Category: Viral

Hot off his win for best screenplay at Cannes for Monster, Yuji Sakamoto has scored a 5-year contract to make movies and shows at Netflix, signaling a continuation of the streaming company’s dedication to more Japanese language content and (presumably) that they’re happy with what they’ve seen of Sakamoto’s large budget mystery film In Love and Deep Water.

“Yuji Sakamoto continues to create a variety of masterpieces, ranging from socially conscious works to lighter comedies and love stories, that capture our hearts and minds and keep us coming back for more,” said Kaata Sakamoto, Netflix’s VP of Content, in a statement. “We look forward to bringing Sakamoto’s unique, original storytelling to a global stage, coupled with the very best production environment and creative partnerships to realize his vision.”

This is great news for fans. Hopefully Sakamoto shook hands on a better deal than Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who reportedly boosted Netflix’s value by almost a billion dollars without receiving any kind of bonus and without retaining his intellectual property rights.

Obviously it’s too early to tell what Sakamoto will write for Netflix beyond In Love and Deep Water (with drops later this year), but given Sakamoto’s history with adapting manga and Netflix’s interest in doing more after Alice in Borderland, it’s a safe bet that we might see at least one adaptation from him.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

The 2022-23 season was a surprisingly good one for the Utah Jazz, as they were in the Play-In hunt until late in the season when they eventually shut things down and shifted attention to the future. After trading Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell in the offseason, few expected them to be in that position, but they got strong seasons from the likes of Lauri Markkanen, who became an All-Star, and Jordan Clarkson to propel them to a pleasantly surprising year.

Clarkson averaged 20.8 points, 4.4 assists, and four rebounds per game, continuing his strong play in Utah over the last few years, and had the potential to cash in on that success this summer by hitting the open market. However, Clarkson made the decision to stick around in Utah, as Sarah Todd of the Deseret News reports that Clarkson will pick up the player option for the final year of his contract.

Clarkson is entering the final year of a 4-year, $51.5 million deal that he signed back in 2020, and this year, he’s slated to make a little more than $14 million. While the Jazz are largely in the midst of a youth movement, Clarkson has been a steady presence over the years, and won the 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Year award for his play off the bench. As Todd noted, the two sides can now sit down and work towards a contract extension that would keep him in Utah beyond this year.

From troubling double decker seat ideas to tales of horrible plane etiquette, airline travel stories are pretty unsavory at the moment. Which makes this wholesome account of a solo plane ride feel like a total upgrade.

After a near 18 hours delay, everybody except for Phil Stringer had given up on a flight heading from Oklahoma City to Charlotte. Stringer dedicated to make the best of his impromptu private flight, and it ended up being a blast for everyone involved.

Documenting the journey in a now-viral TikTok video, Stringer begins with a joke. His on-screen caption reads, “When you buy every single ticket on the plane so you don’t have to deal with people” as he walks on board.

Then, cut to: “Just kidding, it was delayed 18 hours and everyone else gave up” as Stringer explains that he is “the only person on the plane, and they have an entire flight crew” who “do not want to do this flight.”

Don’t let his self-deprecating humor fool, Stringer made friends with every employee that day. Flight attendants could barely contain their laughter as they performed a safety routine—with far more sassiness than normal—to their audience of one.

@phil.stringer 18-hour delay turned this flight into a private party! ✈️🥳 Watch how the amazing crew and I made the most of it! #americanairlines #flightattendant #airplanetiktok #privateparty #FlightFun #delayedflight #fyp #viral ♬ Makeba – Jain

Stringer ends the clip with a sweet picture of himself with the cabin crew.

Folks in the comments section were quick to remark how Stringer’s uplifting attitude probably made the flight worth doing.

“That’s probably the best flight they ever had,” one person wrote.

Another added, “Flight attendant here. This is literally our dream scenario, especially for a delayed flight. So glad you had a nice time.”

Apparently, the comedy keeps going even after the plane lands. In a follow-up video, Stringer gave an update to say that when he finally touched down in Charlotte at 4 o’clock in the morning, he couldn’t get home because his bag was missing. Like, how does that happen with only one bag on the entire flight? Mabye there really are airplane gremlins after all.

Still, Stringer optimism remains. In an interview with Insider, he shared, “I believe that your attitude determines your destination. Yeah, it was a sucky day. No one wants to stay in the airport for 18 hours, but if you have a positive view, you can turn something into a lot of fun.”

Wise words. Indeed, we can’t control a lot of what goes on during our flight. But one thing we can always control is how we treat the situation and those around us. That goes double for airline workers, who not only have to deal with the stress of flight travel for a lot longer than we do, they are often the punching bag for other passengers. Simply being kind to them is enough to turn an entire flight around. In a good way, that is.

Richard Simmons broke a six-year silence last year when he spoke out following the documentary’s release about his sudden disappearance from the spotlight. A spokesperson put it simply: “He is happy, healthy and living the life he has chosen to live.”

But that doesn’t mean we don’t miss him.

Simmons was a mainstay on American television for 4 decades, either “Sweating to the Oldies,” selling his Deal-a-Meal program or appearing on countless daytime TV talk shows, including his own. The effervescent Simmons was part of the fabric of American culture.

He was also hilarious.

Twenty years ago, he appeared on “Whose Line is it Anyway?” and it is one of the funniest moments in the show’s history. According to IMDB, it’s the most-watched episode on YouTube. While playing the Living Scenery game with Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and Wayne Brady, Simmons transforms into a host of inanimate objects on a cruise ship, including a telescope, a deck chair, a jet ski, a tree, and a raft.

As a jet ski, Simmons makes a rather suggestive motion with his head toward Mochrie’s crotch, to which the improv legend responds by smoking a fake cigarette.

The sketch is hilarious because Simmons seems to enjoy being in close contact with the three male actors, leading many to believe that he was not-so-subtly commenting on his sexuality. Simmons never publicly talked about his sexuality, even though he is seen by many as a gay icon.

Regardless who Simmons was in his private life, the sketch is joyous for the same reason he was so beloved. He was always himself, and there was no one in the world quite like Richard Simmons.

Latto is currently overseas touring Europe, where fans are showing their appreciation in some interesting ways. During her recent stop at the Open’er Festival in Poland, near the performance walkway got Latto’s attention with his sign, which prompted her to stop and give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. What did it say? “Latto, sign my ass!”

So, the “Put It On Da Floor” rapper did just that, inviting him over the barricade and kneeling down with a marker to sign his butt, which was conveniently exposed by his thong-style underwear (it was not, however, leopard print, which would have made the whole thing perfect). They also twerked together, to the apparent delight of concertgoers nearby.

The response is an interesting and frustrating contrast with what’s been going on at pop shows stateside. Singers Bebe Rexha, Kelsea Ballerini, and Steve Lacy have all recently been hit with objects being thrown by fans, leaving Rexha with a black eye and Lacy with a reputation for destroying fans’ property.

Meanwhile, even when fans aren’t chucking things at stars, they’re offering up other wildly inappropriate “gifts”; a fan at a Pink show dumped their mother’s ashes on staged during her set, while another handed her a wheel of cheese. It’s clear that during the pandemic, a lot of us forgot (or just never learned) our concert etiquette… maybe we should all be more like the Polish.

YouTuber Colleen Ballinger, better known online as her childlike alter ego Miranda Sings, is facing troubling allegations of interacting inappropriately with her younger fans, nearly two months after attending the 2023 Kids’ Choice Awards.

HuffPost published a lengthy investigative report on June 24, following fans publicly coming forward with “screenshots of their private communications with Ballinger to evidence claims that she ‘groomed’ them throughout their adolescence,” and the publication confirmed the phone number featured in said screenshots belonged to Ballinger. Several of those fans went on the record with HuffPost.

Adam McIntyre alleged, among other things, that “Ballinger would bring up sex during their conversations back when he was still 14 or 15 years old,” including asking about his virginity and his favorite sexual position. The story delves into a private group chat that was named “Colleeny’s Weenies,” where Ballinger allegedly continually crossed the line.

NBC News also cited McIntyre, drawing attention to a 25-minute 2020 YouTube video posted by him to “tell my side of the story” as it pertained to his past with Ballinger. Roughly two weeks after McIntyre’s video, Ballinger posted a 13-minute video to her YouTube channel titled “Addressing everything.”

History is repeating itself this week, as Ballinger posted another vlog on Wednesday, June 28, to deny all of the allegations circulating about her behavior. The 10-minute video begins with the 36-year-old seated on her couch, looking despondent, and then inexplicably picking up a ukulele.

“Hey, it’s been a while since you saw my face,” Ballinger sings (sort of) while strumming. “I haven’t been doing so great, so I took a little break. A lot of people are saying some things about me that aren’t quite true. Doesn’t matter if it’s true, though, just as long as it’s entertaining to you. Right? You guys having fun? All aboard! The toxic gossip train, chugging down the tracks of misinformation.”

Ballinger states that her team “strongly advised me to not say what I want to say,” so that’s why she’s singing. She claims that she’s only made this video to relay “the facts,” admitting that she would message her fans “many years ago” but “not in a creepy way.” She attributed her desire to connect with her fans to “wanting to be besties with everybody” and called herself a “weird aunt.”

Ballinger additionally says that she “changed,” “took accountability,” and no longer interacts with fans in the same way, continually singing about how the allegations have negatively impacted her and dismissing them as “mob mentality.”

The description of Ballinger’s YouTube video reads, “I do not condone or support any kind of online bullying or hate towards anyone. ever.”

McIntyre tweeted in response to Ballinger’s YouTube video, writing, “as much as colleen discredited & made fun of me, im glad her video did ONE thing, show you all EXACTLY the type of evil woman she is, that a lot of us have experienced over the past few years behind the scenes, the mask has slipped…everyone meet the REAL colleen ballinger.”

Watch Ballinger’s video in full above.

The 2024 Grammy Awards are still months away, but as we enter the second half of the year, some buzz is starting to build over who will be honored during music’s biggest night. The Recording Academy added a spark today (June 29) when they answered some major questions about next year’s ceremony. For example: When will the nominations for the 2024 Grammys be announced?

The answer for when the 66th Annual Grammy Award nominees will be unveiled is November 10, 2023. More news about how that process will go down should be revealed closer to then.

There are some other key dates to keep in mind as well. For starters, the eligibility window for works to be considered is from October 1, 2022 to September 15, 2023. After that, the first round of voting for Academy members will run from October 11 to 20, while the final round of voting will take place from this December 14 to January 4, 2024.

Then, there’s the actual show itself, which is currently scheduled for February 4, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena.

This news comes after the Academy shared some changes to the 2024 awards. For one, they’ve added three new categories: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Best Pop Dance Recording. They also revealed that the big four categories will have fewer nominees, and they outlined policies on music made using AI technology.

Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert has stayed busy lately in spite of that little House floor dust-up with Marjorie Taylor Greene. The congresswoman from Colorado also found time to trash New Zealand and file articles of impeachment against President Biden. From there, she’s kept her Twitter streams alive with a steady dose of distaste for Democrats.

As part of that crusade, Boebert has decided to blame a recent AMTRAK derailing and the I-95 collapse upon Democrats (presumably Biden and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg). “Stuff like this is going on constantly in America,” Boebert tweeted. “We’re sending our money all over the world but our own country is falling down around us.”

Hmm. The aforementioned AMTRAK derailment occurred because a water truck was on the tracks when it clearly should not have been on the tracks. The I-95 collapse was the result of an unforeseen accident involving approximately 8,500 gallons of gasoline on fire. Further, Colorado’s own Durango Herald newspaper recently wrote about how Boebert voted against Biden’s Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act because she saw the legislation as “wasteful” and “garbage.”

Boebert went on to ask Buttigeieg to allocate $33.1 million for a bridge construction project in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Further, she introduced her own infrastructure act and called it a “real solution” to funding the issue.

Let’s just say that people are calling BS on Boebert’s attempt to blame what could be considered freak accidents on Democrats. And no one wasted a moment before reminding her of her infrastructure-vote shenanigans.

(Via Durango Herald)

Beyoncé is currently touring all over the world, but the “Break My Soul” singer hasn’t forgotten about her hometown. Beyoncé is collaborating with former Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland to give back to Houston by creating 31 permanent housing units for Harris County’s unhoused population, according to the Houston Chronicle.

This initiative was revealed on Tuesday (June 27). County leaders will use $7.2 million in American Rescue Plan funds to develop housing at the Bread of Life gymnasium at 2019 Crawford Street. Judge Lina Hidalgo added that an “even bigger launch” on the housing units will be divulged in September when the Renaissance World Tour is stopping by the Texas city.

“Harris County and the city of Houston, jointly with the coalition for the homeless, have reduced homeless in the middle of the pandemic by 20 percent, and we’ve been able to hold that reduction,” Hidalgo said in a press conference. “We just did the homeless count again, so it’s initiatives like this one I certainly will be supportive of it no matter whose behind it, but it’s especially interesting, I think, because there are these names of Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, who, of course, have been supportive of the community for a very long time.”

Gather ’round, Barbz. I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is: Nicki Minaj pushed back her album release. The good news is: She announced not just a new date but also the album’s title.

Unsurprisingly, it’s going to be called Pink Friday 2, harkening back to her 2010 debut album, which contained hits like “Fly,” “Your Love,” and “Moment 4 Life” (“Super Bass” appeared on the deluxe edition). The new album release date is November 11 — well after the release of the upcoming Barbie movie to be a little disappointing, but at least she has “Barbie World” on the film’s soundtrack to hold her fans over ’til then.

Nicki made the announcement via Instagram, sharing one of the photos from the Pink Friday packaging and writing:

Dear Barbz, I’ve been trying to find the right time to tell you this for a few days. Due to some really exciting news that I’ll share with you guys @ a later time, I’ve shifted the album date just a tad bit. Trust me, it’ll be WELL WORTH THE WAIT…but since I AM shifting the date just a tad, I’d like to give you guys a tiny SIP of some more album tea so that I don’t have to get cussed out so…here it goes:
MY NEW ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED ON 11.17.23-

and she shall be called:
Pink Friday 2

I love you guys so much. I am so grateful for the years of support & love you guys have given me. At times maybe I didn’t even deserve all that you have poured into me. Nonetheless, you. will. love. this. album. I will give tour deets closer to that time, but obviously the tour will start around the first quarter of 2024. I’ll also share the REAL album cover at a later date.

Pink Friday 2 is due on 11/17. Stay tuned.