Category: Worldwide

Batman/Bruce Wayne has had more iterations than perhaps any other comic book superhero, from campy (Adam West) to brooding (Christian Bale) to somewhere in between (the Joel Schumacher diptych). When we see the latest iteration, played by Robert Pattinson, in next year’s The Batman — which we already know will be super emotional — he’ll definitely be brooding. But, it seems, he’ll perhaps be the broodiest of them all.

In an interview with Empire, The Batman director Matt Reeves discussed how his take on Wayne/Batman was heavily influenced by a major rock star of the ‘90s.

“When I write, I listen to music, and as I was writing the first act, I put on Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’,” Reeves told Empire. “That’s when it came to me that, rather than make Bruce Wayne the playboy version we’ve seen before, there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse. So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.” (Last Days, which came out in 2005, stars Michael Pitt as a Cobain-esque musician.)

There was another major inspiration, and it happened to be another film starring Pattison: 2017’s indie thriller Good Time. “In that movie you could really feel his vulnerability and desperation, but you could also feel his power,” Reeves said. “I thought that was a great mix. He’s also got that Kurt Cobain thing, where he looks like a rock star, but you also feel like he could be a recluse.”

Pattinson himself also described to Empire how Wayne really isn’t a party guy, even if only to throw people off the scent that he’s a latex-suited crime fighter. “Bruce has been hiding away,” Pattinson said. “He’s not really a socialite at all. He’s building all these little contraptions and things, just with Alfred. And even Alfred thinks he’s gone insane!”

The Batman is scheduled to be released in theaters on March 4, 2022. You can watch the latest trailer here. Meanwhile, another former Caped Crusader is about re-don his outfit for another, presumably less emotional comic book movie.

(Via Empire)

On Friday, it was announced that Kyrie Irving had begun his return to the Nets, as the team decided to allow him to be a part-time player, joining them for road games and practices while sitting out home games as he continues to refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine as mandated by New York City.

Less than 24 hours later, Irving became the ninth member of the Brooklyn Nets to enter the league’s COVID protocols, as the team announced he would join Kevin Durant, who was put into protocols earlier in the day. For Irving, being unvaccinated means he needs to return five consecutive days of negative tests in order to join the team now, rather than the two asked of vaccinated players.

There was a little confusion over whether this was part of a return to play protocol or the result of a positive test, and that was cleared up by Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News, who confirmed with the team it was indeed a positive or inconclusive test from Irving that put him in COVID protocols.

It isn’t a huge surprise that Irving would find himself in protocols considering the massive spike in COVID-19 cases around the country — New York City posted its highest case count of the entire pandemic on Friday with over 27,000 positive cases — as the highly transmissible Omicron variant has begun wreaking havoc during the holiday season. It does put a wrench in the Nets plans of getting Irving back on the court any time soon to help with their shorthanded status, and the league is going to have to seriously consider postponements as they did for the Bulls with this Nets team that is rapidly approaching the same number of COVID absences at 9 as Chicago had with 10 when the league pushed two of its games.

While the NBA has made clear it wants to avoid postponements, it seems to be wishful thinking that they can continue without disruption to the schedule at this point.

Big Sean recently made an appearance on N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s podcast Drink Champs not long after comments that Ye made on the show. Ye said signing Big Sean was the “worst thing I’ve ever done,” and in response, Sean called the remark “some b*tch-ass sh*t,” adding, “I’ve traveled around the world for this man, every time he’s called. And I’ve done this and not asked for publishing a lot of the times.” Sean continued to speak about Ye, including something that occurred during studio sessions for Ye’s 2011 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

According to Sean, he was forced to fire a friend that he brought to one of the sessions after they posted a “sneak picture” of Ye, Jay-Z, and Beyonce working on songs. “He was gonna help hold me down,” Sean said about the friend. “It’s good to just have a support system, it’s good to have one of your homies there when you tryna contribute.” However, after the picture was posted and it made its way around the internet, Ye and Jay-Z confronted him about it and expressed their frustrations with him.

“They came at me and they thought it was me,” said. “It didn’t even make sense because I wasn’t even on at that time and it was like Kanye, JAY-Z, Beyoncé, Big Sean… People were like, ‘Who the f*ck is Big Sean?’ It looked like I planted this shit.” Ye told Sean to fire his friend because it made him look “thirsty.” “I explained to him who it was and he was like, ‘You gotta fu*kin’ fire him.’ He was like, ‘We’ve all done this. We’ve hired the people that we love,’” Sean recalled.

In the end, Sean was forced to have a tough conversation with his friend. “I’m sorry, bro, we gotta figure out something else,” Sean said to that friend. However, according to him, everything eventually turned out for the best. “It ended up being a blessing in disguise,” Sean said. “He ended up transforming his life and being probably way more successful than he would have been just in the position he was in.”

You can listen to Sean recall this moment around the 40:00 mark in the video above.

Two weeks ago, Chris Cuomo was fired by CNN following reports that he’d been a lot more involved in his brother Andrew’s sexual harassment defense than he’d claimed. The revelations emerged months after the former New York governor resigned in disgrace, leading to his suspension and later dismissal, which left him “livid.” Now we’re getting some insight into how the news affected his colleagues.

Anderson Cooper went on The Late Show Thursday, and host Stephen Colbert made sure to ask him about his former co-worker and whether letting him go was “the right thing to do.”

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to somebody who’s a colleague and somebody who is a friend of mine, and I feel terrible for him and for his family,” Cooper replied. “That being said, look, journalists have strict ethics and strict rules that we are to abide by, and if you don’t abide by them, there are repercussions. And I wish Chris the best, and I’m sorry for how all of this played out, and I hate this for his family. But this is — it’s a business with very big responsibilities, and there are repercussions.”

Colbert also asked Cooper if he knew about the firing before it was made public. “No, no. Of course not,” Cooper said. “They would have a staff meeting and say like, ‘Oh we’re going to do this thing, but don’t tell anybody’?”

Cooper was also asked if he’d spoken about Cuomo’s termination with other CNN folks, such as Don Lemon. He said he hadn’t talked to Lemon, but he did talk to someone else.

“You know, the first call after I got the news was from Andy Cohen, who was like, ‘Do you think I could get that show?’ I was like, ‘Andy, you’ve got enough real estate in television,’” Cooper said. “Andy believes he is fully qualified to host a presidential debate because he hosts the Housewives reunion.”

You can watch Cooper’s Late Show appearance in the video above.

(Via THR)

Doja Cat rarely fails to rise to the occasion. Whether it’s through her own work and performances or guest features with other artists, the rapper seems to come through every time. However, there was one moment when she couldn’t get into the zone. During a profile with Rolling Stone, Doja revealed that she almost appeared on Billie’s 2017 track “Bellyache.” The song eventually arrived as a solo effort and the second single for Billie’s 2017 EP, Don’t Smile At Me. During the interview, Doja explained why she’s not on it.

“I remember thinking it was so cute. I loved it. I just couldn’t think of anything to write,” Doja said. “It was one of my writer’s-block moments.” Despite this, Doja wasn’t upset with herself for missing out. “I remember seeing that song blow up and thinking, ‘Good for her. That’s awesome,’” she added. “I don’t think the song was for me, though. It was quite hard to write to.”

Doja also addressed criticisms for past work with producer Dr. Luke, who was accused of sexual assault by singer and protégé Kesha back in 2014. “The point is he’s gotten some credit for sh*t,” she said. “And, you know, it’s whatever. I don’t think I need to work with him again. I don’t think I need to work with him in the future. I know that.”

You can read Doja’s Rolling Stone interview here and revisit “Bellyache” in the video above.

The Brooklyn Nets have been hammered by the NBA’s health and safety protocols in the last few days. As of Friday evening, the list of players who entered the protocols looked like much of the team’s rotation once the playoffs roll around, as LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre’ Bembry, Bruce Brown, Jevon Carter, James Harden, James Johnson, and Paul Millsap all were sidelined. Partly in response to this, Brooklyn decided to reverse its stance on Kyrie Irving being a part-time player.

On Saturday, the team announced that its best player will join that laundry list of guys. Kevin Durant, who tested positive for COVID in March of 2020 and had a run-in with the protocols last season, will be the latest player to miss time for a reason related to the virus. This time around, it is unclear if he had a positive test or was a close contact with someone who caught it.

The news of Durant’s protocol stint comes right before the team is slated to play a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, with the Orlando Magic and the Denver Nuggets, respectively, coming to town. The team also has a home game on Tuesday against the Washington Wizards before embarking on a three-game west coast road trip. Should Durant fail to register two consecutive negative tests in a 24-hour period, he’d end up missing at least 10 days, which would include all of those games. Most notably, Durant would be able to play on Christmas Day, when the Nets travel to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers.

It is unclear if the league will consider postponing and rescheduling any of the team’s upcoming games.

The Capitol siege of Jan. 6 attracted a lot of interesting people. There was the QAnon Shaman, of course. There was the “influencer” who bragged that she wouldn’t go to jail because she’s “blonde” and has “white skin.” (She was recently sentenced to two months.) There’s the guy who was arrested by the feds while in a touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar. There was also one major shock: Shortly after that fateful day, as feds and plebeians alike scoured over images of the perpetrators, some people thought one of them looked an awful lot like actor Jay Johnston.

Johnston has long been a comedy staple. He was a regular on Mr. Show with Bob and David. He was in Anchorman and on Arrested Development. Perhaps most famously, he’s long been the voice of Jimmy Pesto Sr., our hero’s biggest rival on Bob’s Burgers. While Johnston’s possible involvement in the Jan. 6 riot is still not confirmed, it has cost him his gig on one of Fox’s most enduring animated comedies.

Two sources involved with Bob’s Burgers told The Daily Beast that Johnston will no longer be allowed to voice the beloved, belligerent character, which he’s done since 2011, across 43 episodes. One source described it as a “ban.” Another said the show was not trying to make a big deal out of it. Johnston’s last appearance on the show was on the May 2, 2021 episode “The Bridge Over Troubled Rudy.” He has been noticeably absent over during Season 12.

No one has confirmed whether or not Johnston was indeed in D.C. on Jan. 6. His name began floating around in connection with the failed insurrection in early March, when the FBI posted a photo of a perpetrator whom many thought looked just like the actor and comedian.

Some colleagues, including Tim Heidecker, speculated that it was indeed Johnston. Some deleted those tweets, later saying their messages shouldn’t be used as official confirmation. Some described him as a “Trump supporter” and in 2015, he appeared on a show hosted by then-future Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Time was you probably had little idea what company owned what. You were perhaps vaguely aware that whatever TV show or movie you watched was in the coffers of some corporate behemoth, but it didn’t affect you in any noticeable ways. Not any more. Ever since people have been told to “cut the cable” and move to streamers — an ever-growing number of streamers, as it happened — we’re now reminded every day who owns what. And on Friday night, YouTube TV watchers — including many in the middle of watching sporting events — received a brutal reminder that Disney owns, well, everything.

As per Deadline, at midnight on Friday any and all Disney channels suddenly vanished from YouTube TV. That includes any ABC-owned stations, ESPN networks, Freeform, FX channels, and National Geographic channels.

So what happened? Disney and YouTube were involved in a carriage dispute over the former’s channels being included in the latter’s massive TV bundle. Earlier in the week, Disney said they were “optimistic” about resolving the issue. But negotiations broke down and at 11:59pm EST, their existing agreement expired. Thus, a large amount of TV — including, again, sporting events that were mid-stride — went dark on the platform.

“We know this is frustrating news for our customers, and not what we wanted,” YouTube TV said in a statement. “We will continue conversations with Disney to advocate on your behalf in hopes of restoring their content on YouTube TV.”

To make amends, YouTube TV dropped their price $15, from $64.99 to $49.99.

But that didn’t exactly make customers happy. And many of them took to social media to vent.

Others made jokes.

And others speculated that Disney may have an ulterior motive.

(Via Deadline)

In a bit of news that had been out there for a few days, YouTube TV dropped all Disney platforms at midnight on Saturday. That’s because the streaming service and media conglomerate are in the midst of negotiations that could not get resolved as of Dec. 17, which led to YouTube TV putting out this statement:

As that second tweet mentions, ESPN was caught in the crosshairs of all of this. Because the Worldwide Leader is a Disney property, there are now a grand total of zero ESPN channels on the platform, in addition to local ABC channels that will carry things like NBA games, college football games, and the occasional Monday Night Football broadcast.

These sorts of disputes have become increasingly common as streaming has become a more popular option for consumers — YouTube TV, in fact, was pulled from the Roku store earlier this year before that got resolved — but that doesn’t make these any less frustrating. And from the moment that ESPN channels went dark, sports fans began expressing their frustrations about being caught in the middle of something so silly.

One theory out there is that Disney is making a business decision here from which they’ll benefit greatly.

The decision to remove all ESPN channels comes amid college football’s bowl season, the NBA season kicking into high gear ahead of its highly-anticipated Christmas Day slate, and as we learned on Friday, a Monday Night Football doubleheader.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been hit particularly hard at this early juncture of the season by injuries and, more recently, the uptick in COVID-19 cases that have been more frequent in the last few days. During the third quarter of the team’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, yet another member of their roster went down hurt.

LeBron James was being checked by Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, and at one point, he tried to gain a little separation after passing the ball to Davis. James gently shoved McDaniels, who ate the contact and flew backwards. Unfortunately for Davis, he was standing right in the path where McDaniels fell, and on his way down, he made contact with the left knee that has caused Davis some issues in recent days.

There have been plenty of moments throughout his NBA career where we’ve seen Davis leave the game due to a knock and return moments later after giving it a second to heal up. This was different, though, as Davis had to go to the back and get monitored. As he was making his way into the locker room, though, Davis collapsed and was in major pain.

Coming into Friday night, Davis had played in 26 of the Lakers’ 29 games this season. The All-Star big man has been quite productive during his third season in Los Angeles, averaging 23.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and two blocks in 36 minutes per game.