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A few weeks ago, Ja’Marr Chase voiced his frustration at the Bengals offensive struggles by noting they weren’t his fault, issuing a very clear statement on the matter saying he’s “always f**king open.”

A week later, he had 15 catches for 192 yards and three touchdowns in a dominant win against the Cardinals, and reiterated his stance on Twitter with a clever post of a 7-Eleven.

That post was brainstormed on the sideline after one of his touchdowns, as he and the wide receiving corps discussed the best way to lean into the “always open” thing and settled on a very simple post.

The natural extension of that was for Chase to get a deal with 7-Eleven, which he now has in the form of an official merch collaboration with 7-Eleven, featuring an incredible “Always Open” hat that he debuted on Instagram before Sunday’s game.

To take it a step further, Chase also rocked a tremendous 7-Eleven chain during the game against the Seahawks, where he got off to another strong start with five catches for 67 yards in the first half.

Chase might be doing the 7-Eleven/Always Open bit better than any receiver since the last superstar wideout in Cincinnati, Chad Johnson, and his new chain and merch deal with the convenience store giant is a tremendous job of capitalizing on the moment.

Drake has faced a lot of pushback recently over his latest solo album, For All The Dogs. Unfortunately, that’s not where the outrage ends. After his social media spats with Joe Budden and Andrew Tate, he’s decided to lay low for a while.

Still, others, including DJ Vlad, are looking to Drake to make a statement about the ongoing conflict between the Israel and Hamas. Drake’s father, Dennis Graham, seemed to offered a response on his behalf over the decision to stay silent. During an encounter with TMZ Saturday, October 14, Graham shared his thoughts.

When asked if Drake’s Jewish heritage intensified his sadness about the tension in the region, Graham replied, “I’m sure it affects everybody. It’s just totally ridiculous… If you say something about this one, you are going to get criticized. If you say something about someone else, you’re going to get criticized… It’s best to say out of it, especially if you’re someone that’s well known.”

He continued, “Being a celebrity and saying something that favoring one against the other it’s going to come back on you. Just be quiet.”

This isn’t the first time Drake has been called out for being silent on political issues. In July, Ebro Darden referred to Drake’s lack of discussion on Black issues while filming the Apple Music show Rap Life Review, which he later walked back.

For All The Dogs is out now via OVO Sounds/Republic Records. Find more information here.

For years, Boise State lorded over the Mountain West Conference as one of the dominant non-Power 5 programs in all of college football. The Broncos were annually in the mix for BCS and New Year’s Six bowl games, but in recent years the gap has started to close between Boise and the rest of the conference.

This year, the Broncos are just 3-4, but entered Saturday night still 2-0 in conference play facing a Colorado State team they had never lost to. At halftime, it looked like that streak would continue as Boise led 17-0, but a furious second half comeback saw the Rams claw their way into the game, trailing by six in the closing seconds. Colorado State needed a miracle to snap their losing streak to Boise and got one in the form of a Hail Mary from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi that got knocked down by the Broncos’ defensive backs, but into the arms of a diving Dallin Holker.

It was great design by the Rams to push two receivers to the back of the end zone with Holker serving as a trailer to hopefully catch a ball being batted down. The plan worked to perfection and in the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast, the best finish of the weekend in college football took place.

To win the game, the Rams still needed to hit their extra point and did just that, sending Fort Collins into pandemonium after their first win over the Broncos in program history.

For how often the conversation between Saturdays focuses on the playoff, expansion, and conference realignment, it’s always a fun reminder how much these games that might not have national attention mean to the guys on the field. Colorado State absolutely was aware of their record vs. Boise and snapping that meant everything to them, making for a wild scene in Fort Collins where the celebration still might be going.

It took almost a year after the incident, but when Chris Rock finally did an extended stand-up bit about that Oscars slap, he didn’t hold back. In a Netflix special from early March, Rock didn’t only tear into Will Smith for attacking him. He also had some thoughts about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who, by making it public that she had a sidepiece, she, he said, “hurt him way more than he hurt me.” Now Pinkett Smith is finally responding to Rock’s words.

“I remember my heart piercing, my heart cracking, and I remember my feelings being so hurt,” Pinkett Smith told The New York Times while promoting her new memoir, Worthy (in a bit teased out by Entertainment Weekly). But she wasn’t bitter or even angry with him. “And then I remember being able to smile and wish him well at the same time.”

In her book, Pinkett Smith also shares that Rock once asked her out during a period when he thought she and Will were about to split up.

Pinkett Smith’s press tour has been a whirlwind, a geyser of shocking revelations. Perhaps the most jaw-dropping (or maybe not) is that she and Will have been separated since 2016, though they’re still technically married. She was even “shocked” when he referred to her as his “wife” during that Oscar acceptance speech he delivered about 20 minutes after attacking Rock on stage on live television.

(Via NYT and EW)

On Saturday, the beloved late-night show SNL made its triumphant return following the end of the WGA strike. Alum Pete Davidson stepped in as the host while Ice Spice served as the evening’s musical guest. However, they were overshadowed by two notable surprise appearances.

Rumored lovebirds Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce made cameos during the show, turning their stay into a full-blown date night around New York City. Swift showed support for her “Karma” collaborator, Ice Spice, by introducing her performance of “In Ha Mood.” Kelce meanwhile joined Davidson in his sketch about the NFL’s recent obsession with Swift after attending several of Kelce’s games.

After leaving the set of the show, the pair was spotted holding hands by Page Six as they made their way to the famed restaurant NOBU. According to the outlet’s sources, their pubic displays of affection did not end there. On several other occasions, they also exchanged kisses.

“Everyone was in a great mood and having a great time. [Taylor] was seen chatting it up with the night’s musical guest, Ice Spice, and her friends,” said one insider.

Although the Swifties have embraced Kelce, they will remain on high alert to ensure he doesn’t break their beloved musician’s heart.

SNL made a belated return on Saturday — the late night show’s first weekend since the WGA strike began in early May. Pete Davidson, who left the show in 2022, was back. So was Weekend Update. The mid-show segment missed a ton of news over the last many months, but luckily/unluckily there’s always fodder.

Co-host Colin Jost began by addressing, as Davidson did in his Cold Open monologue, the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying It was a “great week for random idiots who like to share completely unhinged thoughts” on social media or “wherever they can.”

Speaking of, Jost them moved on to Donald Trump, who earned scorn on both sides of the aisle (thought less so on one of them) after he called Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, “very smart.” But Jost thought he knew why he was praising a notorious terrorist group, postulating that “he thinks Hezbollah is the genie from Aladdin.”

Michael Che then praised Laphonza Butler for becoming the first openly gay Black female senator. He then joked, “‘Umm, you mean second,’ said George Santos.”

Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband Will were back in the news, thanks to the former’s press tour to promote her new memoir. Among her shocking revelations were that she and Will have been separated, though still married, since 2016.

Che couldn’t resist cracking, ““Ironically after he suggested that she should star in G.I. Jane 2.”

Jost and Che hadn’t done Weekend Update in nearly half a year, and their enthusiasm on being back was palpable. Indeed, they spent the bulk of the back half of their segment seeing how far they could push the envelope. You can see how far they went into the brink in the video below.

When rumors of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce dating first began, there were some cheeky comments and references to the pop star on Chiefs broadcasts when Kelce would do something, but ever since Swift started showing up at games in luxury boxes with Donna Kelce and various celebrities, things have gone a bit off the rails.

Every time Swift rolls up to a game, it becomes a leading story for the broadcast, with plenty of cuts to the box and conversation about the pop star from the broadcast team. The league is happy to try and take advantage of the moment by giving Swifties their fill of Taylor being at the game, but there are plenty of NFL fans who aren’t particularly thrilled by the encroachment of the pop culture space on NFL broadcasts. Kelce himself has said he thinks the league is “overdoing it” when it comes to the Swift stuff, as I don’t think the Chiefs star tight end was quite prepared for the level of attention his new relationship would be getting.

On this week’s premiere of Saturday Night Live, they did a sketch led by Keenan Thompson and Pete Davidson poking fun at the NFL’s new Taylor Swift obsession, with Thompson playing an exasperated Curt Menafee, desperately trying to get anyone who will talk football, while all of his colleagues just want to talk Swift. Finally, he finds someone who will talk ball when Travis Kelce popped up for a cameo at the end.

Kelce, who has hosted SNL in the past, had some free time on his hands this week with the Chiefs winning on Thursday Night Football against the Broncos, and flew out to New York where he and Swift made appearances on Saturday Night — with Taylor helping introduce musical guest Ice Spice.

Most SNL cast members are best known for characters or impersonations. Pete Davidson is an outlier. During his long stint there, his most famous character was himself. He’d whip out an excellent Rami Malek impersonation now and again (sometimes to his face). But his niche was talking mining comedy out of his personal problems, even when things got dark. During his return to the show, this time as host, he decided to send up his, by his own accounts, spotty record since splitting.

The pre-taped sketch begins with Davidson overhearing current SNL cast members expressing skepticism over his return.

“What’s Pete going to do? He only has like one character,” says Punkie Johnson

Andrew Dismukes feels the same way: “Why is he hosting again? He just left and it’s not like his show was a hit.”

This leaves Davidson inevitably despondent — despondent enough that he launches into a parody of one of the most popular break-out bits from Barbie (that almost didn’t make the cut). Yes, he launches into a parody of “I’m Just Ken” called “I’m Just Pete.”

“I’m Just Pete” teems with Davidson’s brutal self-deprecation. “No one cares about the work I do. I made a show with Joe Pesci too and no one streamed it but my mom,” he sings, referring to the Peacock show Bupkis.

Other parts of the song touch on him calling up Colin Jost while high and convincing him they should buy a boat, being accused by tabloids of having “butthole eyes” who looks” like a methhead on the street,” and getting into a very public beef with a guy whose name “I can’t say legally.” (That would be Kanye!)

At the same time, Davidson boasts, “I never sleep alone at night.” Why is he so successful with the ladies? Even he’s a little baffled. “Anyone else I’d be a three, but I guess I’m hot for dudes in comedy ‘cos it’s an ugly industry.”

But even that leaves Davidson with a mixed conclusion: “My dating life is not discrete, I generate tons of publicity for everything except my comedy.”

You can watch Davidson ape Ryan Gosling in the video above.

A lot has happened in the nearly six months since SNL has been off the air. But right now one the biggest issue on people’s minds is the conflict in the Middle East. Last Saturday Hamas hit Israel with a surprise attack. The latter quickly declared war and has vowed to respond in kind. Rather than ignore the elephant in the room, season premiere host — and returning alum — Pete Davidson decided to address it right from the start.

“I know what you’re thinking, Who better to comment on it than Pete Davidson?” a somber Davidson told the crowd. “Well, in a lot of ways, I am a good person to talk about it because when I was seven years old, my dad was killed in a terrorist attack. So I know something about what that’s like.”

Like many, Davidson said he “saw so many terrible pictures this week — children suffering, Israeli children and Palestinian children. And it took me back to a really horrible, horrible place. No one in this world deserves to suffer like that, especially not kids.”

He then recalled his own struggles with loss:

“After my dad died, my mom tried pretty much everything she can do to cheer me up. I remember one day when I was eight. She got me what she thought was a Disney movie. But it was actually the Eddie Murphy stand up special ‘Delirious.’ And we played it in the car on the way home. And when she heard the things Eddie Murphy was saying, she tried to take it away. But then she noticed something. For the first time in a long time, I was laughing again. I don’t understand that. I really don’t and I never will. But sometimes comedy is really the only way forward through tragedy.”

Davidson concluded, “You know, my heart is with everyone whose lives have been destroyed this week. But tonight, I’m gonna do what I’ve always done in the face of tragedy, and that’s try to be funny.”

You can watch Davidson’s SNL monologue in the video above.

Every single week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.

TIE: 10. Totally Killer (MGM movie streaming on Amazon Prime)

I get it: time travel movies can be annoying and nonsensical and overdone and paint their way into an ending. However, this time-traveling spin on a slasher movie actually feels inventive. It helps that Kiernan Shipka has the chops for spookiness (The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina and Mad Men, if you remember those jokes about Sally Draper turning into a serial killer). In this film, Shipka must help uncover the identity of a notorious serial killer after totally pooh-poohing her mom over being too concerned about such a trifling subject. Well, that serial killer showed her who is still around.

TIE: 10. No One Will Save You (20th Century Studios film streaming on Hulu)

Kaitlyn Dever cannot be stopped, even when there are aliens involved. The Justified, Booksmart, Unbelievable, and Dopesick actress stars in a nearly dialogue-less movie in which her performance still manages to speak volumes. This film ended up (surprisingly) streaming instead of landing in theaters, where it likely would have made a box-office killing in October. However, streaming subscribers can really get their money’s worth because this home-invasion horror story will have you stressing in a welcome way.

9. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (Paramount Pictures film streaming on VOD and Amazon Prime)

Tom Cruise fought like hell to get this movie finished amid the pandemic, and although it didn’t fly as high as Top Gun: Maverick, this was still as solid of a Cruise movie as they come. In other words, he did crazy things like ride off a cliff on a motorcycle and perch atop a speeding train, and also, this manages to be a very complicated movie that revolves around keys, but the action makes the intricacy worth it with more of this story to come.

8. Chucky (SyFy series streaming on Peacock)

Although this little scamp could never survive a fight with M3GAN, he’s still somehow kicking after several ridiculous movies and now the third season of this series. This year, Chucky will go to the White House, which should surely turn out well, and one episode is called “Jennifer’s Body,” which definitely has nothing to do with the Hole song or the Megan Fox movie. Or does it? Chucky isn’t telling yet.

7. Lupin (Netflix series)

France is not making the most glamorous real-life headlines at the moment, so there’s no better reason for some heist-laden escapism. Could this also be the season for one last job? The Gentleman Thief returns with Assane in hiding but not for long. He comes back to Paris and proposes a new plan for his family, but of course, Assane’s enemies and the police make this much easier said than done. At least he’ll look stylish as hell while dealing with past ghosts.

6. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC series streaming on AMC+)

Hold onto your tushes because AMC has revealed that Season 2 of the Norman Reedus spinoff will be subtitled as The Book Of Carol. This means that everyone’s (sacrilegious) prayers have been answered, and Melissa McCarthy will be back in sync with her platonic soulmate. No, we don’t know how Carol will get to France, but Daryl Dixon will still be there, so presumably, she will find a way to join him. Before that happens, the season finale will enlighten us on why Daryl doesn’t head back towards The Commonwealth as planned.

5. Loki (Disney+ series)

This week, the MCU’s gloriously burdened ice giant finally reuinited with someone near and dear to his trickster heart. And then there’s the whole Sophie matter to contend with, but in the meantime, there is pie and wonderful conversation, which is one of the more appealing parts of this whole show. Leave it to Tom Hiddleston to make exposition fascinating rather than how it’s usually used in a utilitarian way. Here, it’s part of the pleasure of the series, along with all of those dramatic hair flips and Hiddleston reminding us with every move that he is a classically trained theater actor who happened to stumble into a comic book franchise.

4. Lessons In Chemistry ( Apple TV+ series)

The book clubs will be tuning in this week after devouring Bonnie Garmus’ debut novel that made her a “a literary rock star.” This will be a hard act to follow upon, but in the meantime, Brie Larson swallows this gig whole in her most complex role since ROOM, for which she won an Oscar. Larson surely relished portraying a brilliant female chemist who is vastly underestimated but finds her success elsewhere and with a rabid following involved.

3. Gen V (Amazon Prime series)

This week’s episode was full of the customary stunts for this series and was so jam-packed that it felt like a five-minute runtime. Actually, the runtime was around 35 minutes, which was arguably too short for many viewers’ tastes, but that goes to show how much people are already attached to these characters. The series has also teased a return for Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy, and although it’s doubtful that this character will join in on drop-kicking Johnny Depp, it’s still worth fun visualizing.

2. The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Netflix series)

Mike Flanagan and Edgar Allan Poe fans, unite. The streaming horror maestro is back in fine form with a project that rivals the appeal of Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass. Flanagan favorite Carla Gugino is likewise back with multiple shape-shifting forms, and the Usher family is not ready for her “consequential” appearances. Do not expect a literal adaptation of the Edgar Allen Poe short story. The series focuses on the hell created by ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher, who built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege, and power. Oh, how the mighty will fall.

1. Fair Play (Netflix movie)

There are toxic relationships of many varieties, and this story manages to embody several types. Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich portray a couple, Emily and Luke, who also happen to be hedge funders, and troubling motives soon unfold in a cathartic journey for director and writer Chloe Domont. When Emily receives a promotion over Luke, he kind-of loses it, and their already twisted power dynamics fall over a cliff. The relationship rapidly begins to deteriorate once she is promoted, and eventually, the passive aggression turns to real aggression. This film should likely carry a trigger warning, but the ending delivers a cleansing payoff that is well earned.