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The alleged affair between Good Morning America anchors Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes is still causing behind-the-scenes drama at ABC. At first, the network appeared to be leaning into the debacle with sources going so far to describe the situation as “ratings gold.” Holmes and Robach even joked about the fiasco on the air, but that’s apparently when things went south.

The Monday after the couple quipped about their wild week, ABC benched both of them pending an investigation. Turns out, Holmes has been accused of having a pre-Robach affair. His fling with Robach also reportedly caused issues with network anchors who want nothing to do with the situation. Via Page Six:

As network execs mull over the anchors’ fate amid their scandalous romance, sources tell Page Six that Robach’s “20/20” co-anchor David Muir “wants no part” of the drama.

“He’s not having it. He’s the face of the evening news and nothing about him ever makes it into the papers. He’s very private and no one at ABC likes the way Amy and T.J. handled it,” a source told Page Six.

According to sources, the official network stance was not to address the situation. However, that went out the window when Holmes made a “great week” quip on the air, which reportedly made his ABC co-workers “very unhappy.”

“If the decision is to not address it, then don’t address it!” a source told Page Six. “T.J. made light of it on-air. Amy’s smarter than that, but how else is she supposed to respond?”

As of this writing, ABC has not made a decision about Robach and Holmes’ future at the network.

(Via Page Six)

Doja Cat cracked the top 10 of Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart and hit No. 3 on the Radio Songs chart with “Vegas,” her contribution to the Elvis soundtrack, but the song unfortunately will not earn her an Oscar, according to Variety.

“The lead single from the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Presley biopic, it was written by Doja Cat and producers Roget Chahayed and Yeti Beats, but its interpolation of the Presley classic “Hound Dog” (by Mike Stoller and the late Jerry Lieber) apparently doomed it for consideration,” the publication reported. “Oscar rules demand that both words and music must be ‘original, and written specifically for the motion picture’ and must be the result of ‘creative interaction between the filmmakers and the songwriters who have been engaged to work directly on the motion picture.’”

The same report published today (December 12) relayed that the Tár score has also been disqualified from Oscar contention: “While some sources claimed that the dramatic score exceeded the minimum 35% of total music in the film, as called for by Academy rules, it may have run afoul of another rule that states ‘a score shall not be eligible if it has been diluted by the use of pre-existing music.’”

The full nomination field for the 95th Academy Awards will be unveiled January 24, and the ceremony is slated for March 12. See the full 2023 Oscars timeline here.

(SPOILERS from The White Lotus will be found below.)

HBO’s The White Lotus did the seemingly unthinkable by killing off one of the anthology series’ most popular characters. In fact, the series showcased the demise of the connecting thread (Tanya) between the first two seasons. It’s a decision, and a shocking one, as well as tragic and funny, and at least we know that the devious gay gang got what it deserved. Where, exactly, this takes Cowboy Greg, is a whole other matter. Dude has a fat wallet now, but surely, that’s not the end of Greg’s story, right?

As it turns out, Greg has been the worst character all along, even through Season 1, and showrunner Mike White spoke with Entertainment Tonight and revealed how a conversation between Tanya and Greg laid some groundwork for Tanya’s demise, and it’s a perspective that puts her at least partially in control:

“In the end of last season, Tanya is sitting with Greg in the last episode and he’s talking about his health issues, and she says, ‘I’ve had every kind of treatment over the years. Death is the last immersive experience I haven’t tried,’” White says.

White continued to unravel how Tanya’s “journey to… death” was a way for the series to “devise our own operatic conclusion to Tanya’s life and her story.” As well, the showrunner declared that he felt it important for Tanya to rise victorious over her captors, but “it just made me laugh to think like, she would like, take out all of these cabal of killers and that after she successfully does that, then she just dies this derpy death.” And it worked. Tanya died, but at least she died on her own terms and while giving herself the pep talk that no one else would do. The franchise will miss her, but hey, maybe Portia can dig into things (knowing all that she knows now) and help expose Greg in Season 3 or 4. Fingers crossed!

(Via ET Online)

Anuel AA unleashed his collaboration-heavy album LLNM2 on Friday (December 9). Across the 33-tracks, Puerto Rican superstar teamed up with Kodak Black, David Guetta, and Lil Durk. Anuel AA’s wife Yailin La Más Viral and DaBaby also feature on the LP.

LLNM2 is a sequel to Anuel AA’s Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren album that was released last year. He doubled the the number of songs from the original Leyenda LP that featured 16 tracks. Anuel AA, who is a force in Latin trap and reggaeton, worked with many of today’s top hip-hop stars. Trap music in Spanish and English collide in the dreamy “1ro” featuring Lil Durk. Kodak Black jumped on in the salsa-infused “Sufro” with Ñengo Flow and Anuel AA. DaBaby dabbled in reggaeton in “Wakanda,” where he and Anuel AA rapped about partying in the country from the Black Panther movies.

Anuel AA also teamed up with French DJ Guetta. The two artists linked-up for the club banger “Vibra” that blended reggaeton with elements of tropical house music. Anuel AA’s wife Yailin La Más Viral featured on the hardest track of the LP, “La Máquina.” The power couple joined Puerto Rican icons Jowell y Randy and De La Ghetto for alluring reggaeton romp. Yailin La Más Viral held her among the men with her fierce bars.

LLNM2 is out now via Real Hasta La Muerte LLC. Listen to it here.

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

A therapist on TikTok is wreaking havoc with his advice to clients, putting out information that could be detrimental to the mental health of therapists everywhere. OK, I’m being melodramatic, but from the comments, you can see he’s at least giving them a few heart palpitations.

Jeff Guenther, who goes by Therapy Jeff on TikTok, is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) who not only owns a successful private practice and a therapist directory for clients called Therapy Den, he also creates content on TikTok. In one of his latest videos, his sense of humor is on display, which could be debated by those affected.

It’s all in good fun, messing with his global colleagues by telling clients exactly how to prank them. Yup. A therapist is giving away the code on how to mess with your therapist in session and I have to say, as a therapist, my heart would skip a beat or four if a client did any of these things. But then, we would have a good laugh, so it seems like a pretty harmless prank.

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In case you were unaware, your therapist probably has anxiety and if they don’t, pulling this trick will likely induce it. Guenther tells his 2.4 million followers, “Three ways to mess with your therapist,” before listing them off. The first one being to start the session with, “Well I did exactly what you told me to do,” before telling his viewers to watch the therapist have an internal freak-out trying to remember what they told you to do. Come on, Jeff. That’s just not nice.

Of course, therapists jumped into his comments immediately. One commenter said, “As a therapist myself, please don’t do this lol,” complete with a nervous smiling emoji. Another therapist chimed in with, “I am a psychologist. I would CRUMBLE.” While many comments were fully in support of these hijinks, one person replied, “Sir, my therapist is trying to help me. Only one of use can be unhinged…”

Guenther is clearly trying to create a situation where the client is reminding the therapist how to handle an anxiety attack. Check out his other ways to cause your therapist to panic, below:

@therapyjeff

3 ways to mess with your therapist. #therapy #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #therapist #relationshipgoals #therapytok #relationshiptips #funny #prank

Holiday music is a funny thing. On the one hand, there are the old classics that we replay year after year—Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” Nat King Cole’s “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire,” Burl Ives’ “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” and so on. On the other hand, we have the ever-increasing repertoire of modern Christmas music, since every artist seems to feel the need to release a holiday album.

If it weren’t for modern Christmas music, we would never have been blessed/cursed with “Last Christmas” or “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and there’s no question that such songs can be a mixed bag. But this year’s surprise breakout holiday hit comes from a rather unexpected source—the one and only Kevin Bacon—and it’s simply delighful.

Even more unexpectedly, Bacon’s Christmas song comes from Marvel’s “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.” If you didn’t know there was a “Guardians of the Galaxy” Christmas special, you’re not really missing much—except this Kevin Bacon song.

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Bacon has been delighting us with his music on social media for a while, and it became especially appreciated during the pandemic shutdowns. (Seriously, Kevin Bacon singing Beyoncé surrounded by goats was a thing and it was glorious.) He plays the guitar and sings and appears to be having the time of his life doing it.

That’s one reason “Here It Is Christmastime” is so great. It was released by Old 97’s eight years ago and it’s a sweet song, but the Kevin Bacon version is … well … better. The fact that it’s being sung with a bunch of aliens is just a product of the Kevin-Bacon-getting-kidnapped-Drax-and-Mantis-storyline thing. Don’t overthink it, just enjoy.

And if you want to see an even better version of it without the aliens and the interruptions from the other characters, Bacon and Old 97’s performed it live on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.” Also good if you’re new to Kevin Bacon as a musician and are wondering if he really can sing. Yes, he can.

An instant classic? That remains to be seen. Let’s just say if it replaces “Last Christmas” I wouldn’t be sad.

Let’s hear it for the lost generation—the slackers and middle children who brought us apathy personified and grunge music. Sure, Gen Xers might not be as loud as the boomers, millennials or even the Gen Zers of this world, but that’s only because, if we’re honest, they’re too busy taking care of things themselves to have time to complain.

And you know, for being the forgotten generation, the world can’t seem to stop talking about it. From Gen X pop culture classics re-emerging into the mainstream, to making headline-worthy spikes in wealth over the past couple of years, this group is (finally) in the spotlight.

Recently u/Ruffffian asked the Reddit community to share what they consider to be “THE most Gen X” thing. As a certified millennial, I have absolutely no idea what half of them are (seriously, what is a “Garbage Pail Kid” and why are they terrifying?). But I guess that’s why only you latchkey kids can proudly claim them.

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Much of what people shared harkens back to an experience, rather than an actual object. But one thing’s for sure—only Gen Xers can fully understand, let alone appreciate, this list. Dare I say, no other generation has this flavor combination of edgy and wholesome.

1. “Columbia House collect notices.”

– @additional-Olive-405

Not gonna lie, I had to look up what this meant. Fellow millennials, think old Netflix, but for music. There, translated.

2. “Never getting mentioned in the news. It always goes from gen z to millennials to boomers.”

– @My_eternals

3. “Video arcade. Before Gen-X, graphics weren’t good enough, and after Gen-X, you’d play the games on your own home console. No other generation claimed them like we did.”

via GIPHY

– @Masonsknob

4. “Parachute pants..the noise was deafening in the halls between classes!!”

– @GboyFlex

5. “Claiming shotgun in the car so you had access to the binder and could play DJ for the night.”

via GIPHY

– @TikTokTinMan

So like … no Spotify playlist? Such dark times.

6. “Sun-In for hair. Feathered bangs. Blue eyeliner. Love’s Baby Soft. Jellies.”

– @star-67

7. “Hair crimper, riding bikes with no helmets, buying smokes for my dad at the shop. Putting baby oil on and sunbaking (cause we were literally baking ourselves haha) doing whatever I wanted for one to two hours after school by myself cause parents were still working. Being allowed to roam the streets until almost dark.”

via GIPHY

– @Master-Cricket9906

8. “I said-a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie To the hip hip hop-a you don’t stop the rock it to the bang-bang boogie, say up jump the boogie To the rhythm of the boogie, the beat…”

– @labretirementhome

9. “Being the last unreachable generation. There were hours where no one knew where we were and our parents had zero way to contact us.”

– @Nakedreader_ga

10. “Calling your out-of-town friend collect from a payphone to another payphone to avoid long distance charges.“

via GIPHY

– @Advancedbullshit (who “successfully did this with a boyfriend too”)

11. “Always having a pencil in the car for cassettes.“

– @sillyputtygizmo

12. “Being the last generation to have to walk across the room to change the TV channel. Being able to fix the TV by pounding on it the right way. Getting the brown box for the TV and there only being three stations.”

– @ok_micologist_5569

13. “Watching MTV’s Headbangers Ball on Saturday morning, ready to record on the VHS when my favorite bands came on.”

via GIPHY

– @hyenaatemyface

14. “What defined Gen X growing up was living under the constant threat of nuclear war. If you wonder why Gen X is defined as ‘whatever,’ it’s because we believed that at some point in our future, we’d end up living, or dying, in a nuclear winter.”

– @ruatrollorruserious

15. “Beepers. It felt so important to have one, even cooler if you paid extra for the voicemail service.”

– @nousername56789

And finally…

16. “Being old enough to remember (and appreciate) life before the internet and cellphones but being young enough to transition into that world without a hitch.“

– @TikTokTinMan

Caroline Polachek is upping the ante on the anticipation for Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, her album due on February 14, 2023, by giving “Welcome To My Island” a video today (December 12).

Co-directed by Polachek, the video begins viscerally with a close-up of her face as she lets out a mixture of a primal scream and an incredibly impressive vocal run. We watch her casually grab a coffee before she’s crammed into a cardboard box and transformed into a griffin-like creature. At one point, blood gurgles out of her mouth like lava from a volcano.

“Welcome To My Island / Hope you like me, you ain’t leavin’,” Polachek dictates in the refrain, sliding effortlessly in the soaring chorus: “Desire, I wanna turn into you / Float on / The ocean blue.”

“Welcome To My Island” released last week and was co-written with noted Olivia Rodrigo collaborator Dan Nigro. Polachek has also dropped “Sunset” and “Billions” this year, with “Bunny Is A Rider” landing in 2021.

“One, it can be read as being about the ‘you,’” Polachek recently told Rolling Stone of the album’s title. “We all know that feeling of falling in love, of wanting to obsessively learn from and become that person. But on the other hand, maybe desire is the thing you want to turn into itself.”

Watch the “Welcome To My Island” video above. She also announced 2023 tour dates today, so find those below.

02/10/2023 — Brighton, UK @ Chalk
02/11/2023 — Leeds, UK @ Leeds Beckett Student Union
02/12/2023 — Oxford, UK @ 02 Academy Oxford
02/14/2023 — London, UK @ Brixton Academy
02/15/2023 — Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
02/16/2023 — Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory
02/18/2023 — Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel
02/20/2023 — Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
02/22/2023 — Berlin, DE @ Huxleys
02/23/2023 — Hamburg, DE @ Mojo Club
02/24/2023 — Amsterdam, NL@ Paradiso
02/25/2023 — Cologne, DE @ Kantine
02/27/2023 — Antwerp, BE @ Trix
04/14/2023 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall *
04/15/2023 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *
04/17/2023 — Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
04/18/2023 — Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre *
04/19/2023 — Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
04/21/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern *
04/22/2023 — Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
04/24/2023 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
04/25/2023 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater *
04/26/2023 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum ^
04/28/2023 — Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre #
04/29/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium #
05/01/2023 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield %
05/04/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo #
05/08/2023 — Vancouver, BC @ The Orpheum #
05/09/2023 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom #
05/13/2023 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
05/14/2023 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom @
05/16/2023 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre +
05/17/2023 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium +
05/19/2023 — Washington D.C. @ The Anthem +
05/20/2023 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall +

* with George Clanton
^ with Toro Y Moi
# with Sudan Archives
% with Magdalena Bay
@ with Alex G
+ with Ethel Cain

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is out 2/14/2023 via Perpetual Novice. Pre-order it here.

When Christopher Nolan announced that he was making, Oppenheimer, a biopic on the creator of the atomic bomb, the joke at the time is that the infamously CGI-adverse director would find some sort of way to actually detonate a nuke. Nolan was coming off his latest blockbuster, Tenet, where he famously crashed a real plane for a scene, so what’s a little atom-splitting thrown in the mix?

Well, to the surprise of no one, Nolan is now boasting that he found a way to simulate a nuclear blast without using CGI, and on American soil no less. Via Total Film:

“I think recreating the Trinity test [the first nuclear weapon detonation, in New Mexico] without the use of computer graphics, was a huge challenge to take on,” explains Nolan in Total Film(opens in new tab)’s upcoming 2023 Preview issue. “Andrew Jackson – my visual effects supervisor, I got him on board early on – was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, a lot of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there – there were huge practical challenges.”

Total Film also tweeted one of their exclusive images from Nolan’s film.

Considering New Mexico isn’t a smoking crater, and the fact that Nolan isn’t under arrest for war crimes, obviously, he didn’t use a real nuke. Of course, that didn’t stop a massive explosion of jokes on Twitter.

(Via Total Film)

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)