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Many great comedians have sat at the helm of the “Weekend Update” desk on “Saturday Night Live” over the show’s 48 seasons. Chevy Chase was known for his cool deadpan. Dennis Miller was the hip intellectual. Norm Macdonald will go down in history for his endless OJ jokes that eventually got him removed from the desk. Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon were a great double act that was a fun mix of high-brow and low-brow humor.

The current anchors, Michael Che and Colin Jost, will probably best be known for making fun of each other. Over the years, one of the duo’s signature bits has been writing jokes for each other and reading them live for the first time. It seems like every time they do that bit, Che finds a new way to embarrass Jost.

On Saturday, April 1, Che was at it again, this time with a brutal April Fool’s prank where he secretly asked the audience not to laugh at any of Jost’s jokes.

Che and Jost opened their segment with jokes about the indictment of former president Donald Trump, but the audience laughed much harder at Che than at Jost. A few minutes into the bit, Jost made a joke at his own expense and it received only a smattering of laughter.

“At this point, it feels like even pro-Trump people have moved on,” Jost said, referring to the trial before a superimposed image of him wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and a sign that read, “LET OUR BOY GO!” appeared on the screen.

The gag was met with an audience member screaming, “You stink!” The heckle was the last straw for Jost, who hung his head in his hand in shame. At that point, Che gave up the gag.

“I told them not to laugh at you for April Fools,'” Che told Jost, and the two couldn’t keep it together. “That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever done to me. I’m covered in sweat,” Jost told Che through fits of laughter.

“I was truly like, ‘Am I not mic’d?’ And then I was like, ‘Oh, I just suck,” Jost joked.

The crowd broke out in applause for Jost, but he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of acknowledging them after they refused to laugh at his jokes. “No, no! Don’t even dare! Don’t you even dare try now.”

When it was Jost’s turn to tell his next joke, a bit about Florida Ron DeSantis, Che said, “They’ll probably laugh at this next one.” And the audience did.

The episode was hosted by Abbot Elementary’s Quinta Brunson, who shined in “Traffic Altercation,” a sketch where she and Mikey Day played motorists screaming at each other in traffic. The crux of the bit was that they couldn’t hear what each other was saying, so they had to argue using hand signals.

This article originally appeared on 4.3.23

There’s a chance Donald Trump could score a dubious record: becoming the first convicted felon to represent a major political party at a national election. Congrats? He apparently knows it, too, which is why he’s planning on ramping up one of his more recent tricks: Acting like a petulant child in courtrooms then strolling outside to rant and rave to waiting reporters.

Per Axios, Trump isn’t so optimistic about his upcoming Jan. 6 case, in which he’s on trial for his actions leading up to and including the Capitol riot. That said, even if found guilty, he thinks he could still win the White House. Every time he’s been indicted — and remember, it happened four times last year — instead of his polling going down it’s gone up. As such, he figures if he continues to paint himself as a victim of political persecution, namely by being even more of a nuisance in court, he’ll be able to conquer Joe Biden.

Or will he? There’s a chance this could backfire. For one thing, he could wind up in prison — though that, some of his cronies have argued, doesn’t mean he can’t still run for president, or even do the job from the clink.

For another, that could alienate swing voters, who he might need in a tight race. A recent poll found that more than half of registered voters would be unwilling to vote for Trump if he was convicted and/or jailed.

The Jan. 6 trial was originally scheduled to start on March 4, but it was recently dropped from the public court calendar. It might be rescheduled for spring or summer, though the closer it gets to Election Day, the less likely it is to happen at all. But when/if it does, expect lots of him grumbling or getting snippy like a little brat.

(Via Axios)

Don’t make Donald Trump mad because he might throw things. Among the many shocking claims made by Cassidy Hutchinson were that the former president got ketchup everywhere as the Jan. 6 riot was unfolding. You know what else makes him get throwy? Breaking for a free lunch at the resort in which he now lives.

Per Mediaite, E. Jean Carroll attorney Roberta “Robbie” Kaplan went on the podcast George Conway Explains It All, where she spilled some tea about having to deal with the magnets understander. One story involved going down to Mar-a-Lago, where he got “increasingly irked” during a deposition. At one point Kaplan expressed interest in breaking for lunch. And that’s when he lost it:

And he looked at me and he said, “Why do we have to break for lunch? Let’s just go straight through. This is a waste of my time.”

And I said, well, I’m sorry, I wouldn’t do that. But we have a court reporter, we have biographer. They’re entitled to a lunch break. We have to break for lunch.

And then you could kind of see the the wheels spinning in his brain. You could really almost see it.

And he said, “Well, you’re here at Mar-A-Lago. What do you think you’re gonna do for lunch? Where are you going to get lunch?”.

And so I said to him, well, you know, I raised this question with your attorneys yesterday, sir, and they graciously offered to provide us with lunch.

At which point there was a huge pile of documents, exhibits sitting in front of him. And he took the pile and he just threw it across the table.

It wasn’t the idea of lunch that really set him off. It was the idea, Kaplan said, of his legal team offering her a free lunch at Mar-a-Lago. He didn’t just take his rage out at documents. He also “scolded” his attorney Alina Habba.

“He was so mad at Alina,” Kaplan recalled.

Thing is, after lunch Trump had one of his unpredictable changes of heart. Now, Kaplan said, he was “charming.”

He came back in and he said, well, how’d you like the lunch? And I said, well, sir, I had a banana. You know, I never really eat when I’m taking testimony. And he said, well, I told you, he’s kind of charming. He said, “I told you, I told them to make you really bad sandwiches, but they can’t help themselves here. We have the best sandwiches.”

So the guy with the melting brain who tried to overturn democracy can be charming…after he’s acted like a petulant child. Good to know.

(Via Mediaite)

Drake’s time as a tripod bro has ended, but for good reason. Yesterday (February 2), the “You Broke My Heart” rapper’s It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What? with J. Cole officially kicked off in Tampa, Florida. The two previously shared the stage in Montreal over the summer when Cole temporarily filled in for 21 Savage on the It’s All A Blur Tour’s first installment.

But now, on this run, Cole is a permanent fixture (or at least during selected dates). With over a dozen stops running, fans are itching to know which of the rap titans’ songs found a spot on their official setlist. Now, we have a clue, thanks to veteran journalist Elliott Wilson.

Continue below to view their full setlist, the remaining tour stops, and more.

Drake & J. Cole’s ‘It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What?’ setlist

Drake Only

1. “Trophies” (Band only)
2. “Virginia Beach”
3. “Marvins Room”
4. “Teenage Fever”
5. “Feel No Ways”
6. “Jungle”
7. “Over”
8. “Headlines”
9. “The Motto”
10. “HYFR (Hell Ya F*cking Right)”
11. “Started From the Bottom”
12. “Energy”
13. “Know Yourself”
14. “Nonstop”
15. “Daylight”
16. “Meltdown” (Travis Scott cover)
17. “Sicko Mode” (Travis Scott cover)
18. “Laugh Now Cry Later”
19. “God’s Plan”
20. “Pound Cake”
21. “Childs Play”
22. “In My Feelings”
23. “Nice for What”
24. “Calling for You”
25. “Cameras”
26. “Rich Baby Daddy”
27. “Search & Rescue”
28. “Controlla”
29. “Too Good”
30. “Hold On, We’re Going Home”
31. “Find Your Love”
32. “Passionfruit”
33. “Work”
34. “Gently?

J. Cole Only

1. “Middle Child”
2. “Wet Dreamz”
3. “A Tale of 2 Citiez”
4. “G.O.M.D.”
5. “Power Trip”
6. “The London” (Young Thug cover)
7. “A Lot” (21 Savage cover)
8. “Love Yourz”
9. “The Secret Recipe”
10. “No Role Modelz”

Drake & J. Cole

1. “In the Morning”
2. “First Person Shooter”

Drake only

1. “P*ssy & Millions”
2. “Knife Talk”
3. “Rich Flex”
4. “IDGAF”
5. “You Broke My Heart”
6. “Amen”
7. “Slime You Out”
8. “Trophies” (Band only)

Drake & J. Cole’s ‘It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What?’ dates

2/4 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
2/7 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
2/8 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
2/12 – St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Arena
2/13 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
2/16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
2/17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
2/20 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
2/21 – Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
2/24 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
2/25 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
2/27 – Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center
2/28 – Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center
3/2 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
3/3 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
3/5 – Memphis, TN @ FedEx Forum
3/6 – New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
3/7 – New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
3/10 – Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
3/14 – San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center
3/15 – San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center
3/18 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
3/19 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
3/23 – Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena ~
3/24 – Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena ~
3/27 – Birmingham, AL @ Legacy Arena at The BJCC ~
4/4 – Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena ~
4/5 – Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena ~
4/8 – Memphis, TN @ FedEx Forum ~
4/15 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
4/16 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena

~ Dates without J. Cole

Drake & J. Cole’s ‘It’s All A Blur Tour — Big As The What?’ poster

Apparently frogs are mortal enemies of squirrels. Well, at least for a squirrel named Thumbelina that’s true. The squirrel is a rescue that cannot be released into the wild due to her medical conditions so she’s a house squirrel. A house squirrel that has big beef with a teeny tiny frog outside…far away from where Thumbelina sits.

Distance doesn’t seem to matter to the bushy tailed girl, she knows he exists and that is simply unacceptable to her so she tells her mom. Or mom has super squirrel mind reading powers because Thumbelina was nearly too shocked to speak…squeak. She stood there frozen on her human’s bed staring straight ahead like she was in some sort of trance.

It was when her mom got close to her that she tried to communicate the unthinkable–she spotted a frog. Her arch nemesis from the other day was back to torment her with his presence near her house where she’s supposed to be safe.

“Honey, you saw the frog again? I know but what did we talk about, how the frog doesn’t eat squirrels” the woman reassures Thumbelina. “No, he doesn’t eat squirrels, he’s a tiny frog.”

It didn’t seem to matter what her mom said, Thumbelina was having none of it. She wanted that monster gone and never to be seen from again. The nervous squirrel continued her pitiful sounding squeaks as if she was telling her mom that she wasn’t listening. Again, the woman tries to convince Thumbelina that the frog is the size of a blueberry and cannot get into their house to eat her. There was no use, she was sure she knew the plans of the itty bitty frog.

Watch the adorable video below:

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A post shared by Thumbelina (@little_thumbelina_girl)

It appears Lizzo’s plans to release new music could be delayed. According to Billboard, the “Bad Day” singer’s free time might be spent fighting to clear her name. Back in August 2023, Lizzo’s former dancers filed an explosive lawsuit against the singer, alleging that while on the road with her, they endured a hostile work environment and experienced sexual harassment.

Since then, Lizzo and the three ex-employees have pleaded their cases with the judge overseeing the case. By October, Lizzo’s legal team requested that the case be dismissed, citing the anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute. Based on reports from Billboard, the judge has denied Lizzo’s request for a dismissal. This means the case could go to trial.

After Lizzo’s initial request to dismiss the case, her team reportedly also filed to have the case sealed. It’s unclear if the judge has issued a final decision regarding that request.

Lizzo maintains her innocence on all accounts, denying the claims iIn a statement. “Usually, I choose not to respond to false allegations, but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed,” she wrote. “These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”

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

It seemed impossible: How could there be more Big Little Lies when everyone in that dream cast is so busy? Would people simply have to subsist on two seasons, one boasting Meryl Streep? Maybe not! Recently Nicole Kidman has claimed that she and the team are trying to move heaven and earth to make Season 3 happen. Now there’s more assuring — if vague — news.

Entertainment Weekly caught up with Laura Dern as she was doing press for Palm Royale, her new Apple TV+ show. The legendary Oscar-winner basically said they’re trying, trying real hard.

“I can tell you that all of us who are involved in it would never imagine a better time,” Dern said. “We love each other so much and would have the time of our life being back together, and we love our characters so much.”

That said, there’s no major update. “I truly know what you know,” she confessed. “But I know that it is something that they are working diligently at dreaming up, and I sure hope it comes to fruition.”

Still, there’s a chance they could pull off the impossible. Kidman recently said that the wheels are turning mostly thanks to her 15-year-old daughter, who got so hooked on the show that she demanded her mom get off her butt and make more.

When it premiered back in 2017, the Monterey murder comedy was only supposed to be a one-off. It was so popular that they brought it back for a second round. Hopefully the third will materialize, provided they can get back not only Kidman and Dern but also Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, and Zoë Kravitz, all of whom tend to be busy these days.

(Via EW)

The good news: Not only is Ayo Edebiri hosting SNL for the first time, but the musical guest is no less than Jennifer Lopez. The bad: They might have had to talk about Edebiri insulting Lopez a few years back. Ahead of this week’s episode, an old clip of the now-Emmy-winner and former Thunderbolts cast member dissing the Grammy nominee resurfaced, and they’re not great.

Per Page Six, Edebiri appeared on the podcast Scam Goddess back in 2020. It was two years before The Bear made her a big star, and she clearly felt comfortable running her mouth about Lopez, even disseminating a conspiracy theory.

“She thinks she’s on multiple tracks, but it’s not her,” Edebiri said at the time, referring to a rumor that Lopez uses ghost singers. “I think she thinks that she’s still good even though she’s not singing for most of these songs.”

Edebiri went on. “A lot of the write-ups of the songs will be like, ‘J. Lo didn’t have time to make it to the studio,’ like, ‘J. Lo was busy,’” she said. “It’s like, ‘Doing what?’

She concluded that Lopez’s musical career is “one long scam.”

Neither Edebiri nor Lopez have addressed the comments. In the SNL promo, which you can watch above, they seem extra chummy.

“I’m really excited, I love your show,” Lopez told Edebiri, presumably referring to The Bear.

Edebiri replied, “I love your everything.”

Perhaps the two have buried the hatchet. One hopes, because otherwise things could get awkward.

(Via Page Six)

On Friday it was revealed that actor Carl Weathers had passed away. He was 76. Weathers had many beloved roles, including his breakthrough: as Apollo Creed, foe-turned-friend of Rocky Balboa. Among the many tributes Weathers received was from Rocky star, screenwriter, and occasional director Sylvester Stallone.

“Today is an incredibly sad day for me. I’m so torn up, I can’t even tell you,” Stllone said in a video posted to social media. “I’m just trying to hold it in because Carl Weathers was such an integral part of my life, my success — everything about it, I give him incredible credit and kudos. Because when he walked into that room and I saw him for the first time, I saw greatness. But I didn’t realize how great.”

He added, “I never could’ve accomplished what we did with ‘Rocky’ without him.”

Stallone continued:

“He was absolutely brilliant — his voice, his size, his presence, his athletic ability, but, most importantly, his heart, his soul. It’s a horrible loss,” Stallone said. “He was magic. I was so fortunate to be part of his life. Apollo, keep punching.”

Weathers had been a footballer, a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders and the Canadian BC Lions, before he segued into acting. The first Rocky, from 1976, had been his biggest role to date, and he parlayed it into a career that spanned all the way to his death. At the end of his life, he was among the main cast of The Mandalorian, which still has yet to film its fourth season.

(Via Variety)

Amazon has lined up for the Dad TV challenge lately and has hit the mark with Reacher (starring Alan Ritchson as the Big Guy), Bosch, and Outer Range (starring Cowboy Josh Brolin and a giant hole in the ground). The retailer-turned-streamer cornered the dad-appeal market early, too, with John Krasinski starring in a TV adaptation of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.

The ridiculously popular show turned into one of Amazon’s home-run series with Krasinski locked in for four seasons, which concluded last summer. As well, the streaming service has been known to keep franchises going into spinoff mode (i.e., f*cking Bosch), and Jack Ryan paved the way for an offshoot series starring Michael Peña. Viewers got to know his character, Domingo Chavez, in the fourth season of the principal series, so is the spinoff still happening as predicted? Let’s check in on the latest.

Plot

Chavez’s entrance into the Ryanverse was first reported in May 2022 by Deadline, which revealed how the character would become a fixture in Jack Ryan‘s fourth season with “the potential spinoff [being] in early stages, with no firm concept or a script yet.” The appeal of using this character to extend the Ryanverse is obvious: Chavez surfaces in 22 Jack Ryan Universe novels from Tom Clancy and seven titles from the core book series of Jack Ryan.

Those books include Clear and Present Danger, which received a 1994 movie adaptation starring Harrison Ford and included Chavez as portrayed by Raymond Cruz. The character is a prolific and well-traveled CIA agent who embarked upon missions Columbia and Iran, but it was his United Kingdom-based tenure where he rose as a Rainbow Six-designated executive officer in the secret counterterrorist Rainbow group. The “stealthy” Chavez’s entrance onto the Jack Ryan show was meant to help bring the title character’s final TV mission to a close with Krasinski’s character attempting to zero in on the ultimate source of agency corruption and calling in Chavez by setting the foundation (“you might be the deadliest operator the CIA has ever employed”) for what to expect from the character.

Going forward, there’s no shortage of Jack Ryan novels — not only Clear and Present Danger, but also The Sum of All Fears, Debt of Honor, Executive Orders, Command Authority, Full Force and Effect, and Commander-in-Chief — from which a Rainbow Six series could draw from. However, there’s been no update from Amazon since Jack Ryan ended on whether the lone wolf character of Chavez would continue to carry the torch. Here’s what Michael Peña — who, let’s get real, probably wasn’t allowed to reveal what he might have known — told Collider ahead of the fourth season when quizzed about a spinoff:

As Season 4 introduces Clancy’s original Rainbow Six character in Peña’s Domingo “Ding” Chavez for its final season, the lone-wolf character is described by the actor as a “stealthy kind of quiet guy.” But whether fans will be seeing more of him after the six-episode arc in the Prime Video series’ final season is yet to be evaluated. “I don’t know,” Peña told Collider. “It’s up to the fans and up to Amazon. There are a lot of people that have to do certain things, but if people like it, maybe they’ll chime in and say, like, ‘Hey, we want some more!’ So, you know, we leave it in their hands.”

Sounds like it’s time for viewers to make some noise for an update.

Cast

If this happens, Michael Peña would continue his role as the TV version Domingo Chavez. And since the character appears in over 20 of Tom Clancy’s novels, there’s no telling which story that the series would use as a launching point or what other characters (and potential actors) would be involved.

Release Date

Amazon never wasted any time cranking out the Jack Ryan series, so if this project ends up being confirmed, late 2024 or early 2025 would be possible.

Trailer

Not a chance. Yet.