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Over the past few days, Nicki Minaj has been tangled up in a nasty feud with her former collaborator Megan Thee Stallion, with the two leading ladies of rap exchanging vicious blows over their songs. But they weren’t the only folks hitting the recording studio to air such grievances. Political pundit Ben Shapiro also decided to put his haters on notice with a diss record of his own.

Shapiro’s song “Facts” has earned him his first No. 1 on iTunes’ music charts (according to Pop Vortex). On the single, the far right pundit takes aim at several musicians, including Nicki. After gaining wind of the accomplishment, instead of slamming Shapiro, Nicki took to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate her frenemy on the milestone.

“I just listened to it, Ben Shapiro, not bad,” she wrote. “Congrats on #1. But it definitely sounds like ‘Roman’s Revenge’ when the beat first came in… I don’t know.”

Nicki couldn’t help but find humor in the matter. “Ben Shapiro put out a diss record,” she wrote. “He said his comment sections are filled with woke Karens. The song is #1 on US iTunes. What is really happening, and who is that other man rapping? Is this real life? He said, ‘Nicki, take some notes.’ Nah. Ayo nah.”

Shapiro rushed to X for his own victory lap. “I just want to thank God, Tom MacDonald, and my parents, who paid for 15 years of classical violin lessons so I could become the #1 rapper in America,” he wrote.

The song also features jabs at Cardi B. Listen to Ben Shapiro’s song “Facts” below.

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

It’s been a wild Sundance — wilder than usual. There was Kristen Stewart’s lesbian thriller. There was 94-year-old June Squibb doing her own stunts. There was Will Ferrell’s documentary about his road trip with his trans bestie. There was also that documentary about Christopher Reeve, best known for playing Superman and whose life was upended by an accident that left him paraplegic. Surely the film is deeply moving, which is probably why it’s become one of the fest’s most coveted titles.

Per The Wrap, the film, entitled Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, has “multiple buys” who are “circling” the film. How high are the offers? Pretty high! Sources say they’re in the $10 million range, which is high but not quite as enormous as the $17.5 million Fox Searchlight forked over for the 2016 docudrama The Birth of a Nation. Still, it’s in the range of other all-time purchases, such as Little Miss Sunshine ($10.5 million in 2006), Manchester by the Sea ($10 million in 2016), and Hamlet 2 ($10 million in 2008).

Reeve was but an esteemed Juilliard grad and theater rat when he was tapped to play the Man of Steel in 1978’s Superman: The Movie, the first big-screen live-action comic book movie that took the material seriously. Reeve returned for three more outings, all while juggling more serious films. Indeed, at the doc’s premiere Reeve’s kids said when their hometown theater wanted to hold a screening in their father’s honor, they insisted they play 1993’s Remains of the Day, in which he had a supporting turn of which he was extraordinarily proud.

In 1995 Reeve was thrown from a horse, an accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. He spent the remainder of his life in a wheelchair and on a ventilator. He died in 2004, aged 52.

(Via The Wrap)

For years, rap fans have held out hope for The Fugees to reunite. While the legendary trio was able to perform a special set during the 2023 Roots Picnic, their previously announced tour plans were continuously disrupted. Last year, founding member Pras Michel’s legal battle was the one causing the disruption.

In April 2023, after a long-fought case, Michel was formerly found guilty of money laundering. Sadly, he isn’t the only person connected to the case facing blowback from the heavily publicized trial. According to Rolling Stone, Michel’s defensive attorney, David Kenner, is also facing the music.

The outlet reports that on January 25, Kenner reportedly pleaded guilty to leaking evidence related to the case to members of the press. As media professionals were required to sign a protective order to prevent information from being shared with the public, Kenner allegedly handed off confidential files to multiple reporters from Bloomberg.

While appearing before the judge, Kenner reportedly apologized for his misconduct. “[This is a] low point,” he said. “Obviously, I made a terrible mistake.”

Michel’s spokesperson, Erica Dumas, released a statement regarding the matter. “Mr. Kenner argues that he was merely trying to mount the best possible defense for Pras,” she said. “Mr. Kenner’s reckless actions crossed critical ethical lines, failed his duties as counsel, and ultimately have cost him dearly. This plea conviction represents a breach of client trust that strikes at the heart of the attorney-client relationship.”

It is unclear if Kenner will face time behind bars for his actions, but he has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine.

For years, rap fans have held out hope for The Fugees to reunite. While the legendary trio was able to perform a special set during the 2023 Roots Picnic, their previously announced tour plans were continuously disrupted. Last year, founding member Pras Michel’s legal battle was the one causing the disruption.

In April 2023, after a long-fought case, Michel was formerly found guilty of money laundering. Sadly, he isn’t the only person connected to the case facing blowback from the heavily publicized trial. According to Rolling Stone, Michel’s defensive attorney, David Kenner, is also facing the music.

The outlet reports that on January 25, Kenner reportedly pleaded guilty to leaking evidence related to the case to members of the press. As media professionals were required to sign a protective order to prevent information from being shared with the public, Kenner allegedly handed off confidential files to multiple reporters from Bloomberg.

While appearing before the judge, Kenner reportedly apologized for his misconduct. “[This is a] low point,” he said. “Obviously, I made a terrible mistake.”

Michel’s spokesperson, Erica Dumas, released a statement regarding the matter. “Mr. Kenner argues that he was merely trying to mount the best possible defense for Pras,” she said. “Mr. Kenner’s reckless actions crossed critical ethical lines, failed his duties as counsel, and ultimately have cost him dearly. This plea conviction represents a breach of client trust that strikes at the heart of the attorney-client relationship.”

It is unclear if Kenner will face time behind bars for his actions, but he has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine.

Since the early ’90s,Snoop Dogg has built an impressive discography filled with the who’s who of music, including the late Tupac, Dr. Dre, Pharrell, and 50 Cent, to name a few. But there was one legendary collaboration that fans may never have the chance to listen to.

On January 26, during an interview on Sirius XM’s Radio Andy, Snoop revealed that he and the late Michael Jackson worked on music long before his death. “We have a record that never came together,” he said.

When host Andy Cohen asked about the record’s status, Snoop confessed that he had no clue. “I gotta find out [who has the masters],” he said. “It’s a record that we did for — you know, he made records for the world — a peaceful, whole lot of artists on its record. He called me one night, and it was crazy because of the way his voice came through the phone.

Jackson was actually the one who suggested the two team up. “He was like, ‘Snoop, it’s Mike. I have this song I want you to get on,’” he recalled. “I’m like, man, whatever you want. It ain’t no problem. Talk to me. After we got past the song, he was like, ‘My mom always said that you look like someone in my family. I think we’re related.’”

Surely the King of West Coast Rap and the King of Pop teaming up on a song would’ve been epic.

Watch the full interview above.

Vincent D’Onofrio has been playing Wilson Fisk, aka Marvel baddie Kingpin, for nearly a decade, on and off. Even given the “off” part — that is, between when the Netflix iteration of Daredevil was axed and when Kingpin was first resurrected in Hawkeye — that’s a lot of time to stay with a character. It’s such a long time that he wants to give the guy, now on Echo, something new to do — like, say, letting him get Jokerfied.

In a new chat with ComicBook.com (in a bit caught by The AV Club), the beloved actor pitched a “What If…? kind of Fisk story,” referring to Marvel’s show where they hatch alternate universes with very different outcomes for its beloved characters. But instead of something light and fun, D’Onofrio wants something way more grim.

“I would just like to explore him in a, outside of the usual teaming up of villain and superhero. I’d like to see a truly more realistic version, kind of like what they did with the Joker,” he said, referring to the Oscar-winning blockbuster Joker, presumably. “A more interior approach and you know, 10 times darker than anything we’ve done with him before. You know, exploring that would be really interesting.”

Granted, Kingpin is already a fairly complicated character on an already pretty dark show. But sure, a show or movie where he’s front and center, not having to deal with pesky good guy superheroes, allowed to wallow in his own crapulence and/or wrestle with his considerable demons (and yen for Hawaiian shirts) — that does sound kind of alright. Besides, D’Onofrio’s as good an actor as Joaquin Phoenix, so someone at Marvel HQ should listen to him and do this. They did say they were trying to do more one-offs anyway.

(Via ComicBook.com and The AV Club)

Rudy Giuliani embarrassed himself for Donald Trump. He got sued for Donald Trump. He declared bankruptcy, thanks to Donald Trump. And yet the very former “America’s Mayor” has never said a bad word about the guy who helped ruin his life. Heck, he hasn’t even whined much about the former president not helping him out financially — except quietly, via some new legal filings, in which he suggested the guy has been stiffing him.

Per Insider, in a new bankruptcy filing, in response to a question about any potential outstanding claims, Giuliani listed a “possible claim for unpaid legal fees against Donald J. Trump.” No amount that he was potentially owed was given.

The “possible” part makes the filing even more haunting. Is Giuliani trying to thread the needle between needing money from Trump for services rendered while also trying not to make Trump mad at him? If so, he’s not doing a great job.

Besides, does Trump even have that dough? On Friday a jury ordered him to pay a whopping $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll, who has sued him twice for defamation — twice and counting, given the guy’s famously short temper and loose lips. Surely the allegedly richie won’t have to beg his sometimes cash-strapped supporters to bail him out, right?

Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December after his own defamation trial, in which a jury ordered him to pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers about him he continued to spread false claims of malfeasance. But hey, Giuliani got off easy compared to the guy who owes him money.

(Via Insider)

For her directorial debut, Zoë Kravitz dared give it a provocative title: It was to be called Pussy Island. The actress always maintained that she wasn’t just trying to get attention, that it was an essential part of understanding the tone of her movie, in which she directs her now-fiancée Channing Tatum. Alas, the title “Pussy Island” was too pure for this world: Not only does the thriller have a new release date but also a new name.

Per Entertainment Weekly, the film, once set to be released earlier this year, will now drop in late summer, on August 23. What’s more, moviegoers won’t be able to say, “One for Pussy Island, please.” Instead, it will be called the far more family-friendly (and far more generic) Blink Twice.

Back in summer of 2022, Kravitz said she refused to change the title, saying the p-word is an important part of the film’s DNA.

“The title came from that world. The title is the seed of the story,” Kravitz told The Wall Street Journal at the time. “It represents this time where it would be acceptable for a group of men to call a place that, and the illusion that we’re out of that time now.”

What is the film once called Pussy Island about? Here’s how EW described it:

The movie stars Channing Tatum as a tech billionaire who invites a cocktail waitress, played by Naomi Ackie, to join him and some friends for a dream trip to his private island. No plot with that beginning is going to turn out well, and this story is no exception. “It’s gonna be a crazy movie, man,” Tatum tells EW. “It’s a crazy thriller.”

So remember: In late August, when you decide to go see Pussy Island, remember to ask for tickets to Blink Twice. RIP Pussy Island.

(Via EW)

Yellowstone mastermind Taylor Sheridan wasn’t content with a mere handful of spinoffs from the Kevin Costner-starring series. Nope, he’s essentially the reigning king of Paramount+ with several additional series, including Tulsa King, which flew high with Sylvester Stallone and will live on for a second season. There’s also the Jeremy Renner-starring The Mayor Of Kingstown, which shall return for a third round after the first Lawmen: Bass Reeves season wound down last year.

Elsewhere, Sheridan and 1883 cast member Billy Bob Thornton have collaborated to bring another facet of the American dream to life onscreen. In Land Man, Texas Tea should take center stage as a character, too, because the off-and-on oil booms have been integral to American identity. Let’s chat about where this series will take the next Sheridan protagonist.

Plot

Thornton previously embodied a lawman, U.S. Marshal Jim Courtright, for Sheridan, but the Bad Santa leading man now portrays a wheeling and dealing oil company crisis manager, Tommy Norris. The actor previously revealed that this show “is about the world of the oil business that we generally don’t see” while paying tribute to Sheridan’s writing on the series. The adoration must be mutual, given that Sheridan developed the show with Thornton in mind.

The series will take inspiration from the popular Boomtown podcast, but given that Sheridan is a prolific writer, you can expect this to be anything but a straightforward retelling. Additionally, we don’t know if we can expect a 2020s-set series or a slightly earlier take since Sheridan departed from choosing a year-based title for this show. Hey, a little mystery can be good, and the show’s description does tell us that this “drama is set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas and described as a modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs.” Furthermore, we can expect “an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.”

Cast

Not only will Tommy Norris (Thornton) have a high-pressure professional life, but his personal life knows complication, too. His ex-wife, Angela, will be portrayed by Ali Larter. Their children, Ainsley and Cooper, will be picked up by Michelle Randolph (1923) and Jacob Lofland, respectively, with the latter diving into the oil and gas scene, just like dad.

Casting directors are hard at work looking for athletes for background roles in college-set scenes at TCU, and Legacy Casting previously looked to cast real-life oil and gas workers for field-work scenes that are filming in North and West Texas. There’s been no word on whether Taylor Sheridan’s own Texas properties will serve as settings for this show, but an urban landscape was previously featured in a Paramount+ promo clip.

Release Date

Land Man production is ongoing with filming taking place in early-to-mid 2024. So there’s a decent chance that this show will materialize before Yellowstone‘s final episodes (which are filming in late 2024) make it to air.

Trailer

No teaser or trailer has materialized yet, but Sheridan has gone on record to confirm that this show, like his other works, will paint the portrait of “a forgotten part of the American experience.” He’s like the Darren Star of the Lone Star State of TV.

50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) is being sued by Power 106 radio host Bryhana Monegain after he allegedly threw a microphone that hit her head last summer, according to Entertainment Weekly. Monegain had filed the lawsuit in the Los Angeles Supreme Court on Thursday (January 25), citing that she had suffered “severe and permanent injuries.”

The alleged incident took place during 50 Cent’s concert at LA’s Crypto.com Arena last August. During the show, the rapper appeared to realize that his microphones weren’t working and proceeded to throw one into the audience, which was filmed. Monegain claims she was the one hit by it and is accusing Jackson, his G-Unit Touring company, and the arena’s owner, AEG, of negligence.

Monegain says that she was hit in the face and the wrist by the microphone, which reportedly led to her being taken to the hospital in an ambulance. They treated her for “a concussion and laceration over her forehead and pain in her left wrist,” and she suffered “dizziness, headaches, light and sound sensitivity and nausea.”

This move arrived a few months after Monegain had filed a police report, but criminal charges weren’t planned. She is now suing for all the damages, including medical bills, attorney fees, and other costs that resulted from the alleged microphone incident.