Category: News

Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy, which unsurprisingly debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200, also holds the historical distinction of making him the first artist to have nine top-ten songs on the Hot 100 chart in the same week. However, Drake isn’t the only one to benefit from this achievement; Billboard also reports that Jay-Z, who appears on “Love All,” also collects another career milestone: His 22nd career top-10 hit.

Jay-Z and Mariah Carey — who were both recently the subjects of a (refuted) rumor about them falling out — now share the distinction of being the only artists with top 10 hits in the ’90s, ’00s, ’10s, and ’20s. it’s also Jay’s first top-10 since appearing on his wife Beyonce’s 2013 hit “Drunk In Love,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. Incidentally, he actually would have had his 23rd top-10 hit had his feature on Kanye West’s Donda been credited as such — since his name doesn’t appear on the official tracklisting for “Jail,” he apparently had to wait a week for his latest feature to count. Jay was among an array of artists who appeared on both albums, drawing a fair amount of attention and prompting a Twitter trending topic thanks to his close proximity to both.

Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy is a truly unprecedented commercial success. Over the weekend, it was revealed the album debuted at No. 1 with the biggest week of the year so far, and now the album is dominating the Billboard Hot 100 chart in ways the music world has never seen. The top ten spots of the chart were revealed today, and of those ten, nine of them are songs from Certified Lover Boy. Drake is now the first artist to ever have nine top-ten songs in the same week.

Debuting at No. 1 is Drake’s “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug. After that is “Girls Want Girls” featuring Lil Baby at No. 2, “Fair Trade” featuring Travis Scott at No. 3, “Champagne Poetry” at No. 4, “Knife Talk” featuring 21 Savage and Project Pat at No. 5, “In The Bible” featuring Lil Durk and Giveon at No. 7, “Papi’s Home” at No. 8, “TSU” at No. 9, and “Love All” featuring Jay-Z at No. 1o. The only non-Drake song in this week’s top ten is The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay.” Overall, all 21 songs from Certified Lover Boy debut in the top 40 of this week’s chart.

This list of records that this sets is extensive, even beyond the aforementioned accolades. Certified Lover Boy has more top-ten songs than any album in history; Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The USA, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, and Drake’s own Scorpion all have seven top-ten songs on the Hot 100.

Furthermore, Drake and The Beatles are now the only two artists to ever dominate the entire top five spots of the chart. Drake’s total of five songs to debut at No. 1 ties Ariana Grande for the most ever. Drake has also extended his records for the most career top-ten songs (54), most top-40 hits (140), and total Hot 100 entries (258).

At college football games, you know to expect the unexpected. But no one could have anticipated the wild string of events that took place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami over the weekend.

Somehow, a cat not only made it into the stands, but ended up dangling by one paw from a piece of fabric draped across the upper deck before falling into the waiting arms of a group of guys using an American flag as a net. The rescue was caught on video from various angles and it’s absolutely bonkers.

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Well this may be the craziest thing I’ve seen at a college football game #HardRockCat https://t.co/qfQgma23Xm

— Hollywood (@DannyWQAM)
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CAT SURVIVES FALL AT HARD ROCK STADIUM!!!! #SaveTheCat https://t.co/oPNGgfUltZ

— Yianni Laros (@Yiannithemvp)
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The flag didn’t really catch the cat so much as break its fall a bit. And apparently, the cat peed on its rescuers, but who can blame it? Poor thing had to have been terrified. And honestly, the Lion King reenactment probably didn’t help much.

The reaction from the crowd was the best part. Everyone in the area watched with bated breath when they saw the cat dangling and cheered when it was confirmed the cat was alive.

The question, of course, was whether it was injured. Cats are known to be able to survive falls from incredible heights, but that doesn’t always mean they’re perfectly okay afterward.

Two University of Miami emergency vet students who were nearby in the stands rushed to examine the cat as it was being handled by the fans.

“I saw this lady grab the cat,” certified emergency veterinary medic Emilia Weiss told The Miami Hurricane, “and I go up to her and I’m like, ‘Hey I’m certified in emergency vet med, I worked in an emergency hospital for pets, please let me take care of this cat. I know what to do.'”

With the assistance of another vet student who held the cat’s jaw shut, Weiss examined the cat. She saw one of its hips was out of place, so she popped it back in.

However, Weiss said, a middle-aged woman tried to grab the cat away as it was being examined and the cat (understandably) bit her. The cat then ran away and bit several more people who tried to catch it, including Weiss, before escaping altogether. Weiss said it didn’t appear to have sustained any spinal injuries, but since it could have a disease, those who were bitten needed to get shots.

“I’ve never had to use my knowledge of emergency vet med,” said Weiss. “It was the weirdest experience ever.”

Definitely not something you see every day. It was heartwarming to see people of all stripes come together, even just for a moment, in an effort to save a life.

While Netflix’s Emmy award-winning animated She-Ra and the Princesses of Power series only reached its end a little over a year ago, another streaming service is already gearing up to send fans right back to the enchanted land of Etheria. According to an exclusive Variety report, a live-action She-Ra series is currently in early development over at Amazon. As of right now, there are no cast members or writers attached to the project, but DreamWorks Animation — the team behind She-Ra and the Princesses of Power — is on board to return as the series’ executive producer.

However, despite DreamWorks return to She-Ra, the report states the upcoming live-action series will be a new, standalone story with no connection to the animated show — which might be a little bit disappointing to all the “Catradora” stans out there. It’s also currently unknown if the series will tie in more closely to the world of He-Man, the popular 80s series that created She-Ra. You see, in the original series, He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, She-Ra (real name Adora) was the long-lost twin sister of He-Man. However, in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, this connection was completely removed, and instead Adora was framed as an orphan who was adopted into the evil-doing Horde before discovering the organization’s true intentions and abandoning them.

While the potential series has quite a bit to live up to following the success and critical acclaim of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, if the project is greenlit it will mark the live-action debut of She-Ra, which is an incredibly cool proposition. As of now, there is no additional information on the project, but its definitely one to keep an eye on in the future.

Ed Sheeran and Courteney Cox have been good friends for years now, and it turns out the pair may have actually collaborated on music together. Although Sheeran doesn’t seem totally sure about where things stand on that front, he seems fairly confident that Cox does provide background vocals on his upcoming album, =.

During a red carpet interview with ET‘s Rachel Smith at the VMAs, Smith noted Sheeran’s friendship with Cox and wondered if the pair would ever make music together. Sheeran responded, “Yeah, easily. She sings… I’m pretty sure she sings on background vocals on the album. I think she’s on ‘Visiting Hours.’ If not, she was definitely on ÷ somewhere.”

When pressed for more, Sheeran explained, “Well, my producer and songwriter, Johnny [McDaid], is dating her. Me and Johnny write most… we wrote ‘Shape of You’ together, we wrote ‘Bad Habits’ together. We work together a lot.”

Smith, in awe, asked if Cox really can be heard in the background of the track, and Sheeran responded with uncertainty, but leaning more towards yes than no: “I think so. I think.. she’s on… yeah. I think she is.” Smith then called herself gullible, but Sheeran insisted he wasn’t trying to fool her, saying, “No no, I think she is.”

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Andrew Garfield plays Jim Bakker, the other half, along with the aforementioned Tammy Faye, from the Jim and Tammy Faye team that hosted a Christian-themed variety show until scandal blew the whole thing up in the late ’80s, resulting in a stint in prison for Jim Bakker. I get the sense Garfield kind of likes Jim Bakker. Well, “like” is a strong word. I don’t think Garfield wants to hang out with Jim Bakker, or approves of his crimes, but Garfield does seem to understand Bakker. And, look, make no doubt about it, at the time they were an infectious pair. (Before school started in the morning, I used to watch the tail end of their show, right before She-Ra came on. It really did seem like more of a variety show than a religious show.) But learning to, if not like, at least understand Bakker, is why Garfield is so effective.

Though, that doesn’t mean I have to like Jim Bakker. And Garfield and I have some friendly sparring. (I’ve interviewed Garfield probably a half dozen times at this point and he’s always great.) Though, if we focus on his crimes back then (and not the nonsense he’s spewing out these days about Covid), he just seems more “ambitious” than anything. (At least through the lens of this film.) And, compared to a lot of other bad men in positions of power, well let’s just say we’ve seen a lot worse over the last few years.

Garfield always seems to be having a movie coming out. (This is a good thing.) But Spider-Man still follows him wherever he goes. On his previous press tour, he made it pretty clear he wasn’t talking about his possible appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, so I didn’t ask about that. But I do remember, 11 years ago at a press conference for The Social Network, everyone just wanted to ask him about his next movie, where he plays Spider-Man. At the time I even remember thinking, “Oh, here’s what’s going to be a truly classic film, The Social Network, and it’s all Spider-Man questions. This poor guy.” So I asked Garfield if he remembered that.

Strangely, I used to watch Jim and Tammy Faye’s show. Before school, it was on right before She-Ra: Princess of Power and I’d catch the end. I don’t think I realized it was a religious show. Like the movie depicts, it was more of a variety show. I remember thinking, “Oh, these two are pleasant.”

Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that. And they were the people that wanted to make Christianity fun and make it a party and really take some of the curse off of it, really. There were some really beautiful aspects of what they were preaching and how they work, setting an example for other Christians. There were some really, really beautiful aspects that I think people forget amidst all the controversy and all of the scandal. They really just thought Christianity should be fun. Life should be fun. And we should prosper in the here and now. Obviously the word “prosper” has been misinterpreted by Mr. Bakker in his reading of the Bible, which he discovered when he was in jail. He started reading the original Greek of the Bible and he realized that the idea of the prosperity doctrine was not about material wealth but about spiritual prosperity…

Yeah, but I’m not sure he learned his lesson there. He was out there selling Covid drugs last year.

That’s really interesting. I think, like all of us, we go on these journeys in our lives where we maybe hit a rock bottom and we understand something about how we’ve lived and the mistakes we’ve made and how we’ve missed the mark, and we redirect back towards a more truthful, righteous, ethical path. And then the temptation is always there. So, I think when he left prison and the televangelicals started knocking on his door after a few years of exile, he couldn’t resist that old Devil on his shoulder in a way. That’s how I perceive it, anyway. The validation from the community that he once was king of coming back and saying, “Hey, I think we’re ready to reintegrate you into the fold.” And then maybe lost his way again. It’s not for us to judge, not for me to judge anyway.

Well, I’m going to judge. And the whole “Covid cure” thing, that’s pretty lousy.

Yeah, I don’t get to do that…

Because you have your own brand of Covid drugs and you’re competing against him.

[Laughs] Yeah, thanks for bringing that up.

Yeah, no problem.

No, I was going to say, in playing Jim, my intention has always been to make him humanized and find the human in him and where we meet…

Well, that makes sense. Like I said, I found them pleasant and I was really shocked when the scandal happened. So, to a point I feel sympathetic towards him, too, but you really do.

Yeah, I do. Well, I mean, it’s my job to. And I think that was one of the reasons why I was so curious and interested in taking on the role is because, how am I going to get to that place? Like, that’s the most exciting part about playing a character like this, playing a person like this – is that the job, for me, is to close the gap between me and him. And in that empathic kind of way, to find myself in him and to find him in myself. And that’s scary work to do because obviously there are certain people in the world where you instinctively want to go, “Okay, well, thank God that’s not me.” And surely I think a lot of the work of healing our culture, right now especially, is to go, “How is that me? And how do I allow myself to explore the parts of myself that are this person?”

And I think the mistake we make, as a culture, is exile. And the mistake we make as individuals is self-exile. If we exile aspects of ourselves, then those things are just going to grow bigger and bigger and bigger in the basement till one day they go and shoot up a school, or turn into the President of the United States. The symptom of all of that suppression, we see it play out constantly.

Well, what’s interesting about him, especially the way you portray him, I kept thinking to myself while watching this, “He’s not as bad as some of the people we’ve seen in positions of power lately.” I’m not defending any of his actions, but in the scale of things this guy is not the most evil person on Earth.

I don’t think he’s evil at all. But again, I have a very particular viewpoint. But, for me, he thought he was doing God’s work. He was under the impression, call it delusion, call it illusion – and I think he would’ve called it illusion when he realized what he realized when he was in prison from what I understand – is that he thought he was doing God’s work. He was under that impression. He thought he was given the message from God that we are meant to be materially wealthy and that material wealth is an indication of God’s love.

He followed those instructions very well.

Yeah…

About accumulating wealth.

But not just for him, but for everyone around him and for his congregation. That’s what he ultimately wanted to do.

Have you heard from him? Have his people reached out? Has anyone from the Bakker camp been like, “I got a word for you, buddy.”

No. And I would be, of course, very open to talking. I would love to talk with him, or with anybody. But yeah, it’s interesting. For me, I think he felt like he had to build. He had to be a builder, a God, and that he was going to be one of God’s soldiers on earth. He did amazing stuff. He made the first Christian theme park. He created shelter for single mothers who had been abused. He created homes for disabled children. There was nothing intentionally nefarious – he had eyes bigger than his belly, or he felt like he was given too much of a job to do that he felt like he could never match up to what God wanted of him.

And I think that was, for me, how I understood how he felt, in terms of not being able to be ever enough for a father figure. You know what I’m saying? And that’s one of the reasons why I think he was so easily rused by Falwell as well. An older heroic father figure that he needed to be loved by, approved by. I think he had a blind spot there and it was the wound, if you will, that created all of the chaos around him and his ultimate downfall. It was his tragic flaw.

You still get asked about Spider-Man a lot. You know what I keep thinking about? Do you happen to remember The Social Network press conference at The Harvard Club? It was the morning after that big party at The Harvard Club?

I remember the party, remind me of the press conference?

Well, The Social Network, a lot of people consider it the greatest movie of the 21st century, which I’m sure you’re well aware of. And it was finally time for people to start asking you questions and everyone wanted to ask about your next movie, which was at the time was Spider-Man. Thinking back on it, you were talking about The Social Network, one of the greatest movies of the 21st Century and people were already asking about Spider-Man. Do you think about that?

[Laughs] No.

See, I’m thinking about it for you…

Well, no, I do in a way. As you mention it, I think about it. It’s fascinating, isn’t it? What captures the culture more than other things? And what is, I guess, a more mass-minded part of the culture. There are certain things that are just easier to access for people, I guess. So Spider-Man is much easier for a large number of people to feel identification with and to feel connected to, I suppose. Whereas The Social Network, yeah, I agree with you. It’s one of the great films of however long…

It would be like someone asking Orson Welles at the press conference for Citizen Kane, “Hey, I heard you’re playing The Phantom soon.” That’s why I find it weird. Anyway…

[Laughs] Right.

‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ will be in theaters on September 17th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

This story originally appeared on 03.18.15.

Matt Diaz has worked extremely hard to lose 270 pounds over the past six years.

But his proudest moment came in March 2015 when he decided to film himself with his shirt off to prove an important point about body positivity and self-love.

Matt had lap-band surgery in 2009 at age 16.

Images via YouTube

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Images via Matt Diaz, used with permission.

Here’s Matt at 16 years old and 497 pounds versus recently after his surgery — at 22 years old and 220 pounds.

Through the course of his weight-loss journey, Matt became passionate about promoting body positivity for people of all shapes and sizes.

To stay motivated, he started sharing his journey on social media, posting before-and-after photos, answering questions and giving support to followers, and even sharing his meals and favorite workouts. Six years later, Matt is down over 270 pounds and is a very active voice in the online body-positivity movement.

But in all his years of sharing his story, the one thing he’s never done is showed what his body looks like after 200+ pounds of weight loss. So he uploaded the video above to show his followers his true self.

Images via YouTube

Images via YouTube

Images via YouTube

Images via YouTube

Images via MattJosephDiaz/YouTube.

Shortly after he posted the video online, originally to Tumblr, it quickly went viral and garnered thousands of shares and comments from people around the web. I was one of the thousands touched by the video, so I reached out to Matt to find out more about what motivated him and what he hopes others can take away from his story. Here’s what he had to say:

Why was it so important for you to post this video?

“I’m a really big advocate for self-love and body positivity. I think it’s important that we learn to love the bodies we’re in, even if we don’t necessarily like every little thing about them. However, in the time I’d been writing and talking about it, I’d never actually shown my excess skin to anyone. It felt dishonest somehow, to others and to myself. I couldn’t tell others that I wanted them to love themselves and keep myself hidden away and ashamed of my skin.”

“I know what it feels like to hate your body, and to be depressed about it, and I never want anyone to feel that way again. So, if making myself vulnerable can help one person, why not?”
— Matt Diaz

What’s the response been like? Anything particularly unexpected?

“I think that putting any opinion on the Internet will garner a certain amount of negativity and cynicism, but I haven’t seen anything like that at all. I’ve read every comment and message since the video has gone up, literally thousands, and they’re all so thoughtful.

A really surprising side-effect were the number of transgender people who’ve thanked me saying that they understood my struggle, even though their body-related insecurity grew from different roots. I’d never even begun to [think] of what that must be like, and the fact that my message could help even though my problems began somewhere else is really incredible.”

What advice or words of encouragement do you have for someone who’s struggling to love their body?

“I know it’s difficult, especially when you’re starting out. I want you to remember that you are not the problem, certain aspects of society are the problem. You’ll constantly be told that you’re too heavy or too tall to be attractive, or you’re not masculine or feminine enough, or that your skin isn’t the right tone or your hair isn’t the right color, and these people are always always always wrong.

Luckily, we’re slowly starting to see these ideas get phased out by modernity. Plus-sized, unretouched models are getting more attention in major brands, more attention is being put on the alternative scene for high fashion, it’s becoming clear that these negative ideas are not going to last, though it’s going to take a while.”

“Understand that to love yourself is to contest the negative things that were put into your head. Every smile, tattoo, bathing suit, and crop top is a small revolution. Tell yourself you’re beautiful every day, and I promise you will be.”
— Matt Diaz

Matt’s story is a personal one, but it’s one we can all learn from.

I think the most important thing to take away here is that self-love takes time and is different for everyone no matter what they look like. It’s also worth noting that for Matt, losing weight was an important part of his journey, but that might not be the case for everyone. Even so, our society has such incredibly high and unrealistic body standards that even many of those who do work to lose weight end up feeling uncomfortable or being shamed for not having “perfect bodies” once they’ve lost weight.

There’s no such thing as a “perfect body” because everyone is different, which is what makes us beautiful and great! I’m glad there are people like Matt in the world who are not only willing to share their stories but also to inspire others by showing that body confidence comes in all shapes and sizes, and that everyone deserves to feel good about who they are. Here’s hoping Matt’s inspiring words can help others begin to love and accept themselves, no matter where they’re at in their journey.

Don’t Worry Darling is already a historically significant movie because it’s where Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles met. It also sounds like a good movie.

The psychological thriller is about a “1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company may be hiding disturbing secrets,” according to the official plot description. Styles play the husband, Jack, while Paddington’s best friend, Florence Pugh, is the housewife, Alice. Don’t Worry Darling is Wilde’s first feature since 2019’s Booksmart, one of the best teen comedies in recent years, and on Monday, she shared the first look at the movie.

Try to guess which shot is taking over the internet.

Thank you, Harry Styles Daily. Here’s more:

“Kiss You,” indeed.

Don’t Worry Darling originally starred Pugh and Shia LaBeouf, but he was fired by Wilde for “poor behavior” and because “his style clashed with the cast and crew” (she has a “zero asshole policy” on set, and LaBeouf sure sounds like an asshole). Styles, who previously appeared in Dunkirk, stepped into the role “because we knew that he has a real appreciation for fashion and style,” Wilde said. “And this movie is incredibly stylistic. It’s very heightened and opulent, and I’m really grateful that he is so enthusiastic about that element of the process — some actors just don’t care.”

Don’t Worry Darling opens on September 23, 2022.

During Friday night’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the comedian launched into an ill-advised rant about the “Black national anthem,” which put him in the crosshairs of Whoopi Goldberg on Monday morning’s episode of The View. As Meghan McCain can attest to, that’s never a good place to be.

On Real Time, Maher thought he was being profound by criticizing Alicia Keys for singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is known as the Black national anthem. Thinking this was a new development, Maher launched into a rant against “woke college campuses” and literally equated the idea of two national anthems as segregation. “You’ve inverted the idea,” Maher said.

There’s just one small problem. “Live Every Voice and Sing” has been known as the Black national anthem since 1900, and Whoopi did not hold back schooling Maher on the topic:

Via Mediaite:

Goldberg went on to note that “‘Lift Every Voice and Sing” has “always been considered the Black national anthem,” noting that the separation between Johnson’s song and “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been made clear to Black Americans.

“Now maybe other people don’t feel like that, but I feel like, we have to re-educate and retell people,” she continued. “We don’t think rape humor is funny, we don’t think talking about Native Americans in a really despicable way is funny. It’s not funny and we have to re-educate.”

As for Maher’s accusation of wokeness, Whoopi wasn’t playing: “I’ve never been asleep.” Keep in mind, this all arrived in the first few minutes of the segment, and there were still three more co-hosts left to weigh in on Maher, which they did. Maybe next time, the Real Time host will fact-check his jokes a little harder.

(Via The View on Twitter)

Over the weekend, Lil Baby‘s concert in Charlotte got a little more lively than the show’s attendees anticipated when one fan climbed onstage to try to greet the rising star. You could probably guess how the exchange ended even without reading the headline: One of the stage security guards descended on the overly enthusiastic concertgoer with a flying elbow, knocking him down and proceeding to drag him away. Although the fan’s intentions seemed friendly enough — it looks like he just wanted a handshake — he got a different kind of pound as the confused rapper can be heard wondering, “What the f*ck you doing?”

And look, it’s understandable; we’ve all been cooped up with very little to do for quite some time. However, rarely ever has a fan climbing onstage unbidden yielded anything less than a painful result for them. No matter how bored you’ve been, there’s no reason to believe that the rules have changed, even if the lines between stars and their admirers have blurred a bunch in the “always online” social media era.

Meanwhile, Lil Baby can probably just feel relieved that security handled the situation and that it wasn’t a case of fans throwing things onstage. Another infant-monikered rapper had to dodge a “funky-ass Adidas” at Rolling Loud — although that became the least of DaBaby’s worries considering what followed.

Check out the video above.