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After a tumultuous few years, Britney Spears made her grand return to music alongside Elton John with their single “Hold Me Closer.” Such an exciting moment for the “Gimme More” artist and her fans could only be boosted by more content from her, and TMZ reports that a video for the record is on the way.

The exact quote states that “a music video for ‘Hold Me Closer’ is underway in some fashion” but no date was provided from the source. Given how long Britney Spears’s fans waited for new music period, this shouldn’t cause too much of a commotion.

Spears has been on an unintended hiatus since 2016’s Glory due to her conservatorship. Glory is anchored by “Make Me” featuring G-Eazy and “Slumber Party” featuring Tinashe. While her return to the public is exciting, it doesn’t come without the usual complications as the pop star will have to miss the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards due to a scheduling conflict that will keep her in Los Angeles, according to TMZ.

As for Elton John, he shared Regimental Sgt. Zippo back in July, and Madman Across The Water the month prior. Notably, the 75-year-old also collaborated with Gorillaz and 6lack on “The Pink Phantom” in 2020.

Check out “Hold Me Closer” here.

We’re a little less than two months away from the NBA season tipping off. Before we get to that point, NBA players of European descent have a whole lot on their plates, as teams are in the midst of FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers right now and EuroBasket begins next week.

This led to a pretty major upset on Saturday afternoon, as the second-best team in Europe by FIBA rankings, France, traveled to Sarajevo to take on Bosnia and Herzegovina. The No. 46 team in the FIBA rankings, Bosnia and Herzegovina managed to defend their home court in a 96-90 victory. It was a matchup of two of the continent’s top centers, with Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic and recently-acquired Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert going head-to-head.

Nurkic had one heck of a night, going for 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. This included one moment when he put France big man and former Boston Celtics center Vincent Poirier on a poster.

A few possessions later, Nurkic got to battle with Gobert on the block and managed to convert a jump hook right over him. Not only did this make him smile, but Nurkic decided to take things one step further by hitting Gobert with a too small celebration.

Gobert won’t have to wait long to potentially get some revenge on Nurkic. Bosnia and Herzegovina is in France’s group at EuroBasket, with the two teams slated to play one another on Sept. 6 in Germany.

There is nothing like going to a show to see one artist, and being surprised when they bring out another popular act. At Reading Festival, Bring Me the Horizon treated attendees to an appearance by none other than Ed Sheeran during their co-headlining set.

After delivering several of their scorching records at the August 27 show, namely “Can You Feel My Heart,” “Strangers,” and “Kingslayer,” the band brought out the “A Team” artist to perform their rock iteration of his 2021 pop hit “Bad Habits.” The remix to “Bad Habits” was released in February of this year, and debuted worldwide live at the 2022 BRIT Awards that same month, so the crowd erupted during this momentous occasion before Bring Me The Horizon ended their set with “Throne.”

Bring Me The Horizon is co-headlining the Reading And Leeds festival with Arctic Monkeys, and is headed to Leeds on Sunday (August 28). As for Ed Sheeran, he recently joined Papoose and Big Narstie for “Groundwork.” In early July, he joined Burna Boy on “For My Hand” from the Nigerian artist’s latest album Love, Damini. What a diverse 2022 it has been for Ed Sheeran, though he is no stranger to experimenting within all realms of music.

Check out his appearance during Bring Me The Horizon’s Reading Festival set above.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Latto has been very vocal about women’s rights in her music, but she isn’t afraid to step away from the booth and approach the matter in a different way. In a recent public service announcement, the “Big Energy” artist joined Planned Parenthood in an effort to advocate for abortion rights and access after the controversial Roe vs. Wade decision.

In a Youtube video, the 23-year-old passionately spoke about the state of the country as it relates to pregnant women. “We already know who’s going to be hurt the most by these ridiculous abortion bans: Black women, Brown women, the LGBTQ+ community, and communities with low incomes,” and added “Because of this country’s history of racism and discrimination, these folks already have a hard time getting the health care they need. We all deserve to be safe and it’s every person’s right to make decisions about their own bodies.”

The Columbus artist concluded her PSA with “As an artist, I want to use my platform to let these politicians know: My body is for no one to control, but me.”

Though what comes of this partnership is unclear at the moment, Latto will be recognized for her advocacy within music too at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards when she receives the Video For Good award for her latest single “P*ssy.”

Check out Latto’s public service announcement via Planned Parenthood above.

Ted Cruz can’t cut a break. No matter what the Texas senator does, he always seems to step in it, not unlike Sideshow Bob and that sea of rakes. Whether he’s blocking a bill meant to save the lives of veterans, trying to feign toughness or picking fights with puppets, he’s always raked over the coals on social media. On the latest episode of the podcast he does with Michael Knowles, the young Republican and the only person on the planet who thinks he’s genuinely funny, Cruz tried to make fun of people stoked that Joe Biden made their lives better. And wouldn’t you know he only succeeded in pissing a ton of folks off.

Like a lot of conservatives who hate when the government helps people, Cruz is hopping mad that President Joe Biden announced he’s cancelling a small amount of student debt, which has all but financially crippled a generation. He expressed his disdain by crapping on the young and/or working class.

“If you are that slacker barista who wasted seven years in college studying completely useless things, now has loans and can’t get a job, Joe Biden just gave you 20 grand,” Cruz, who went to Princeton and Harvard, told Knowles, who went to Yale. “And you know, if you can get off the bong for a minute and head down to the voting station… or just send in your mail-in ballot that the Democrats have helpfully sent you, it could drive up turnout, particularly among young people.”

Cruz’s tone was one of withering contempt for the people who prepare his coffee, and who probably weren’t going to vote for him before he slammed them anyway. But a lot of people noticed the classist overtones from a member of the party allegedly for the working class.

Others felt it wasn’t a great way for the GOP to court the youth vote.

Some were concerned that Cruz was about to get a lot of spit in his coffee going forward.

And of course, there were a fair amount of references to his little Cancún trip from last year, when he abandoned his job to go on vacation then blamed it on young people (i.e., his kids).

Maybe, some postulated, the real slacker is the senator who doesn’t do much except raise various stinks, get into social media fights with stars of his favorite movies, and record podcasts.

Maybe Cruz was just jealous that Democrats keep doing popular things that will make their lives better and perhaps ensure that they retain power.

Danilo Gallinari is among the many NBA veterans currently playing in the FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers, as he is among the leaders for Italy, but on Saturday in a group stage game against Georgia, the newest member of the Boston Celtics left with a potentially serious injury.

On a fourth quarter fast break, Gallinari got the ball in the middle of the floor and planted his left leg to make a move to his right, immediately pulling up and holding his left knee after making the move. He would be attended to on the court and helped off of the floor, as fans of the Italian national team and the Celtics hold their breath waiting for an official update.

We won’t know the severity of the injury until an official update, but the non-contact nature of the way he got hurt raises the level of concern that it could cost him a significant chunk (if not all) of next season. Gallinari is getting ready to enter his 15th season in the NBA and first with the Celtics after he was traded from Atlanta to San Antonio in the Dejounte Murray deal before being waived and signing with the defending East champs.

The veteran forward was hopeful to provide some additional scoring pop off of the bench for the Celtics, but a knee injury now brings doubt as to when he might make his Boston debut.

Win Butler, the lead singer of Arcade Fire, has had multiple women come forward and allege that he sexually engaged with them in an appropriate manner, as reported by Pitchfork. The alleged misconduct spans from 2015 to 2020 with three women and one gender-fluid individual, all of which are reportedly loyal Arcade Fire fans and spanned from ages 18 to 23. When contacted for a comment on the allegations, the 42-year-old made multiple claims that portray the interactions as both consensual and not initiated by him.

In multiple statements to Pitchfork via crisis public relations expert Risa Heller, Butler states “While these relationships were all consensual, I am very sorry to anyone who I have hurt with my behavior,” and continues with “As I look to the future, I am continuing to learn from my mistakes and working hard to become a better person, someone my son can be proud of. […] I’m sorry I wasn’t more aware and tuned in to the effect I have on people – I f*cked up, and while not an excuse, I will continue to look forward and heal what can be healed, and learn from past experiences.”

Butler’s wife and bandmember, Régine Chassagne, also contributed statements on his behalf. “Win is my soulmate, my songwriting partner, my husband, the father of my beautiful boy. He has been my partner in life and in music for 20 years. And for all of the love in our lives, I have also watched him suffer through immense pain. I have stood by him because I know he is a good man who cares about this world, our band, his fans, friends, and our family.”

Chassagne concluded her statement, saying “I’ve known Win since before we were ‘famous,’ when we were just ordinary college students. I know what is in his heart, and I know he has never, and would never, touch a woman without her consent and I am certain he never did. He has lost his way and he has found his way back. I love him and love the life we have created together.”

There is currently no confirmation as to whether the accusers will press charges.

Halsey was one of the headliners at the Leeds leg of Reading & Leeds Festival on Friday night, but the day did not start the way they expected. Prior to their set, Halsey was in the medical tent being treated for what they called, “Terrible food poisoning” and somehow recovered in time to make it on stage to perform for tens of thousands of spectators at the British mega music festival.

“I have no idea how I’m still alive after my Leeds set,” Halsey posted on their Instagram Story. “I have terrible food poisoning STILL! It started yesterday at 2pm and I somehow made it on stage (after the medical team at the festival were soooo helpful!).”

“I have played shows under some messed up conditions but last night might be the worst in recent memory. Felt like I was on Jupiter the whole time,” they continued. “Thank you for being so cool and letting me basically do whatever just to survive the set! You guys would have been an unreal crowd under ANY circumstances let alone these. Time to rest now 4 Reading tomorrow.”

It’s pretty wild to consider than not only did Halsey make it out on stage at Leeds, but also doesn’t plan on skipping a beat and is motoring on to their Saturday night set at Reading. In a subsequent post, Halsey confirmed that the show will in fact go on: “Thanks for being so awesome Leeds. gonna rest all day and show up in tip top shape for Reading tomorrow.”

For many artists, new music means making some type of change to their appearance to usher in a new era. In the latest act of doing so, Sam Smith debuted a new blond hair color and teased their upcoming single with Kim Petras.

In a Saturday (August 27) Instagram post, the “Stay With Me” artist sits in front of a cinderblock wall, fully showing off their tattoos and the new do. There was a full-on buildup to this photo, as their post from two hours before is captioned “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” on a video where they are washing their new hair.

As for the single with Kim Petras, it appears it is titled “Unholy” as a Thursday (August 24) Instagram post with the German singer is captioned “Unholy Coming Soon.” They even threw their hats into the TikTok dance ring, joining up for a fun Instagram video on the same day.

For Sam Smith, “Unholy” follows “Love Me More” from back in May. Otherwise, they haven’t released any music since “You Will Be Found” with Summer Walker from The “Dear Evan Hansen” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Their last album came in 2020 with Love Goes anchored by “My Oasis” featuring Burna Boy.

Check out Sam Smith’s new hairdo and some of their other promotional posts above.

The Orlando Magic are so deep into a youth movement that one of the team’s veterans in soon-to-be 28-year-old Gary Harris. Outside of Terrence Ross, no player on the roster has been in the league longer than Harris, who is about to enter his eighth year in the NBA and his second full year with the Magic, who acquired him at the trade deadline in 2021 from the Denver Nuggets.

Unfortunately for the Magic, it sounds like they won’t have Harris’ services for a period of time. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Harris suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee. The team is still in the process of gathering information on how long he will be sidelined, with Harris set to “undergo further evaluation.”

While losing Harris is a tough pill to swallow, Orlando has a number of young guards who could benefit from more playing time. That’s especially the case for second-year guard Jalen Suggs, who the team selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and had his growing pains during his rookie campaign. Orlando also has Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony, and R.J. Hampton among its core of younger players in the backcourt.

Harris averaged 11.1 points in 28.4 minutes per game last season and connected on 38.4 percent of his attempts from three. He agreed to a 2-year contract extension with the team this offseason.