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Last night’s run of Super Bowl ads ranged from pretty bad to not terrible, but there were a few notable standouts that got people’s attention. Some did so in a not-so-fun way that had viewers raging at their televisions, while others were lovey-dovey or played well off their stars’ celebrity.

One that fans couldn’t stop talking about, though, featured Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh dancing to hold music in their living room while sharing Bud Lights. While the premise was simple and cute enough, the part that captivated Super Bowl viewers was the hold music itself. We’ve all heard it at some point; the synthesizer-washed easy listening-style composition is one of the more recognizable and widely-used examples of the genre.

But, of course, viewers want to know more. Why is that song everywhere? What’s it called? Who made it? And how was Miles Teller hitting those moves?

While we can’t really explain that last bit, the song, “Opus 1” by Tim Carleton and Darrick Deel, has already been pretty thoroughly investigated by the internet. The two composers were 16-year-old computer nerds obsessed with Yanni when they made the song on a four-track recorder back in 1989, and given to Cisco Systems when Carleton went to work for the then-startup in the ’90s.

As he designed the company’s phone systems, he offered the song to the design team, and it eventually ended up in the final product, which runs phones for hundreds of companies.

Unfortunately for Carleton, he didn’t copyright the tune or get his former employers to sign a licensing agreement, so he doesn’t get any royalties from it. But then again, neither does the TikTok creator who came up with the familiar concept years ago:

Sigh. I guess this is a useful reminder: If it’s even a little bit cool, the odds are very high a Black person did it first and didn’t get credit for their idea.

In her first in-depth interview since the Batgirl film was jarringly cancelled by the newly-formed Warner Bros. Discovery, Leslie Grace is pushing back on the claim that Batgirl was “not releasable.” It had been widely reported that the studio saw a tax write-off to canning the film as WBD pivoted away from the prior regime’s aggressive spending on HBO Max content. However, when new DC Studios chief James Gunn and Peter Safran unveiled their DC Universe plans, Safran said some choice words about the quality of Batgirl.

“I saw the movie, there were a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on that film. But that film was not releasable,” Safran previously said. “It happens sometimes. That film was not releasable.”

Grace rejects that claim. While talking to Variety, she opened up about how much of Batgirl she was able to watch before WBD pulled the plug on the film, which also featured Michael Keaton reprising his iconic Batman role:

I got to see the film as far as it got to; the film wasn’t complete by the time that it was tested. There were a bunch of scenes that weren’t even in there. They were at the beginning of the editing process, and they were cut off because of everything going on at the company. But the film that I got to see — the scenes that were there — was incredible. There was definitely potential for a good film, in my opinion.

Brendan Fraser, who played the Batman villain Firefly in the film, was also reached for comment to Variety, and once again, he did not hold back his thoughts.

“That was a gut punch. But then we learned that it was in the interest of writing down some debt? That part really stung,” Fraser said before praising Grace’s performance. “What I find most lamentable is that now a whole generation of little girls are going to have to wait longer to see a Batgirl and say, ‘Hey, she looks like me.’ That makes me sad. I know how good she was. And I know what this would mean to so many people.”

(Via Variety)

Donald Trump is an elite troll, so why would he sit out Super Bowl LVII? He was even teed up by Texas congressman and Trump supporter Ronny Jackson’s Rihanna slander last week.

As relayed by The Hill, Trump gave his unsolicited opinion on Rihanna’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show last night, February 12.

“EPIC FAIL: Rihanna gave, without question, the single worst Halftime Show in Super Bowl history,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This after insulting far more than half of our Nation, which is already in serious DECLINE, with her foul and insulting language.” Trump added, “So much for her ‘Stylist!’”

The latter bit was a reference to his Truth Social post from Thursday, February 9, again noted by The Hill: “Without her ‘Stylist’ she’d be NOTHING. Bad everything, and NO TALENT!”

Trump is likely holding a grudge over Rihanna’s consistent history of criticizing him, including her very fashionable celebration of Trump losing the 2020 US presidential election.

California Representatives Maxine Waters and Ted Lieu came to Rihanna’s defense:

Outside of the political arena, the response to Rihanna’s 12-song halftime performance was overwhelmingly positive.

The Fenty boss and nine-time Grammy winner revealed she’s pregnant with her second child, which her representatives later confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. Rihanna and ASAP Rocky welcomed their first child together, a son, last May. And nobody enjoyed Rihanna’s dazzling return to the stage more than Rocky.

Watch Rihanna’s full Super Bowl LVII halftime performance here.

Vladimir Putin is in it to win it. “It” meaning his war on Ukraine, although victory isn’t coming quickly for him and possibly not at all. To add several insults to Russian injury, he’s been ditched by North Korea and is also apparently very upset about “crab” being a nickname for him as bestowed by Russian citizens. Not only that, but Putin is seeing his alleged girlfriend and a rumored lover be sanctioned by the U.S.

What next? Only an ominous warning from the U.S. for all of its citizens to immediately leave Russia. This isn’t the most surprising development, given that WNBA player Britney Griner went through hell and back before Russia finally admitted that the athlete was “wrongfully detained.” The newest warning (from the U.S. embassy in Moscow) has been relayed by Reuters:

“U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately. Do not travel to Russia. Russian security services have arrested U.S. citizens on spurious charges, singled out U.S. citizens in Russia for detention and harassment, denied them fair and transparent treatment, and convicted them in secret trials or without presenting credible evidence.”

The embassy further goes on to condemn Russian officials’ tendency to “arbitrarily enforce local laws” as they see fit against U.S. workers in Russia. Whereas the Kremlin is declaring that this is nothing new from the U.S. “[T]his is not a new thing,” responded Dmitry Peskov on behalf of the Kremlin. And he’s correct, yes. The U.S. State Department issued a similar warning in October after Putin began drafting his own citizens by the hundreds of thousands. At the time, the U.S. pointed out that they could not “provide routine or emergency services to U.S. citizens in Russia” except on a severely limited” basis.

The newest warning is a re-up, but perhaps recent intelligence led to amplified guidelines. In the meantime, The New York Times reports that the Kremlin is irked about Putin continuing to use the Wagner mercenary army to wage war. Lots of headaches over there.

(Via Reuters & New York Times)

David Jude Jolicoeur, aka Trugoy The Dove, aka Plug Two of De La Soul, was a true pioneer of hip-hop. The news of his passing yesterday — just days after De La Soul was celebrated as part of the Grammys’ 50 Years Of Hip-Hop presentation and weeks before the iconic trio’s music becomes available on streaming services for the first time ever — shook the hip-hop community, who flooded social media with expressions of dismay, grief, and condolences for Dave’s family and bandmates.

Dave’s influence was such that there almost isn’t a single rapper from the ’90s that his music didn’t inspire in some way, as seen by the online outpouring of love for him from alt-rappers, gangsta rappers, and pop rappers alike. Questlove, who is often among the most eloquent in sharing his thoughts about musician friends who have passed away, summed it up:

“thank David Jolicoeur, Kelvin Mercer & Vincent Mason (Paul Houston too) for everything. All too often we have to wait for tragedy to strike before we express how much someone means to us.

As eager as I am to educate & teach a lesson. I decided to erase it & not mask the sadness with brainiac smarts about why #DeLaSoul was one of the most amazing beautiful products of this culture of hip hop.

I just wanna thank them for the decades of zaniness, the fun memories of my teen years, the blueprint laid out that eventually brought Tariq & i together. The freedom of expression, those crazy skits, the fresh new ideas, the blatant honesty (especially in a time period in which it was frowned upon——listen to that “Stakes” verse….what a legacy to leave behind!!) psssssh that #Senyah flip on “Pony Ride” you told me about, i LOST MY MIND!!!!!!!!! when I heard that) —-so many creative gems.”

He also implored fans to stream De La’s music — and purchase it — when it again becomes available on March 3.

Meanwhile, dozens of rap luminaries including Busta Rhymes, Chuck D, Erick Sermon, LL Cool J, 9th Wonder, Pharrell, Redman, and many, many more shared posts honoring Trugoy. See more below.

Sheryl Lee Ralph delivered a powerful performance of “Live Every Voice and Sing” ahead of Sunday night’s Super Bowl, and what’s not to love? You’ve got the star of one of America’s most popular sitcoms, Abbott Elementary, bringing a beautiful rendition of the Black National Anthem to televisions around the world. Who could get mad at that?

First, Majorie Taylor Greene, but also Lauren Boebert, that’s who.

The Colorado congresswoman couldn’t help but hurl chunks of red meat to her conservative base by complaining about the presence of two national anthems instead of just one. She accused the NFL of trafficking in wokeness, and it’s not hard to hear the dogwhistles in Boebert’s tweet. She’s practically screaming them.

“America only has ONE NATIONAL ANTHEM,” an angry Boebert said. “Why is the NFL trying to divide us by playing multiple!? Do football, not wokeness.”

“Wait – I thought u stopped watching when players were kneeling,” Eddie J. Mauro tweeted. “Why would you care what songs are being played???”

“Hey, Lauren. I just heard your dryer signal go off. Your white hoods are dry,” wrote user KD.

“If you think that singing a song about a brighter future for Black Americans ‘divides us,’ I think that says more about you than it does anyone else,” Brian Krassenstein responded.

Kristin V. Shaw gave Boebert an education on the lyrics:

Perhaps we might educate you on the lyrics:

“Life every voice and sing
Till Earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty
Let our rejoining rise”

There are 100 reasons to share this beautiful song with our fellow Americans. There are zero reasons for you to complain.

You can see more reactions below:

(Via Lauren Boebert on Twitter)

Every now and then, U2 will rub people the wrong way with a promotional effort. Most notably, back in 2014, they upset a lot of iPhone users when they teamed up with Apple to put their then-new album Songs Of Innocence in every iTunes user’s library, whether they wanted it or not. Now, Bono and company have once again left people scratching their heads, this time with their Super Bowl ad from last night (February 12).

In the cryptic 15-second spot, a giant spherical object hovers over various areas as a news reporter says in a voiceover, “An unidentified object has been spotted over the skies.” In the end, the ad is revealed to be for U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere, the band’s upcoming residency at new Las Vegas venue MSG Sphere at The Venetian.

While Super Bowl ad campaigns are usually planned months in advance, the timing of this one was certainly peculiar, given the recent media coverage of flying objects like the Chinese spy balloon from earlier this month. Furthermore, the ad even has brief glimpses of what appears to be the actual balloon.

(Coincidentally, the Lockheed U-2 is a type of reconnaissance aircraft and as ABC-7 Chicago recently noted, “Pentagon sources say United States U2 spy planes were used to photograph the Chinese balloon in flight so intelligence teams could see how the foreign equipment operates, and whether there was a threat to national security.”)

Of course, this all led people to joke that perhaps it was not China, but U2, behind the spy balloon.

The band also shared a longer version of the ad; Find that below. They also shared a new version of Achtung Baby hit “One” from their upcoming album Songs Of Surrender, so check that out below as well.

The Kansas City Chiefs topped the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday night, February 12, but for millions of people, Rihanna’s halftime performance was the one and only reason to watch.

Rihanna tore through 12 of her hits, reminding everyone just how deep her bag is. ASAP Rocky was spotted on the field, and he looked like a giddy fan hearing “Diamond” live for the first time.

At the end of her set, Rihanna appeared to hint that she’s pregnant with her and Rocky’s second child. Her representatives later confirmed her pregnancy to The Hollywood Reporter once the second half of the game was underway.

Rihanna and Rocky welcomed their son last May. During her Apple Music press conference last week, Rihanna shared with Nadeska how becoming a mother influenced her decision to take on the coveted Super Bowl halftime stage.

“When you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world, you can do anything,” Rihanna said. “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was because I haven’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all. It’s important for me to do this this year. It’s important for representation. It’s important for my son to see that.”

Rocky also shared insight into the moment with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe in January.

“I’m just as excited as you guys, if not more. I’m super excited. This is huge. This is incredible. I’m so glad that my lady’s back making music again and whatnot, and getting back out there,’ Rocky told Lowe, adding, “It’s just incredible, especially for both of us — it is a good year for both of us to be more active and be out there. But the Super Bowl is huge, and her being the creative she is, she going to bring it, man.”

There had been rampant speculation that Rihanna’s first performance in seven years would trigger an album or tour announcement. Instead, Rih doubled down on motherhood and living her best life with Rocky.

Watch the full Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show here.

Super Bowl LVII must have pleased Paul Rudd to no end. Beyond the game itself, though, Rihanna used the halftime show to drop (confirmed) word of her second pregnancy, and Marjorie Taylor Greene seized the opportunity to receive an earful about Chris Stapleton’s “wokeness.” Oh, and King Twitter Elon Musk sat next to no one surprising, but late in the game, a jump-scare did develop.

That would be a Tubi ^^ ad spot, which legit scared the bejesus out of me because I was already feeling frustrated with my streaming experience over the evening. I thought something was acting up (again) and began to curse out loud. Little did I realize that the “channel changing” effect was a troll job from Tubi. As it turns out, I was far from alone in briefly freaking out. People thought that they (or someone else in the room) might have been sitting on the remote control, which feels like evidence of a brilliant (yet evil) ad. On YouTube, Tubi anticipated this development with their caption: “No, you didn’t sit on the remote. But on Super Bowl Sunday, we fooled audiences into thinking they did.”

People were not pleased. Right out of the gate, Twitter users were irked. One user declared, “Aye man that tubi commercial just pissed me off I almost broke my tv.” Another joked (?) about wanting Tubi “arrested.”

A favorite thus far: “nobody has ever f*cked with me as hard as that tubi ad.”

From there, the mentions of people having “yelled” and/or “screamed” at their TVs began. Super Bowl feelings are intense, man.

Go Birds? Only kidding. Sorry, Birds.

During her Super Bowl Halftime Show performance last night (February 12), Rihanna came through with something you don’t see in that environment every day: a pregnancy announcement. While that news shocked the entertainment world, Rihanna actually appears to have publicly hinted at it days before the big game.

A preview clip of Rihanna’s NFL+ interview with CBS Mornings co-host and former NFL player Nate Burleson was shared on February 10. Burleson’s final question of the video was, “People want to know: Are there any surprises?” Rihanna responded, “I’m thinking about bringing someone. I’m not sure.” Burleson asked if she’d tell him about it off-camera and she laughingly shut that request down.

Burleson later addressed this moment on Twitter. Last night, a Twitter user wrote, “So when #rihanna told @nateburleson there was gonna be a surprise guest at the halftime show, I’m betting that the BABY is the surprise guest #JustSayin #SuperBowl.” He shared the tweet and added, “Bingo,” along with a bullseye emoji. In another tweet responding to a similar post, he added, “She had that preggo glow…”

The baby will be Rihanna and ASAP Rocky’s second. Once the pregnancy was revealed, people came through with memes and jokes about what it was like for the kid inside of their mother’s womb during the halftime performance.