Category: News

We’ve learned a lot about Will Smith this year. Arguably too much! Like when he said that orgasming made him “gag and sometimes even vomit,” or the time he borrowed $10,000 from a drug dealer, and who could forget his “horrific idea” for a “harem of girlfriends.” The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? More like The King of Oversharing. The latest TMI revelation from the Oscar-nominated actor was made on The Graham Norton Show, where he told host Graham Norton about the time he played a prank on Jada Pinkett Smith that involved showing one of her sex scenes to his religious grandma.

“My grandmother Gigi is all the way down with Jesus. Because she didn’t know who Jada was, I put on a movie of hers and worked out that by the time Jada arrived my grandmother would be watching the love scene,” Smith said about the first time Pinkett Smith met his family, according to Insider. “When she walked in, my grandmother was in the middle of the scene and she looked up and said to Jada, ‘When I was growing up people didn’t have to take their clothes off to make a movie.’”

Jada was not amused:

Will later added that Jada “took him aside later that night” and asked what he had been thinking playing the prank. “I said, ‘I promise you it’s funny, maybe not now, but one day this is going to provide us with years of joy.’ We have been together for 27 years and she literally hasn’t chuckled once!” Will told the show.

She didn’t chuckle once? Jada must have just watched Suicide Squad.

(Via Insider)

In the lead-up to Spider-Man: No Way Home, which threatens to dramatically alter the life of Peter Parker if not the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Holland has been dropping heavy hints that is time as Spidey might be over. In recent interviews, he described No Way Home as feeling like “the end” and voiced concerns about not wanting to play Spider-Man into his 30s. Heck, GQ even reported that Holland’s contract is complete after filming No Way Home. However, not all is what it seemed to be.

While fans have been obsessing over Holland’s words and what they might mean for his future as Spider-Man, Sony producer Amy Pascal is already setting the record straight that Holland isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Via Fandango:

Amy Pascal: This is not the last movie that we are going to make with Marvel – [this is not] the last Spider-Man movie. We are getting ready to make the next Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland and Marvel, it just isn’t part of… we’re thinking of this as three films, and now we’re going to go onto the next three. This is not the last of our MCU movies.

Fandango: It’s great to know that this collaboration is going to continue.

Amy Pascal: Yes, Marvel and Sony are going to keep going together as partners.

Of course, it’s impossible to know until No Way Home hits theaters, but this should probably put a hole in the fan theory that the film will see Miles Morales take Peter Parker’s place as Spider-Man. While Holland has said in interviews that Miles is the future of Spider-Man, it’s starting to look like, at most, he could have a brief introduction in No Way Home.

As for Miles’ chances of showing up in the next Spidey trilogy, though, it could certainly happen.

(Via Fandango)

Quavo is trending on Twitter as fans continue to speculate about Lil Baby dating Saweetie. Of course, Quavo and Saweetie used to date until she broke up with him for allegedly cheating on her. Since then, fans have been inordinately invested in Quavo’s thoughts about any of Saweetie’s moves — even the ones that haven’t been officially confirmed.

However, those same fans have become sleuths rivaling the most persistent private investigators in the week since it was reported that Lil Baby and Saweetie went on a shopping date in New York. A post from Saweetie’s account sitting on an anonymous man’s lap was compared to a post from Lil Baby’s account, with fans noticing the similarities in wardrobe between the man in both photos.

Around the same time, Quavo posted an Instagram Story with the text, “Ain’t trippin’ we can swap it out!” Naturally, fans decided that this meant he was commenting on the supposed relationship between his ex and his fellow Atlanta trap rapper, proposing to take a pass at Lil Baby’s ex, Jayda Cheaves.

Of course, Lil Baby just denied the rumors himself, tweeting, “Baby not dating NO ONE!! I’m Single!” While the photographic evidence appears to suggest otherwise, we’ll wait for those two to confirm their relationship before jumping to any conclusions.

The Succession Report Card is a weekly recap feature where we attempt to assign grades to the important people, things, and themes from each episode of ‘Succession.’ The grades are entirely subjective and the criteria for scoring will change from week to week and occasionally mid-week. Someone might get detention. It’ll probably be Roman.

Shiv

Shiv is:

• Really cranky about her status and influence in the family taking a sudden flume ride down the toilet
• Kind of not super jazzed that her husband is not going to prison
• Moping around in chauffeured vehicles
• Dancing like a person who just grew limbs that morning in a frantic attempt to exorcise all these demons

It’s not great!

GRADE: F

MUST IMPROVE: General body mechanics

Connor

This big goof. This self-important bozo. Polling at one percent in a presidential race he has no business tinkering with and so happy about it that he slipped and fell and shattered his entire arm (“ranch stuff”) and covered it up with a weird vibe-destroying trench coat that he refused to take off despite numerous requests from numerous parties. I kind of love him.

Also: Did anyone else think there was another reason he wouldn’t take the coat off? Like, I kept expecting him to whip it off at a dramatic moment to reveal a flashing CONNOR 4 PRES sign on his back. I’m going to go ahead and believe it was there anyway and that he just never found a good opportunity to show it off and went home without ever displaying it. That would be classic Connor.

GRADE: F

MUST IMPROVE: Ranch stuff

Turning 40, generally

The thing about turning 40 is that it can get weird. I assume. I’m not there yet. I am very young and cool. But there’s something about that number that makes people lose their minds a little bit, in a whole “Who am I?”/“What have I done?”/“Is this all there is?” way. Most people deal with it by, like, buying a convertible or swearing they’ll finally write that novel they’ve been tinkering with in their heads for decades without putting a single word on a single page, but some, apparently, also throw massive ragers with multiple themed rooms and a huge performative vagina entrance and a plan to sing a song while strapped to a cross as a kind of ironic, nut-nut, anti-fragile art piece that all gets scrapped in a moment of self-reflective panic that may or may not have been induced by a huge pile of cocaine.

Two sides of the same coin, really.

GRADE: D-

MUST IMPROVE: Aging gracefully

Roman

See, here’s the thing about Roman: His schtick is adorable/harmless when he’s a loser with bad ideas who just wants to talk trash and hide on the periphery of the action. He’s just a snarky little boy with mommy issues and no real purpose. But once he starts finding any kind of success at anything, but especially something important, and especially something he can lord over the siblings who have for years treated him as a flighty little clown, it all becomes less fun. Now, these barbs have sharper edges. Now they sting and hurt and dig. Now he actually deserves the punch he’s been asking for his entire life, all because he can’t take his win with the Lukas Matsson thing with even a shred of dignity.

I’m mad about it. I wish Kendall had clobbered him. I hope he gets mugged walking home. I hope a seagull poops on his head and someone takes a picture of it and posts it online.

GRADE: D

MUST IMPROVE: Winning gracefully

Logan

Let’s see:

• Spying on his grandchildren
• Sending his son a birthday card that has a buyout agreement and a general vibe that cuts off relations
• Has potential business partners openly wondering how soon he’ll die

Could be better, even with the apparent good news about the investigation.

GRADE: D

MUST IMPROVE: Like… fathering?

Naomi Pierce

Naomi thought she was showing up for a big stupid but fun celebration for her boyfriend’s 40th and instead she ended up frantically looking for a gift his ex-wife brought from his children and getting her own gift demeaned and offering him the saddest sexual favors you’ve ever seen and stroking his head at the end of the night like he’s an 11-year-old whose dog died. This is not how Naomi thought this night was going to play out. She just wants to have a good time. She doesn’t want… all this.

GRADE: D+

MUST IMPROVE: Gift-giving

Kendall

Good news and bad news here. Mostly bad. Let’s start there.

BAD: Big stupid birthday party went sideways in predictable ways. Had a full-on meltdown when he realized his siblings were only there for business and had no interest in him personally. Couldn’t find the gift his kids made for him in the room full of gifts from strangers who only use him for his money and status. Dad tried to buy him out with a card that literally had “Happy Birthday” crossed out. Built a literal treehouse at the party and used it as a VIP room. Chickened out of his show-stopping performance at the end, which is probably good news for him but it’s bad news for me because I wanted to see it. Generally just alone and sad and starting to realize it. Has now told two of his three siblings that they’re not real people, which is generally true but the way he delivered it made him look/sad pathetic/crazy.

GOOD: He did almost hit that high note in “Honesty” when he was warming up, which I did not expect.

GRADE: C-

MUST IMPROVE: So much

Various Karls, Franks, and Karolinas

I love Karl so much.

GRADE: C

MUST IMPROVE: Getting their own standalone episode, because I need to see it, just like what Frank and Karl were up to this whole episode while Kendall’s party was going to hell.

Gerri

Led a midday champagne toast and then was not heard from again. The best possible outcome for anyone on this show.

GRADE: C+

MUST IMPROVE: I feel like Gerri should run with this and start doing champagne toasts every day at lunch, in part for morale and in part to drink champagne at work

Tom

Hmm. Let’s go back to the bullet points for Tom…

• Appears to have avoided prison and celebrated by trashing Greg’s office
• Got a little boost from Logan saying “I’ll remember this” about Tom’s near-sacrifice, which was nice even though Logan absolutely will not remember it and has probably forgotten about it already
• Took the wrong drugs in the wrong order and found himself shouting at actors inside a compliment tunnel
• Is not happy even though he should be

Tom is a fascinating man. A therapist could make a career out of a case study of anyone on this show, but I feel like Tom might be the most troubled of all of them. That’s not a small feat, especially considering the thing where Roman just made like half a dozen jokes about his mother’s vagina. So… congrats?

GRADE: C+

MUST IMPROVE: Drug staggering, happiness

Lukas Matsson

I guess my only real problem here with this computer-brained weirdo billionaire is that he’s played by Alexander Skarsgard and I simply cannot see that man on a screen without assuming he’s playing a murderer. I don’t know why I’m like this. It’s not his fault. I see him there talking about privacy and pussy and pasta and internet speed and my brain starts shouting “HE’S GOING TO MURDER SOMEONE.”

It doesn’t help that he went on and on about wanting Logan to die. Part of me is convinced the next episode will open with him standing over Logan’s body with a bloody ice pick in his hands. It’s fine. Don’t worry. I’m doing great

GRADE: B-

MUST IMPROVE: I mean, it doesn’t look like he got any of his three P’s this night unless he swung by Olive Garden on the way home.

Kerry

Just a meteoric rise for Kerry, Logan’s much younger assistant who he’s probably sleeping with, at least according to his children. She went from nowhere to the background to giggling over memes on a private plane to drinking and cussing and offering input on important business matters, all in about three weeks. We will need to continue monitoring this situation. If she maintains this pace, she could be the new president by the finale.

GRADE: B-

MUST IMPROVE: Not burning too bright too fast

Billy Joel, generally

A lot of people bust on Billy Joel now because his biggest hits sound a little dated and he had that trouble with driving around the Hamptons after a few cocktails, but please consider: Billy Joel is a 5’6 dude from New York who had a piano and a cocky little attitude and turned that into about a quarter billion dollars and a brief marriage to America’s Sweetheart Christie Brinkley. He sold out Madison Square Garden dozens of times and was chauffeured there and back home via private helicopter. He wrote and performed the song “Why Should I Worry?” from the Oliver & Company cartoon, which is a good and fun song that I will not apologize for listening to still today.

That’s a pretty full life. Good for Billy Joel.

GRADE: B

MUST IMPROVE: Leave Billy Joel alone

Willa

Connor is a dope and a putz and Willa could do better tomorrow before lunch if she wanted to, but still, good for her for standing up for him, just shouting down hecklers and various security personnel, getting all fired up and peppery about it even though the man she’s defending has the personality and vibe of a room temperature vanilla milkshake.

GRADE: B+

MUST IMPROVE: We gotta get Willa outta here, before it’s too late.

Tiny Wu-Tang

On one hand, I love them very much, sight unseen, both as a general concept (children performing cuss-laden rap songs that are sometimes about martial arts for some reason) and in this specific scenario (of course Kendall would hire them for this), and I wish them nothing but the whole entire world going forward.

On the other hand, I am more angry than you can possibly imagine that I did not get to see them perform. Like, I was vibrating with excitement about it when I first heard someone describe their act. I was giddy. It was, for a brief moment in time, the only thing I wanted in the whole entire world. So, this one stings. It was cruel. To me. I suspect it will be weeks, if not months or years, before I finally get over it.

GRADE: B+

MUST IMPROVE: LET THEM PLAY

Reece, Kendall’s mysterious drugs guy

I must know everything about Reece at once.

GRADE: A-

MUST IMPROVE: Pasta acquisition

Comfry the PR lady

It’s tempting to take her down a letter grade because her apartment is currently littered with He-Man lunch boxes that she doesn’t know what to do with and because she failed to get Springsteen to show up to improve the vibes (lol Kendall), but in an episode with no Jess Jordan, who was apparently not invited to the party, which was either extremely rude or an unintentional act of kindness on Kendall’s part, I have no choice but to bump her into the highest echelon.

We’ll discuss this more in a second.

GRADE: A-

MUST IMPROVE: I’m sorry but, based on nothing but my own misplaced rock-solid belief, I think Jess could have gotten Springsteen there.

Cousin Greg

Cousin Greg…

• Showed up looking like a gangly version of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, with a nice suit and slick hair
• Tried to ask out Comfry despite multiple people laughing in his face about the idea and his first attempt devolving into what appeared to be an old-timey Southern gentleman impression that he wouldn’t or couldn’t stop doing
• Kept touching/poking the picture of Kendall on the LCD screen in the saddest display of revenge you’ve ever seen after Kendall — kidding, but not kidding, but kidding, but serious — called him a parasite
• Got a date with Comfry after all, possibly only because of their mutual annoyance with Kendall in the moment, but still
• Is not going to jail, probably

He’s a sweet boy.

GRADE: A+

MUST IMPROVE: Upper body strength, just based on him trying to put his desk back after Tom flipped it over.

The Denver Nuggets got off to a hot start to the season, but as injuries have piled up, they have fallen off pace with the top teams in the West and, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like this team will be back at full strength any time soon.

Michael Porter Jr. has missed the last 10 games with a back injury, which was concerning given his history of back issues from college, and on Monday the decision was made for the young star wing to have surgery, with no timetable immediately given, as Adrian Wojnarowski relayed word from Porter’s agent.

While a timetable will be worked out after surgery, per Shams Charania, the Nuggets are expecting to be without Porter Jr. for the remainder of the season, taking a cautious approach to his return after inking him to a max extension this offseason.

That is obviously a big blow to a Denver team that was hoping to be a contender in the West once they got fully healthy late in the season. Now, one must wonder whether this will end up simply being a lost season for the Nuggets, who will be without Jamal Murray for most of the season as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered last April. Nikola Jokic has likewise missed time with a wrist injury, but could return as soon as Monday night as he’s listed as questionable. Still, being down two of your top three players, plus losing guard depth with PJ Dozier tearing his ACL last week puts the Nuggets in a very difficult spot, already sitting in 10th in the West at 9-10, nearly a quarter of the way into the season.

On Sunday, the fashion world was stunned by the sudden death of designer Virgil Abloh, who had been privately battling cancer for two years. In recent years, Abloh had become one of the most prominent figures in fashion and sneakers, as his Off-White brand became a phenomenon and he started working in major roles with the likes of Louis Vuitton and Nike.

His influence went beyond the fashion world, as he designed a number of beloved album covers for Kanye West and others, and he built connections and relationships with many in the sports world through his Nike collaborations. On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers played host to the Detroit Pistons and after a win, the team’s two top stars were asked about Abloh’s passing and spoke on the impact he had on the Black community and the influence his rise in the fashion world could have on future generations of creators and artists.

“I think for the Black community to see someone like that, for our younger generation and the kids that look up to guys like all of us, to see a guy like Virgil break the barrier to be able to go from where he started to being able to work for Louis Vuitton and Nike and all these unbelievable companies as a Black man, it just does so much for your youth,” LeBron said.

“His art, it probably was one of the first times we’ve seen something like that where the Black community just gravitated to it so quickly,” Davis added. “And not just the Black community. Everyone. Everyone gravitated to it. He was a phenomenal talent at what he did and what he’s done with his art. … He brought so much to this world, and it just sucks.”

Dave Chappelle keeps feeding his own The Closer controversy. He continues cracking trans jokes on tour, and his high school alma mater, Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Georgetown, responded to student backlash by quietly cancelling a fundraiser where he was the guest of honor. The school hasn’t yet cancelled the decision to name a theater after the comedian, although they’ve pumped the brakes on the official renaming. Dave initially reacted to the fundraiser cancellation with a bit of a slam. He then showed up at Duke Ellington for a Q&A, which led to him being booed by high schoolers who called him a “bigot,” and he responded by declaring, “I’m better than all of you.”

What a fine mess. In the aftermath, Dave has apparently decided to take the question of the theater renaming into his own hands. He’s asking fans and non-fans to vote (either for or against the theater being named “Chappelle”) by opening their wallets to Duke Ellington and expressing a preference. On Instagram, he wrote, “If you object to my receiving this honor, I urge you to donate to the school noting your objection. If you are in favor of the theater being named ‘Chappelle,’ I urge you to donate to the school, noting your approval.” Then he upped the stakes with a kicker:

“Whichever opinion donates the highest collective dollar amount, wins… If by April, those against the ‘Chappelle’ theater exceed the donations of those who are neutral or in favor of the theater being named ‘Chappelle’, I will gladly steal aside. If not, I will happily attend the naming ceremony. And if you don’t care enough to donate… please shut the f*ck up, forever.“

The Washington Post previously pointed out how Chappelle described Duke Ellington’s theater renaming to be “the most significant honor of my life.” And then The Closer controversy began, and the renaming postponement led Chappelle rep Carla Sims to declare that the comedian “supports the school and any effort to contribute to open conversations vs. cancellations.” Granted, he wants people to vote with their wallets, and this should ultimately benefit the theater, although it must be noted that the school has beefed up security after threats against students who protested Chappelle’s trans jokes, and that security surely cost a good deal of money. And naturally, Dave couldn’t resist that “shut the f*ck up” at the end.

You can read Chappelle’s full Instagram post below.

Succession remains appointment television on Sunday nights and, as usual, digital water cooler Twitter is abuzz with talk of the latest episode a day later. However, today’s chatter is slightly different than the usual disdainful amusement at the antics of the toxic Roy family in their endless power struggle. Today, there is an air of disappointment that Sunday’s episode did not deliver on the potential entertainment value of Kendall Roy’s 40th birthday party.

Sure, we got pesky little brother Roman antagonizing his older brother, Shiv’s dance floor meltdown, Connor’s coat (and polling-related injury), and cousin Greg‘s victorious date proposal (though Comfry may have just accepted out of spite for Ken’s nonstop buffoonery), but the one thing we didn’t get was the one thing the show’s writers had to have known we’d want from the moment they wrote the words: Tiny Wu-Tang.

Just look at Rava’s face. The skepticism mixed with wonderment and just a dash of curiosity. Truly, she is all of us.

And then Kendall (probably wisely) pulled the plug on his schlocky performance idea (crucified, singing Billy Joel’s “Honesty.” Whew, lord, that man isn’t just out of touch — he’s never been in it). And so we all missed out on what could very well have been the most side-splittingly harebrained of his birthday plans. Fans aren’t happy about it, either.

Ah, well. It’s probably better we didn’t get this anyway. Could you imagine those poor kids having to tour behind some dumb joke from an HBO show? That’s one future reality show we definitely don’t need to be subjected t– aw, dangit. Now, I want that too.

Usually, going to see a cover band perform is good clean fun, a nice way to hear some of your favorite songs played by live musicians in a low-key setting. At the very least, it’s a solid way to kill a couple hours, but attendees of a recent Oasis tribute band performance ended up having to stay at the venue for multiple days.

On Friday in Yorkshire, England, an Oasis cover band called Noasis performed at Tan Hill Inn. Outside of the pub, though, the weather was getting serious and about three feet of snow fell. The extreme weather blocked the pub’s entrance and made the roads unsafe for driving, so patrons were forced to stay at the pub. Nicola Townsend, the pub’s manager, told BBC yesterday that 61 people had spent two days there.

She noted, though, that despite the circumstances, the environment was actually jovial, saying, “It’s just been a lovely and everyone is in really good spirits. They’ve formed quite a friendship, like a big family is the best way I can describe it. One lady actually said, ‘I don’t want to leave.’”

Townsend also said that the stuff kept the party going with activities to keep everybody entertained, like trivia, board games, and a karaoke night.

As of this afternoon, the situation has mostly been resolved. Townsend told The New York Times today, “We’ve only got two of our guests left. Young girls who are not confident to drive on the roads as they are, so they’ll stay tonight and go home tomorrow.”

Townsend indicated that because of the impromptu community the patrons had formed, the goodbyes were actually emotional “because we’ve had such a good time meeting new friends, getting to know new people.”

Oasis themselves caught wind of the story and wanted to get in on the fun, as they shared a tweet about it and added, “Caption this!” Fans responded with jokes like, “Don’t look back in anger and just wait for the sun to shiiiiiine,” and, “I can’t read this whole article, it’s behind a wonderpaywall.”

Meanwhile, Oasis fans are still waiting for something big related to the band to happen this year, as Liam Gallagher suggested towards the end of 2020 that something is coming in 2021, as he tweeted at his brother Noel, “2021 is our year.”

While lying on the ground during his 2018 motorcycle crash in Sardinia, Italy, George Clooney was convinced he was going to die with a crowd of strangers just standing there filming him with their phones. Clooney revealed his close encounter with pending doom during a new interview with The Sunday Times to promote his latest directorial effort, The Tender Bar.

According to Clooney, after flying over his handlebars and landing in the street, he noticed in horror that most people just stood around capturing the moment on their phones instead of trying to help. “I was waiting for my switch to turn off,” he revealed about the moment when he thought he’d never see his wife and kids again. Via Page Six:

“If you’re in the public eye, what you realize when you’re on the ground thinking it’s the last minute of your life is that, for some people, it’s just going to be entertainment for their Facebook page,” he told the Sunday Times.

“I’m a pretty positive guy, but that told me — clearly — that you really are here just for their entertainment.”

Three years later, Clooney is doing “fine now,” but he’s still not over almost having his death blasted across social media. He told the Times he’d love to find the people who were there that day and “shake” them for worrying more about “Likes” than someone’s life.

(Via Page Six)