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You’ll have to wait until November to see Ariana Grande and Bowen Yang on-screen in Wicked. But you can still see their chemistry in action. Last night (March 9), the two showed off their musical talents in a theatrical sketch on Saturday Night Live. The sketch is modeled after a PBS special honoring Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film, Moulin Rouge.

However the producers of the special weren’t sure which songs they could get the rights to, so Yang, who plays Ewan McGregor’s Moulin Rouge character, and Grande, who plays Nicole Kidman’s character, make their own mash-ups using portions of popular songs.

Some of the songs featured are TLC’s “Creep,” Elton John’s “Our Song,” and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me.” But at the end of each mash-up is “Happy Birthday,” which is always a safe, royalty-free bet.

Toward the end of the sketch, Grande delivered the final note of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, giving fans an early taste of what to expect from the movie-musical adaptation.

Grande was the musical guest of the night, and during her slots, she delivered cinematic performances of “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” and “Imperfect For You” from her new album, Eternal Sunshine.

You can see the Moulin Rouge-themed sketch above.

In a painfully relatable Saturday Night Live sketch that aired last night (March 9), Heidi Gardner leads a support group comprised of recovering people-pleasers. The group of people pleasers addresses several problems they’re dealing with in their day-to-day lives.

One member of the group explains that he had agreed to go out to dinner with his boyfriend, despite having already eaten dinner earlier in the day. “I said ‘Sounds great. I’m so hungry. I’ll drive, unless you want to. Either way, no worries at all,” says the member, played by Bowen Yang.

Another group member, played by Molly Kearney, shows up to the group meeting with a bad haircut. Gardner’s character guesses that a barber had messed up Kearney’s character’s hair, however, the character was too polite to stop the barber. “But can I say something? In my defense, I gave him a huge tip.”

Later on in the sketch, a young lady named Sarafina, played by Ariana Grande, talks about how she doesn’t like her job, however, explains why she chooses to stay.

“I hate my job, so I need to quit, but they give me great health insurance and it’s so nice of them to pay me,” says Grande’s character.

Though Gardner can’t seem to disabuse the group members of their people-pleasing ways, they wrap their meeting with the people pleasers’ prayer of deference.

“God grant me the serenity to say no. But if you’re too busy with heaven, then no worries,” says the group in unison.

You can watch the full sketch above.

Sean O’Malley (18-1) dominated Marlon Vera (23-9-1) to retain his Bantamweight Championship at UFC 299 from the Kaseya Center in Miami.

O’Malley was active to open the fight, connecting on a spinning back kick and a nice slapping left kick to the ribs. O’Malley continued to go to work with snapping leg kicks, both inside and outside. O’Malley picked Vera apart with a nice straight left, switching his stance and refusing to stop his active movements with a slew of feigns. Vera charged forward with a quick combo, but it was O’Malley back again with his collection of body shots before heading back upstairs on the challenger.

In the second, Vera’s corner encouraged more activity, but it was O’Malley who continued to pick his opponent apart. O’Malley popped Vera late in the round with a huge knee, but it didn’t seem to hurt him. The champ followed that with a left and right that opened up a cut on Vera. A late right hand dropped Vera to a knee before the buzzer sounded.

Vera opened the third with a persistence that O’Malley wouldn’t just steamroll through him. Vera came out of the gate with his own combination of strikes, but eventually it was O’Malley who was finding his range. Understanding he was likely down two rounds to none, Vera opened up with heavy-handed shots, but it was O’Malley yet again counter striking and picking him apart. At the end of the round, Vera began to find his footing, striking O’Malley with a big right before the buzzer.

The fourth saw an invigorated Vera bring the aggressiveness to O’Malley. The champ picked up the pace, showing his expert footwork and yet again snapped jabs at Vera. The challenger jabbed O’Malley, looked for a flying knee, and brought the fight to the champ. Vera rushed O’Malley on occasion, but it was the champ evading and putting together combinations that kept him at bay.

In the final round, O’Malley hurt Vera a minute into the round, but refused to finish his opponent. O’Malley continued to pick and pop Vera, doing just enough to keep the clock moving toward a successful defense.

The bout was a return fight for O’Malley, who suffered a nerve injury in the first round against Vera and lost via TKO in 2020. That loss temporarily derailed his hype train. But eventually he got back on track and he reached the top of the mountain with a second-round knockout against Aljamain Sterling in 2023.

Since 2021, Vera had lost just one fight coming into Saturday night’s main event, with victories over Pedro Munhoz, Dominick Cruz, Rob Font, and Frankie Edgar.

In her second performance of the night, Ariana Grande took to the Saturday Night Live stage, singing the latest single from her new album Eternal Sunshine. While delivering a raw performance of “Imperfect For You” Grande let the music speak for itself, taking command of the stage, as day turned to night, but the beauty of Grande’s vocals and the surrounding greenery

Grande’s mother, Joan, added a very personal touch to the performance.

Lyrically, “Imperfect For You” features Grande touching on her insecurities and learning to coexist with her anxiety. In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, Grande shared how she’s managed to deal with the feelings that weigh on her.

You have to learn to live with it. You have to learn what tools work for you and how to befriend it, how to shine a light on all your little monsters and see them and look at them and say, “Okay, I see you. How can we live together? How can we survive together? How can we get through what we need to get through and work on this together?”

You can see the performance of “Imperfect For You” above.

Eternal Sunshine is out now via Republic. Find more information here.

Ariana Grande is pulling out all the stops for her latest era. Tonight (March 9), the pop hitmaker made a return to the Saturday Night Live stage to perform songs from her new album, Eternal Sunshine. In her first of two performances, Grande delivered a cinematic performance of the album’s latest single, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)”

Grande performed the song in a living room setting, as the song’s music video played on a small television. The camera cut to Grande as she delivered polished vocals. On the walls are visual displays of outdoor settings, as seasons change and Grande moves through heartache. This particular performance noticeably pays homage to her latest album’s namesake, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.

Grande’s new album arrives over three years after her 2020 album Positions. This marks the longest wait between albums in her entire career, but as she’s been hard at work on the film adaptation of Wicked, her vocals have become noticeably more full. Equally as impressive are the visual elements of her performance, which noticeably indicate her artistic growth.

You can see the performance of “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” above.

Eternal Sunshine is out now via Republic. Find more information here.

When it comes to breasts, Americans really have it twisted. We’ve sexualized them to such a point we no longer see them for their main purpose: feeding babies.

This disconnect is so extreme that when women breastfeed their children in public they are often met with scorn or shame.

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Florida mom and anti-circumcision advocate, Ashley Kaidel, isn’t having it anymore.

Kaidel was breastfeeding in an unnamed restaurant when another diner gave her the stink-eye, just for feeding her child in public. So Kaidel took a photo of herself staring right back at the shamer and posted it to Facebook. The photo quickly went viral, receiving over 420,000 likes.

In her post, she explained why she had such a stern look on her face.

“In the picture, it appears I’m staring off into the distance. In reality, I’m staring into the eyes of a woman staring at me. She is looking at me with disgust and shaking her head with judgement in an attempt to shame me and indirectly tell me without words that I am wrong and need to cover myself.”

Kaidel says she breastfeeds in public to reduce the stigma surrounding it.

“I do this for the person that has the mentality ‘Boobs are to be covered. They’re for your husbands eyes only. They’re intimate. It’s a personal/private thing to feed your baby. Cover up out of respect. My kids don’t need to see that. Walk out of the room’ and any other derogatory, close-minded comments and sentiments alike.”

Then, she cut through all the nonsense surrounding breasts to explain their real purpose.

“[B]reasts were made to sustain your baby’s life before they were made to bring pleasure to any other man, woman, partner or spouse. Their sole purpose is to make food and dispense it straight into a baby’s mouth. There is nothing weird about this and there’s no difference in me feeding my baby with my breast than you feeding yourself with a spoon.

Finally, Kaidel had some strong words for the next person who attempts to shame her for breastfeeding in public.

“No person should be isolated and shunned because they’re eating, especially when you yourself are eating while ridiculing how someone else is eating. Is it not certainly easier to avert your eyes from a displeasing sight rather than suggest or demand a mother and child remove themselves from your presence? How pompous and selfish is this? Just look away. It’s simple to do so. No harm done at all.”

via GIPHY

This article originally appeared on 11.24.15

For all of the individual stars that have dominated headlines in women’s college basketball this season, led by Caitlin Clark in Iowa and Juju Watkins at USC, it’s once again been the South Carolina Gamecocks that have been the dominant team in the sport.

South Carolina entered Saturday’s SEC Tournament semifinal against Tennessee at a perfect 30-0 on the season, with only a handful of close calls on the year, but the Lady Vols were up for the challenge and pushed the Gamecocks to the brink in Greenville. South Carolina jumped out to an early 19-6 lead after the first quarter and led by 13 at the half, but Tennessee steadily reeled them in the fourth quarter, pulling ahead by two in the final seconds.

The Gamecocks needed a miracle to get a win with 1.1 seconds on the clock, inbounding the ball from just beyond halfcourt, and got it in the form of the first career three-pointer from center Kamilla Cardoso, who was unguarded at the top of the key. Cardoso caught the inbounds pass, stepped behind the line, turned, and fired up a shot that banked in as the buzzer sounded, keeping the Gamecocks record perfect.

It’s an unbelievable shot made more incredible by the fact Cardoso had never made a three in her four seasons prior to this. Tennessee has gotten lit up by many for not guarding Cardoso at all, but it’s somewhat understandable as she’s not supposed to be a shooting threat and the focus was denying anything at the rim and keeping shooters from getting open off screens. Unfortunately, playing the numbers leaves yourself vulnerable to some March madness, and the result was despair from the Lady Vols on the floor and on the bench.

Two of the most prominent alums of these schools play together in the WNBA, and Candace Parker tried calling up A’ja Wilson to gloat about Tennessee’s win a bit prematurely, only for that to backfire spectacularly as Wilson captured on social media.

As they say, it ain’t over til it’s over, even if the person shooting the ball has never made that shot in her career before. There’s no time like the present, and now South Carolina’s quest for a perfect season can continue.

After weeks of teasing, Ariana Grande’s new album, Eternal Sunshine, is here. Following the controversy surrounding her rumored relationship with Ethan Slater, fans began to speculate that the 13-track project would address her personal life. Despite saying it wasn’t inspired by actual events during her interview with Apple Music‘s Zane Lowe, the public isn’t buying it.

So, today (March 9), the “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” singer uploaded a note to her Instagram Stories to address the “misguided backlash.” “I just wanted to say, anyone that is sending a hateful message to the people in my life based on your interpretation of this album,” she wrote. “It is not supporting me and is absolutely doing the polar opposite of what I would ever encourage.”

Grande went on to expand on her thoughts. “[This] is also entirely misinterpreting the intention behind the music,” she wrote. “I ask that you please do not. It is not how to support me. It is the opposite.”

As for the album’s true meaning, Grande clarified that before closing the note. “Although this album captures a lot of painful moments, it also is woven together with a though line of deep, sincere love,” she wrote. “If you cannot hear that, please listen more closely.”

Eternal Sunshine is out now via Republic. Find more information here.

JT is ready to step out on her own.

The “Sideways” rapper quickly rose to popularity in hip-hop as part of the duo City Girls. Alongside her longtime friend Yung Miami, the ladies’ raunchy South Florida sound made them a household name. Now that the group has made good on their promise to drop a new album, RAW (Real Ass Wh*res), JT has moved full steam ahead on her solo career. Past collaborations with artists like Nicki Minaj and Kali Uchis were just a start.

Today (March 9), JT took to her official social media pages to announce her very first solo US tour. The 13-date run will begin on March 23 in Houston, Texas. Although JT has not confirmed when ticket sales will start, she did confirm that more dates will be revealed, including a stop in Detroit, Michigan (which appears on the promotional graphic without a date). View the full tour schedule and official poster below.

JT 2024 Tour Dates

03/23 — Houston, TX @ The Sekai
03/24 — Dallas, TX @ The Garden
03/29 — Jacksonville, FL @ Club Elevation
03/30 — Miami, FL @ Nomi
03/31 — Tampa, FL @ Tally Ho
04/05 — Milwaukee, WI @ Mr. G
04/06 — Cleveland, OH @ Medusa
04/13 — Miami, FL @ Carol City Park
04/19 — West Palm, FL @ Club Ivy
04/20 — Charlotte, NC @ Compound
04/21 — Baltimore, MD @ Icons
04/26 — New York, NY @ The Harbor
04/27 — Kansas City, MO @ Club Municipal

JT 2024 Tour Poster

On Sunday there’s a chance that The Holdovers could nab itself a couple Oscars. Will fake lazy eye guy Paul Giamatti finally get one then go chow down at In-N-Out Burger? Maybe. Da’Vine Joy Robinson, meanwhile, is the frontrunner for the Supporting Actress prize. Another of its five nominations is for Original Screenplay, credited to David Hemingson. But the night before the big show that aspect of the film hit some unexpected controversy, with claims that said script was plagiarized.

In a new report by Variety, Simon Stephenson, whose writing credits include Luca and Paddington 2, is alleging that the “meaningful entirety” of The Holdovers script has been copied from his script for Frisco, a script that lives on the Black List, the annual compilation of beloved unproduced screenplays.

In an email to the Writers Guild of America, Stephenson writes that “the evidence the holdovers screenplay has been plagiarised line-by-line from frisco is genuinely overwhelming — anybody who looks at even the briefest sample pretty much invariably uses the word ‘brazen.’”

On the Black List site, Frisco is described as concerning a “forty-something pediatric allergist, who specializes in hazelnut and is facing a divorce, learns lessons in living from a wise-beyond-her-years terminally ill 15-year-old patient when she crashes his weekend trip to a conference in San Francisco.”

The Holdovers, meanwhile, is about a cantankerous private school teacher forced to hang with a non-terminally ill 15-year-old student. Those might sound only superficially similar, but Stephenson writes that the resemblances run deeper:

“The meaningful entirety of the screenplay for THE HOLDOVERS has been copied from the FRISCO screenplay by transposition. This includes the FRISCO screenplay’s entire story, structure, sequencing, scenes, sequential sub-beats within scenes, line-by-iine substance of action and dialogue, characters, arcs, relationships, theme and tone. A majority of this has been done line- for-line, and a large number of unique and highly specific elements created in FRISCO are readily and unequivocally identifiable in THE HOLDOVERS.”

Stephenson adds, “The copying is so comprehensive that it seems likely THE HOLDOVERS was created by importing FRISCO into screenwriting software and directly overtyping the transposition on a line-by-line basis.”

Neither Hemingson nor Holdovers director Alexander Payne has yet to comment publicly on the accusation.

Variety published a breakdown of the similarities between the two scripts.

The Oscars are set to unfold on Sunday, March 10, at 7pm. The Holdovers is still in (some) theaters and streams on Peacock.

(Via Variety)