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As the trial against Tory Lanez for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot continues, the Canadian rapper scored a victory in court on Monday (December 19), avoiding additional charges for witness tampering. According to Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta attempted to enter the new charges citing Tory’s alleged offer of $1 million to witness Kelsey Harris, but the charges were rejected by Judge David Herriford on the grounds that the prosecution took too long to request them. “I think it’s unfair at this juncture,” he said, “so I would deny that motion.”

Meanwhile, Harris was characterized last week as a reluctant witness, prompting the judge to allow prosecutors to play her full witness statement tape in court after she claimed she didn’t remember any of the statements and changed some of her answers — particularly, ones regarding Tory’s alleged bribery attempt and threats against her. However, during her testimony, she did give two solid answers — that Megan was indeed shot and that she did not fire the weapon herself.

Lanez remains on the hook for charges of assault with a firearm causing great bodily injury; concealing a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. The latter was added as the trial began. All three are felonies and could result in his deportation from the United States; a conviction could also see him land in prison for almost 23 years. Meanwhile, another witness, which Rolling Stone posits is Megan’s former bodyguard Justin Edison, went “missing” ahead of his expected testimony yesterday. The prosecution says that he heard Lanez confess to the shooting the day after at his home; prosecutors were given an additional day to locate him.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Selena Gomez has turned her beauty line, Rare Beauty, into a globally-loved makeup company.

“What I’m most proud of is the conversation that we’ve created in the beauty space,” Gomez told People magazine during her company’s product launch event. “I feel like we were challenging the norms and I really wanted to create a brand that was for everyone.”

While Gomez has made an extremely popular makeup brand that is disability-friendly and affordable under $30, she revealed that she first thought it wouldn’t be successful. “I thought that wasn’t going to sell,” she admits.

Gomez also spoke more in-depth about her Rare Beauty intentions during a recent interview with Glamour. “My hope with Rare Beauty is that we have open conversations around beauty and mental health and can change the industry by breaking down unrealistic standards of beauty together,” she said. “This is really what we had in mind when creating the Kind Words Lip products – something that lasts all day and doesn’t move around. The lipstick is so comfortable, and the liner lasts all day without feeling sticky.”

For fans looking to shop the pop star’s favorite products, Gomez gives recommendations of the Soft Pinch Liquid Blush, Stay Vulnerable Glossy Lip Balm, Positive Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara, and the Liquid Touch Brightening Concealer.

After Grammy-award-winning singer and songwriter HER’s (real name Gabriella Wilson) performance as Belle in Beauty And The Beast: A 30th Celebration television event, Disney lovers are counting down the days until the live adaption of The Little Mermaid hits theaters. The film starring Halle Bailey in the title role of Ariel is slated to be released in the spring of next year.

Over the years, Disney and its child company, Pixar, have made strides to center more diverse stories and actors throughout its films. Unfortunately, not everyone was pleased with this decision. Seeing a regal underwater mermaid with dreadlocks pushed some over the edge.

Although the “Do It” singer has avoided the negative comments, only addressing the pressures of stepping into the role, many other industry professionals have come out to publicly support her, including Encanto director Lin-Manuel Miranda and now, The Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall.

In an interview with EW, Marshall clapped back at naysayers claiming Bailey was only cast to appease the “woke community” or to meet a diversity quota. When asked about Bailey’s casting, Marshall replied, “We just were looking for the best actor for the role, period. The end. We saw everybody and every ethnicity. The goal was to find someone who can be incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful, smart, clever, and with a great deal of fire and joy.”

Marshall stressed there was “no agenda” behind Bailey’s casting.

For upset about Halle Bailey’s upcoming appearance in The Little Mermaid, you may want to brace yourself as her big sister Chloe Bailey has verbalized her desire to play Storm from X-Men.

In 2023, everyone is going to be talking about The Last Of Us.

Whether you’ve immersed yourself in the action-adventure game set in a not-too-distant apocalypse via console or not, its memorable characters and thrilling storyline are primed to take over our small screens in 2023 thanks to HBO’s buzzed-about adaption. The new series boasts a couple of Game of Thrones veterans and is helmed by the showrunner who made Chernobyl an Emmy-winning hit and the game’s creator Neil Druckmann. But even those stats don’t diminish the feat this series is trying to accomplish. Video games are notoriously tricky to translate on-screen, even with plots as absorbing as Naughty Dog’s survival epic. Fan expectations are high, as are HBO’s hopes that The Last of Us might just become their next Game of Thrones-esque streaming centerpiece.

So, exactly what is this show about and why should you tune in? Here’s everything we know about the series so far.

The Plot

The series is primed to follow the storyline from the first game released all the way back in 2013. Spanning a succinct 10 episodes, fans will follow two survivors of a pandemic that decimated the United States 20 years earlier. This “virus” was actually a species of fungi that infected anyone who breathed its spores, turning humans into feral zombie-like creatures known collectively as the Infected. With humankind nearly extinct, martial law has been put into effect with heavy military surveillance and suppression tactics put in place in quarantine zones that home non-infected citizens. Joel is a hardened smuggler living in one such zone in Boston who agrees to the dangerous job of transporting a young teen named Ellie across the country for a rebel group known as The Fireflies. Ellie is immune to the fungi and may be humanity’s best chance at finding a cure, but the pair face enemies — living and dead — that make finding the rebel’s home base near-impossible.

The Cast

Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones) is set to play Joel, the reluctant surrogate father to Bella Ramsey’s (Game of Thrones) Ellie. While Joel is stoic and seemingly uncaring of anyone but himself, Ellie is a fearless and wide-eyed teenager burdened with an unimaginable savior complex. The two often butt heads in the game, but their contentious relationship soon evolves into a visceral bond that should make for good drama on the HBO series. They’re joined by a cast of recognizable names like Nick Offerman (Parks & Rec) and Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) who play an eccentric survivalist couple Joel turns to for help in transporting Ellie to the rebel group. Euphoria’s Storm Reid plays Ellie’s best friend-turned-love-interest Riley while Anna Torv (Mindhunter) plays Tess, Joel’s smuggling partner and sometimes girlfriend. Rounding out the cast are Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) and Merle Dandridge, who reprises her role from the games as Marlene, the leader of The Fireflies.

When Will It Air?

The first of the show’s ten episodes is set to drop January 15th on HBO with weekly installments airing on Sundays. You can watch the full trailer for the series below:

Since Uproxx has already shared the Best Songs of 2022, for the Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2022 list, I once again teamed up with Yoh Phillips to see if we couldn’t excavate some gems from an absolutely stacked year of rap releases. While the glut of new songs meant that it’d be physically impossible for anyone to listen to literally everything – or even a fraction of it, really – what we landed on was more of a list of our favorite songs.

These are the ones we couldn’t stop running back, that we had a gut reaction to, that changed our worldviews at least a little bit. That’s what a great song does, after all. It becomes part of you, whether it’s a hook you can’t stop singing, a beat you hear in your head all day long, or just a line that made you think about things a different way. Here are the songs that made us do that, the Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2022.

Ab-Soul – “Do Better” Feat. Zacari

An emotional gut check of a song, “Do Better” hails from Ab-Soul’s upcoming album Herbert. In it, he details the past five years of his life, from getting lost in conspiracy theories to almost taking his own life. He vows to do as the title suggests, something we can all relate to and an example we all should follow. – Aaron Williams

BIA – “London” Feat. J. Cole

“Yummy!” Yeah, J. Cole is still hijacking people’s records right out from under them – something he did a few times this year. “London” constitutes the strongest example, though, with Jermaine flexing his best English accent (he’s no Top Boy), dropping Beatles references, and leaving fans with one of his most amusing verses ever. We don’t believe him about being nervous about the collaboration, though. – AW

Cordae – “C Carter”

Cordae really elevated on his sophomore album From a Bird’s Eye View, but this song was ultimately the standout. While “Chronicles” was the big hit, this song forms the emotional center of the album, recalling how big dreams, when pursued, can take you places you never imagined. Even if those dreams are as humble as copping a $30,000 mid-size sedan. – AW

Denzel Curry – “Walkin”

I tried to get clever with this one, but let’s face it: “Walkin” is probably going to be one of Denzel’s career bests when all is said and done. That beat worms its way into your head thanks to its loopy, soulful sample. But that’s just a delivery system for a motivational message that comes along at just the right time after the last couple of years. – AW

DJ Khaled – “God Did” Feat. Jay-Z, Lil Wayne & Rick Ross

Say what you want about DJ Khaled. I get it. I really do. But. Who else pulls this kind of performance out of Jay-Z? You know the ones. They keep Twitter buzzing for a full 24 hours. They inspire the sort of “away message quotes” that the best Drake songs have been doing for the past decade or so. They make you think. They make you reach for the rewind button. That was Khaled. Give the man a break. – AW

Drake – “Jimmy Cooks” Feat. 21 Savage

A resolve as foreshadowing: Aubrey’s inclusion of Savage at the end of his polarizing house exercise served as crowd-pleasing on the surface, but prevailed as another irresistible mark of unexpected chemistry. Drake thrives on juxtaposition, opting for cruise control on another exercise in Memphis homage; Playa Fly this time. Aubrey’s comfortable, almost unbothered. Once the beat switches and tension increases, Savage takes full command, his voice piercing as he lands every punchline body. You know it’s Tay Keith, even without the tag. It’s menacing, celebratory, and yet another Degrassi reference. His fellow Canadians Struck Back; somehow, The Boy struck again. – Yoh Phillips

Earl Sweatshirt – “Tabula Rasa” Feat. Armand Hammer

Billy Woods’ use of “Zimbabwe!” as an adlib justifies inclusion alone. That said, this Alchemist-helmed joint crawls along as we watch three iron blades sharpen themselves and each other. The pianos glimmer onward as the vocal chops quickly kick the door back in, and not a single word’s wasted as Earl, Woods, and E L U C I D dance at their own paces, in sync with the mission. We’re in the kitchen, the club, the hellfire, the darkness. There are warnings to heed, decisions to fix, and we’re only in control of what we do with our days. – YP

Freddie Gibbs – “Grandma’s Stove”

The most vulnerable song on Freddie Gibbs’ most vulnerable album, “Grandma’s Stove” puts all of Fred’s formidable storytelling skills on display. It’s the kind of song that he’s always had the capacity to make but wisely withheld for his “official” debut album. It’s a testament to how patience, resilience, and a true survivor’s mentality can elevate rap’s most basic mechanics to high art status. – AW

Future – “Puffin On Zootiez”

For the past decade, Nayvadius Wilburn’s been operating at a three-hit minimum per album (his latest is I Never Liked You), and that only counts what gets picked as singles. You’ll find at least two more hits in the album cuts; this TM88/Nils/Too Dope joint hits like comfort food you’d find on Pluto. Instantly identifiable by sonics as plush as content, the track is underscored by the haunting allure carrying all of Future’s oeuvre. He’s tread this territory many times over, but he ceaselessly finds new angles; earworms, syncopation, playing with pitch, and non-sequiturs galore. From the opening bells, we’re transported to places we can never access, craving premium desires and excess. – YP

GloRilla – “Tomorrow 2” Feat. Cardi B

The Breakout-Hit-to-Superstar-Remix Pipeline found Big Glo, mid-ascension with added firepower via signing to CMG, merging lanes with a recently-reinvigorated Cardi B who was primed to continue her summertime momentum. Thanks to the glistening production chaos provided by Macaroni Toni, GloRilla’s original balance between grounded optimism and unflinching confidence grants Cardi permission to kick it into overdrive. Lavish living, public drama, and the price of fame be damned. Quotables and captions abound, making for one of this year’s most aggressively-sellable hit records. The ladies mirror one another in energy and ethos: the homegirls from your hood who came up but will forever run down. – YP

Hitkidd & GloRilla – “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”

Mantra, manifestation, Memphis. Hitkidd conducted the sound of the city; it’s all in the drum, the snare, the bounce. And by summer’s end, GloRilla lived up to her name: a day-long adventure with an overnight turnaround became one of the most immediately-impactful breakout singles of recent memory. That reach is best measured in the response to this boisterous track at any function since spring — and check the parking lot, too. Her commanding allure combines with a relatability you simply can’t program. The voice cuts through, the quotables abound, and the hook? A centerpiece to galvanize fed-up folks worldwide, at the expense of whoever dares try the team. – YP

IDK – “Taco”

For my money, IDK and Kaytranada’s Simple is one of the most criminally overlooked and underrated projects of the year. Shame on all of you for missing out on some of the most innovative production (of which “Taco” is a prime example; “Dog Food” is another) and blunt-but-incisive lyrics hip-hop had to offer in 2022. Dance and hip-hop have always born a kinship but this is the height of that combination thus far. – AW

Ice Spice – “Munch (Feelin’ U)”

NY Drill by way of the Bronx, inverted by gentler textures and shipped directly to the zeitgeist. In under two minutes, Ice Spice finessed her hometown framework with a playfulness unseen, her overnight rise gracing the cultural lexicon with a new term for pass-around, down-bad dudes still chasing. RIOTUSA supercharges the drill standard with an ominous warmth, leaving room for Spice’s nimble quips. She indulges her whimsical instincts, radiating confidence to spin new gold from the familiar, and neither overstates nor overstays. And if the dive through her old tweets granted her more converts? Y’all know she’ll be here a while. – YP

JID – “Kody Blu 31”

When JID sings in the opening verse of “Kody Blu 31,” a standout from The Forever Story, he echoes Sunday school services and bible study sessions with vocals rarely found in such a craftsman of intricate rhyme schemes. It’s a humble hymn, soulful in sound, both melancholy and motivational with sincerity. Although recorded in dedication to a friend, “Kody Blu 31” feels like a universal mantra that will be meaningful for years to come. – YP

JID – “Stick” Feat. J.Cole, Kenny Mason & Sheck Wes

Guns, violence, and mayhem were all themes mostly untouched by Dreamville Records until JID came in with his shouting evil twin Kenny Mason for a caliber of crunk turnt to the max. Their tag team on Dreamville’s Gangsta Grillz mixtape standout “Stick” is a Rambo rampage. The high energy feels intended for mosh-pits in festival settings where you can unloose and be free to yell, without a worry, “Stick! Stick! Stick!” – YP

Latto – “It’s Givin’”

From game show taboo to crossover arc, Latto delivers a record that feels furious and luxurious. This one’s an outline for a boss, guidelines if you will for the streets, the bed, and the bank. Latto’s charisma reaches a fever pitch, trading her usual power-punch cadence for a chilled, easy demeanor that lends power and presence to the accent. Pooh Beatz, FNZ, and Jetsonmade scored a feeling that sounds gives Fashion Week, and cashing in chips, and cashing out and about (the overall vibe of 777). Latto rises to the glamor at her most irresistible; it’s impossible not to feel like one of them ones. – YP

Lil Durk – “AHHH HA”

Black bloodshed: the quickest way to sell a record. The trenches: a site of life, as celebrity ensues. What is Durk Banks to do with his brothers gone, as some in the world gloat? This record’s one of the best of its class for every right and wrong reason. It’s menacing, urgent, and driving as Durk drops a dispatch from the wake of war. He acknowledges his grief, briefly. He checks the scoreboard, addressing the opposition. He even speaks to the feds and the fans (one and the same?) who make a spectacle of his reckoning. Durk dances under the same conditions. – YP

Lil Yachty – “Poland”

Lil Yachty’s one for happy accidents and was long overdue for another undeniable smash. Intentional or not, a leak granted him both: an absurdist earworm, its namesake coinciding with a nation ensnared in ongoing European catastrophes. But the song’s about lean and love and came from a joke about a water bottle. F1LTHY provided the rage for Boat to approach the operatic with deadpan conviction, and the world instantly embraced a left turn artist’s sharpest left turn yet. It’s the most Yachty context ever, and if Poland truly wants him over there, I’d hesitate to accept said invitation at this time. – YP

Mavi – “Last Laugh”

Mavi’s Laughing So Hard, It Hurts is charismatic, poetic, and tender – all reasons to delve into the album as a whole – but there is a singular quality to “Last Laugh,” the closing track. With brisk and concise reflection, it retraces the Charlotte-born rapper’s steps through crisis and come-of-age in a series of autobiographical verses that end with the assertion, “This tape is my only taped confession.” Confessional writing, stripped of everything except the will to be true, is layered with a conviction to honor the bruises earned to make this music as honest as it could be. – YP

Megan Thee Stallion – “Plan B”

Meg got back in her freestyle bag with this ruthless repartee to the thousands of keyboard critics who spent the past two years poking her over the worst time of her life. While it was probably directed at one or two in particular, its dismissive messaging and incredulous tone can apply to any number of situations for just about anybody who has had to deal with pocket watchers, haters, and trolls. – AW

Nas – “Michael & Quincy”

Normally, it’d take a lot of gall to compare oneself to the late, great Michael Jackson – and even more to make the Michael/Quincy Jones comparison, since that combination yielded Thriller, one of the most successful albums of all time. And yet, you can’t help but wonder, after the Nas-Hit-Boy partnership produced four high-quality, career-reviving projects, if, at another time, we might have all agreed. – AW

Pusha T – “Just So You Remember”

Pusha T is a man who knows his role: to revel in wrongdoing and recount the remorse. Here and on his new album It’s Almost Dry, Push excels in reciting the vicious cycle on a technical and visual level, outlining the spoils of war, complete with the sharp corners and gunshots required to attain them. Grandiose yet subdued, the music rolls on like a soundtrack to a montage where our protagonist’s scarred but smiling after coming out on top. He cackles at the competition, he resents silly questions, and he flashes back to every vein in vain and raid gone awry. Still, King Push lives his own myths. – YP

Quavo & Takeoff – “Hotel Lobby”

Migos members Quavo and the late Takeoff downsizing to duo Unc & Phew found the Norf Atlanta legends still in pursuit of highly contagious, rhythmically loose rap anthems for the young, rich, and handsome. “Hotel Lobby” delivers. Not quite a hit, but there is something so satisfying about hearing them excited and enthused, witty and assured, exuding never going to fail, never going to fall bravado. So lively, so sturdy, so simple, but it’s fun, magnetic music that ends too soon. – YP

Rexx Life Raj – “Sunset Over College Park”

When I finished Rexx Life Raj’s new album The Blue Hour, I was in tears. It wasn’t a terribly convenient time for them either, which just goes to show the sort of emotional impact the deeply confessional love letter to his late mom was. “Sunset Over College Park,” the album’s closer, was the song that did me in. Call your mom. – AW

Sampa The Great – “Let Me Be Great” Feat. Angélique Kidjo

Titular irony aside, “Let Me Be Great” is one of the shining moments from Sampa’s comeback album, As Above So Below, that made me call it one of the top five hip-hop albums of the year. Ending the album with such a powerful closing statement, Sampa earned that distinction both with the quality of the songs on the project and a razor-sharp sequencing sensibility. – AW

Smino – “No Ls”

Smino’s return album, Luv 4 Rent, offered all of the psychedelic soul anyone could want. “No L’s” offers a prime example of Smino’s gift for wordplay, referencing both his inability to lose and his ineligibility to operate a motor vehicle. There’s a gift and a curse in everything, it seems to say, and Smi is willing to accept it all, knowing he’s going to keep going ‘til the wheels fall off. – AW

Vince Staples – “Aye (Free The Homies)”

Look, “When Sparks Fly” is undoubtedly the best song from Vince’s magnum opus, Ramona Park Broke My Heart. But even I’ll admit it’s a bit of a downer – and my half of this list is pretty much full of them. Fortunately, I covered that one on our big list for the year, clearing the way for the hood favorite. Turn up! – AW

Westside Boogie – “Nonchalant” Feat. Mamii

Boogie is still in his feelings. More Black Superheroes, one of the best-titled projects of the year, finds the Compton rapper oscillating between late-night introspection and offering more topical reflections, but he’s still at his absolute best when he’s admitting his faults – even if it seems like he’s relishing in them more than he’s trying to change. – AW

Yeat – “Talk”

How it feels atop the throne of a Tonka. As Yeat etches his legacy in a slurry of new formations — be they in the words he invents, or the layering of his voice — this BNYX-helmed record rings bigger and more menacing than anything else on its level. Yeat’s on cruise control for the coronation because there’s no turning away from what he’s becoming. Trimmed with subtle gratitude and a mutating attitude, as the opening clip implies, this is a winner’s theme, bred for live calamity and every subwoofer in sight. – YP

YG – “Toxic”

For my money, Compton’s motley collection of rappers had the best releases of the year (yes, I am BIASED. This has been well-established. Let’s move on, shall we?). YG’s new album I Got Issues falls into that category too. How could it not, when he steps out of his comfort zone while still sticking to the formula that made him? For example, crooning like Mary J. Blige – AW

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

Latto is in the spirit of giving this holiday season. Over the course of the past weekend, the “Big Energy” rapper donated Christmas dinner, gifts, and other basic essentials to over 500 families in Clayton County, Georgia. Among the gifts were TVs, bikes, toy cars, and whole turkeys.

As a reward for her generosity and philanthropic efforts, Latto was presented with the key to the city of her hometown, Clayco, according to a report from People. Stacey Abrams presented Latto with the key, as well as her own Latto Day (December 18).

“I feel like I owe my success to Clayco, so this means so much to me,” Latto said. “I’m committed to using my platform to create opportunities for the next generation of Clayton County youth.”

Latto made these donations at Clayco’s “Christmas In Clayco” event, which took place at the Carl Rhodenizer Recreation Center. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Clayton County commissioner Alieka Anderson and Chair of the Clayton County Board Of Education Jessie Goree were in attendance at the event, along with Abrams.

“Latto is the epitome of greatness here in Clayton County,” Clayton County commissioner Alieka Anderson said at the event. “Our kids love her, the commissioners love her, and this is a collaboration that has been great for the community and for the children in Clayton County Public Schools. I want them to see the spirit of giving. When you give, it reciprocates back to you. What we tell our kids in Clayton County is that you can go and be anything you want to be, and Latto is a great example of that.”

One of Twitter’s unlikeliest icons would like a few words with its new owner. In a new interview for People, R&B legend Dionne Warwick said that she feels compelled to meet with Elon Musk to find out his “true intent” for the platform. Musk was forced to follow through on his $44 billion acquisition bid in October after the company filed a lawsuit against him when he tried to back out of their agreement in July. Now, he seems to be flailing, firing and threatening core employees, rolling out and disabling features on the fly, and even withholding rent on the company’s offices.

“I have to meet him,” Warwick told People. “I know a lot of people have walked away from Twitter. That’s prior to knowing exactly what he’s going to do. He’s new to the game. His attitude is freedom of speech, which is mine as well. However, there’s a way to do it. That’s one of the conversations I’m going to have with him. What is your true intent? I understand your freedom of speech attitude but how are you going to contain it, so it does not get out of hand?”

Elon may be “new to the game,” but funnily enough, Warwick isn’t. Despite being old enough to be many of the platform’s users’ great-grandmother at 82, she’s become one of their favorite follows. She’s chimed in on viral discussions about everything from Britney Spears’ conservatorship to Chet Hanks’ proposed “White Boy Summer,” and her playful roast of Chance The Rapper later led to a full-fledged musical collaboration. She’s a real treasure on the app, knowing its impact and importance as well as anyone — perhaps even better than Elon, who recently held a poll on the app to see if users want him to step down as CEO. The answer was “yes” by a sizable margin.

Bob Dylan did a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, where he shared his thoughts on a range of music industry subjects. In the piece, Dylan notes specifically that he’s “a fan of” both Eminem and the Wu-Tang Clan, as he believes they have “feeling for words and language.” He also said that he enjoys listening to “anybody whose vision parallels mine.”

This isn’t the first time Dylan’s talked about Eminem either. During a 2001 interview with Time, he stated that the Detroit rapper was “doing something right” and that “I almost feel like if anything is controversial, the guy’s gotta be doing something right.”

Dylan also touched on his love for Royal Blood, Celeste, Leonard Cohen, Rag N’ Bone Man, and Nick Cave in the WSJ, as he felt they held a similar goal to Eminem and the WTC.

As for concerts, he’s been to see Metallica, Oasis, Klaxons, and “made special efforts” for Jack White and Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. Yet, Dylan doesn’t love everything.

“There’s a sameness to everything nowadays,” he revealed. “Everything’s too easy. Just one stroke of the ring finger, middle finger, one little click, that’s all it takes, and we’re there… It’s all too easy, too democratic.”

At least Eminem and Wu-Tang Clan are in good company with Bob Dylan’s musical taste.

Justified is a great show, one of the best of the 2010s, but I do have one complaint: Quentin Tarantino should have directed an episode. It’s a natural fit: he’s a fan of the series; he’s adapted other Elmore Leonard works; and he’s worked with numerous cast members, including Walton Goggins in Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight and Timothy Olyphant in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The 2019 film was also, in a way, what led to the Justified revival — and a possible directing gig for Tarantino?

“One day the phone rang and it was Tim Olyphant who said, ‘I’ve been sitting on the set with Quentin, and we were talking about this book, City Primeval. We thought it would make a great year of Justified.’ So we started kicking around the idea, and FX was into it,” co-showrunner Michael Dinner told Entertainment Weekly about City Primeval.

He continued:

“It was very complicated to put together because the rights situation was a little murky — part of the rights belonged to the estate, part belonged to MGM which was going to make this movie several times, and it took a while to get it going, but then we did. We had a great time for seven years on this show, and so the real intention was what if we did a long movie, a limited series, that’s not really trying to go back for the past with Justified, but to do a mashup between this book and this character that we loved, and not to revisit the past as much as we looked at this character as if he had three chapters in his life, and this is the second chapter.”

Dinner and co-showrunner Dave Andron don’t comment on the rumors about Tarantino directing at least part of the limited series. But if it comes true, maybe Tarantino can get Julia Butters to sign up, too. She’d make a great lil’ crime boss. Or better yet, in episode one, Raylan gets a dog, played by Brandy.

Justified: City Primeval is expected to premiere in 2023.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Another day, another clothing store finds itself in the hot set. On the chopping block today: retailer giant H&M. The Swedish fast-fashion company is accused of copyright infringement. Pop singer Justin Bieber took to his Instagram Stories to blast the chain store for using his likeness in their latest musician merch collection.

While the Canadian musician is always up for a fun collaboration, look at his work with the restaurant Tim Horton’s. According to the “Justice” singer, though, this new “partnership” was one-sided.

In a note uploaded to his Instagram Stories yesterday (December 19), Bieber wrote, “I didn’t approve any of the merch collection that they put up at H&M. All [items are being sold] without my permission and approval.”

The entertainer has been keeping a low profile since being diagnosed with the rare condition Ramsey Hunter Syndrome which caused him to postpone his Justice world tour. Bieber urged fans to steer clear of the unauthorized items, saying, “I wouldn’t buy it if I were you. The H&M merch they made of me is trash, and I didn’t approve it. Don’t buy it.”

Initially, H&M stood by their decision to move forward with the line, telling Page Six they followed proper approval procedures: “As with all other licensed products and partnerships, H&M followed proper approval procedures.”

But after receiving heated backlash from Bieber’s fan base online, the retailer pulled all tote bags, tee shirts, and other items with Bieber’s image off their website.

There’s no word on whether or not the singer plans on suing the retailers, but in the past, Bieber hasn’t hesitated to take these matters to court. For example, after being accused of sexual assault, Bieber sued for defamation before dropping the case. Also, a visual artist attempting to use Bieber’s likeness was hit with a $100,000 lawsuit preventing them from using his work in a pop-up exhibition.