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Even though season two of The White Lotus ended mere hours ago, fans are already eagerly awaiting news about which beautiful city guests will be visiting (and dying in) next. While there is no telling how many White Lotus hotels are out there, we can assume that the resort has a Marriot-like vibe with locations all around there world, meaning that there could be a never-ending number of seasons. Is there a White Lotus in New York or California? How about the Jersey Shore? There are so many possibilities here.

Season one took place in Hawaii, while season two’s shenanigans played out in Italy. When it comes to season three, create Mike White told Deadline earlier this year that they are open to anything: “You know, we did Europe, and maybe Asia, something crazy like that, that would be fun.” Maybe a White Lotus hotel would work perfectly on the bustling streets of Tokyo or in a quaint Japanese village town where toddlers are out running errands.

While the series has explored a wide variety of topics ranging from familial dynamics to having threesomes with college roommates, White wants to try to focus “a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality” for the next chapter of the story. Weaving in the story of Tanya’s death would be a great way to do this, assuming that her former assistant Portia is still trying to figure out what happened on that boat. That brings us to the most buzzed-about part of season three: the cast.

While Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya met her untimely demise at the end of season two, her husband Greg (portrayed by Jon Gries) is still out there, and White thinks that there is an opportunity to explore the aftermath of their relationship. “It’s possible that Portia is scared enough to just leave it alone, but the fact that all of those guys die on the boat, it feels like there’s gotta be somebody who’s gonna track it down to Greg,” White said in the post-finale featurette. “But maybe you’ll have to wait to find out what happens.”

Even though there is no confirmed casting news, it seems like White is a fan of checking out fan theories online, so all of those manifestation tweets might be onto something. Quick-somebody should manifest a Bob Odenkirk cameo.

Wherever the next gaggle of guests ends up, it will be quite some time until the season airs. White confirmed that after season two he will be taking a break from the White Lotus universe. “I don’t have a lot of gas in the tank. So I need to figure out how to unplug and refresh or something,” White recently told Katie Couric. Maybe…not a vacation then.

(Via US Weekly)

Over the past few years, when it comes to the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it’s been all about Mariah Carey. On last year’s chart dated December 25, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was No. 1 for the third straight holiday season. It stayed in that spot on the first chart of 2022 as well, making it the first song to be No. 1 in four separate years.

Recently, holiday tunes again started their annual climb up the ranks. Last week, Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” was still No. 1, but Carey was No. 2, six Christmas songs were in the top 10, and 25 of them were in the top 100. Now, though, on the new Hot 100 chart dated December 17, we have a new champion… or rather, a returning champ: “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is once again No. 1, for the fourth consecutive holiday season.

Meanwhile, Carey’s doing well over on the Billboard 200 albums chart, too, where Merry Christmas has cracked the top 10 in the last spot. Similarly to its most famous song, this is the fourth straight holiday season the album has re-entered the top 10. Taking the No. 1 spot is Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains.

There is no secret that the Lakers are seeking more shooting on the perimeter as trade season approaches, and armed with the knowledge of that desperation, rival teams are looking to extract as much as possible from L.A. in trade talks. While we’ve heard months of chatter about Myles Turner and Buddy Hield being on the Lakers’ radar, it’s a different team in the Central division that has a shooter L.A. may covet more.

Bojan Bogdanovic has been tremendous in Detroit this year, averaging 21.0 points per game on 50.8/43.7/89.1 shooting splits for the basement-dwelling Pistons, and most recently put 38 points on the Lakers in a Detroit loss this weekend. As such, we got a fresh round of Laker rumors this morning courtesy of Shams Charania and Marc Stein, focused heavily on L.A.’s interest in Bogdanovic. Both Charania and Stein report L.A. has offered Detroit a package with a protected first round pick for Bogdanovic, but have been rebuffed.

Per Stein, the Pistons won’t start negotiations in earnest until an unprotected first is on the table and both report the Pistons insist they’d prefer to keep the veteran sharpshooter rather than deal him.

The Pistons have to date declined those overtures, sources add, insisting on a fully unprotected future first from the Lakers to seriously entertain a Bogdanović swap. Detroit, in fact, continues to tell interested teams (and there are several) that it wants to keep Bogdanović.

According to Shams, the Pistons aren’t the only team the Lakers are inquiring ahead of the December 15 date when players signed this offseason are eligible to be dealt.

The Lakers are prioritizing shooting in their conversations with teams, and have discussed packages including salaries and a protected first-round pick for Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic, league sources, who were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, tell The Athletic. They’ve also discussed concepts involving New York’s Cam Reddish and Evan Fournier, sources said.

Given the Pistons current position — 7-22, last in the East with Cade Cunningham likely out for a considerable amount of time — the insistence they would keep Bogdanovic through the deadline when he could walk in free agency this summer feels like public negotiating and not something they’d really do. The question is whether that will work or if the Lakers would seek out another deal, like the reported Knicks package, for a protected pick considering how terrified they seem of handing out a fully unprotected 2027 or 2029 pick, even if it’s for a player that’s maybe not as good.

Tom Cruise had some (ahem) blunt advice for Emily Blunt while they were filming Edge of Tomorrow.

“We had to wear these enormous suits, which I think would’ve been great if we had CGI’d them, but we wanted to do it in a tactile way,” the actress said on the SmartLess podcast. “When you hear the word ‘tactile,’ you think that sounds nice and cozy. There was nothing cozy about these suits. It was like 85 pounds. It was so heavy. The first time I put it on I started to cry, and [Cruise] didn’t know what to do.”

The only thing more on brand than Tom Cruise not knowing how to relate to other human beings would be him not knowing how to relate to other human beings while running.

Blunt continued, “I was like, ‘Tom, I’m not sure how I’m going to get through this shoot,’ and just started to cry. I said, ‘I’m feeling a bit panicky about the whole shoot.’ He just stared at me for a long time, not knowing what to do, and he goes, ‘Come on, stop being such a p*ssy, OK?’” Blunt had to laugh at Cruise’s reply, but she was right to be concerned about the suit: her ribs and collarbones are “still dodgy,” eight years later.

Maybe that’s why a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow hasn’t happened yet. Or maybe it’s because everyone is still waiting on Cruise to give the OK to the title being Edge of 2morrow. Honestly, it’s not even worth making if it’s anything but that.

You can listen to the podcast below.

(Via Indiewire)

Today (December 12), Bad Bunny was selected as one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Entertainers Of The Year for 2022. One of the Puerto Rican star’s closest friends and collaborators, Colombian singer J Balvin, reflected on his record-breaking year in music.

J Balvin was one of Bad Bunny’s earliest supporters. In an essay for Entertainment Weekly, Balvin recounted his first time meeting Bad Bunny. They first collaborated in 2017 for the single “Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola.”

“We met in his native Puerto Rico, and I immediately learned the rumors on the street about him were true,” Balvin wrote. “He was a young twentysomething kid starting out, and I was finally seeing mainstream recognition. We were both eager to take over the world through our music and beyond.”

In 2019, J Balvin and Bad Bunny joined forces for the joint album Oasis. The LP featured the hits like “La Canción” and “Que Pretendes.” The massive moment for Latin music was considered to be on par with Jay-Z teaming up with Kanye West for 2011’s Watch The Throne album.

“From the moment we stepped into the studio together, he had an incredible vibe and talent, and our musical chemistry just flowed,” Balvin wrote. “We also shared a love of fashion, and weren’t afraid to shake things up with crazy hair and bright colors. As I look back thinking of those two young men in the studio plotting world domination, I’m filled with overwhelming gratitude for being able to witness him grow as an artist.”

Now that Bad Bunny has broken records with his blockbuster Un Verano Sin Ti album and his World’s Hottest Tour, Balvin is proud to see him representing the Latinx community in the mainstream. Bad Bunny also made his big screen debut this year in the movie Bullet Train alongside Brad Pitt.

“In each generation, an artist comes around who is an undeniable superstar that both shocks and inspires. Bad Bunny has that star power,” Balvin wrote. “Bad Bunny has broken cultural barriers through music, fashion, and now film — and through it all, hasn’t shied away from self-expression and being true to himself. I’m incredibly proud of all Benito has accomplished and that he’s continuing the Reggaeton legacy by bringing the Latinx culture to the masses.”

SZA went off across the 23 tracks on S.O.S., her sophomore LP five years in the making that finally arrived on Friday, December 9. The St. Louis-bred artist’s lyricism cuts deep, but her sonic palate is vast. From the pop-punk “F2F,” to the Phoebe Bridgers-assisted “Ghost In The Machine” and tear-jerking ballad “Nobody Gets Me,” the project can’t be pigeonholed. And that’s exactly how SZA wants it.

“I’m so tired of being pegged as [an] R&B artist,” SZA told writer Jewel Wicker for a newly published Consequence cover story. “I feel like that’s super disrespectful, because people are just like, ‘Oh, ’cause you’re Black, this is what you have to be’ — like, put in a box. And I hate that. With songs on this album, it’s supposed to help round out the picture and the story.”

She added, “It’s very lazy to just throw me in the box of R&B. I love making Black music, period. Something that is just full of energy. Black music doesn’t have to just be R&B. We started rock ‘n’ roll. Why can’t we just be expansive and not reductive?”

Lizzo, SZA’s longtime friend, recently expressed a similar sentiment.

“Genre’s racist inherently,” she told Entertainment Weekly, in part. “I think if people did any research they would see that there was race music and then there was pop music. And race music was their way of segregating Black artists from being mainstream, because they didn’t want their kids listening to music created by Black and brown people because they said it was demonic and yada, yada, yada. So then there were these genres created almost like code words: R&B, and then of course eventually hip-hop and rap was born from that. I think when you think about pop, you think about MTV in the ’80s talking about ‘We can’t play rap music’ or ‘We can’t put this person on our platform because we’re thinking about what people in the middle of America think’ — and we all know what that’s code for.”

With Consequence, SZA also discussed her heightened anxiety attached to the demands of her album and the music industry in general, her wish to “disappear … for as long as I can,” and more.

Lizzo is a Warner Music Artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Thanks to the success of the global hit “Pantysito,” 2022 was a breakthrough year for Alejo. With his dreamy video video for “Estrella” that was released on Friday (December 9), the Puerto Rican teen sensation upped the Latin heartthrob ante with the addition of boy band CNCO. Alejo talked with Uproxx about his representing the new wave of reggaeton stars and working with CNCO.

Back in March, Alejo teamed up with fellow Puerto Rican singer Robi and Colombian star Feid for the reggaeton romp “Pantysito.” The collaboration amassed over 202 million streams on Spotify this past year. The music video on YouTube added 58 million views to that global haul. Alejo revealed that he spent a few years before “Pantysito” making music that wasn’t hitting and the song’s success gave him a much-needed push.

“That song was everything that I needed in my career, and in my life as well, to be trust in myself and keep giving it my all,” Alejo said. “That song marked the beginning of Alejo. It gave me a lot of confidence not only to keep making music, but self-confidence as well. There was a time before where I was trying [to break through] and nothing much happened. That song took me out of that sad chapter in my life.”

At 19-years-old, Alejo is leading the way for the next generation of reggaeton stars. “I live and die by reggaeton,” he said about staying true to the genre. For the highly-anticipated “Pantysito” remix, Alejo teamed up with reggaeton icons Wisin y Yandel, Nicky Jam, and Cosculluela. Due to the remix leaking online, he announced that the release was cancelled last month.

“That was sad,” Alejo said. “At the end of the day, I’m not disappointed. We made a great remix. When I heard the remix, I was like, ‘Damn, that’s Wisin y Yandel on my song!’ That’s crazy. Sometimes things happen that aren’t in my control, so the remix wasn’t released. I’m a believer that things happen for a reason. If it didn’t come out, then it wasn’t meant to come out.”

Alejo later collaborated with Wisin in “Volar” and Colombian superstar Karol G for “Un Viaje.” For his single “Estrella,” he’s now joining forces with CNCO. In the alluring love song, Alejo trades verses with the guys about not needing to be verified on Instagram to feel like a star.

“It’s about a beautiful women who doesn’t need validation from social media,” Alejo said. “CNCO is very cool. Honestly, I didn’t know a song that hard would come out of this, but we have a banger. I’m so happy. When I was with them, they’re normal people. They’re young guys like me, so we had a great time shooting the video. At the end of the day, we made great music.”

Back in June, Alejo released his Full Discoteka EP without any features. He wanted to shine solo. Alejo recently wrapped-up his first world tour in support of the EP and “Pantysito.”

“My goal is for people to enjoy my music the way I enjoy it,” Alejo said. “For us to be in a concert and sharing that same feeling. I want to enjoy myself. If people have fun with my music, that makes me happy.”

After Universal dropped the latest trailer for M3GAN, which centers on a killer robot doll, Meghan McCain couldn’t help but give her take. Despite the film not being about a senator’s daughter, or anything even close to McCain’s life (unless she’s secretly an AI cyborg with creepy dance moves), the two do sort of share a name, and that was enough for the former The View co-host to fire off a tongue-in-cheek tweet.

“I feel personally attacked by this movie title and the entire premise,” McCain wrote followed by three laughing emoji.

Naturally, McCain got lit up in the replies as people roasted the political firebrand for not being able to resist weighing in as a self-comparison.

In McCain’s defense, she’s not the first Megan/Meghan to respond connection to the film’s title. Megan Thee Stallion called out the creepy murder doll back in October after the official trailer dropped. Although, in this particular case, Thee Stallion can actually dance and is a well-known horror buff, so that significantly ups her connection to M3GAN.

“Not being biased but I think they made this movie for me I will be the THEE FIRST in line to see M3GAN!!!” she tweeted before declaring M3GAN the new champ of murder doll films. “Annabelle bitch your over.”

(Via Meghan McCain on Twitter)

Early Monday morning police in Austin, Texas responded to a call at Texas basketball coach Chris Beard’s house where he was arrested and charged with a “third-degree felony charge of assault on a family/household member-impede breath circulation,” per the Austin-American Statesman.

The University of Texas provided a brief statement noting they were “aware of the situation” and gathering details, while Beard’s attorney, Perry Minton, issued the expected denial of wrongdoing to the Austin-American Statesman.

“Coach Beard is 100% innocent of these charges. He should never have been arrested. The complainant wants him released immediately and all charges dismissed. It is truly inconceivable.”

The 49-year-old coach has become one of the biggest names in college basketball after his success at Texas Tech led to him getting the Texas job in 2021. However, that meteoric rise to the top of the coaching world is now in jeopardy if he is found guilty of the alleged strangling and assault of a family member.

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw SZA’s sophomore album finally, actually drop and Lana Del Rey continue her recent run of productivity. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters. Also find our Uproxx HQ Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly with the best new music, at the end of this post.

SZA — “Nobody Gets Me”

SZA has brought some life to a mostly uneventful December (in terms of new music) with SOS, her long-awaited sophomore album. Shortly after the project dropped, SZA also shared a video for “Nobody Gets Me,” an example of the genre-spanning nature of the LP as it’s a vulnerable acoustic pop ballad.

Lana Del Rey — “Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”

To reiterate a bit: For December, last week was surprisingly busy when it came to worthwhile new music. Aside from SZA, Lana Del Rey went ahead and announced a new album, Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Yes, that’s a mouthful, but now you have to say it twice because she dropped a new song also called “Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.” By the way: Yes, there is actually a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.

Caroline Polachek — “Welcome To My Island”

Polachek has been dropping standalone singles here and there for the past 18 months or so, and now they’re about to have an album home: Last week, Polachek announced Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, which is set to drop next Valentine’s Day. With that news came another new tune in “Welcome To My Island,” an airy pop anthem.

Gorillaz — “Skinny Ape”

Gorillaz have Cracker Island dropping next February, and they previewed it last week with “Skinny Ape,” a laid back tune with a subtle groove… until it drastically kicks up the energy in the song’s final quarter. Furthermore, the Damon Albarn group is also planning performances of the song in New York and London that promise to be “immersive experiences.”

Paramore — “The News”

As Paramore inches towards their forthcoming 2023 album This Is Why, they shared some thoughts about journalism on “The News.” Uproxx’s Danielle Chelosky described the tune as a “spunky, frustrated anthem” and Hayley Williams called it “a happy medium between classic Paramore angst and bringing in some influences we’ve always had but never exploited.”

Polo G — “My All”

Polo G has an album set to drop in 2023, although we don’t know a ton about it yet. What we do know, though, is that we can expect last week’s “My All” to appear on it. Uproxx’s Lexi Lane notes of the track’s subject matter, “Struggling with trust issues and women, Polo G decides he just wants to live in the moment as the melody fades out.”

YG and Lil Wayne — “Miss My Dawgs”

There have been a lot of hip-hop deaths in the past few years that have cut deep. While YG and Lil Wayne don’t address anybody by name on last week’s “Miss My Dawgs,” the album does get at themes of a longing for people who have left your life in one way or another. YG raps, for example, on the chorus, “Man, I miss my dawgs / The ones I pick up for, ain’t never missed a call / Plottin’ to get it poppin’, we had plans to get it all / Wishin’ you was here, dawg, to ride these foreign cars.”

Dove Cameron — “Girl Like Me”

Cameron hopped in the wayback machine for “Girl Like Me,” her new single: it features an interpolation of Edwyn Collins’ “A Girl Like You,” which Cameron was inspired to utilize after hearing it in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. She explained, “I was like, ‘Oh my god, it would be so fun to cover on tour.’ And we were like, ‘What if we just flip the narrative? What if we just said, ‘You’ve ever met a girl like me before’?”

Blxst — “Keep Calling” Feat. Larry June

Blxst had a huge 2022, dropping his debut album and featuring on Kendrick Lamar’s top-5 Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers track “Die Hard.” Instead of just fading away into the new year, he came through with one more single, a self-laudatory new collaboration with Larry June titled “Keep Calling.”

Sparklehorse — “It Will Never Stop”

Sparklehorse leader Mark Linkous died in 2010, which meant the end of a group that still had plenty in the tank. That’s also true of the vault, as the band’s label Anti- dropped “It Will Never Stop” last week. Uproxx’s Danielle Chelosky notes of the tune, “At only a minute and a half, the song captures the special eccentricity of Sparklehorse, soaked in fuzzy reverb with a shockingly buoyant rhythm beneath such sad words.”

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