Category: Worldwide

Lil Nas X goes full-on Lisa Frank in the cover art for his debut album Montero, which he revealed today via social media along with a reminder of its release date, September 17. The cover carries over the fantasy theme from his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” music video, with glittering columns overlooking a placid stream, all colored in vibrant but soft shades of violet and pink. In the center of the frame, Nas himself hovers in profile (and in the nude) surrounded by a lens flare rainbow.

Nas has spent the last several months hyping up Montero‘s release and proving that no one in the music business is better at promoting a project than he is — not even Drake or Kanye, who’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to out-troll each other but haven’t put out much (good) music between the two of them. Building on the controversy sparked by his “Montero” music video, Nas teamed up with with a shoe customizer to sell “Satan Shoes” with blood in them, riling Nike and conservative commentators alike, then doubled-down with an onstage kiss during his performance of the song on the BET Awards. Just when Nas’ detractors had reached their breaking point, he really showed out in the “Industry Baby” video, generating even more attention through homophobic rants from elder rappers. It’s all led up to September 17, when Lil Nas will release the debut album that will be sure to have everyone talking.

Montero is out 9/17 via Columbia Records. Pre-save it here.

Halsey is fresh of the release of her new album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, but that’s not their most important output in recent days: Not long ago, she also gave birth, her biggest project yet. While that and the preceding pregnancy was naturally an important moment in Halsey’s life, she’s frustrated with how some people in the music industry handled their pregnancy.

Speaking with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, they spoke about the things they had to deal with from magazines and heads of companies, saying:

“You have to call the CEO of X, Y, Z and say, ‘Hey, hi. I’m just calling to let you know, I’m pregnant. Yeah. Yeah. I didn’t want you to find out on Instagram. I wanted to tell you myself, personally. It’s still business as usual over here though, don’t worry. Don’t worry. My personal choice isn’t going to affect your profitability or your productivity or your assembly line. And also, in what world would you ever have to call me to tell me that you were having a baby? But I have to call you because it impacts your product.’

I mean, there was publications that were like… You know, we were going out and trying to set up magazine covers based around the album release, and they were like, ‘Yeah, but is she going to be pregnant? Because we don’t want to do a maternity cover.’ And I was like, ‘It’s not a maternity cover. It’s about my album, I just happen to be pregnant.’ And they’re like, ‘No, it’s a pregnant cover.’ And I was like, ‘So I can’t go talk about my album?’”

She also spoke about deciding to have a baby in the first place, saying,

“I’m 26, and I tried very hard for this pregnancy and it was like, I’m financially independent, I’m pretty far along in my career, it feels like the right time for me to do it. And I got treated like a teen mom a lot of the times, you know what I mean? Where people were like, ‘Oh my God, you’re so young, and you have so much to do in your career, and you’re not married and you’re this.’ And it triggered all of these feelings of shame from when I was younger. It triggered a lot of old feelings of shame in me where I was like, how can you have an opinion, that kind of opinion on me making this decision? Because the flip side of it right, is that if I don’t and I wait until I’m in my 30s and I do SNL for the sixth time and have my seventh number one album and whatever. I’d do the same stuff over and over and over again. But then, there’s also, she worked too hard, she never had a family. She’s going to die alone, she was too obsessed with work, she never found someone. It’s a shame she’s not going to have any kids, her career’s not going to hold her at night. Okay. So nothing. So f*ck ’em and I just was like, ‘I’m going to do what I want to do,’ you know what I mean? I was like, ‘This is important to me.’”

Watch the interview above.

The New England Patriots entered this preseason as one of four teams with a first round rookie quarterback and, as such, a quarterback battle taking place in camp between Alabama rookie Mac Jones and veteran Cam Newton.

Jones has, as was the case throughout his time in Tuscaloosa, been steady for the Pats throughout the preseason, showing why they were so bullish on landing him at No. 15 on Draft night back in April. Jones completed nearly 70 percent of his passes in the preseason, throwing for more than 300 yards in three games and capping things off with an impressive 10-of-14, 156 yard, and 1 TD performance in the finale against New York — a game Newton barely played, going 2-of-5 for 10 yards and one interception.

Newton’s preseason was far more volatile, with a rocky first week followed by a sensational second week, but it was the third week that allowed Jones to separate after Newton was forced out of practice for COVID-19 protocols. After missing most of practice, he had just the brief appearance in the final preseason game and Jones, who had taken all of the reps with the ones in practice, shined. The result was that Jones not only won the starting job, but Newton found himself out of a job on Tuesday, as many reported Newton was among the Patriots’ final cuts.

It’s not a total shock that Newton would get cut after losing the starting job, as his contract was only guaranteed for $3.5 million of the $5.5 million he was signed for this offseason, allowing the Patriots to save some money by sticking with Brian Hoyer as the backup, while also ensuring there is no controversy over who should start should the team or Jones struggle early. It is firmly Mac Jones’ team in Foxborough now, as the Pats seem confident they have found their franchise QB.

The much bigger question is on Newton’s side, where the 2015 NFL MVP is now a free agent and will have to hope someone else was impressed enough with his preseason to want to bring him in just before the regular season. Making matters even more difficult for Newton is that the NFL’s policies regarding unvaccinated players makes it nearly impossible for him to get into practices in time to have a shot at the season opener.

With NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series still working from home, for the time being, the show’s latest guest, Little Simz, takes the theme a bit literally, turning her performance space into a replica of a cozy family living room complete with bookcases, plush leather couches, and even a far-out, retro throw rug to make the space pop. Alongside her band, she performs songs from her upcoming album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, including the premiere of “Point And Kill,” an Afropop-leaning jam featuring Obongjayar.

The Tiny Desk concert is the culmination of Little Simz’s months-long rollout for Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, which drops this Friday, September 3. Earlier this month, she made her US television debut on The Tonight Show to perform the standout single “Woman,” for which she’d previously released an elegant music video. Another track, “I Love You, I Hate You,” finds her penning an open letter to her father about her conflicted feelings toward him, while “Introvert” kicked everything off back in April.

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is Simz’s first album since 2019’s Grey Area, although she did release the EP Drop 6 to break up the monotony of quarantine boredom last year. Now that live entertainment has returned, you can catch Simz this weekend at the End Of The Road festival in Dorset, England.

Watch Little Simz perform her cozy NPR Tiny Desk Concert above.

I have long considered Tuesday to be the worst day of week. Monday isn’t as bad as Garfield makes it out to be; Wednesday and Thursday are close enough to the weekend; and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the best. But Tuesday? Tuesday has nothing go for it. It’s a drag. It’s usually difficult to find motivation to get through a Tuesday, but not this Tuesday. This Tuesday, I’m channeling the energy of Helen Mirren’s weekend.

The Oscar-winning actress — who also played a fancy car-driving thief in F9 (that’s range) — made an appearance at Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda Show in Venice on Sunday. She arrived on a boat, as one does, and wore a dress that made her feel like “a member of the Contarini Family,” as she wrote on Instagram. “Before me appeared many beautiful goddesses dressed in heavenly clothes, as a rainbow and lightening appeared and thunder rolled, and as the vision disappeared a beautiful rain began to fall.”

Also in attendance at the fashion show: her BFF, Vin Diesel.

“I danced in the rain with VIN DIESEL!” the caption reads. But she wasn’t done dancing:

You know Helen Thee Mirren gets down to “Thot Sh*t.”

Anyway, thank you to Nothing But Respect For My Queen, Vin Diesel, and Megan for helping me get through this Tuesday.

Back in December, the typically affable (when he’s not bouncing up and down on Oprah’s couch like a maniac) Tom Cruise made headlines after delivering a profanity-filled warning to his Mission: Impossible 7 cast and crew about the importance of following COVID-19 protocols to the letter because “We are not shutting this f*cking movie down!” Now, seven shutdowns later, Paramount, the studio behind the Mission: Impossible franchise has lost a lot of money on the film—which isn’t even scheduled to open until May 27, 2022. But as Variety reports, Chubb, the studio’s insurance company, is only willing to shell out $1 million to defray some of the money lost during these stoppages, forcing Paramount to file a lawsuit against their own insurer.

As Variety’s Gene Maddaus writes:

According to the suit, the studio’s insurer, Chubb, has said it will pay only $1 million for COVID-19 losses under its “civil authority” policy. Production was delayed seven times between February 2020 and June 2021, at least six of which were the result of the pandemic.

Paramount had a “cast insurance” policy for the production, with a $100 million coverage limit. Such insurance is intended to cover losses that result when a film’s key personnel — such as star Tom Cruise or director Christopher McQuarrie — is unavailable due to sickness, death or kidnapping.

Paramount maintains that the pandemic-related shutdowns should have triggered that provision of the policy, because the shutdowns were intended to protect the cast from getting sick.

But Chubb is standing firm that these shutdowns only fall under their “civil authority” policy, which covers all government-mandated work stoppages and carries a maximum benefit of $1 million, of which they’re willing to pay the full amount.

Paramount’s suit claims that the original shutdown was due to a key person becoming ill, though it doesn’t note who that person was or whether they were sick with COVID (and Paramount’s not talking, saying that people’s health information is protected information). Chubb paid another $5 million for that particular incident.

For all the details that Paramount’s lawsuit gives, it doesn’t specify how much the studio is looking for—only that it believes they’re entitled to a hell of a lot more than $1 million. And that the company “sold Paramount a Production Package Policy designed to insure Paramount against losses resulting from delays and interruptions of the production of the motion picture Mission Impossible 7. Recognizing the significant expenses (and concomitant risk) incurred in the production of major motion pictures, Federal agreed to and issued a policy that would pay up to a limit that exceeded $100,000,000 in connection with each single loss.”

You can read the full lawsuit here [PDF]. In the meantime, we’ll eagerly await Cruise’s rant thoughts.

(Via Variety)

After appearing in a Daily Beast feature on how the Mike Richards hosting scandal has tarnished Jeopardy!, 11-time champ Arthur Chu has penned an op-ed on how the beloved quiz show can restore its reputation by getting back to basics.

Writing for the Washington Post, Chu openly admits that this advice might sound strange coming from him. He was known as a Jeopardy! “villain” because of his unorthodox play style, but that was part of the show’s appeal. “The fantasy that you or I or anyone else could be the one in the spotlight. Anyone who’s good enough at trivia, even a schlubby nerd from Ohio, could get their turn to write the story of the show.”

Focusing on the show and the contestants was also the bedrock of Alek Trebek’s approach to hosting the show, but thanks to Richards, that’s no longer the case. “It all started with the loss of Trebek,” Chu wrote. “At my tapings, Trebek told us that if he were ever to retire, his one piece of advice to his successor would be, ‘Stay out of the way, and let the contestants be the stars.’”

Chu goes on to say that the reality show “churn” of cycling through guest hosts and creating drama around who will be Trebek’s new successor is a “stain” on Jeopardy! but he argues that it doesn’t have to be that way. Via Washington Post:

There can still be a place for “Jeopardy!,” so long as it centers on the contestants again, and on its own reliability. It just needs some help getting back there. So let me pass on what one child said to me back when I was playing the villain, a message that might be useful to Richards, or to interloping celebrities, or to anyone else who would steal the spotlight or shake up the show: “Why can’t you just do something else, and leave ‘Jeopardy!’ alone?”

While Chu’s advice makes sense, Sony Pictures Television is continuing to allow Richards to serve as executive producer despite the disastrous hosting selection process. Other former champs have argued that removing Richards would be a step in the right direction, but there’s been no sign that Sony is moving in that direction. Yet.

(Via Washington Post)

Kanye West put on quite the show with his pre-release Donda listening events. That’s especially true of the Chicago show, which featured a life-size re-creation of his childhood house. It turns out, though, that West apparently wanted to move the actual building in which he grew up to Soldier Field for the event.

A report from the Chicago Sun-Times (as Complex notes) says that West was denied permission to move the house. The city’s Buildings Department explained, “Moving a home in Chicago is a very technical process that requires structural engineer reports and multiple city permits. The request to move the house at 7815 S. South Shore Dr. was denied last week because no permit application had been received to excavate and move the vacant property which is also in Demolition Court.”

So, it was this denial that led to a reconstruction of the building being made instead.

West purchased the building last year for about $225,000 and apparently had plans to renovate it, but it’s unclear how the home ended up in demolition court. Of Chicago’s demolition court, Justia notes, “Illinois statute 65 ILCS 5/11-31-1 sets out various options for local governments that wish to abate the problems created by ‘dangerous and unsafe buildings’ and abandoned buildings. Under 5/11-31-1(a), the government may apply to the local circuit court for an order authorizing it to demolish, repair, or board up a building, or requiring the building’s owners to do any of those things, if the owners have not taken sufficient action within 15 days after being sent notice of the problems. The mechanism for taking advantage of this provision in the City of Chicago is bringing an action in a court referred to as the ‘Demolition Court.’ This court is designed to provide an expedited process for hearing cases involving buildings that, in the City’s opinion, require demolition.”

If your name ever appears in the same headline as Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell, something has gone terribly wrong. Sidney Powell, the “wacko Trump lawyer” who’s on an exhausting, baseless crusade to overturn the 2020 presidential election (even though she admitted in court that “no reasonable person would conclude” those “were truly statements of fact”), attempted to get a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed against her by Dominion Voting Systems thrown out — but a judge ruled that it could move forward. Powell also recently appeared on the Australian Broadcast Company’s two-part series, “Fox and the Big Lie,” where she was asked about the Big Lie.

“What you’re describing is a massive, countrywide fraud involving the FBI, the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, the organizations who certify elections, and on and on, all the way up to the attorney general. And thousand of local elections officials. Are you saying that thousands of Americans participated in a fraud?” reporter Sarah Fergusen asked Powell. She replied, “I’m saying that thousands of Americans had some role in it, knowingly or unknowingly. It was essentially a bloodless coup where they took over the presidency of the United States without a single shot being fired.”

“Do you ever hear yourself and think it sounds ridiculous?” Ferguson asked as a follow-up. “No, I know myself very well, I’ve been in me a long time. I know my reputation, I know my level of integrity,” Powell responded. Even the lawyer’s dog was done with her.

This moment came after Powell threatened to end the interview:

At one point during the interview, Powell responded to a line of questioning by asking Ferguson if she works for Smartmatic and stated that she was confused about why Ferguson came to interview her in Highland Park, Texas. “Because you’ve made a series of very strong allegations against Smartmatic and against Dominion containing many errors of fact,” Ferguson responded.

Shortly after, Powell attempted to stop the interview, saying it was “wholly inappropriate” because of pending litigation.

You can watch the “Fox and the Big Lie” special here.

(Via Insider)

Drake has been teasing Certified Lover Boy over the past year or so, but now he’s locked into album rollout mode. Yesterday, he confirmed that the album is set for release this Friday, September 3. He also shared the cover art, which features a series of pregnant woman emojis, and which (probably by design) caused quite the stir online. Now it looks like he’s teased some of the album’s content with some billboards that have gone up in his Toronto hometown.

The signs show off what appear to be lyrics from the album. The phrases include “I don’t miss… Let alone miss you,” “Should’ve said you loved me today / because tomorrow is a new day,” and “Something other than me has got to give.”

Furthermore, Drake drove around Toronto yesterday handing out CLB merch.

Meanwhile, not long after Drake unveiled the Certified Lover Boy cover art, Lil Nas X came through with a perfect parody, replacing the women’s heads with male heads and claiming it was the album art for his own upcoming album, Montero. Drake also recently had a big assist for a fan in need, as it was reported that he gave a wheelchair-accessible van to the sister of one of his supporters.