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One of my favorite meme formats on social media these days is the “how it started/how it’s going” post because it’s a reminder that life goes on and positive things are happening amidst the seemingly endless deluge of bad news with which we’re inundated on a daily basis. Case in point: While some cynics looked at the charity Drake committed to in his 2018 “God’s Plan” video as nothing more or less than a publicity stunt, it turns out that his donations had a last positive effect on at least one of their recipients.

Destiny James, the University of Miami student to whom Drake gave a $50,000 check, recently posted her graduation announcement on Instagram, captioning her post: “Mama, I mastered it. Daddy, I did it. 4 days until I am officially UNC Alum.” Naturally, the post found its way over to Twitter, where delighted fans flipped it into the aforementioned meme format, contrasting the two moments that have both undoubtedly changed Ms. James’s life for the better.

Drake, who will be honored with an Artist of the Decade Award at the upcoming Billboard Music Awards, also congratulated the graduate, commenting on the post, “LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DES!” Meanwhile, the artist himself is preparing an announcement of his own: The release date of his next album, Certified Lover Boy, which was delayed from its original release date in January. And his habit of giving back continues; earlier this year, he helped pay off another fan’s student debt.

You can watch the “God’s Plan” video above.

Now that the world is opening back up, live shows are slowly coming back, and music fans everywhere can expect artists will be just as excited about this development as entertainment-starved audiences. Jon Bon Jovi wasn’t the first name on my personal bingo card for artists I couldn’t wait to see get back on stage, but as Stereogum points out, his benefit show last Friday at Clubhouse, a new venue in East Hampton, New York, included a pretty high-profile pop cover.

Apparently, during the set Job indulged in the classic Beatles cover “Here Comes The Sun,” which might’ve just gotten him in the mood to play a more current British pop song, Harry Styles’ beloved ode to touching, “Watermelon Sugar.” Now, it might just be that we haven’t heard people performing live for a while, or it might be a testament to how excellent Harry’s voice truly is, but Jon’s version of the song just doesn’t capture it. I actually don’t think it’s awful, and it was probably just an off-the-cuff idea for a cover, but it lacks all the joy and exuberance of Harry’s original and tries to distill it down into a simple acoustic guitar strum. Still, what a co-sign from an artist who 1D fans might not expect would share their passion! Check out a fan-shot snippet of his cover below.

As the release of Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album Sour looms as one of the only massive pop releases of the year thanks to the massive success of “Drivers License,” the cover stories are going to be stacking up like hotcakes. Today, we have Billboard‘s take on describing the rise of a Disney actress to purveyor of a viral pop hit, and her uh, eclectic outfits in the photos alone are worth a click. The story follows a lot of what we already know about Olivia, that she’s obsessed with music, that Taylor Swift has already written her a letter (and we now know that Olivia wrote one back), and new tidbits like the fact that her label execs are thrilled with her work ethic. (“I honestly don’t think she sleeps,” says Nicole Bilzerian, executive VP at Geffen.)

But one of the cutest details of the piece is a more personal one. It wasn’t the early TikTok crossover of her first song, “All I Want” that tipped off Olivia to the idea that “Drivers License” might be a smash, but instead, the reaction of her dad the first time she played it for him. Opting to play iit for him for the first time in the most ideal environment, in the car, she noticed tears streaming down his face as the song went on: “I could just see the tears under his sunglasses — and I like, never see my dad cry, ever,” she remembered. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe I did something here.’”

A pop song that can unite teen girls and dads alike? That’s exactly the kind of hit we deserve in 2021.

Read the full cover story here.

Following the Republican Party’s vote to oust Liz Cheney from congressional leadership, Jimmy Kimmel lambasted the GOP for participating in the very same “cancel culture” that it routinely rails against. The late night host also went to town on Donald Trump after he fired off a celebratory message when the Republican Party continue to bow to his wishes.

While noting that he’d never thought he’d be “pro-Cheney in any way,” Kimmel started out the segment by noting that Cheney was removed from Republican leadership “basically for telling the truth.” Via The Wrap:

“She said Republicans must speak the truth and the election was not stolen. So, she had to go,” Kimmel continued. “You know, you can’t have Republicans going around saying Joe Biden won the election. People might get the right idea.”

After highlighting that Cheney voted to impeach Trump for the January 6 insurrection and continued to battle House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy insistence on pushing the “Big Lie” about the 2020 election, Kimmel couldn’t help but find it odd that the GOP was essentially trying to silence Cheney. “I’m confused. I thought these guys hated cancel culture.”

The late night host then turned his attention to Trump’s statement praising Republicans for removing Cheney. “Do you think he has these prewritten, and just fills in the blanks like Mad Libs?” Kimmel joked before tearing into the GOP for still being afraid of Trump even though he lost the election. Cheney, on the other hand, is refusing to back down and has vowed to make sure Trump never gets near the Oval Office again.

“She’s used to this,” Kimmel quipped. “Her dad was a Dick, too.”

Lil Uzi Vert is well-known for making extravagant purchases, from his love for five-figure clothing shopping sprees and dropping the cost of a brand-new mid-sized car on a first date to the massive pink diamond he had embedded in his forehead. Fortunately, his latest big-money buy is also pretty practical; Dirt.com reports he recently signed the deed to a $4.4 million property in California’s Bell Canyon, on the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley.

The mansion occupying the property is listed at 1.5 acres and two stories, with five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, and panoramic views of the valley via the glass-walled construction. It’s got a massive, open-floor plan, a convenient and picturesque patio, an outdoor kitchen/bar area for entertaining, and of course, an outdoor pool tucked under one of its balconies. The neighborhood includes hiking trails, tennis courts, and an equestrian center — maybe Uzi and JT can get into horseback riding.

Uzi’s set to headline the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash in August and has a new album on the way, so it’s likely he’ll have a lot more money to burn soon enough. Check out photos of his new home below.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad confined itself to a PG-13 rating, mostly because I imagine that “smashing blob people” doesn’t qualify as real gore? Also, Harley’s butt crack was covered, even if most of her tush was hanging out and straight-up ogled by the camera during several instances. Well, no one expected James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad to stay with PG-13, and in fact, there’s been multiple confirmations along the way of the R-rating for this Warner Bros. movie, which will release simultaneously on streaming and in theaters.

For instance, Gunn himself spoke toward how the R-rating of the film gave him more creative freedom, and Joel Kinnaman (who’s back as Rick Flag) called the relaunch “like heavily R-rated” as well as “a f*cking monster.” Now, the MPAA has revealed the precise reasons for the R-rating, and the last one is a little surprising. Via Collider, it’s all coming down due to “strong violence and gore, language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and brief graphic nudity.”

This, of course, will make everyone wonder who’s doing the disrobing out of the “horribly beautiful” assortment of supervillains in the film. One can’t expect Margot Robbie to be the one to go there, given that the actress pushed back hard on those hotpants from Ayer’s movie. That leaves the likes of John Cena, Idris Elba, and Pete Davidson, but don’t rule out Sylvester Stallone’s King Shark getting a little bit obscene. Or whatever character Taika Waititi is playing, for that matter.

The Suicide Squad will arrive on August 6. The relaunch also stars Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Mayling Ng, Alice Braga, Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, and more.

(Via Collider)

On Wednesday, Ellen DeGeneres announced that she would be ending her daytime talk show in 2022, once the 19th season concludes. While the news might have come as a surprise to some of her fans, for anyone who has been paying attention—either to her ratings or the scandals that have hit the show—the decision seemed to be a long time coming.

While DeGeneres’s ratings have been slipping for years (which isn’t that uncommon in the daytime talk show landscape), they’ve taken a much harder hit in the wake of three of the show’s top producers being fired in August 2020 following accusations of sexual misconduct. Not to mention additional reports of The Ellen DeGeneres Show fostering a toxic workplace and the star herself not being quite as nice as she appears on-screen. All of which is to say: It’s time for a little shakeup.

The good news is that it looks as if NBC executives are reportedly casting a very interested eye in actor/comedian Tiffany Haddish’s way to fill the vacancy left by DeGeneres and her awkward dance breaks. According to a senior NBC source who spoke to Page Six on the condition of anonymity: “Tiffany is a favorite… She’s top of the list to get a daytime show—she’s a fresh voice.”

Haddish is also a proven quantity—and not just at the box office. In addition to filling in for DeGeneres a couple of times in the past year, Haddish has also hosted Kids Say The Darndest Things. Between that and her roles in hit movies like the surprise hit Girls Trip (2017) and her voice work in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and The Secret Life of Pets 2 (both 2019), Haddish has proven herself as an adept comedian who knows how to appeal to audiences of all ages.

As of right now, neither Haddish nor her management team has made any comments on the rumors.

(Via Page Six)

A week after DMX’s tragic death, the world received a posthumous verse from him thanks to the Swizz Beatz and French Montana-accompanied track, “Been To War,” an effort that appeared in Epix’s Godfather Of Harlem TV series. The song makes for DMX’s second contribution to the show as the series’ current theme song is his and Rick Ross’ “Just In Case.” During an interview with Rap-Up, Swizz Beatz spoke about the song and revealed that it was the last song he and DMX recorded together before his death.

“I actually made that record for X, and wanted that record for X, but then we was coming with the show. And so it was like, you know what, it’s perfect,” Swizz said. While reflecting on the last few records they did together, he added, “Yeah, that might’ve been the last one.” Swizz then shared how DMX felt to be once again involved in the TV series from a music standpoint.

“He sent it to me and he was just so excited to be included in Godfather Of Harlem again, beyond the theme song,” he said. “And he just was like, I’m going to get it. ‘Cause he was taking a little long to finish the verse because he was traveling. And then he called me and he was just like, ‘I’m on it. I’m going to the studio and I’ll have it to you by tomorrow.’”

DMX kept his word and sent the song back to Swizz the following day. “I thought it was super fresh and he just was super appreciative, ’cause he was a big fan of Forest [Whitaker],” Swizz added. “Big fan of Godfather and it’s something he actually had fun doing.”

Listen to “Been To War” below.

One of music’s most popular podcasts came to an unexpected end on Wednesday morning. The Joe Budden Podcast, co-hosted by Joe Budden, Rory, and Mal, was declared “100,000% done” by Budden. The show’s 437th episode was uploaded to YouTube early Wednesday morning all to be removed a short time later, but not before some fans were able to get a listen to what transpired on it. Budden would eventually re-post the episode to his Patreon account for viewers to watch.

In the new episode, Budden, who is seated alone on the set that usually features Rory and Mal with him, begins by addressing the former of his previous co-hosts. “Rory feels like he has so many options here, somehow he still feels like he’s running the show [and] he still feels like he has choices and options, he feels like he’s entitled to more,” he said. “Rory, you are in breach of your contract. And from this point forward, you are fired and you are not welcome back.” Despite this, Budden did not reveal exactly how Rory breached his contract.

Elsewhere, Budden called Rory a “liability” and encouraged him and Mal to start their own show elsewhere. After the episode was initially posted to YouTube, Budden hopped on Twitter and gave a brief message, writing, “Helluva run!! God bless.” He also responded to a few fans who had thoughts on the podcast’s end.

You can read the tweets from Budden below.

In her second major interview to discuss ending her talk show after 19 seasons, Ellen DeGeneres offered her most candid thoughts yet on the toxic workplace accusations that have been plaguing her since last summer. While DeGeneres has maintained an apologetic stance and swears she was not aware of the problem (she immediately fired three of her top producers once the allegations came to light), the talk show host is now firing back with allegations of her own.

“It was too orchestrated, it was too coordinated,” DeGeneres told Savannah Guthrie on TODAY. “And also I have to say — if nobody else was saying it — it was really interesting because I’m a woman, and it did feel very misogynistic.”

Echoing her earlier remarks to The Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres reiterated that the allegations are not why she’s leaving the show, but she did admit it that the situation almost made her not return for Ellen’s 18th season. Via TODAY:

“I really did think about not coming back, because it was devastating. It started with attacks on me and attacking everything that I stand for and believe in and built my career around … I am a kind person. I am a person who likes to make people happy.”

Despite maintaining her “happy” persona while addressing the situation and apologizing her to employees, DeGeneres candidly revealed that the allegations did have a profound effect on her, particularly because she now says so many false things were said. “When something is coming back at me that I know is not true, I guess I could take one or two of those shots, but four months in a row took a toll on me.”

Watch the rest of Ellen’s interview with Savannah Guthrie below.

(Via TODAY)