Category: News

Almost five years after his last appearance, Nick Jonas is returning to the Saturday Night Live stage in an upcoming episode. On February 27, the singer will serve as both the host as the musical guest for the show. Jonas shared the news in a post on Twitter where he wrote, “A dream come true. Let’s get it @nbcsnl!!”

This will be the second time the singer appeared on the show as a musical guest, with the first time coming in 2016 after he released his third solo album, Last Year Was Complicated. According to Vulture, Nick will also promote his upcoming “Spaceman” single, which arrives two days before the episode.

The song will be the singer’s first release single since 2018’s “Right Now” with Robin Schulz. It’s unknown if the track will lead to a new album, but if it does, it will be his first full-length effort since Last Year Was Complicated. The lengthy break between solo albums can be credited to the Jonas Brothers reunion in 2019, which resulted in their Happiness Begins project. The group later promised their sixth album would arrive “sooner thank you might think.” Nick also appeared on season 18 of The Voice as a coach and is set to reassume that position on the show’s upcoming twentieth episode.

The announcement from SNL comes after the show revealed Bad Bunny will be the musical guest for their February 20 episode.

Jim Henson’s work with puppets is legendary, and on Saturday people online celebrated some decidedly different Muppet brilliance from Henson’s career. Much like Michelle Pfeiffer’s Batman Returns whip stunt that went viral decades after it was filmed, Henson’s work for a now-defunct Washington coffee brand circulated on social media more than half a century after they aired on TV.

The Wilkins Coffee spots, more than 150 of them in all according to a Muppet Fandom site, were all over Twitter on Saturday. Which would be a nice bit of viral marketing if Wilkins Coffee still existed. The commercials starred two puppets and aired in the late 1950s an early 60s, and they’re extremely short. They all have the same basic plot: Wilkins asks Wontkins something about coffee, Wontkins refuses or says he doesn’t like coffee. And then Wilkins does something brutally violent to his puppet companion as a result.

Sometimes he throws a bomb in his home, or is seen cleaning blood off a sword, presumably after stabbing Wontkins with it. He’s hit by a train. Thrown from a tree. Often, he’s abruptly shot dead. There is often a one-liner that matches the way Wontkins meets his maker. It’s all brutally violent, especially for puppet fare, but its unexpected punch lines are extremely funny. And there are a lot of these commercials. The video above, for example, has 15 minutes of Wilkins terrorizing Wontkins. And as the clips went viral on Twitter, people shared some of their favorites.

A Washington Post story from 2019 sheds a bit more light on the spots that resurfaced and trended on Twitter on Saturday. They were something of a TV revolution, and Wilkins and Wontkins actually became stars in their own right.

As Brian Jay Jones put it in his 2013 biography of Henson: “In Wilkins and Wontkins, Jim had created the kind of silly and endearing characters that were already becoming his trademark — the kind of characters that could even let him get away with being a little dangerous.”

The ads were a hit. Wrote one newspaper critic: “The TV public, weary of looking at such things as gurgling stomach acids at work, took the Wilkins Muppets to heart. No TV commercial ever has known such popularity.”

Wilkins credited the spots with a 300 percent increase in the home sales of its coffee. In 1958, 25,000 pairs of vinyl Wilkins and Wontkins puppets were sold.

It’s a lesson in enduring comedy for sure: ads built for a completely different era of TV where station identification spots were just 10 seconds long. It’s basically Muppet Vine, though extremely quick, and violent. And about six decades later, extremely funny. But it’s also a nice lesson that comedy involving violence and cruel behavior doesn’t necessarily need to be bloody to be brutal. As long as puppets are involved, of course.

Gina Carano has officially posted her way out of the Star Wars universe, and so she has no problem speaking out against Disney’s treatment of her after the company announced she would no longer appear on The Mandalorian.

Carano had been outspoken on social media to say the least, sharing anti-trans, anti-Semitic and anti-mask posts online that drew the ire of Star Wars fans who had issues with the offensive nature of comparing being a conservative in modern America to being Jewish in Nazi Germany. Which it was no surprise to anyone when Carano was officially cut loose by Lucasfilm earlier in the month.

The actress who played Cara Dune on The Mandalorian didn’t say much about her firing immediately afterward, though it was announced she would make a movie with right wing commentator Ben Shapiro. An interview with Shapiro will apparently be released this weekend, and Deadline detailed some of the interview that will appear on Sunday. In it, the implausibly quick-talking host and Carano talk cancel culture, including the claim that the actress was “bullied” by Disney before she was fired.

“I’ve been through so much, and I’ve seen so much now, clearly, of the bullying that’s been taking place, and I saw it before,” the actress will tell Shapiro with whom she has a new movie deal. “I’m not the only one that’s ever been bullied by this company, and I know that so deeply,” she will claim.

She adds: “I could share a story which would turn things around in the media but I can’t because it would sell out a friend…Everyone is afraid of losing their job.”

It’s unclear what story could “turn things around” after Carano has irked fans with some truly troubling statements and a clear unwillingness to apologize, but it’s true she doesn’t have to worry about losing her job. In fact, Carano claimed that she found out her time with Disney was at an end like most others did: on Twitter.

“How I found out was that I looked on the internet, and you know, you check your Twitter and I’m trending and the ‘fire Gina Carano’ hashtag worked.”

But she also says she received an email by accident from a Disney staffer following the social media reaction to her posts.

“They accidentally sent me an email, which was very enlightening, so I knew. I knew they were paying attention. I know there were some people who went to bat for me, but I know that they didn’t win out at the end.”

Carano’s social media activity was called “abhorrent” by Lucasfilm in its statement, and the now-deleted posts were widely condemned online as part of a long series of troubling social media moments for the actress. But Carano cast herself as the victim in the interview, repeating claims of “bullying,” unequal treatment of her social media activity and that “they’ve been watching me like a hawk.” At one point, she used an analogy where she said Disney would “point their guns” at her.

Carano said later that “I’m not going down without a fight,” and that fight appears to be one she will wage with a Shapiro-made movie. Whether she is able to find work beyond the right-wing reaction chamber is unclear right now, but what Carano made obvious in the interview is that she has no plans to stop posting. Even after it cost her the biggest role of her career.

[via Deadline]

Despite the fact that things aren’t exactly going great for the 9-17 Washington Wizards this season, Bradley Beal is very much the type of person who seems to greatly enjoy the fact that he plays professional basketball for a living. At the very least, he’s the kind of player who has brought fans plenty of joy throughout his time in the league.

This doesn’t just mean how he plays or the fact that he does a ton of charity work off the court. Beal is one of the NBA players who oftentimes finds themselves getting meme’d, with the most recent example coming when he crawled under the stands to retrieve a lost ball earlier this week. There have been plenty of examples of guys not loving being included in fans’ meme stashes, but during an interview with Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington, Beal explained that he’s able to laugh at all the times fans have gotten jokes off at pictures of him.

“It’s so funny because I don’t do them on purpose,” Beal said. “Some I do, some I do. But I don’t try to do the faces, you know the Internet is undefeated. So I just try to bring some fun and some light to it but I just try to be me. But my favorite? I don’t know, man, this last one was funny with me under the tarp…I got a kick out of it.”

One thing that seems ripe for getting meme’d is Beal’s reaction to getting fouled. As he told Miller, he’ll bust out “Crime Tape Beal” from time to time after he absorbs a ton of contact.

“If I get clobbered, if I get fouled, aye man, get the white chalk, man,” Beal said while laughing and then sprawling as he sat down.

“You gotta sell it, man,” Beal went on to say. “The refs won’t give it to you, so, you know, it’s like, ‘Oh, man, you just took my soul away.’”

Beal admitted he tries to get an Emmy when he hits the deck, so the next time the Wizards play, be sure to make him getting fouled into something that goes viral, because you’ll be doing him a pretty big favor.

A recent episode of Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go! featured a familiar hip-hop group: De La Soul. The trio composed of Posdnous, Trugoy, and Maseo appeared as their animated selves to fight a battle that most musicians could relate to: The group was tasked with taking down a giant octopus monster who was trying to steal their music. While they accomplished the mission, they didn’t do it without help from the Teen Titans who put their talents to use in order to defeat the monster, but not without freaking out over meeting the legendary rap group.

In some ways the episode is a cartoon representation of the group’s legal battle with their former label, Tommy Boy Records, over the ownership of their catalog prior to their 2004 album, The Grind Date, which includes their classic debut, 3 Feet High And Rising. To this day, the group’s back catalog has not been released on streaming stores of digital media stores. Prior to 2017, their back catalog was owned by Warner Records, but that year, Tommy Boy took over control.

Two years later, De La Soul said their catalog would soon appear on digital services but their dissatisfaction with receiving just 10% of the revenue sparked a renegotiation, one the group said ended in August 2019. However, last February Posdnuos said Tommy Boy “sort of came back to the table, we are looking to sort of get it going.”

You can watch a clip from the episode above.

It’s been a minute since we’ve seen Isaiah Thomas suit up in an NBA game. He last took the floor on Feb. 3, 2020, during his stint with the Washington Wizards, and following a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers that saw him subsequently get waived, Thomas has been sitting on the sideline waiting for a team to call and request his services.

A call did come earlier this month, but it wasn’t a team in the Association. USA Basketball put Thomas on its list of potential players for FIBA AmeriCup qualifying, and on Friday, IT made his debut in a 93-77 win over the Bahamas. Thomas and former NBA journeyman James Nunnally led the way for the U.S. with 19 points, with Thomas going 7-for-15 from the field and 5-for-9 from three.

Thomas was not the only grizzled vet to get some run and have a nice night for the Americans — seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson scored 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Brandon Bass had a double-double off the bench with 12 points and 10 rebounds. After the game, Thomas spoke about his performance and what went through his mind with his return to action.

“It felt great,” Thomas said. “It’s my first time playing in a little over a year. So, you know, I was a little rusty, but it felt amazing to be out there, competing against really good players, and also representing my country. So, I was happy to be out there, it felt good, and most importantly, we got the win and we’ll be back at it tomorrow.”

Next up for Thomas and the United States is a matchup with Mexico on Saturday. The game is scheduled to tip at 5 p.m. EST, and will air on ESPN+. USA Basketball has already qualified for AmeriCup 2022, which will take place next September.

Usually it’s the contestants on Wheel of Fortune making big mistakes that get people talking, but on Friday, it was show host Pat Sajak who made news for his prize round blunder. The longtime host of the syndicated game show accidentally ruined a surprise that usually serves as the highlight of the show, grabbing the prize envelope from the round’s mini-wheel and opening it before the puzzle was even attempted.

You can watch the video from Friday’s show above, but the trouble starts in the final round. A contestant picked a prize card from the E from ‘GAME’ in the bonus round wheel. Sajak actually sort of struggles to pull it from the slot, which perhaps is why he absentmindedly opened the wedge to reveal the prize. Usually, though, that reveal is reserved for until after the puzzle is done, whether it’s won or not.

Sajak seems to almost immediately realize his mistake, though, and quickly closes it and addresses the gaffe.

“I’m not sure why I did that,” he said, laughing and leaning against the mini prize wheel before the round started. “I know what she’s playing for, and you don’t.”

People immediately noticed Sajak’s error, and the show even tweeted out a meme image of the incident on Friday night.

Vanna White later noted that she had never seen Sajak make a mistake like that at the show’s closing credits, and the Wheel host agreed.

“There’s a first time for every mistake,” Sajak said. “Even I’m not perfect. I know that’s shocking news.”

Next month, D Smoke will have the opportunity to take home a Grammy award in the Best Rap Album and Best New Artist categories. The former comes as a result of his Black Habits project, which he released at the top of 2020. With help from Snoop Dogg, Ari Lennox, SiR, and more, the album proved to be a stellar body of work as it was met with positive reviews across the board. A little over a year removed from the album’s release, and weeks after its deluxe reissue, D Smoke stopped by Ebro Darden’s Rap Life Review show on Apple Music to discuss the nominations.

“I appreciate that because, a lot of people think popularity is the determinant factor,” he said in regards to being nominated in the Best Rap Album alongside Royce Da 5’9″, Freddie Gibbs, Nas, and Jay Electronica. “A lot of people determine their success by the numbers. When you got artists on their own dime and their own time that make something happen, that’s worth recognizing.” He added, “It’s artists that stream more than me. It’s artists that have more radio play than me. But if we’re talking about what I put out and the company that I’m amongst, I’m proud to see that list.”

Next, the Inglewood native touched on which one of his Grammy nominations is more important to him. “People ask me, ‘What’s more important, the Best New Artist or the Best Rap Album?’ I’m like, the Best Rap Album, because for the culture, I think it says so much, even to just be considered amongst those names.”

You can watch his full interview with Ebro Darden here.

Back in November, Nav dropped his second album of 2020 with Emergency Tsunami. The joint project with producer Wheezy followed Good Intentions, the second chart-topping project of his career. Now, Nav attempts to breathe new life into Emergency Tsunami with help from Gunna as they both stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform their “Young Wheezy” collaboration. The two rappers delivered the performance aboard a small boat with a backdrop and sound effects that were made to emulate a strong seastorm.

Last year was a very productive period for both Nav and Gunna. In addition to his Good Intentions album, Nav dropped videos for songs that included “Don’t Need Friends” with Lil Baby and “No Debate” with Young Thug. Both were acts that appeared beside Nav on Emergency Tsunami along with Lil Keed and SahBabii. Gunna, on the other hand, was celebrated for his sophomore album, Wunna, which was heralded as one of the best hip-hop releases of 2020. Together, Nav and Gunna found success on Internet Money’s “Lemonade” with Don Toliver, a song that cracked the top-ten of the Billboard singles chart.

On a more recent note, Nav joined Rowdy Rebel for his “Jesse Owens” video while Gunna teamed with Tyla Yaweh and Wiz Khalifa for “All The Smoke.”

You can watch the performance in the video above.

Joel Embiid’s MVP-caliber season reached its high point on Friday night in a 112-105 win over the Chicago Bulls. With Ben Simmons sidelined due to an illness, the big man went for a career-high 50 points in the win, and just for good measure, he pitched in 17 rebounds, five assists, four blocks, and two steals to get the Philadelphia 76ers over the finish line.

It on the short list for the best individual performances that a player has had in the league this season, and during his postgame press conference, one of Embiid’s teammates spoke of him in reverential tones. Tobias Harris explained to the media that Embiid is the kind of player he’ll be bringing up long after his playing career comes to an end.

“It’s an honor, really,” Harris said about playing alongside the big man. “When you see a guy like that on the floor, how dominant he is on the floor, and just his ability to make plays and to score out there. I’ll tell my kids one day I was playing with Joel Embiid. When they ask who’s the best player you played with, I’ll say it’s Joel Embiid, so, it’s an honor to be out there with him on the floor.”

As for Embiid, he explained what he credits his success this season to, and more or less chalked it up to how he — no pun intended — processes the game during his seventh season as a pro.

“It just feels like the game has slowed down for me,” Embiid said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I’ll say the only difference this year from last year is not so much about coaching; it’s more about me being willing to just dominate every single minute I’m on the floor. Last year, I was going through a rough time; it was just not there. And then also the moves that [new Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey] made, adding all that shooting, is also helping a lot.

“But like I said, it’s not about coaching, it’s about me turning a corner and being willing to do it every single night on defense and on offense.”

On the season, Embiid is averaging 29.7 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 32.5 minutes per game for the Eastern Conference-leading Sixers. Earlier this week, Embiid was named an All-Star starter for the fourth season in a row.