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More than three years after its release, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” has once again made history. The singer’s breakout smash hit is now the most-certified song in music history at 14x Platinum, breaking the tie it held with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito.” The Spanish duo’s song had held the record since January 2020. The new achievement is the latest in a long list of records “Old Town Road” has smashed, including becoming the fastest single in RIAA history to receive Diamond certification in the United States, as well as spending the most consecutive weeks at No. 1, namely 19. The song also won a pair of Grammy awards for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video.

Staying true to his comical social media ways, the singer posted a hilarious reaction to the news on Twitter.

The new achievement comes after he released his first children’s book, C Is For Country. According to a publisher’s statement, the book invites young readers to join the singer and Panini the pony — named after the song from his 7 EP — as they journey through the alphabet. The description: “Experience wide-open pastures, farm animals, guitar music, cowboy hats, and all things country in this debut picture book that’s perfect for music lovers learning their ABCs and for anyone who loves Nas’s signature genre-blending style.”

As far as the singer’s upcoming music, his debut album is scheduled to arrive at some point this year. He spent much of the second half of 2020 teasing it and slowly updating fans on its progress. The last update came in October, revealing that the project was “98% done.”

Sacha Baron Cohen played a small role in what became the fall of Donald Trump: He tricked his attorney Rudy Giuliani into participating in a shocking and humiliating fake interview for his sequel to Borat. But the performer isn’t just kidding around. He’s broken character on multiple occasions to call out social media for allowing the proliferation of misinformation, including that perpetrated by Trump himself. So when Twitter finally banned the outgoing president from their service, he was overjoyed.

“This is the most important moment in the history of social media,” Baron Cohen wrote on his personal Twitter account. “The world’s largest platforms have banned the world’s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this–the entire world thanks you!”

Trump was ousted from Twitter — and has his services blocked or limited on many other social media services as well — after the events of the last week, in which he was accused of inciting what became a failed coup by an army of his supporters. Five people were left dead, including a police officer, and disturbing photos find heavily armed supporters even toting zip ties, suggesting they were out for hostages. The 45th president has regularly used social media to spread lies, including baseless claims about voter fraud in November’s election.

Back in November of 2019, Baron Cohen broke from his characters to deliver a fiery speech in which he took Facebook, and its head Mark Zuckerberg, to the woodshed for allowing “hate and violence” to spread on their service. He made sure to address one of the criticisms made by Trump supporters in the wake of the Twitter ban: that his removal is violation of the first amendment. Baron Cohen would disagree:

“This is not about limiting anyone’s free speech. This is about giving people, including some of the most reprehensible people on earth, the biggest platform in history to reach a third of the planet. Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach. Sadly, there will always be racists, misogynists, anti-Semites and child abusers. But I think we could all agree that we should not be giving bigots and pedophiles a free platform to amplify their views and target their victims.”

(Via Consequence of Sound)

While some have to be forced off social media, such as outgoing American president Donald Trump, others leave by choice. That, reportedly, is what Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are doing. A source close to them told The Times of London that while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a new company, Archewell, they have “no plans” to put it on Twitter, Facebook, etc. They are also “very unlikely” to return to their personal accounts.

The pair, who left England and most of their royal duties last year and wound up in California with a Netflix deal, have previously opened up about being harassed online, just as they have by the British tabloids. They also haven’t been on social media in some time. Markle talked to People in October, explaining why she’s stepped away from a life devoted to doomscrolling and such:

“I’ve made a personal choice to not have any account, so I don’t know what’s out there, and many ways that’s helpful for me … I have a lot of concerns for people that have become obsessed with it. And it is so much a part of our daily culture for so many people that it’s an addiction like many others. There are very few things in this world where you call the person who is engaging with it a user.”

(Via The Times of London and EW)

Back in September, Katy Perry was home with her daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, when she learned a man had climbed over the fence of their Beverly Hills property. The alleged stalker, William Edward Terry, was asked to leave but, when he refused to do so, was apprehended by security and placed under a citizen’s arrest. Terry was officially charged with trespassing on Wednesday and given a court arraignment date of January 8. However, he did not show up, according to TMZ.

A warrant was issued for his arrest, but Perry’s fear is that he will try and come in contact with the singer and her family once again. This could prove to be costly for him, as a restraining order was put in place at the request of Perry’s husband Orlando Bloom, their child Daisy, and Orlando’s son Flynn. On top of that, Terry used his social media accounts to harass Perry with lewd and unwarranted messages prior to the trespassing incident. Threats were also made to Bloom and other people close to the singer.

Katy gave birth to Daisy, her and Orlando’s first child, back in August, just a month before the trespassing incident. The birth was announced on UNICEF’s Instagram, as they are both Goodwill Ambassadors for the foundation. The post was also attached to a donation page, which asked followers to contribute to in order to “help every mother and newborn get the care they need.”

(via TMZ)

A lot has changed for Donald Trump in the last few days. He began the week merely as the outgoing president, with about two weeks left in office yet still fanning the flames of baseless voter fraud. But after his supporters launched a deadly siege on the Capitol building, resulting in five deaths, including that of a police officer, the tide has sharply changed. On Friday night, Twitter announced they were permanently banning him. Other social media services followed suit, either expelling him outright or limiting his powers.

One of them is Pinterest. Mind you, Trump does not have an account there. According to Axios, the image- and gif-sharing site has been “limiting hashtags related to pro-Trump topics such as #StopTheSteal since around the November election.” A spokesperson also said, “Our team is continuing to monitor and removing harmful content, including misinformation and conspiracy theories that may incite violence.”

Still, when Fox News put up a graphic containing all the social media sites cracking down on all things Donald Trump, lots of people online thought it was weird to see the bougie joint alongside places like Facebook, Google, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, even Twitch, and more besides.

Shopify also got singled out for similar reasons.

You can see a full list of social media services that have blocked or limited all things Trump over at Axios.

The Philadelphia 76ers, in the face of a COVID-19 crisis within the team, will play a basketball game on Saturday afternoon. The team is going to take on the Denver Nuggets in a game that should be exciting under most circumstances, but is going to look awfully different due to roster issues in the City of Brotherly Love.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, it looked the game might not even happen due to Philadelphia’s issues with players and staffers quarantining following positive tests within the club, most notably by sharpshooting guard Seth Curry. Ultimately, it was determined the game would be played despite the fact that a quartet of players — Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Vincent Poirier, and Matisse Thybulle — are out so they can quarantine.

Philly was barely able to make the NBA’s roster minimum, though, of eight players, but right after that became official, word came out that both Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons would be out due to injury.

As Wojnarowski mentioned in his tweet, Philly upgraded veteran forward Mike Scott to active in an attempt to have eight players, the bare minimum that a team can have to play a basketball game. Rivers did, however, mention that there is almost no circumstance where Scott, who has been dealing with a knee injury, will take the floor.

Rivers also made it a point to say that, while the decision is out of his hands, he does not believe the game should be played.

The Sixers’ roster for the game will be as follows: Tony Bradley, Danny Green, Dwight Howard, Isaiah Joe, Dakota Mathias, Tyrese Maxey, Paul Reed, and Scott. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. EST.

The two remaining members of The Beatles may not be recording any new music, but Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have performed together multiple times over the last few years. There was a set at the 30th annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in 2015, plus a 2018 performance at the O2 in England. Starr recently sat down with The Irish News, and he talked about how much he enjoys playing with his old bandmate.

“I love that, getting up with him,” he said. After their O2 performance, Starr said McCartney called him up to do a few numbers at Dodger Stadium. “And it’s magic for the audience as well as us. I love playing with him.” Starr also talked about that the audience’s reaction to seeing them both on stage. “The audience is like, ‘Oh, there’s two of them! Wow.’ It lifts everything, in a joyous way. So, yeah, I had a great time.”

Starr also discussed their friendship. “We’re still pals. We don’t hang out with each other a lot,” he said. “But if we’re in the same country, and if we’re in the same town we always have a dinner, and we say hi or he comes over here or I go over to his house.”

Starr and McCartney are expected to collaborate on the former’s upcoming EP Zoom In, which is set to arrive in March. McCartney, on the other hand, is fresh off the release of his solo album, McCartney III, which helped him become the first act to have a top-two album on the Billboard album charts in six different decades.

(via The Irish News)

The Boston Celtics are already without the services of Kemba Walker, who has missed all of this season as he’s worked to get his injured knee right, and now, the team will be without its other All-Star. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, COVID-19 protocols will hold Jayson Tatum out.

While it is unclear of Tatum tested positive for the novel coronavirus or if this is merely a matter of him being a close contact that needs to quarantine, Charania reports that the Celtics will be without his services for up to the next two weeks.

Of course, the most important thing here is that Tatum and all of those around him are healthy and able to stay healthy, so even if not having him will be an issue for Boston — which sit 7-3 at this early juncture of the season — making sure he’s safe it the top priority. Still, no Tatum is going to be tricky, as he leads the team in scoring (26.9 points per game) and is second in both rebounding (7.1 a night) and assisting (3.8 a game). Compounding this is that some of the guys who could theoretically slot in, Grant Williams and Romeo Langford, are out, the former due to COVID-19 protocols, the latter due to a wrist injury.

Boston, which has off on Saturday, currently is scheduled to play seven games in the next 14 days.

On Friday night, two days after his supporters stormed the Capitol building, leading to five deaths, outgoing president Donald Trump was permanently banned from Twitter. The reason, the company said, was “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” — a reaction to him spreading baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud that have whipped his base into a violent frenzy. The reaction among his base was predictable: They weren’t happy. Soon the hashtag #1984IsHere began trending, referring to George Orwell’s classic novel about an authoritarian dystopia. The reaction to that, however, was that many of the people tweeting that probably haven’t actually read the book.

One frequently made point was that Twitter is not the government. They are a company. And if the government itself has not taken away Trump’s freedom of speech, there is no first amendment violation. Therefore invoking a book — one written by a virulent anti-fascist — was a moot point. Some posted useful explainers to help his fans realize the difference between the government and a social media company.

Others pointed out that Trump still has a voice.

Many questioned that Trump supporters have actually read George Orwell’s 1984.

Or maybe they have.

Others were annoyed about the overuse of “Orwellian,” when Orwell wrote many other books not about a grim dystopian hellscape. (Keep the Aspidistra Flying, about a frustrated wannabe novelist, is pretty good, too.)

Some anti-Trumpers quoted Orwell back, with lines that they probably wouldn’t enjoy.

There was some general mocking, too.

Others pointed out that it’s that Trump — and some of his minions — is being “censored.” What they experiencing is what happens after wrongdoing.

Others simply reminded people about the actual 1984.

Taylor Swift’s had a great 2020. She dropped two albums, Folklore and Evermore, which both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts and stayed there for multiple weeks. But that’s not all. According to Billboard, who collaborated with MRC Data for their 2020 US Year-End Report, Swift’s Folklore was the best-selling album of 2020. As a result, she became the first artist to have the top-selling album of the year on five different occasions.

Folklore — which was released in July — sold 1.276 million copies through December 31, 2020, making it the only album to sell more than a million copies last year. The other four occasions where Swift had the best-selling album of the year was in 2019 with Lover (1.09 million), 2017 with Reputation (1.9 million), 2014 with 1989 (3.66 million), and 2009 with Fearless (3.22 million).

Swift had a sizable lead over the second-best-selling album of 2020, BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7, which sold 674,000 copies last year. The Weeknd’s After Hours, Harry Styles’ Fine Line, and Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? were also among the year’s top-selling albums.

On top of album sales, Swift also had it good with individual songs. Just last month she became the first person to debut a song and an album on the respective Billboard charts in the same week on two separate occasions. The first came with Folklore and “Cardigan” while the second occurred with Evermore and “Willow.”

(via Billboard)