Category: News

James Harden wants out of Houston, and according to reports, four teams are on his list of places where he’d like to go. The Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers have been known for some time, and recently, it was reported that Harden expanded his list to include the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat.

All of these spots would be interesting to one extent or another, but Miami is particularly curious, because they have been viewed as a team that’s trying to maintain as much flexibility as possible for the 2021 offseason, which is expected to have a loaded offseason class. Players like Harden don’t come available all that often, though, and according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the former MVP’s interest in Miami is reciprocated.

The Heat would have interest in Harden if the Rockets decide to trade him, according to the source. At this point, Houston has displayed no particular interest in granting his trade request.

Mapping out a package for Harden from Miami isn’t too hard, at least in terms of identifying a headliner. It stands to reason that the Heat would have to include 20-year-old breakout star Tyler Herro, and although there had been reports that the former Kentucky sharpshooter would not be included in any deal, Jackson says that’s not the case.

But the source disputed any suggestion that Heat guard Tyler Herro would be untouchable in such a deal. Though the Heat loves Herro, the source advised against any conclusion that he wouldn’t be made available in a Harden deal if serious talks eventually happen. He would be in play.

The rest of a deal is a little tricker, and depending on what other teams could offer up, there’s a chance Miami just does not have the pieces — both in terms of players and future draft picks — to pull this off. But if they decide to get in on the fun, it appears that Herro would be put on the table.

The Handmaid’s Tale is coming back with a fourth season on Hulu that has already been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this week brought news that there will also be a Season 5. But apparently that’s a whole lot more clear than what actually will happen to the characters on the show and the fraught fictional world they inhabit.

Showrunner and creator Bruce Miller told The Hollywood Reporter on the heels of Hulu’s announcement of a fifth season of the show that getting back to filming amid the pandemic, though things are decidedly different. Miller said the script has changed, and the scope of what the show can do with filming along with other factors has impacted what will actually happen on the show.

“We’re still shooting, kind of in the middle of the season,” says Miller. “We planned out the whole season, started filming, and then had to stop … everything from locations, to number of people in scenes, to traveling actors, all that stuff had a huge impact on our story, just because it has to, and honestly, we’re in a situation where we have to make do with what we can get our hands on. In the end, it was surmountable, and I think we’re making an excellent show, and I’m really proud of what we’re doing, but it was hard, and it continues to be hard.”

Though Miller did not commit to whether this would be the end of the show after Season 5, he did admit he had “very different ideas before the pandemic” and the show would likely “reassess” where it’s headed after Season 4 is done. Which also means, well, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen to Gilead and June and the rest of the characters. Which is why he wouldn’t recommend thinking too much about it yourselves while you wait.

“I know where I am in the story, and I do feel like we’re kind of reaching kind of a pivot point, but whether that’s the end or not, I don’t know,” Miller tells The Hollywood Reporter in an exclusive first interview about the season five renewal. “It just feels like it’s a good time to reassess what you were thinking, just because the story world has opened up because the real world has changed so much.”

Miller said “don’t try to guess at all” when it comes to even what the show’s fourth season will hold, and the full interview has lots of details about Elizabeth Moss directing three episodes and just how different the show will look after the great escape the final episode of Season 3 gave fans. Things are certainly changing in the fictional world Miller has built for TV, and it seems even those in charge of it aren’t sure where things will go next.

[via THR]

Just like they’ve done for many nights this year, Verzuz was prepared to hold another battle on Saturday night, this time between Keyshia Cole and Ashanti. When the matchup between the two songstresses was announced fans of both voiced their excitement on social media, but unfortunately the battle may have to wait as a positive COVID-19 test for Ashanti may put the battle on hold.

The singer shared a message on Instagram that read, “Hey y’all I can’t believe I’m saying this but I testing positive for COVID-19.” She added, “I’m actually down o do the verzuz from my house… we’re trying to figure it all out!!!”

Verzuz has yet to confirm that Saturday’s battle can take place in separate locations due to Ashanti’s positive test. Keyshia and Ashanti’s battle would have occurred early a month after Gucci Mane and Jeezy came together for a Verzuz of their own last month. The battle took place in Atlanta’s Magic City and found the two rappers putting aside their differences to celebrate their music and impact over the last fifteen years. Despite a collection of tense moments that filled the battle, Gucci Mane and Jeezy ended their beef and closed the battle by performing their lone collaboration, “So Icy” together.

In addition to the news on Keyshia and Ashanti, a report arrived last week that the next Verzuz battle would take place between Lil Kim and Foxy Brown. Brown’s brother, Gavin Marchand, revealed the news in a Clubhouse but shortly after Swizz Beatz announced that the battle between the two was unconfirmed.

The latest episode of The Mandalorian gave fans a lot less Baby Yoda Grogu and a lot more wardrobe changes for its titular character. Spoilers ahead if you haven’t streamed it yet, but there was also a sly reference to the Mike Judge cinematic universe that wasn’t quite as viral as a tiny force-sensitive creature, but certainly had fans talking on social media.

The seventh episode of Season 2 had our hero swapping Mandalorian armor for something a bit more Imperial, then actually revealing his face when things got tight on Morak. But it also brought with it the return of Bill Burr, which is apparently as close to Boston as the Star Wars universe will get anytime soon.

Din Djarin and Burr’s Migs Mayfeld get into a tight spot with some Imperial officers on a refinery near the episode’s end, and before they eventually shoot their way out of the predicament Mayfield actually tried to talk his way out by saying they needed to fill out some “TPS reports.” Perhaps that’s a real thing somewhere in the deep well of Star Wars lore, current canon or otherwise. And though it quickly earned a place in the fan-run Wookieepedia, a lot of sharp fans thought it was actually a reference to Mike Judge’s cult classic Office Space.

In the 1999 film starring Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston about committing financial crimes amid the mundanity of corporate life, the film’s protagonist, Peter Gibbons, is hounded by several bosses (including Gary Cole) about an office rule involving TPS reports. The scene is one of the film’s most famous, an example of how dreadfully dull and pedantic the modern workplace can often be. The phrase “TPS reports” has become one of the most enduring jokes from the film in the two decades since its release, which is why many fans were convinced it wasn’t a coincidence, but an Office Space reference, when Burr’s Mayfeld mentioned them.

That meant a lot of fans taking their thoughts, and Mandalorian/Office Space photo edits, to Twitter.

Inevitably, that put Grogu in the office setting answering to Bill Lumburgh.

Some wondered if it was a line Burr ad libbed or something that was actually in the script.

Either way, the TPS report is officially part of Star Wars lore. Hopefully those stuck filling them out use the right cover letter. And maybe got out of that refinery alive after Mando and Migs were done with it.

In just two days, the United States electoral college will officially elect Joe Biden as the country’s 46th president. Despite this, Donald Trump has yet to concede, continuing to claim that this year’s election process was fraudulent. His supporters have stuck by his side. On Saturday, some of them filled into Washington D.C., watching speeches by “Wine Lady” Melissa Carone and Mike Lindell, aka the MyPillow Guy. And then there was pro-Trump rapper Bryson Gray.

Gray took the stage with two other artists beside him to perform “Gun Totin’ Patriot,” off his 2020 album MAGA SZN. The track features lines like “It’s MAGA season, Democrats committin’ treason,” which promote Trump’s agenda and questions a number of philosophies from the Democratic party. Shortly after their performance, a video of Bryson Gray’s set landed on Twitter, leading some to post hilarious reactions to it. HuffPost editor Phil Lewis took things a step further, asking people to quote-tweet the video with “wrong answers only” about the rap group’s name.

“A Tribe Called Q,” “Wu Klux Klan,” “2 Wrong Crew,” and “VotedOutkast” were just some of the names that came up. They are of course variations of A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, 2 Live Crew, and Outkast. Other responses included “‘Yes Massa’ P,” “Public Enema,” “MassaHouse,” “Three fifths Mafia,” and “Westside KKKonection.”

Sarah Fuller made history two weeks back when she made her debut as a member of the Vanderbilt football team. Fuller, a member of the school’s soccer program, joined the football team following a number of absences in the specialists room, and became the first woman to ever appear in a Power 5 football game when she booted a kickoff against Missouri.

The team did not play last week, and on Saturday, the ‘Dores returned to the field against Tennessee. Early on in the game, Vandy found the end zone when Cam Seals hit Cam Johnson for a touchdown. On the ensuing PAT, Fuller made history once again, taking the field as a member of the PAT unit and booting the ball through the uprights to tie things up at seven.

While Fuller is not the first woman to appear in a college football game, she is the first to do so at the Power 5 level, and you can tell that her teammates were really stoked about her making the PAT. That’s probably because this was a big PAT for Vanderbilt, too, as the Commodores are 0-8 on the season and have the chance to pick up their first win of the year.

Country lost a legend today with the death of Charley Pride at the age of 86, as reported by Variety who confirmed his passing with the public relations firm 2911 Media. Although country music is obviously indebted to Black musicians, the genre has historically been whitewashed — so much so that Charley Pride was the first Black member of the genre’s legendary institution, the Country Music Hall of Fame. Pride was only inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2000, despite racking up incredible accolades and a string of No. 1 hits in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.

Growing up in Mississippi, after severals stint with minor league baseball teams, Pride left that circuit and began cutting records at Memphis’ legendary Sun Studio. Eventually inking a deal with RCA Records, Pride managed to shrug off the R&B distinction generally thrust on Black musicians at that time and began making countrypolitan style hits. He notched almost thirty No. 1 country chart hits and over twenty top-10 country entries, and has been ranked as the No. 3 hit-producing artist of the ’70s, behind Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard.

This past November, Pride performed one of his most famous songs, “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’” at the CMAs, dueting with rising star and fellow Black country musician, Jimmie Allen. Since that appearance, which would sadly be his last, Pride contracted COVID-19 and died from complications related to the virus. He is survived by his wife Rozene, two sons and a daughter.

Dolly Parton is just one of many fellow musicians who are mourning the loss:

Rest in peace to a trailblazer.

Mike Lindell has been all over your TV for years. Well, maybe not your TV. But he’s the MyPillow guy! His company makes what are alleged to be some of the softest pillows imaginable, all for the low, low price of about 40 bucks. But he’s been on television a lot more often recently, and not because he wants to make your life easier. Quite the contrary. He’s a longtime ally of Donald Trump, and when the outgoing president lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, he leaned hard into the many increasingly nonsensical conspiracy theories about said election being rigged, stolen — anything that claims his friend didn’t lose re-election by several million votes.

On Saturday, Washington D.C. was once again overrun by Trump supporters who still refuse to accept his loss. It was a who’s who of people who’ve become famous for spouting nonsense about Trump. There was Melissa Carone, aka Rudy Giuliani’s “wine lady witness.” There was also Lindell. He’s been saying that God will sort this out, that God will help Trump serve another four years. Truly, at this point, after losing dozens and dozens of court cases and repeatedly getting shown the door by even the Republican-leaning Supreme Court, it will take a miracle.

But on Saturday Lindell — whose own state of Minnesota went to Biden by over 7 percentage points — laid out his case for how the election was stolen by… Fox News, apparently?

It’s a dense text, Lindell’s speech, alleging some half-remembered data about how Biden got “1.2 votes for every vote,” while Trump got “.66.” How specific! And therefore how almost certainly true! He said Trump, who received around 74 million votes to Biden’s 81 million, really got “probably 80 million.” There was something about how there were so many Trump votes they “broke the algorithms in the machines.” (“I look at algorithms all day,” he boasted, as proof that he knows what he’s talking about.) There was something about voting officials stopping the counting and then “backfilling” the votes for Biden. “It’s craziness,” Lindell said.

What Lindell is positing would require a vast conspiracy with many players — pretty much everyone who isn’t a Trump supporter, really. He then came for an outlet that’s received a shockingly large amount of scorn by Trumpists: Fox News. The infamously right-leaning news network has been bleeding Trump supporters since Election Night, when its election desk called Arizona for Biden long before other networks called what was eventually certified as a Biden win in the state. But Lindell went farther than most.

“Why do you think Fox declared Arizona with only 14% of the vote in?” Lindell said. “They were in on it. I’m serious. They had to be in on it. You don’t know this stuff.” He said “they” should go to prison “when they are found out.”

Lindell also called out the “Republicans out there that didn’t back this great president and us as a people.” He cited Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona and Brian Kemp of Georgia, saying, “We voted them in. They’ve got to be hiding something.”

Meanwhile, the majority of the GOP has remained silent about the tall and unproven claims made by Lindell and those like him — theories that have turned Parler into such a hive of red hot madness that their users are alleging 2020 election interference by the late Fidel Castro. But if they continue to do nothing, we’ll bet people that like Mike Lindell will eventually listen to reason.

After an historic run of six consecutive live shows, SNL took a bit of a post-election break before returning with a new episode last week. Saturday will mark the second new episode in a row, with Timothée Chalamet doing his maiden voyage as host. But f you’re a big fan of SNL you already know he’s appeared on the show before — or at least been the brunt of many jokes. Ahead of him taking the reins, the show’s social media accounts reminded fans that the cast has had plenty of fun impersonating Chalamet over the years..

There was that time Pete Davidson playing him on a Family Feud sketch. But it was Chloe Fineman, appearing as him teaching Masterclass, who truly nailed the chill vibe the actor emanates.

And it’s not the first time Fineman played the Call Me By Your Name actor either. She has also broken out her Chalamet at about the 2:10 mark of the above sketch about the 2020 Oscars. With the help of a hair flip and some buggy acting, she nailed the collective cast of Little Women before making Colin Jost a bit uncomfortable.

The point is that SNL has certainly had its fun with Chalamet the person before he ever showed up to Studio 8H. So it will certainly be interesting to see what he actually does as host on Saturday night.

It has been quite a year for rising R&B stars Chloe x Halle. The twin sisters released their debut album, Ungodly Hour, earlier this year, and it is widely regarded as one of the best records put out in 2020. There was even a few months this year where I thought it might top my year-end list all together, that’s how great it is! Anyway, the sisters have already been established in the music industry in a big way because none other than Beyonce has been supporting them along the way as a mentor. She signed them to her Parkwood Entertainment label five years ago, so needless to say she’s been instrumental in helping them grow as artists.

Last night Bey made a rare appearance via video to present her proteges with an award for the Billboard Women In Music Event. The pair were up for The Rising Star Award, and though she’s been mostly off the radar during 2020’s chaos aside from her Black Is King release, Beyonce couldn’t let the honor pass by without letting Chloe x Halle know how proud she is of them. “Ladies, I am so so proud of you,” Beyonce said. “You’ve done this with authenticity, with grace, with raw talent, and you managed to shine in every room you enter. And I’ll always love you.”

Not a bad way to kick off the year of your debut album eh? Watch Beyonce’s shout out below.