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After bringing the box office back to life with last year’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the little alien love story that could, things have been awfully quiet on the Tom Hardy front. A little too quiet. Turns out, there’s perfectly good (and surprisingly badass) reason for that: Hardy’s been traipsing across England while winning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments.

According to a report in the Teesside News, Hardy showed up unannounced to a tournament over the weekend, much to the surprise of his opponent who had no idea what was happening until the 44-year-old actor came out to fight him.

“I recognised him straightaway. Everyone knows who Tom Hardy is, don’t they?” Danny Appleby told the small town paper. “I was shell-shocked. He said ‘just forget it’s me and do what you would normally do.’”

After gaining his composure, Appleby took on Hardy, which he thought would be an easy fight against a celebrity. Not so much. Via Teesside News:

“He’s a really strong guy,” he continued, “you wouldn’t think it with him being a celebrity. I do okay, I’ve done about six tournaments and I’ve been on the podium in every one. But he’s probably the toughest competitor I’ve had – he certainly lived up to his Bane character, that’s for sure.”

After the match, Hardy reportedly chatted it up with folks and revealed that he actually has family in the area. He’s “genuinely a really nice guy,” Appleby said about Hardy. The actor even posed for the tournament sponsor’s Instagram account where he can be seen holding his win certificate made out to his real name: Edward Hardy.

(Via Teesside News)

Floyd Mayweather’s last non-exhibition boxing match came in 2017, when the former world champion stepped in the ring with UFC legend Conor McGregor and picked up a TKO in the 10th round to move his career record to 50-0. Mayweather has opted to do a handful of exhibition bouts since then, while McGregor’s MMA career has floundered in the years since, with two losses to Dustin Poirier, a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, and a win over Donald Cerrone.

Now, it looks like the pair are going to step into the ring again sometime in 2023. Mayweather spoke to the Daily Mail recently and explained that once he gets past a pair of exhibition bouts, including one on Sept. 25 against Mikuru Asakura, his focus will shift to getting a rematch against McGregor lined up.

“We don’t know if it’s going to be an exhibition or a real fight,” Mayweather said. “But there’s been talks of both. I would prefer an exhibition.”

Mayweather went on to say that his preference is for the fight to be an exhibition, as “I am not into fights where I am going to take any real punishment. So, guys like Conor McGregor and guys that don’t really hit hard such as YouTubers or UFC guys, I don’t really mind colliding with those kinds of individuals but nothing where I am going to put myself in a position where I am going to harm myself or hurt myself.”

The last time the pair stepped into the ring, Mayweather reportedly earned something in the ballpark of $275 million, while McGregor took home $85 million.

In a new clip making the rounds online, Offset spoke to Complex‘s Speedy Morman, and was asked about who his “GOAT” (greatest of all time) rapper would be. His response? None other than Jay-Z.

“I gotta say Hov — all his sh*t is platinum,” Offset said. “So, sometimes the success is the reason why people say he’s the greatest of all time, what he did after Rap. Bro, on Rap, you can’t play with him! You can’t play with him since the beginning of time. He always had the biggest records, he always got the biggest people and did the biggest records, and he still come back and make impactful records, right now.”

“That’s a fact. Some of them more than platinum,” Speedy replies.

“If Jay do a verse right now, everybody wanna hear it to support what the man saying,” Offset continued. “Twelve bars, ’cause it’s not a—then he so up but his flows be so relatable.”

Offset also lists his GOAT interview moment. While Speedy lists his interview with Ray J, Offset lists a tense 2017 red carpet moment featuring Akademiks. “You got to look at act two though, during the interview,” he said.

At that year’s BET Awards, DJ Akademiks found himself in the middle of a feud between his Everyday Struggles cohost Joe Budden and Offset’s group Migos. Things went south after Akademiks pointed out that member Takeoff didn’t have a verse on the trio’s hit song “Bad And Boujee.” Budden walked out of the interview, which only escalated things before security stepped in to stop an altercation.

Watch Offset’s Complex interview responses above.

A week after the murder of PnB Rock in Los Angeles, one of the city’s most prominent native sons addressed his hometown with an urgent message. Roddy Ricch, who was born and bred in Compton, the same notorious LA suburb that gave the world NWA, Kendrick Lamar, and the Williams sisters, posted a rare missive on social media regarding the murder, sharing his thoughts via Instagram Story on Tuesday (Sept 20).

“LA! Usually I try to mind my business and let the world rotate but we gotta do better,” he wrote. “It’s too much senseless violence. Too much opportunity and motivation to take things other people work hard for. It’s too much life to live to take someone else’s away. I love my city but we can’t keep going out like this. Before you know it, it’ll be nobody left to take from or kill. Let’s stay on point stay aware and find better ways to pursue our dreams because this shit turning into ALL NIGHTMARES.”

Roddy’s message is the latest in an ongoing discussion among rap fans that have posited LA as a hotspot of violence against rappers. In the past three years, multiple prominent rappers have been killed in LA, including Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, and Drakeo The Ruler. Of course, nearly every city has seen increased incidents of violence including Young Dolph, Archie Eversole, Trouble, JayDa Youngan, and more. These incidents have been attributed to any number of reasons, from botched strong-arm robberies to gang rivalries.

Unfortunately, what appears to be an epidemic among rappers is again merely a microcosm of larger social ills especially wealth inequality, lack of mental health treatment for Black and Latino communities, and deeply ingrained, toxic notions of masculinity. Equally, unfortunately, LA can appear to be a center point of this violence, because so much of the music industry is based there, meaning that there are more rappers there at any given time to be preyed upon by hungry stick-up kids — as was recently pointed out by PnB Rock himself before his death.

The only permanent solution is to change the environment for the better, addressing the inequalities that leave so many angry and desperate enough to take such extreme measures. Until then, Uncle Ice-T might have the best advice: Tuck in those chains and stay off social media.

Justin Trudeau is in the midst of a royal scandal, and for what some might say are some admittedly nitpicky reasons. On Saturday night, two days before Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral, Canada’s prime minister was seen rocking a T-shirt and relaxing with fellow members of the Canadian delegation in London’s Corinthia Hotel. At one point, someone caught Trudeau on camera leaning on a piano and sing-speaking Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the footage has thrown people into a tizzy. And Trevor Noah claimed to totally agree with them.

As The Daily Show host explained on Tuesday night: “People are saying it was disrespectful, and they’re right. You don’t sing a song by Queen when the Queen has died. That’s insulting. You sing Wu-Tang! It was her favorite group!”

Noah admitted that he doesn’t “get why people are so angry about it. Who cares? It’s not like he sang ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’”

You can watch the full clip above, beginning at the :40 mark.

For the record: Trudeau’s team has responded to the criticisms of his behavior.

As the BBC reported, a spokesperson for the PM stated that:

After dinner on Saturday, [the] prime minister joined a small gathering with members of the Canadian delegation, who have come together to pay tribute to the life and service of Her Majesty.

Gregory Charles, a renowned musician from Quebec and Order of Canada recipient, played piano in the hotel lobby which resulted in some members of the delegation including the prime minister joining.

The same spokesperson also reiterated that “the prime minister has taken part in various activities to pay his respects for the Queen,” including marking September 19 as a National Day of Mourning in Canada.

It’s widely known that One Direction (Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne) formed on The X Factor UK, but there has some debate about how the singers were actually grouped together during the show’s tenth season in 2013.

Both Simon Cowell and judge (and Pussycat Dolls member) Nicole Scherzinger have claimed credit for forming 1D. In a 2013 appearance on the group’s 1D Day webcast, Cowell said, “It was my idea [to put you guys together]. It was really weird. I just said, ‘Why don’t we put these guys into a group?’ It took 10 minutes!” In a 2014 interview, Scherzinger said, “I’m happy for their success. I can’t believe I put together the group and then I’m at Walmart buying One Direction bags for my nieces. Like, something is wrong with this picture! […] Where’s my cut? Seriously? I’m a giver, what can I say? I gave the world One Direction.”

Now, though, some recently shared old footage adds merit to Scherzinger’s insistence that she deserves more credit.

In July, The X Factor UK shared previously unreleased video of Cowell, Scherzinger, and Louis Walsh looking over a table of X Factor contestant photos, deciding who should advance in the competition. In the conversation, Scherzinger proposes, “Let’s do an imaginary boy band […] instead of just saying ‘no.’” From there, they look through the photos and eventually settle on the five-piece that would go on to make their mark in the pop world.

Scherzinger discussed the clip in a recent interview with Sherri Shepherd on Sherri, saying, “It’s kind of crazy, Sherri. Honestly, I never thought this footage would see the light of day. I thought Simon burned it [laughs]. And it’s really cool that it came out because what people are actually seeing is me actually putting them together […] and being like, ‘Look, I just came out of a girl group, I know how successful and powerful it can be to be a group, we gotta join forces.’ It’s amazing to think… we didn’t have anything at that time, so I’m super proud that I got to play a small part — or a big part […] They made history, right? To be a small part of history.”

Donald Trump is always fighting with someone — if not multiple people. And right now his biggest beef appears to be with former ally-turned-biggest competitor for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination Ron DeSantis. Like millions of others around the world, Trump is beside himself over the Florida governor’s recent human trafficking prank, where he paid to fly 48 undocumented Venezuelan migrants from San Antonio to the tony island of Martha’s Vineyard.

But, on Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel explained that Trump’s problems with DeSantis’ immigration switcheroo have nothing to do with the inhumanity of it all:

Word is Trump’s upset about that. Not because he cares about the people. He’s upset because he thinks DeSantis stole the idea from him.

Can you imagine being such a despicable creep you’re mad at someone for being a despicable creep sooner than you? It’s like taking credit for being the first guy to put pineapple on pizza.

Kimmel did warn, however, that “this could get ugly.” Then proceeded to out yet another “big idea Ronald took from Donald.” As Kimmel explained, DeSantis is offering supporters who donate at least $37 a DeSantis Gold Card, which Jimmy thinks “sounds awfully similar to the Trump Gold Card, which is accepted every place you don’t want to be.” As Kimmel teased:

I hope Trump doesn’t find out about that because, you know me, the last thing I want to do is start trouble between these two remarkable men. But, man, if somebody stole my idea for selling worthless golden rectangles to imbeciles, I would march right over to the governor’s mansion…

You can watch the full clip above, beginning right around the :50 mark.

Just this week, Chris Pine has missed out two promotional appearances for Don’t Worry Darling, which has been mired in a notably messy publicity tour. First, Pine did not show up for the New York premiere, which he smoothed over by sending a pre-taped video message. A day later, he backed out of an interview for Jimmy Kimmel Live. That last one caused Kimmel to bring in Kathy Griffin as a last-minute replacement, and if Pine was hoping to avoid more Don’t Worry Darling drama, well, that plan backfired.

As soon as Griffin sat down with Kimmel, she immediately blew up Pine’s spot and brought up the now-infamous fiasco over whether or not Harry Styles spit on him at the Venice Film Festival. Via The Daily Beast:

“Let’s not B.S. the audience. I’m here, as usual, because a more famous person fell out.”

“But get this, it was Chris Pine, who Harry Styles spit on!” she continued. “So he doesn’t want to be here and get this one giving him the questions,” Griffin added, referring to Kimmel. “The reason you called me is you know, I’ve been spit on my whole career,” she said, joking that she was even spit on by Harry Styles once: “But I asked him to.”

According to Page Six, Pine had to skip the New York premiere because he’s busy filming in Los Angeles, which makes sense. Granted, Kimmel films in Los Angeles, but there has been an uptick in COVID cases in the area, so perhaps, Pine and his current production are erring on the side of caution. Or Griffin called it, and he doesn’t want to answer questions about Styles spitting on him. Why not both?

(Via The Daily Beast)

Bleu and Nicki Minaj have dropped the visual for their hot collaboration, “Love In The Way.” Directed by Primo, the music video sees Bleu moving through a large house, surrounded by beautiful women dressed in traditional African garb, as he tries to make his way to the one woman he can’t forget, no matter how hard he tries.

Minaj, who opens the song with an intro verse and performs an additional verse on the song’s bridge, is seen wearing a fitting garment bedecked with feathers, as well as lush jewels. Bleu is joined by a group of men wearing traditional markings and vibrant blue suits.

Over the past few years, Bleu has landed some pretty impressive collaborations with artists like Kehlani, 2 Chainz, HER, Big Sean, and more. With “Love In The Way,” the collaboration with Minaj fulfills the prophecy of Bleu collaborating with the Young Money “big three,” as he’s previously teamed up with Drake and Lil Wayne.

In a recent interview with Notion, Bleu revealed that he is hard at work on the follow-up to his 2021 debut album, Moon Boy, but he still feels he has much more he wants to accomplish in his promising career.

“Anything is possible,” Bleu said. “I’m working on new music, very excited about that, but I haven’t even scratched the surface. I’m just getting started. Definitely expect to see more Bleu and Moonboy university! We just getting started.”

Check out the video above.

If there was anyone who should be considered the “perfect” person to respond to Kanye West’s recently resurfaced opinions about reading, it’s Levar Burton. The beloved actor hosted the PBS Kids educational television series Reading Rainbow for more than 23 years from 1983 to 2006 and is pretty much the biggest advocate for reading and literacy there is. Upon seeing a headline touting Kanye’s claim to be repulsed by literature and comparison of books to brussels sprouts, Burton issued an empathetic and thoughtful response that nonetheless conveyed his disappointment in Kanye’s statements.

“I’m going have to take Mr. West at his word,” he wrote on Twitter. “I hope however, that he shares a different message with the children enrolled in the school he’s founded named after his mother, who was an professor of English. I’m fairly certain she read a book or two.”

He is, of course, referring to the recently launched and already controversial Donda Academy, which allegedly has parents sign NDAs while touting an advanced course of study for its hundred or so students. However, considering Kanye’s frankly half-assed approach to practically every other business venture he’s embarked on for the past six years, hopes aren’t high for the private school. It’s not even accredited yet.

Kanye recently reiterated his “proud non-reader of books” status on the podcast Alo Mind Full after being recommended a book by its host. “When you said ‘I hadn’t read this book,’ I actually haven’t read any book,” he asserted. ““Reading is like eating brussel sprouts for me. And talking is like getting the Giorgio Baldi corn ravioli.”