Category: Worldwide

As icons of their respective generation, and icons of K-pop overall, they know they got that vibe.

After a six-year hiatus from music, Taeyang returns to the scene today (January 13) with his highly-anticipated single “VIBE” featuring Jimin of BTS. Following BIGBANG‘s release last May with “Still Life,” the second-gen ace gets back to his solo groove and tapped the BTS member who was known to be influenced and inspired by him.

With “VIBE,” Taeyang takes it back by meshing some of the genres he personally loves and placing them into his new song. Working with Teddy Park, the founder of TheBlackLabel and the in-house executive producer for YG Entertainment, the two concocted an energetic track that blends retro, New Jack Swing, and old-school R&B beats deriving from the ’90s and early 2000s.

Donning matching outfits throughout the music video, Taeyang and Jimin each take a verse to show off their pipes and footwork. The harmony between the two K-pop legends comes to life towards the end of the music video as they dance side to side.

According to various reports, Taeyang has teased plans for an album release in the future.

The release of “VIBE” follows Taeyang’s departure from his former label, YG Entertainment. The Korean artist signed on to its label affiliate, TheBlackLabel, which houses other top-tier acts like Jeon Somi, Zion.T, LØREN, and more.

Taylor Swift may be the self-proclaimed anti-hero, but her presence alone made Matty Healy adjust his normal tour behavior. From sucking a fan’s thumb and getting a tattoo on stage to making out with fans (after id checking them, of course), The 1975 frontman’s rockstar behavior has sparked numerous concert etiquette conversations on social media.

However, due to Swift’s attendance at the indie rocker’s latest show, not only as a fan of the group but an exceptional guest performance, Healy was sure to be on his best behavior at London’s O2 arena. Concertgoers were surprised to see Swift perform a song from her chart-topping Midnights album. Swift also joined in as the band performed an acoustic version of their 2012 Facedown EP single “The City.” But fans were even more surprised when Healy forwent what had become a signature part of the show.

Healy took to the mic to explain why, exclaiming, “I’m not kissing anyone in front of Taylor Swift. In front of the queen? Have some respect.”

The singer may have been on his best behavior, hoping Swift would drop their unreleased collaboration in her musical vault. But instead, the band will return to the O2 arena for their final London show. Who knows what Healy will do during tonight’s show to make up for yesterday’s tameness?

The OnlyFans craze among hip-hop artists may have died down a bit since the pandemic caused a boom in stars joining the popular content platform, but there’s apparently one star looking to mine the opportunities it offers. Iggy Azalea, who promised some “scandalous sh*t” earlier this month, is not only planning to start an account now, she says she’s also offering content that will be “hotter than hell” — as in the name of her new “mixed media project” consisting of photos, videos, artist collabs, and merch. She shared a steamy teaser on social media:

This move certainly constitutes an unexpected about-face for the Australian star, who once tweeted, “I think onlyfans can be really empowering for people, But I WILL NEVER, EVVVER join. I don’t want to make that type of content & it only f*cks up the bag for ppl on there who really bout that life. Shoutout to the baddies tho!!!!” She was likely referring to the backlash against Bella Thorne, who received criticism for joining OnlyFans to “research a role,” taking away possible subscribers for existing creators. That tweet has since been deleted, but that doesn’t mean Azalea has to completely go back on her word.

At the height of the OnlyFans craze, plenty of hip-hop stars like Bhad Bhabie, Cardi B, Rubi Rose, and Tyga joined. And although the platform’s established user base had a reputation for using it to post X-rated content, there aren’t any rules that say creators must produce this kind of content, and indeed, many don’t (this annoyed some subscribers to rappers’ content as they believed they’d be getting, shall we say, more than what they paid for).

Meanwhile, Variety reports that OnlyFans is not offering any funding — this is Iggy’s project and she said in a statement she joined because she felt like other platforms had “creatively limiting censorship,” a valid concern after Elon’s disastrous Twitter takeover and the mess that is Meta’s Instagram Reels rollout.

Don’t get it twisted, though, Iggy isn’t doing this because rap didn’t work out. In 2022, she opened for Pitbull for 85 sold-out shows while selling a portion of her publishing for a reported eight figures. She certainly isn’t hurting for money; whatever “Hotter Than Hell” entails, she’s doing it because she wants to, not because she needs to.

Paul Ryan delivered a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump this week as the former House speaker gave the Republican Party a bit too much credit for its current relationship with the one-term president. During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Ryan offered his blunt assessment of Trump’s political future following his recent string of failures.

“He’s fading fast,” Ryan said. “He’s a proven loser who cost us the House in ’18, he cost us the White House in ’20, he cost us the Senate again and again, and I think we all know that.”

However, Ryan painted a more rosy picture of the GOP who he claims is “moving past” Trump. “I can’t imagine him getting the nomination, frankly.”

While Ryan is correct about Trump being an albatross around the Republican Party’s neck, he offered an unusual take on last week’s chaotic House speaker vote that stretched on for days. Ultimately, Kevin McCarthy won after 15 rounds of voting, but he had to make a lengthy number of concessions and Trump reportedly made several calls behind the scenes on his behalf.

“Most of that wasn’t personal,” Ryan told Tapper. “Most of that was about fiscal responsibility. Most of that was about spending, inflation, and debt. That’s great.”

Did Ryan not see an entire four day circus where Matt Gaetz and a handful of fringe members held Congress hostage for days as fights broke about who or who wasn’t still loyal to Trump? Because that doesn’t look like a party who’s “moving past” the former president.

(Via Aaron Rupar on Twitter)

The White Lotus was one of the best TV shows of 2022. It was also one of the horniest. Nearly every character had sex over the course of seven episodes, even if it made them miserable, but who had the “hottest” sex scene? That important question was posted to season two MVP Meghann Fahy (Daphne) and “ginormous” prosthetic dong-haver Theo James (Cameron) during Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live.

James immediately replied “Jennifer Coolidge” (presumably during the cocaine party, although I also answer most questions with “Jennifer Coolidge”), but when Fahy blurted out “Leo and Tom Hollander,” he changed his answer. “So hot, so glistening,” she said. It’s a weird choice considering… you know… but it makes sense for Fahy: she’s been romantically linked to Leo Woodall, who played trashy-but-charming Essex boy Jack.

Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen asked the actress about the dating rumors. Fahy laughed, sighed, then teased, “I don’t kiss and tell.” Spoken like a true Swiftie.

“The environment was really safe,” actress Beatrice Grannò (Mia) said about filming one of the show’s sex scenes. “Having an intimacy coordinator there was very helpful because it’s a difficult thing to do. We rehearsed it before, and I talked with Sabrina [Impacciatore, who plays Valentina] and we found a way to do it and feel comfortable.”

You can watch more of Fahy and James on Watch What Happens Live below.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, but instead of leaning into the trappings of the romantic Hallmark holiday, Rihanna circumvents convention with her latest themed Savage X Fenty lingerie collection. Sharing a steamy preview video with a flippant “ph*ck yo flowers” caption, the future Super Bowl Halftime Show performer looks ready to break some hearts.

The Breakin’ Hearts collection does make some concessions to the conventions of the V-Day theme. The included pieces are mostly in red, featuring heart-shaped cutouts and red lip prints. There are even on-theme jockstraps for the guys. You can check out the collection here.

Meanwhile, excitement is building for Rihanna’s return to performing at the upcoming Super Bowl, helped along by a new trailer acknowledging her multi-year absence from the spotlight. She unofficially kicked off her return in 2022 with the release of her song “Lift Me Up” from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

Rihanna even shared a Game Day collection of Savage X Fenty to celebrate her upcoming performance, which has many of her fans thinking she’s also planning to drop an album and announce an accompanying tour. She’s brushed off those rumors though and received support from Golden Globes host Jerrod Carmichael, who told her to take as much time as she needs.

The holidays are officially in the rearview mirror and 2023 is in full swing, which means it’s time for a new year of fresh music. It’s rare for musicians to drop projects so early in January, but Indiecast is looking forward to the year ahead with hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen naming their most anticipated indie albums of 2023.

To kick off this week’s episode, Indiecast discusses the biggest music news of the week. The Coachella lineup dropped, confirming that Frank Ocean will finally take the festival stage (unless he drops out last minute, which isn’t totally off the table). M83 gave us some major 2010’s nostalgia by announcing their return. Plus, and Big Thief announced they’re inviting teachers and students to attend sound checks on their upcoming tour, which is both earnest and probably pretty boring for middle schoolers.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 121 here or below and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Following the untimely passing of Lisa Marie Presley, who died Thursday evening of cardiac arrest at the age of 54, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have joined the chorus of celebrity tributes to the late daughter and only child of Elvis Presley. Hanks and Wilson got to know Lisa Marie while doing the promotional tour for Elvis. They describe her as a delightful presence and resource for the biopic on her father’s life. She also championed Austin Butler’s performance as the legendary singer “unprecedented” and “finally done accurately and respectfully” before boldly announcing that she’ll eat her own foot if the actor isn’t nominated for an Oscar.

Hanks, via E! Online, feels “heartbroken” over this loss to the world. Wilson took to Instagram, where she wrote, “Lisa Marie was so honest and direct, vulnerable, in a state of anticipation about the movie.” She added, “She spoke so eloquently about her father, what the movie meant to her, that it was a celebration of her dad.”

Wilson also spoke fondly about meeting Presley’s daughters, her music, and her gracious hospitality:

She had her gorgeous daughters Finley and Harper with her who made us all laugh. She privately showed us her home, Graceland, and she made it feel like home to us. She was so gracious to us, Austin, Baz, and guests. If you haven’t heard her music please go listen. She had a sultry voice, a power and tenderness, that I have always loved.

Wilson concluded her tribute with prayers for Lisa Marie’s family, including her mother Priscilla Presley. You can see the tribute in its entirety below:

(Via Rita Wilson on Instagram)

Last year, a series of accusations began to unfold against Bill Murray. An Aziz Ansari-directed film went on pause due to allegations (as detailed in the Puck newsletter) from a production staffer, which Murray addressed as saying that he meant to do something “funny and it wasn’t taken that way” while the staffer called the actions “entirely sexual.” This followed Lucy Liu’s 2021 accusations against Murray, who she claimed made “inexcusable” remarks during Charlie’s Angels, and in October 2022, Geena Davis came forward with her own accusations against Murray, who she accused (while speaking with UK’s The Times) of on-set temper tantrums and inappropriate actions during a hotel room meeting, including his insistence upon using “the thumper” on her.

Geena has now elaborated further while speaking with Kara Swisher for New York magazine about her 1989 experience on the set of Quick Change. There’s much more detail on that “thumper”/”massage device,” which Geena says that Bill used in a hotel room full of men who didn’t step in to stop him. She “realized it was just to see if he could force me to do something inappropriate.” In addition, Davis describes how she was “literally shaking” when Bill allegedly burst into a trailer to berate her after the costume department caused a slight delay, which enraged him:

Bill Murray — in a full clown costume, by the way — slams into the trailer with with, you know, rage coming out of his eyeballs and starts screaming at me and swearing at me: “Get the f*ck out there! What the f*ck are you doing? Move! Move!” And he got behind me and screamed in my ear, “Move! Move faster! Move it!” And we’re getting to this intersection where there’s hundreds of people watching this, and he keeps it up and keeps it up until he says, “Stand there” and points to a mark on the pavement and starts shooting.

And I was literally shaking, and he elbowed me after a few takes. He said, “What’s up with you? Come on, come on. It’s all good.”

Davis looks back on the matter, reflecting on how she had just won an Oscar (for The Accidental Tourist), and “he got the opportunity to really put me in my place and really shamed me.” Swisher reacted with a “he got you in line,” and Davis admitted that she didn’t come forward with her allegations for decades because “I felt so ashamed,” and she suggested that she feared not being able to “do things” in Hollywood. She didn’t publicly discuss the subject until penning her 2022 memoir, Dying of Politeness.

(Via New York)

The world has been shaken by the tragic death of Lisa Marie Presley who passed away yesterday at 54. The Hollywood Reporter has published a series of statements from friends of the star, including one from Nicolas Cage.

“This is devastating news,” the actor, who was married to Presley from 2002 to 2004, told the publication. “Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met. She lit up every room, and I am heartbroken. I find some solace believing she is reunited with her son Benjamin.”

Presley’s son Benjamin Keough died at 27 years old in 2020.

The news of Presley’s death came from a statement from her mother Priscilla: “It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us.”

Presley was supportive of the recent film about her father, Elvis. On social media, she championed the movie, “In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and FINALLY done accurately and respectfully. (If he doesn’t get an Oscar for this, I will eat my own foot, haha.)” She added that “you can feel and witness Baz’s pure love, care, and respect for my father throughout this beautiful film, and it is finally something that myself and my children and their children can be proud of forever.”