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One of the worst uses of artificial intelligence is heartless recreations of a director’s style, like the Wes Anderson fake trailers or Tim Burton-ized Disney movies. The actual Tim Burton is not a fan, either.

“They had AI do my versions of Disney characters!” the director told the Independent. “I can’t describe the feeling it gives you. It reminded me of when other cultures say, ‘Don’t take my picture because it is taking away your soul.” Burton said some of the AI-generated images were technically “very good,” but “what it does is it sucks something from you. It takes something from your soul or psyche; that is very disturbing, especially if it has to do with you. It’s like a robot taking your humanity, your soul.”

Anderson has also spoken out against the AI bastardization of his work. “I’ve only been exposed to it verbally. I haven’t seen any of it. Obviously, it’s easy for me to go to the right web page and see it,” the Asteroid City director said. “At some point, I’m sure I’ll go in there and see. But I’ve never seen a TikTok, for instance, of anything. I’m not going to start with me.” Anderson then offered some advice more people should take: “I choose not to really engage.”

(Via the Independent)

You don’t need to have been homeschooled to connect with sentiments of social anxiety and self-loathing within “Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl” from Olivia Rodrigo’s impressive sophomore album, Guts. But Rodrigo is nothing if not Gen Z’s predominant pop-punk auteur, writing from writhing personal experience.

“I am a homeschool kid, so I’m so used to being in my house on my laptop, but with my parents,” Rodrigo told Glamour UK in May 2020 when asked about the COVID-19 lockdown. “So I’ve kind of been preparing for this moment for a while, and I feel very fortunate to be able to say that I’m in a really good place. My screen time on my phone is just horrendous. It’s awful the amount of time that I spend on there, but I have been pretty productive. I am catching up on schoolwork, and I challenged myself before the quarantine started to write a song every day of the quarantine, and I haven’t missed a day yet. They’re not always great, but I think that’s a fun, creative challenge that I’ve been doing.”

Later in the same interview, Rodrigo drew a parallel between her homeschooling and filming Disney’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, saying (in part), “I always say that I never had a normal high school experience. I’ve always been homeschooled because I’ve been working. So this is kind of like my high school experience, and these are my high school best friends. It’s an experience that I’m going to remember forever.”

Guts arrived last Friday, September 8, but her fans are seasoned veterans at sleuthing for traces of real life in her songs — dating back to her unprecedented January 2021 debut single “Drivers License” and continuing with Guts tracks “Vampire,” “Bad Idea Right?,” and “The Grudge.”

Mike Lindell is facing a number of financially devastating lawsuits thanks to his rampant spreading of election fraud theories, none of which have been proven to be true. One of those legal actions is from former Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coomer, who Lindell falsely accused of being on an “Antifa conference call” to steal votes from Donald Trump. To the surprise of no one, Lindell has been belligerent during the entire deposition process.

According to newly released videos and transcripts, Lindell paused one of the depositions so he could go on Steve Bannon’s podcast and shill MyPillow products. He even used the fact that he was being deposed to try and boost sales from Bannon’s audience of MAGA listeners.

Via Insider:

“Well, Steve, I’m in the middle of a deposition for a big attack on MyPillow right now, and it’s disgusting,” Lindell told Bannon during the episode, before telling listeners they could get a discount on pillows with the promo code “WARROOM” for the company’s 20th-anniversary sale.

“We have the MyPillow beds — the best beds in history,” Lindell continued. “You haven’t even heard about ’em yet.”

“Mike Lindell, you’re a patriot and a hero,” Bannon responded. “Go back into your deposition and give them hell. Give them hell from the War Room.”

When Lindell wasn’t taking calls or recording podcasts in the middle of the deposition, he reportedly insulted Coomer so many times that his lawyers petitioned the judge to sanction the MyPillow CEO for his belligerent behavior.

According to Insider, Lindell ranted so much that one of the court reporters who was transcribing the deposition refused to show up for work the next day.

(Via Insider)

Back when the WGA strike became official (in early May), Drew Barrymore dropped out of hosting the MTV Movie and TV awards “in solidarity with the strike.” At the time, she added, “I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them.” Now that the strike is entering its fifth month, however, Barrymore has decided that it’s time to bring back her daytime talk show, aptly titled The Drew Barrymore Show. Don’t look for the host to reprise her M3GAN impersonation or anything like that, though, because Drew plans to steer clear of covering any movies or TV in accordance with the SAG-AFTRA strike.

It’s all a bit confusing, but Drew explained on Instagram that she hadn’t planned on shutting down her show, given that it ended its season in late April, when the writers’ strike was not yet in motion. Now, she says that the show will return because “this is bigger than just me.” That could suggest that Drew is concerned about her staffers going without paychecks, although I could be reading into that. Meanwhile, Drew insists that the show will be compliant:

“I own this choice. We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind. We launched live in a global pandemic. Our show was built for sensitive times and has only functioned through what the real world is going through in real time.”

WGA East, however, disagrees. In a tweet that was retweeted by WGA West, the union made their thoughts clear on how “[a]ny writing on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ is in violation of WGA strike rules.”

Back during the 2007 WGA strike, multiple late-night series (including The Tonight Show and The Daily Show) came back “early,” albeit with “scriptless” shows, and David Letterman’s show came back after negotiating an independent contract to allow their writers to work.

It remains unclear whether Drew will be paying non-WGA writers (who decide to cross the picket lines), or if she plans on completely ad-libbing her monologue, but the show is now in essentially non-navigated territory, considering its usual subject matter. Drew won’t even be able to elaborate upon why she really thinks that her Scream character somehow survived, since she’s committed to not discussing movies and TV. She won’t be able to host guests in that realm either, so it remains a mystery on how the show will fill its time slot, but I guess we’ll find out when The Drew Barrymore Show returns on September 18.

Zach Bryan is on top of the world right now: Last week, his and Kacey Musgraves’ “I Remember Everything” became the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, the first chart-topper for both artists. Bryan’s self-titled album is No. 1, too, on the Billboard 200. It hasn’t all been perfect, though, as he was also just arrested in Oklahoma on a obstruction of investigation charge.

That resulted in a mugshot that has made the rounds online, and when Spotify saw it, they knew exactly what they had to do: use the image for the cover art of the “Outlaw” country music playlist. The earliest reports of the art change (like this one from Billboard) surfaced on September 8.

While Spotify is having fun with the situation, Bryan was apologetic. In a video after his arrest, he explained, “I was an idiot today, and my decisions did not reflect who I was as a person. I just want to make that clear. I should’ve been smarter about it. […] I get too lippy with [the police officer], he brings me over to his car, and I just didn’t help my situation at all. I felt like a child. It was ridiculous, it was immature, and I just pray everyone knows that I don’t think I’m above the law. I was just being disrespectful and I shouldn’t have been. It was my mistake.”

Zach Bryan is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Whether she’s dressing up as a worm, Fiona from Shrek, or a flesh-eating alien, Heidi Klum is the queen of Halloween. But with great costumes comes great responsibility, and the model is feeling it this year.

“It’s going to be extra. It’s going to be really extra. I have had sleepless nights over it, you know me,” Klum told the Daily Mail about her 2023 Halloween costume. “I have to admit, I love it. And then my gut, I feel like it’s going to be good.” She also discussed her worm costume from last year.

The America’s Got Talent judge went on to describe how her “team” had expressed more-than-mild ambivalence about the notion of her doing a “worm” costume. “They were like, ‘A worm, really?’ They kind of wanted me to think of a plan B and a plan C, but I’m not like that. For me, it is plan A,” Heidi insisted.

Klum continued, “If you are thinking of all different other things, then it’s not going to be a success or it’s not going to be that major.” Her team told her, “Think of something different. This is crazy. And the worm is crazy,” but in a world full of Barbie and Ken costumes, sometimes it’s best to be a worm.

(Via the Daily Mail)

Ed Sheeran will release his Autumn Variations album on September 29, and his Mathematics Tour schedule experienced some unexpected variance over the weekend.

Sheeran was due to perform at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday, September 9, but as show time approached, he informed fans that it was “impossible to go forward with the show” because of “a safety issue.”

“I can’t believe I’m typing this but there’s been some challenges encountered during the load in of our Vegas show,” Sheeran wrote on Instagram. “It’s impossible to go forward with the show. I’m so sorry. I know everyone has travelled in for this and I wish I could change it. The gig will be postponed to Saturday October 28th and all purchased tickets will be valid for that date. I’m so, so sorry x”

Shortly thereafter, Sheeran posted a screenshot of a news article reporting on the causation his of postponement — “a flooring problem was flagged” while setting up staging — alongside an even lengthier caption, which can be read below:

“A little bit more context on the cancellation yesterday. It was a safety issue, and we really tried to do the best we could to make the show happen but I’m not gonna risk the safety of my fans for anything.

I really am gutted, this was very much out of my control but I do take full responsibility for everyone that was put out from the cancellation. Of course refunds are available at point of purchase, and there is a rescheduled show October the 28th if people still want to come, I promise it will be special. Nothing will take away from the effort people went to to get to Vegas though and I’m sorry it wasn’t communicated sooner to the people waiting outside. We really thought the show was going to happen up until the very last moment but it just couldn’t for safety reasons. Sorry again to everyone affected, and hopefully see you in October x”

While Sheeran clearly felt badly about the ordeal, he didn’t wallow in it. Instead, he crashed an unsuspecting couple’s wedding. He acoustically serenaded them with an unreleased track apparently titled “Magical” from Autumn Variations inside A Little White Chapel in Vegas.

See the sweet moment below, and keep track of Sheeran’s remaining North American dates for his Mathematics Tour and overlapping Subtract Tour here.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Walter Isaacson’ Elon Musk biography Elon Musk is set for release tomorrow (September 12), but some revelations from the tome have already been unveiled. One that’s been making the rounds the past few days is the fact that Grimes and Elon Musk actually have a third child together, named Techno Mechanicus. The book also claims (as Business Insider notes) Grimes was upset after learning that Musk fathered twins with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, twins who were born shortly before Grimes and Musk’s second child.

Now, Grimes has shared her thoughts on what’s going on here. In a tweet shared yesterday, Grimes noted she and Zilis has spoken and are on good terms, and that she plans to keep little Techno “out of the public eye.” She wrote:

“Hey, I wud prefer to not breathe any more life into this current press cycle but I want to de-escalate the narrative atm.

I spoke with Shivon at length finally, which was long overdue. This wasn’t her fault, plz don’t be angry at her! We respect each other a lot and we’re excited to become friends and have the kids grow up together.

I truly apologize for responding to Walter like that. As u can imagine, that was a very gut level reaction to a thing that has been very hard for me. Communication about the twins wasn’t handled super well in the past, but I now totally understand what happened and totally forgive the situation.

Women are so often pitted against each other. Speaking with Shivon, it’s very evident she’s an amazing human and we both just want what’s best for our kids.

I wish I could show u how cute little Techno is [alien emoji] but my priority rn is keeping my babies out of the public eye,
Plz respect that at this time [folded hands emoji]

Bless [moon emoji][bubbles emojis]
C.”

Find the tweet below.

One of the biggest celebrity stories of the past week has been Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s recently announced divorce. Despite the situation, though, their lives go on, and this weekend, Jonas’ went on at a Jonas Brothers concert. The band perform at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium on Saturday, September 9, and on stage, Jonas took a minute to speak about what he’s been going through lately.

Per Entertainment Weekly, Jonas told the audience, “It’s been a crazy week. I just wanna say, look: If you don’t hear it from these lips, don’t believe it. OK? Thank you, everyone, for your love and support. Me and my family love you guys.”

As for what rumors Jonas might be addressing, TMZ reported last week, “Multiple sources who have direct contact with Joe tell TMZ … Joe had access to a [Ring home security camera] that he said captured Sophie saying and/or doing something that made him realize the marriage was over.”

Jonas and Turner previously shared a joint statement that read, “After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage. There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.”

The New York Giants first drive of the 2023 NFL season was a dominant one, as they leaned on the Cowboys for nearly seven minutes, running it down the field deep into Dallas territory. Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley were able to gash Dallas for big runs over and over, but once they got into the red zone, the drive stalled out.

After a bad snap on third down pushed the Giants back to their own 27, they had to settle for a field goal that got blocked clean by Juanyeh Thomas and scooped up by Noah Igbinoghene and returned all the way for a touchdown.

It was an incredible job by Thomas to leap between two Giants blockers to get a free run into the backfield and easily block the ball off of the foot of Graham Gano, and then it bounced perfectly up to Igbinoghene, who had nothing but open turf in front of him, working his way down the sideline for the score. After such a beautifully executed drive by the Giants, it had to be extremely deflating seeing it end not only without them putting points on the board, but giving Dallas a 6-point lead themselves — the Cowboys would have their own kicking issue, missing the extra point.

New York’s second drive did not go nearly as well, as they went 3-and-out, with a Micah Parsons sack punctuating things on third down, leading to some serious frustration from the Giants faithful at MetLife Stadium.

The third drive got even worse, as a checkdown on 3rd and 19 to Saquon Barkley resulted in a pick-six after Trevon Diggs put his helmet on the ball as Barkley pulled the ball in and it popped up directly to Daron Bland, who jogged in for the Cowboys second non-offensive touchdown of the first quarter