Category: Worldwide

With Ja Morant missing almost all of last season due to suspension and injury (playing just 9 games), he found himself a bit outside the conversation for top point guards in the NBA coming into the 2024-25 season. It was a lost season for both Morant and the Grizzlies last year, and both player and team are looking to remind the NBA of their talents early this season.

While it’s been an up-and-down start to the year, Morant has offered reminders of his unique brilliance with highlight reel plays that only he produces right now in the NBA. On Monday night in Brooklyn he offered up a pair of outrageous finishes as he was strong on the B-button with two 360 layups against the Nets. The first came on a drive against Nic Claxton, where Morant jumped in the air and spun all the way across the lane for a silky finish with his left. The second was even more spontaneous, as Morant went up thinking about a poster dunk on Cam Johnson before changing his mind for another spinning lefty layup, changing hands in mid-air.

It’s a pair of plays that perfectly encapsulate Morant’s singular ability as a high-flying guard. The first is so smooth as he just glides effortlessly through the air, while the second started with him thinking power but he had the time and ability to change his plan (and hands) mid-flight for the finish.

If Jeopardy contestants know who you are, you have (sort of) officially made it. Between that, his Beyoncé co-sign and sheer chart dominance, Shaboozey is an undeniable country music force.

Since its release, Shaboozey’s single “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” has been a consistent fixture on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Today (November 4), the outlet confirmed that the single set another record. As of the chart’s last update, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is now tied with three other smashes to hold the coveted No. 1 spot for at least 16 weeks, which includes Morgan Wallen’s 2023 hit “Last Night.”

The other two hits include 16, Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s 2017 banger “Despacito” featuring Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men’s 1995 collaboration “One Sweet Day.” However, Lil Nas X’s 2019 breakthrough track “Old Town Road” (the version that features Billy Ray Cyrus) still maintains the overall record.

Back then, Lil Nas X’s country hybrid record held tight to the No. 1 spot for 19 weeks. For now, Shaboozey can brag about “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” having “the longest reign of the 2020s” as the outlet pointed out.

Only time will tell if Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” cross the 19 weeks at No. 1 mark. But fans surely are rooting for his pursuit of the career milestone.

The Golden State Warriors traveled to Washington to take on the Wizards on Monday night, which meant that the Warriors crossed paths with an old friend, Jordan Poole. An important part of the team’s last title, Poole was traded to the Wizards last season in the aftermath of a tumultuous year with the Dubs.

During Monday night’s game, the player responsibility for all that turmoil crossed paths with Poole once again, as the high-scoring guard had a run-in with Draymond Green. Poole knocked down a triple in the waning moments of the second quarter as Green attempted to contest his shot, and after it went in, he pointed right at Green. On the ensuing Warriors possession before the half, Steph Curry knocked down a three — Poole tried to contest it, he was unsuccessful, and Green immediately pointed right at him.

During training camp ahead of the 2022-23 season, Poole and Green were involved in an altercation during practice that ended with Green punching his then-teammate. Green received a suspension and a fine from the team as a result. While Poole received a 4-year, $140 million contract extension from the team not long after this, he really struggled during the ensuing season, and the following summer, he was sent to Washington in a trade for Chris Paul.

Charli XCX’s impact in music has been set in stone. Now, the “Sympathy Is A Knife” singer is looking to do the same in the film industry. Today (November 4), Charli XCX’s onscreen resume has grown to include the depiction of another European badass.

According to Deadline, Charli XCX as been cast in Romain Gavras‘ forthcoming English-language debut movie, Sacrifice.

The outlet reveals that Sacrifice is “loosely inspired” by famed French figure Joan Of Arc’s dazzling story. Fellow musician Yung Lean and her “360” remix collaborator will star alongside Charli XCX in the picture. Although Charli XCX has a budding film resume, Sacrifice marks Yung Lean’s film debut.

Anya Taylor-Joy will star in the movie as Joan. Other actors set to appear in Sacrifice include Chris Evans, Salma Hayek Pinault, Sam Richardson, Vincent Cassel, John Malkovich, Ambika Mod, Jade Croot, Jeremy O. Harris, and Miriam Silverman.

The outlet states filming has already begun. With production underway in Greece and Bulgaria. As for what moviegoers should expect once it hits the screen, the synopsis for Sacrifice reads: “This tells the story of Joan (Taylor-Joy), a zealous spirit driven by a volcanic prophecy only she can hear, who is on a mission to save the world from a fiery reckoning. Along with her militia of mystical disciples, she hijacks a glamorous charity gala and takes three hostages: Mike Tyler (Evans), a beleaguered movie star desperate for redemption, Bracken (Cassel), the world’s richest man, and Katie (Mod), who’s just unlucky. They are forced on a journey through forest and fire until Mike faces the ultimate question: what would he sacrifice for humanity?”

Sacrifice hasn’t received a release date yet.

Rihanna is letting her inner political bad gyal show. The “Lift Me Up” singer’s billionaire status and wide-spanning business empire afford her endless luxuries. Still, some things are out of Rihanna’s reach, such as voting in US elections due to her non-resident status.

With the dozens of celebrity endorsements in the 2024 presidential campaign cycle, Rihanna appears to have shared her own. Today (November 4), Rihanna took to Instagram with a joke about the lengths she is willing to go to in order to cast her vote seemingly for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“When protecting pussies and firing pussies can happen all in one vote #votecauseicant #TanSuitSeason,” read the post’s caption.

But the subtext placed over the video has followers literally laughing out loud. “POV: me trying to sneak into the polls with my son’s passport #votecauseicant,” wrote Rihanna.

In all seriousness, voter fraud isn’t a laughing matter. However, the nature of Rihanna’s lighthearted line and humor personality users online could help but chuckle.

To avoid Rihanna’s upload being viewed as a potential legal matter, some fans have sent messages to Rihanna’s partner and fellow musician Asap Rocky, whom she shares two sons to keep a close eye on her.

No one wants to see Rihanna fighting a deportation case before her long-awaited album is released.

Jason Kelce is more popular on a national scale now than he ever was as an All-Pro center with the Philadelphia Eagles — although, his Super Bowl parade performance cemented his status as a Philly legend. Kelce is on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown now and has a wildly popular podcast with his brother Travis, as the brothers have seen their stardom leap from the sports world to pop culture in general, due in no small part to Travis’ relationship with Taylor Swift that has brought her legions of fans to them.

While there are the obvious benefits of that popularity in the form of massive media deals, there are also the trappings of fame that come with the territory of being immediately recognizable to most any person. On Saturday, Jason was reminded of that when he was in State College for Ohio State-Penn State and had a heckler call Travis a gay slur for dating Swift while holding his phone out recording. That jackass was seeking a reaction and got one in the form of Jason grabbing his phone and spiking it on the ground, with videos from other nearby going viral immediately.

On Monday night, Kelce addressed the incident at the top of Monday Night Countdown and issued an apology, noting that’s not how he wants to act and that he doesn’t want to “greet hate with hate.”

The truth is, the majority of people saw him spike the phone and felt that was an extremely reasonable response, as we need to remind people that there are real consequences to saying vile things — something the internet has made far too easy to do with no repercussions. Still, Kelce felt bad enough about it to issue an apology on national television and seemed very genuinely upset by his own actions, even if the majority of people saw them as defensible.

Emily In Paris‘ fifth season won’t arrive for awhile but has already sparked a half-serious war of words between world leaders. That pseudo beef doesn’t even touch how the fourth season ended with Hot Chef Gabriel pushing for answers on how to find Emily In Rome. The suggestion there is that Gabriel would show up in Emily’s new life, and then she will be torn on whether to stay with Marcello or try one more time to make it work with a guy who remains too close with his ex and also doesn’t wash his skillet.

If Lucas Bravo’s feelings have anything to do with that will happen, then Gabriel might not surface again on Emily In Paris at all. In fact, he has been promoting his new film, Freedom (directed by Inglourious Basterds star Melanie Laurent), and while recently speaking with the Le Figaro newspaper (via The Times), Bravo did not hold back back his disappointment over how the Netflix series has been going, and he sounds kind-of over it:

“Life is short. It takes five months to shoot this series. Do I want to sacrifice them by telling something that does not stimulate me? … I do not want to be a part of a cog that does not tend to take the intelligence of viewers into consideration.”

Of course, the Darren Star-created Emily In Paris has never been held out as prestige TV. It’s an escapist show in which the main attraction is the preposterousness of Emily Cooper’s adventures, but it’s true that Gabriel has lost all apparent joie de vivre. Likewise, Bravo seems bummed about his character’s development (or lack thereof), as he told Indiewire:

“The ‘sexy chef’ was very much part of me in Season 1 and we grew apart season after season because of the choices he makes and because of the direction they make him take. I’ve never been so far away from him. In Season 1, there was a lot of me in him. But as they made him kind of unaware of his surroundings, of the dynamic, always victimizing and always being completely lost in translation and oblivious to anything that is happening around him and being manipulated by everyone, it kind of became not fun for me to shoot or to see a character I love so much and brought me so much, being slowly turned into guacamole. I really grew apart from him.”

The “guacamole” analogy is a choice. Bravo’s further message to Indiewire, however, is that “[t]here is a lack of risk” to the show, and “I’ve been frustrated with the direction by character is taking. But we’ll see where it goes. The show is not over.” However, Bravo’s time on the show might be “over,” since he added, “It makes me question if I want to be part of Season 5” … “because my contract ends at Season 4.”

This could prove awkward since the most recent season finale showed Gabriel acting desperate to see Emily, but perhaps not? Or maybe Gabriel heads to Rome and accidentally stumbles into the Gladiator 2 set and drowns during a water battle? I would watch that scene, and it’s more exciting than what has actually been happening with Gabriel.

Whatever the case, Bravo seems happier with the results of Freedom, in which he portrays late 1970s/early 1980s criminal Bruno Salak, a so-called “gentleman bandit” who held people at gunpoint while committing robbery and burglary but was somehow polite despite becoming “France’s Public Enemy #1.” The film is now available to stream on Prime Video/Amazon.

(Via The Times & Indiewire)

The Weeknd’s album Hurry Up Tomorrow is coming to theaters as a thriller film. According to Deadline, the film version will be Abel’s feature-starring debut (he previously appeared as himself in the Safdie brothers’ 2019 crime thriller Uncut Gems) and will also star thriller vets Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. The director, Trey Edward Shults, is best known for his 2017 horror film It Comes at Night and the 2019 drama Waves. The film will be distributed by Lionsgate, which has signed on as the worldwide theatrical distributor.

So far, there are few details about the film’s story, but judging from the videos already released from the album, including “Dancing In The Flames,” “Timeless” featuring Playboi Carti, and “São Paulo” with Brazilian star Anitta, you can bet it’ll have an eye-popping, mind-bending psychological edge.

Abel flashed leading-man potential in his debut starring role in the HBO series The Idol, but hopefully, Hurry Up Tomorrow will manage to avoid repeating the mistakes of that troubled production, which led to lukewarm critical reception and an early cancelation. At the very least, we know it’ll have a great soundtrack, with Abel putting the promotion for the apparent soundtrack in the lead this time around. While neither the album nor the film have announced release dates yet, the sheer amount of music that has already been suggests that neither can be very far off.

Most new songs and albums are released on Fridays, because that’s when the tracking week for Billboard chart eligibility starts. So, dropping a new release on any other day presents a chart disadvantage, since the song/album misses out on days of listening activity. That said, all of this didn’t stop Tyler The Creator from being successful with his latest project, Chromakopia, which he released on a Monday.

Since the album was released on a Monday, it missed out on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from its debut week, meaning the project’s debut numbers all came from four days. Despite that disadvantage, Chromakopia debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The project had an impact on the Hot 100 chart revealed today (November 4), too. On the chart dated November 9, Tyler’s “St. Chroma” featuring Daniel Caesar debuts at No. 7, while Noid also cracked the top 10 in the final spot. These are Tyler’s first-ever top-10 songs. His previous high was at No. 13 with Igor standout “Earfquake” in 2019.

The other most noteworthy song in this week’s Hot 100 top-10 is Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which returns to No. 1 for a 16th total week. It is now tied for the second-most weeks spent at No. 1, alongside Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night”; Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber’s “Despacito”; and Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day.” It’s now behind only Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road.”

Sunday night at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, Doechii made her case for succession as rap’s newest royal. Over the past three years, Doechii has been preparing the land for a fruitful run, but since the Florida native rolled out her debut mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, her upward trajectory has become nothing so much as a vertical line. Her tour stop in Los Angeles to promote the project highlighted how much she’s been able to do with all that newfound attention.

The choice to occupy the 800-cap venue — an underplay if ever there was one — was one that many of Doechii’s contemporaries have foregone over the past couple of years. The last time I saw Doechii perform live was almost a year ago to the day, when she opened for Doja Cat’s Scarlet tour. At the time, she didn’t have a full-length project out and only had a thirty-minute set, but still managed one of the most elaborate opening performances I’ve seen to this day. Conventional wisdom might dictate another large stage with similar production, but that’s clearly not how Top Dawg Entertainment — the rapper’s current label home — rolls.

Doechii’s recent ascension could easily have justified a spot at The Fonda or The Belasco — spots I’ve taken in plenty of acts at or around similar levels of notoriety in past years. A quick glance at ticket resellers’ sites just an hour before showtime conveyed just how highly demanded tickets to the sold-out show really were, at one point reaching over $1,000. For contrast, I saw another artist at the same venue a week before and bought tickets the day of for under $40. But rather than book, say, The Novo or The Wiltern, and risk having to cancel dates the same way that so many artists have done in the past two years, Doechii’s management secured a win — and ensured the undying loyalty of everyone in attendance. That’s a chess move worthy of royalty.

Of course, this strategy hinges on Doechii’s ability to rock an hour-long set at a level that would justify the demand. I’m happy to report that the self-declared Swamp Princess didn’t even look winded at the end of the night, despite the additional 30 minutes, and Doechii’s performance proved every bit as magnetic and compelling even without the airboat and dancers she employed on the Scarlet tour. Stripping down to the base elements of hip-hop — an MC and a DJ, Miss Milan — the set resembled Doechii’s new mixtape in a way, echoing the vibe evoked (and lampooned) by her set-opening single, “Boom Bap.” Doechii’s interplay with the crowd, composed of a diverse array of 20-somethings adorned in country club drag to reflect the artist’s styling, was electric, resembling the dynamics of pop crowds as much as rap ones — unless you’re talking about Tyler The Creator, someone who has proved that he’s on top of the rap pyramid lately.

All of which were reasons Doechii’s succession has appeared all but assured. Her tour is sure to leave fans — already willing to go all-in on their appreciation through cosplay and absolutely unhinged demand — clamoring for more. The response to Alligator Bites Never Heal online as a project has overshadowed even more established artists, standing out from a crowded field in 2024 thanks to timely co-signs from some of rap’s biggest names. And Doechii herself seems prepared for it, carrying herself with regal charisma and relatable humility while putting on one helluva show. The crown is waiting; it’s only a matter of time until the Swamp Princess is rap’s new queen.