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Pop Smoke’s family is still dealing with their grief when it comes to the sudden and tragic loss of the rising star, and his mother has even gone so far as to say hearing his voice is slowly but surely getting easier with new posthumous releases. The recently-released album, Faith, is the second to come out following the rapper’s death at 20, following up his record-breaking debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, which was also released posthumously.

One of the strongest songs off Faith is “Demeanor,” a song that features pop force Dua Lipa, and today his camp has released a video for the track. Managing the difficult task of filming a video without the rapper, the visuals unfold through an old-fashioned party that comes with a twist when one of the paintings on the wall comes to life. As the night devolves into a serious party with lots of merriment, dancing, and drinking, Dua descends the stairs with an air of the “female alpha” she’s namechecked in the past and resurrects here. Organizing a few scenes of organized dance moves, the singer mostly flits throughout the night of debauchery for her verse, before Smoke’s undeniably chorus comes back in.

Check out the video above.

Here’s a Marvel plot twist no one saw coming. Scarlett Johansson has reportedly filed a lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company while alleging that it breached her contract because it “induced” Marvel Studios to release Black Widow on Disney+. According to a source for the Wall Street Journal, the dual release strategy “cost Ms. Johansson more than $50 million,” which prompted her legal team to file the lawsuit on Thursday:

Ms. Johansson said in the suit that her agreement with Disney’s Marvel Entertainment guaranteed an exclusive theatrical release, and her salary was based in large part on the box-office performance of the film.

“Disney intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel,” the suit said.

Disney couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, this lawsuit certainly won’t be the last as studios scrambled to release films on streaming during the pandemic and shortened theatrical windows. WarnerMedia’s abrupt decision to release its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max caused shockwaves in Hollywood and may have severed the studio’s relationship with Christopher Nolan.

Johansson’s lawsuit also arrives on the heels of the National Association of Theatre Owners calling out Disney for hurting Black Widow‘s box office take by releasing it on streaming. Considering a portion of that box office haul was contractually promised to Johansson, her attorney believes she has a strong case that will embolden more actors to push back.

“This will surely not be the last case where Hollywood talent stands up to Disney and makes it clear that, whatever the company may pretend, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts,” John Berlinski told the Journal.

(Via Wall Street Journal)

We may be more than a year out from the beginning of the COVID pandemic, but the new Delta variant — not to mention rampant vaccination misinformation — has caused the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. to triple in just the past few weeks. And while Hollywood is understandably anxious to get back to show business as usual, the logistics of film and TV production have made that difficult. Few companies seem to understand this better than Netflix, which has become the first studio to require that all its actors, as well as “Zone A” crew members who have reason to be in direct and close contact with those actors, be vaccinated. As Deadline reports, “Some productions, like the Starz/UCP series Gaslit, have adopted the mandatory vaccination policy. Netflix is making it standard across the board in the U.S.”

The mandate comes just weeks after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and some of the industry’s biggest guilds agreed to “implement mandatory vaccination policies for casts and crew in Zone A on a production-by-production basis.” While it’s a step in the right direction, the case-by-case approach is not enough for some people. Sean Penn, star of the aforementioned Gaslit, isn’t keen to resume production until everyone on the set has been vaccinated, which he’s offered to personally organize.

But it makes sense that Netflix would be the first studio to take these kinds of precautionary measures. The Witcher, Grace and Frankie, and the upcoming musical rendition of Matilda are just some of the Netflix productions that have had their schedules impacted by the pandemic. On July 17, Deadline reported that season 2 of semi-porny Bridgerton had to put a pause on production—just one day after resuming production on the already-shut-down show. It’s an issue that Phoebe Dynevor, who stars as Daphne Bridgerton on the mega-hit series, saw coming way back in January when she told Deadline: “I can’t imagine how it would be possible to film under these circumstances. There are so many extras and so many crew members, and it’s a very intimate show. It just baffles me how we would film it under COVID rules unless there was a vaccine beforehand.”

As Deadline writes:

Netflix’s decision comes amid a fourth COVID wave in the U.S. fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, which brought COVID safety on set back to the spotlight. While vaccination is not a silver bullet — there have been breakthrough infections for fully vaccinated people — it is considered a crucial safeguard alongside existing safety protocols including regular testing, PPE and social distancing.

The vaccine mandate is the strongest measure Netflix could enforce under the current return-to-work protocols. There have been calls to expand the vaccination requirement beyond Zone A.

(Via Deadline)

If you haven’t heard of Dax yet, don’t worry; you just might be hearing about him constantly soon enough (although he’s been on UPROXX Sessions twice so you should be paying better attention). Today, he released the video for his latest single “Child Of God” with a fitting music video, after previewing it for his huge, loyal fanbase throughout the week. It might surprise you to learn that this is only the latest of a truly absurd collection of videos he’s been building over the past half-decade.

Dax, who hails from Ottawa, Ontario in Canada, is one of the artists at the forefront of the modern era where YouTube can not only crank out a rap star as ably as Spotify but also provide sustainability for that star in its own, self-contained ecosystem. Where artists like Dax and DDG might have floundered in the major label system or struggled as underground, independent rappers 20 years ago, we currently live in a time where “YouTuber” is a legit job description.

Dax loves playing around with this concept. So long as he’s getting paid to rap, why not have the most fun doing it? To that effect, he not only releases his own original songs, he also takes on covers of seemingly any and every song that is currently popping on playlists and radio, from classics like Tupac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” to contemporary favorites like SpotemGottem’s “Beatbox.” There’s even a version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” By sticking to his own lane — and constantly expanding it — he’s been able to flourish, and that success has translated to millions of streams on other DSPs and huge followings on social media.

Now, he’s working on his debut album. Don’t be surprised if all those numbers translate to the Billboard charts for an artist who’s been working his tail off and is poised to make the jump from “best-kept secret” to “overnight success.”

Watch the “Child Of God” video above.

Rihanna had big news for fans yesterday — or at least those who love her beauty line — when she announced a Fenty Parfum “coming soon.” But that wasn’t the only thing she’d in the news for last night. A the new season of Real Housewives Of New York is slowly unrolling, wives Leah McSweeney and Roman Singer were getting into it once again in a recent episode. Singer was trying to give Sweeney advice about promoting her Married To The Mob line, suggesting she put “mob something” on a sweatshirt and have Singer wear it to help get her name out there more.

In response, Leah let Ramona know that “I already have Rihanna wearing my sh*t” and that despite being a housewife icon, Ramona isn’t necessarily the demographic for her line. Responding to that, Rihanna posted herself wearing a shirt from Leah’s line along with the caption “what was said @ramonasinger ? #RHONY.” Leah immediately responded to the post, commenting “I love you so much ” and bringing the episode full circle.

We’ve yet to see Ramona respond to Rihanna’s post, but odds are she’ll just keep quiet now that Leah re-grammed the flex moment and has definitely won the argument… for now.

House Representative Tim Ryan gave his Republican colleagues, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, quite the tongue-lashing this week and social media is kind of loving it.

A clip of Ryan condemning House GOP members who have used the new mask mandate on Capitol Hill as political fodder has been viewed more than 1 million times, and for good reason. In the video, Ryan can be seen dressing down McCarthy and his colleagues for their very public temper tantrums in response to a memo sent out by Capitol physician Brian Monahan. In the memo, Monahan stated that masks were mandatory for Congressional members holding closed meetings indoors now that the Delta variant has become so prevalent. McCarthy, who himself hails from a hotspot where COVID continues to spread unchecked, tweeted his faux outrage over the new mandate on Tuesday.

He wasn’t the only Republican to use the doctor’s orders like some kind of political rallying cry for a conservative, vaccine-hesitant voting base, and when Ryan stepped up to the mic during a House meeting on Wednesday, he delivered a blistering rebuke of his colleagues, many of whom he said were “immature” and “juvenile.”

“Look, the attending physician of the United States Capitol, the top doctor for Congress, asks us to put on masks when we come to a chamber with 435 people,” Ryan said in his speech. “Just stop with this craziness. We’re trying to be safe, trying to protect our family members, our kids, our parents, close relatives, and the Minority leader mocks that. I just find it absolutely immature and appalling to somehow diminish it, try to score cheap political points. And that’s exactly what we saw a few minutes ago.”

Ryan shared the video on his timeline, doubling down on his comments, saying “Today, Minority Leader McCarthy gave a low rent and juvenile speech dragging us for wearing masks to keep our loved ones safe. You can always count on him to take the low road.”

Harsh, but accurate.

For their most recent album, 2017’s Villains, Queens Of The Stone Age brought Mark Ronson on board to produce. The partnership was a success, as the album was critically praised and it was Grammy-nominated. It wasn’t without tension, though, as Ronson once had to kick Dave Grohl out of the studio.

Speaking with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Ronson said:

“I didn’t really know Dave at all. He reminded me of how I kicked him out of the studio when he came one time in to crash a Queens session. It was the first time we were doing vocals and I was like, ‘Dave Grohl, rock legend, get the f*ck out of here.’ […] It was like the first day we were doing vocals and Josh was like really in a rhythm and it hit something, and I’m such a fan of Foo Fighters, Nirvana. It was not pleasant to have to ask Dave Grohl nicely to leave the session. […]

I think we were doing maybe ‘Villains [Of Circumstance]’ or ‘Fortress,’ a very personal song on the record, and it was the first time Josh had really found that emotional place to get to, to sing that record. We had tried it a few times and I think Dave and Alison Mosshart were maybe next door getting jolly and just came in to like, ‘What’s up, everybody?’ And I was like… that’s why.”

He then elaborated on how they got to that point, speculating that Grohl was trying to push him as a form of hazing:

“I think at the beginning, they went next door making their record with Greg Kurstin, the East West, and we were at United. And I think I was, like, the newbie. And at that time, I liked to probably dress a little too involved for going in the studio. I think Dave was hazing me. He was just testing how he could push me. Every now and then. [he’d] come by with three pairs of basketball shorts and be like, ‘Do you ever wear shorts?’ It was like a funny… it was funny and then I was like, I don’t know if this guy even likes me. But I think he was just hazing the new guy a little. But no, at that moment, when you’re the producer, it doesn’t really matter who it is, your job is to just fortress your guy’s studio, protect the artist, protect the vulnerability, all this stuff, at any cost. So unfortunately, even if it was Dave Grohl, Stevie Wonder, whoever would have come in at that moment, I would have had to been like, ‘Please, please come back.’”

Watch the full interview below.

While it seems like only yesterday we heard Whittaker’s first “oh, brilliant,” the time has come to brace ourselves for the next set of the Doctor’s heartbreaking final words. After three years portraying one of Britain’s most iconic television characters, Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker has announced she is leaving the show. In addition, showrunner Chris Chibnall — the man behind Whittaker’s casting — will be exiting as well. The duo leaves the project with nothing but kind words for the BBC and those involved and is apparently leaving as to fulfill the “‘three series and out’ pact” they made to one another when Whittaker’s tenure began.

The pair is scheduled to wrap up their respective roles in Doctor Who after the show’s third season — which airs this winter — and three specials releasing throughout 2022. Seeing as next year is also the centenary of the BBC, it’s likely the channel has big things in store for those specials and the fourteenth Doctor’s big reveal.

In his farewell, Chibnall celebrated his and Whittaker’s collaboration on the show before stating, “I can’t imagine working with a more inspiring Doctor – so I’m not going to!” Whittaker’s statement was also heartfelt, and gives us just a taste of the emotion she’ll bring with her during the show’s final episode:

“In 2017 I opened my glorious gift box of size 13 shoes. I could not have guessed the brilliant adventures, worlds and wonders I was to see in them. My heart is so full of love for this show, for the team who make it, for the fans who watch it and for what it has brought to my life. And I cannot thank Chris enough for entrusting me with his incredible stories. We knew that we wanted to ride this wave side by side, and pass on the baton together. So here we are, weeks away from wrapping on the best job I have ever had. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express what this role has given me. I will carry the Doctor and the lessons I’ve learnt forever.”

As of right now, the BBC has not announced who will be replacing Whittaker once her saga reaches its end. However, considering the history Whittaker made as the first woman to ever play the iconic Doctor, it would seem whoever is next has some “size 13 shoes” to fill.

For weeks, one common refrain in the lead-up to the 2021 NBA Draft has been that the Detroit Pistons would do their homework before deciding who to take with the top overall pick. Several hours before things are slated to begin on Thursday night, the team’s apparent decision came in, and unsurprisingly, the Pistons will end up taking the guy who has been the presumed No. 1 pick for the last year.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Pistons came to the conclusion that the best thing would be to select Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham, and after flying to meet with him in New York City ahead of the Draft, their minds were made up.

Wojnarowski did add one potential wrench in the plan: If someone blows Detroit away in a trade for the top pick, their calculus could change.

It is probably more surprising that it took this long for news to come out of Cunningham getting the nod than it is that he is the pick. Cunningham has been penciled into this spot for months, regardless of who received the No. 1 pick, after the former five-star recruit averaged 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.6 steals in 35.4 minutes per game for the Pokes en route to being named a consensus All-American. While guys like Jalen Green and Evan Mobley piqued the interest of Detroit’s brass, Cunningham is viewed as a future All-Star talent and the kind of player who can fit alongside any collection of teammates.

Blackpink has been making their mark as a group for years now, culminating in the release of their debut full-length project, The Album last year. But as the group gains ground in the mainstream, individual members are also releasing new music and making a name for themselves as well. Probably the most impactful of those solo members right now is Rosé, who debuted two single songs back in March. “On The Ground” was the standout of the two, accompanied by the B-side, “Gone Gone,” but it was “On The Ground” that inspired people like Brie Larson to try their own rendition.

Now, the tables have turned and its Rosé who is doing the covering. Eventually joined by Onew of the four-piece group Shinee and Lee Suhyun of, AKMU, a sibling duo, the Blackpink member began an incredible rendition of Alicia Key’s classic hit “If I Ain’t Got You” for a South Korean variety show called The Sea Of Hope. The singers perform in front of a live audience and against the sparkling backdrop of the ocean, bringing the show’s title into clear focus. Later in the show, Rosé also joined Onew to cover Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat’s duet “Lucky.” Check out the Alicia Keys cover above, and the “Lucky” rendition below.