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Beverly Hills 90210 and Sharknado star Ian Ziering was reportedly jumped by a pack of a bikers during an all-out street brawl in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve. According to police, Ziering has been listed as the victim and the incident is under investigation.

In footage obtained by TMZ, Ziering’s vehicle was reportedly hit by the group of bikers, which led to the actor getting out of his car. That’s when things went south:

You can see Ian hop out of his car after one of the bikers seemingly catches his attention, possibly from a collision … and the altercation erupts in a violent brawl, all seen on video obtained by TMZ.

Check it out … Ian starts wailing on the guy in question, but soon — he gets ganged up on by the others … who begin to whoop on him mercilessly as he tries to make a run for it. Like we said, the [clip] is absolutely bananas … especially considering this a well-known actor.

Eventually, the fight ended with Ziering getting back into his car as both he and the bikers scattered from the scene. The actor did not comment on the incident until he released an Instagram video on Monday night addressing the fight and blasting the police for a lackluster response:

“I am relieved to report that my daughter and I are both completely unscathed, but the incident has left me deeply concerned about the growing boldness of such groups who disrupt public safety and peace,” Ziering said. “This situation highlights a larger issue of hooliganism on our streets and the need for effective law enforcement responses to such behavior. As a citizen and a parent, I find it unacceptable that groups can freely engage in this kind of behavior, causing fear and chaos, while the response from authorities seems insufficient.”

“We must address the underlying issues that lead to such disruptive behavior and ensure that our streets are safe for everyone,” Ziering continued. “I urge city officials and law enforcement to take decisive action against such lawlessness and provide the necessary resources to prevent future occurrences.”

(Via TMZ, Ian Ziering on Instagram)

Snoop Dogg will be helping out with some coverage of the Olympics this summer, as he will team up with NBCUniversal in Paris. The news came during the Sunday Night Football halftime on New Year’s Eve.

As for what to expect when Snoop starts helping out on July 26, he’ll be chatting with NBC’s Olympics host, Mike Tirico, and will “explore the city’s iconic landmarks, attend Olympic competitions and events and make visits to the athletes, their friends and families,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. And it will probably be very entertaining, even if you’re not super into sports.

“I grew up watching the Olympics and am thrilled to see the incredible athletes bring their A-game to Paris,” he shared. “It’s a celebration of skill, dedication and the pursuit of greatness. We’re going to have some amazing competitions and, of course, I will be bringing that Snoop style to the mix. It’s going to be the most epic Olympics ever, so stay tuned, and keep it locked. Let’s elevate, celebrate and make these games unforgettable, smoke the competition, and may the best shine like gold. Peace and Olympic LOVE, ya dig?”

As an early teaser, Snoop appeared in a video with Olympic stars from different sports, including “Suni Lee (gymnastics), A’ja Wilson (basketball), Jagger Eaton (skateboarder), and Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes (beach volleyball),” per the publication.

Back in 2021, Snoop Dogg had also provided some hilarious highlights commentary of the Tokyo Olympics on Peacock — which led to him being picked for primetime.

Check out the video of Snoop Dogg getting excited for the Paris Olympics above.

Like many other social media users, Drake wrapped up 2023 with a post sharing some highlights from his year. Unlike many other social media users, Drake is Drake, so the things he saw and did were largely on a different level than most other people. Example: One of his year-end photos showed off a pretty neat gift from Snoop Dogg.

The post is captioned, “First thought for 2024: I’m not your emotional support dog.” (The first photo is of Drake wearing a dog mask.) A few photos in is a photo of a blunt on a piece of paper that reads, “July 27, 2023, Blunt rolled by Snoop Dogg, Death Row Records,” alongside a blue bandana.

Drake certainly had a lot to look back on for 2023. He released his latest No. 1 album, For All The Dogs, in October. The project yielded two No. 1 singles: “Slime You Out” with SZA and “First Person Shooter” with J. Cole. He and 21 Savage also kicked off their It’s All A Blur Tour, in support of their joint 2022 album Her Loss. Drake was one of YouTube’s most-viewed artists of the year, one of Spotify’s most-streamed, and in case his bank account was feeling a little light, somebody tipped him 20 cents.

Invincible viewers were surely disappointed when the Amazon series took a hiatus after the second season only aired four episodes. never fear, however. The show is destined to return soon for the back half of the season, so that fans of Robert Kirkman’s other most-beloved comic book series (beyond The Walking Dead) can receive their next fix.

Additionally, superhero movies cannot seem to compel audiences these days, and that makes viewers even more ready for the remaining successful superhero/villain titles in rotation. The other one happens to be The Boys, and man, who would have imagined that Amazon would be in such an advantageous position in 2024? It’s not worth questioning how this happened, but let’s discuss what Invincible left dangling for the rest of Season 2. Additionally, compelling speculation has surfaced regarding a return date:

Plot

As viewers will recall, this series took a bizarre turn to show evil versions of Invincible/Mark apparently teaming up with his father, Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson, following their climactic battle in the sky. That finale had ended with Mark seemingly resisting going to the dark side, but the show threw some viewers into a tailspin while suggesting that Mark would rule Earth alongside his dad while the pair served the Viltrum Empire. Not great! Again, however, this was not the show’s main reality, where Debbie was only beginning to come to grips with realizing that her husband had only considered her a pet and a means to fulfilling Viltrumite goals.

Unfortunately as well, the Viltrumites aren’t the only threat on the horizon. The Mauler Twins and more are still in the mix with their own goals, some more damaging than the rest. Mark’s educational plans fell by the wayside, too, and he ended Episode 4 severely injured with Nolan being carted off by the Viltrumites. Did Dad leave any wisdom behind? He dropped a hint on the way out, and boy, this show knows how a cliffhanger works.

One thing is certain: Mark (whose identity is no longer secret to his intergalactic enemies) will need all the help he can get to overcome his father’s ways and also the imperialistic Viltrumite empire at large. Good luck.

Release Date

No official word on Episode 5’s release exists, but it’s almost certain that this show will be part of Amazon’s plan to push their ad-free plan (for $2.99 per month) when Prime Video ads begin on January 29. Does this mean that the four remaining Season 2 episodes will begin shortly there after? That’s the joke going around, so stay tuned to find out if that ends up being true.

Cast

Don’t expect this show to mess around with a successful formula. As part of the ensemble cast, Steven Yeun will continue to voice Mark Grayson/Invincible with J.K. Simmons as Omni Man, Sandra Oh as Debbie Grayson, Seth Rogen as the one-eyed Allen the Alien, Walton Goggins as Cecil Stedman.

Trailer

Amazon hasn’t released a full trailer yet. However, a few potential Invincible hints surfaced in this 2024 sizzle reel.

Invincible Season 2 Part 1 is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was everywhere this long weekend. He appeared on Fox NFL Sunday (and made Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson cry), ESPN College Gameday, and probably an In-N-Out for “the first time.” He also made his return to wrestling during WWE Raw on Monday.

“You can’t ever come out here in the people’s ring, in front of the people, with the people’s champ in the building [and] run our country down free of consequence from The Rock,” Johnson said after interrupting Jinder Mahal to make his grand entrance. He called Mahal a “Day 1 Douchebag” and later compared him to one of the worst movies in the actor’s filmography.

“If The Rock had to guess why you’re so angry, it’s probably because nobody likes you and you’re not funny,” Johnson said on the mic. “As matter of fact, if you were one of The Rock’s movies, you’d probably be Baywatch.” When Mahal replied, “Thankfully I’ve never seen Baywatch,” The Rock quickly fired back, “Well, nobody else did either. Shut your mouth when The Rock is talking to you.” The Rock then set him up for a “it doesn’t matter.”

You can watch the clip below — but don’t watch Baywatch (17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, tied with Tooth Fairy at the bottom). There are other, better Zac Efron movies.

Looking at Nicki Minaj’s early career, a couple songs stand out as being most important or noteworthy: In 2011, “Super Bass” was her first top-5 single, and the next year, “Starships” was her second. “Starships” is also one of Minaj’s most-streamed songs with over a billion plays on Spotify. Minaj, though, doesn’t seem to be the single’s biggest fan these days.

During a New Year’s Eve concert at E11EVEN in Miami, she got a few lines into “Starships” before stopping, saying, “Hold on. Psych, psych, psych, psych. I don’t perform that song no more, y’all.” After some audible discontent from the audience, she continued, “I don’t like it, what y’all want me to do? Stupid song.”

According to setlist.fm, Minaj hasn’t performed the song live since 2019. Of course, that was the last time she went on tour (for the The Nicki Wrld Tour with Juice WRLD), but she has played some festivals since then and the song didn’t make any of those setlists.

This isn’t Minaj’s first time distancing herself from “Starships.” In a 2020 interview, she said, “I wish I had never recorded ‘Anaconda.’ I like the video, but ick. My first-ever solo song on Billboard was ‘Your Love.’ To this day, I like the video but I hate the song. I could go on and on. I hate ‘Starships.’ I mean, ew… ‘Starships are meant to fly?’ Why did I do that?”

In the age of artificial intelligence and virtual reality it’s easy to assume that original art is in jeopardy of being replaced by technology. But Cristina Martinez, an Afro-Latina contemporary artist known for her fine art content on Instagram, sharing the often-untold stories of Black and Brown people, is an example of how technological innovations can enhance the artistic process and help bring voices to often underserved communities.

Herdandez recently took part in the Meta Sonic Listening Party in Miami, an event that brought together artists from various disciplines to collaborate in unique ways as part of Meta’s “It’s Your World” campaign, designed to bring. together emerging artists, musicians and Creators to reimagine the next generation of creative expression.

Martinez spoke with Upworthy about her experience taking part in the Meta Sonic Listening Party and how new technology is shaping her as an artist and storyteller.

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Upworthy: What inspired you to become an artist?

Cristina Martinez: I honestly feel like I don’t know how to be any other way. Ever since I was little, I’ve always felt drawn to express myself creatively, I didn’t always know what it meant.

I think just being an artist is who I am, I feel like I’m fulfilling my purpose here on Earth. One thing that keeps me going is the thought of all these amazing Black and Brown young artists that will come after me and you know, be able to look and see people that look like them doing the things that they dream of doing, which I think has changed a lot from when I was little. So I’m so blessed to be a part of that.

Upworthy: You mentioned how your art often focuses on highlighting those often untold stories of black and brown people. Do you think some of these different formats you’ve experimented with, like the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses can be both a powerful tool for your own expression, but also helping to find new ways to reach those audiences in different communities?

Cristina Martinez: I think that it can broaden your audience. Just being able to share these stories and impact people and let people you know, come across my artwork, or the artwork of another talented artists and being able to like see a little bit of themselves and the artwork, it just builds connection. The Meta Ray-Bans help document my process in general because I think that one of the things that often gets missed about Black and Brown stories is just like regular life stuff. Like we focus so much on trauma, but you know, Black and Brown joy and love and just happiness, all of these things. It’s like all of that can be captured and without even really trying. We just get to be who we are.

Upworthy: What was it like getting to take part in Meta’s “It’s Your World” campaign?

Cristina Martinez: It was very authentic. You know, partnering up with these companies, sometimes you can lose sight of lyour true self, because it’s this great opportunity. But with this, I feel like I’ve been able to make art that is authentic to who I am, like when I made a painting with my glasses with my daughter. I got to just lbe myself through the whole thing.

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Upworthy: Could talk a little more about what it was like using the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses while you were painting during the party?

Cristina Martinez: I think for people that create in a very small bubble, I think art is such a sacred thing. And creative people. You know, there’s all types of different creatives for me, I spent so many years like just creating for my sanity, and because I had to and so being able to still have that moment with my work. I think what’s really special about it is that you do you get to just still be yourself and have those intimate moments with whatever you’re doing, whether it’s interacting with friends, or, you know, being a mom or cooking or whatever. And then you can document it. And then I’ll let people into that space and inspire and connect with people later on. I think that that is a really special tool for a lot of people.

Upworthy: What it was like collaborating with Victoria Monet and learning to use the piano and Piano Vision with them?

Cristina Martinez: If I told anyone that actually knows me, like, ‘Hey, I’m about to go to this event and perform the piano,’ you know, everybody’s initial thing is to laugh. But when I was there, and I did it, it really was very cool. It was just like, it was a new first time experience for me, but it felt really, really good.

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Upworthy: For Upworthy readers that will be seeing you and your work for the first time, what do you hope they take away from experiencing your artwork?

Cristina Martinez: I think more than anything, I hope that my art inspires people to have compassion for each other. We all go through these things together. I like to acknowledge the realness of life and challenges and hardships and things that are unfair. But also to remind my viewers that on the other side of that is better days, bigger blooms, whatever you want to call it. I try to find the little things that are lights in hard parts of life. And I want people to see that.

New Year’s Day brought a pair of highly anticipated 2024 College Football Playoff semifinals, with the first game featuring a thrilling Michigan victory over Alabama in overtime. In the nightcap, the Washington Huskies and Texas Longhorns squared off in a Sugar Bowl tilt in New Orleans, and the game was riveting from start to finish. Though the Huskies never trailed, the game was close-fought throughout, including a 21-21 score at halftime and a one-possession margin for large swaths of the second half. In the end, however, standout quarterback Michael Penix and Washington’s offense did enough to secure a 37-31 victory and a meeting with Michigan for the national title.

In the first half, Penix connected on 11-of-14 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown, illustrating his efficient brilliance for all to see. Still, Texas managed to stay stride-for-stride with Washington, with the two teams effectively trading touchdowns all the way to the end of the second quarter.

Coming out of halftime, Washington asserted control with a touchdown drive. Penix found Jalen McMillan with a pinpoint strike from 19 yards out to put the Huskies in front by a 28-21 margin.

Texas then fumbled on the first play of the ensuing possession, setting up Washington for a field goal to give the Huskies a two-score advantage at 31-21. By the first minute of the fourth quarter, the Huskies were tacking on another field goal to take a 34-21 lead that they would never relinquish, though more fireworks did transpire.

After the two teams exchanged empty offensive possessions, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers found Adonai Mitchell for a touchdown with 7:23 remaining. That brought the Longhorns within six and put the pressure back on Washington.

Up to the task as usual, Penix engineered a methodical drive that proved to be pivotal. The Huskies covered 65 yards on 10 plays and, while Washington did ultimately settle for a field goal, that put Washington up by nine points with fewer than three minutes remaining.

Texas zoomed into the red zone in a hurry, though, picking up a field goal to set up an onside kick attempt that was the team’s final gasp. When Washington secured it, the game was all but over. The Huskies could not simply kneel the game out, with Texas still possessing two timeouts, and Washington faced potential disaster after an injury when running back Dillon Johnson went down after a third down carry.

Not only was that an unfortunate injury for Johnson and the Huskies, but it also gave the Longhorns more time for a last-second comeback bid. Washington did not execute its clock management in flawless fashion before the ensuing punt, and the Huskies also committed kick catch interference to gift 15 free yards to the Longhorns. That allowed Texas to take over at the 31-yard line with 45 seconds remaining, and the Longhorns threatened in a real way.

First, Ewers connected with Jordan Whittington on third down for a 41-yard gain to move Texas into striking distance.

Texas running back Jaydon Blue also made an impressive sideline catch to accrue 16 more yards and set up another first down at the 12-yard line with 15 seconds remaining. However, the Longhorns stalled from there, failing to score on the next four downs, including a throw into the end zone that got batted away as time expired.

Throughout the season, Washington’s passing game has been heavily responsible for its success and what is now a 14-0 record. That continued on this night, with Penix racking up 430 yards on 38 attempts (11.3 per attempt) without committing a turnover. That was nothing new for the quarterback who was the runner-up in 2023 Heisman Trophy voting, but Washington also has top-flight pass-catchers. Five players had at least 48 receiving yards for Washington in the game, headlined by projected first round pick Rome Odunze, who had six receptions for 125 yards in the game. Though the ending was a bit of a mess for Washington, in part due to mismanagement from head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Huskies played a fantastic offensive game and, as they have all season, made a few defensive plays to form the winning recipe.

Washington and Michigan will now meet at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8 with a national title in the balance. Both teams will enter with perfect 14-0 records and each program will be seeking its first national championship in more than 25 years. That matchup will be appetizing, especially with Michigan’s vaunted defense attempting to slow Washington’s potent offense, but both teams can celebrate impressive semifinal victories as they face a relatively quick week of preparation for the sport’s biggest night.

WWE promised the return of a former WWE champion and fans were treated to two.

As the announcement was made for a former WWE champion to return, Jinder Mahal made his way to the ring and tore down the audience, as well as America. As things continued, Rock’s music hit and he cut down Mahal.

Rock said Mahal was free to say what he wanted, but said he wasn’t free of consequence from the Rock. He continued to rip apart Mahal saying he might be the Modern Day Maharaja, but today he’s the “Day 1 Douchebag.” After getting the crowd to chant that, Rock then serenaded Mahal before Jinder cut him off and attacked The People’s Champ in the corner. Rock made his comeback and hit a spine buster before landing the People’s Elbow. Rock then pulled a belt off and hit Mahal with it before he rolled out of the ring.

After he beat up Mahal, Rock got on the mic and asked the crowd if he should sit at the head of the table, referencing the current WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns. Rock recently shared that a match with Reigns was previously locked in for WrestleMania 39, and continues to tease that eventually coming together.

Rock was in Pasadena earlier in the day ahead of the Rose Bowl and made the short trek over to San Diego, similar to what he did in September in Colorado before beating up Austin Theory.

The Boston Celtics have enjoyed quite a bit of success in recent years. Boston looks like the best team in the NBA so far in 2023-24, posting a 26-6 record and a league-best +10.4 net rating as the calendar flips to January. Prior to that, the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals in three out of four seasons, including a run to the 2022 NBA Finals that nearly netted the franchise another championship. However, the 2018-19 season was much-maligned and much has been made of the lost promise of a team that was utterly loaded with talent and ended up falling short with a second round exit to the postseason.

Recently, Gordon Hayward, who was a key cog on the 2018-19 roster, joined Paul George on the Podcast P Show and shed some light on what transpired in Boston’s 49-win season that ended with a second round loss. In short, Hayward thinks the downfall was tied to having “too many agendas.”

Hayward’s explanation makes rational sense, and he doesn’t try to even absolve himself of the blame. The Celtics were incredibly deep with talent, pairing established standouts like Hayward, Kyrie Irving, and Al Horford with young players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Terry Rozier. That team also had Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris, and others, and it really did seem like a team that fell short of expectations based on almost having too many pieces.

Hayward does lay out that many conversations were had behind the scenes, including what he joked to include about five “players-only meetings” that never had the intended effect because no one was willing to be the one to sacrifice. In the end, nothing worked and, by the time the 2019-20 season arrived, Irving wasn’t there anymore and Hayward slid down the pecking order behind Tatum, Brown, and even Kemba Walker. In some ways, this is a familiar tale, but it’s interesting to hear a current player talk about it in this way, and it’s a peek behind the scenes that is always informative.

It’s particularly interesting for Hayward to have this conversation with Paul George, who is currently on a team trying to navigate a similar situation with a lot of stars figuring out how to coexist. George is keenly aware of how things can go wrong and knows the conversations that have to happen to make it work — as evidenced by his question about whether Boston was able to have those difficult discussions in the locker room. He seems to want to learn from the mistakes of teams like those 18-19 Celtics, and might’ve gleaned some helpful info from his conversation with Hayward.