Category: News

Most books about the Trump presidency have been from exacting reporters and disgruntled former staffers. But one book is from someone who still seems to be on his side. In Here’s the Deal, Kellyanne Conway details her stint as the former president’s counselor, a job she did while her own husband fought to stop her boss’ re-election. There’s still plenty of dirt, including a claim that he almost quit the 2016 race shortly before he won.

As per The Daily Beast, Conway delves into the aftermath of the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump was caught making leud comments about women, including that he liked to “grab them by the p*ssy.” The bombshell almost — but not quite — upended his presidential aspirations, mere weeks before election day. Conway claims even he wondered if his political days had ended.

Worried that the GOP could force him off the ticket amidst the scandal, Trump reportedly asked Conway, “Should I get out [of the race]?”

Conway then explained to him that he “actually can’t” quit, “unless you want to forfeit and throw the whole damn thing to Hillary.”

Trump then reportedly fired back, saying, “What do you mean, I can’t?”

Conway then pointed out that early voting had already began, so quitting because of a scandal would be pointless. She then buttered his ego. “I know you don’t like to lose,” she claimed to have said, “but I also know you don’t like to quit.”

Even after that, Trump allegedly had doubts, asking Conway, “Will I lose? Will we lose? Can we still win?”

At the time, Conway went on news shows to defend Trump’s language, even claiming that what he said about advancing on women without their consent wasn’t “sexual assault.” In her book, however, she claims she told Trump to his face that his comments were “disgusting” and “reprehensible.”

Conway also wondered if Trump, who reportedly tried to claim the tape was a fake, was really testing her. Her claims directly contradict Trump’s own public appearances at the time. After the video surfaced, he told The Wall Street Journal that there was “zero chance I’ll quit,” and “I never, ever give up.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

Harry Styles is riding a sweet high at the moment. His first single of the year, “As It Was,” has spent three weeks atop the Billboard singles chart to become his first song to be No. 1 for multiple weeks. He just released his third album Harry’s House and it arrives as a 13-song effort that’s primed for a No. 1 debut next week. Despite all of this good, there’s one person who isn’t too keen on Harry at the moment. That person is Mick Jagger who took some shots at Harry in a recent interview with The London Times.

After saying that he and Harry have “an easy relationship,” Jagger went on a bit of a tear against the “As It Was” singer. “I mean, I used to wear a lot more eye make-up than him. Come on, I was much more androgynous,” he said. “And he doesn’t have a voice like mine or move on stage like me; he just has a superficial resemblance to my younger self, which is fine — he can’t help that.”

Jagger’s comment came as a bit of a shock to some, especially as Harry has praised Jagger on multiple occasions. Furthermore, during a 2015 interview, Jagger called Harry “very decent” and said he’s “got it going on.” Those kinder comments are in the past thanks to Jagger’s latest words, and fans of Harry took to Twitter to give him a piece of their mind.

You can see the posts about Jagger’s comments below and read his full interview with The London Times here.

Harry’s House is out now via Columbia Records. You can stream it here.

Natasha Lyonne was stoked to host Saturday Night Live. In her opening monologue to the final show for multiple cast members, the star and co-creator of Russian Doll gushed about her “cosmic connection” to the show. She’s friends with alumni, including her ex-boyfriend Fred Armisen and her Russian Doll co-creator Amy Poehler. And she digs its vibe. “SNL combines everything I like: New York City, show business, people who have done the same thing since the ‘70s, and different unions fighting.”

Lyonne, who will eventually be seen in the Columbo-esque murder mystery show she’s making with Rian Johnson, also gently ribbed the idea of shilling for Russian Doll at this particular moment in time. “Two things you definitely want to be associated with right now are Russia and Netflix,” she joked.

Lyonne has one of the more unique voices in showbiz, her nicotine-stained voice and Sam Kinison-esque mannerisms a throwback to a bygone era. She’s so distinct that she brought out to two SNL vets to do impersonations of her: Armisen and Maya Rudolph. When they were done, Lyonne joked about Armisen, “We were the only couple who had a sex tape nobody wanted to buy.”

She also ran through her life story, talking about how her parents decided she should be a showbiz kid, describing her style then as “a little Orphan Annie type who talks like Dee Dee Ramone.” She showed a clip from her at a very young age, appearing on Pee-wee’s Playhouse and listed her ‘90s credentials: “American Pie, American Pie 2, American Pie in the Multiverse of Madness.” (She also gave a shout-out to the LGBTQIA+ classic But I’m a Cheerleader.)

Lyonne also touched on her down period, when she struggled with “multiple arrests and addiction,” which she compared to the time Fabio was hit in the face by a goose on a rollercoaster. But, she said, she “brushed herself off and got back on the ride. And now I’m here.”

You can watch Lyonne’s opening monologue in the video above.

This is year is lining up to be a great one for Lupe Fiasco. He’s preparing to release his eighth album Drill Music In Zion and it’s a project that he’s already calling the best of his career. His engineer Craig Bauer called it the “Rap Album of the year” before correcting himself and saying “Nah. Decade. If you don’t feel something after listening to this…. You may want to check your pulse.” Drill Music In Zion is set to arrive on June 24, but it’s not the only big thing Lupe has in store for 2022. Later this year, the Grammy-winning rapper will teach a rap course at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT).

The university announced that Lupe will be a part of their MLK Visiting Professor Program for the 2022-2023 academic year. Lupe shared the news in a tweet of his own. “I been holding this for a while,” he wrote. “I’ll put together something more sophisticated later that really captures the nuance and gravity but for now I’ll just say it straight and raw: I’m going to teach Rap at @MIT.”

Lupe’s upcoming course comes after he served as a visiting artist at MIT from 2020 to 2021. As for Drill Music In Zion, the upcoming project will be his first full-length release since 2018’s Drogas Wave.

You can view Lupe’s tweet about his upcoming rap course at MIT above.

Over her 10 years at SNL, Kate McKinnon has been one of the most prolific cast members, appearing early and often and creating some of its most beloved impersonations and characters. Maybe her most beloved creation (apart from her RBG) is Ms. Rafferty, the salty woman who keeps getting abducted by aliens and never getting the preferential treatment that others receive. Ms. Rafferty’s such an institution that, for McKinnon’s final episode, they gave her the cold open usually reserved for matters political.

For the most part, the final Ms. Raffery sketch follows the mold to a T: Three people who’ve been abducted meet with government agents. Two have lovely, life-changing stories. Ms. Rafferty does not. Instead, she finds herself in embarrassing, invasive situations. This time, though, it was even filthier than usual.

It was also bittersweet. While graphically recounting the usual grey extraterrestrials plucking her pubes for science, she reflects on all the other times they’ve had their way with her. “It hit me: Colleen, this might be the most stable relationship you’ve ever had,” she said.

The sketch ended with a meta reference to McKinnon’s departure from SNL. The agents say they’ve worked out a deal with the aliens whereby they take one of the trio with them. Ms. Rafferty volunteers herself. As she boards their spacecraft, Close Encounters-style, McKinnon/Rafferty bid farewell to the planet and to SNL.

“Well, Earth, I love ya,” McKinnon said, visibly choked up. “Thanks for letting me stay awhile.”

Then again, McKinnon (and Ms. Rafferty) can always return for hosting duties. Till then, you can watch the possible final Rafferty sketch in the video above.

On Friday, the day before the show’s season finale, there was some big SNL news: Four cast members were leaving. One of them was Pete Davidson, who joined the cast in 2014 and carved out a niche by mostly, well, playing himself. His self-deprecating monologues became a fixture of Weekend Update, in which he chronicled his oft-surreal life. So it was only fitting that he do the same on what proved to be his final show.

Davidson began by addressing “the millions of people only watching to see if I bring up Kanye.” (He did not.) His farewell address touched on some of the wilder parts of his tenure, such as him getting engaged to singer Ariana Grande after only two weeks of dating. He also discussed the Dan Crenshaw affair, when he made a joke about the Texas lawmaker’s eyepatch, which prompted him to apologize to him in person on live TV. Not that he was the last person to crack wise about his condition.

“In three years, Fox News went from calling me a monster for making fun of congressman Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch to also making fun of Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch,” Davidson joked, referencing Tucker Carlson doing exactly what Davidson did, minus the blowback and mea culpa. In fact, Carlson called him “Eyepatch McCain,” which Davidson pointed out was “two veterans in one insult.” (He also told co-host Colin Jost “your dad’s a d*ck.”)

He also claimed SNL honcho Lorne Michaels told him during his audition that he didn’t think he was “right” for this show, but went ahead anyway, saying, “Let’s screw this up together.” He then addressed his critics, with whom he agrees, saying, “that’s why people who don’t think I deserve this job shouldn’t hate me since we have so much in common. If anything, I should inspire hope, that literally anyone could be on Saturday Night Live.”

Davidson ended his monologue with a heartfelt message. “I appreciate SNL always having my back and allowing me to work on myself and grow,” he said. “And thank you to Lorne [Michaels] for never giving up on me or judging me even when everyone else was, and for believing in me and allowing me to have a place that I can call home with memories that will last a lifetime.”

You can watch Davidson’s farewell monologue in the video above.

On Friday, Harry Styles released his highly anticipated third album Harry’s House. The project arrives with 13 songs, no guest features, and production from Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson, Samuel Witte, and more. It’s set to be Harry’s biggest album yet and proof of that can be seen through the success of the project’s lead single “As It Was” which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. It also became 2022’s first Platinum track less than a month after its release. Despite all of these highs, Mick Jagger doesn’t seem too keen on Styles, at least that’s what his recent comments about him tell us.

During an interview with The London Times, The Rolling Stones’ lead vocalist delivered interesting comments about Styles. Jagger kicked things off by saying he has “an easy relationship” with Styles, but things went left afterward. “I mean, I used to wear a lot more eye make-up than him. Come on, I was much more androgynous,” Jagger added. “And he doesn’t have a voice like mine or move on stage like me; he just has a superficial resemblance to my younger self, which is fine — he can’t help that.”

For what it’s worth, Styles has openly called Jagger a big influence on his music and style. “When I look at them, I don’t know what it is, but it’s this, this something special,” Styles said about Jagger and other music greats in a 2019 interview with L’Officiel. During a 2015 interview with the Mail on Sunday’s Event Magazine, Jagger had kinder words for Styles.

“He’s got it going on. I know him, he comes to see me in lots of shows,” Jagger said. “And yeah, I can see the influence. But I don’t say anything to him, I just tell him he looks nice. I like him. He’s very decent.”

You can read Jagger’s full interview with The London Times here.

Harry’s House is out now via Columbia Records. You can stream it here.

After almost four years without an album, Michelle Zauner returned with Jubilee, her third album as Japanese Breakfast, last summer. “After spending the last five years writing about grief, I wanted our follow up to be about joy,” she said about the 10-track project. Jubilee brought Japanese Breakfast plenty of accolades and first-time moments, like two Grammy nominations, to magnify the success of the album. It also earned her the opportunity to make her debut on Saturday Night Live which she did last night. Here, she performed two songs from Jubilee, “Be Sweet” and “Paprika,” on the Natasha Lyonne-hosted episode.

Zauner kicked off the night with a performance of “Be Sweet.” She appeared on stage in a deep magenta dress and knee-high leather boots with a band as pink and blue light bulbs surrounded her as she sung the uplifting track. Later on, she returned with the same band for a rendition of “Paprika,” and for this one, she changed into a dashing white dress and invited a trio of horn players to amplify the performance.

Japanese Breakfast’s performance on Saturday Night Live occurred on the show’s season 47 finale. The season’s conclusion also marks the departure of SNL cast members Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney.

You can watch both of Japanese Breakfast’s SNL performances in the videos above.

The Miami Heat have gone back up in the Eastern Conference Finals. Thanks to a monster game by Bam Adebayo and the Boston Celtics’ carelessness with the basketball, Miami was able to survive letting a 26-point lead get down to one during the series’ first game in Boston. As a result, the Heat picked up a 109-103 win over the Celtics to take a 2-1 lead.

The first quarter could not have gone much better for the Heat. Uplifted by the return of Kyle Lowry from a hamstring and Bam Adebayo having one of his best quarters of the postseason, the team found itself up, 39-18, thanks to its ability to get darn near anything it wanted.

Miami shot a scorching 64 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from three in the first quarter, and had more assists (seven) and the same number of steals (five) as the Celtics had made field goal attempts. While Jaylen Brown’s early 11 points were a positive, just about everything else that Boston did to start the game could have gone much better.

The Celtics kept them from extending their lead too much, but the Heat still were in total control for much of the second. They continued to score off of turnovers and got extra opportunities via their offensive rebounding — Miami attempted 16 more field goals than Boston.

Despite this, the lead was not as impressive as it seemed destined to be when it was as many as 26. A gigantic free throw advantage gave the Celtics a chance to score despite how well the Heat scored — they shot 14-18 from the charity stripe while Miami went 3-3 — and Boston was able to go on a flurry to end the half. The Celtics went on a 10-0 run over the final 90 seconds of the period to give Miami a 62-47 led going into the locker room.

The Heat suffered a gigantic loss at the half, as Jimmy Butler was ruled out for the remainder of the game due to right knee inflammation. Not long after, Marcus Smart had to leave the game after a nasty ankle roll, but upon returning to the game several minutes later, Smart hit a three that got the crowd at TD Garden on their feet.

Every time it seemed like Boston was starting to make up ground in the third, Miami had an answer. On four separate occasions, the Celtics had someone hit a shot to get the lead down to nine or 10 points, and each time, the Heat were able to prevent things from getting any closer. A big culprit was Boston’s complete inability to protect the basketball, as the team committed 17 turnovers — 14 of which were steals by Miami — through three.

Boston was once again able to cut into the lead when it started the fourth on an 8-0 run, which was broken via an Adebayo dunk.

Still, the Celtics kept creeping closer and closer, even after Tatum briefly had to make his way into the locker room with a shoulder injury. Brown, in particular, came to life, going on a 10-0 on his own to get the lead down to one.

A three by Max Strus stopped the bleeding with just over two minutes remaining, while the dagger came on a prayer to beat the shot clock by Adebayo, who hoisted up a shot while getting hounded by Al Horford.

A whole lot of free throws took place down the stretch, and ultimately, Miami was able to do enough. Adebayo’s 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals led the way for the Heat, while Tucker had 17 and seven rebounds, Strus had 16, and Lowry had 11 points, six assists, and four steals. Five players on Miami’s roster registered at least two steals, and they managed to force 19 as a team. Brown was tops on the Celtics with 40 points and nine rebounds, Horford had 20 and 14 rebounds, and Smart had 16 points with seven dimes. Tatum struggled on the night, scoring 10 points on 3-for-14 shooting.

Game 4 between the Heat and Celtics is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday night on ESPN.

If the Miami Heat are to beat the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, they’ll have to do so without the services of Jimmy Butler for the second half of the game. Miami announced that Butler, who gave the team 20 minutes of work in the first half, dealt with some right knee inflammation during halftime, and the decision was made to shut him down for the remainder of the evening.

Upon his departure from the game, Miami opted to fill his spot in their lineup with Victor Oladipo. Prior to going down, Butler scored eight points, reeled in three rebounds, dished out a pair of assists, and registered two steals as the Heat took a 15-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Butler has dealt with right knee inflammation already this postseason. Back in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, Miami opted to sit their All-Star wing as issues with his knee flared up. It was a decision that paid off for the Heat, as they won that game, 97-94.

Butler is in the conversations for the best performers during the 2022 playoffs, as he’s averaged 29.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.2 steals in 37.3 minutes per game for the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference.