Category: News

A couple weeks ago, Nicki Minaj revealed that she had given birth to her first child, but she’s been mostly tight-lipped in terms of info about the baby. While sharing photos of some baby gifts she got the other day, she revealed the child is a boy, but that’s about all the public knows about the child so far. Over the past day, a Minaj fan went viral for sharing a photo of the baby and revealing its name, except the photo and name aren’t real. Minaj herself caught wind of this and she’s pretty disgusted by the stunt.

Sharing the post, Minaj wrote, “116K likes. Not my baby. Not his name. Imagine doing this. Pls delete this person’s child from your page.”

In case Minaj’s denial wasn’t enough, a reverse image search reveals multiple instances of the photo appearing online before that tweet, like in this gallery of “75 Adorable Photos Of Ghanaian Babies” that was published in August.

This afternoon, the fan shared a screenshot revealing Minaj had blocked them on Twitter and wrote, “Omg [crying emojis] ya am deleting my existance.” They also changed their bio to read, “@NICKIMINAJ followed and blocked, it was a harmless joke omg.” They were more apologetic in a subsequent, sharing a message titled “Am sorry” that reads, “OK I made the post as a joke and I never knew how it would go, am really sorry to anyone u offended, I take all the blame and am really sorry to Nicki for offending her, I love you and I hope you can forgive me.”

Both the original tweet and Minaj’s tweet have since been deleted, and Minaj hasn’t addressed the situation further.

While Kanye West campaigns to split the undecided vote and Ice Cube discusses policy with the existing regime, another hip-hop icon wants to try another tack to affect systemic change. Sean “Diddy” Combs announced the launch of his Our Black Party today, telling Charlamagne The God “It’s time for us to have our own Black political party.” Naturally, the interview took place on Combs’ own Revolt TV platform.

Diddy also took the opportunity to walk back comments he made earlier this year about withholding votes from the Democratic candidate Joe Biden, citing the seriousness of the upcoming election’s outcome. “A couple of months ago, I told everybody, ‘Hold their vote hostage,’” he explained.

“It would be irresponsible of me to have us hold our vote hostage but it would also be irresponsible of me to just let this moment go by. The world is watching—and [I’m doing] everything I can to make sure that going forth, that we’re a part of the narrative. That we own our politics.”

To that end, Combs said that he was inspired to start a new political party, reasoning, “If you look at the debates, we’re not even a part of the conversation. We don’t have any political power, we don’t have any political leverage and so we started our Black party with some young, fearless Black activists, elected officials, and I’ve stepped up and put the money behind it.”

He continued to insist that Black voters hold Democratic officials accountable. “We need to get Biden in and hold him accountable,” he tweeted. ” Trump has taken things too far. As Black people, we aren’t even a topic of real discussion. We can no longer stand for doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. That’s insanity! It’s time we unify.”

For more information on Combs’ Our Black Party, check out the org’s website here.

Ever since it was teased back in September, HBO’s Industry has been giving off strong Euphoria meets Succession vibes, and the newest trailer dives deeper into the mystery and sexy intrigue going down between a group of twenty-somethings as they strive to make their mark in the world of high finance. But while some are under the illusion that their hard work and dedication will pay off, others are learning that meritocracy means nothing, and hierarchy is king. The young graduates will also grapple with how far they’re willing to go for the bottom line. From HBO:

Having come to London from New York to join the prestigious Pierpoint & Co., Harper (Myha’la Herrold) will stop at nothing to prove herself the best hire in her graduate class. Harper’s drive intensifies as she finds herself surrounded by people born into privilege, like Yasmin (Marisa Abela) who, despite her background, faces her own challenges. Yasmin has had different expectations placed on her since childhood and is tired of being underestimated professionally.

Naturally, Harper and Yasmin will find themselves up against peers from different backgrounds, including Robert (Harry Lawtey), whose working-class background and belief in meritocracy will leading him to butt heads against the likes of his roommate, Gus, who comes from an old-money family. Then there’s the “doe-eyed Hari” (played by Nabhaan Rizwan) who dresses like a “modern ‘master of the universe’” (an interesting visual) and will stop at nothing to succeed.

The young upstarts will also have to contend with the Managing Directors who may act like mentors, but behind the scenes, they see the ambitious new employees as a direct threat to their power in the company.

Industry premieres November 9 on HBO and HBO Max.

(Via HBO)

Growing up on the Jersey Shore, Carrie Fletcher only saw one image of the pop star in popular media: polite, ladylike, and unquestionably heterosexual. So when she left The X Factor as a contestant to begin her solo career under the moniker Fletcher, the singer thought she had to conform in order to make it big. Now, signed to a major label with a handful of successful releases under her belt, Fletcher tells Honda Backstage that what she really had to change was society’s perception of the perfect pop star.

As a deeply empathic person, Fletcher recalls growing up sheltered. Because she was used to receiving “tough love,” she said she oftentimes had difficulty expressing emotions — and that’s where music came in. Fletcher had been singing since she was 5 years old. But it wasn’t until she began writing her own music that Fletcher found her authentic voice and was able to see the power in her identity. “I remember having these thoughts of, ‘I want to write about my identity.’ But how does that fit into being a pop star?” she told Honda Backstage.

Fletcher penned her 2016 hit single “Wasted Youth” as a reflection on falling in love with a woman for the first time. Despite pushback from critics who told her that there’s “not a queer Taylor Swift,” the single soared to success, earned her a number of accolades, and confirmed what she already knew: In order to find true success, Fletcher had to silence critics and instead listen to her intuition. As she continues to work on new music, Fletcher strives to be a role model for LGBTQ and marginalized fans who are similarly struggling to find their own voice.

Watch Fletcher chart her rise from X Factor contestant to breakout pop star in an interview with Honda Backstage above.

Bay Area rapper Rexx Life Raj has been preparing to release the follow-up to his popular 2018 EP California Poppy for some time and today, he kicks off the release cycle in earnest with the new single, “Tesla In A Pandemic.” The sincere song is accompanied by a video that perfectly mirrors the vibe of the track, juxtaposing near-empty Bay roads with Raj’s mid-pandemic purchase as he cruises along enjoying his new electric automobile.

Raj’s releases this year have tread similar topical territory, as his June single “Stimulus Check” touched on the ongoing crisis as well, giving financial lessons to listeners. Meanwhile, he also soundtracked the NBA bubble alongside G-Eazy with “Bounce Back,” which bookended broadcasts on ESPN including SportsCenter and First Take. Raj also contributed to the civic-minded EMPIRE Presents: Voices For Change Vol. 1 compilation, collaborating with fellow long-locked lyricist D Smoke on “Optimistic.”

“I believe in utilizing my platform to support causes that strive for positive change and growth,” Raj said of that collaboration. “When my Empire family asked me to contribute my artistry to be a part of this project, I knew ‘Optimistic’ would be a perfect addition of hope and encouragement. I’m honored to be aligned with such a meaningful project and in the company of my peers and colleagues, who all believe in supporting something larger than ourselves.”

California Poppy 2 is coming soon.

Watch Rexx Life Raj’s “Tesla In A Pandemic” video above.

This election cycle somehow feels even more exhausting than 2016 did, and Fox and Friends is feeling it, too. The morning show of President Trump’s favorite channel has been taking an interesting turn lately, too, with Steve Doocy going rogue and pushing back at Trump’s claim that he’d call into the show “every week.” That move rattled co-host Brian Kilmeade, but he also soon followed course by blasting Trump for botching “the biggest layup in American history” when he chose not to condemn white supremacy during the first debate. And on Friday morning, the three hosts — Doocy, Kilmeade, and Ainsley Earhardt — sat almost dead-eyed as Trump surrogate/personal attorney Rudy Giuliani wildly ranted about a Hunter Biden conspiracy that has shown no basis in fact.

You can watch the full clip at Mediaite, and oh boy, what a spectacle. By the end, Steve Doocy couldn’t wait to get the guy off the air. “Mr. Mayor, you brought up a lot of allegations we look forward into looking into them more,” Doocy said while waving Giuliani away, but Rudy did not go quietly into the morning sun.

Rudy has embraced many conspiracies, and Washington Post recently published an illuminating report about U.S. officials sounding the alarm to the White House about Rudy being targeted by Russian intelligence sources who were planting disinformation for him to pass onto Trump. Rudy believes that people care about Hunter Biden and alleged emails — a story that remains entirely unverified regarding some (unproven) Ukraine connection. Yet Rudy will not stop until the Fox News audience believes him. Steve Doocy, though? He’s not feeling it. Hopefully, they don’t ask Rudy to come back on the show because having him as a morning wake-up to viewers isn’t the best look.

If you have never seen The Masked Singer, the basic gist is that celebrities dress up in fun costumes and have their voices, save for their singing voice, disguised, which leads to a panel of other celebs having to guess who they are based solely on their singing voice and context clues given in little video packages. It is a very silly concept for a show, but it’s one that works out surprisingly well, as evidenced by the time Victor Oladipo went on it and absolutely brought the house down with, among other songs, a performance of John Legend’s “Ordinary People.”

This year’s The Masked Singer is in full swing, and earlier this week, we learned that someone else from the world of sports appeared on the show this season. As you’ve read in the title, it was former USC and NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez, who was eliminated earlier this week following two performances. Together, let us go through the two data points that were provided before he — dressed up in a Baby Alien costume — got eliminated.

Now, outside of the clues about being good at a job in New York — which, to be fair, could mean being the former quarterback of the Jets or, like, someone who makes really sensational pizza — there’s not a ton in here that indicates it’s him, although he did, of course, appear on stage at the Tony’s once. As for the performance, you can certainly hear it’s Sanchez’s voice once you’re aware it’s him, but regardless, this is a very solid take on George Michael’s “Faith.” Anyway, he was safe; the panelists guessed Ralph Macchio, David Schwimmer, and Freddie Prinze Jr.; and later in the episode, Busta Rhymes and Mickey Rourke got bounced.

But in true Jets fashion, it became obvious that aspirations of winning it all would not last more than two weeks. Behold:

Some decent clues here — charity work, a hot dog, Sanchez was once the victim of a crooked broker taking millions — and put forth a decent rendition of “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons. Joel McHale said the words “football player,” which was quite the coincidence, and they got an extra clue via a childhood clue: a firetruck, as Sanchez’s dad is a fire captain in California. The panelists were … all over the place, guessing Eric Bana, Jeff Dunham, Taylor Lautner.

Ultimately, though, he was eliminated, and everyone seemed to be caught way off guard by it being Sanchez, as no one came to even suspect an athlete.

Kudos to Sanchez for fooling everyone, showing off the pipes, and apparently learning a thing or two about puppetry in the process. Hopefully we get a new Jets quarterback on this every season, because I want to hear Chad Pennington sing.

The Milwaukee Bucks were one of the biggest disappointments of the Orlando Bubble. Widely expected to come out of the East, they failed to make it out of the second round after being roundly dispatched in five games by a hungrier Heat team. In the West, the Clippers were part of a similar script.

The expectation was that we’d at least get to see an all-L.A. showdown in the conference finals, with many predicting the Clippers to emerge on top. Of course, that didn’t happen, and the Clippers were sent into the offseason searching for answers about what went wrong and how to fix it.

They started with the team and Doc Rivers parting ways, an inevitable outcome after Rivers’ postseason failings during his tenure in Los Angeles, but that might mask underlying issues within the organization, namely regarding one of its star players.

Via Jovan Buha and Joe Vardon of The Athletic:

In Los Angeles, there is an unquestioned, A-1 superstar in Leonard. His presence both instantly made the Clippers a title contender and also eventually ruffled the feathers of some teammates because of the preferential treatment showed to him from top to bottom.

Players like Beverley, Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams — Clippers bedrocks before the arrival of Leonard and George — bristled when Leonard was permitted to take games off to manage his body and to live in San Diego, which often led to him being late for team flights, league sources said. The team also allowed Leonard to dictate to Rivers when he could be pulled from games, among other things. Lue was on Rivers’ bench for all of this, but the Clippers were Rivers’ show.

Paul George had taken a lot of flak for his brutal performances throughout the playoffs, but when the Clippers needed Kawhi the most in Game 7 against the Nuggets with their season on the line, he was a virtual no-show, scoring just 14 points on 6-for-22 shooting.

It’ll be interesting to see if or how those dynamics change with Tyronn Lue taking over the coaching job on a long-term deal following Rivers’ departure. Lue has certainly had some experience managing egos, as he was able to help get LeBron, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love all on the same page during their title run in 2016.

A big part of Lue’s success was his ability to push back against LeBron and demand more of his superstar. He’ll need to replicate some of that in his new position in L.A. with the team’s stars if he wants to help take the Clippers to un-reached heights. How they respond to that remains to be seen.

(Via The Athletic)

As part of his continued fight against Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitism, Sacha Baron Cohen reportedly broke tradition during the making of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and (through representatives) revealed his Borat gag (and true identity) to Judith Dim Evans shortly after filming a scene with her. Evans was a Holocaust survivor, and out of reverence to her experience, Cohen wanted to make it clear to the woman what his intentions are with the film. Via Deadline’s Mike Fleming:

Baron Cohen dedicates the movie to Evans, who died after filming. I’m told that he for the first time while making one of his movies — where most everyone but him is an unwitting participant — out of respect he had someone tell Evans and the friend who shares the scene with her that Baron Cohen himself is Jewish and playing an ignorant character as a means of Holocaust education, by featuring a Holocaust survivor who ends up challenging the anti-Semite by charmingly telling her own story. The filmmakers separately helped other family members of Dim Evans to create a website in her honor, and I’ve heard that Baron Cohen and Amazon Prime created a way through its X-Ray bonus content for viewers of the film to hear Evans tell the story of what happened to her family during WWII.

However, Evans’ estate has filed a lawsuit in Georgia against Cohen and the makers of the Borat sequel. The suit alleges that Evans scene was filmed to “mock the Holocaust and Jewish culture.” Further, Deadline reports that there is actually footage of Cohen breaking character and revealing the artifice of Borat to Evans, who was well aware of the gag after they talked. The actor has also been praised by the Anti Defamation League for his “evangelism” and “follow through” on holding social media platforms for allowing Holocaust deniers to spread their propaganda.

(Via Deadline)

It’s pretty remarkable what Bruce Springsteen is doing. In what, let’s call, the latter half of his career, he’s just putting it all out there. For decades Springsteen has had one of the most managed public images of any celebrity on the planet and now he’s opening up to his fans about his most inner demons. At least, as he points out, to the point it doesn’t hurt anyone else in the process. Over the last three years, since his last tour with the E Street Band, he’s written a devilishly entertaining biography; converted that into a sold out run on Broadway, then co-directed a film based on his solo album, Western Stars, where he digs even deeper into the myth that is Bruce Springsteen. It’s as if, once he’s not around to tell his tales anymore (which we all assume will be many, many years from now, the only person he’s going to allow to deconstruct Bruce Springsteen is Bruce Springsteen.

Letter to You, directed by Thom Zimny (who has worked on numerous Springsteen projects, including co-directing Western Stars) is the new documentary detailing Springsteen’s recording sessions with the E Street Band for their upcoming album of the same name. If you’ve seen Western Stars, Letter to You works almost as a direct sequel. The film is filled with imagery of the E-Street band recording their new album, interlaced with images of snowy landscapes while Springsteen recites a poetic voiceover.

Filmed at Springsteen’s home recording studio at his ranch in New Jersey (which I will never not take an opportunity to mention I got to see with my own eyes about a year ago), the film depicts the reunion of the E Street Band after a hiatus of a few years, recording their album together for the first time since Born in the U.S.A.. (On all of Springsteen’s albums since then, even the albums designated as “E Street” albums as opposed to solo, from what I understand, they were basically mixed together in parts as opposed to the entire band playing together in unison. Which always made for more of a “produced” product than the legendary concert experience.) Which results in an album that comes closest to what the concerts are like. In the past, I’d listen to a new Springsteen album and wonder what it would sound like live in the upcoming tour. Well, here we are hearing almost exactly what it will sound like. (Or, sadly, would have sounded like.)

Here’s where the Western Stars and Letter to You films really overlap: Springsteen didn’t want to tour to promote Western Stars, instead waiting to gear up for an E Street Band tour that was to kick off in 2020 (their first since 2016). So to promote Western Stars, Bruce invited over some friends and performed a concert in a barn on his property, filmed it, and turned that into a both rocking and haunting experience. Letter to You was supposed to serve as kind of the kickoff to the tour that would have most likely encompassed the next year or so. But, the pandemic changed all that and now, at least for the time being, Letter to You will serve as the only source of a live performance we are going to get. The whole endeavor kind of seems fortunate now.

What a rollicking album. As I watched this early screener (which will debut on Apple TV on Oct 23rd) it hit me this was the first time I was hearing the new album in its entirety (other than the first two songs released). Because when the band is recording, we hear the songs in their entirety. It’s basically a concert film – outside of Bruce’s voiceover there are no interviews – only the finished product is the recorded song. Followed by the members of the band, with the snow falling just outside, downing a shot after each successful recording. (The album was made over the course of a few days, but the film kind of makes you think they all must be stinking drunk considering all the shots they down. In reality, I assume it was just one shot a day.) A particular highlight is when the band records two of Bruce’s somewhat “lost” rarities from 1972, “If I was the Priest” and “Song for Orphans,” here recorded with the full band for the first time. It’s pretty funny to watch 2020 Bruce be moth impressed and mystified by his younger self in the sheer number of how many different words he used to use. (If you’ve never listened to Greetings From Asbury Park, it’s quite a whirlwind of lyrics. He joked that, at the time, he was warned the English language would run out.

Again, what Springsteen is doing is a gift. He’s calling it his conversation with his fans. (For me, a year ago, this was literally true. Again, I’ll mention this any chance I ever get.) His persona has never been “mysterious,” even though, in retrospect, it kind of was. At least, after his book came out, there was a whole heck of a lot we didn’t know about Springsteen. And at the time, that was by design. But he’s now laying all of it on the table. (Or most of it, at least.) This might just be the most interesting part of his career. And Letter to You is another worthy segment of this “conversation” Springsteen is having with his fans. And, honestly, I hope this conversation never ends.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.