Category: News

Cassian Andor, the rogue-ish officer Diego Luna played in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, didn’t have a happy ending. All of the film’s heroes died the death of martyrs, giving their lives to successfully sneak Death Star plans to the Rebel Alliance. But we didn’t learn much about his life prior to the film’s events. So, in the mad rush to fill Disney+’s coffers, he got a spin-off about his life prior to Rogue, due at some point next year. And while Luna can’t give details about the show, he can drop a little mouth-whetting tease.

In a new interview with Deadline, the actor, who first rose to prominence in Alfonso Cuarón’s sex-filled road trip drama Y Tu Mamá También, said as much as he possibly could without incurring the wrath of Disney.

“You’ll definitely see familiar faces,” he said. But he could never ruin his character’s ultimate fate. “I can tell you about this project like no other because I can’t spoil the ending if you’ve seen [Rogue One] already. No matter what I say, I can’t ruin the ending.”

What familiar faces are those? Possibly some of the Rogue One crew. Forest Whittaker has been rumored to be reprising his character, but there’s been no official confirmation. Maybe someone else from the Star Wars-verse? Who knows! But seeing how in love The Mandalorian was with Easter Eggs, it’s not far-fetched to expect plenty of swing-for-the-fences nods. In the meantime, at least everyone knows they’re getting some Stellan Skarsgard.

(Via Deadline)

Media Day was the focus of the NBA world on Monday, Sept. 27, with teams across the league making news and also delivering largely mundane statements, at least in some cases. The Orlando Magic were one of the franchises participating and, in advance of a rebuilding season, it wasn’t as if the Magic were in the national spotlight before the day began. However, veteran big man Robin Lopez signed in Orlando as a free agent, and he is regularly entertaining as a personality.

That was on full display in his first set of interviews, including a memorable joke sequence about his brother, Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez, and how Robin needed to “do his own research” to find out if Brook actually won the 2021 NBA title.

While not necessarily explicit, Lopez seems to be poking fun at vaccine hesitancy, particularly with the “do his own research” line referring to an oft-used answer from some individuals. After all, vaccines were at the center of the conversation surrounding many franchises, and there is sure to be more discussion on the topic with a few high-profile players that may be unable to play.

Lopez always seems to be light-hearted and, in this case, the bit works perfectly. The Bucks did, in fact, win the championship just a few months ago, however, so it doesn’t appear as if deep personal research is needed in this particular instance.

John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight often tackles some of the most important, pressing, and, at times, undercovered news stories, threading the needle of being incredibly informative while also still being, nominally, a comedy program. Sometimes that comedy comes in little non-sequiturs, as they will just find something that makes them laugh and give it 90 seconds between segments.

On Sunday night, one of those was a delightful look at ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and his love of the dramatic pause while doing radio, running a supercut of Smith sitting in silence to build suspense for his takes — sometimes with a hilarious payoff at the end. Smith appreciated the show’s dive into his showmanship, clearly enjoying the appreciation for his artistry.

The “Melo’s gone!” one is particularly good, and the end as they cut from outfit to outfit, including his favorite cowboy hat and cigar combo for a post Dallas loss show, is sensational. Smith really is a master of the art of giving takes and making it into a show. All of it is purposeful, as he uses the pauses and changing his cadence and volume to try and literally draw listeners to their speakers and command their attention by shifting gears and volumes. Whether the comedic element is purposeful or not is up for debate, but there’s no doubt that when run all together they are extremely funny.

Peyton and Eli Manning’s weekly Monday Night Football alternate broadcast (which, sadly, isn’t every week but only 10 weeks this season) continued on Week 3 with the Cowboys and Eagles. As always, they had guests come on each quarter and this week’s second quarter guest was none other than LeBron James, who they naturally did a bit of a dive into his own football career.

They talked about James getting offers to play for Dallas and Seattle during the 2011 NBA lockout and found some old high school tape of LeBron’s gigantic self dominating some poor high schoolers in Ohio. However, while watching the film Eli and Peyton couldn’t help but notice that LeBron didn’t exactly have a gunslinger back there throwing him the ball and roasted the poor guy on national television.

Imagine being that guy, enjoying Monday Night Football with your family, 20 years removed from your high school quarterbacking days only to find yourself getting absolutely shredded by two great quarterbacks and your old, now very famous, teammate.

At halftime, Peyton and Eli got an earful from their dad, Archie, who joined Eli on the couch for some critiques of their performance, as he thought the roast of that poor young man was too much.

It was a pretty great moment in an interview that was, at times, a little choppy, but did feature LeBron successfully Romo’ing the playcall for a Cowboys touchdown towards the end of his appearance.

Chlöe has been having a wonderful 2021. Following the success of her collaborative album with her sister, Ungodly Hour, last year, she’s also found her own voice this year and recently released her debut single, “Have Mercy.” The song was hotly anticipated, and her VMA performance of the new track even sparked reactions from rappers like Gunna showing their appreciation for her finesse.

Well, rappers aren’t the only ones who can see themselves in the song’s bombastic braggadocio, and with its unpredictable rhythms it was probably only a matter of time until a swaggering marching band set the tune to orchestral mode and turned up the brass. Enter the Marching Storm from Prairie View A&M University, the marching band for this historical black college. Captured by a Chlöe stan account, who posted a clip of the band’s rendition to Twitter, the song is accompanied by a performance from the school’s dance team that is clearly inspired by Chlöe’s own moves.

Check it out below:

For her part, Chlöe saw the cover and was ecstatic about their version. “GO OFFFFFF” she wrote in all caps while sharing the original tweet to her own followers:

If someone could make a studio version of the orchestra take, though, I’d seriously listen to it quite a bit.

The Kid Laroi is one of the fastest-rising pop stars on the planet. Lately, he’s busy holding down to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts on his collaboration with Justin Bieber for “Stay,” and that wasn’t the only thing the two stars had in common. Laroi was also signed with Bieber’s powerhouse manager, Scooter Braun, whose SB Projects also manages Ariana Grande, since June, but according to a new report from Billboard, the rising star just split ways with the company.

Previously, LaRoi was signed with Grade A Projects, but now he’s decided to throw in with Adam Leber at Rebel Management. Currently, Leber’s biggest client at Rebel is the unstoppable force, Lil Nas X, and up until August he also repped Miley Cyrus. Rebel is a fairly new venture for Leber, who co-founded the project in April in conjunction with Live Nation. One of Leber’s other clients is Labrinth, a British singer-songwriter/rapper and producer.

Before launching Rebel this year, Leber was a founding partner at Maverick management, a joint effort with other industry veterans like Clarence Spalding, Larry Rudolph, Guy Oseary, Gee Roberson, Scott Rodger, Cortez Bryant, Ron Laffitte and Caron Veazey. Neither Leber nor Braun responded to Billboard‘s requests for comment about issues like publishing, but stay tuned for a more formal announcement if this deal really did go through.

Remember that federal investigation into Matt Gaetz? It was announced at the top of the year, and it involved the Florida seantor’s ties to a sex trafficking ring that may have included underage girls. It’s been a while since we heard any updates about it. The last big thing involved his indicted associate Joel Greenberg agreeing to snitch on him. But it hasn’t gone away. And a new report by The Daily Beast suggests that when it finally gets under way, it may be even more epic than previously imagined.

The Beast talked to legal experts, who pointed out that that the perceived lull since the investigation began is nothing out of the ordinary. There are even a host of possible explanations. For one, investigators may have a long list of matters they’re looking into. The Beast even claims the delays “could just as easily suggest that the charges that could be coming down the pike are extremely grave and complex.”

Gaetz and his allies have used the lull to pretend that the investigation is kaput, but it appears he’s taking it very seriously indeed. Indeed, he’s amassed quite a legal team for a matter that’s not even going to trial yet.

That team features a trio of powerful litigators from New York City, well outside the bounds of the Middle District of Florida, where the Justice Department investigation is being handled.

Gaetz is personally represented by Marc Mukasey, who has defended the Trump Organization in several high-profile disputes, as well as Isabelle Kirshner, a partner at Clayman & Rosenberg LLP. Kirshner is a top Manhattan criminal defense attorney who also represented former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman after multiple women accused him of physical assault.

There’s also a campaign, entitled Friends of Matt Gaetz. Whose services have they retained? No less than Marc Fernich, a New York-based trial lawyer whose client list includes Jeffrey Epstein, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and cult leader and convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere.

What does this all mean? To former assistant New York attorney general Tristan Snell, it sounds like he’s preparing for a big fight.

“It looks like a scorched-earth approach,” Snell told The Daily Beast. “These are all big out-of-town lawyers. If your goal is to resolve something, you typically hire the top criminal defense attorney in the district, someone who’s a repeat customer there and has a good working relationship with that U.S. Attorney’s office. But these attorneys can go down there, burn down the building, and not have to worry about going back in the next day.”

Another expert, former federal prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks, says, “The fact he’s hiring trial lawyers would suggest that they are preparing for a trial, not a negotiation.”

While Gaetz may be sweating behind closed doors, in public he’s doing what he’s long done: pretending like he isn’t being federally investigated for ties to a sex trafficking ring. Over the weekend, he tried to pretend like all was normal. For Gaetz, that meant promoting a white supremacist conspiracy theory.

(Via The Daily Beast)

BTS have been having an epic year, and they’ve decided to build off all their momentum by sharing some select tour dates with their Los Angeles fans. After recently performing at the United Nations itself, embracing their status as South Korean ambassadors, and watching “Butter” become a bonafide, record-breaking contender for song of the summer, these K-Pop stars knew there was only one thing left to do: Take LA by storm.

Tonight the band announced they will be performing four nights in Los Angeles at the brand new SoFi Stadium for the “Permission To Dance On Stage — LA” mini tour. Their dates will be the last weekend in November beginning November 27 and November 28 and followed up with two more dates mid-week on December 1 and December 2. Pre-sale for the tickets will begin starting Tuesday, October 5 at 3 PM PST. Those who purchased VIP tickets for the group’s canceled Map Of The Soul tour will get first access, with all other ticket purchasers for that tour following as the next tier. Then, members of their fan club will have access, followed by verified fan pre-sale and finally general public. Here’s the breakdown:

10/5 3pm PT Day 1 – VIP Purchasers: MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR PRESALE
10/6 3pm PT Day 2 – Ticket Purchasers: MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR PRESALE
10/7 3pm PT Day 3 – BTS GLOBAL OFFICIAL FANCLUB ARMY MEMBERSHIP PRESALE
10/8 3pm PT Day 4 – General Verified Fan Presale
10/9 3pm PT Day 5 – General Public Onsale

Check out all the info on registration and when tickets will be available right here.

Daniel Craig’s last day as Bond was almost two years ago, when No Time to Die, his long-delayed fifth and final outing as the dashing spy, wrapped principal photography. But Eon Productions, which has overseen the main branch of the 007 film franchise, has not been quick to find his replacement. They recently announced that they won’t even start looking for a new Bond in earnest until next year. But there’s one person who won’t be joining the series, at least according to a Craig joke: Hugh Jackman.

On Monday, Jackman shared a clip of an interview Craig did with Scottish TV presenter Lorraine Kelly. At one point Kelly brought up Jackman — not as a possible replacement, just in an anecdote about the two kidding around.

“He’s not going to be it,” Craig interjected, with a smirk. He then added, “Over my dead body.”

“Well … that kills that rumor!” Jackman joked back, adding, “Daniel, mate, you’ll always be @007 to me.”

Jackman has a long history of publicly joke-feuding with colleagues. He and Ryan Reynolds have a long-simmering fake beef. He is, however, currently without a major franchise, having retired Wolverine/Logan over four years ago. Meanwhile, the person a lot of people have long wanted to take over for Craig, Idris Elbra, is, as of a couple years ago, just not that into it.

(Via EW)

New York State offered health care workers a choice: Get vaccinated or lose their job. That day came on Monday, September 27, with tens of thousands of unvaxxed employees set to be fired, opening a potentially catastrophic hole in the state’s hospital system. But newish Governor Kathy Hochul had a plan that of course didn’t sit well with the right-wing: replace them with, among others, members of the National Guard.

As per The Daily Beast, Hochul’s plan will expand the qualifications for health care employees, including “workers from other countries, recent graduates, and retirees to practice in New York.” National Guard troops are also on there, long as they’re “medically trained.”

“We are still in a battle against COVID to protect our loved ones, and we need to fight with every tool at our disposal,” Hochul declared in a statement. “I commend all of the health care workers who have stepped up to get themselves vaccinated, and I urge all remaining health care workers who are unvaccinated to do so now so they can continue providing care.”

According to state data, a whopping 84% of New York State health care workers are vaccinated. But that still means as many as 94,000 are unvaccinated. Of those who have refused to get dosed, many have argued that it violates their personal freedoms.

The news was net well met with the GOP and some libertarians.

But it also received praise.

New York State’s health care employee mandate was going to coincide with one for educators, who were to have been vaccinated on the same date. However, federal judge temporarily blocked the move. It now goes to a three-judge Appeals Court.

(Via The Daily Beast)