Sinéad O’Connor had one of the most memorable moments in Saturday Night Live history, when in 1992, she tore a photograph of Pope John Paul II while performing. It has long been rumored that she was banned from SNL (Lorne Michaels says that’s not true of her or anybody), but on the SNL50 special this weekend, the show took a moment to honor O’Connor, who died in 2023.
After being introduced by Aubrey Plaza (making her first public appearance since husband Jeff Baena’s death in January), Miley Cyrus, Brittany Howard, and The Roots covered “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which was written by Prince for his band The Family but was most famously recorded by O’Connor.
Elsewhere in the show, Dave Chappelle introduced a performance by Lil Wayne, who was also backed by The Roots. He performed a medley of hits featuring “Uproar,” “Lollipop,” “6 Foot 7 Foot,” “Mrs. Officer,” and “A Milli.”
There was a ton of music on SNL50 outside of the aforementioned. Sabrina Carpenter appeared in a new “Domingo” sketch, and she also joined Paul Simon to sing “Homeward Bound.” Paul McCartney also showed up and ran through a three-song medley.
Watch the performances from Cyrus, Howard, The Roots, and Wayne above.
The two-day festival — held at The Mann in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 31 to June 1 — also features Miguel; Latto; Kaytranada; Jeezy (celebrating the 20th anniversary of his album, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101); J.Period Live Mixtape’s series featuring Black Thought, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz; Rich Medina’s Black House Set featuring Crystal Waters and Cece Peniston; Musiq Soulchild, Kur, Elmiene, Jagged Edge, Crystal Waters, Lay Banks, Laila!, and Kur.
The Roots will also give the anniversary treatment to their classic album Do You Want More?!!!??!, which came out 30 years ago.
Outside of the performances, this year’s The Roots Picnic also features a day party lineup, including Trap Karaoke, Doo-Wop… That R&B Party, Girls Love Karaoke, Kirk Franklin’s Sunday School w/ DJ Mal-Ski, Philly Black Pride, Interna$hional Bounce, All Spice World Dance, and World Series of Spades.
Presale tickets for The Roots Picnic 2025 will be available starting February 18, at 10 a.m. ET through Thursday, February 20, at 10 p.m. ET. The general on-sale begins Friday, February 21, at 10 a.m. ET. You can find more information here.
Carpenter has been cemented in modern SNL lore thanks to the instant-classic “Domingo” sketch, which is based on a parody of her 2024 hit “Espresso.” Well, for the anniversary show, Carpenter herself participated in a new rendition of the sketch, which follows the same formula as the other ones: A bunch of bridesmaids share some uncomfortable revelations via a song parody.
Naturally, this sketch had a lot more star power, though, as featured were Bad Bunny, Pedro Pascal, Martin Short, Molly Shannon, and a handful of other SNL alums.
Elsewhere in the episode, Carpenter had the honor of sharing the stage with Paul Simon for a performance of “Homeward Bound.” First, Simon explained that he sang the song with George Harrison of The Beatles on SNL in 1976. Carpenter saw the opportunity for a joke and took it: “I was not born then, and neither were my parents,” she added.
Check out the “Domingo” sketch and Carpenter’s performance with Simon above.
After another poorly received All-Star Game, thee NBA’s new mini-tournament format might not be here to last. That is perhaps a bit of a shame because league’s latest attempt to create a more entertaining and competitive All-Star Game was reasonably successful in terms of the basketball we saw on the court.
The first two games were competitive and saw all four teams showing honest to god effort on both ends of the floor at times and looked like actual basketball games. The final game saw Shaq’s OGs jump out to a quick 11-0 lead on Chuck’s Global Stars and then devolved into the type of low-stakes basketball we’ve come to expect from the All-Star Game. The good news is, in a game to 40, even a bad game goes quickly. You get a guy to catch fire like Stephen Curry (trying harder than most in his home All-Star Game), hitting a halfcourt shot and some silly threes, and it’s enough to make things reasonably entertaining and ends quickly without falling into total chaos.
The problem with the 2025 All-Star Game had little to do with the quality of basketball on the court, which is perhaps the greatest compliment you can pay to the new format. The issue was that three games to 40 in an All-Star atmosphere go extremely quickly and the TV broadcast is determined to fill a three-hour window.
That meant we were treated to some truly dreadful segments, including an inordinate amount of Kevin Hart (in case you were not aware, Kevin is very short and NBA players are quite tall) and Damian Lillard having to purposefully try to miss enough logo threes to let a fan win $100,000 from Mr. Beast. They did that plus desk analysis from the TNT crew outside of each game, which was mostly notable because Draymond Green spent the entire night absolutely torching the new format, giving it a 0 out of 10 and decrying it as “not basketball” — which was a bit funny given we saw more actual basketball played tonight than we have in any All-Star Game since 2020.
I should say, the musical act this year was excellent and was not part of the problem. The Pass The Mic Live show with Bay Area legends was easily one of the best parts of the evening and far more entertaining than anything else they did between games. It also took less time from start to finish than one of the Kevin Hart segments with the Inside the NBA crew did and I really wish I was kidding about that.
The aforementioned segment saw Hart and some All-Stars send the Inside crew “Gone Fishing”, which could’ve been a fun moment if it had been done quickly and did not somehow create a 16(!) minute stoppage in the middle of the final game — also, Inside the NBA is not ending after this season and will instead be licensed to ESPN next year. It was emblematic of the problems of this year’s All-Star presentation, which was by trying desperately to stretch things out for a TV window, the basketball became secondary to a sketch show.
The problem is, I don’t think there’s really a fix unless you’re going to accept that this should be a two-hour long event. Part of why the games worked is the short format trims a lot of the fat that makes All-Star basketball tough to watch. There weren’t long spells of teams trading wide open dunks or heaving deep threes because the games to 40 make each game basically the two parts of each All-Star Game that are entertaining — the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes. If you made them games to 60 or 70, then you’d create more of that middle area where guys lose focus and open the door for more blowouts.
There probably isn’t a better way to execute an All-Star format if the goal is “reasonably competitive basketball” — barring players being open to a 1-on-1 tournament — and even the somewhat controversial inclusion of the Rising Stars winner worked as intended. They were trying very hard and pushed the OGs to the most competitive game of the entire thing because they really wanted to win and the All-Stars didn’t want to get embarrassed by losing. However, it cannot be a three-hour event because there’s nothing to fill the time basketball-wise — unless they give up on Saturday Night and put the Three-Point and Dunk Contests between games, which they’ll never do. Otherwise, you have a night of stops and starts where the basketball part (which the league has insisted has to be better) gets shoved to the periphery.
We’ll see what the league and NBC cook up next year in the first year with a new network taking charge, but given how reactive the league has been to criticism in recent years, I’m not sure the mini-tournament format is going to make it to 2026. After the players have gotten plenty of blame in recent years (at times quite deservedly so), the league has to take this one on the chin because it wasn’t a basketball issue this year, it was the 2.5 hours of nonsense happening around 30 minutes of hoops.
Not too long ago, Draymond Green was proclaiming himself the leader of The New Media, who would change the way the game is discussed on TV and celebrate the game. This weekend at All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, Green has been a fixture on TNT’s broadcasts but he spent much of his time decrying the state of not just the All-Star Game but NBA basketball as a whole — seemingly fully morphing into the type of former player analyst he once hated (and somehow did so while still being an active player).
At All-Star media day, Green called the current style of play in the NBA “boring” and saying it lacked substance because it’s just about who can run faster and hit more threes. The comments certainly aren’t unique, as there has been a lot of focus on the rate of three-pointers taken in the NBA now as a problem for the league.
Older and former players have been particularly vocal about the three-point issue (some for a long time), but Oscar Robertson isn’t among them. The Hall of Famer got asked about Green’s comments on Sirius XM NBA Radio on Sunday and took some jabs at Draymond in response.
“Who cares what Draymond says? It doesn’t mean anything,” Robertson said. “This is what I mean, one guy can say this, another guy can say that, the game is what it is. Either people like the game or they don’t, and I think people enjoy the game, especially if their team can win. And if you look at the basketball, it might be boring to him because if he’s not passing the ball to Curry, what is he doing? I mean, not to single that out because I think he knows how to play basketball, but he’s passing to Curry more than anyone I’ve ever seen in basketball. So it might be boring to him at times cause maybe to him at times because he’s not shooting a lot, he’s not guarding a lot, so it gets boring.”
I did not expect to see The Big O torching Draymond Green at All-Star Weekend, but he seems as tired of the “the game is bad now” takes as anyone — possibly because he’s seen those arguments take so many different shapes over the years.
Well, the “Baile Inolvidable” musician has something special made just for them. Thanks to Bad Bunny’s partnership with Rockabye Baby!, he is ready to help the kiddos turn down for bed or a brief nap. Yesterday (February 15), Benito’s Lullaby Renditions Of Bad Bunny was announced.
Across the 14-track project, instrumentals of Bad Bunny’s most beloved songs including “Tití Me Preguntó,” “La Canción,” “Me Porto Bonito” and more will be repurposed for smoothing benefits.
Although the body of work isn’t set to hit streaming platform until next week (February 21), Bad Bunny has shared a bite of what’s to come. Over on YouTube, guardians can loop a claymation video of lullaby version of “Dákiti.”
Continue below to view Lullaby Renditions Of Bad Bunny‘s tracklist and artwork. Watch the official video for Bad Bunny’s “Dákiti” above.
Artwork
Tracklist
1. “La Canción”
2. “I Like It”
3. “Dákiti”
4. “Si Veo a Tu Mamá”
5. “La Santa”
6. “Ignorantes”
7. “Me Porto Bonito”
8. “Tití Me Preguntó”
9. “Ojitos Lindos”
10. “Callaita”
11. “Cómo Se Siente”
12. “Te Boté”
13. “MIA”
14. “Después de la Playa”
Rockabye Baby!’s Lullaby Renditions Of Bad Bunny is out 2/21 via Rimas Entertainment. Find more information here.
Beyoncé’s business empire continues to expand. Back in October 2024, the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer launched her newest perfume Cé Lumière. For her deeply devoted Beyhive, it made for the perfect sweet holiday stocking stuffer. However, the financial situation has drastically changed since then and fans have no problem letting Beyoncé know all about it.
Yesterday (February 15), Beyoncé posted an elaborate new video (viewable here) promoting the fragrance on Instagram. But instead of an overwhelming show of support, followers have hilariously responded by flooding the comment section with the financial woes.
Many Beyhivers went as far as to joke that Beyoncé should have spaced out her Cowboy Carter Tour and scent promotion further apart if she wanted to secure their coins for both.
Read some of the sidesplitting reactions below.
“Insufficient funds—we ain’t GOT no money,” wrote one user.
“Just spray it in the air at the concert because we don’t have the money ,” joked one user.
“Ask Ticketmaster for it… cause we don’t have it,” penned one user.
“You’re really not even going to acknowledge that we just spent a whole four days fighting for our life for you,” chimed another.
“You love tax time! About to call you Beyoncé Hewitt,” chuckled one user.
“With what money Giselle,” asked one user.
“the way this perfume got more visuals than renaissance and cowboy carter combined,” added another.
Cé Lumière is available to purchase now. Find more information here.
Due to overwhelming demand, Shakira is back on the road for her 2025 Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour. Now that the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer’s run around the globe has kicked off, fans are itchy to experience Shakira live.
Sadly, supporters in Peru are going to have to wait a while before that can see Shakira. Today (February 16), Shakira revealed that she is currently hospitalized over an abdominal issue in an Instagram stories post (viewable here courtesy of Pop Crave). Therefore, Shakira has had to postpone tonight’s show in Lima, Peru at Estadio Nacional.
Read Shakira’s full statement regarding the postponement below.
I am sorry to inform you all that last night I had to go to the [emergency room] for an abdominal issue and am currently hospitalized.
The doctors whose care I am currently under have communicated that I am not in good enough condition to perform this evening.
I am very sad to not be able to take the stage today. I’ve been looking forward to reuniting with my incredible fans here in Peru.
I hope to be released and well tomorrow so I’m able to perform.
My team and the promoters are already working on a new date to communicate to you.
Grammy Award-winning musicians Lizzo and SZA spend a great deal of time together. As best friends, that should not come as a shocker. However, a recent confession from Lizzo about their working relationship has left supporters gagged.
During a recent Twitch stream (viewable here), the “Special” singer revealed that she, SZA, and a third unnamed musician almost started a rock band called “P*ssy Lasers.”
“We just always been friends, and it’s a sacred space for me in this industry,” she said. “We [had] this little period of time when we were just linking up in the studio. One particular night, mind you, we were gonna start a rock band, called P*ssy Lasers.”
She continued: “We were going to start a rock band called Pussy Lasers with an incredible other artist who I don’t know if she even wants to be mentioned, so I’m not going to mention her.”
Lizzo did not reveal why they decided against it. However, she did praise SZA for exploring rock elements in her music as heard on SOS’ “F2F.”
Although the rock band didn’t come into fruition, that does not mean the duo does not have something tucked away. Given that Lizzo recently teased new music fans hope the pair collaborates soon.
On February 14, the Jane Doe through their attorney Tony Buzbee voluntarily dropped the case. Following the filing, Jay-Z issued a statement celebrating the news.
“Today is a victory,” he wrote in a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter). “The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed.”
He continued: “The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims.”
Those severe claims said Jay-Z forcibly taking off Doe’s clothes then holding her down while he allegedly raped her. Despite the cases being dropped, Jay-Z still appears to be pursuing his defamation and extortion cases against Buzbee.
Read Jay-Z’s full statement regarding the voluntary withdrawal below.
Today is a victory. The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed. This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere. The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.
This 1-800 lawyer gets to file a suit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they quickly realize that the money grab is going to fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions. The system has failed.
The court must protect victims, OF COURSE, while with the same ethical responsibility, the courts must protect the innocent from being accused without a shred of evidence. May the truth prevail for all victims and those falsely accused equally.
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,” joked one user.
