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Touring musicians have been gearing up to return to packed stadiums after over a year without live shows. But despite vaccine efforts, the rising number of COVID cases is causing some bands to reconsider their planned events. Nine Inch Nails have announce they are canceling the remainder of their 2021 concerts due to COVID concerns.

In a statement shared to social media, the band announced their decision to pull out of live shows for the rest of the year:

“It is with great regret that we are cancelling all NIN appearances for the remainder of this year.

When originally planned, these shows were intended to be a cathartic and celebratory return to live music. However, with each passing day it’s becoming more apparent we’re not at that place yet.

We are sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment and look forward to seeing you again when the time is right.”

The band’s decision to cancel their shows presumably means their headlining set at this year’s Riot Fest will be dropped as well. The band’s website has reflected their recent announcement, and the only upcoming date listed is their set at French music festival Hellfest in June 2022.

Nine Inch Nails aren’t the only musicians who have decided to cancel upcoming shows due to COVID precautions. Earlier this month, Stevie Nicks announced she would be canceling all of her planned 2021 appearances. “These are challenging times with challenging decisions that have to be made,” Nicks wrote in a statement. “I want everyone to be safe and healthy and the rising Covid cases should be of concern to all of us. While I’m vaccinated, at my age, I am still being extremely cautious and for that reason have decided to skip the 5 performances I had planned for 2021.”

During most of the pandemic, Canada’s border with the United States was closed to non-essential travelers. On August 9, though, the country started welcoming US tourists back into the country. This is good news for American musicians, as cities like Toronto and Montreal are major markets and common stops on North American tours. Billie Eilish is set to perform in both of those cities in early 2022, for example. She won’t be the first major US artist to perform in Canada, though, as that honor will go to Maroon 5 (according to Billboard, as NME notes).

The concert in question, for which Maroon 5 will be joined by Blackbear, is scheduled for September 2 at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage. Arthur Fogel, chairman of global touring for Live Nation, said of the border re-opening, “This step opens possibilities to get Canada back on the touring map for sure. Some artists already have shows planned with more conversations picking up.”

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Live Nation announced that all attendees of their shows and festivals will be required to present vaccinations or negative COVID-19 tests. Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino said, “Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows, and as of October 4th we will be following the model we developed for Lollapalooza and requiring this for artists, fans and employees at Live Nation venues and festivals everywhere possible in the US.”

With her latest album Lately I Feel Everything, Willow fully pivoted to pop-punk territory. The 11-track album boasts features from notable ’00s musicians like Travis Barker and Avril Lavigne, as well as contributions from indie groups like Cherry Glazerr. Now, Willow announces she’s gearing up to hit the road in support of her new album.

The singer officially announced dates to her 2021 Lately I Feel Everything tour Thursday. It kicks off in mid-September in Santa Ana and comes to a close in October in Atlanta. Shortly thereafter, the singer is set to join Billie Eilish on a handful of dates as support for the singer’s Happier Than Ever tour.

Check out Willow’s Lately I Feel Everything tour dates below.

09/14 — Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
09/17 — Las Vegas, NV @ Life is Beautiful Festival
09/18 — San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
09/19 — Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
09/21 — Seattle, WA @ The Showbox at Market
09/22 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
09/23 — Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre
09/26 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda
09/29 — Dallas, TX @ Trees
09/30 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10/03 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/04 — Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
10/06 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls
10/11 — Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
10/12 — Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
10/13 — Boston, MA @ Royale
10/16 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
10/17 — Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
10/19 — Atlanta, GA @ Centerstage
02/03 — New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center*
02/05 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena*
02/06 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Music Center*
02/08 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena*
02/09 — Washington D.C. @ Capital One Arena*
02/10 — University of PA @ Bryce Jordan Center*
02/12 — Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center*
02/13 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center*
02/15 — Montreal, QC Canada @ Centre Bell*
02/16 — Toronto, ON Canada @ Scotiabank Arena*
02/18 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden*
02/19 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden*
02/20 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden*
02/22 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center*
04/08 — Inglewood, CA @ The Forum*

* supporting Billie Eilish

Lately I Feel Everything is out now via MSFTSMusic/Roc Nation. Get it here.

Kids and old people have a number of things in common: They both sh*t their pants on the regular, and they typically don’t censor themselves when telling you exactly what’s on their mind. Maybe that’s why when People asked former The Price Is Right host Bob Barker to share his favorite part about making the show, his answer was pretty forthright: “The first thing that pops to mind is… the money, of course!” Barker, of course, claimed to be joking (maybe). And went on to note that:

“All kidding aside, there was much to love. I had the pleasure of working with a dedicated and talented cast and crew for 35 great years. Particularly close to my heart was the ability our vast popularity gave me to remind our entire audience daily about the importance of spaying and neutering your pets.”

Barker is helping to celebrate the game show’s 50th season, which kicks off in September. As the show’s longtime and most iconic host, he helped contestants spin that aptly named “Big Wheel” from September 1972 to June 2007. But the 97-year-old is also one of the world’s best-known animal advocates, and began using his daily sign-off as a way to share the importance of animal population control all the way back in 1979—long before pet adoption via animals shelters became the norm. In fact, Barker is often credited as the person who helped normalize the practice of spaying and neutering our pets.

According to Rare Magazine, when Barker first uttered that iconic call to action, only about 10 percent of America’s pets were ever spayed or neutered. Today, those numbers have jumped to 73 percent of dogs and 86 percent of cats.

And you thought his greatest contribution was introducing the world to Plinko!

(Via People)

Dune isn’t the only iconic work of science fiction making its way on to our television screens (much to director Denis Villeneuve’s dismay) this year. In just over a month, the Apple TV adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy hits the streaming service and at long last, we now have the series’ first, and quite frankly stunning, official trailer.

If like me you’ve already been a bit blown away by the trailer’s visuals and are ready to hear a bit more about it, we’ve got you covered. According to the YouTube video’s descriptions, the upcoming series “chronicles a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire.” All this kicks off when a prophetic revolutionary, Dr. Hari Seldon (portrayed by Jared Harris in the series) predicts the impending fall of the Empire, thus solidifying himself as a heretic in the eyes of the galaxy’s rulers. Following him penning his research, a band of like-minded followers are quick to rise up and assist him in his work of establishing The Foundation, a final attempt at rebuilding and preserving civilization. However, not all goes well when your greatest enemy are the Cleons, a long line of emperor clones with unrivaled power and an intense fear of losing their legacy.

In addition to telling a pretty interesting story by arguably one of science fiction’s greatest writers, the series is packed with some serious talent. Showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer, known for his work on Batman Begins and Man of Steel, is helming the series with Robyn Asimov, Josh Friedman, Cameron Welsh, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Bill Bost serving as executive producers. The cast is led by Emmy Award nominees Jared Harris and Lee Pace, along with fresh faces Lou Llobell and Leah Harvey, and actors Laura Birn (The Purge), Terrence Mann (Critters), Cassian Bilton (The Devil’s Harmony), and Alfred Enoch (How To Get Away With Murder, Harry Potter series).

The first season of Apple TV’s Foundation will exclusively hit the streaming service on September 24, 2021, with the first two episodes available that day and an additional episode available every Friday following the premiere. The series will run for ten episodes and as of right now a second season has yet to be confirmed.

Lieutenant Jim Dangle will not die! Thomas Lennon’s microscopic shorts-loving head of the Reno Sheriff’s Department and the rest of the Reno 911! gang have been part of the pop culture fabric for nearly 20 years—and they’re not going anywhere. As Variety reports, viewers will get the chance to continue witnessing the utter ineptitude of Dangle, Deputy Trudy Wiegel (Kerri Kenney-Silver, who co-created the series with Lennon and Robert Ben Garant) and the rest of the gang thanks to Roku which, after acquiring the series from the ill-fated Quibi, has ordered four more half-hour episodes of the long-running Cops parody.

As Michael Schneider writes:

Quibi shut down in December, less than a year after its much-heralded launch. The Jeffrey Katzenberg-Meg Whitman startup and its promise of delivering “quick bite” content to users exclusively on their phones became a bit of a punchline in the industry. But the programming itself was rather solid, attracting top Hollywood producers and stars. Clearly TV Academy voters found it Emmy-worthy: Last year, Quibi won two Emmys (for “#FreeRayshawn”).

While Quibi no longer exists, three of its shows (including Reno 911!) are currently in contention for a total of eight Emmy Awards. While Emmy voters still see “Quibi” as the responsible network, Roku—which acquired 75 Quibi titles back in early January, then quickly rebranded them as Roku Originals—is congratulating itself for its first batch of Emmy nominations.

Reno 911! debuted on Comedy Central in 2003, where it ran for six seasons. In 2020, Quibi trotted it back out for 25 more (shorter) episodes. Where the series goes beyond the four new already-ordered episodes is yet to be decided. “We continue to evaluate things that make sense for us,” Colin Davis, Roku’s head of scripted content (who previously worked for Quibi) told Variety.

(Via Variety)

Mike Lindell told attendees of his blunder-filled cyber symposium last week that he was “attacked” by an unknown assailant.

“He put his arm around and stuck his finger, it was so much pressure, I just knew if I did anything something more was coming,” the MyPillow founder told the conservative blab-fest FlashPoint about the alleged incident at his Sioux Falls hotel. “He jammed it in where it was just piercing pain.” Lindell was “worried that Antifa — an umbrella term for militant anti-fascist groups — had somehow infiltrated the symposium,” according to Insider, but it “turned out to be a fan of Lindell who wanted a picture with the MyPillow CEO.” Like every Facebook user in the late-2000s, he was “aggressively poked”:

The incident took place over Mr Lindell’s multi-day event last week in South Dakota, where he vowed to present evidence showing that Mr Trump had indeed been the rightful victor of the 2020 election. That proof never came, and when asked about it, the CEO responded that his team had data that it did not want reporters to fact-check.

Also, a tangerine may have been involved.

Of course, as with all things relating to the pillow magnate/conspiracy theorist (there are literally dozens of them), it’s never that simple. Eyewitness Jeff Buongiorno believes that the incident is a “nothing burger.” He told the Associated Press that “the elevators are glass, and witnesses saw Lindell go up to the 6th floor. There was no attack.”

A police report was filed, however, so the authorities are asking for the public’s help in finding a man in a light blue shirt who is “suspected in committing an assault at a hotel near Russell St and West Ave last Wednesday night, Aug 11.”

“What are you doing time for?”
“Insurance fraud. You?”
“I’m serving life for murder. How about you?”
“I aggressively poked Mike Lindell with a tangerine.”

No one’s going to mess with him in prison.

(Via Insider and via the Independent)

Oddly, rappers Lil Pump and Swae Lee both had some criminal misfortune in Miami over the summer, but unfortunately for these two artists, it looks like they won’t be seeing justice anytime soon. While Lil Pump had his car’s windows broken in, Swae Lee lost $300,000 worth of jewelry in a hotel room burglary, but according to TMZ, Miami police have been stymied by a lack of evidence in both cases, prompting them to close both until further leads come up. The Miami Beach Police Department told TMZ through a spokesperson that they’ve exhausted all investigative leads for the time being and no suspects were arrested in either case.

Swae Lee and Lil Pump are far from the only two rappers who’ve had legal issues in Miami this year. The city’s been something of a hotbed for hip-hop, bringing a steady stream of headlines pertaining to arrests and run-ins rappers have experienced there. In June, breakout 1017 Records artist Pooh Shiesty was arrested and charged for an armed robbery in Miami for jacking sneakers and weed and shooting the victim, Chicago rising star Polo G was arrested for battery against a police officer and resisting arrest, and DaBaby was detained and questioned by police about a shooting for which his Billion Dollar Baby artist Wisdom was eventually arrested and charged. I’m not sure what’s going on down there, but at this point, the Miami police have interviewed or arrested enough artists to start a label of their own.

Coming in hot off of her mean-girl turn on HBO’s The White Lotus, Sydney Sweeney stars in the steamy new trailer for the Amazon original movie The Voyeurs. The thriller features Sydney acting alongside Justice Smith as a couple who became obsessed with watching their extremely photogenic and consistently frisky neighbors, who are played by Ben Hardy and Katharine King So.

However, that obsession starts to go too far as Sweeney’s character begins interacting with the seemingly picture-perfect neighbors, who are clearly hiding some dark secrets. And, yet, judging by the trailer, that doesn’t stop Sweeney from getting pulled in even deeper by Hardy’s hunky good looks and suave demeanor.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“The Voyeurs” follows a young couple (Sydney Sweeney and Justice Smith) who move into their dream apartment, only to find their windows look directly into a unit across the street — a volatile and attractive couple who captivate the pair. When they attempt to anonymously intercede in their lives, they unwittingly set in motion a chain of events that will lead to disaster.

According to Variety, The Voyeurs will be the first film in a planned series of “sexy date night” thrillers coming to Amazon subscribers.

The Voyeurs starts streaming September 10 on Amazon Prime Video.

On January 8, 2021—two days after the Capitol insurrection—then-sitting-President Donald Trump was finally (and eventually permanently) banned from Twitter, and he’s still talking about it. More than seven months after the fact, Trump still seems stuck in the third stage of grief: Bargaining. Knowing that this is a sore spot for #45, Raw Story reports that Newsmax slimeball Greg Kelly initiated a conversation on that very topic while interviewing Trump on Wednesday night. Trump’s response was as infantile as you’d expect.

“You know what’s wild, Mr. President,” Kelly began. “Right now, you are off social media; the Taliban is on social media. We have a valid, active Twitter account [for the Taliban]. These horrible, hateful people who gave solace and refuge to Al-Quaeda and you are not on social media.”

Ever the narcissist, and unwilling to admit that he violated Twitter’s policies in any ways that merited a permanent ban, Trump responded that:

“It’s disgraceful whenever you think that have killers and muggers and dictators and horrible … some horrible dictators and countries, and they’re all on. But the president of the United States, who had hundreds of millions of people, by the way, and he gets taken off.”

Killers and muggers and dictators. Yes, all are equally terrible people.

It is, of course, worth noting that just the other day, Trump was praising the Taliban for their superior fighting skills, saying: “The Taliban, good fighters I will tell, you, good fighters. You have to give them credit for that.”

Do we have to though?!

(Via Raw Story)