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A few months after a class action lawsuit had been filed by fans against Live Nation for the sales of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour tickets, their lead plaintiff has reportedly dropped the claim, according to Rolling Stone.

As of August, the two sides had “agreed to continue their ongoing settlement discussions through mediation,” but developments hadn’t really happened since. If there is any sort of settlement in the rest of the lawsuit, it will happen “no later than Jan. 31, 2024.”

The lawsuit was first filed after fans claimed that the Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster was violating “antitrust and unfair competition laws” and wasn’t entirely honest about the ticket sale process. Fans even went to the US District Court in March to participate in a hearing — as it affects a bunch of other artists, not just Taylor Swift.

“Ticketmaster intentionally and purposefully misled millions of fans into believing it would prevent bots and scalpers from participating in the presales,” the lawsuit originally said. “However, millions of fans were unable to purchase tickets during the TaylorSwiftTix Presale and the Capital One Presale, due in large part to unprecedented website traffic caused by Ticketmaster allowing 14 million unverified Ticketmaster users and a ‘staggering’ number of bots to participate in the presales.”

A few months after a class action lawsuit had been filed by fans against Live Nation for the sales of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour tickets, their lead plaintiff has reportedly dropped the claim, according to Rolling Stone.

As of August, the two sides had “agreed to continue their ongoing settlement discussions through mediation,” but developments hadn’t really happened since. If there is any sort of settlement in the rest of the lawsuit, it will happen “no later than Jan. 31, 2024.”

The lawsuit was first filed after fans claimed that the Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster was violating “antitrust and unfair competition laws” and wasn’t entirely honest about the ticket sale process. Fans even went to the US District Court in March to participate in a hearing — as it affects a bunch of other artists, not just Taylor Swift.

“Ticketmaster intentionally and purposefully misled millions of fans into believing it would prevent bots and scalpers from participating in the presales,” the lawsuit originally said. “However, millions of fans were unable to purchase tickets during the TaylorSwiftTix Presale and the Capital One Presale, due in large part to unprecedented website traffic caused by Ticketmaster allowing 14 million unverified Ticketmaster users and a ‘staggering’ number of bots to participate in the presales.”

Back in May 2021, a major scandal rocked the film world as Paddington 2 lost its perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes score thanks to a singular, negative review. Well, the sequel’s star Hugh Grant and director Paul King have collaborated again on Wonka, and they had a few things to say about the notorious takedown that deprived poor Paddington of a 100% Fresh rating.

The conversation started during a new Entertainment Weekly “Around the Table” video where Wonka star Timothée Chalamet referred to Paddington 2 as a “truly nearly perfect film,” prompting King to jokingly ask, “What was the problem? You were very clear with ‘nearly.’”

“The problem is the 1 percent standard deviation that I think exists on Rotten Tomatoes,” Chalamet respond, referring to the now-infamous negative review from Film Authority‘s Eddie Harrison. Or at least that’s what we’ve all been lead to believe — until now.

“I wrote it,” Grant jokingly admitted. “Why did I do that?!”

King took a more measured approach, but also fired a barb at the negative review. “Somebody was so angry that they wanted to bring it down,” he said. “It’s a great human impulse to go, ‘Not you!’”

However, ultimately, King doesn’t put much stock in Rotten Tomatoes, which also knocked Citizen Kane from its 100% rating after an 80-year-old review was unearthed. That chain of events put Paddington 2 at the top before its own fall from the top.

“It’s a strange metric, because it’s people who are broadly positive,” King said via EW. “Do you think Orson Welles is sad? Just going, ‘I thought I did good, and then Paddington.’”

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

In Civil War, director Alex Garland‘s new movie for A24, America is at war with itself. Believable enough premise so far.

But in the action-packed trailer, President Nick Offerman informs the nation that the “so-called Western Forces of Texas and California have suffered a very great defeat at the hands of the United States military.”

It sounds like the two states, along with 17 others, have seceded from the union. Again, believable, especially for Texas. But what’s less realistic is California (63 percent blue in the 2020 election) and Texas (52 percent red) agreeing on anything, politically speaking. It’s why so many of California’s finest — Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, etc. — eventually move to the Lone Star State.

The Texas and California line has inspired a lot of reactions online. “I’ll give Garland some credit. Having Texas and California team up and start a new civil war is a brilliant way to make sure your dystopian movie about the rise of American fascism is NOT political,” @BivouacChillin wrote on X, while @CarmanTse noted, “The alliance of Texas and California in the Garland movie will be easily explained: they’re two biggest states by population and area, easy to connect geographically and—most importantly—there’ll be a fake Elon Musk technocrat he’ll write into the movie that unites them.”

Speaking as someone who lives in Texas, we have Whataburger and In-N-Out Burger. We’re thriving without California’s help, thank you very much.

Civil War, which stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons, Nick Offerman, and Cailee Spaeny, opens in theaters on April 26, 2024. You can watch the trailer below.

Beyoncé is celebrating her game-changing self-titled fifth studio album today (December 13). 10 years ago, Bey released Beyoncé to iTunes, without warning, or any prior promotion. The album boasted 14 tracks, and a music video for each of the songs, plus three additional music videos. One of these videos was for “Grown Woman,” a Timbaland-produced track that didn’t appear on the tracklist for the audio portion of the album.

To celebrate 10 years of Beyoncé, the artist has finally put “Grown Woman” on streaming platforms.

In 2013, Beyoncé had begun teasing the album over the course of 11 months before its official arrival. The song was first previewed in a Pepsi commercial which premiered in April of 2013. Powered by African-influenced drums and Bey’s empowered vocals, “Grown Woman” was a fan favorite even before Beyoncé‘s official release. The chrous, on which Bey declares “I’m a grown woman / I can do whatever I want,” rang in a new era, at a time when fans weren’t sure what was to come.

The song’s accompanying music video featured clips from Bey’s home movie collection, juxtaposed with images of an adult Beyoncé maintaining her energetic spirit, as she knows she’ll be slaying the game for many more years.

You can listen to “Grown Woman” above.

In Civil War, director Alex Garland‘s new movie for A24, America is at war with itself. Believable enough premise so far.

But in the action-packed trailer, President Nick Offerman informs the nation that the “so-called Western Forces of Texas and California have suffered a very great defeat at the hands of the United States military.”

It sounds like the two states, along with 17 others, have seceded from the union. Again, believable, especially for Texas. But what’s less realistic is California (63 percent blue in the 2020 election) and Texas (52 percent red) agreeing on anything, politically speaking. It’s why so many of California’s finest — Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, etc. — eventually move to the Lone Star State.

The Texas and California line has inspired a lot of reactions online. “I’ll give Garland some credit. Having Texas and California team up and start a new civil war is a brilliant way to make sure your dystopian movie about the rise of American fascism is NOT political,” @BivouacChillin wrote on X, while @CarmanTse noted, “The alliance of Texas and California in the Garland movie will be easily explained: they’re two biggest states by population and area, easy to connect geographically and—most importantly—there’ll be a fake Elon Musk technocrat he’ll write into the movie that unites them.”

Speaking as someone who lives in Texas, we have Whataburger and In-N-Out Burger. We’re thriving without California’s help, thank you very much.

Civil War, which stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons, Nick Offerman, and Cailee Spaeny, opens in theaters on April 26, 2024. You can watch the trailer below.

If you’ve been a Doctor Who fan for a while then you for sure weren’t looking forward to saying goodbye to David Tennant‘s version of the character yet again. The first time was a gut punch and the end of an era with showrunner Russell T Davies departing as well. What followed has been decidedly mixed with great Doctors (Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker) and uneven creative direction. It’s to the point that Davies’ return as showrunner (to the show that he rebooted 18 years ago) feels like a rescue mission designed to excite the fan base.

Bringing Tennant back for three special episodes (the last of which aired Saturday) was surely phase 1 of that plan, but it came with some risk, specifically that the audience would predictably fall in love with Tennant again and want him to stay, creating a potential barrier for the incoming Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education, Barbie). In the wake of Saturday’s episode, “The Giggles,” those worries have mostly disappeared thanks to a bold move that messes with over 60 years of established continuity.

Big, explodey, and emotional regenerations are out, bi-generations are in, allowing Time Lords to branch off from one another as opposed to having to essentially die so the other can live. The ultimate 2-for-1 deal. A little confused? Us too. A little miffed at the continuity shakeup? No. To hell with tradition. It’s a 60-year-old TV show. Old words are for politicians and Sunday school teachers to cling to. Everyone else should enjoy a good resorting from time to time.

But what does it all mean? The bi-generation makes a lot of things possible, from a narrative standpoint. Most obviously, there’s the possibility that Tennant’s legendary run as The Doctor may not actually be over. He’s just off in the garden having a wonderful time being happy and surrounded by his best friend Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and her family while Gatwa’s Doctor draws all focus while skipping across time and space. But what if he needs a hand? Or what if Tennant’s Doctor takes his TARDIS out for a spin of his own, falling into familiar trouble in the occasional special episode that’s divorced from the show’s main story?

It’s not just Tennant. Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker – they could all make an appearance, theoretically, because according to Davies, the bi-generation wasn’t just about Gatwa’s 15th Doctor and Tennant’s latest iteration of the character.

From an episode commentary recorded by Davies and reported on by The Radio Times, Davies is saying, essentially, every single past regeneration has been retroactively made into a bi-generation:

“I think all of the Doctors came back to life with their individual TARDISes, the gift of the Toymaker, and they’re all out there travelling round in what I’m calling a Doctor verse.

“Sylvester McCoy woke up in a drawer, in a morgue, in San Francisco… and Jon Pertwee woke up on the floor of the laboratory,” he says.

This is absolutely chaotic and I love it. I’ll say this, though, while Davies opened the seal with this one and while it gave Tennant’s Doctor a wonderful ending rooted in the idea that every once in a while a warrior gets to claim a reward and some peace, I do wonder if he will someday be called back into battle to help close that seal and forfeit that reward. That would be very Doctor Who. It would also acknowledge the blessing and curse of the Time Lord’s lifespan. It’s something that was conveniently explained away the last time Tennant’s Doctor (or a version of) got such a reward with the mortal half-human/half-time lord version living in another universe with Rose Tyler. But this Doctor can’t spend the rest of his lifetime being happy in the garden with Donna. He can only do it for the rest of her lifetime, if that.

While the bi-generation and Davies’ tease hints at the possibility of bigger adventures and returning favorites, it may not qualify as the most important moment from the episode. Before we discuss that, though, can we just take a moment to talk about the energy, light, and confidence coming off of Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor? So commanding right from the start. Remember when Tennant’s Doctor burst into existence after Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor regenerated? How he had to have a lie down in his bathrobe. Gatwa’s Doctor is ready to roll out of the box and a breath of fresh air. I can’t wait to see what he does within this wild sandbox Davies has constructed.

Alright, the most important moment of the episode was the hug between Gatwa and Tennant. After the bi-generation and the defeat of The Toymaker, Tennant’s Doctor is filled with grief over the lives lost and his role in inadvertently inspiring The Toymaker’s appearance. But Gatwa stops the spiral, grabs him, locks eyes (like Tennant did with Tate in the previous episode to reassure her), and tries to free him from all this burden. It’s a beautiful moment, but also symbolic for what may be on the horizon week to week.

I don’t want to make it like Doctor Who didn’t operate from a place of grief and worry about the impact of his actions during Davies’ run. There was a certain haunted quality to both Eccleston and Tennant’s portrayals over all the devastation and carnage they had seen, but Steven Moffat, who took the showrunner baton after Davies left, leaned into it a bit more, focusing on The Doctor’s identity and the hard choices he had to make to save existence, even while destroying his own people. It was a lot to wrestle with. A lot of angst and sadness (with some joy too), which is referred to in the specials when Donna checks in on what The Doctor has been up to for 15 years. And so it was nice that someone offered him absolution while at the same time, creating a clean slate for Davies to remake the show (again) with Gatwa’s Doctor being somewhat lighter without all that weight on him. The regenerated Doctor has always been new, but this Doctor is newer than new, it seems, and we are here for it and everything else Davies has planned with or without a few extra Time Lords from time to time.

The Doctor returns in the Doctor Who Christmas Special on Christmas Day (Disney+)

If you’ve been a Doctor Who fan for a while then you for sure weren’t looking forward to saying goodbye to David Tennant‘s version of the character yet again. The first time was a gut punch and the end of an era with showrunner Russell T Davies departing as well. What followed has been decidedly mixed with great Doctors (Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker) and uneven creative direction. It’s to the point that Davies’ return as showrunner (to the show that he rebooted 18 years ago) feels like a rescue mission designed to excite the fan base.

Bringing Tennant back for three special episodes (the last of which aired Saturday) was surely phase 1 of that plan, but it came with some risk, specifically that the audience would predictably fall in love with Tennant again and want him to stay, creating a potential barrier for the incoming Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education, Barbie). In the wake of Saturday’s episode, “The Giggles,” those worries have mostly disappeared thanks to a bold move that messes with over 60 years of established continuity.

Big, explodey, and emotional regenerations are out, bi-generations are in, allowing Time Lords to branch off from one another as opposed to having to essentially die so the other can live. The ultimate 2-for-1 deal. A little confused? Us too. A little miffed at the continuity shakeup? No. To hell with tradition. It’s a 60-year-old TV show. Old words are for politicians and Sunday school teachers to cling to. Everyone else should enjoy a good resorting from time to time.

But what does it all mean? The bi-generation makes a lot of things possible, from a narrative standpoint. Most obviously, there’s the possibility that Tennant’s legendary run as The Doctor may not actually be over. He’s just off in the garden having a wonderful time being happy and surrounded by his best friend Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and her family while Gatwa’s Doctor draws all focus while skipping across time and space. But what if he needs a hand? Or what if Tennant’s Doctor takes his TARDIS out for a spin of his own, falling into familiar trouble in the occasional special episode that’s divorced from the show’s main story?

It’s not just Tennant. Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker – they could all make an appearance, theoretically, because according to Davies, the bi-generation wasn’t just about Gatwa’s 15th Doctor and Tennant’s latest iteration of the character.

From an episode commentary recorded by Davies and reported on by The Radio Times, Davies is saying, essentially, every single past regeneration has been retroactively made into a bi-generation:

“I think all of the Doctors came back to life with their individual TARDISes, the gift of the Toymaker, and they’re all out there travelling round in what I’m calling a Doctor verse.

“Sylvester McCoy woke up in a drawer, in a morgue, in San Francisco… and Jon Pertwee woke up on the floor of the laboratory,” he says.

This is absolutely chaotic and I love it. I’ll say this, though, while Davies opened the seal with this one and while it gave Tennant’s Doctor a wonderful ending rooted in the idea that every once in a while a warrior gets to claim a reward and some peace, I do wonder if he will someday be called back into battle to help close that seal and forfeit that reward. That would be very Doctor Who. It would also acknowledge the blessing and curse of the Time Lord’s lifespan. It’s something that was conveniently explained away the last time Tennant’s Doctor (or a version of) got such a reward with the mortal half-human/half-time lord version living in another universe with Rose Tyler. But this Doctor can’t spend the rest of his lifetime being happy in the garden with Donna. He can only do it for the rest of her lifetime, if that.

While the bi-generation and Davies’ tease hints at the possibility of bigger adventures and returning favorites, it may not qualify as the most important moment from the episode. Before we discuss that, though, can we just take a moment to talk about the energy, light, and confidence coming off of Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor? So commanding right from the start. Remember when Tennant’s Doctor burst into existence after Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor regenerated? How he had to have a lie down in his bathrobe. Gatwa’s Doctor is ready to roll out of the box and a breath of fresh air. I can’t wait to see what he does within this wild sandbox Davies has constructed.

Alright, the most important moment of the episode was the hug between Gatwa and Tennant. After the bi-generation and the defeat of The Toymaker, Tennant’s Doctor is filled with grief over the lives lost and his role in inadvertently inspiring The Toymaker’s appearance. But Gatwa stops the spiral, grabs him, locks eyes (like Tennant did with Tate in the previous episode to reassure her), and tries to free him from all this burden. It’s a beautiful moment, but also symbolic for what may be on the horizon week to week.

I don’t want to make it like Doctor Who didn’t operate from a place of grief and worry about the impact of his actions during Davies’ run. There was a certain haunted quality to both Eccleston and Tennant’s portrayals over all the devastation and carnage they had seen, but Steven Moffat, who took the showrunner baton after Davies left, leaned into it a bit more, focusing on The Doctor’s identity and the hard choices he had to make to save existence, even while destroying his own people. It was a lot to wrestle with. A lot of angst and sadness (with some joy too), which is referred to in the specials when Donna checks in on what The Doctor has been up to for 15 years. And so it was nice that someone offered him absolution while at the same time, creating a clean slate for Davies to remake the show (again) with Gatwa’s Doctor being somewhat lighter without all that weight on him. The regenerated Doctor has always been new, but this Doctor is newer than new, it seems, and we are here for it and everything else Davies has planned with or without a few extra Time Lords from time to time.

The Doctor returns in the Doctor Who Christmas Special on Christmas Day (Disney+)

SZA announced that the deluxe version of her album, SOS, will be titled Lana. Given the massive success of the record already, fans are excited to see what else she has in store.

“It’s outtakes and new stuff, too — I added a couple of songs,” SZA previously shared to Variety. “It’s like a whole new project. It’s called ‘Lana’ — my name but, it’s the first tattoo that I ever got, when I was 13. It was 10 bucks a letter and I only had 40, so that that became my nickname for no reason. ‘Lana’ is really just the B-side of SOS.”

Here’s everything to know about the extended release.

SZA’s Lana Release Date

SZA’s Lana deluxe album does not currently have an official release date. Her reps confirmed that it was still TBA as of Monday, according to the publication.

SZA’s Lana Tracklist

Right now, the tracklist for SZA’s Lana is still unknown too.

Features On SZA’s Lana

There are also no features at this moment for Lana — although that might change when the official tracklist gets revealed.

Singles From SZA’s Lana

SZA has yet to release any singles from the deluxe version. Her previous SOS singles included “Kill Bill,” “Good Days,” “I Hate U,” “Shirt,” “Snooze,” and “Nobody Gets Me.”

SZA’s Lana Album Artwork

Earlier this week, SZA put out three possible options for the cover art for Lana on social media. Complete with a Parental Advisory tag, one finds SZA in a pig pen and posing, one is her doing a cute pose in a white outfit on a chair, and the other is her outside in a leaf-themed outfit. Check out all three below.

Everything is not coming up Rudy Giuliani.

The disgraced former mayor of New York is in a legal nightmare of his own making. Giuliani and his “frozen fingers” are being scolded by the judge in his defamation trial that could set him back $43 million; his own lawyer is forecasting “the end of Mr. Giuliani”; and, oh yeah, he’s reportedly broke.

Giuliani’s former press secretary, Ken Frydman, went on CNN’s Laura Coates Live on Tuesday to discuss his legal and financial woes. “I think he knows that he is not going to live to pay out millions of millions of dollars,” he said. “He can’t even afford a new car, frankly; that’s how low on funds he is.”

The former federal prosecutor weathered another day in court for his civil trial lodged by Georgia poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who accused him of defaming them with bogus claims that they were stuffing ballots during the vote count in Atlanta to undermine Trump.

According to Raw Story, Frydman told CNN that “it’s a question of collecting. It’s not just the number. You have to actually collect… [Giuliani] doesn’t have tens of millions of dollars — even if he sells his apartment.”

Maybe he can ask Mike Lindell for a few bucks. Oh wait.

(Via Raw Story)