Category: News

The Sacramento Kings are 7-6 to start the 2022-23 NBA season. They’ve won four in a row and are eighth in the Western Conference, only a game out of the No. 4 seed. On Tuesday, they demolished the Brooklyn Nets, 153-121, on TNT. They own the league’s second-ranked offense. De’Aaron Fox looks primed to nab his first All-Star berth. Kevin Huerter is white hot beyond the arc. Domantas Sabonis is cooking. This is a super fun group to watch.

Following Sacramento’s dissection of the dysfunctional Nets, Charles Barkley, enthused by the Kings’ dominant performance and recent stretch of play, called upon commissioner Adam Silver to enact some change.

“Let’s call Adam Silver, he’s at the game. Let’s move all the Sacramento Kings (games) in for the Lakers (games),” Barkley said. “Let’s call him right now. Let’s kill all the Lakers games.”

The Lakers have struggled mightily out of the gates. They’re 3-10 and 14th in the West. Only the 3-12 Detroit Pistons and 2-12 Houston Rockets have worse records. Despite that, given Los Angeles’ immense popularity, headlined by stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, they’ve played numerous nationally televised games. That doesn’t stand to change moving forward either, much to Barkley’s dismay.

The Lakers’ next chance to climb out of their early hole comes Friday at home against the Pistons. Meanwhile, Sacramento will aim to extend its winning streak to five when it welcomes the San Antonio Spurs to town on Thursday night.

Everyone wants a piece of the iconic rock group Pavement, and it seems there’s enough of them to go around. After reuniting for a summer tour, the band has made it clear to fans that this was only the beginning. Following the success of their art exhibition, Pavement continues to branch into other arts sectors.

Their newest venture is a theatrical production centered around their journey through music as well as popular tracks “Here,” “Summer Babe,” and “Harness Your Hopes.” Written and directed by filmmaker Alex Ross Perry, the musical titled, Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical, will star Michael Esper (Sting’s The Last Ship and Green Day’s American Idiot musicals), Zoe Lister-Jones (Band Aid, Delocated), and Kathryn Gallagher (Alanis Morrissette’s Jagged Little Pill musical).

Fans can rest assured knowing the musical will catch the true essence of the group as Perry (who is also working on the band’s untitled documentary) has already proven himself to be a superfan.

It is unclear which tracks will be featured in the production, but what we do know is Keegan DeWitt and Dabney Morris will serve as the musical’s song arrangers. While Angela Trimbur will serve as the official choreographer.

The band took to Twitter to share the announcement with the caption, “the majesty and mystery of Pavement, one of rock music’s most unique treasures, brought to life on the theater stage for an abbreviated, unforgettable stand.”

Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical is slated for a limited showing with two performances at the Sheen Center in New York City on December 1 and 2. To order your tickets, click here.

Margot Robbie has become one of the world’s most in-demand actresses, but that means that she cannot possibly take on every project she is offered, including the now-defunct Pirates of the Caribbean reboot that she had been planning.

Robbie had been attached to a Pirates of the Caribbean film featuring a female-led cast since it was first reported in 2020. She was on board to reunite with Birds of Prey screenwriter Christina Hodson for the reboot, which was supposed to be a fresh take on the now 20-year-old movie franchise that was led by Johnny Depp.

But despite the promising start, the movie didn’t gain much traction over the last few years. While speaking to Vanity Fair this week, the Barbie actress confirmed that the Pirates revamp has been canceled.

“We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led — not totally female-led, but just a different kind of story — which we thought would’ve been really cool,” Robbie explained. “But I guess they don’t want to do it.”

Even though Robbie won’t be setting out to sea, in the spring, Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that there were multiple sequels moving forward, besides the one with Robbie attached. “Yes. We’re talking to Margot Robbie. We are developing two Pirates scripts — one with her, one without,” he confirmed. There have been no further updates on what exactly the non-Margot film will be, but we know that it won’t have Johnny Depp.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Top Gun: Maverick is 2022’s highest-grossing movie, and will likely remain so unless Avatar: The Way of Water has something to say about it. A good chunk of the Top Gun sequel’s nearly $1.5 billion box office total comes from people who watched it multiple times (like the guy who went to the theater 45 days in a row), but only a select few — possibly only one person! — have noticed the easter egg in the beach football scene.

“My favorite party trick is showing people that they sampled the volleyball scene audio in top gun 1986 for the beach football scene in top gun maverick,” @msmegalodon tweeted, along with evidence of Top Gun: Maverick‘s Hangman (played by Glen Powell) having the same distinctive (and shirtless) howl as the original’s Slider (Rick Rossovich).

The viral tweet caught the attention of Top Gun: Maverick editor, Eddie Hamilton, who wrote, “Emma I am stoked you noticed this. Very deliberate little nod to the original iconic beach volleyball scene. Bravo. Well played.” In a follow-up tweet, he added, “No one else has spotted this as far as I’m aware. Enjoy your time in the smug zone.”

Hamilton passed along the tweet to Tom Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Christopher McQuarrie, who tweeted, “Tom and I were most impressed when Eddie showed us this over breakfast this morning. Keep on smugging, Emma.”

Smug zone > danger zone.

(Via Cinema Blend)

Saying the season hasn’t started the way the Brooklyn Nets wanted would be an understatement. After the team got pummeled by the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night, Brooklyn fell to 6-9 on the year. Kyrie Irving continues to be suspended from the team, Ben Simmons has largely been either hurt or a shell of his former self, and Steve Nash got fired with Jacque Vaughn taking over in his place due to the team’s original plan of hiring Ime Udoka falling through.

Throughout it all, Kevin Durant has played like one of the best basketball players in the world. Durant’s averaging more than 30 points per game and keeps finding other ways to impact games, but it has not necessarily translated to wins for one reason or another. In the midst of all that, Durant told Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report that his focus is on trying to lead.

“Look at our starting lineup. Edmond Sumner, Royce O’Neale, Joe Harris, [Nic] Claxton and me. It’s not disrespect, but what are you expecting from that group?” Durant said. “You expect us to win because I’m out there. So if you’re watching from that lens, you’re expecting us to play well because No. 7 is out there.”

Durant went on to say that he’s having fun during games, and believes that the perception that he’s “miserable” would change “if I got mic’d up more.” He also explained that his perspective has changed in recent years, due in large part to the Achilles tear that he suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals.

“I’m really having a good time,” Durant said. “I wish y’all could hear me talk during the game. If I got mic’d up more, people would stop asking me if I’m happy or not. I’m enjoying every moment I get to step on this f*cking court, and part of it is because I tore my Achilles. And the pandemic, I didn’t know if we were going to play again. I didn’t know if I was going to play again.

“I was just like, ‘This can’t be it for me,’” he continued. “I have to really enjoy every single moment I’m out here. That’s part of being a pro. I have to be coachable, I have to knock down shots, I have to be aggressive, and I have to talk to my teammates the right way. That’s the journey and the battle.”

While Ciara has been married to NFL player Russell Wilson for several years, the R&B star opened up about her past relationship during a new cover story for Women’s Health.

She was previously dating rapper Future, before they eventually broke up in 2014. The couple had been engaged and they share a son.

“I told myself I’ve got to figure out how to navigate in the next chapter of my life,” Ciara said. “All the things I was aspiring to have at that time, even thinking about love… I was like, It’s going to happen when it’s supposed to. But I can’t love anybody to the best of my ability if I’m not loving on myself. I can’t be the best mom if I’m not loving on myself. So I put more focus on me, taking care of me; it was the best thing I could have done.”

This self-love focus eventually found Ciara even more love in a next relationship, as she met Wilson in early 2015. They since have had two children together. Meanwhile, Future has had some words in the past for his ex and new partner.

“He do exactly what she tell him to do,” Future told Freebandz Gang Beats 1 Radio in 2019, according to HipHopDX. “He not being a man in that position. He not telling her, ‘Chill out with that on the internet. Don’t even talk to him. I’m your husband. You better not even bring Future’s name up!’ If that was me, she couldn’t even bring his name up. She know that. She couldn’t even bring her exes’ names up.”

Coming off of a banner Tuesday where he led all rappers with six nominations for the 2023 Grammy Awards, Kendrick Lamar kicked off his Wednesday morning by dropping a new music video for “Rich Spirit.”

In contrast to his Saturday Night Live performance of the song, where he stood stoically and rapped essentially motionless as a shadow did all of the movements for him, Kendrick evokes shades of his dance heard round the world on the “Family Ties” video with a new arsenal of moves.

The Calmatic-directed clip begins with him seemingly in a paranoid mind-state, holed up in a dimly-lit hotel room. He kneels by the bedside before popping up and strutting around the room to the rhythm. If there’s been one constant to Kendrick’s dance moves, it’s their lack of inhibition and he lets himself go to get lost into the song’s message of remaining confident amid deep self-analysis.

Note the cowboy boots that K-Dot wears with the all-red outfit at the video’s onset. Clearly a custom job, they have an image of Kendrick and his daughter from the Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers album cover. Nightfall hits the room, and he dons a robe in a paranoid flash, before shifting into two other casual get-ups, dancing into a cascading mirror, and then ends the clip in a sparkly white indoor leisure suit. Then, the phone rings…

Watch Lamar’s video for “Rich Spirit” above.

As if spending four years as Donald Trump’s favorite punching bag wasn’t humiliating enough, in the final days of Trump’s presidency, Mike Pence became a literal target for MAGA diehards/election deniers who believed that the then-vice president actually held the power to upend the will of the American people and hand Trump another four years in the Oval Office (and idea he allegedly got from a juiced-up Rudy Giuliani). That Pence didn’t go through with it surprised some; that he still refuses to condemn his former boss, despite Trump stating that “maybe” Pence deserved to be hanged on January 6th, has astonished most of us. The way Trevor Noah sees it? Pence is just a “punk-ass b*tch.”

On Tuesday, Pence’s barely-anticipated memoir, So Help Me God, arrived in bookstores. As part of his PR push for the book, the Mother-loving politician sat down with ABC News’ perfectly coiffed David Muir and had just about as boring a conversation as you’d imagine. While Pence mustered up the courage to call Trump’s actions on January 6th “reckless” (Woah — watch out, world!), when Muir asked the very simple and straightforward question of whether Pence, personally, believed “that Donald Trump should ever be president again,” Mr. Wishy Washy declared that “that’s up to the American people, but I think we’ll have better choices in the future.” Noah, clearly not impressed, proceeded to sarcastically — and mercilessly — mock Pence:

Hell, yeah! Good for Mike Pence! Telling Donald Trump: ‘You almost got me and my family killed. Which is why I’m now prepared to say that it’s possible there are better alternatives to you in the next election! Although that decision will be up to the American people. You tell him, Mike Pence! Ooooh — you TELL him!

“I can’t believe Mike Pence is the one leaving us hanging,” Noah joked. And while The Daily Show host understands that Pence’s plan is to play nice so that he might have a chance at nabbing some of Trump’s voters should Pence decide to throw his hat into the presidential ring as well, Noah thinks that entire way of thinking is “delusional” for one simple reason: “Trump’s people were the ones who wanted to kill him!”

“And even if that strategy worked,” Noah added, “it still makes him a punk-ass b*tch. It does! I’m sorry, but this is not the type of man you want leading the United States… If Pence was president, forget China — Canada would be invading.”

You can watch the full clip above, beginning around the 6:15 mark.

Fans have applied the pressure and Ari Lennox has listened. At long last, Lennox has announced the tour dates in support of her sophomore album, Age/Sex/Location.

The Age/Sex/Location tour will kick off at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas in January, and span over several dates across the US before concluding in Lennox’s hometown of Washington, DC at Howard Theatre at the end of March.

Tickets will be available for purchase this Friday, November 18.

Check out the tour dates below.

01/26/2023 — Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues
01/28/2023 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
01/29/2023 — Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues
02/01/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
02/07/2023 — Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
02/09/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
02/11/2023 — Oakland, CA @ The Fox
02/14/2023 — Denver, CO @ Summit
02/16/2023 — San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre
02/17/2023 — Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
02/19/2023 — Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
02/21/2023 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s Austin
02/22/2023 — New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore New Orleans
02/24/2023 — Orlando, FL @ House Of Blues
02/26/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
02/27/2023 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
03/02/2023 — Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
03/04/2023 — Wallingford, CT @ Dome at Toyota Oakdale Theatre
03/05/2023 — Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
03/07/2023 — Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
03/08/2023 — Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
03/14/2023 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fillmore Minneapolis
03/16/2023 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
03/18/2023 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
03/21/2023 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
03/25/2023 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
03/28/2023 — Washington, DC @ Howard Theatre

Today’s net worth is not yesterday’s net worth. Rapper-turned-mogul Fat Joe has shared yet another valuable financial lesson with his fans —public feuds are costly. While promoting his new memoir, The Book of Jose, the Terror Squad leader revealed he missed out on a lucrative sneaker deal with the Jordan Brand.

Since serving four months in prison for tax evasion back in 2013, the Bronx native has used that as a lesson in financial literacy. The “Lean Back” rapper has continued to diversify his financial portfolio, something he wished to did much earlier. At the height of his career, Fat Joe was slated to sign with the shoe company, but his then beef with “Candy Shop” rapper 50 Cent took the deal off of the table.

If you recall, during the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, in response to being heckled on stage, Fat Joe uttered the infamous line, “I feel safe with all the police protection courtesy of G-Unit.” This nearly led to a fight between the crews.

During an interview with GQ, Fat Joe recounts the incident stating, “I lost about $20 million by not getting that deal. I lost out on other endorsements too. Promoters definitely didn’t book me and 50 Cent on the same shows. Everybody had to keep us separated.”

The “All The Way Up” rapper also detailed his phone call conversation with Michael Jordan. On the call, the NBA Hall Famer stated, “you know I love you, Big Joe, but you’re too hot right now. I wanted to do it, but I’m not into all that rap beef. With all this controversy, we can’t do the sneaker anymore.”

The pair have since squashed their feud, avoiding any physicality, as Joe shared, “but as fate would have it, after the VMAs, we didn’t see each other again in person for almost a decade.”