Category: Worldwide

The week began with head-scratching involving an egg-yolk omelette, and the James Corden restaurant-drama saga ain’t over yet.

The fed-up, famed New York restauranteur Keith McNally kicked off this matter by revealing that he was banning the outgoing late-night host. Corden, of course, takes an almost aggressively cheery on-air demeanor and is known for his “Carpool Karaoke” segments, but McNally alleged that Corden was not only a “tiny cretin” but also “the most abusive customer” (who reportedly yelled, “You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!”) that he’s seen in his 25 years running Balthazar.

From there, we saw days of drama, which could have ended with Corden initially apologizing (and being unbanned), but the matter yielded to other stories about Corden allegedly behaving badly, on a plane and in public. Yet all of this might have eventually blown over, but Corden spoke with the New York Times‘ Dave Itzkoff, who broached the subject and received Corden backpedaling on his own apology. “I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level,” Corden insisted before adding, “I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it’s so silly. I just think it’s beneath all of us. It’s beneath you. It’s certainly beneath your publication.”

So essentially, Corden doesn’t care that people care about how he treats food service workers. It’s “silly,” and he’s denying wrongdoing, which led to McNally firing back at the Cats star. Here’s what McNally wrote on Instagram, and he wants a public admission and staff apologies:

STORM IN A RESTAURANT TEACUP.

I’ve no wish to kick a man when he’s down. Especially one who’s worth $100 Million, but when James Corden said in yesterday’s NY Times that he hadn’t done “anything wrong, on any level,” was he joking? Or was he denying being abusive to my servers? Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: he didn’t do it.
Although I didn’t witness the incident, lots of my restaurant’s floor staff did. They had nothing to gain by lying. Corden did.
I wish James Corden would live up to his Almighty initials and come clean. If the supremely talented actor wants to retrieve the respect he had from all his fans (all 4 of them) before this incident, then he should at least admit he did wrong. If he goes one step further and apologizes to the 2 servers he insulted, I’ll let him eat for free at Balthazar for the next 10 years.

You can see McNally’s latest Instagram post below. Your move, Corden.

While arriving for his sentencing hearing after being found guilty of contempt of Congress, Steve Bannon was peppered with yells of “traitor” and “fascist pig” as he made his way inside the courtroom. Bannon was staring down the barrel of at least a $200,000 fine plus possible jail time after he refused to comply with a subpoena to appear in front of the January 6 House select committee.

Despite the jeers, Bannon put on a smiling front and even greeted reporters as he walked to the hearing on Friday morning.

After Bannon arrived in court, the proceedings moved very quickly. According to NBC News, prosecutors for the Department of Justice argued that Bannon has shown no remorse for his actions. In a blow to Bannon, Judge Carl Nichols agreed. The judge also rejected Bannon’s lawyers request for probation after he made it clear that the charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of one month in prison. Ultimately, Nichols would sentence Bannon to four months in prison and impose a $6,500 fine despite DOJ attorneys requesting the maximum amount of $200,000.

While the judge rejected Bannon’s claims of executive privilege, he does believe Bannon was acting on the “overly aggressive” advice of his lawyers. Nevertheless, Nichols felt jail time was warranted. Via NBC News:

Nichols said that while Bannon poses a “very small risk of recidivism with regard to congressional subpoenas,” there was a need to remind the public to cooperate with congressional investigations.

“Others must be deterred from committing similar crimes,” Nichols said.

For anyone hoping for a perp walk, that won’t be happening. Nichols agreed to stay the sentence provided an appeal is filed in a timely fashion.

(Via NBC News)

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks picked up their first win of the season on Thursday night. The Bucks went into Philly to take on the 76ers and came out on top, 90-88, with Antetokounmpo putting forth an MVP-caliber effort — Milwaukee’s All-NBA standout led the way with 21 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks, and a steal in 36 minutes of work.

It was a good first night at the office, especially considering the Sixers’ star big man, Joel Embiid, did not play as well as he’s getting into the flow of the regular season. This was also the first time that Antetokounmpo and Embiid stepped on the floor together since starring in a Google Pixel commercial with one another.

A number of other hoopers — LaMelo Ball, Jalen Green, Candace Parker, Kelsey Plum, Jayson Tatum — and celebrities are in the ad. Apparently, Antetokounmpo is pretty happy with how the final product looks, because during his postgame press conference after the game, he noticed the commercial was on out of the corner of his eye and stopped talking to the media to provide play-by-play.

The way his face lights up when he realizes it’s his commercial is terrific, while you can feel the disappointment as he comes to terms with the fact that this is not the version that has him and Embiid paying 1-on-1 with one another.

(For You)r Consideration is a weekly column breaking down the rappers and singers doing it RIGHT on TikTok and the viral trends and top songs taking over your FYP.

Bad B*tch Link Up

Dess Dior and Mariah the Scientist are “Stone Cold” in a new single that’s attracting the baddies of TikTok. The two Georgia-bred artists are known individually for their femme-forward lyrics, and their first collaboration effortlessly blends Mariah’s emotional crooning with Dess’s energetic rap singing. The track’s standout lyric supports hair tutorials, GRWM videos, and try-on hauls: “Said he callin’ from Atlanta, say he miss me,” a bar that’s also growing in popularity as a bad b*tch Instagram caption. With under two thousand videos to the sound, “Stone Cold” is only getting started on TikTok.

Remember The Time?

It’s been 30 years since Michael Jackson dropped “Remember The Time,” and like many other R&B classics, the track is resurfacing on TikTok amount a certain age demographic. It’s not just the old heads or the R&B lovers assisting the track’s resurgence but teenagers from all walks of life. The best of the youth tapping into Jackson’s Dangerous hit? A volleyball team with a unique locker room take on the video’s iconic choreography.

Songwriters Unite

Music fans and TikTokers are consistently fascinated with behind-the-scenes content on the app. From videos that unearth samples to throwback interviews of their favorite artists. Another favorite? Songwriters are breaking down the hits you may or may not know they penned. Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk took to TikTok to share the story of her efforts on Drake’s “Over My Dead Body” from his 2011 album Take Care. The oral history Chantal provides should be modeled by producers, songwriters, and all creatives who don’t typically get the star power for their musical efforts. Check out the story of “Over My Dead Body” below.

Grab Your Bestie

It’s a no-brainer GloRilla and Cardi B’s “Tomorrow 2” is blowing up on “the clock app,” as they call it. The sound is an opportunity to grab your best friend and lip-sync Cardi’s viral verse and to get creative mimicking her adlibs. Both Cardi and GloRilla herself have gotten sturdy to the track, but TikTokers are waiting for the duo to pop out on the app to the Bardi-assisted version. “Tomorrow 2” is the southern rapper’s 2nd most popular song on the app but trailing closely behind her most notable hit, “F.N.F. (Lets Go).” See Cardi and GloRilla get sturdy below.

The final line uttered by Taylor Swift on Midnights — the 3am Edition notwithstanding — is, “I’m a mastermind.” True, but she didn’t craft her 10th studio album out today (October 21) alone. Swift gushed over her Midnights collaborators on Instagram, especially Jack Antonoff.

“Midnights is a wild ride of an album and I couldn’t be happier that my co-pilot on this adventure was @jackantonoff,” Swift captioned her carousel. “He’s my friend for life (presumptuous I know but I stand by it) and we’ve been making music together for nearly a decade, HOWEVER… this is the first album we’ve done with just the two of us as main collaborators. We’d been toying with ideas and had written a few things we loved, but Midnights actually really coalesced and flowed out of us when our partners (both actors) did a film together in Panama. Jack and I found ourselves back in New York, alone, recording every night, staying up late, and exploring old memories and midnights past.”

Swift went on to shout out Zoe Kravitz, Lana Del Rey, Keanu Beats, Sam Dew, Jahaan Sweet, Sounwave, and more. As for that movie in Panama, Joe Alwyn and Margaret Qualley co-star in A24’s new romantic thriller Stars At Noon. Swift has been in a relationship with Alwyn for six years, and Antonoff reportedly got engaged to Qualley earlier this year.

Antonoff has been a credited producer and songwriter on every Swift album since 2014’s 1989, including her 2020 sister albums Folklore and Evermore. Named Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical at this year’s Grammys, Antonoff also accepted Album Of The Year for Folklore at the 2021 Grammys alongside Swift and Aaron Dessner.

Midnights is out now via Republic. Stream it here.

Arctic Monkeys dropped their new album, The Car, today. With its release, the alt-rock band also announced they’ll be hosting a livestream on YouTube of their NYC show at Kings Theatre that took place last month.

The “intimate” show notably had a no-cell-phone policy, as they played previously-unreleased tracks from the album, including the live debut of “There Better Be A Mirrorball,” and a handful of their career-spanning hits like “Arabella” and “Crying Lightning.” The livestream will run 45 minutes on YouTube, starting at 8 pm ET on October 23.

“The records we’re making now are definitely different now to the ones we probably thought we would be making when we started out – actually, we didn’t think we’d be even making records anymore,” lead singer Alex Turner told NME. “20 years ago, I didn’t envision ourselves going beyond… Well, the fact we gave ourselves the name ‘Arctic Monkeys’ alludes to the extent of ambitions we had. Clearly hardly any.”

In support of The Car, Arctic Monkeys are scheduled to continue touring, with dates in South America next month. From there, they will kick off a lengthy 2023 world tour across Australia, Europe, and North America. A complete list of tour dates is available here.

The Car is out now via Domino. Buy/stream it here.

After spreading misinformation about the murder of George Floyd and sharing anti-semitic comments to his millions of followers, Kanye West has been under fire. The latest to sever ties with him is the fashion brand Balenciaga, according to WWD.

The parent company Kering responded to the publication’s query about its relationship with West with a statement reading, “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.”

West performed at Balenciaga’s summer 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week. There was a photo of the rapper on their website; it has since been taken down. In May, the Yeezy Gap engineered by Balenciaga Collection launched globally, including t-shirts, hoodies, joggers, caps, and other products featuring the signature design elements of the collaboration.

Earlier this month, Adidas shared its own statement about working with West: “We are proud of our team that has worked tirelessly throughout our collaboration with [Kanye West] and the iconic products that were born from it. We also recognize that all successful partnerships are rooted in mutual respect and shared values. After repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation, we have taken the decision to place the partnership under review. We will continue to co-manage the current product during this period.”

If you happen to live anywhere near a Dave’s Hot Chicken location, then you probably already know that the chain has grown a dedicated following over the past half decade. But you may not know that that following includes Drake, who invested in the growing sandwich chain last year. He loves it so much that he’s celebrating his birthday (October 24) by hosting a free giveaway at all Dave’s locations. You can get a free slider or tender. The announcement coincides with the company’s first-ever ad campaign, the darkly humorous “Don’t Die Before You Try It.”

Aside from getting fans to try his new favorite chicken chain, Drake’s birthday month — for which he’s named his entire brand (October’s Very Own) — has been going pretty well for the Toronto hitmaker. He kicked off the month announcing his upcoming show at New York’s legendary Apollo Theater, then celebrated his son Adonis’ birthday with a superhero-themed party at an arcade attended by fellow hip-hop stars like Chance The Rapper and Nicki Minaj. A week ago, he celebrated becoming Spotify’s first artist with 50 billion streams by debuting a new kit for FC Barcelona featuring his OVO owl logo (which worried Barcelona fans, as the dreaded Drake curse is even known in Spain).

Happy 36th birthday to Drake, and enjoy your hot chicken (if you can get it).

There’s been a lot of “ick” this season on House of the Dragon, including the foot stuff, Viserys’ “date” with 12-year-old Lady Laena, and the rotting king looking like Gus Fring, post-explosion. But for Matt Smith, who plays smirking prince Daemon Targareyn on the Game of Thrones spin-off series, his biggest “ick” scene was Daemon’s episode four visit to the brothel with his niece Princess Rhaenyra, played at the time by Milly Alcock.

“It’s hard. You’re constantly questioning it. But you have to take the modern-day morality away. It’s a different time. It’s a story, and the story requires that these two characters do that,” Smith told the Los Angeles Time about shooting the scene. “So you do it.” The Doctor Who actor said the show’s intimacy coordinator was “really good,” which made his and Alcock’s job easier. And gave them more time to giggle at naked people.

“Me and [Milly Alcock, who played young Rhaenyra] got on fabulously well and just laughed our way through that scene. It looks really serious, but me and Milly are just pissing our pants the whole time, laughing, going, “There’s all these naked people standing here. What are we doing?” You try and cut through the really weird tension of the room and make jokes.”

What “ick” will House of the Dragon have in store for us in the season one finale? We’ll find out Sunday!

(Via the Los Angeles Times)

Ever wonder why we have silent letters randomly nestled into certain words? Think about the “b” in “doubt,” the “p” in “receipt,” the “s” in “isle” … or “aisle” or “island” for that matter. How the heck did those get there?! Sure, the English language is notoriously a hodgepodge of words from different cultures, but usually there’s a reason behind it all. Even if that reason is bonkers.

The good news: There is an answer to this linguistic riddle. The bad news: As etymology enthusiast Rob Words explains in a fascinating video, the answer might infuriate you.

A logical theory would be that once upon a time, these letters were actually pronounced. Rob previously shared how this was the case for the letter “k” when it falls at the beginning of a word … thus ruining Arthur and Ka-nights of the Round Table forever.

But no. The truth is, as Rob puts it, much more “irritating.” Certain letters were deliberately put in by Renaissance scholars, who became interested in learning the Greek and Latin roots of English words. Which would have been fine, had they kept their interests to themselves.

Instead, they forced them into the public consciousness by inserting certain letters from the original Greek/Latin word into the (then) modern language known as Middle English, which was primarily influenced by old French.

Take, for example, the word “debt,” which comes from the Latin word “debitum.” By the time it was in Middle English, however, it became “dette.” Which is still how we pronounce it today. That makes it a perfectly fine spelling, don’t you think? But nooooo, nerdy nostalgia took over, and here we are, with words that carry a not-so-subtle (or “soutil,” as it once was) nod to the ancient past.

This is all just further proof that the English language is a glorious mess—without a “doute.”