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The just-released trailer for RuPaul’s Drag Race is revealing more superstar special guests. Janelle Monáe, Maren Morris, and Hayley Kiyoko will appear as guest judges for season 15 in addition to the previously-announced Ariana Grande.

Last week, RuPaul’s Drag Race revealed that Grande will be the first guest judge for the season premiere next month. A trailer for season 15 unveiled who else will be joining the judging panel. Country music star Maren Morris is shown judging the runway and saying, “I’m gagging! Hands down my favorite look of the night.” R&B singer and actress Janelle Monáe is also shown putting in her two cents. “You killed it!” she says. “This was top tier.”

The trailer also revealed more of Ariana Grande’s appearance on the show. The pop superstar is shown behind the judging panel saying, “This was a total game-changer! You’re damn talented.” Grande previously appeared as a guest judge on the show during season seven in 2015. Hayley Kiyoko and Orville Peck will also appear as guests for the upcoming season.

Sixteen drag queens will be competing for the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar.” Among the new contestants are drag icon Sasha Colby and twins Sugar and Spice. Season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race will premiere on Friday, January 6 on MTV. As with past seasons, the premiere will be split into two episodes.

Watch the season 15 trailer above.

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

Ever since James Harden was traded to Brooklyn in 2020, teams have been trying and failing to pry Eric Gordon away from the Rockets. The 33-year-old shooting guard is clearly not a fit in Houston’s rebuilding timetable, but they’ve hung on to him for some veteran leadership from a player willing to take or cede as much responsibility as is needed of him with an emerging young core.

As trade season opens, Gordon is again at the forefront of discussions of who the Rockets may move, but this time the team is more open to the idea of trading him. Gordon is on the last fully guaranteed year of his deal, making him easier for more teams to take on from a financial perspective, and as Houston has built out its group of youngsters, Gordon is no longer as key a piece in the Rockets rotation. Per The Athletic’s Kelly Iko, the Rockets are “more inclined” to move Gordon this year, with an asking price of a future first or young player — as they have two firsts in this year’s upcoming draft already and don’t need another.

Houston is more open to moving Gordon now than before but remains steadfast in their internal valuation of him. The Rockets have more interest in acquiring a young player or a future first-round pick for his services than a late first in next year’s draft. If Houston can get that offer, team sources said they would move Gordon now and not wait until the February deadline.

We’ll see if another team will offer such a package, or if the Rockets will have to once again decide at the deadline if they want to accept a lesser offer or hold onto Gordon for a third straight season amid trade rumors. Given Gordon’s skillset as a spot-up shooter, secondary initiator, and reasonable defender, one would think the Rockets could get a future first (with protections) from a contender looking to shore up its two-guard rotation.

After delivering a reality-bending adventure in the first season of his Disney+ series, Loki is headed back to the streaming platform that will either fix the damage he caused to the multiverse, or break it even further. Considering he’s the God of Mischief, it could go either way. While Season 2 is shrouded in the usual Marvel veil of secrecy, we do have some details on the series return including a rough idea of when new episodes will drop.

Here’s everything we know so far about Loki Season 2:

Release Date

Marvel has not yet shared a release date for Loki Season 2, but we do have confirmation that the series will return in 2023. Kevin Feige reportedly shared that Loki Season 2 will arrive in “Summer 2023,” which tracks with its Season 1 release schedule. Loki premiered in June of 2021 and became a smash hit of the summer. Hiddleston also provided the voice for a Disney+ 2023 sizzle reel, which confirmed Loki Season 2 is on the slate for that year along with sharing the first footage.

Cast

Obviously, Tom Hiddleston will be returning as the title character in Loki Season 2, and Owen Wilson will also reprise his role as TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius. In addition, set photos have revealed that Sophia DiMartino will return as Sylvie, who will have a lot to answer for following her disastrous decision in the Season 1 finale. Jonathan Majors as Kang, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, Tara Strong as Miss Minutes, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, and Eugene Cordero as Casey will also reportedly appear in Season 2. There were rumors that Henry Cavill would be joining the cast, but he has publicly denied those reports. Although, that’s par for the course even if Cavill is coming to the MCU, so anything could happen on that front.

Plot

Like all things Marvel, the plot for Loki Season 2 is being kept tightly under wraps. Season 1 ended with Sylvie killing He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), who warned that his death will bring about even worse variants than him (Read: Kang the Conqueror) and cause a destructive multiversal war. Loki, however, seemingly escaped to the TVA, but his arrival comes as a complete surprise to Moebius, who has no idea who Loki even is despite working together all season. With reality now spinning wildly out of control, Season 2 can go in a multitude of directions and presumably set up even larger consequences for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it heads towards the full-on epic event: Avengers: Kang Dynasty.

Trailer

As of this writing, Marvel hasn’t released a trailer for Loki Season 2 yet. However, the first footage from the new season was revealed in a Disney+ sizzle reel showcasing the streaming platform’s 2023 releases. You can watch it below:

Loki Season 2 will arrive on Disney+ in 2023.

Steven Spielberg has brought many scary creatures to life over the years. He re-introduced horrifying dinos in Jurassic Park and threw a bunch of snakes into Indiana Jones, but there is one movie that has a creature so scary and threatening that you have probably been scared of your whole life. And his name is ET, the extraterrestrial.

Just kidding, but ET is very scary. The actual iconic Spielberg villain is the great white shark from Jaws, and the species has been suffering ever since the director released his first film in 1975.

While speaking on the BBC podcast Desert Island Discs, Spielberg mentions that he is afraid that the sharks are still mad at him for promoting all of that anti-shark propaganda in Jaws. “That’s one of the things I still fear — not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sport fishermen that happened after 1975, which I truly, and to this day, regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film,” he said, adding, “I really, truly regret that.”

After Jaws became a hit, naturally, amateur fishermen became transfixed with the idea of catching their own great white, causing the shark population to plummet 70% over the last 50 years. That, and the increase in “finning” has landed the shark population on the shortlist for extinction.

There was no way for the director to know that his first major film (that he had made at age 27!) would have such a lasting impact on the shark population, but Spielberg still takes responsibility. Still, when will he address the permanent damage done to the reputation of snakes?

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

50 Cent, it seems, is always stirring the pot. Just this weekend, in the midst of Megan Thee Stallion’s Tory Lanez trial, he compared the rapper to Jussie Smollett. This came not long after he likened Madonna to an alien.

For sure, the rapper is familiar with controversy and has had a lot of it during his storied career. These are some of the more notable moments:

1999: Feud with Ja Rule

For years now, 50 and Ja have had beef. It began in 1999, when one of 50’s friends robbed Ja. Later that year, 50 blatantly dissed Ja on “Life’s On The Line.” In 2000, the two got into a scrap at an Atlanta nightclub. Also that year, 50 was stabbed by rapper and Ja Rule associate Black Child in an altercation.

There’s more to the story than that, but perhaps the most amusing moment came in 2018: 50 noticed that tickets to a Ja concert were available for $15 each on Groupon, so he bought 200 seats “in the front so they can be empty.”

1999: “How To Rob”

In the summer of 1999, 50 released “How To Rob,” a song on which he details… well, how he would rob a number of rappers, including Jay-Z, Diddy, Will Smith, and many others. 50 later said of the response to the track, “That song had momentum. It had impacted where the hip-hop culture was aware of it, and me, based on it… A lot of people didn’t [respond to] it. The ones who had the egos had to respond. Because they weren’t used to somebody openly putting them out there, and who was I to say it? They all battled with each other, had stuff to say about people subconsciously. They always wrote subliminal sh*t. That’s the sucker way to do it. Just say it, if you got an issue.”

1999: “Ghetto Qur’an (Forgive Me)”

Power Of The Dollar was set to be 50’s first major label album in 2000, but after he was shot, the project was shelved and never officially released. (“How To Rob” was meant for the album.) On album cut “Ghetto Qur’an,” 50 raps about people from his formative years, including 1980s drug gang Supreme Team. An affidavit from IRS agent Francis Mace later revealed it was believed that the shooting was in retaliation to the song’s lyrics.

2005: Attempted ban from Canada

In 2005, 50 was scheduled to perform a set of shows in Canada. Ahead of that, though, Canadian politician Dan McTeague asked Immigration Minister Joe Volpe to ban 50 from entering the country. This came after multiple incidents of gun violence at 50 shows in Canada. In 2003, a man was shot at a Canada Day concert in Toronto, and the next year, another man was shot after 50’s show in Montreal. When he ended up playing in Toronto in December 2005, the show was “under the surveillance of a special police task force” but went off without incident.

2016: Mocking a teen with autism

In 2016, 50 shared a video of himself mocking 19-year-old Andrew Farrell, who was a janitor at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. He claimed Farrell, who has mild autism and social anxiety, was on drugs. In the video, 50 says, “Look at him, what kind of sh*t you think he took before he got to work today? He high as a motherf*cker, pupils dilated, everything.”

50 later donated $100,000 to autism advocacy group Autism Speaks and said in a statement, “I want to turn this misunderstanding into an understanding. There are people that are ignored, mistreated, and neglected with disabilities that need our support. I am calling on my fellow musicians, actors, entertainers, and all others who may not have fully considered this cause to join together to help in any way they can.”

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

One of the reasons Drake has had such longevity in pop culture is his self-awareness. Although he’s been the butt of plenty of jokes over the years, he’s never let it get to him. In fact, he’s embraced many of the memes, doubling down and even creating business opportunities out of them.

Most recently, his sassy intro on the Her Loss song “Rich Flex” in which he implores his rhyme partner 21 Savage to “do something for me” inspired a slew of cheeky memes on TikTok. In them, fans imagine the Canadian superstar rolling his neck, putting his hands on his hips, and generally using body language that matches his saucy tone. While 21 himself was floored by the memes during a recent interaction with Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, Drake got to share his own reaction during a live stream with betting app Stake (which he helped promote over the weekend by putting a million-dollar parlay on the World Cup — he lost, but Argentina won).

He said that during a recent club outing, a female companion questioned him about being the butt of so many memes. In response, he explained, “I understand after all these years that, I feel like I have a polarizing presence. I’m almost a character in people’s movies and therefore there’s a running a dialogue. There’s jokes, you’re either the villain to some people or hero to some people. It is what it is, it just comes with the territory… I’ve always been able to laugh at myself, but I really do feel now that I mentally am able to separate the two. So I just want to stay in that zone, that’s kinda my resolution.”

You can check out Drake’s livestream with Stake below.

Miley Cyrus put fans on high alert when she performed a brand-new song, “You,” during last year’s Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party on NBC. People demanded its release, and Cyrus crushed everyone’s hopes by commenting on Instagram, “This song is so new I haven’t even recorded it yet. Just wanted to do something special for YOU all!” But 2023 is looking up.

Cyrus confirmed another Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party last month, and this time, she’ll be co-hosting with Dolly Parton instead of Pete Davidson. She shared more about the anticipated special while visiting The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this month.

“Right now, Sia is coming. She’s one of my favorite artists, and I love — as many wigs as we can have as possible, so we have Sia. We have Latto. Rae Sremmurd, who are friends of mine,” she told Fallon. “I mean, as we get closer to the show, I want to start revealing who else we have, but the lineup is very me. It is curated in a way that makes no sense but makes total sense.”

And when mysterious posters popped up in major cities like Los Angeles and Copenhagen last week, it made no sense. The natural assumption was that “New year, new Miley” could only mean a new era of music was imminent, but we’ve been fooled by “You” before, so it wasn’t until this morning (December 19) that it became real: Whatever Cyrus is rolling out could make total sense really soon. All of which is to say, Cyrus acknowledged said posters across her socials.

And she updated her official website’s landing page to feature a countdown clock to New Year’s Eve.

In June 2021, Guitar World reported within an interview with producer Andrew Watt that he was “on board for another record with Cyrus, though that’s still in the planning stages.” Come early January, Cyrus teased photos with the likes of Rae Sremmurd, Mike Will Made-It and others with her in the studio.

Cyrus’ most recent studio LP was November 2020’s rock triumph Plastic Hearts. She also dropped her first live album, Attention, on April 1, which included “You” on its tracklist — proof that Cyrus does deliver, on her own time.

Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will air live on December 31 on NBC and Peacock.

Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup yesterday (December 19). Latin music stars like Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, and Becky G celebrated the victory of the sole Latin American country left in the competition over France.

After Argentina and France were tied 3-3, the last match in the World Cup came down to penalty shots. Argentina’s national team, led by soccer icon Lionel Messi, went on to win the penalty shoot-out and claim the World Cup for the third time. Many Latin music singers celebrated the Latin American country’s win, including Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who was wearing an outfit that was decked out with Argentina’s team colors.

“THE BEST [GAME] I’VE SEEN IN MY LIFE!” Bad Bunny wrote. “CONGRATULATIONS ARGENTINA!!!! YOU DID IT!!!! WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!! NOBODY DESERVED IT MORE THAN YOU!! NOBODY FOUGHT MORE THAN YOU!!! MESSI THE GOAT!!!!!!!!!”

Another Puerto Rican superstar tipped his hat to Argentina, Rauw Alejandro. Like Bad Bunny, he also congratulated Messi on what was the final World Cup game of his soccer career.

“God bless you MESSI,” Alejandro wrote. “Blessed to live in your timeline and be able to watch you play. OFFICIALLY WITHOUT DISCUSSION THE BEST OF ALL TIME. Congratulations to all my people from ARGENTINA!!! WELL DESERVED!!!!!”

Reggaeton pioneer Daddy Yankee also gave his props to Argentina and Messi. “Congratulations to Messi,” he wrote. “He has just closed out his career in a historic way. Respect #10.” Becky G also tweeted Messi’s name in all caps with a soccer ball emoji.

The Mandalorian kicked off Disney+ with a bang, giving the brand new streaming a service a massive hit that none of its other series have been able to match in raw numbers. Centered on the bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), the first live-action Star Wars series struck gold by introducing a mysterious and adorable new character, who quickly became known as Baby Yoda. While his real name, Grogu, was eventually revealed in Season 2, the little guy gave The Mandalorian an irresistible hook as the show slowly transitioned from stand-alone episodes to a serialized epic story that’s brought in some surprising cameos from the Star Wars universe.

With Season 3 of The Mandalorian arriving in early 2023, here’s everything we know about the latest installment in Lucasfilm’s blockbuster series:

Release Date

Season 3 of The Mandalorian hits Disney+ on March 1, 2023 and will mark the longest gap between seasons of the hit bounty hunting series. However, The Book of Boba Fett that premiered in late 2022/early 2023 served as a sort of mini-season for The Mandalorian thanks to two episodes that were entirely dedicated to Din Djarin and his reunion with Grogu. If you haven’t checked them out, you should probably do so because the episodes contained some pretty key plot points that set the stage for the new season.

Following the premiere, Season 3 episodes will be available Wednesdays on Disney+ starting at 3 AM/12 AM ET/PT.

Cast

Here’s who we know is returning for The Mandalorian Season 3: Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Giancarlo Epsosito as Moff Gideon, and Katee Sackhoff as Bo Katan Kryze. Notably, Gina Carano will not be returning as Kara Dune following some… unpleasantness. Like Marvel, Lucasfilm plays their casting decisions close to the chest, so there’s no official word whether we’ll see guest stars like Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett, or Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth. However, Christopher Lloyd has reportedly joined The Mandalorian cast, but again, there’s a veil of secrecy about who he’ll be playing in Season 3.

Plot

Picking up after the events of The Book of Boba Fett, Season 3 will follow Din Djarin and Grogu, who has abandoned his Jedi training with Luke Skywalker to follow the path of the Mandalorian. As the rightful wielder of the Darksaber, Din now finds himself at odds with his warrior race. He’s been outcast by his extremist clan for removing his helmet, and based on the Season 3 trailer, he appears to be on shaky ground with Bo Katan (Katee Sackhoff) who does not seem thrilled with Din’s ownership of the Darksaber as she attempts to restore the planet Mandalore to its former glory. In the background, the last vestiges of the Empire still plot and scheme to regain control of the galaxy.

Trailer

You can view the official The Mandalorian Season 3 trailer below:

The Mandalorian Season 3 premieres March 1, 2023.

Concert security and safety protocols have been under scrutiny since the 2021 Astroworld Festival left 10 people dead in the wake of a crowd crush during Travis Scott’s headlining set. An incident at Brixton’s O2 Academy over the weekend will undoubtedly refocus that scrutiny and increase its intensity as a woman died and two remain in critical condition following similar conditions during rising Afrobeats star Asake’s sold-out concert on Friday night (December 16).

According to Billboard, emergency services were summoned after “a large crowd attempted to gain entry without tickets” and found several people with crush injuries. Eight people were hospitalized; three were in critical condition as of a Guardian report the night of. On Saturday, 33-year-old Rebecca Ikumelo died from her injuries. Asake posted on Instagram, writing that he was “devastated” by the news and offering “sincerest condolences to her loved ones.” He also urged fans with any “relevant information” to get in touch with London Metropolitan Police.

Ahead of the sold-out concert, the 27-year-old Nigerian singer had risen to stardom with the release of his breakthrough 2020 single “Mr. Money.” His debut album, Mr. Money With The Vibe, was released on September 8, 2022, and reached No. 66 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was also one of Uproxx’s Best Afrobeats Albums of 2022 and Best Albms of 2022.