Category: Worldwide

Disney is removing dozens of TV shows and movies from Disney+, including Willow, which has been on the streaming service for less than six months, and Howard, the documentary about one of the key figures in the Disney Renaissance, Howard Ashman. Some Hulu shows are affected, as well, so if you were planning on watching Y: The Last Man, now’s your chance.

The content culling — which will happen as soon as next week — comes after a recent earnings call where Disney CFO Christine McCarthy told investors, “We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation.” It’s a cost-cutting move for Disney; McCarthy said the company expects “a write-down in the June quarter of $1.5 billion-$1.8 billion from removing content from its streaming platforms,” according to Variety. “By writing down the value of the content assets, Disney can remove that from its balance sheet and reduce its tax bill.”

Here are the shows and movies being removed from Disney+:

America the Beautiful
Among the Stars
Artemis Fowl
Be Our Chef
Better Nate Than Ever
The Big Fib
Big Shot
Black Beauty
Cheaper by the Dozen (2022)
Clouds
Diary of a Future President
Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings
Earth to Ned
Encore!
Foodtastic
Harmonious Live!
Howard
It’s a Dog’s Life With Bill Farmer
Just Beyond
Magic Camp
The Making of Willow
The Mighty Ducks
Marvel’s Hero Project
Marvel’s MPower
More Than Robots
The Mysterious Benedict Society
The One and Only Ivan
Own the Room
Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays
Pick of the Litter
The Princess
The Real Right Stuff
Rogue Trip
Rosaline
Shop Class
A Spark Story
Stargirl (2020)
Stuntman
Super/Natural
Timmy Failure
Turner & Hooch
Weird but True!
Willow
Wolfgang
The World According to Jeff Goldblum

And on Hulu:

Best in Dough
Best in Snow
Darby and the Dead
Dollface
Everything’s Trash
Little Demon
Love in the Time of Corona
Maggie
Pistol
The Premise
The Quest
Y: The Last Man

(Via Variety)

Rihanna has had a strong past few months. Just the possibility of her presence stopped Pedro Pascal in his tracks, she’s climbing her way up the RIAA ranks, there’s a great new wax figure of her, she made the Forbes billionaires list, and it was announced she’s starring in a new Smurfs movie. Yes, times are good, and now they’ve gotten even better: Rihanna’s currently getting a lot of attention for her revealing new maternity shoot, much of which is topless.

In an Instagram gallery shared yesterday (May 18), Rihanna wrote, “here’s a little series I call ‘Rub on ya titties.’ in honor of my first pregnancy, embracing motherhood like a g, and the magic that this body made! Baby RZA… he in there not having a clue how nuts his mama is, or how obsessed he was bout to make me #maternityshoot2022 #tobecontinued.”

The photos were taken in a tropical-looking environment and feature Rihanna in a barely-there bikini, topless in some shots but covering her breasts with her hands in all of them. As Rihanna noted, the pics are also from 2022, when she was pregnant with her and ASAP Rocky’s first child, RZA.

As of this post, in the approximately 13 hours since the gallery was shared on Instagram, it has racked up about 9.9 million likes.

Check out the photos above.

Earlier this week, TMZ premiered a new documentary, TMZ Investigates: Britney Spears: The Price Of Freedom. The doc made a lot of claims, which Sam Asghari addressed, and now Spears herself has spoken up, too, via a new Instagram post.

The post features a photo of a reflective-looking woman with the text, “Thinking about when I was a teenager and I’d ride in the trunk of my friends car to a party at a gravel pit, sleep just fine on a hard floor and eat McDonalds whenever I wanted, and now I have a 13-step skincare routine, get to bed by 9:30, work out daily and eat mostly plants.”

Spears’ caption starts, “Considering what happened to me during the conservatorship and how hard I work everyday to be a better person since it’s been over !!! The concern and just effort on TMZ’s part of being the trashiest news channel for news !!! Damn I’m flattered !!!”

She continued, “These men who I have no idea who they are, are talking about me as if they have any right at all to do so !!! My girlfriend called me and said ‘because I know you I was laughing at these men and what they were saying’ !!! But she also said it was really disturbing how incredibly conniving and foolish it was !!! The media has always been cruel to me and most people probably wouldn’t even comment on it but I do think some people might believe this and I care !!! I almost feel like my life in the business has always been that girl at school who was bullied and laughed at !!! But in my case there is no superior person to set it straight !!!”

Spears also gave an update on her upcoming book, writing, “I think some people are wanting to hear my story … either through a book or what have you ??? I’ve had to stop a couple of times !!! It may take me a year, maybe longer who knows … to share my story !!!”

Find Spears’ full post below.

“Considering what happened to me during the conservatorship and how hard I work everyday to be a better person since it’s been over !!! The concern and just effort on TMZ’s part of being the trashiest news channel for news !!! Damn I’m flattered !!! These men who I have no idea who they are, are talking about me as if they have any right at all to do so !!! My girlfriend called me and said ‘because I know you I was laughing at these men and what they were saying’ !!! But she also said it was really disturbing how incredibly conniving and foolish it was !!! The media has always been cruel to me and most people probably wouldn’t even comment on it but I do think some people might believe this and I care !!! I almost feel like my life in the business has always been that girl at school who was bullied and laughed at !!! But in my case there is no superior person to set it straight !!! My dad was supposedly the one who was supposed to protect my mind and heart from things of this matter but he was the main one who was secretly loving it !!! I think some people are wanting to hear my story … either through a book or what have you ??? I’ve had to stop a couple of times !!! It may take me a year, maybe longer who knows … to share my story !!! My great grandmother told me two things that I will never forget !!! People come here for two reasons … either for a lesson or a blessing and she said ‘Dear sweetheart the real key to happiness is to forget every fucking thing that ever happened ‘ !!! It’s a new day y’all !!!”

The Los Angeles Lakers, as a team, had an awful shooting night in Game 2 against the Nuggets, as their inability to knock down shots from deep played a big role in allowing Denver to come back and take a 2-0 series lead on Thursday night.

As a team, the Lakers were 8-of-30 from three-point range, but were only that successful from long range thanks to Austin Reaves. The second-year guard has been L.A.’s most reliable three-point shooter in these playoffs and continued that with a 5-of-9 shooting night in Denver, making him the only Laker with more than one make on the night. Reaves finished the night with 22 points, tied with LeBron James for the team-high in scoring — Jamal Murray, on the other side, scored 22 in the fourth quarter to lead Denver to the win.

Given he was tied for the team lead in scoring on the night, Reaves was asked to go to the podium after the game to talk about the loss and what happened. Reaves did so after snagging a quick shower, but hadn’t gotten his hair fully dried which meant he rolled up to take questions looking, well, like this.

Reaves looking like he was from a mid-2000s rock band gave NBA Twitter enough fodder to have some fun late into the night.

There were also some who went a different route from the many band references to note he looked like Todd from Wedding Crashers.

https://twitter.com/PintOfJack/status/1659415355553456128

A Lana Del Rey fan-favorite track has finally been made available for streaming. Tonight (May 19), Del Rey has given her song “Say Yes To Heaven” an official release on streaming platforms.

On the song, Del Rey encourages a special someone to take a chance on love and make an escape with her.

“If you dance, I’ll dance / And if you don’t, I’ll dance anyway / Give peace a chance / Let the fear you have fall away / I’ve got my eye on you / I’ve got my mind on you / Say yes to Heaven / Say yes to me / Say yes to Heaven / Say yes to me,” she sings over smooth, gorgeous guitar strings, as a pounding drum beats in the background.

Versions of “Say Yes To Heaven” have appeared online for years on platforms like YouTube and Soundcloud, but until tonight, the song had never been officially released. The song is rumored to date back to the sessions for Del Rey’s third studio album, Ultraviolence, which was originally released in 2014.

Recently, the song had gone viral on TikTok, which is likely what prompted a release of the song in both a studio format and a sped-up version.

You can listen to “Say Yes To Heaven” above.

For much of Thursday’s Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets were stalled in the mud offensively. After scoring 132 points in the Game 1 victory, Denver had just 76 points through three quarters, while Murray followed up his own 31-point performance with 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting before the fourth frame. Then, Murray and the Nuggets caught fire. They scored 32 points in the final period, including 22 on 6-of-7 shooting from Murray. Denver outscored Los Angeles 32-24 in the fourth quarter to win the game 108-103, and now holds a 2-0 lead in this Western Conference Finals matchup.

During his fourth-quarter explosion, Murray went 4-of-5 beyond the arc. As he hustled his way back down the floor following his fourth triple, he pointed toward ESPN’s Mike Breen on the broadcast desk and yelled “bang!” — a nod to Breen’s signature call commemorating key shots at key moments of games.

Murray’s rarely played as someone short on confidence, and this is a sensational show of awareness to know who’s calling the game and what he’ll say after a big three. He certainly didn’t seem to lack it in Game 2, despite the slow first three quarters. Denver needed him to keep firing and pull the offense out of its massive slog. Murray accomplished exactly that, powered the Nuggets to a 2-0 series advantage and provided everyone with an enjoyable moment amid his dazzling scoring stretch.

Conan Gray is back and ready to deliver. Tonight (May 19), the Gen-Z pop superstar has shared his new single, “Never Ending Song.”

Over pulsating, ’80s-inspired synths, Gray describes a magical kind of love that he just can’t escape.

“You and I / sacrificed my adolescence / just to waste my time / on the edges of your life / but we’ve grown too close / now it can’t amount to nothing / I can hear your voice / in the music on the radio / and it goes on and on and on / like a never ending song,” he sings on part of the song.

In the accompanying music video, Gray arrives to a grocery store as it is closing, and throws down his best dance moves throughout the shop. He is later joined by some of the customers in the store, who then give it all they’ve got.

“It’s about a tale as old as time and something we’ve all gone through, which is a painful tumultuous relationship that just never seems to die no matter how many times you kill it,” said Gray in a statement. “The story just drags on and on. Maybe that’s by design, or maybe you secretly don’t want it to ever end. I’ve always enjoyed disguising my sadness inside of upbeat music. It’s how I’ve handled life. I never like to take myself too seriously—life is painful enough as is.”

You can see the video for “Never Ending Song” above.

While the Nuggets won Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers, they did so by holding on narrowly after seeing a 21-point lead evaporate into just a three-point edge in the fourth quarter. Because of that, a lot of the conversation over the last two days leading into Game 2 was about the adjustments L.A. made in the fourth quarter that were successful against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets offense and how that would carry over.

The Lakers got great minutes out of Rui Hachimura in the fourth quarter, allowing Anthony Davis to roam and serve as the person bringing the double team on Jokic, which stymied the Nuggets offense and allowed L.A. to claw back into the game. However, the talk about that adjustment became too much of the focus, particularly considering Denver was going to have a chance to develop some counters to the Lakers’ defensive scheme. In Game 2, Jokic wasn’t quite as dominant — only 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists — and early he seemed a bit too passive, but was still effective and, ultimately, once the Nuggets started making shots they pulled in front in the fourth quarter.

After the Game 2 win, head coach Michael Malone voiced his frustration with the lack of commentary about Jokic’s historic 30-20-10 triple-double in Game 1 and how his team seemingly was on the backburner despite winning the opening game.

“You win Game 1 of the playoffs, and all everybody talked about was the Lakers,” Malone says. “Let’s be honest, that was a national narrative: The Lakers are fine. They’re down 1-0, but they figured something out. No one talked about that Nikola had a historic performance. He’s got 13 triple-doubles now, third all-time. What he’s doing is just incredible, but the narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets. The narrative wasn’t about Nikola. The narrative is about the Lakers and their adjustments. So you put that in your pipe, you smoke it, you come back and you know what, we’re going to go up 2-0.”

Finding slights in media coverage is a time-honored tradition in sports, but Malone’s not totally wrong here. The major networks, particularly ESPN, spent an awful lot of time on Hachimura’s defense and how the Lakers had figured some things out, which was worth talking about to a degree, but so was the play of Jokic to force that adjustment. Coming off of Game 2 the conversation will undoubtedly touch on Jamal Murray’s fourth quarter eruption to lead Denver to the come from behind win and a 2-0 series lead, but you can also rest assured LeBron and AD’s struggles shooting will be a leading topic as well. That should give Malone ample fuel to keep telling his top-seeded Nuggets they aren’t getting enough respect going into Game 3 in L.A., which, to be honest, is exactly what he wants.

As the title of The Dare‘s new EP The Sex EP suggests, his debut solo project is all about sex. Over the course of four tracks, The Dare, whose real name is Harrison Patrick Smith, offers poppy, electronic accounts of sexcapades by way of candid, and sometimes irreverent lyrics.

On the EP’s title track, “Sex,” The Dare delivers robotic vocals over a shockingly horny 8-bit-sounding beat.

“Sex, I want to turn you on / And then I want you gone / You might even have hate me a little bit / Sex, I want to call your mom /And tell her you’re the bomb / I might even see if she’s into it,” he says on part of the song.

According to The Dare, The Sex EP is simply an introduction to his artistry, and he promises a diverse repertoire of music in the future.

“I just wanted to write something funny and true about my relationship to sex,” said The Dare in a statement. “It’s also the most time-honored and classic theme of rock and roll, so I had to do it. The other, less horny songs are coming later.”

In the meantime, you can listen to “Sex” above.

The Sex EP is out now via Republic. Find more information here.

Post Malone is gearing up for the release of his fifth studio album, Austin, and with the pair of songs he’s released thus far, it sounds like it’ll be his most personal to date. On the first single, “Chemical,” he addresses his mental health and his addictions, displaying a desire to change, no matter how hard it seems.

Now, on “Mourning,” he painfully describes the process of getting sober, and dealing with the fact that he is forced to face the emotions he had been numbing for years.

“Don’t want to sober up / The sun is killin’ my buzz, that’s why they call it ‘mourning’ / Thought I was strong enough / Threw my bottle at the sky, said, ‘God, that’s a warning’ / Don’t wanna sober up / Try to keep it inside but I just wanna pour it / Thought I was strong enough Got a lot of sh*t to say, couldn’t fit it in the chorus,” he sings on the song’s chorus.

While he has more music on the way this summer, Post has been giving a hand at other endeavors, like an all-pink Raising Cane’s restaurant in Utah. He also recently helped a fan put a down payment on a home in Scotland.

You can listen to “Mourning” above.

Austin is out 7/29 via Republic. Find more information here.