Category: Worldwide

When the Miami Heat unveiled their stature of Dwyane Wade outside the Kaseya Center, they were certainly hoping to draw some coverage and attention to their effort at immortalizing one of their franchise legends. They definitely got that, but it was not the kind of attention anyone involved with the statue was hoping for, as everyone immediately pointed out that the statue’s face did not look much like Wade.

NBA fans had a lot of fun playing the “looks like” game with the Wade statue, with Laurence Fishburne, Kelsey Grammer, and Antoine Walker all getting votes, among many others. Even Wade’s longtime rival Paul Pierce thought the Heat did him dirty with the statue, posting that it looks more like Tony Allen than Wade. On Tuesday, vice presidential candidate Tim Walz got in on the fun when he joined The Dan Le Batard Show and was asked by Le Batard whether he’d seen the statue.

Walz found the Fishburne comp the funniest, but then shouted out Wade for being so gracious about what Walz called a “pretty horrific” statue. He also wanted to know how there wasn’t a process to show some folks beforehand and let them go “hey, this doesn’t look right,” which is a pretty good question. As Le Batard notes, Wade was heavily involved in the process and the Hall of Famer has stated that he loves the statue, but I’m not sure what else he’s supposed to say in this situation.

Ticketmaster is often the subject of ire for one reason or another, like earlier this year, when “dynamic pricing” for Oasis reunion tour tickets got the attention of the UK government. It turns out that Taylor Swift flat-out refused to go with the dynamic pricing model for The Eras Tour.

In an interview with HITS Daily Double, Jay Marciano, AEG Presents Chairman and CEO, was asked about what he learned from The Eras Tour, and he said, “There are a number of things Taylor did that other artists wouldn’t contemplate doing. One is, she had an opportunity to dynamically price her tickets, and she didn’t want to do that to her fans. She specifically said, ‘No dynamic pricing.’ She was willing to make decisions that potentially cut into her income because she was taking a long-term view of her career.”

While this situation went down behind closed doors, Swift has publicly shared her thoughts about Ticketmaster, specifically about the platform’s issues with the tour and how difficult the ticket-buying process ended up being. She wrote in 2022:

“Well. It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans. […] It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse. There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I’m trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward. I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could. It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.”

Just like Eminem, 50 Cent turned down “ridiculous amounts of money.” Unlike Eminem, however, the offer he declined was to perform at a rally for Donald Trump.

While appearing on The Breakfast Club on Tuesday, the rapper was asked by host DJ Envy whether it’s true if the Republican candidate for president offered him money to endorse him. “I got a call, but they wanted me [for] Sunday,” he answered. That was the day of Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, which was filled with “violent and vulgar rhetoric,” including a comedian referring to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage.”

50 Cent claims “they offered $3 million,” according to Variety (he was only offered $1 million for the inauguration — inflation, am I right?). He continued, “I didn’t talk to them about that kinda stuff. I’m afraid about politics. You understand? I do not like no part about them… It’s because when you do get involved in it, no matter how you feel, some one passionately disagrees with you. That’s the formula for the confusion that sent Kanye to Japan. He said something about both of those things — and now he can only go to Japan.”

Earlier this year, 50 Cent told CBS News that he sees Black men “identifying with Trump” because “they got RICO charges.” He has not publicly endorsed either candidate.

Luca Guadagnino has already made one of the best movies of 2024. Soon, he’ll put out another. A24‘s Queer stars Daniel Craig as William Lee, an American ex-pat living in Mexico City who falls for a younger man named Eugene Allerton, played by Drew Starkey. They talk, they drink, they travel to South America to do drugs. With Eugene, William can be his own queer self.

You can watch the trailer for Queer (set to a cover of Nirvana’s “All Apologies”) above.

Queer is based on the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name. Guadagnino explained why he wanted to adapt the book at the Venice Film Festival. “I was a lonely boy in Palermo, a megalomaniac and dreaming of building worlds through cinema. I read this slim book and I fell into the vivid imagination of this writer that I didn’t know at the time, the profound connection that he was achingly describing on the page between these two characters,” he said. “The romanticism of the idea of the adventure, and the adventure with someone you want and love, all of these really transformed me and changed me forever, and because I want to be loyal to that young boy, I kept thinking, I have to bring this to the screen.”

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

1950. William Lee, an American expat in Mexico City, spends his days almost entirely alone, except for a few contacts with other members of the small American community. His encounter with Eugene Allerton, an expat former soldier, new to the city, shows him, for the first time, that it might be finally possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody.

Queer, which was written by Justin Kuritzkes and also stars Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, Henrique Zaga, and Omar Apollo, opens in theaters on November 27.

While performing at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado last night (October 28), Shawn Mendes played “The Mountain,” an unreleased song he has been performing live lately. Notably, the lyrics (per Genius) address Mendes’ sexuality: “You can say I’m too young / You can say I’m too old / You can say I like girls or boys / Whatеver fits your mold.”

During the show, Mendes also spoke more directly about his sexuality, saying (as seen in this video shared on TikTok)

“Since I was really young, there’s been this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it for so long. And I think it’s kind of silly, because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it’s so hard to just put into boxes. It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me, something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover, and still have yet to discover.

Writing this song felt really important to me because it felt like a moment where I could address it in a way that felt close to my heart. I guess I’m just speaking freely now because I just want to be closer to everyone and be in my truth. The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone. I don’t really know sometimes, and I know other times, and it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that, and I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. That’s all I really want to say about that for now.”

Mendes’ sexuality, for those not aware, has been a talking point for years now.

Following Liam Payne’s shocking death earlier this month, every One Direction album resurfaced on the Billboard 200. Soon, the first posthumous single from the singer will hit the charts as well.

“Do No Wrong” is a collaboration between Payne and Grammy-winning producer Sam Pounds. It comes out on Friday, November 1.

“I pray that this will be a blessing to the world like Liam has always dreamed,” Pounds wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I pray angels will comfort you all everyday while listening. I pray that this song will be a blessing to Ruth, Bear, and the entire family.” (Ruth is Liam’s sister, and Bear is his seven-year-old son.) He continued, “I pray that this song eclipses the negative echoes. I pray supernatural positive healing power will embrace each and every one of you.”

Payne died on October 16 after falling off a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel in Palermo, Buenos Aires. The cause of death was determined to be “polytrauma and internal and external bleeding,” according to the autopsy report, while “a series of substances were seized from the musician’s room, which would prove a previous situation of alcohol and drugs consumption.”

You can find more information on “Do No Wrong,” including how to pre-save the song, here.

Before the second game of the World Series this past weekend, Ice Cube stood before the Dodger Stadium crowd in Los Angeles and performed his classic hit “It Was A Good Day.” So, when Game 3 of the series between the LA Dodgers and the New York Yankees shifted back to NYC yesterday (October 28), the Yankees had an answer.

As the New York Post notes, Joe Torre, CC Sabathia, Gary Sheffield, Dave Winfield, and Derek Jeter, the latter of whom threw out the ceremonial first pitch, participated in pre-game festivities. Then there was Bronx native Fat Joe, who delivered renditions of “Lean Back” and “All The Way Up.”

However, the consensus appears to be that Joe’s part didn’t go so well: Following the performance, Joe was one of the top-trending topics on X (formerly Twitter), and not because people were flooding the platform with praise.

One user wrote, “I’m not a hater, BUT Fat Joe opening up for the Yankees might be one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. I think they got him on SALE 50% OFF.” Somebody else said, “Fire whoever from the Yankees thought that was a good idea to have Fat Joe do whatever that was. I’m literally speechless at wtf I just watched. We don’t even deserve to win after that performance. George Steinbrenner would ban Fat Joe from Yankee Stadium after that.”

Another user wrote, “Me checking Twitter to make sure I’m not the only one who thought that Fat Joe intro was a miss.”

The Yankees would go on to lose the game 4-2, falling to 0-3 in the best-of-7 series.

Watch a video of Joe’s performance above.

To echo online discourse and the words of UPROXX’s music news editor Derrick Rossignol, Chappell Roan, and her own words, she is over pop stardom.” However, the pop music listeners are far from through with the “Hot To Go!” singer’s music.

Today (October 28), Chappell Roan earned her very first Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified platinum single. As pointed out by Pop Crave, Chappell Roan’s beloved song “Good Luck, Babe!” has hit the 1,000,000 copies sold.

On RIAA’s online database (viewable here) the metrics for “Good Luck, Babe!” has been update since its last tracking. Back on May 29, “Good Luck, Babe!” was listed as gold (500,000 copies sold). Five months later and a massive boost in streams later, “Good Luck, Babe!” is now certified platinum.

“Good Luck, Babe!” wasn’t the only record in Chappell Roan’s discography to be updated by the RIAA. Chappell’s latest studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was also certified gold. In additional to the album’s certification, several of the album’s featured songs have also listed as gold including “Red Wine Supernova,” “Hot To Go!,” “Pink Pony Club,” and “Casual.”

With Chappell Roan steady teasing new music, these professional accomplishments are right on time.

According to reports, a biopic chronicling DMX’s life is in the works. But that isn’t the only project honoring the late rapper slated to drop.

According to Billboard, a second posthumous album from DMX is on the way. The eight track body of work, titled Let Us Pray: Chapter X, supposedly will be released on December 13.

The follow-up to Exodus is slated to featured guest appearances by Snoop Dogg, Killer Mike, Terrace Martin, LeCrae, MC Lyte, and more.

While Exodus was produced by Swizz Beats, Warryn Campbell will take over the role for Let Us Pray: Chapter X. In a statement, Campbell talked about the album.

“Working on Let Us Pray: Chapter X has been one of the most fulfilling experiences for me as a creative,” he said. “When you hear the voice of DMX, it inspires instant creativity and what better way to showcase who X really was than through prayer.”

Tracklist

1. “Favor” featuring Killer Mike, Mary Mary, & RoyzNoyz Orchestra
2. “Bear With Me” featuring LeCrae
3. “One Life To Do It” featuring MC Lyte & RoyzNoyz Orchestra
4. “Until I’m Gone” featuring Snoop Dogg, Terrace Martin, and Lena Byrd Miles
5. “Favor” (Instrumental)
6. “Bear With Me” (Instrumental)
7. “One Life To Do It” (Instrumental)
8. “Until I’m Gone” (Instrumental)

Let Us Pray: Chapter X is due out 12/13 via Def Jam/UMe. Find more information here.

Over the weekend, Sin City experienced an angelic shift. On October 26, Adele and Celine Dion came face-to-face during the “Chasing Pavements” latest Weekends with Adele show.

Immediately after making eye contact the two vocals burst into tears. Today (October 28), Adele reflected on their emotional embrace in a heartfelt note posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“I have been performing in Celine Dion’s room at the Colosseum for almost 2 years now (4 weeks to go),” she wrote. “It was the only venue I wanted to play in Vegas because it was built for her. I have a picture of her right next to the stage that I touch every night before I walk on, and she came to the show this weekend, and it was a surprise, and it was a MOMENT!”

Adele then turned her focus onto Celine, writing: “Celine Dion, I love you so very, very much. Words will never sum up what you mean to me, or what you coming to my show means, let alone how it felt seeing you back in your palace with your beautiful family. I have loved being there it has been such an honor and Saturday night will be something I remember forever and ever. Such a full circle moment for me to be there with you. Thank you so much.”