Category: Viral

Johnny Carson. David Letterman. Jay Leno. Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy Kimmel. Stephen Colbert. What do all those television personalities have in common? Sure, they’re all late-night television hosts… but what else do they have in common? You see it. Even if you don’t want to admit it just yet, you do. Let’s face it: Late night is a very white occupation. And sure, there have been some exceptions; Arsenio Hall, Joan Rivers, and Chris Rock spring to mind. But for the most part, the space has been dominated largely by older, white, straight, male, former stand-up comics. And before you scroll down to the comments to write “nuh-uh,” just hear me out.

Until very, very recently, there was one huge exception to this trend: Showtime’s Desus & Mero. However, last night, the show’s creators announced on Twitter that after four seasons, the show is coming to an end. Even worse, its two hosts, Daniel Baker aka Desus Nice and Joel Martinez aka The Kid Mero, were splitting up to pursue separate creative endeavors after nearly a decade of collaborations which included the Desus vs. Mero and Bodega Boys podcasts, the Desus & Mero talk show, and even an anime, Neo Yokio. The show’s cancellation isn’t just a loss of a beloved, underrated comedic pairing — it’s a loss for hip-hop as a whole.

Before Desus & Mero, it’s hard to find too many examples of hip-hop culture in the late-night TV space. Sure there was Arsenio Hall, doing his best to bring the fashion, music, and voice of the streets to America’s living rooms in the early ’90s. But while The Arsenio Hall Show was a landmark in bringing hip-hop to mainstream audiences, it was also watered-down, polished, and presented in a way that the whole thing slicker and more palatable to those audiences. It also largely avoided political topics, although the show did come under fire for booking — or not booking — some guests that audiences found controversial.

And certainly, hip-hop music remains a draw on late-night, with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon employing a house band that comes from the rap world in The Roots. Rappers with new projects to promote are often booked as musical guests, performing their viral hits on shows like The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live! But more broadly, the Desus & Mero show was a chance to see hip-hop as a culture on TV, in a space that not many of us get to touch. They were not buttoned up. They didn’t wear suits. Their set was modeled after a New York bodega, the type of place where you’d actually find rappers hanging out.

Decked out in fitted caps and Timberland boots, they spoke in the sometimes coded slang of the streets, with all the swagger born of growing up in The Bronx. They interviewed the rappers that the bigger shows wouldn’t; in the past year, they’ve had guests like Baby Keem, Bobby Shmurda, Cordae, and Nas — both the Queens legend who made Illmatic, and the Fox News frustrating Lil Nas X. They debuted underground crooner RMR’s “I’m Not Over You” video. And they got their non-rapper guests to open up about not just their favorite rappers (watch Yo-Yo Ma play DMX!), but all sorts of down-to-earth topics. They interviewed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in their shared borough, taking the format beyond the confines of the studio.

And, in perhaps the biggest coup for the show to date, the duo interviewed former President Barack Obama, who roasted them as naturally as if they were having the conversation on a neighborhood stoop, rather than an empty rented auditorium undoubtedly surrounded by Secret Service agents. Whatever your feelings on the man’s politics, you have to admit that the moment lent legitimacy to hip-hop (and vice versa) in a way that, whether we want to admit it or not, is nice to see after three decades of politicians and pundits blaming rap culture for everything from school shootings to the overall decline of polite society.

So, pour one out for Desus And Mero. They showed that hip-hop could belong in yet another space that wasn’t made for it, that didn’t make provisions for it, and that mostly overlooked it. They brought us — our voices, our faces, our fashion, our outlook, our language, our interests, our culture — to millions of American homes. Late-night might have gotten a little less colorful without them, but those two guys from the Bronx undoubtedly opened a door — and the next Desus and Mero are likely right around the corner.

After two weeks, it’s probably safe to say that Saucy Santana’s Beyonce-sampling new single “Booty” is a hit. The girls love to throw it back, and alongside Latto (whose own anatomy-based single “P*ssy” is shaking up social media now as well), Santana gives them the perfect motivational anthem to do so. Today, the dynamic duo shared the twerk-tastic video for the single and yes, it is everything you should have expected, with teams of colorfully dressed men and women gyrating their derrieres to an interpolation of “Crazy In Love.” Santana even pays a visual homage to the “Crazy In Love” video, donning the same tank top and cutoff jean shorts Beyonce rocked in her “official” solo debut — and yes, that includes the cherry red high heels.

Saucy Santana timed the release of the song and the video perfectly, putting out the song just days before he was announced as one of XXL‘s 2022 Freshman Class. The video arrives on the tail of Saucy’s standout performance in the XXL Freshman Cypher, where he stole the show after running the anchor leg of the installment featuring Doechii, KayCyy, and SoFaygo. Santana is also proving to be pretty much bulletproof, shrugging off a fan backlash for sampling Beyonce after dissing her in old tweets when he was “miserable and broke.” He certainly isn’t either of those things anymore, and with “Booty” taking off, it might not be long until he has a chance to thank Beyonce for clearing the sample in person.

Watch Saucy Santana’s “Booty” video featuring Latto above.

In 2012, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o became one of the household names in the world of college football, putting forth a dominant senior season for the Irish while playing with a heavy heart after the loss of his grandmother and girlfriend on the same day.

However, as the season wore on, that story began to unravel some with it eventually coming to light that his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, didn’t actually exist. It was one of the most bizarre and captivating stories in sports that year, as Te’o had been catfished but rather than saying that, created this vast hoax of his girlfriend dying in a car accident and using that as motivation for his season. The why of all of it remains a mystery, and we should learn at least some of what happened for the first time in a new Netflix documentary, Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.

The documentary features interviews with Te’o, Ronaiah ‘Naya’ Tuiasosopo (who had created the Lennay Kekua identity), Timothy Burke who wrote the Deadspin piece exposing the story in 2013, and others from Te’o’s circle and Notre Dame. It figures to be a fascinating look at one of the strangest sagas in recent college football history and possibly provide some answers for why Te’o went to such great lengths to craft an elaborate narrative about Kekua’s death.

Back in 2019, HBO was working to put together a post-Game Of Thrones lineup as the monumental series came to its (widely panned) conclusion. As it turns out, HBO had not one but fifteen different prequel concepts from various writers for GOT-inspired shows, all inspired by George R. R. Martin’s works. Of that bunch, five were selected, and one eventually moved forward: Bloodmoon.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bloodmoon went into production about a year before Thrones was slated to end, and HBO had high hopes. Francesca Orsi, HBO’s executive VP of drama, recalls the plot being a unique take on the familiar GoT world fans love. “Bloodmoon really stood out as different, with unique world-building. Tonally it felt very adult, sophisticated, and intelligent, and there was a thematic conversation at the center of it about disenfranchisement in the face of colonialism and religious extremism.”

The execs were hopeful, and the show even went on to shoot a pilot on an estimated $30 million to $35 million (!) budget. HBO even snagged Naomi Watts, who was fresh off her stint in Twin Peaks: The Return, as the leading lady of the series (reportedly a socialite with a “hidden secret”). Also among the cast was Jamie Campbell Bower, who instead went on to star as a lead villain in Stranger Things, so it worked out for him in the end!

Despite the show moving ahead, Martin was worried about where the production was going, despite never seeing the pilot. “Bloodmoon was a very difficult assignment,” Martin explained. “We’re dealing with a much more primitive people. There were no dragons yet. A lot of the pilot revolved around a wedding of a Southern house to a Northern house and it got into the whole history of the White Walkers.” Because of this, HBO quietly scrapped the idea, and the pilot is probably sitting in the basement of a warehouse, abandoned alongside Days Of Abandonment, the short-lived Natalie Portman project.

Of course, the show couldn’t have been that bad, right? Robert Greenblatt, who was then chairman of WarnerMedia, said that it looked good, but there wasn’t a future for it. “It wasn’t unwatchable or horrible or anything. It was very well produced and looked extraordinary. But it didn’t take me to the same place as the original series. It didn’t have that depth and richness that the original series’ pilot did.”

Despite the various production snags, House Of The Dragon is finally hitting screens at the end of the summer. Let’s all hope that it was worth it!

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Among the many rap albums we’ve received in 2022, Babyface Ray’s debut album Face is certainly one of the better releases. Since its arrival at the beginning of the year, Babyface has done a great job promoting the 20-track project thanks to the numerous music videos he shared. That trend continues with a brand new visual for “A1 Since Day 1.”

The video for the song, which serves as the opening track for the deluxe version of Face, is a compilation of concert videos as well as backstage and behind-the-scenes clips from Babyface and his crew. Altogether, Babyface uses the video to showcase a solid lifestyle and what it’s brought him.

Two months ago, Babyface Ray shared the deluxe version of Face which added eight songs to the project. The additional songs presented features from Veeze, Baroline, Lucki, DJ Esco, and Lil Yachty while the original project called on G Herbo, 42 Dugg, Wiz Khalifa, Yung Lean, Landstrip Chip, Pusha T, and Icewear Vezzo.

In addition to the video for “A1 Since Day 1,” Babyface Ray, who was recently inducted into the 2022 XXL Freshman Class, has also shared visuals for “Family Over Money,” “6 Mile Show,” “Motown Music,” “My Thoughts 3/Pop’s Prayer,” and “Dancing With The Devil.”

You can watch the video for “A1 Since Day 1” above.

Face (Deluxe) is out now via Wavy Gang/Empire. You can stream it here.

Ahead of his upcoming album, God Save The Animals, singer/songwriter Alex G stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform the album’s second single, “Runner.”

Joined by a backing band of bass guitarists and a keyboardist, Alex delivered a slow, intimate version of the song, on which he recalls a special friend.

“I laugh when you say the wrong thing / Mouthing off to everybody else but me / They hit you with the rolled up magazine,” he sings.

God Save The Animals is set to arrive this fall. The album was written and recorded by Alex, alongside his bandmates Sam Acchione, Molly Germer, John Heywood, and Tom Kelly. Sticking to his signature approach, Alex demoed the tracks in his home studio, before later recording final versions across various studios. Co-produced with Jacob Portrait, the album was recorded in multiple studios across Philadelphia.

According to a release accompanying the album announcement, God Save The Animals “consequently features the work of some half-dozen engineers whom Giannascoli asked to help him produce the “best” recording quality, whatever that meant. The result is an album more dynamic than ever in its sonic palette and its thoroughgoing complexity.”

In addition to a new album, Alex also recently scored an indie horror film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.

Check out the performance above.

God Save The Animals is out 9/23 via Domino. Pre-order it here.

Ken Jennings is back to hosting Jeopardy! this week, and he certainly turned some heads with a quick joke he made during Monday’s episode. The Jeopardy! GOAT took the host podium back from Mayim Bialik as the rotation of temporary hosts continues for Season 38, and while we have no real indication of who will host the show come September’s Season 39, we immediately got a bit of the humor many fans have enjoyed from Jennings in his time as temporary host.

While Bialik has a more straightforward approach, Jennings isn’t afraid to drop some jokes into the proceedings if the mood is right. And on Monday he decided to make a joke about circumcision during Double Jeopardy. After a correct answer from contestant Erica in the Active Bible Verses category, Jennings awarded some “painful” money.

“Since no one had done this for 40 years, God told Joshua to get a knife & do this to male Israelites,” was the answer Jennings read, to which Erica responded “circumcise.” That’s correct, of course, but Jennings had to make a quick joke before moving on in the round.

“That is correct,” he said. “A painful $2,000 for you!”

It was over in a flash but certainly a bit suggestive for a syndicated game show airing after the local news. Reaction among fans seems to be mixed, with some applauding his return and the line while others have framed it as cringeworthy. And while it’s that kind of willingness to crack jokes that’s gotten Jennings in trouble in other areas in the past, it’s also something legendary host Alex Trebek was more than willing to do in his long tenure on the program. And something he even managed to do as a contestant on his record-shattering run of wins.

It’s inevitable to compare Jennings to Bialik given the veritable bake-off the co-hosting duties has become, and some of those comparisons are simply not very fair to either host, especially the extra criticism Bialik has gotten for her style and wardrobe. One major difference we’ve seen is Jennings’ willingness to go there for a joke, even if it doesn’t land with everyone. Still, it’s still far less cringeworthy than this incredible series of wrong answers from another show Alex Trebek once hosted, Classic Concentration. Agony, indeed.

[via NY Post]

It’s rare to be known best by a single, subtle motion of your body, especially when you’re a 7’2 NBA Hall of Famer who was an all-time defender with one of the most booming voices on the planet, but Dikembe Mutombo still manages to speak loudest through one iconic finger wag. If in-game rejections were his strong suit, since his retirement after 19 seasons in 2009, Mutombo’s chief concern has been in creating avenues for aid through his Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, especially in his home of the Congo.

To date, he’s opened the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, a teaching hospital in Kinshasa, and a school, the Samuel Mutombo Institute Of Science in Mbuji Mayi. He also sits on the board of the CDC Foundation, Special Olympics International, and the National Board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, just some of the duties that propelled him to be named one of this year’s honorees of the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award, a part of the ESPYs 8th annual Humanitarian Awards.

Dime caught up with Mutombo just before he made the trip to L.A. for the awards ceremony on what the award means to him, plus modern bigs and NBA defence, the explosion and success of African players in the league, his advice for Chet Holmgren and where the status of solid taunts currently stands.

I know you’re flying out to L.A. tomorrow and have a busy week ahead. Are you looking forward to attending the awards ceremony and meeting the other honorees?

Yes, I’m very honored to have a chance to go to L.A. for such a great ceremony — The ESPYs. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone, the honorees from today and from the past, because it’s such a great, special event. It’s a chance of a lifetime to be honored by such a great organization.

What does being the recipient of the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE award mean to you?

You know, it means a lot. Stuart was a great man, a great husband, great father to his family, not just a great reporter. He was one of the funniest guys, who brought so much joy and smiles to so many people every night while they watched him. And he encouraged people to participate in doing good for others. So I’m glad that I’m getting such an honor named after him.

Karl-Anthony Towns is being awarded the Muhammed Ali Sports Humanitarian Award in the same Humanitarian Award class as you. You’ve always used basketball as a bridge for change, you’ve built a hospital and most recently a school in the Congo through your foundation, what does it mean to see younger athletes in the NBA realizing the importance of humanitarian work?

I’m so happy that some of the young people who are following in the footsteps, making a change because of basketball. We’re using basketball to make a change in the world because it’s a great sport. It’s allowed us to be seen on television by millions of people worldwide, it’s allowed us to make money, and allowed us also to make a change. Like Mandela says, sports have the power to change the world, sports have the power to change our communities. So I’m glad that the game of basketball has allowed me to do that.

Do you have any next, big projects on the horizon for or through your foundation?

[chuckles] I don’t want to give too much away, but we have other projects we’re working on. I think the biggest project is to continue to fight for women. Breast cancer and ovarian cancer are killing more women in Africa. Those are my next fights.

There are so many new and exciting African athletes in the league. I’m in Toronto so I’ve had the great luck of seeing Pascal Siakam explode into the versatile player that he is, same with Precious Achiuwa, and hopefully soon Christian Koloko. You were a huge part of the influx we’re seeing now of African players. Do you think the league is just scratching the surface on the potential of African players, whether through avenues like the BAL, or champions of the sport like yourself?

I think I’ve been a great role model for so many of our young people who are coming up. I think I’ve set a great platform to do what I did in social change. I want to inspire them. Because myself, I was inspired by those who came before me, and we should not forget about where we come from. And Africa needs that. If there’s a way for us to go make those changes then we need to go and reach out to the loved ones. I’m glad to see numbers of different players, from basketball and other sports, who are returning back to the continent and making change.

What do you think has led to the influx that we’re seeing?

There’s a great proverb, an African proverb, that says when there’s a problem affecting one part of the community, it becomes a responsibility of everyone living in that part of society. So I think we do understand the problems we are facing, and we want to be part of the change as well.

I wanted to get your thoughts on defense in today’s game. The Celtics and Timberwolves this last season utilized multiple big men with a shot blocker in the middle. The Cavs are an oversized, defensively-minded team, so are the Raptors, does it make you happy to see defense and big blocks coming back as a focal point?

Yes! I think there will always be a place for big men in the game. I was in Vegas last week, and everybody was talking about the return of the big man game. I think big men will always have a place in basketball, because that’s the way the game works inside. Even though we see more guys shooting threes now, nothing has changed. Big men are coming back, and they’re coming back strong, too.

And what do you think of the versatility that’s now demanded of big men? I think of stretch-big, 6’9 type players who are asked to switch and do a little bit of everything.

We didn’t have these kind of 6’9, 6’10 guys shooting threes before. Not shooting threes like they’re shooting today. But when it comes to a post up player like Joel Embiid, the game’s still inside. That’s where you see [bigs] continue to dominate the game inside. Everybody can shoot outside, but there’s nothing like going inside to go fight in the paint.

I agree with you [laughs].

[chuckles] When it comes to the playoffs, the ball has to go inside to come out.

You mentioned you were in Vegas for Summer League, did you get to see Chet Holmgren play?

Yes, I did. Very, very talented young player. I think he has a bright future. He’s present on defense, he’s not afraid of anybody. He’s standing tall and he can dribble, he can pass, he can take the ball to the hoop. He’s not holding anything back and I was very impressed.

Being a slim shot blocker, what advice would you have for him in his first season?

Keep working hard and stay in the weight room.

Your finger wag is an all-time iconic taunt. Are there any recent taunts you’ve seen and liked? Did you see Steph Curry’s “night-night” taunt in the playoffs?

[laughing] Yeah I think what Steph did will last for a long time. I was watching some clips online and I saw this kid, he made a shot and then he went on his side and fell asleep. And I was laughing so hard, I said, “What the heck.”

Do you think there should be more taunts?

Steph did it because he’s the best. He’s the league MVP. Anybody want to go that way, make sure that you bring your game with you.

And finally, you had such a long and successful career. You played for 18 seasons in the NBA, retiring when you were 43. Do you think that kind of longevity is going to become more of the norm in the NBA going forward?

You have to take care of your body, and it takes a lot of sacrifice. Maintain your body the way I did throughout my career. Only those who have discipline like that can play a long time. But you will always face challenges from those new generations coming in. For you to maintain your game at that pace.

And what about the mental perseverance?

What I mean about taking care of your body includes the mental component. Cause every time you come back, you’re met with young people who want to go over you, fly over you. And you gotta know, am I mentally fit for these challenges, and for what these young people want to take from me?

Tom Cruise was notoriously reluctant to make a sequel to Top Gun, calling it “irresponsible” in an interview with Playboy in 1990. That was then; “Top Gun: Maverick is 2022’s highest-grossing movie” is now.

Cruise is the face of three franchises: Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, and Jack Reacher (there will not be a third Jack Reacher movie with Cruise, not with the success of the TV show without him, but Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is underrated). But his first sequel (Mission: Impossible 2) didn’t come until 19 years into his career, and a year after he made two of his most daring and best movies, Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia. Would there be a Top Gun: Maverick if the Oscars had respected the c*ck? (Cruise lost Best Supporting Actor to Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules.)

It’s a timeline-changing question that Ethan Hawke — who, like Cruise, has been nominated for multiple Oscars but never won — posed in an interview with Indiewire.

“John Coltrane never won a prize. There are benchmarks that society likes, but they can’t be benchmarks for the artist because then you’re just lost. Sometimes I wonder if Tom Cruise won the Oscar for Magnolia, would it have changed the trajectory of his career?” he said. “It kind of seems like he gave up on chasing approval from the industry and just did his own thing. That’s probably a good thing for him, but sometimes I wish they gave him more prizes for Magnolia so that he had done it again.”

I love the Mission: Impossible movies and Top Gun: Maverick was a blast, but I agree with Hawke. Cruise is fantastic in Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut and Collateral, and it would be thrilling to see him take on daring dramas for adults again instead of sticking with tentpoles. Indie theaters need your help, too, Tom!

(Via Indiewire)

WARNING: Spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder below.

During the mid-credits scene for Thor: Love and Thunder, Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein joined the ranks of Charlize Theron and Harry Styles by introducing a new character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Hercules. Considering the internet is crazy for Roy Kent, Goldstein’s character on Ted Lasso, it’s pretty amazing that Marvel was able to keep his cameo under wraps even after Love and Thunder hit theaters. In fact, not even his own parents knew.

According to Goldstein, he tricked his parents into seeing the Thor movie in the UK even though it’s not their kind of film. “You should go see it. It’s funny,” he told them. However, Goldstein’s plan to surprise them with his Hercules reveal almost didn’t work because his mom kept texting him as moms do. Via Variety:

“My mom is texting me all the way through the film giving me a running commentary,” Goldstein continued. “I’m like, ‘Just watch the film!’ It gets to the end bit, where it shows Russell Crowe… My mom texts me ‘Russell Crowe’s in it again, he’s very funny.’ I go, ‘F*cking look up at the screen!’”

While the audience reaction to Hercules blew away director Taika Waititi, who was apparently unaware just how much Ted Lasso love is out there, Goldstein genuinely has no idea what’s next for the character thanks to that infamous Marvel secrecy.

“I truly, honestly — this isn’t me lying or being coy — I know nothing,” Goldstein told Variety. “All I know is what I did that day and that’s it. That could be it. It was a fun three seconds.”

Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters.

(Via Variety)