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Sasha Banks left WWE earlier this year with no clear path for the next steps in her career. Some assumed she’d return to WWE, especially following Vince McMahon’s departure, while others pointed to just about every other path she could take, from walking the red carpet in Hollywood to wrestling for another promotion.

On Thursday, the first inkling of what’s next came from a PW Insider report, detailing that Banks — real name Mercedes Varnado — is slated to be at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event next month. It’s unclear if this would be an appearance or if she would have a match against someone.

WWE, under Triple H’s guidance, is very much operating differently than how it did in the past. That includes partnerships and crossover opportunities, beginning with Mickie James walking to the ring as part of the Royal Rumble wearing the IMPACT Knockouts Championship, something that would have been hard to believe during McMahon’s time in charge of the company.

It’s continued in recent months, with WWE acknowledging NJPW and the Bullet Club after re-signing current NEVER Openweight Champion, Karl Anderson. Shinsuke Nakamura is slated to work a match for the Japanese promotion NOAH against The Great Muta and Anderson is in line to face off against Hikuleo sometime next year, likely at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in the Tokyo Dome.

This could simply be another step in WWE broadening its partnerships, with one of its biggest stars — someone who, as of this writing, still appears on the promotion’s active roster — stepping onto another massive stage. Or it could be the first sign that Varnado has begun making her first post-WWE appearances in the squared circle.

Following Herschel Walker’s defeat in the Georgia runoff election, Republicans have turned even more on Donald Trump, who they already blamed for a lackluster performance in the midterm elections that failed to deliver a “red wave.” The former president’s once God-like control of the party is clearly crumbling, and he’s reportedly well aware of his growing persona non-grata standing.

According to a new report, Trump has been holed up in Mar-a-Lago and refusing to leave except to visit his other golf course at nearby Lake Worth Lagoon. While he has hosted a few events and appeared on teleconference calls, Trump’s hunkering down has not gone unnoticed by the GOP, which is growing weary of being shackled to his growing scandals. Specifically, his recent dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, which also happened at Mar-a-Lago. There’s also blood in the water over his lackluster 2024 announcement.

Via The Washington Post:

“The former president presents our biggest risk of losing for 2024, and conservatives are tired of losing,” said Bob Vander Plaats, head of the Family Leader, an Iowa-based social conservative group. “Even the former president’s announcement is being greeted like it never happened. There’s no buzz amongst my network at all.”

Despite Trump hunkering down at his golf club, his campaign told the Post that the former president will start holding rallies and events in the new year. In fact, Trump meant to keep things quiet after his announcement, and instead, focus on “staffing up.” Yeah, that’s the ticket…

(Via Washington Post)

At this point, it’s a shorter list to name every character who hasn’t had sex during season two of TV’s thirstiest show, The White Lotus. There’s Harper and Ethan, poor Bert, and… that’s about it. In the most recent episode alone, there were sex scenes with Lucia and Albie, Tanya and Niccoló, and Mia and Valentina. Also, an old, extremely Italian woman threatens to throw an artichoke at Christopher Moltisanti, which doesn’t have anything to do with sex, but it was a good scene and I don’t want people to forget about it.

Anyway, Beatrice Grannò, who plays aspiring musician Mia, spoke to Variety about what it’s like filming one of the show’s many sex scenes. “The environment was really safe. Having an intimacy coordinator there was very helpful because it’s a difficult thing to do. We rehearsed it before, and I talked with Sabrina [Impacciatore, who plays Valentina] and we found a way to do it and feel comfortable,” she said. Grannò felt “embarrassed” shooting the scene, but “that embarrassment helped the energy of the scene.”

“Because I have to be the one in control, it wasn’t easy to play that. I kind of went the opposite direction — instead of playing the sexy girl who uses her body to get what she wants, I wanted to go to a much deeper level. Like, ‘It’s your birthday, you should be out having fun. This is what you deserve, and I’m here and I think you’re beautiful. Why don’t we go for it?’ I think Mia likes Valentina a little bit.”

Grannò also referred to Mia as “very chaotic,” which is an accurate description for someone who has sex with a piano player in a hotel church because she thinks he has connections in the music industry and nearly kills the schmuck after giving him molly instead of Viagra. And yet, I want nothing but the best for her. And Lucia.

(Via Variety)

There are people who exist out there solely to own properties from movies or TV shows that, admittedly, are culturally significant and cool. Sure, who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to live in the house from Practical Magic or go treasure hunting outside the Goonies’ property? It is a no-brainer. But your brain quickly enters the conversation when money is involved!

The latest iconic house to be up on the market is the beautiful mustard-yellow Cleveland house from A Christmas Story. But not just anyone can buy this house: you have to be willing and able to sell your soul to the trajectory of the house and its legacy. Brian Jones, the current owner of the house, says that it’s not an easy feat. “You can’t even change the paint scheme. You can’t add anything to the porches. You can’t do anything without the city’s OK. Being such a valuable asset to the city, they’re not going to allow anybody else to do that.” So what can you do? Run the gift shop!

So let’s say you’re on board with the whole thing, you want to own this iconic house and run the little gift shop with various knickknacks in the shape of leg lamps. Are you willing to pay $4 million for it? Yes? Great!

Well, that doesn’t matter, because you’d have to pay a lot more, according to Jones. “Not even close,” Jones said at a hypothetical $4M offer from Variety. “You don’t even have the money to operate this place annually. Go fish.” Jones first bought the house for nearly $100,000 in 2004, but he poured hundreds of thousands into renovations and restoration. And now that legacy has to be passed onto someone else who somehow has money, a bunch of free time, and a burning passion for Christmas legacies…if those people exist?

The final question here is this: is it really worth it to own a house from a sub-par (sorry) holiday movie? Do you want to be feverously stocking Christmas shot glasses in the middle of the night, only to look up and see a group of Ohio residents wearing bunny suits outside your front door? If you have the means, go for it! The market is bad anyway.

(Via Variety)

GloRilla has had one hell of a year and even now, with the holidays right around the corner, she’s still racking up accomplishments. Her latest is an assertive debut on the popular YouTube channel A COLORS Show. Pulling up to a crimson set in a striking black-and-white athleisure combo (including a platinum wig) the Memphis rapper performs “Out Loud Thinking,” the introspective closing track from her major-label debut EP, Anyways, Life’s Great…

The performance caps a year in which she went from a buzzing underground rapper and part-time food service employee to a breakout sensation following the viral popularity of her hit anthem, “F.N.F. (Let’s Go).” After the track earned her a record deal with Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group and a remix with Latto and City Girls, it seemed the hits just kept coming for Glo.

She soon found herself collaborating with Cardi B on the rambunctious “Tomorrow 2,” hyping up her hometown Grizzlies’ upcoming NBA season, winning Breakthrough Artist at the BET Hip-Hop Awards, getting a shout-out from rap hero Nas, and receiving a Grammy nomination. Most recently, she performed alongside Cardi at the American Music Awards, spit some bars for Funk Flex, and remixed a hometown classic alongside Latto and Memphis legend Gangsta Boo.

That’s not a bad rookie season at all — and 2023 is just weeks away, giving her a fresh start to build on all that momentum. Watch GloRilla’s COLORS performance above.

The Black Velvet is a two-ingredient cocktail that’s starting to get all the love … yet again. Before we dive into its history, know this — this cocktail is super easy to make at home and one of the best tasting. To the point that you might get hooked for life. The mix is a two-layer affair that uses stout as a topper for champagne in a beer glass (often a mug or goblet).

That’s it. And it’s f*cking delicious.

Before you get too incredulous, the Black Velvet has been around for centuries. Pouring stout or porter over sparkling wine was officially started back in the mid-1800s as a memorial drink for the passing of Prince Albert, having been concocted at the famed Brooks’s Club in London — widely considered the world’s oldest gentlemen’s club in the world. The idea, the legend goes, is that the champagne should be “in mourning” too so the dark stuff was added. Though be sure, people were probably doing this well before it became “official”.

As with all things in cocktails, the fame of this drink has come and gone a million times over the years. Today, it’s starting to pop up again because it’s freakin’ delicious but also because it’s easy to make. But really, it’s because it’s delicious. So let’s make a delectable Black Velvet for holiday sipping.

Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of the Last Six Months

• Our ‘Perfect Whisky And Coke’ Recipe Uses The Last Brand You’d Expect
• The Hemingway Daiquiri Is A Deeply Refreshing Summer Cocktail — Here’s The (Very Simple) Real Recipe
• The Godfather Is A Simple Scotch Cocktail To Power You Through Winter
• Recipe: The Amaretto Sour Is The Ideal Cocktail To Close Out January
• The Tom Collins Is A Classic Cocktail That’s Perfect For The Hotter Days Ahead

Black Velvet

Ingredients:

• 5 oz. Guinness from a can (with widget)
• 5 oz. Dry champagne

For this recipe, you really just need Guinness – either in the can or the bottle — and decent champagne. I’m using the Guinness with the widget to add some extra velvet texture. If you want to be super authentic, use it out of the bottle, but expect more of a spiced and sharp carbonation point. As for the champagne, I’m using Pommery because that’s what’s in the fridge right now. Any standard brut will do, just make sure it’s actual champagne and not prosecco or sparkling white wine. This is a celebration drink after all.

What You’ll Need:

• Beer glass
• Barspoon

Method:

• Pour the chilled champagne into the bottom of the beer glass.
• Slowly pour the Guinness over the champagne. You might need to take a break or two to let the head settle.
• Serve.

Bottom Line:

First look at that beautiful dark red hue of the drink. It’s a pretty one.

Anyway, this goes down almost too easily. It’s lush and light at the same time. The real star is how the champagne brightens the stout with a dark red berry tartness that’s dipped in light chocolate and just kissed with winter spiciness. A mild nuttiness helps keep the drink creamy while still allowing for a light and fun effervescence on the tongue.

Overall, this is a great quaffer that has a low-ish ABV and a really deep and fun flavor profile. Moreover, if you’re on the fence about the heft of Guinness (which is actually pretty light all things considered), then cutting your Guinness with champagne is the play. It lightens it further while bringing out light fruity and tart characteristics that help everything pop on the palate. It’s a winner! Plus, that addition of champagne adds a little to the “f*ck it, it’s the end of the year, let’s party” attitude we all should have right now.

The Boston Celtics made some major staff changes this season after Joe Mazzulla took over as the interim head coach after the team announced a year-long suspension of Ime Udoka for an inappropriate relationship with a staffer. As Mazzulla tried to piece together a complete bench, he apparently reached out to a rising star in the media world, JJ Redick, who explained how he ended up golfing with Mazzulla and discussing a coaching position in Boston this offseason.

The Celtics have not missed a beat so far this season, darting out to a 21-5 start to the 2022-23 campaign, which is the best record in the NBA and most recently throttled the Suns on the road in Phoenix on national television.

The talent in Boston was never the question coming off a Finals run and an offseason that only saw them add talent in the form of Malcolm Brogdon, but there was a bit of wonder as to how Mazzulla would handle being thrust into the head coaching role for a title contender. He has answered that emphatically by taking the reins and getting the most out of a Boston team that’s still missing a key piece in Robert Williams, with Boston operating as the best offense in NBA history so far.

For Redick, it had to have been a tempting opportunity, but as was the case when he retired from playing, his commitment has been to ensuring he has plenty of time in his schedule to be at home with his family. As such, he will continue podcasting, analyzing and pontificating on TV, and calling games, but as this Celtics season wears on, even he might have to wonder if he missed a chance to be part of a championship team while launching a coaching career.

This week on People’s Party with Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh, we dive deep with the ever-talented DJ Nu-Mark. DJ Nu-Mark is a turntablist and producer of the incredible LA indie supergroup, Jurassic 5, as well as offering other banging production for Murs, Ice-T, and Incubus among others. He is respected as a no nonsense DJ and a purist when it comes to capturing the hardest edge of boom-bap rap.

“Uncle Nu” is also unquestionably an artist who paid heavy hip-hop dues with Jurassic 5 in the early days. J-5 toured a lot, but sometimes creatively it was a mismatch for the upstart crew as they were often paired with indie, punk, and even folk bands. He recalls once opening up for Fiona Apple and other artists who were far from the essence of hip-hop. Nevertheless they were just working to get the stage time and experience as a crew. But one day at a festival, things hit an unthinkable extreme while on tour with one of the biggest punk rock bands ever. They got switched out and put on stage in a slot that was supposed to be for Green Day/

The crowd was… not happy. A cascade of beer bottles rained down heavy on J-5.

Describing the full blown chaos Nu-Mark recounts “Somebody threw a bottle of half orange soda, half sand at my turntables…. The bottle hit my turntable, scratched my vinyl, and I immediately jumped on my SP 1200 [beat machine]. I played a beat the same tempo of the song- the MCs rhymed through it. I’m seein’ dudes get hit in the face with bottles and the MCs are just pushing forward [through the set]. We just pushed through all the way. Then the crowd just went crazy for us! It was insane. This was the most pivotal show of our career. There were not a lot of groups that could f*ck with our live show. We were in there to murder s*it — and we did!”

For more stories from DJ Nu-Mark listen to the full episode of People’s Party with Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh.

DJ Khaled grabbed headlines last month for resting his “We The Best” Crimson Bliss Air Jordan 5s on a silk pillow while courtside at the Miami Heat game. Wednesday (December 7), he upped his game by modeling for Rihanna’s latest Savage X Fenty “Xperience” drop.

In a video posted to Instagram, Khaled changes from a Savage X Fenty silk pajama set into … a different Savage X Fenty satin pajama set, and the latter mustard set featured an open-front robe that showcased the hitmaker’s bare torso and made him feel “real good.” He strolled into his home office in the “robe-slash-cigar-jacket” and nodded toward his “God Did” chorus by quipping, “They didn’t believe in us, RiRi did!” Then, he entered then a room filled with new Savage X Fenty pieces available to purchase live on the brand’s official website, selecting which ones he’ll buy for “my queen” and plans to rock himself.

“I ain’t gonna name other companies ’cause I’m rolling with Fenty,” Khaled boasted toward the end of promotional clip, while holding up a pair of “I’M TAKEN” briefs. “Y’all didn’t see the vision. I’m born beautiful. I’m a sex symbol. They been wanting this for the longest time.”

See the posts below.

James Gunn has finally addressed an earth-shattering article from The Hollywood Reporter that offered a peak at his alleged plans as the new head of DC Studios. Fans have been speculating what direction Gunn could take the franchise, and from the looks of things, the writer/director is looking to make some sweeping changes. Most notably, making a clean break from Zack Snyder‘s DC Extended Universe, which Gunn has already taken to calling the DC Cinematic Universe or DCU.

As for the major changes being tossed about, Wonder Woman 3 is reportedly not moving forward, Henry Cavill‘s return as Superman is very much in question, and Jason Momoa might be Lobo instead of Aquaman now. All of it sounds very ambitious and had DC fans losing their minds late Wednesday evening.

While striving to always be an open book for his legion of fans, Gunn did the best he could in addressing the THR report. Without offering any specifics, Gunn candidly admitted that DC Studios is in a state of flux and doesn’t want to be shackled creatively by what came before.

Here’s what Gunn had to say:

So. As for the story yesterday in the Hollywood Reporter, some of it is true, some of it is half-true, some of it is not true, & some of it we haven’t decided yet whether it’s true or not. Although this first month at DC has been fruitful, building the next ten years of story takes time & we’re still just beginning. Peter & I chose to helm DC Studios knowing we were coming into a fractious environment, both in the stories being told & in the audience itself & there would be an unavoidable transitional period as we moved into telling a cohesive story across film, TV, animation, and gaming. But, in the end, the drawbacks of that transitional period were dwarfed by the creative possibilities & the opportunity to build upon what has worked in DC so far & to help rectify what has not. We know we are not going to make every single person happy every step of the way, but we can promise everything we do is done in the service of the STORY & in the service of the DC CHARACTERS we know you cherish and we have cherished our whole lives.

Gunn concluded his statement with a request for patience as he strives to do right by the DC Comics characters in his care.

“As for more answers about the future of the DCU, I will sadly have to ask you to wait,” the new head of DC Studios tweeted. “We are giving these characters & the stories the time & attention they deserve & we ourselves still have a lot more questions to ask & answer.”

(Via James Gunn on Twitter)