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Jay-Z may have thought he was helping with a pledge to donate $300 million in scholarships to Philadelphia students, but fans say he’s doing more harm than good. The billionaire rapper, who has dedicated himself to social causes with what he clearly hopes is an endearing fervor, saw his efforts backfire among fans on social media over the weekend, as many questioned why he dedicated that money to private school vouchers rather than improving the quality of public schools in Philly.

For some background, Philadelphia’s public school system has been in dire straits for some time, with old and decaying buildings not up to code, overworked teachers, and a lack of funding contributing to some of the worst outcomes nationwide — which have led to more defunding of the schools, which only exacerbates the existing problems. Meanwhile, charter schools have been criticized for churning out results that are effectively no better, with teachers that may not even be properly credentialed, specialized curriculums that could leave students unprepared for higher education and the workforce, and a selective system that allows for “underperforming” students to be booted from the schools entirely to keep test scores high.

Fans on X (RIP Twitter.com) criticized Jay’s involvement in the voucher program, pointing out that Jay is effectively playing out an Abbott Elementary storyline in real life.

Please, Jay, just watch the show. There are public school teachers who could use that support.

While she was being praised as cultural icon Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke was battling her own horrors in the form of two brain aneurysms.

Clarke has opened up before about her harrowing medical emergency, which happened while she was filming the hit HBO series. At the time, she was afraid that she could possibly lose her job because of it.

The actress told Big Issue, “When you have a brain injury, because it alters your sense of self on such a dramatic level, all of the insecurities you have going into the workplace quadruple overnight,” Clarke said.

Those insecurities included a fear of being fired from the popular fantasy series. She added, “The first fear we all had was, ‘Oh my God, am I going to get fired? Am I going to get fired because they think I’m not capable of completing the job?’”

She added, “Having a chronic condition that diminishes your confidence in this one thing you feel is your reason to live is so debilitating and so lonely. One of the biggest things I felt with a brain injury was profoundly alone. That is what we’re trying to overcome,” she added. But she also says that fighting has helped her have a new outlook on life. “It has given me a superpower.”

Clarke did not get fired. But the fear stayed with her. In 2019, she recalled her challenges while filming the second season of Thrones. “On the set, I didn’t miss a beat, but I struggled,” she admitted. “Season two would be my worst. I didn’t know what Daenerys was doing. If I am truly being honest, every minute of every day I thought I was going to die.”

Since Game of Thrones finished in 2019, Clarke has been taking on smaller projects, but she looks back on her Thrones time fondly. “Daenerys has a part of my heart. She is in there, and I’ll never forget.”

(Via IndieWire)

Even the most die-hard Swiftie has to admit that Taylor Swift‘s filmography is, let’s say, lacking. Going by Rotten Tomatoes scores, her “best” movie (not including concert films or documentaries) is The Lorax, starring Danny DeVito as an animated character that isn’t Detective Pikachu or Wario. Maybe Deadpool & Wolverine — which she’s definitely in — will turn things around?

Right? Right…?

Taylor Swift will not be dazzling the screen in Deadpool and Wolverine. The pop superstar behind albums like The Tortured Poets Department and folklore is not in the film.

Or… maybe not. That’s according to Entertainment Weekly, hours after the IMAX poster for the film showed Deadpool and Wolverine wearing friendship bracelets, a common site at Swift shows.

Maybe there will be a joke about her friendship with star Ryan Reynolds (his daughter with Blake Lively — who directed the “I Bet You Think About Me” music video — can be heard in one of her songs). Or maybe Deadpool will say he and Wolverine are “never, ever, ever getting back together,” followed by a record scratch to them back together. But Swift herself won’t appear in the MCU title, as Dazzler or otherwise. She’s a little busy.

Deadpool & Wolverine comes out on July 26.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

So far, to call the ongoing racketeering trial against Young Thug in Atlanta “a farce” would be doing a disservice to the theatrical form. It’s been nothing short of a circus, but apparently, the ringleader, Judge Ural Glanville, had yet another trick up his sleeve as the clown-show degenerated into a slog.

According to multiple sources via the trial’s livestream, Young Thug’s defense attorney, Brian Steel, was taken into custody today after being held in contempt of court by Glanville after he confronted the judge about an in-chambers ex-parte meeting (meaning all concerned parties were not presen) between Glanville and one of the other defendants, Kenneth “Woody” Copeland, after Woody was previously reticent to cooperate. After the meeting, he agreed to testify.

After refusing to tell Glanville how he learned of said meeting, and stopping just short of accusing him of witness coersion, Steel was removed from the courtroom. His second, Keith Adams, asked for a mistrial, noting that Thug — whose real name is Jeffery Williams — does not want to continue the trial without Steel.

Contempt of Court refers to the willful disobedience of a court order or some other conduct that disrupts or disrespects a court proceeding. A judge may impose sanctions such as fines or jail time on a person found in contempt.

Charli XCX is delightfully blunt. She named her newly released album Brat, and if that weren’t literal enough, she went ahead and entitled the deluxe version Brat And It’s The Same But There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not. So, Charli XCX has never been one to mince words, but she made an exception for “Girl, So Confusing,” leaving fans to fall down rabbit holes and theorize until their collective heart’s content about the popular Brat track.

Who Is Charli XCX’s ‘Girl, So Confusing’ About?

In short, Charli XCX hasn’t confirmed the inspiration behind “Girl, So Confusing,” but fans have narrowed it down to three possible suspects, with one person universally identified atop the leaderboard.

Vulture did the lord’s work and decoded the song, explaining all of the reasons why “Girl, So Confusing” must be about Lorde. Plenty of fans agree, as seen below.

As noted by Out Magazine, Marina (formerly Marina And The Diamonds) and Rina Sawayama are also popular guesses.

Last week, Charli XCX appeared on Las Culturistas With Matt Rogers And Bowen Yang and expressed indecisiveness over whether she’ll publicly confirm whom she wrote “Girl, So Confusing” about.

“I haven’t quite decided whether I’m revealing,” the UK-bred global pop star said. “When I wrote it, I was like, ‘I’m revealing!’ But now, the time is here, [and] I’m like, ‘Oh, am I revealing?’ […] My thing is, people are gonna guess. You probably both have an accurate guess.”

Charli XCX also explained her broader motivations for writing the song, as seen below.

“I think we live in this world of pop music right now where women are like, ‘I support other women! I love women, and I’m a feminist!’ And that’s great. Like, love that. I don’t think that you become a bad feminist if you maybe don’t see eye-to-eye with every single woman. That’s just not the nature of human beings.

There is a competitiveness between us. There is envy. There is camaraderie. All of these different dynamics. I feel that, working in entertainment, there is this kind of dance that we all do with each other, whether you’re in music [or] in your world [and] no matter how you identify. There is this dance. Everybody’s watching each other. Everybody’s posing in the picture, like, ‘Hey, oh my god, it’s so nice to see you!’ But then, you’re also like, ‘I want what they have.’ And then, the next day, you’re like, ‘They suck. I killed it today!’

This happens, but no one, really, is willing to discuss it. But we all probably have our person or maybe a few different people, and I’m sure we are that person for other people. I just find that there is this strange, unspoken thing that often happens particularly with women because there is such a narrative of pitting women against each other within music, and sometimes, that’s not totally fabricated. Sometimes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

Hailey Bieber is probably the most famously associated with Erewhon, but Olivia Rodrigo also partnered with the trendy Los Angeles market to produce her “Good 4 Ur Guts” smoothie last December. Erewhon apparently plans to continue leaning into celebrity-adjacent smoothies, and The Kid Laroi is next up.

How To Buy The Kid Laroi’s ‘The Girls’ Erewhon Smoothie

On Sunday, June 9, Erewhon teased some delicious-looking pink and brown concoction was on the way and tagged The Kid Laroi in the Instagram post. On Monday, June 10, The Kid Laroi confirmed “The Girls” smoothie with an Instagram post captioned, “Me & @erewhon just dropped the healthiest chocolate smoothie of all time [chocolate bar emoji] ‘girls’ the smoothie available now @ every EREWHON location & ‘girls’ the song comes out… soon.”

According to a press release, “The Girls” smoothie is available now at all 10 Erewhon locations in Los Angeles and will remain available for 30 days, “making Laroi the first male musician to embark on the collab with Gen Z’s favorite LA grocer.”

The smoothie’s name is in reference to The Kid Laroi’s forthcoming single, “Girls,” which he has been heavily teasing across social media for weeks.

The Kid Laroi’s ‘The Girls’ Smoothie Ingredients

MALK Organic Chocolate Almond Milk
ARMRA Colostrum
Huel Daily Greens
Scratch Chocolate Ganache
Cacao Powder
Cacao Nibs
Banana
Avocado
Almond Butter
Dates
Whey Protein
Tocos
Lion’s Mane
Maca
Sea Salt
Pitaya Coconut Cream

Mk.gee already successfully staged a sold-out 18-date North American tour in support of his Two Star & The Dream Police album this year, so why not do it again?

On Monday, June 10, Mk.gee announced his 2024 world tour after teasing the announcement with his “Breakthespell (Live In Los Angeles)” video. The tour will kick off on September 2 in Vancouver, Canada and snake through North America until early October before staging UK & Europe and Australian legs.

According to a press release, the Mk.gee artist presale is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, June 11, at 10 a.m. local time, and “additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning on Friday, June 14, at 10 a.m. local time.” Find all ticketing information here.

Mk.gee’s 2024 World Tour Dates

North America

09/02 — Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
09/03 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo *
09/06 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
09/07 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
09/09 — San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
09/11 — Denver, CO @ Summit
09/13 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
09/14 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s
09/15 — Dallas, TX @ House of Blues Dallas
09/18 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
09/19 — Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
09/20 — Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
09/21 — Newport, KY @ MegaCorp Pavilion*
09/23 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
09/24 — New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
09/26 — Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston
09/28 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall*
09/29 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
10/01 — Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
10/02 — Detroit, MI @ St Andrew’s Hall
10/03 — Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre*
10/05 – Minneapolis, MN @ Uptown Theater

*Non-Live Nation Date

UK & Europe

10/31 — London, UK @ Electric Brixton
11/02 — Paris, FR @ Elysee Montmarte
11/04 — Berlin, DE @ Betonhalle
11/05 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso

Australia

12/03 — Brisbane, QLD @ The Triffid
12/05 — Sydney, NSW @ Metro Theatre
12/07 — Melbourne, VIC @ Max Watts

Mk.gee’s 2024 World Tour Poster

Just days after announcing his new album, Faith Of A Mustard Seed with an impassioned trailer, West Coast hitmaker Mustard has announced the album’s release date. The “Ballin’” producer revealed that his fourth studio album is dropping on July 26, five years after the release of his last album, Perfect Ten. It also arrives just weeks after the producer achieved his first-ever(!) No. 1 hit, “Not Like Us,” with Kendrick Lamar — making July the perfect time to strike while the iron is hot.

Despite only recently enjoying that achievement, Mustard’s last album, Perfect Ten, did bring him another kind of success, receiving a nomination for Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards — the first time he was nominated as lead artist. It was also featured artist Roddy Ricch’s first nomination (he won for a different song that year, having appeared on the Nipsey Hussle song “Racks In The Middle”). “Ballin’” was one of three singles from Perfect Ten, along with “100 Bands” and “Pure Water.”

Since the release of Perfect Ten, Mustard has kept busy, producing beats for Coi Leray, Vince Staples, Roddy Ricch, and Blxst, among others. With Faith Of A Mustard Seed on the way, it looks like Mustard will once again take over the season he named his label after.

Faith Of A Mustard Seed is out on 7/26 via 10 Summers Records and Interscope.

The Los Angeles Lakers have still not found their next head coach. After weeks of reports indicated that ESPN broadcaster and retired player JJ Redick was the frontrunner for a job, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN brought word earlier in the week that the team identified UConn coach Dan Hurley as their top target for the position.

However, after meeting with the Lakers over the weekend, the back-to-back national championship winning coach chose not to make the leap to the NBA, instead opting to stick with the Huskies and chase a three-peat at the college ranks.

Now, the Lakers must pivot to Plan B after a very public, all-out chase of Hurley that came up short. One would expect JJ Redick will return to the pole position for the job after weeks of being considered the top candidate before the Lakers took a big swing on Hurley. Whoever lands the job will be replacing Darvin Ham, who the team decided to fire after two years at the helm in the aftermath of their ouster in the first round of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets.

Redick will be available to take the job in a week or two, whenever the NBA Finals are over — which could be as soon as Friday night if the Boston Celtics can complete a sweep of the Dallas Mavericks. For the Lakers, it will be fascinating how they spin all of this, because missing out on Hurley certainly doesn’t look great, especially with how publicly the negotiations played out. Perhaps this was all an elaborate scheme to drag out the process (and get Hurley a nice extension in Storrs) and cover their tracks while waiting for Redick to be done with his ESPN duties. Even if so, the pressure ramps up on Redick or whoever takes the job to deliver given the caliber of coach L.A. was pursuing in Hurley.

Good news, SZA (and everyone else who enjoyed one of the best shows of 2022): the first footage from Severance is here.

Apple TV+ released a sizzle reel of its upcoming shows and movies, including Silo, Pachinko, and Severance. The video above begins with Mark (played by Adam Scott) walking into Lumon Industries where Seth (Tramell Tillman) is waiting for him. “Welcome back,” he says, ominously, while holding balloons. “It’s been a minute.” It’s been two years actually! Later, Mark glitches back and forth between his “innie” and “outie” personas while hooked up to wires and laid out on a table before he appears to make a run for it.

Apple TV+ also released an image from the new season of Mark going Pennywise mode.

The cast hasn’t said much about the new season, although Scott did discuss the show’s intense fanbase with People. “That was the weirdest thing, is that we were making this show… Innies and Outies… and all these new words, and it was completely in a vacuum, and the whole thing was done. By the time it came out, we had been done for eight months or whatever it is and then, suddenly, it comes out and it works and people like it,” he said. “So suddenly, Innie and Outie are things out in the world with people is so weird.”

Severance season 2 will likely premiere in late 2024 or early 2025.