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If you’re curious as to how a Donald Trump rally quickly turned from political protest to outright insurrection as a throng of the president’s supporters violently stormed the Capitol building, The Daily Show just dropped a new video that should leave little doubt about who’s to blame. Titled “Heroes of the Insurrection,” the damning collection of clips features everyone from Fox News talking heads, members of Congress, the official White House press secretary, and Trump’s own children as they steadily ratchet up the rhetoric from just a few days after the presidential election to the moments before the Capitol attack on January 6.

While nobody escapes the brutal Daily Show segment without a sizable amount of blame on their shoulders, there were clearly some standouts. Freshly elected congressman Madison Cawthorn is seen on video specifically telling an audience in December to threaten lawmakers. “You can lightly threaten them and say, you know what, if you don’t start supporting election integrity, I’m coming after you, Madison Cawthorn is coming after you, everybody’s coming after you.”

Rudy Giuliani also doesn’t look great by demanding “trial by combat,” but things really take a turn for the worse when Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr. take the stage on the day of the attack. Eric tells the crowd that, “We need to march on the Capitol today,” while Don Jr. really steps in it by threatening those who refuse to overturn the election results. “If you’re gonna be the zero and not the hero, we’re coming for you,” Don Jr. said. “And we’re gonna have a good time doing it.” Republican Congressman Mo Brooks certainly didn’t help to calm things when he takes the podium and says, “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass!”

But of course, nothing can compare to Donald Trump directly addressing his supporters and instructing them that “we’re going to the Capitol” and to “fight like hell.” Five people were killed in the attack.

It looks like “WAP” rapper Cardi B is truly serious about becoming a movie star. Variety reports the Bronx rap superstar has snagged her first-ever lead role in an upcoming comedy produced by Paramount, Assisted Living. Cardi will play a petty crook who dons a disguise to hide from her former crew and the police after a heist gone wrong. That disguise? An elderly woman at her grandmother’s nursing home. Considering Cardi’s sharp comedic instincts, EW expects Assisted Living to be a star vehicle like Sister Act.

Cardi got her first acting role in 2019’s Hustlers alongside fellow Bronx native Jennifer Lopez. Like Lopez, it appears Cardi is now pursuing a double-threat career as both an actor and a musician. In a recent interview, Chris Rock said before Cardi blew up with the release of 2017’s “Bodak Yellow,” he tried to pitch her as the star of a comedy television show, calling her “one of the funniest people” he knows. Now, Paramount is hoping Chris was right, but that may depend on the film’s other personnel; no director is attached in the report, but the writer is Kay Oyegun of This Is Us.

Cardi also has a role in the upcoming Fast & Furious film, F9. You can see more of her funny insights on her Facebook Watch show, Cardi Tries.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have re-teamed with Tom Holland for their follow-up to the highest-grossing movie of all-time. No biggie.

In Cherry, the Spider-Man star plays a U.S. Army medic whose life unravels after he returns home from war. He deals with an undiagnosed case of PTSD with opioids, and he pays for the drugs by robbing banks with his wife, played by Ciara Bravo. It was a heavy role for Holland (he’s not a friendly neighbor anything), but the actor was up for the challenge.

“You get a taste of Holland’s incredible performance in the movie and the range that he displays as an actor,” Joe Russo told Entertainment Weekly. “I think you’re seeing him transform from a teen actor into an adult actor.” He added, “Tom is playing a character who makes some self-destructive choices, but he’s so charismatic and likable. It was important for us that the audience go on a journey with him when he makes those choices.” As for why they went from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to an opioid drama, the Ohio-born Anthony Russo explained, “We’re acutely aware of the existential blight that has gripped the Midwest in a lot of ways and made it ground zero for the opioid epidemic. We’ve known a lot of people close to us who have been hurt by the epidemic.”

Cherry premieres on Apple TV+ on March 12.

Well, that mystery didn’t last long. After only a day of speculation from fans, Ariana Grande has already confirmed that the two guest artists on the remix of her popular Positions single “34+35” are rappers Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion. Fans had already theorized the two rappers as possible additions to the track, which seemed to be affirmed by Megan Thee Stallion’s comment on Ariana’s announcement post. Now that they’ve been confirmed, all that remains is the wait until the song drops tonight/tomorrow at midnight ET.

“34+35” became an instant fan favorite from Positions thanks to Ariana’s flirtatious and racy lyrics, so Doja and Megan, who both ply their sexuality to uproarious effect in their own music, make perfect sense as guest stars on the track. Fans were sure that Ariana and Doja were set to collaborate soon due to Doja’s sly post suggesting a hidden significance behind her social media follows after she reset the count to only include a handful of artists, but many thought that the collaboration would come on Doja’s own album which is set for release sometime this year.

Doja did already collaborate with Saweetie on the latter’s new single “Best Friend,” while Megan has been a favored feature artist lately, helping take Cardi B’s “WAP” to legendary status within weeks of its release. Meanwhile, Ariana is continuing to promote her album Positions as she prepares to marry fiance Dalton Gomez.

The “34+35” remix is due tonight at midnight ET.

Earlier this week, The 1975 announced that they were canceling all shows for the tour that they had booked in 2021. However, the group is still holding onto hope that they can play songs from their recent Notes On A Conditional Form release at a smaller, more intimate space later on this year.

The 1975 vocalist Matty Healy took to his Instagram stories, according to a report from NME, to offer fans some hope that a show could be possible at some point this year. “If COVID does clean up a bit and ‘small shows’ are available in like the autumn or winter I will definitely do that shit,” he wrote, adding: “One or two intimate small shows (if possible!)”

The news arrives after the band announced that they were starting to work on their next album in lieu of tour, saying they “look forward to seeing you all at a show as soon as it is safe to do so.” While the possibility of attending a concert seems slims at the moment, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently offered hope for the state of live music in the fall. Speaking about the vaccine rollout, Fauci said: “If everything goes right, this is will occur sometime in the fall of 2021. So that by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience.”

GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is continuing her PR campaign to become the most eye-rollingly deranged member of her party this week with her latest stunt: trying to impeach soon-to-be President Joe Biden.

Sure, Biden’s technically not in office yet, and yeah, he hasn’t committed any offense worthy of impeachment — unlike his predecessor who’s made history for being the first U.S. president to be impeached twice — but that’s not stopping the Republican from Georgia. And really, why should it? This is a woman who believes in QAnon conspiracies about Satan-worshipping cabals of pedophiles who currently control our democracy. This is a politician who put people’s lives in danger by spreading false claims about the Clinton’s running a sex-trafficking ring out of a D.C. pizzeria.

And, let’s not forget, this is also a member of our government who publicly murdered the concept of irony by wearing a mask with the word “Censored” stamped on it while she addressed one of the most powerful voting bodies in the world, and voting against Trump’s impeachment after the president incited a mob to attack the Capitol. So of course, Rep. Greene is going to draft up articles of impeachment on Biden’s first day in office for, as she recently tweeted, “abuse of power.”

Honestly, we don’t know why comedy writers even try anymore. There’s no way satire can top this.

After Donald Trump inspired a crowd to attack the U.S. Capitol building last week, which has resulted in his second impeachment, Twitter users went to town on creative ways to remove the outgoing president from the holiday classic Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Suggested replacements included Jabba the Hutt, Dolly Parton, and everyone’s favorite mascot, Gritty. There were also calls to swap Trump with a grown-up Macaulay Culkin.

While the effort to remove Trump from the Home Alone sequel started out as jokes, they may have just gained some serious traction. Not only did Culkin see the Trump tweets, but he’s fully onboard. The Home Alone star was particularly sold on the idea of being the one to replace Trump.

You can see Culkin’s replies below:

Prior to the Capitol attack, Home Alone 2 director Chris Columbus has gone on the record saying he’s not a fan of the Trump scene, which was the result of Trump bullying the production while they were filming in the Plaza. Columbus had every intention of editing out the scene after including it to appease Trump, but to his surprise, test audiences ate it up.

“People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen,” Columbus told Insider. “So I said to my editor, ‘Leave him in the movie. It’s a moment for the audience.’ But he did bully his way into the movie.”

While the very brief cameo might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, Trump is very attached to it. He flew off the handle back in December 2019 when he learned that his cameo was cut from a Canadian TV broadcast. Instead of recognizing the reality that movies are routinely edited for time, Trump blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. We’d show you the tweet, but it no longer exists thanks to Trump finally being banned from Twitter following the Capitol attack.

(Via Macaulay Culkin on Twitter)

By now, you’ve probably heard something about the Armie Hammer (star of Netflix’s recent Rebecca remake as well as critical favorites The Social Network and Call Me by Your Name, along with an especially weird Running Wild With Bear Grylls episode) controversy that started bubbling up over the weekend. There are alleged Instagram DMs (a lot of alleged DMs) about Hammer’s sex life and alleged cannibal fantasies, and he’s now dropped out of Shotgun Wedding, an action-comedy movie that co-stars Jennifer Lopez. It’s a mess, to say the very least.

Armie is now speaking out. He’s calling the whole controversy “bullsh*t” and says that he exited Shotgun Wedding out of concern for his children. Here’s his statement via Variety:

“I’m not responding to these bullsh*t claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic. Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I’m grateful to them for that.”

Deadline reports that Hammer’s role in Shotgun Wedding will be recast, and a Lionsgate representative stated, “Given the imminent start date of Shotgun Wedding, Armie has requested to step away from the film and we support him in his decision.”

To fill in some of the blanks here, let’s dig in… “cannibal,” seriously? It’s something. It’s also important to note that none of the alleged messages have been substantiated as authentic, but of course, one particular quote — “I am 100% a cannibal. I want to eat you… I’ve cut the heart out of a living animal before and eaten it still warm” — is what initially grabbed a lot of attention. Here’s what began to trickle out on Twitter, and that’s only the beginning.

KnowYourMeme has a roundup of the scandal, which revolves around alleged messages from Armie to multiple women. There’s talk of his (again, alleged) taste for blood drinking and mentions of rape fantasies and “slaves” and demands that he be addressed as “daddy,” as well as apparent bragging about being unfaithful to his wife (from whom he separated last year), Elizabeth Chambers. More screencaps (initially posted by an Instagram account called House of Effie) of alleged direct messages between Armie and women have surfaced (be warned because they are stomach churning, including a fantasy about, uh, toe removal) and can be found at The Sun.

Meanwhile, a source that claims to be close to Elizabeth Chambers told Daily Mail that she’s “shocked and sickened” and believes the claims made by the women. The source further claims that Chambers was aware of Hammer not remaining faithful during their marriage, but again, none of the alleged messages posted within this controversy have been proven to be real.

(Via Variety, Deadline & Daily Mail)

Long before quarantine forced everyone into their homes and gaming became a more everyday part of our culture, Aerial Powers was looking for new ways to connect the worlds of eSports and hoops. As a streamer herself, Powers already has more than 5,000 followers on Twitch. But after she launched the Powerz Up NBA 2K Tournament last summer, the Dutch eSports brand Team Liquid began talks to bring Powers on as a streamer and ambassador.

In many ways, Powers, a 2019 WNBA champion with the Washington Mystics, represents an intersection of much of what gaming can be in the future. As a passionate gamer who dominates at NBA 2K as well as Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, she will fight right in at Team Liquid. But as a Black female athlete who’s part of the trail blazing WNBA, Powers also is clearly unique among gamers. That’s why Team Liquid added another duty to Powers’ role with the brand when they named her the chair of the company’s newly formed diversity and inclusion task force.

Powers spoke with Dime on Wednesday about her partnership with Team Liquid, her memories from the WNBA’s Bubble season last summer, and where her head is at as she faces free agency this week.

What stood out about the Team Liquid partnership and what do you hope to accomplish along with them?

I mean, Team Liquid is just like, there’s a legacy there, right? They’re a legacy eSports organization, and anybody would want to be a part of them. I mean from talking to the co-CEOs Steve (Arhancet) and Victor (Goossens), just the values really align with me on what they want to do, and what they’ve been doing you know in the past. So this partnership was just the right way to go. For me, I’m going to be l on the Team Liquid side as a streamer, and a brand ambassador for them, and also leading their diversity and inclusion task force. So, I mean, when it comes to anything Team Liquid, they’re just champions in all areas. So, being a part of them is phenomenal.

In addition to being a streamer you also will be the chair of Team Liquid’s diversity and inclusion task force. What do you anticipate that role being like and why was that something you wanted?

It came together just from them seeing all that I was already doing in that space before actually being signed with Team Liquid. Like you mentioned before, I did the (all-female) NBA 2K Powerz-Up tournament. And that kind of came about because when I started out just streaming, you know, from a professional athlete standpoint, it’s all about, girls aren’t bigger, they aren’t stronger, this and that. And I came over to the eSports space and I felt that same kind of stereotype towards female gamers, and it wasn’t as inclusive and inviting for females, and it’s also looked at as male dominated. But it’s not.

So I’m like, how do I make my voice known, how do I help change this, because on the (WNBA) side, people looked at me for advice because I’m a public figure. When the 2K tournament started, it was all about being more inclusive to females and just making them feel like they have a community to come to and start just expressing their love for eSports. Now, Team Liquid saw everything that I was doing, saw that I was trying to make a change in this industry in the best way possible when it comes to diversity and inclusion. So, you know, when they approached me about being the leader of their diversity inclusion task force, it was only right that I accepted it and took it full force, because not a lot of orgs are trying to do that, especially building out basically a task force to make sure that it gets done.

I can’t imagine you expected when you did the Powerz-Up Tournament that this would come out of it, right?

Last year was just so crazy and everything that went on, you know, COVID, and everybody’s locked down in the house, right, and people are just looking to get into something, (and) eSports made this big boom. People that are in the industry know how amazing it is, (but) they don’t realize how it could feel, you know, to not feel included in this big booming thing that’s taking off, right? And I felt that when I played the game. When I got on the game and people were like, oh you’re a female, or saying little things that were basically cyber-bullying. When it comes to just me being a female — and it’s not about gender when it comes to eSports — it’s about the skills you bring to the table, whether it’s mouse and keyboard or controller. That’s the beauty of eSports. Anybody can play it. Anybody (can get to) a certain level, as long as you put the work in.

How do you think like eSports will continue to grow, even if people aren’t at home quite as much? I know it’s been a growing business for years and years, but what do you think changes when people aren’t necessarily cramped inside and they do get to go do stuff out of the house again?

Right. That’s a big question. And for me personally, I don’t think it will waver. The reason why I think that is right now, yes, we’re cramped inside the house so a lot of people are watching Twitch or they’re watching eSports because that’s the thing to do now, but you forget the aspect of live gaming. People going to actual stadiums and being a part of something bigger than just a traditional sport, but eSports, they get as much, you know, viewing and people come into the arenas, as an NBA game.

And we look at that now you have actually more people invested into eSports because now they’re locked in the house, seeing what it’s all about. So then they know hey, this might be a live event, I want to go, I’ve been watching this player. I’ve been watching them at home for the last year that I’ve been stuck in COVID at home, let’s actually go out to a game. I think it will only heighten the expectations for eSports and I think we will actually get to a point where people are really invested in everything when it comes to eSports.

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on watching your Mystics, seeing them make a playoff push despite being short-handed.

Yeah, all of it was exciting. It was a different situation that no one had ever been in, being in the Bubble, right, and then unfortunately I had a hamstring injury. It happens, our games are back-to-back because of the Bubble situation, so anyone that kind of got hurt was like, it stuck, because you didn’t have any time to get kicked back to your team.

But to see my team come together like they did, it was phenomenal. I mean we didn’t have a lot of our starters, but that wasn’t the feel every time we went to practice or we went to games. It was, we’re trying to win this game, no matter who’s on that floor, as long as we were together as a team.

One of the images that sticks out to me was the way that Ariel Atkins kind of became the face of that night when the league decided to sit games and was on ESPN. What did you make of seeing Ariel do that and seeing the Mystics take center stage with the social justice demonstrations?

Ariel, she did a tremendous job, and what most people don’t know about her is she’s extremely quiet. She’s a girl that actually doesn’t talk unless (she) really, really (has) something to say. So for her to be the one to actually speak out on ESPN in front of the camera, I know our team felt it, and anyone that knows her felt every word she said.

The fact that my team took the initiative to wear something as crazy as the bullet holes on the back of the white shirts with the blood (as seen in the video above) … it was very graphic but it was graphic purposefully, because we wanted to show that we see this (and) this is not cool. Police brutality is not OK. So the fact that my team was courageous enough to do those shirts and speak up in front of ESPN, have the world hear their voice, t speaks volumes, not only of my team but the women of the WNBA. People look to us for advice, they look to us to hear what we have to say. So we will continue to fight that fight, and hopefully things will change.

Your hamstring I’m assuming is fully healed, you’re good to go with regard to that now, right?

Yeah, I’m ready to dunk on somebody.

Awesome. So, you are a free agent as well right now. How are you going into that process?

Free agency actually opens up in two days. So it’ll be hectic. I’m going into it open-minded. It’s a lot of situations with how the year last year played out with the Bubble, a lot (more) women actually in free agency this year. It’s my first free agency kind of situation. So, obviously, I don’t really know how to take it but to sit back and just watch what happens until I have to make my final decision.

While watching the first three episodes of WandaVision – only three of the nine episodes were made available – I kept wondering what the age cutoff would be for the people who “got it” and the people who will be scratching their heads. Seven years ago I wrote about the death of the TV rerun (with a, now, unfortunate lead image) which, in short, other than a handful of shows (Seinfeld, Friends, The Office), people aren’t watching episodes of old shows like they used to, even though we’ve never had access to those shows like we do now. For example, I’ve seen every episode of Bewitched, which influences the second episode of WandaVision, even though Bewitched completed its run before I was born. I watched them because, frankly, that’s all that was on during the daytime when I wasn’t at school. That’s just not the case anymore. I can’t imagine a 10-year-old today watching 184 episodes of Newhart.

I wrote all this to say that I adored WandaVision. But I’m hesitant to think this show is for everyone, since, at least the first three episodes, do require a working knowledge of ’60s sitcoms to fully grasp what’s being attempted. I do wonder what people not familiar with classic sitcoms will make of, say, Agnes: Kathryn Hahn’s nosy neighbor who fully channels the voice and comedic beats of those ’60s sitcom characters, often with a punchline about her nitwit husband, Ralph. (Kathryn Hahn being in this series is an absolute gift.)

All of this would be kind of weird on its own, without even adding in that this is an entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany’s Vision as the two leads. The last we saw Vision he was defeated by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. And Scarlett Witch returned in Avengers: Endgame to help lead our heroes to victory. But here they both are, as sitcom characters, with rarely a hint that anything else is happening other than the sitcom events of each episode, which includes plot points such as, “Vision is having his boss over for dinner,” and “Vision accidentally swallows some gum.” Though in the third episode, with its Partridge Family/Brady Bunch vibe, we do get some hints that there will be more, let’s say, “real world” scenes coming in the remaining six installments.

In the first episode, Wanda and Vision are a married couple living in a world that is very similar to that of the one The Dick Van Dyke Show was set in. Like The Dick Van Dyke Show, this episode was actually filmed in front of a live studio audience. As we go into the next episode, based on Bewitched, the beats change. Like Bewitched, it becomes a single-camera show with a laugh track. At the end of the episode (a scene we’ve seen in the trailer), everything turns to color. It’s not lost on me Bewitched was a show that had episodes filmed in both black & white and color. And the third, as stated earlier, dissects the Partridge, Brady aesthetic. The whole thing is really bizarre. But it’s my kind of bizarre.

I’ve seen a lot of talk about how people might react to a Marvel story without a lot of “action.” Frankly, I kind of hate “action,” even though I enjoy action movies and I very much enjoy the MCU. The actual action is my least favorite part. For the most part, I’m pretty bored during most action scenes. What draws me into the Marvel movies is that these are action movies that also happen to have good actors playing good characters that, obviously, when these movies are at their best, people spent the time to make compelling dialogue and interactions. For me, this is where I get a kick out of Marvel movies: Hey, there’s Spider-Man and Captain America cracking jokes with each other. So, for me, “the action” isn’t something I miss. I just like watching these characters interact. And I like classic sitcoms. So, yes, watching these characters interacting in the heightened style of a ’60s situation comedy is, for me, a delight.

A lot is being made of Marvel “taking a risk.” Well, I’m not sure about all that. Having an MCU television show will undoubtedly sell Disney+ subscriptions. And people will watch it regardless, because what else do people have to do right now? But it’s certainly “different” and something that isn’t made for everyone. I’m hesitant to use the phrase “your mileage may vary” because it’s usually only used in a negative way. But I think that phrase might be apt to describe WandaVision, even though I enjoyed it very, very much. I can’t put myself in the headspace of someone who doesn’t know these classic shows because they are too ingrained in my head. At times, some of the jokes felt like they were only for me. So if you, like me, are a fan of classic situation comedies, well you are in for a treat. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I literally have no idea how you will react to WandaVision. Hopefully, it will make the latter person want to watch some of these old shows before they are out of the cultural zeitgeist forever. More than anything, I hope WandaVision can accomplish that.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.