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The last decade of the NBA has been defined by the battles between LeBron James and the Golden State Warriors. While they’ve been hotly contested and frequently have determined which team wins the NBA Finals, there’s always been a mutual respect there, and apparently, Golden State was interested in trying to bring James on board at the trade deadline.

A new piece by Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN lays out an “unsuccessful bid” the Warriors made to acquire James last week. While it’s unclear what Golden State would have offered Los Angeles to make this happen, there were conversations involving major decision makers from both teams, which started with Warriors owner Joe Lacob contacting Lakers owner Jeanie Buss about whether they could work something out and Buss referring him to Rich Paul, who represents both James and Warriors star Draymond Green.

If the Lakers ever wanted a temperature check on James’ commitment, here was his chance to tell them. In the end, that answer for the Warriors and Lakers returned resoundingly on the eve of the trade deadline: Rich Paul told Lacob and Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., that James had no interest in a trade and wanted to remain a Laker, sources said. When Dunleavy Jr., reached out to Lakers GM Rob Pelinka in those pre-trade deadline hours, Dunleavy Jr., had been told the same: the Lakers wanted to keep James, sources said.

There was a rumor in the lead-up to the deadline that the possibility of James getting moved was very real, although Paul eventually said that he would remain in Los Angeles. It is almost impossible to imagine James suiting up in San Francisco alongside Green, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson, but that certainly didn’t stop Golden State from trying to make that happen.

On February 10, at long last, Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign released Vultures I, their new album. That vaulted West up to No. 2 on Spotify’s Daily Top Artists Global chart for February 10, behind only Taylor Swift, with whom West of course has some history. On the February 11 chart, he surpassed Swift to take the top spot.

West seemed pretty happy about that. On Instagram last night (February 11), West took to his Story to share a tweet making note of the achievement, offering no additional context or opinions beyond the unadorned screenshot.

West’s Spotify win, though, didn’t last long: On the charts dated February 12 and 13, Swift had returned to No. 1. So, by the time West shared the news, it was outdated. Worth noting is that this all happened right after West dropped an anticipated new album, while Swift is currently getting by on months-old material.

This follows a report that Swift got West kicked out of Super Bowl LVIII this past weekend. As HipHopDX notes, former NFL player Brandon Marshall claimed that West had purchased tickets that would have placed him right in front of Swift. Marshall then claimed, “Taylor Swift gets pissed off, she boom boom makes a call or two. Everybody’s involved. He gets kicked out the stadium! He was trying to leverage her celebrity. […] That’s what he tried to do: he tried to sit in front of Taylor Swift.”

The publication notes, though, that despite what Marshall said, West was seen in the stadium multiple times, like when he was spotted in a luxury suite with Ty Dolla Sign and Anderson. Paak.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On February 10, at long last, Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign released Vultures I, their new album. That vaulted West up to No. 2 on Spotify’s Daily Top Artists Global chart for February 10, behind only Taylor Swift, with whom West of course has some history. On the February 11 chart, he surpassed Swift to take the top spot.

West seemed pretty happy about that. On Instagram last night (February 11), West took to his Story to share a tweet making note of the achievement, offering no additional context or opinions beyond the unadorned screenshot.

West’s Spotify win, though, didn’t last long: On the charts dated February 12 and 13, Swift had returned to No. 1. So, by the time West shared the news, it was outdated. Worth noting is that this all happened right after West dropped an anticipated new album, while Swift is currently getting by on months-old material.

This follows a report that Swift got West kicked out of Super Bowl LVIII this past weekend. As HipHopDX notes, former NFL player Brandon Marshall claimed that West had purchased tickets that would have placed him right in front of Swift. Marshall then claimed, “Taylor Swift gets pissed off, she boom boom makes a call or two. Everybody’s involved. He gets kicked out the stadium! He was trying to leverage her celebrity. […] That’s what he tried to do: he tried to sit in front of Taylor Swift.”

The publication notes, though, that despite what Marshall said, West was seen in the stadium multiple times, like when he was spotted in a luxury suite with Ty Dolla Sign and Anderson. Paak.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On Monday Jon Stewart did something he hadn’t done in nine years: He hosted The Daily Show. His stay will be temporary and limited: He’ll only be there through the election and only on Mondays. Who knows? Perhaps things will get so weird — it’s happened before! — that he’ll decide to stay on. (Or maybe he’ll go back to rescuing animals, another pursuit.) His maiden return drew some sharp reactions, but people were apparently stoked to see him back, at least if you judge the ratings.

Per Deadline, Monday’s episode drew in a ton of viewers. There were 930,000 linear viewers on Comedy Central. Across other stations where it was simulcast — CMT, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Paramount Network, Pop, and TV Land — and incluing repeats, it added another 920,000. That brings it to a total of 1.85 million viewers.

Some other stats: The show had the biggest rating share since 2015, when Trevor Noah took over, with a 4.21. Its ratings were up 110% over Noah’s final episode in 2022. And across social platforms it scored 11.1 million views.

As mentioned earlier, Stewart’s epic opening monologue, which ran some 20 minutes, wasn’t always well-received. He spent the bulk of it slamming not only Trump but Biden, arguing that people should be worried about how old both of them are, at a time when Biden’s age is the only one that turns heads. He didn’t touch enough on Trump’s other, shall we say, worrying qualities, and that he was joining the “Biden is too old” pile enraged some, like the hosts of The View.

Whether or not Stewart really believes the nice current president and the dictator guy are basically the same candidate — which they’re very, very much not — is something we’ll hopefully find out quickly into his nine-month stint.

(Via Deadline)

Lil Yachty is always looking to push the envelope with his music. Last year, he dropped his psychedelic album, Let’s Start Here, which was met with much critical acclaim. Tonight (February 13), Yachty teased a collaborative album with an equally creative artist and producer.

In a clip shared to his Instagram, Yachty is seen speaking to an unseen person, and revealed that he has worked on a collaborative album with James Blake.

“Granted, I think James has worked with a quite substantial amount of hip-hop artists,” Yachty says in the clip. “But this project, is just like— it’s so left. For both of us.”

Blake had previously hinted a collaboration between him and Yachty almost a year ago, when he shared a picture of the two in the studio via Instagram. Still, Yachty believes the album will take fans by surprise.

“Aside from that one picture that James posted—which, he doesn’t have many followers, actually—I don’t think people know that we know each other exists. So they’re just going to be like ‘What the f*ck? When did they do this?’”

At the end of the clip, a screen reads “Bad Cameo, a full-length album by James Blake & Lil Yachty.” Neither Blake nor Yachty have shared a release date for the album, but according to the caption of Yachty’s Instagram post, fans can expect the project “soon.”

You can see the teaser above.

Megan Thee Stallion is dropping a special collection of activewear this week. The activewear line, appropriately called Hot Girl Systems, arrives by way of a partnership with Nike. There will be two drops over the course of the next few days, allowing fans to purchase their Hot Girl Systems fashions via different shops.

How to buy Megan Thee Stallion and Nike’s Hot Girl Systems collection

The first drop for Meg’s Hot Girl Systems collection arrives just in time for her birthday. According to an Instagram post announcing the collection, fans will be able to purchase items from Hot Girl Systems via Meg’s official website beginning Thursday (February 15). This drop coincides with Meg‘s 29th birthday. The second drop will arrive through Nike’s website and retail stores next Tuesday, February 20.

Hot Girl Systems offers a variety of fashions, including a flowing bomber jacket, red biker shorts, black bodysuits, red body suits, a white cropped shirt, a black cropped shirt, and black sports bras. You can find a price guide for each article of clothing here.

You can see a teaser for Hot Girl Systems above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It’s long been known that the members of the legendary British comedy troupe Monty Python haven’t always gotten along. Some very much have: Watch Michael Palin’s heartbreaking ode to his close friend Terry Jones, who died from complications of dementia in 2020. But it seems others really don’t see eye to eye. A social media spat recently blew up between Eric Idle and John Cleese, which got so bad that the latter claimed the two have always hated each other’s guts.

Per Deadline, over the weekend Idle took to Twitter/X to complain about the Python brand’s dwindling fortunes. “We own everything we ever made in Python and I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously,” Idle wrote. He blamed Holly Gilliam, daughter of fellow Python-er Terry, who took over as manager a while back. “But I guess if you put a Gilliam child in as your manager you should not be so surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two can take out any company.”

Idle also claimed Python hasn’t made him fabulously wealthy, especially now. “I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster,” he wrote. “Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.”

Later Idle claimed that their former manager, Jim Beach, was fired by Cleese “peremptorily and foolishly, without coming to the Board, when he discovered Jim was to be Executive Producer of Spamalot the Movie.” (Note: The Spamalot movie has never been made, though the show’s back on Broadway.)

On Tuesday, Cleese responded to Idle’s accusations against Holly Gilliam.

“I have worked with Holly for the last ten years, and I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant to have dealings with,” Cleese wrote. “Michael Palin has asked me to to make it clear that he shares this opinion. Terry Gilliam is also in agreement with this.”

When someone asked Cleese directly if all’s okay between he and Idle, he didn’t mince words: “We always loathed and despised each other, but it’s only recently that the truth has begun to emerge.”

Uh, is this a gag? Maybe? But seemingly not. On Sunday, Idle mentioned he hadn’t seen Cleese in seven years. When someone said that makes them “sad,” he responded, “Why. It makes me happy.”

When someone suggested that someone make a documentary about the “rise and fall” of the group and how money “really can destroy friendships,” Idle responded bluntly: “F*ck Netflix and f*ck documentaries.” (It’s worth noting that much of Python’s output, including two of their movies and their original show, can currently be streamed on Netflix.)

Idle also claimed the group was never as close as fans may think. “I still love and am proud of what we did as Python. It was a very unique group,” he wrote. “I think of us as an ex Liverpool team. We played together well. Way back in the day. But it was never very supportive of people’s feelings and emotions. Not Brothers. Colleagues.”

Idle also told fans not to expect any more Python reunions, as they last did in 2015. “I’m doing no more Python,” he wrote. “I gave already. Ungrateful bastards.”

Always look on the bright side of life, right? Let’s end this kind of sad saga with a joke Idle made amidst this apparent inter-Python war. When asked if the thinked another contentious team, Simon and Garfunkel, would get back together, he wrote, “With whom?”

Hey, it’s something. A good chunk of Python, including Holy Grail, can be streamed on Netflix. Hopefully they’re paying them well, unless that “F*ck Netflix” had deeper connotations.

(Via Deadline)

A groovy new festival is coming to Los Angeles this summer. Fool In Love festival will celebrate its inaugural iteration on August 31 at Hollywood Park Grouds at SoFi Stadium. The festival’s line-up boasts some of the all-time biggest names in R&B, funk, and disco.

Headlining the inaugural Fool In Love festival are Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Santana, Al Green, Charlie Wilson, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Durand Jones & The Indications, and Nile Rodgers & Chic. Also on the bill are The Isley Brothers, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick, Kool & The Gang, Zapp, and more.

Tickets for Fool In Love are available for purchase beginning Friday (February 16) at 10 AM PT. via the festival’s official website. Fans can purchase general admission tickets beginning at $275. GA+ tickets, which will offer passholders air-conditioned restrooms and a dedicated entry lane at main entrance begin at $595. VIP passes begin at $695, and offer the same perks as GA+, as well as a special VIP entry lane and charging stations. The platinum passes, which will run you $1,200, will offer the same perks as VIP, as well as a private entrance into the festival grounds, all-inclusive beer, cocktails, and wine at a private bar, food, lockers, and golf-cart rides between various parts of the venue.

Fans can set up payment plans with down payments starting at $19.99.

You can see the full line-up below.

Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have long shown admiration for each other’s craft. After the infamous MTV Video Music Awards incident of 2009, Bey invited Swift to deliver her speech after being interrupted. Bey was also seen at Swift’s birthday party in 2014. Last year, the two made appearances at the premieres of each other’s respective concert films. While they’ve maintained a friendship for nearly 15 years, the two have never collaborated musically.

This past weekend, Bey broke the internet by giving fans the first taste of her upcoming album, Act II, which, as evidenced by the two singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” sounds like it’ll be a country album. Given its sound, some fans are theorizing that Bey may have convinced another artist to make a brief return to her country roots.

Does Beyoncé have a collaboration with Taylor Swift on Act II?

Today (February 13), producer Killah B, who co-wrote and produced “Texas Hold ‘Em,” spoke with TMZ to tease the album. When asked if Act II would have any collaborations — perhaps with an artist who has roots in country, but made a pivot to pop — Killah responded, saying. “Let’s just say she’s on the approach of shocking the world.”

Though the TMZ reporters didn’t refer to Swift directly by name, the description one of them offered does sound a lot like Swift’s career trajectory.

However, Entertainment Weekly reported that they confirmed with a source with knowledge of the situation that Swift and Beyoncé, in fact, did not collaborate for Act II. But that doesn’t rule out the possibility of a collaboration in the future.

Act II is out 3/29 via Parkwood Entertainment.

Hotties, get your coins ready. Megan Thee Stallion has new activewear on the way. Today (February 13), the Hot Girl Coach announced Hot Girl Systems, her new line of workout-friendly fashions which arrives as part of a partnership with Nike. Hot Girl Systems arrive later this week, and thankfully, it’s not too expensive. Fans can look forward to adding a fiery assortment of black and red fashions to their closet.

How much does Megan Thee Stallion and Nike’s Hot Girl Systems collection cost?

Hot Girl Systems offers a variety of fashions, including a flowing bomber jacket, red biker shorts, black bodysuits, red body suits, a white cropped shirt, a black cropped shirt, and black sports bras.

Mid-rise biker shorts, light-support non-padded sports bras, and cropped t-shirts will each cost $40. For $50, fans can purchase the medium-support non-padded sports bra. The long-sleeved bodysuit will be available for purchase for $90, and the short-sleeved body suit for $125. And finally, cans purchase the bomber jacket for $200.

The first drop for Meg’s Hot Girl Systems collection arrives just in time for her birthday. According to an Instagram post announcing the collection, fans will be able to purchase items from Hot Girl Systems via Meg’s official website beginning Thursday (February 15). This drop coincides with Meg‘s 29th birthday. The second drop will arrive through Nike’s website and retail stores next Tuesday, February 20.

You can see a teaser for Hot Girl Systems above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.