Category: News

Vladimir Putin is reportedly heading to the bunker for the holidays, but he did find time to point some fingers over his disastrous war in Ukraine. Most recently, we’ve heard reports that Russia itself is feeling the squeeze (and people can’t even find paper throughout the nation). Putin has been ignoring the reality of Russia making soldiers use degraded ammo, and the Russian President has decided that making a champagne-fueled speech would somehow help matters, although it clearly did not.

Forbes now has details on Putin starting to admit that things are “complicated” over in Ukraine, as though he’s typing out a Facebook relationship status update. This news also arrives courtesy of Russian state news agency TASS, which reported that Putin is calling upon his security and intelligence officials to “significantly improve” the Russian border situation to ward off against potential terror attacks. Putin also seems nervous about being able to hold onto the Ukrainian territories that he claimed to annex in 2022:

The Russian leader added that the security situation was “extremely complicated” in the four occupied Ukrainian territories–which Moscow claimed to illegally annex following a sham referendum earlier this year–as he urged the security agencies to do everything needed to ensure the safety of “Russian people” living there.

The Moscow Times further reports that Putin is wagging fingers at his various counterintelligence experts while urging them to crack down on any “traitors, spies and saboteurs” within Russia’s ranks or coming in from elsewhere. Although paranoia might seem “normal” for a man who’s rumored to order his enemies/critics to be poisoned, this report did arrive after Russia passed the 300-day mark in Putin’s imperialistic war. He’s feeling the heat, and we can probably expect him to keep lashing out. For now, though, he’s off to the bunker.

(Via Moscow Times & Forbes)

Argentina won the World Cup on Sunday over France in one of the greatest soccer games of all time. The win meant that Lionel Messi finally lifted the one trophy that evaded him over the course of his legendary career, and as an added bonus, he now has the most liked post in the history of Instagram.

In the aftermath of Argentina’s win, Messi — or, probably more accurately, someone with the keys to his IG account — posted a number of pictures of Messi and his teammates celebrating, whether it was during the game or with the World Cup.

As of this writing, the post has more than 61 million likes. It almost immediately started flying up the list of the most liked posts of all time, and early on Tuesday morning, it became the most liked post ever put on the platform, overtaking a picture of an egg which was posted back in January of 2019.

Messi has another post with a chance at taking down the egg, too, as a picture of him on an airplane with the World Cup has more than 36 million likes, as of this writing.

The egg was posted in an effort to beat what was, at the time, the most popular post in IG history — the first photo Kylie Jenner ever posted of her daughter, Stormi. Now, the record belongs to Messi, and it will be interesting to see if I will be able to beat it the next time I post a picture of my dog to my Instagram account.

The White Lotus is TV’s thirstiest show, both on and off the screen.

Meghan Fahhy (Daphne), the season two MVP of the HBO series, and Leo Woodall, who played rowdy English boy Jack, have “been connected” and romantically linked, according to Bustle. “Eagle-eyed fans noticed flirtatious comments between the two stars on Instagram, hinting at something more than just friendship between them.” Fahhy commented “I love you! I love these! I love you!” on one of his posts on Instagram, to which “he responded by saying he loves her right back.” There’s further proof:

In one of the pictures, Fahy also appears to have Woodall’s finger in her mouth. He returned the favor on her feature in Elle UK in which she proclaimed she loved “the UK and all of the Elles,” commenting on behalf of his country with a similar refrain: “UK loves you back.”

Woodall was also prominently featured in a collection of photos that Fahy shared on Monday, which you can see below. “Sizzley Sicily,” she wrote as a caption. (Be sure to click to photo five to see Aubrey Plaza’s wild-looking orange bucket hat.) There’s no official confirmation that the two of them are dating, but if they are, they should stay away from hiring a trainer. Unless they’re into that! I don’t mean to kink shame.

(Via Bustle)

Mariah Carey has done it: Last week, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” managed to yet again return to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the fourth consecutive holiday season. The song still has some juice left, as it maintains its No. 1 spot on the latest rank. Appropriately, the new chart is dated December 24, Christmas Eve.

This is the tenth week at No. 1 for “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which makes Carey the only woman to ever have three songs spend at least ten weeks on top. Previously, “We Belong Together” was No. 1 for 14 weeks in 2005, while her and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” topped the chart for 16 weeks in 1995 and 1996.

Carey celebrated the song’s chart-topping return last week, writing, “YAYYYYYYY!!!! Such an amazing surprise and an early Christmas gift!!! Thank you so much!!!”

While the top 10 is mostly owned by holiday songs, SZA landed a pair of tracks from her new album, SOS, in the region: “Kill Bill” is No. 3 and “Nobody Gets Me” is No. 10. All in all, she has 21 SOS songs on the new chart, with the Phoebe Bridgers collaboration “Ghost In The Machine” among them. The song is now Bridgers’ first top-40 hit.

Puddle Of Mudd is a successful rock band. “Blurry” was a top-five single in 2001, “She Hates Me” was also a hit the next year, and the album both of those songs are on, 2001’s Come Clean, is multi-platinum and peaked in the top 10 on the charts.

All of that said, the group returned to the spotlight in 2020, but not for a good reason. That January, the band sat down for a SiriusXM live session, where they covered Nirvana’s “About A Girl.” A few months after that, the video started getting some viral attention online due to singer Wes Scantlin’s questionable vocal performance. One YouTube comment reads, “This literally sounds like something South Park would do to imitate Nirvana.” Another says, “When you think 2020 couldn’t get any worse… You find this exists.”

Now, two years later, in a new interview with Songfacts, Scantlin has addressed the cover. He was asked about it and he responded, “Oh yeah, you know what? I was acclimating and it was a tiring day, and I had already performed five or six songs at one time, and by the time I got to that one — which I shouldn’t even have done because I cannot nail that song — I was a little tired. It looked and sounded like total sh*t. But live to fight another day, dude.”

Revisit the performance above and read the full interview here.

Beyoncé’s cultural impact has spanned nearly two decades, but it has never been more evident than in 2022. The multi-hyphenate brought the world to a screeching halt after releasing her seventh studio album, Reinassance, this past July, sparking national debates about topics like the “Great Resignation,” the Black roots of House music, and more.

2022 has been quite the year for Queen Bey. Aside from releasing her highly anticipated album, the singer starred in a new campaign with Tiffany & Co. earlier this year. She also achieved the record for having the most Grammy nominations ever — tieing with her Jay-Z for 88 nominations. Here are the three biggest moments from Beyoncé for 2022.

Beyoncé Releases Her Seventh Album, Renaissance

Beyoncé brought the world to a screeching halt with her latest album, Renaissance, an ode to House music, which was heavily influenced by Black and queer artists. The album sparked national debates about burnout in the workplace and the Great Resignation, making everyone want to “release their jobs.” The pop singer has yet to release the visuals for the project, causing considerable frustration within the “Hive.”

She is also rumored to be gearing up for a tour in 2023, guess we’ll have to wait and see.

2022 Oscars Performance

For her Oscar performance of King Richard‘s “Be Alive,” Beyoncé hit the streets of Compton, performing at a local tennis court. Surrounded by dancers with glowing, yellow ensembles and the signature hair beads that defined Venus and Serena’s early careers, the singer brings the song to life. It had been the first performance from Beyoncé in over five years, and the singer got to have her daughter, Blue Ivy, right alongside her, bringing the moment full circle.

The over-the-top performance was peak Beyoncé, which means sheer perfection, and we should expect nothing less.

Queen Bey Celebrates The Big 4-0

Along with dropping an album and racking up several nominations, Beyoncé hit another milestone this year — turning 40. The pop singer celebrated her 40th birthday this past September and in this new stage in he life, Beyoncé said she is working to “obliterate old boundaries” as she heads into uncharted territory.

“My wish is for my 40s to be fun and full of freedom,” she told Harper’s Bazaar last month. “I want this next decade to be about celebration, joy, and giving and receiving love. I want to give all the love I have to the people who love me back.”

Patrick Beverley and Chris Paul have had a number of run-ins with one another over the years. The latest back-and-forth came on Monday evening when the ultra-hobbled Los Angeles Lakers played the Phoenix Suns and Beverley finished a layup through a contest by Paul. It led to Beverley hitting Paul with a too small taunt, despite the fact that the make meant that the Suns held a 70-46 lead over their division rivals.

This is, of course, an extremely funny moment that shows that there’s still a whole lot of tension between the two guards — Paul and Beverley have had some pretty high-profile incidents, like the time Beverley shoved Paul from behind in the playoffs and earned a one-game suspension the following year.

As for the rest of the game, it went about as well as you’d expect a Lakers game with Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook all sidelined with injuries to go. The Suns picked up an emphatic 130-104 win, with Paul’s 28 points and eight assists leading the way. Beverley, meanwhile, had nine points and three dimes on the night, while another member of Los Angeles’ backcourt shouldered the biggest load, as Dennis Schröder scored 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting. The two teams will play again in March.

50 Cent recently revealed that he’d spent over $23 million in legal fees. But he doesn’t seem very worried about money anyway. In a recent interview, the “In Da Club” rapper said he turned down a $1.3 million offer from Universal Music Group due to their connection to Irv Gotti.

“Irv [Gotti] was talking in the interview, and he was talking about he was blocking me,” 50 Cent said, referring to when the Murder Inc. executive confessed he kept labels from signing 50 in 2020.

“Like he was blocking everything. He said, ‘I blocked him into a good situation.’ And it just went off. And, I saw the situations I didn’t feel where he felt he was blocking me at that point. But I wouldn’t do business with anyone who had direct associations or any influence to the things that they had that was working.”

He added, “So they offered me a million three to do a G-Unit and my solo album at Universal, and I just turned the deal down. [Tony] Yayo didn’t understand. He was like, ‘What? A million three you not gone do it, what? That’s like saying we hit the lottery, and you not going to pick up the ticket.’ And I’m like, ‘Nah, it’s not the right deal,’ because it’s in the Universal system. Def Jam and those guys was already making money from that system. Where they could influence and sabotage everything that I had going.”

Watch him explain in the clip below.

There’s no denying the resurgence of Y2K/2000s trends across the fashion industry. Yet, in the world of music, the ’90s continue to dominate. Across genres, fans and musicians alike can’t seem to get enough of that era. Several acts that break big during that time have made fierce comebacks, including Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. However, there’s one band that has remained awfully quiet musically. That band is no other than No Doubt.

Although the indie rock group hasn’t released any new music in a decade, frontwoman Gwen Stefani has remained visible since going solo in 2003. However, since her departure from NBC’s The Voice, fans of the group wonder if considering now that her plate is a bit less full, she would consider a reunion with her bandmates.

In a new interview with WSJ, Stefani revealed she’d be open to the idea. When asked, the “Hollaback Girl” singer initially played coy, saying, “what are the odds of anything?”

Later the singer decided to answer the question more directly, stating, “Anything can happen. I have no idea what’s going to happen with No Doubt. We haven’t really talked about doing anything, but it feels like everyone is, right?”

Stefani also acknowledged a reunion could be a lucrative opportunity for the group sharing, “All the ’90s people — Blink-182 did an eight-month tour that sold out in like five minutes.”

Nothing is entirely confirmed, but it seems like a No Doubt reunion could be something we see in the new year.

SZA just unveiled SOS, her first No. 1 album and long-awaited follow-up to Ctrl. The record has a lot of people emotional, even Lizzo posted her teary-eyed reaction to it. From blends of her signature, R&B ballads to the songwriter’s venture into rock, on the track “Ghost In The Machine” featuring Phoebe Bridgers, many fans find the album to be extra poignant. However, SZA is tired of her material being immediately classified as “sad girl music.”

In a new tweet, the singer wrote, “Ignoring songs like ‘SOS,’ ‘PSA,’ ‘Conceited,’ ‘Low,’ ‘Forgiveless,’ ‘Seek N Destroy,’ ‘Notice Me,’ or ‘Ex Pack,’ to pretend I only make sad girl music is dumb,” later adding, “Forgot ‘Good Days’,” in the replies.

Despite its downtrodden lyrics, even the pop-punk anthem “F2F,” has a catchy, upbeat sonic texture that doesn’t feel sad at all.

SZA was very nervous upon the release of this LP. On a recent podcast appearance, she said she “100 percent did not think” she would become so famous. She also didn’t think her fans would enjoy S.O.S.: “I never thought in a million years that people would like it,” she said. “My dad’s visiting right now with my mom. Everybody came down to make sure I didn’t lose my mind if the album went bad once it came out. And now we’re just hanging out ’cause it didn’t go badly!”