At the time, Scarface did not disclose the details surrounding his hospitalization.

Today, Scarface revealed that he was admitted to a facility for cardiac concerns. “Six weeks ago I underwent open-heart surgery,” he wrote.

Scarface went on to demonstrate his optimistic outlook. “To be upright and smiling today shows you that God ain’t nothing to play with,” he wrote. “And again I say, I’m grateful, it could’ve went either way, yet I’m still alive.”

Over the years, Scarface faced multiple difficult diagnosis and subsequent treatments. In 2020, Scarface contracted COVID. He used his platform to chronicle his symptoms and path towards recovery.

The following year, Scarface received a new kidney from his son after COVID caused damage to the organ.

During an interview with FOX 26 Houston, Scarface discussed the internal damage the virus caused. “COVID attacked my lungs first,” he said. “And then it attacked my kidneys and knocked them out. I got full lung recovery, but my kidneys never came back.”

Similar to his transplant surgery, Scarface is hopeful that he will make a full recovery.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé may not address all the rumors floating around online. But, some things the music power couple just aren’t willing to go unchecked. Today (October 8), Piers Morgan learned this lesson through their legal team.

After being connected by the Carters’ attorneys, Piers Morgan issued a public apology to the couple (viewable here courtesy of Pop Base). However, the apology isn’t in connection with anything Morgan said. But rather what singer Jaguar Wright alleged during her appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored.

On October 2, Jaguar Wright referred to Jay-Z are a “monster.” Then went on to allege that Jay-Z and Beyoncé were similar to Diddy, in the sense that they have “hundreds of victims with stories about what they’ve experienced.” At the time, Piers Morgan did not interject to pushback against the unfounded allegations.

Read Piers Morgan’s full statement below.

Well, last week, I interviewed Jaguar Wright, a singer-songwriter who’s made claims about Diddy for years. Those claims will receive a lot of attention in the media across many platforms for many years. And that’s the thing about platforms. The reality of the modern world is that pretty much everyone has a platform as long as they have something to say that other people want to hear. That’s why we invited her on to be interviewed. The people making these claims have an audience with or without shows like mine.

Well, Jaguar Wright unexpectedly made several serious allegations about Jay-Z and Beyoncé during that interview. As I said, in the moment, they were not present to respond or defend themselves. But now they have.

Their lawyers contacted us to say that those claims were totally false and have no basis in fact. And we’ve therefore complied with the legal request to cut them from the original interview. Editing interviews is not something we do lightly on a show called ‘Uncensored.’ But, like the proverbial cries of fire in a crowded theater, there are legal limits on us, too. And we apologize to Jay-Z and Beyoncé.

The Minnesota Lynx will play for a WNBA championship. The Lynx played host to the Connecticut Sun in Game 5 of their semifinal series on Tuesday night at the Target Center, and thanks to a dominant first half performance, Minnesota was able to defend its home court and pick up an 88-77 victory that will send them to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017.

While the Sun came out and held a 5-point lead in the opening moments of the game, the Lynx were dominant throughout the first quarter. Whether it was their crisp, efficient performance on the offensive end of the floor or their usually stingy defense, Minnesota looked like a team worthy of competing for a championship, as the team closed out the first on a 27-9 run to take a 31-18 lead into the second.

In particular, Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams used the first quarter to set the tone they wanted to set in a win-or-go-home Game 5. The former scored 10 points and knocked down a pair of threes in the opening frame, while the latter had nine points and three assists.

The second quarter was much of the same, as Minnesota continued to take it to Connecticut behind the three-headed monster of McBride, Williams, and Napheesa Collier. In particular, the Lynx’s ability to turn the Sun’s mistakes into points led to easy buckets that built up their lead to as many as 21 points — Minnesota scored 12 points on 10 first-half turnovers, while Connecticut failed to score a single point off of the four turnovers they generated.

As a result, the Lynx went into the locker room flying high, holding onto a 53-34 lead that seemed nearly insurmountable. Williams led all scorers with 15 points, McBride had 14, and Collier nearly had a double-double with 13 points and seven rebounds. For Connecticut, Marina Mabrey led the way despite hurting her ankle during the first half, scoring eight points in 12 minutes off the bench.

With their backs fully against the wall, the Sun came out of the locker room at halftime and, despite some issues scoring from the field, were able to get to the free throw line and cut into the lead. They started the third quarter on a 7-0 run, with five of those points coming from the charity stripe. But while it took them nearly four and a half minutes to get their first bucket of the frame, Minnesota took advantage of Connecticut being cold from the field by ripping off 12 straight points and extending their lead to as many as 24.

The Lynx did not score a point on either side of that run, but their defense was able to limit the Sun to only 14 points in the third — they closed the period on another 7-0 run, but were unable to cut into the lead any more, which meant that Minnesota went into the fourth holding onto a 65-48 lead. And while Connecticut’s offense had, by far, its best quarter in the fourth, the team was just not able to put together enough stops to get the deficit down to single digits.

Collier put forth a monster effort to lead her team, going for 27 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and a steal. Williams was likewise brilliant with 24 points, seven assists, five rebounds, two steals, and a block, while McBride went for 19 points. For Connecticut, four players scored in double figures, with Dijonai Carrington (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Brionna Jones (16 points, 10 rebounds) registering double-doubles.

With the win, Minnesota earned a spot in the WNBA Finals for the seventh time, which is the most in WNBA history. They will take on the 1-seed in the postseason, the New York Liberty, which earned a spot by taking down the Las Vegas Aces in four games on Sunday. The Lynx and the Liberty faced off three times in the regular season, with Minnesota coming out on top twice. Additionally, the two teams went head-to-head in the Commissioner’s Cup championship, which the Lynx won, 94-89.

Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals will take place on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Limp Bizkit and the band’s frontman Fred Durst are reportedly gearing up for a rough legal battle. According to The Wrap, the “Break Stuff” musicians have filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG).

In documents supposedly filed today (October 8) in Los Angeles, California, Limp Bizkit accused UMG of rescission, violating a contract recording agreement, fraudulent concealment, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation and copyright infringement. Along with co-plaintiffs, Fred Durst’s Flawless Records, Limp Bizkit claimed that the music titan owed them $20 million in unpaid royalties. However, based on their calculations once every allegation is tallied up, they believe the damages could “easily surpass” $200 million.

Within the paperwork, Limp Bizkit alleged that UMG falsified financial records to hide what the group was supposedly owed. “Plaintiffs have discovered that, contrary to these claims, not only did UMG never have any intention of paying Plaintiffs, it designed and implemented royalty software and systems that were deliberately designed to conceal artist’s royalties and keep those profits for itself,” read the filing.

Limp Bizkit claimed that although UMG fronted the band millions to record new projects, they eventually recouped the advance. Despite that, UMG alleged still withheld royalty payments. A representative for UMG allegedly told the group that they actually were $43 million away from breaking even.

After reaching out to the label the band initially signed with, Flip Records (before their Interscope deal), Durst was alleged told that Limp Bizkit earned millions through a profit-sharing arrangement with UMG. But Burst claimed they haven’t seen a dollar of that sum.

If the lawsuit plays out in court, Bizkit has requested a jury trial. As of today (October 8), Universal Music Group has not yet responded to the filing.

If Mariah Carey is the unofficial “Queen of Christmas,” then Megan Thee Stallion is Halloween’s fan-crowned princess. Although the “Neva Play” rapper was born after Valentine’s Day, her favorite holiday is Halloween.

Later this month, Megan Thee Stallion will put her love for spooky season on full display. Today (October 8), Megan Thee Stallion took to her official X (formerly Twitter) page to announce the 2024 installment of her annual Hottieween party. On Halloween Day (October 31), Megan and the Hottie are slated to take over Chicago, Illinois for a good cause.

Hottieween is BIGGER than ever this year,” she wrote. “CHICAGO HOTTIES we had so much fun together at ‘Thee Hot Girl Summer Tour,’ so I hadddd to come celebrate Hottieween with y’all.”

The devilish video sets the mood for what’s to come. Every year, Megan Thee Stallion go above and beyond for her costume, which debuts online by way of an elaborate photoshoot head of the event.

At this time, the venue has not yet been revealed. However, in Megan Thee Stallion’s upload she promised that ticket sales will start this Friday, October 11. Hottieween 2024 is sponsored by Nando’s, NYX, True Religion, and more.

While Hottieween is indeed a party, all proceeds from the event go to Megan Thee Stallion’s Pete & Thomas Foundation. The P&T’s mission is to “seek to catalyze resources for women, children, senior citizens, and underserved communities.”

Charli XCX’s brand has become synonymous with neon green. The “Talk Talk” singer’s minimalist Brat album cover took off like wildfire. Since the project’s release, it has been replicated all over the place including the set of a Saturday Night Live sketch.

Even Charli has carried the design into other messaging (the Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat promotional billboards for example). But the cover wasn’t dreamed up as an elaborate concept for virality. Today (October 8), Charli XCX told Zane Lowe during an intimate sit down that it was all just to save money from the body of work’s overall budget.

When asked about the creative vision for the now pop culture phenomena of the album’s neon green background with slightly blurred, low cased text, Charli XCX thanked fans for their reception to it. But when on to discuss its origins.

“I was home,” she said. “The actual first idea of doing a text cover came from wanting to save money. Because I was like, this album is not going to appeal to a lot of people. I think I thought maybe I’d do a press shoot and then save on the album cover and maybe it’s like cool. Seriously. But I’ve also been on every cover of mine apart from ‘Vroom Vroom.’ So it punctuates that pattern in quite a nice way. Also, handy because it’s going to be a lower spend.”

However, not everyone was on board for the design choice. Charli XCX’s manager, creative director, even friends told her to rethink it. “Then everyone was like, that’s the stupidest idea ever,” she said.

Good thing Charli XCX stuck to her guns because it has paid off very well for her bottom line.

Watch Charli XCX’s full interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music above.

Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat is out 10/11 via Atlantic. Find more information here.