Category: News

Sarah Cooper has skyrocketed to internet fame with her short, spot on lip-syncs of President Trump. It’s admittedly a strange premise for a comedy bit, but for some reason, it works. Her faces and body language along with the voice of the president just highlights the absurdity of the things he says in a way that even some Trump supporters find hilarious.

And her newest video, “How to second term,” might just be her best.

The material was already there. Sean Hannity’s softball question at the president about what’s at stake if he wins and what his priorities would be for his second term is something anyone running for any office should be 100% prepared to answer at any time. And Trump’s answer was a word salad of epic proportions.

But what makes Cooper’s video so hilarious isn’t just her lip-sync of Trump, but her imitation of Sean Hannity. The Fox News host of his own show, Hannity, has long been one of Trump’s biggest supporters—and Cooper highlighted that fact by basically turning him into a sixth grade girl with a crush on the president. First of all, the air kiss? HA. Second, look for the heart with “Trump” inside it on the paper, then note “Sean Trump” written beneath it. Oh my. That shade is so cold.

Cooper’s video has already been viewed more than 5.5 million times on Twitter alone. Comments range from “I think your Hannity may possibly be funnier than your 45,” to “I have no idea what happened after Hannity’s kiss, because I died.” Even people from other countries are chiming in with appreciation for the subtle genius of Cooper’s humor.

What’s the old saying? We laugh to keep from crying? Thank you for giving us an opportunity to laugh rather than weep, Ms. Cooper. We all need that kind of levity right now.

Last week saw a number of shows pull episodes from online and reruns due to instances of blackface. Among them were 30 Rock, which yanked four episodes, Scrubs, which had three, and The Office, which had one. Now Community joins the group: As per Deadline, one episode of the cult comedy has been removed from Netflix and Hulu.

The episode in question is Season 2’s “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,” in which the gang play the titular game, with Abed as Dungeon Master. The offending scene involves Ken Jeong’s Ben Chang, who shows up to the session wearing black make-up and a white wig. Yvette Nicole Brown’s Shirley asks the group, “So, we’re just going to ignore that hate crime, huh?”, to which Ben responds, “I’m a dark elf or a drow,” and that he’s trying to get into the mind of his character, Brutalitops the Magician. He continues to play the game in blackface until he’s eliminated.

So, uh, that’s a lot of blackface, not all that long ago and often located on NBC! Dan Harmon, the show’s creator, has yet to publicly address the episode’s racially charged content, although The Office creator Greg Daniels did speak up when the episode of his show was excised, apologizing by saying, “Blackface is unacceptable and making the point so graphically is hurtful and wrong. I am sorry for the pain that caused.”

(Via Deadline)

Months after her latest album Manic was released, Halsey teamed up with producer Marshmello to release their cheery collaboration, “Be Kind.” Filled with lively production, the track finds the musician making a lifelong commitment to her partner. Just a month after sharing that song, the two teamed up once again to deliver a video for the song.

The video is led by a graceful dance routine performed by Halsey herself. Starting in what appears to be a nearly-empty industrial building, she effortless moves from wall to wall before she magically transitions to a fictional outdoor park. Surrounded by cherry blossoms that sway freely in the air, Halsey continues her routine before snapping back to reality, only to see a robot of sorts, controlled by Marshmello, examining her.

After the video premiere, Halsey hopped onto Twitter to chat with some fans. There, she revealed that the video drew inspiration from Japan’s Sakura season, which is the period of time, roughly between March 20 and April 14, when cherry blossoms bloom in Kyoto. She also talked about how the video came to be, promising to share more with fans at a later date.

“I’ll tell u guys more about it soon but this video was wild to create,” Halsey said. “Learning choreo on FaceTime, then I broke my ankle, we used a Bolt camera so it was all programmed beforehand so there wasn’t a human physically operating it, the team that rendered the worlds. It was wild!”

You can watch “Be Kind” video above.

As he has done time and time again, Kanye West shook the internet Friday with a plethora of announcements, from a new 10-year partnership between Gap and his Yeezy Supply brand to a new animated Kids See Ghost cartoon with Kid Cudi. The new announcements and releases were all a part of his “West Day Ever,” and while the bulk of the news arrived during the day on Friday, he saved another release for that evening: the release of his once-shelved “Spaceship” video.

The “Spaceship” video, which dates back to 2004, finds Kanye ironically working as a Gap employee. Giving the bare minimum to his retail job, to the disappointment of his manager, Kanye constantly daydreams about a better life that does not involve folding a stack of jeans for minimum wage. Also featured on the song are GLC and Consequence. The former plays another Gap employee, who spends much of his time in the break room with a coworker, while the latter plays a customer who also reminisces about his struggle, all while another female customer gets taken out of the store for failed attempt at theft.

It was also revealed that Kanye’s upcoming album, Jesus Is King II, which is produced by Dr. Dre, would arrive in the near future. Soon after a video emerged, via Snoop Dogg, of West and Dr. Dre working on the album in a studio. “Kanye West got some hot sh*t. Only I can get exclusive footage. Shut up,” Snoop said in the video. “Kanye West got some hot sh*t. It’s finna come out. Dr. Dre touched it.”

You can watch the “Spaceship” video here.

Friday was a huge day for the NBA’s proposed restart in Orlando. The league and its Players Association agreed on the terms for the bubble league at Disney World, and later in the day, the schedule for the remainder of the “regular season” was released. It’s a packed slate of games, with the potential for seven games to take place in a single day with how the schedule is laid out.

The whole situation is extremely unique, but fortunately for those who are itching to watch some basketball, a whole host of games will take place on television. Twenty games will take place on ESPN or ABC, 18 will be broadcast on TNT, and 14 tilts will air on NBA TV. Every day from July 30 until August 14 is slated to have at least two televised games, with as many as four games on TV a day for much of that stretch.

Here is how the television schedule will play out once things tip off at the end of next month. (Note: All times EST)

July 30
Jazz vs. Pelicans, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Clippers vs. Lakers, 9:00 p.m., TNT

July 31
Grizzlies vs. Blazers, 4:00 p.m. NBA TV
Celtics vs. Bucks, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Rockets vs. Mavericks, 9:00 p.m., ESPN

Aug. 1
Heat vs. Nuggets, 1:00 p.m., ESPN
Jazz vs. Thunder, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Pelicans vs. Clippers, 6:00 p.m., ESPN
Lakers vs. Raptors, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Aug. 2
Blazers vs. Celtics, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Kings vs. Magic, 6:00 p.m., NBA TV
Bucks vs. Rockets, 8:30 p.m., ABC

Aug. 3
Raptors vs. Heat, 1:30 p.m., NBA TV
Nuggets vs. Thunder, 4:00 p.m., NBA TV
Grizzlies vs. Pelicans, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Lakers vs. Jazz, 9:00 p.m., ESPN

Aug. 4
Nets vs. Bucks, 1:30 p.m., NBA TV
Suns vs. Clippers, 4:00 p.m., NBA TV
Celtics vs. Heat, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Rockets vs. Blazers, 9:00 p.m., TNT

Aug. 5
Sixers vs. Wizards, 4:00 p.m., NBA TV
Thunder vs. Lakers, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Nets vs. Celtics, 9:00 p.m., ESPN

Aug. 6
Pelicans vs. Kings, 1:30 p.m., NBA TV
Heat vs. Bucks, 4 p.m., TNT
Clippers vs. Mavericks, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Lakers vs. Rockets, 9:00 p.m., TNT

Aug. 7
Thunder vs. Grizzlies, 4:00 p.m., NBA TV
Magic vs. Sixers, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Celtics vs. Raptors, 9:00 p.m., TNT

Aug. 8
Clippers vs. Blazers, 1 p.m., TNT
Jazz vs. Nuggets, 3:30 p.m., TNT
Lakers vs. Pavers, 6:00 p.m., TNT
Bucks vs. Mavericks, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Aug. 9
Spurs vs. Pelicans, 3:00 p.m., ABC
Sixers vs. Blazers, 6:30 p.m., NBA TV
Nets vs. Clippers, 9:00 p.m., NBA TV

Aug. 10
Mavericks vs. Jazz, 3:00 p.m., NBA TV
Raptors vs. Bucks, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Nuggets vs. Lakers, 9:00 p.m., TNT

Aug. 11
Rockets vs. Spurs, 2:00 p.m., NBA TV
Celtics vs. Grizzlies, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Pelicans vs. Kings, 9:00 p.m., TNT

Aug. 12
Pacers vs. Rockets, 4:00 p.m., NBA TV
Raptors vs. Sixers, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Clippers vs. Nuggets, 9:00 p.m., ESPN

There are still six more games that need to be all sorted out: TNT will air three games on August 13 at 4, 6:30, and 9 p.m., with ESPN following the same schedule a day later. It is unclear which teams will fill those slots. It is also unclear whether the untelevised games will appear on NBA League Pass.

Earlier this year, YG announced that his 4Hunnid Records imprint signed a joint-deal with Epic Records. In addition to the joint venture, YG announced the label’s first signing since the partnership, namely Los Angeles’ Day Sulan. Following her “Mascara” release from this past March, Sulan is back with new music, this time with help from Rubi Rose.

Called “Big,” it’s her second release on 4Hunnid, and it comes with a music video. In it, Sulan and Rose find themselves poolside in the summer heat of Los Angeles, laughing off their haters and their distaste towards two women who are minding their own business and seemingly thriving in their own lives. The ladies eventually move from the pool and into a flashy car, where they hang out of the window and continue to douse their listeners with boastful bars. All in all the song presents Sulan and Rose moving as one and showing each other support.

Day Sulan first gained the attention of the public after landing a plum appearance on “Her Story” off of YG’s 2019 album 4Real 4Real. After the collaboration, her relationship with YG began to grow, resulting in her eventual signing.

You can watch the video for “Big” above.

For well over a year, the only new music Blackpink dropped was via their guest appearance on Lady Gaga’s recent Chromtica album. Before then, the group’s most recent release came in April 2019, namely “Kill This Love.” The Korean group has a new album on the way, and on Friday they released their new single, “How You Like That,” which they played on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Contrary to the other at-home performances that have premiere on The Tonight Show, Blackpink followed in the footsteps of Christine And The Queens’ recent performance, taking over the stage of an empty venue for a fiery set. Backed by flashing lights and the occasional burst of fire, the group danced their way through the performance before being joined by a group of back-up dancers.

Their performance arrived as the group set a YouTube record for the biggest video premiere, with 1.65 million people tuning in to watch the music video for “How You Like That.” The video currently has nearly 93.5 million views. The group also premiered their new official Twitter page and, at the time of this post, they had tallied 648,000 followers with just four tweets.

You can watch the performance in the video above.

Over the last week, in the wake of a newly energized focus on racial issues across the country, a number of white actors have dropped out of voicing non-white characters on animated shows. Jenny Slate quit voicing Missy on Big Mouth while Kristen Bell stepped down as Molly on Central Park; both roles are biracial, and they will be recast with black performers. For others, it’s too late. Take Alison Brie. She voiced Diane Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American, on BoJack Horseman, which concluded its six season run earlier this year. Now, as caught by ComicBook.com, she’s saying she regrets taking the role.

“In hindsight, I wish that I didn’t voice the character of Diane Nguyen,” the actress wrote in an Instagram post. She continued:

“I now understand that people of color, should always voice people of color. We missed a great opportunity to represent the Vietnamese-American community accurately and respectfully, and for that I am truly sorry. I applaud all those who stepped away from their voiceover roles in recent days. I have learned a lot from them.”

On BoJack Horseman, Diane served as, alternately, a ghost writer, a love interest, an enemy, and a close friend to the show’s washed-up, alcoholic, struggling sentient horse, even as she battled her own demons and issues. Creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg has spoken about his regrets over casting a white performer for voice a Vietnamese-American, and he did so again last week over a Twitter thread.

“In the first few seasons of BoJack, I was asked about the casting of Diane a few times on twitter and reddit but I evaded the question, mostly because my own understanding of the issue was evolving (it still is!) and I didn’t want to give a defensive or half-thought-out answer,” he wrote. He said that for a while he thought he could rationalize it, but “the more I thought about it (and listened to other people) the more I felt like it WASN’T okay.”

He continued:

“Even in the small ways we wrote to Diane’s experience as a woman of color, or more specifically an Asian woman, we rarely got specific enough to think about what it meant to be SPECIFICALLY VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN and that was a huge (racist!) error on my part. … The intention behind the character is I wanted to write AWAY from stereotypes and create an Asian American character who wasn’t defined solely by her race. But I went too far in the other direction. We are all defined SOMEWHAT by our race! Of course we are! It is part of us!”

(Via ComicBook.com)

For months, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, once due July 17, was being held up as the movie that would welcome the masses back to movie theaters, which had been closed since mid-March due to the rampaging pandemic. When that was bumped to month’s end, the Mulan remake took its place. (Both have since moved to August.) But the actual film that was going to be the first major new movie to hit theaters was Unhinged, a Russell Crowe road rage drama due on July 12. Now, as per The Hollywood Reporter, that, too, has been delayed.

Mind you, it may still prove to be the first new major release in months. The film, in which a, well, unhinged, Crowe stalks a woman (Caren Pistorius) who enraged him on the road, is optimistically rescheduling only a few weeks, to July 31 — i.e., what was once Tenet’s second date before it bumped itself to August 12.

Will any of this happen? Who knows! COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in the last week, in California and in the South, particularly in places that had been loosening reopening rules and where denizens were so mad about wearing masks that many compared them to the zany residents of Parks and Recreation’s Pawnee. In other words, if you’d like to see Russell Crowe succumb to road rage, wear a mask.

(Via THR)

While the NBA season is set to resume play next month in Orlando, the WNBA is likewise preparing to start its 2020 season in a similar bubble scenario with an abbreviated 22-game slate at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida at the end of July. The season was originally set to get underway on May 15, but the COVID-19 pandemic put everything on hold.

As with the NBA, several high-profile WNBA players are also opting against taking the court this summer, for a variety of reasons. Earlier this week, Mystics stars Natasha Cloud And LaToya Sanders announced that they were skipping the 2020 season. While Cloud said she made her decision so that she could continue the fight for social justice, Sanders cited health concerns as her reason for opting out.

On Friday, two more players added their names to the list of those not participating, with L.A. Sparks teammates Chiney Ogwumike and Kristi Toliver announcing that they plan to sit out the coming season, both pointing to health and safety as the primary factors in that decision.

Via Doug Feinberg of The Times Union:

“If you know me, you know that I have overcome some of the biggest challenges an athlete can face on the court,” Ogwumike said. “My previous injuries have given me strength and built character, but unfortunately they require me to be careful with my preparation leading up into a season,”

***

“Though I want very much to compete with my team, to be a leader and show up for them, I am not comfortable with the risk to my physical health – short-term and long-term – given the many unknowns of COVID-19 and the risk of injury,” Toliver said. “For me, the right decision under the circumstances is to opt out for the year.”

Friday marked the league’s deadline to opt out of the coming season in Florida, with Ogwumike and Toliver being the latest names added to the list. Renee Montgomery of the Atlanta Dream was among the first to opt out, saying that she planned to use her time to focus on social justice reform, while Jonquel Jones is sitting out due to the ongoing pandemic.

The WNBA will play its compressed 22-game season over the course of two months and proceed with its normal postseason format after that, with the Finals estimated to conclude sometime in early October.

(The Times Union)