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The Ticketmaster hate train on social media may seem like a classic case of monkey see, monkey do to some, but to others, this disdain has been brewing for years. From quietly changing their refund policy, accusations of inflating ticket prices, and allegations of colluding with ticket scalpers, the live event ticket conglomerate has justifiably earned itself a few hundred thousand angry patrons.

While other entertainers have remained quiet or even sided with the company (see Bruce Springsteen), pop superstar Taylor Swift, her longtime producer Jack Antonoff, and country singer Zach Bryan have vocalized their displeasure. As one of the highest-selling and most followed musicians, Swift and her millions of fans’ (Swifties) anger sparked enough of a response online to cause the United States Senate Committee to hold a formal hearing about the monopoly Ticketmaster owns over live events and whether or not it was time to do something about it legally.

Other countries like Mexico (thanks to a Bad Bunny ticketing debacle) and Canada have already hit the company with fines and a class-action lawsuit, so all eyes are on the United States to see what legal punishment they implement. But while we wait for the decision, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert decided to turn the hearing into a mock commercial on behalf of the company that is equal part enraging (because, you know, capitalism) and hilarious.

Watch the video above.

If you haven’t been on “TWICE Twitter” in the past 24 hours, fans have been up in arms (in a good way) after the reveal of the group’s first subunit project, on top of last week’s release of “Moonlight Sunrise.” It may not be an actual single or EP fans have been waiting for, but it’s still something worth celebrating.

Following the leak of JYP Entertainment registering and trademarking “MISAMO” late last year, fans have been speculating and anticipating the announcement of TWICE’s first subunit. Given the name, it would be composed of the group’s three Japanese members Momo, Sana, and Mina.

Yesterday (January 24, or midnight of January 25), in the midst of all the “Moonlight Sunrise” hype, it was revealed that the MoSaMi subunit – or MiSaMo, or even better, MiMoSa – took part in singing the soundtrack to a Japanese drama. Titled “Bouquet,” the OST (an abbreviation for “original soundtrack”) will be featured on Liason-Children’s Heart Clinic on TV Asahi.

The Japanese trio shared a short behind-the-scenes clip that shows a glimpse of the group’s recording session, with some cameos from Momo’s dogs Boo and Dobby.

Hours after following the subunit’s project, TWICE surprised fans by dropping a couple of remixes to their English single “Moonlight Sunrise.” The remixes include a house, club, and R&B mix, as well as an instrumental.

TWICE is a Warner Music Japan artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The first round of performers for the 2023 Grammy Awards has been announced.

The performers for the Sunday, February 5 show will include Bad Bunny, Brandi Carlile, Kim Petras, Lizzo, Luke Combs, Mary J. Blige, Sam Smith, and Steve Lacy. The show will again be hosted by Trevor Noah.

The full list of Grammys nominees was published in November and includes many of those billed to perform. Bad Bunny is up for three awards, including Best Pop Solo Performance for “Moscow Mule,” Best Música Urbana Album for Un Verano Sin Ti, and the big one, Album Of The Year.

Meanwhile, Lizzo is also up for Album Of The Year for Special, as well as Best Pop Solo Performance for “About Damn Time,” Best Pop Vocal Album, Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Best Remixed Recording for the Purple Disco Machine Remix of “About Damn Time.”

Beyoncé is the most-nominated artist of the year with nine including Record Of The Year, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Performance, Song Of The Year, Best Dance/Electronic Album, and Album Of The Year for Renaissance.

First-time nominees for awards include GloRilla, Kim Petras, Latto, and Tobe Nwigwe.

The Grammys will air live on 2/5 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on CBS, Paramount+, and Grammy.com.

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

Slowthai is set to return with his third studio album this spring. His latest, UGLY, a backronym for U Gotta Love Yourself, will arrive in March. On the album, Slowthai will deliver his signature searing, politically charged raps, but will also experiment with more melodic sounds.

He said in a statement:

“The first album was the sound of where I’m from and everything I thought I knew. The second album is what was relevant to me at that moment in time, the present. And this album is completely me — about how I feel and what I want to be… it’s everything I’ve been leading up to… This album was me trying to emulate the spirit of the brotherhood ethos that bands have. Music is about the feeling and emotion that goes into it. Like an artist making a painting, it’s the expression of that moment in time. I really felt like I didn’t want to rap, whereas before, rap was the only way I could express myself with the tools I had. Now that I have more freedom to create and do more, why wouldn’t we change it up?”

Ahead of UGLY, Slowthai has shared “Selfish,” a new, grungy rock-influenced track, on which he lets go of the expectations of others, in favor of a better life for himself.

Check out “Selfish” above and the album artwork and tracklist below.

1. “Yum”
2. “Selfish”
3. “Sooner”
4. “Feel Good”
5. “Never Again”
6. “F*ck It Puppet”
7. “HAPPY”
8. “UGLY”
9. “Falling”
10. “Wotz Funny”
11. “Tourniquet”
12. “25% Club”

UGLY is out 3/3 via Method Records. Pre-save it here.

People love GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64. A legend in dorm rooms and sleepovers across the world, GoldenEye is still in many people’s minds one of the best multiplayer experiences ever made. Not only is it one of the many reasons the Nintendo 64 is famous for its multiplayer, but it also is credited with being one of the first console first-person shooters to take off — before GoldenEye, that genre was largely considered a PC only experience.

So when it was announced that GoldenEye would be coming to the Switch, people were understandably excited, but they didn’t still have a release date to work with. On Wednesday, to surprisingly little fanfare, Nintendo announced that GoldenEye would finally be hitting the N64 collection on the Nintendo Switch Online service on Friday, January 27.

Friday is the perfect day to release a game famous for its multiplayer. It’s when everyone has nostalgic memories of getting home from school, rushing to their friends’ house, and playing into the early hours of the morning while screaming at whoever decided to choose Oddjob. While the Switch won’t be able to replicate that experience perfectly, its online multiplayer and portability will give us the closest experience you can get without breaking out the old N64.

It’s that time of year again when everybody who has ever seen a movie decides to give their two cents about which one deserves to win an award and which acclaimed movie darling ends up with nothing for some weird reason. But awards season also gives us a chance to reflect on all of the past mistakes that the Academy has made, and that’s what awards season is all about — holding grudges over past losses.

One pretty famous director who goes by the name of Steven Spielberg seems to still be mad about a certain movie being shut out at the award shows over a decade ago, when there were still just five nominees in the Best Picture category. The director applauded the decision to open the category to 10 nominees, which opens up the pool for more fan-favorite blockbusters to earn a nomination, like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water did this year.

“I’m really encouraged by that,” the director told Deadline, adding that it should have happened a long time ago. “It came late for the film that should have been nominated a number of years ago, Christopher Nolan’s, The Dark Knight. That movie would have definitely garnered a Best Picture Nomination today, so having these two blockbusters solidly presented on the top 10 list is something we should all be celebrating.”

Spielberg probably wasn’t expecting his 2008 feature Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull to secure a nomination (sorry, maybe next year) but he did think that The Dark Knight should have been recognized. Heath Ledger did win a posthumous Academy Award for his portrayal of the Joker that same year.

As for this year’s ceremony, Spielberg secured his first-ever screenplay nomination…along with his ninth directing nom for The Fabelmans. The man has been around for a while, after all. Michelle Williams did receive a nomination for her role in the drama, along with Judd Hirsch.

Even though we can’t retrospectively award movies with honors, Oscar’s season is always the best time to bring up the famous snubs and rally around everyone who agrees with you. There are so many people out there who also believe Laura Dern deserved an Oscar. You are not alone!

(Via Deadline)

Squid Game: The Challenge is still in production, and already, Netflix has been forced to defend the controversial reality series. According to reports from British tabloid, The Sun, the set has allegedly been plagued with medical issues and frostbite after contestants recreated the show’s “Red Light, Green Light” game where they have to remain motionless for hours on end. The streaming giant as well as Squid Game: The Challenge‘s production company quickly denied reports of unsafe conditions.

Via Deadline:

In amidst UK temperatures that have dropped below freezing during the day, Netflix and producers Studio Lambert and The Garden said “while it was very cold on set – and participants were prepared for that – any claims of serious injury are untrue.”

“We care deeply about the health and safety of our cast and crew, and invested in all the appropriate safety procedures,” added the statement.

The Squid Game reality series has been getting side-eyed after since it was announced. For starters, in the original Squid Game show, contestants play to the death, so right off the bat, the concept was on shaky ground even if the reality show contestants are supposedly just fine. However, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk gave the competition his blessing and met with the production team to make sure it carries on the message of the hit series.

“I think that even though our show does carry quite a heavy message — and I know that there are some concerns on taking that message and creating it into a reality show with a cash prize. I feel like when you take things too seriously, that’s really not the best way to go for the entertainment industry,” Dong-hyuk said via TVLine. “It doesn’t really set a great precedent.”

(Via Deadline)

WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER.

If that’s not ringing any bells, you have not been watching the NFL playoffs. It’s the one time a year people actually watch live TV, which means it’s the one time a year people are subjected to commercials. The new “Fish McBites” — an annoying and annoyingly catchy earworm that you’ll be humming on your death bed — is a jingle for Burger King in which a singer repeats the word “Whopper” approximately 47 times before informing viewers that at BK, you can have it your way. YOU RULE. (Yes, there’s a Genius page.)

The song is part of a larger campaign that Burger King spent $400 million on, “$150 million on advertising and digital channels, and $250 million on technology and physical restaurant upgrades,” according to QSR magazine. In a a statement, Tom O’Keefe, the CEO of advertising agency OKRP, said, “Let’s face it, the song is irresistible, whether or not you remember the old jingle — we’re hoping it’ll be the earworm you can’t shake off.”

Keep Taylor Swift out of it, buddy.

In one way, the Burger King ad is a success: people are talking about it. In another way, though, those same people are being slowly driven insane.

The jazz version is nice, though.

As is the Daft Punk remix.

It’s unclear who sings the song, but it’s not Sam Richardson.

You know what the worst part of all this is? I’m suddenly craving an Impossible WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER. Don Draper would be proud.

Lil Peep’s wrongful death lawsuit is “hopefully” close to being settled without a trial, according to a new report from Rolling Stone.

His mom, Liza Womack, hired a lawyer Paul A. Matiasic, who spoke about the status of the case.

Womack initially filed a lawsuit against her son’s label, “First Access Entertainment (FAE), and subsequent cross-complaints over money generated by Lil Peep’s music and likeness after his death,” per the publication.

Last October, the two sides announced they had reached a deal “in principle.” However, there is still a trial date currently scheduled for March 8.

“Have you wrapped up the settlement here,” Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Teresa Beaudet asked at the first hearing since that October statement.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have that type of news to report at this juncture,” Matiasic answered. “The parties are still working very hard going through their paces. There are a number of complexities associated with what’s being discussed. It’s taking a little bit longer than we all anticipated.”

He also asked for a 30-day delay, to which Judge Beaudet said she wouldn’t move the trial date.

Both sides are required to turn in their trial binders by February 17 unless they reach an official settlement before then.

War is never pretty, obviously, but Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine appears to be of the particularly dismal variety. His mercenary soldiers are being turned into hamburger meat, and he’s been drafting hundreds of thousands of “regular” soldiers to replace those who have swiftly been killed. He’s still claiming that the war is going well, and says he will surely win, even if his declarations are being called out as false by Ukrainian territories that he claimed to have taken. And to add more insult to plentiful injury, Putin is now being undermined by a bunch of Russian rascals who are doing things like blow up bridges meant to carry valuable war supplies to Russian troops.

Al Jazeera reports upon an early January incident, in which Russian activists took out some tracks on the Trans-Siberian Railway. This wasn’t an isolated instance but apparently the sixth successful attempt since Putin invaded Ukraine, and the organization refers to itself as “BOAK, the Combat Orga.” The outlet spoke with a representative who claimed responsibility and did not mince words:

“We are disgusted by this fratricidal bloodbath, and we believe only by halting Putin’s aggression we can hope for this to stop and to never happen again.”

Journalist Jake Harman also pointed towards an October 2022 incident in which BOAK claimed responsibility for another set of train tracks that were torn to shreds by an explosive device. Al Jazeera notes further word from the BOAK representative, who declared, “The government’s defeat in this imperialist war opens up opportunities for the revolutionary movement, giving people the chance to realise how oppressed they were, and what needs to change.” Putin cannot be thrilled about this group’s existence while his first (official) year of Ukraine warmongering comes to a close.

(Via Al Jazeera)