Category: News

On Tuesday night, Lakers star LeBron James entered the league’s COVID-19 protocols for a positive test and the expectation was that he could miss a week or more before returning to the court.

However, on Thursday, James apparently produced the sufficient negative test results for the second consecutive day following his one positive test, and is cleared to play in the crosstown matchup with the Clippers on Friday night, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

James had voiced his frustration with the situation he found himself in, as the league tests came back positive, but others rapid tests came back negative on Tuesday. LeBron had been asymptomatic, and apparently his eight tests with the league from Wednesday and Thursday all returned negative, allowing him to return to the floor after just one game’s absence thanks to being in the league’s vaccinated player protocols.

That raises the intrigue for the all-L.A. battle on Friday, although it still won’t be broadcast on national TV after ESPN flexed it out of the primetime slot in favor of the Warriors-Suns rematch of last week’s thrilling battle between the West’s two top teams. At 12-11, the Lakers are sixth in the West, a half game ahead of the Clippers in what is a crowded middle of the playoff pack, and while it’s not a battle of teams playing at their best at the moment, every win is critical for West playoff hopefuls when they play each other.

For someone who calls The Simpsons one of his favorite shows of all-time, Ted Cruz sure can’t take a joke. The Texas-deserting senator is currently in a war of words with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who referred to Cruz as a “scumbag” for his attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci. In response, Cruz tweeted that Kimmel is “sadly now always unfunny” but “you know what was funny? Me kicking his ass at hoops.” It goes on from there.

Cruz also had a hyperbolic reaction to a harmless joke by Joe Biden.

During a press conference at the National Institute of Health on Thursday, the president said, “I’ve seen more of Dr. Fauci than I have my wife, we kid each other. Look, who’s president? Fauci!” Biden was obviously joking (it’s not a very good joke, but still a joke), but the nation’s loudest far-right politicians took it very seriously.

“Dr. Fauci as president: That’s not a joke, that’s a nightmare to so many Americans,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told Fox News about Biden’s remarks. “I mean, when did Dr. Fauci ever put his name on a ballot and run for office and get elected by we, the people? But yet, he has complete authority.” Meanwhile, Cruz tweeted, “As I have been saying, Fauci is the most dangerous bureaucrat in American history.”

Cruz made similar remarks about Dr. Fauci earlier this week on Hannity. “Dr. Fauci, I think, is the most dangerous bureaucrat in the history of the country,” he said. “He’s been dishonest, he’s been political, he’s been partisan, and the American people know it.” Just let the “tiny, adorable, tired man” do his job in peace, Ted.

The last week has been brutal with regards to star absences in the NBA, as just over a month into the season some big names have gone on the shelf. Damian Lillard is out for a week-plus to try and get his lingering abdominal tendinopathy right, while LeBron James is out in COVID-19 protocols, Devin Booker will miss time with a hamstring injury, and Bam Adebayo will have thumb surgery that could cost him more than a month of court time.

The rash of star injuries unfortunately continued on Wednesday night, with Karl-Anthony Towns leaving late in Minnesota’s loss to Washington after a scary fall after a dunk, and Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will miss Thursday night’s game against Memphis at minimum after entering concussion protocol after two late fouls he took late in a loss to Houston on Wednesday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today that guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sustained a concussion following two common fouls late in the fourth quarter (1:29 and 1:13 marks) of yesterday’s game against the Houston Rockets and he has been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s return to the OKC lineup will be determined by when he can clear the various steps and tests of the league’s protocols. After Thursday night’s game with the Grizzlies, the Thunder are off until Monday against Detroit when, hopefully, Gilgeous-Alexander can be back, but caution with head injuries is always of utmost importance.

Janelle Monae’s music has always been buttressed by a rich supporting narrative awash in Afrofuturism — androids, time travel, and cyberpunk dystopia loom large within her work and the videos and artwork accompanying it. Next year, the Kansas City-born singer will turn that intriguing backstory into a full-on book inspired by her most recent album, 2018’s Dirty Computer. Set for release in April 2022, The Memory Librarian is an anthology of short stories by some of today’s most prominent Afrofuturist authors, telling tales inspired by the overarching Dirty Computer mythology.

“Sci-fi and Afro-Futurism have always been vehicles I use to drive my art & storytelling (no matter the medium) so it’s a dream to be publishing my first short story collection in these genres!” Monae shared on Instagram alongside a photo of the book’s cover. “Thank you to everyone at Harper’s Voyager for the support and opportunity. It’s been a complete honor to swim in creative waters with other dirty computers in our community. I’m so so thankful for these incredible writers for helping bring these stories to light.”

Among those writers are Alaya Dawn Johnson, known for her Zephyr Hollis and Spirit Binders series, Eve Ewing, who has written for Marvel’s Ironheart and Champions series since 2019, fiction writer Yohanca Delgado, veteran author Sheree Renée Thomas, and Danny Lore of Dynamite Entertainment’s licensed James Bond series.

You can find out more about The Memory Librarian and pre-order it here.

It’s no secret it’s been a rocky year for Jeopardy! Following the loss of former host Alex Trebek last November, the show has gone through some awkward growing pains as it’s tried to lock down new hosts, with each of Trebek’s temporary replacements coming with quite a bit of baggage and controversy. However, after a few stumbles, it seems like the hit game show is once again finding itself thanks to the help of a few brilliant champs: newcomer Amy Schneider and Jeopardy! veteran Ken Jennings.

Since starting her winning streak on November 17, Schneider has been a real source of joy for Jeopardy! fans. The Oakland, California engineering manager made news as the first openly transgender contestant to ever win the game, and has racked up over a quarter-million dollars since she first bested former champion Andrew Pau. In addition to being a fun contestant to watch play the game, Schneider made a name for herself as being an incredibly kind and graceful participant, sharing her thoughts on the game, her fellow players, and her connection with the transgender community via her Twitter. There’s no denying Schneider has always been quick to dole out compliments and give credit where credit is due, and in her latest statement, she extended that kindness to the current guest host of Jeopardy! — and former longtime champion — Ken Jennings.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Schneider told the outlet she was having a great time playing the game with Jennings’ serving as its host. According to Schneider, the 74-time-winning Jeopardy! star has been good at relaxing the players — most likely because he gets what they’re going through.

“He’s very relaxed and sets contestants at ease. He knows what we’re going through,” Schneider said. “He wants to get everybody there to be relaxed and have fun: ‘It’s a game, it’s cool, let’s just have a good time out here.’”

While it’s uncertain who will take over hosting Jeopardy! full time, it’s clear Jennings is doing a pretty solid job during his turn at it and even the players themselves are noticing. Both Schneider and Jennings will continue their times on Jeopardy! tonight, at 7pm EST.

West Side Story is Steven Spielberg’s first musical. And what a debut it is. “West Side Story feels like Spielberg is in control and knows exactly what he wants to do,” our own Mike Ryan wrote in his glowing review of the film, adding that people will inevitably argue about which version of the musical is better, the 1961 Best Picture-winning original or the 2021 adaptation with Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler, but “there’s little debate that this West Side Story will go down as a Steven Spielberg Classic. Hot damn.”

Now that Spielberg has crossed musical off his genre list, what’s left?

“I was asked that question over the last 40 years of my career, if not longer, and I always say ‘A musical is the one thing I haven’t done.’ The thing I neglected to say is the one genre I haven’t really tackled yet is the Western,” he told Yahoo! Entertainment. “So who knows? Maybe I’ll be putting on spurs someday. Who knows?”

Spielberg has made loads of movies with horses (the dinosaurs of the wild west, I always say), but the closest he’s come to making a Western is producing Cowboys & Aliens. If his Western movie, should he choose to make one, consists of a two-hour unbroken shot of a cactus, it will still be better than Cowboys & Aliens.

(Via Yahoo! Entertainment)

After two standout EPs, Toronto’s Charlotte Day Wilson finally released her much-anticipated debut LP, Alpha, this year. The elegant record is a can’t miss collection of tightly-constructed songs about Queer love that easily stands up among this year’s best releases. It features tracks with fellow Canandians Badbadnotgood and Daniel Caesar, as well as Syd on “Take Care Of You.” Day Wilson is as memorable as a singer as she is a producer and her production on “Mountains” was sampled by Drake on his track “Fair Trade” off of Certified Lover Boy.

Today, Day Wilson has shared US tour dates in support of Alpha, as well as a deluxe version of the album. The release features two new tracks in “Even Is The Lie” and a remix version of “Take Care Of You,” this time, featuring guest vocals from King Princess, Amaarae, and Meshell Ndegeocello. It’s a new dimension to the track that pairs Day Wilson with other contemporary like-minded singers.

Listen to the “Take Care Of You” (Remix) above.

Tickets for the Alpha tour go on sale Friday, 12/03 at 10 AM local time. Get them here.

Alpha (Deluxe) is out now via Stone Woman Music. Check out the album art and tracklist below.

1. “Strangers”
2. “I Can Only Whisper” (feat. BADBADNOTGOOD)
3. “If I Could”
4. “Lovesick Utopia”
5. “Mountains”
6. “Danny’s Interlude”
7. “Changes”
8. “Take Care of You” (feat. Syd)
9. “Keep Moving10. Wish it Was Easy”
11. “Adam Complex”
12. “Even is the Lie”
13. “Take Care of You Remix” (Feat. King Princess, Amaarae & Meshell Ndegeocello)
14. “If I Could” (Music Video)
15. “Keep Moving” (Music Video)
16. “Changes” (Music Video)

03/02/2022 — Detroit, MI
03/03/2022 — Chicago, IL
03/05/2022 — Philadelphia, PA
03/06/2022 — Washington D.C
03/08/2022 — New York City, NY
03/10/2022 — Atlanta, GA
03/12/2022 — Dallas, TX
03/13/2022 — Houston, TX
03/16/2022 — Las Vegas. NV
03/17/2022 — Los Angeles, CA
03/20/2022 — Santa Ana, CA
03/21/2022 — Oakland, CA
03/23/2022 — Portland, OR
03/24/2022 — Seattle, WA

Travis Scott has been in a whole heap of trouble since this year’s Astroworld Festival, where 10 people were killed and 300 injured as the result of a crowd crush. Now, he and Astroworld promoter Live Nation (and Live Nation’s ScoreMore subsidiary) are facing over 100 lawsuits from attendees and the families of victims, with the total damages being demanded topping $3 billion. Among them are the families of a nine-year-old and a 14-year-old who both died due to their injuries, as well as a pair of security guards from the concert who handled what they believed to be dead bodies.

Yesterday, it was reported that Travis and Live Nation had secured representation for the upcoming onslaught of cases (which might be condensed to one, big, more manageable case), but today, it looks like Travis’ choice is already drawing even more negative attention for the embattled Houston rapper. As interested parties look into Daniel Petrocelli, Travis’ lawyer, they’ve come to realize that Petrocelli was the lawyer that Donald Trump called to defend him from fraud lawsuits stemming from his Trump University real estate seminars. Petrocelli was able to negotiate a $25 million settlement.

That may be just the outcome the rapper is looking for; at least one of the lawsuits against him is demanding $750 million among 120 Astroworld attendees, so paying out just a fraction via settlement could very well be the best-case scenario for him.

Jon Stewart is the latest addition to ABC’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience special set to air next week. The comedian will play a “surprise role” during the Facts of Life portion of the special hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear. Joining Stewart are the previously announced Jennifer Aniston, Kathryn Hahn, Gabrielle Union, and Alison Tolman who will play Blaire, Jo, Tootie, and Natalie, respectively, while Ann Dowd will pull double-duty by playing Mrs. Garrett on both The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes reenactments.

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, there are only two notable male roles on The Facts of Life: Andy, the foster child who worked at Mrs. Garrett’s shop, and handyman George Burnett, played by a then-little-known actor named George Clooney. If we had to wager a bet who Stewart is playing, we’d put our money on Clooney.

As for the Diff’rent Strokes portion of the live special, ABC also procured an all-star cast. Stepping into Gary Coleman’s role of Arnold Drummond is Kevin Hart while Damon Wayans plays his older brother Willis and John Lithgow will be Mr. Drummond. Oddly, there’s been no mention of a casting for Kimberly — yet.

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes airs December 7 on ABC at 8 PM ET and will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

For some time now, Fortnite fans have suspected Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had something cooking and a recent video the star shared on his Instagram is adding some serious fuel to that kitchen fire. Earlier today, The Rock took to Instagram to post an advertisement for his energy drink ZOA, and while the video might not seem like anything unusual to your average viewer, Fortnite enthusiasts were left reeling by some pretty wild Easter eggs Johnson scattered throughout the clip — including a brief glimpse of the mask of iconic Fortnite character The Foundation wears in the game.

In addition to the helmet, several other artifacts in the video give credence to the theory that Johnson is secretly voicing The Foundation. For example, on the actor’s table is a prop gun that looks like something straight out of the popular battle royale game. Johnson also mentions Zero Point, the energy source located at the center of Fortnite iconic island, several times. Last but not least, some fans even suspect the camera spins in the clip — which seem a bit out of place — actually allude to Fortnite chapter 3’s “flipside” theme.

Introduced back in March, The Foundation (which, come on, even sounds like “The Rock“) is one of Fortnite’s Seven, a mysterious group of meta-humans that seek to fight back against the game’s villainous Imagined Order. Nearly as soon as the character was introduced into the game, Fortnite fans began to suspect the person behind The Foundation was secretly Johnson, as his build and voice shared a lot of similarities with the former WWE star. If that wasn’t enough, Johnson then fanned these rumors by sharing a strange video the very same as the debut, seemingly connecting him to the character.

As for why Johnson is teasing his connection to the game now, it’s very likely due to the fact that Fornite‘s chapter 2 finale event is merely two days away. While Epic Games has kept Johnson’s involvement hush-hush thoroughout all of The Foundation’s various escapades, it’s likely a big reveal is coming soon.