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Morgan Wallen was set to make his debut on Saturday Night Live back in October, but a careless decision from the country singer caused him to lose that slot because he violated NBC’s coronavirus protocols. A news report from Tuscaloosa, AL showed Wallen at a maskless party in Alabama and videos on Instagram and TikTok found the singer drinking and making out with maskless partygoers after a Crimson Tide football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

It resulted in him getting dropped and replaced by Jack White for the October 10 episode. Less than two months later, Wallen made his return to the SNL stage, but not without addressing the party in a skit.

Joined by Jason Bateman and Bowen Yang, Morgan Wallen takes viewers back to the October “party.” The singer is first met by Bateman, who arrived via time machine and plays Wallen from one month in the future. A few minutes later, Yang steps out of the time machine and announces that he is also Wallen, but from two months in the future. Both of the future Wallens warn the country singer of the repercussions he should expect as a result of his attendance at the party, but Bateman and Yang end up ignoring their own warnings and quickly seek out some drinks to enjoy the rest of the night. Luckily, present-day Wallen sees the wrong in his actions and opts to turn the situation into a song of reconciliation.

“It’s hard to focus on the future/When the present’s full of girls/But if all you do is kiss all day, you’ll miss out on the world,” he sings. “So let’s all raise a glass up/And I thank you in advance/For giving this poor Southern boy a second yankee chance.”

In addition to the skit, Wallen also performed “7 Summers” and “Still Goin Down,” which will both appear on his upcoming 2021 album, Dangerous: The Double Album.

You can watch the skit and his performances in the videos above.

Dangerous: The Double Album is out 1/8. Pre-order it here.

While there are multiple ways for fans to listen to music these days, streaming has definitely become the most popular way to do so. And despite the popularity of Apple Music and Tidal, Spotify has become a major player in the game as well. What the most-streamed artists of 2020 data from Spotify revealed is that men do way better on the platform than women do, but when it comes to who is winning there among female musician, Ariana Grande is on top.

According to Chart Data, she just became the first female artist to every surpass 70 million followers on the app, a statistic that fans can easily access from every artist’s Spotify page. Just for context, Taylor Swift has around 39 monthly listeners at the moment, and another pop star having a huge year, like Dua Lipa, has 60 million. But in Ariana’s case, there hasn’t been a woman who has hit the 70 million mark before for the streaming app, so it’s a milestone for Grande’s career.

Guess Positions has the kind of playability that makes it ripe for repeat listens. At the time of writing this, Ari has 71, 592, 320 monthly listeners in the app. Kudos to her on the big win, and who else is daydreaming about what it will be like to finally hear those new songs live on tour?

Athletes care about the weather, too, which is probably why Jarome Iginla got interviewed about a nor’easter by a Boston TV station on Saturday. Amazingly, though, the station didn’t seem to know who the NHL legend was until hockey fans started sharing the story on Twitter.

New England got its first true blast of winter weather on Saturday, and if you’re in local news you know that means a story about the weather that must include interviewing some commuters. Improbably, Iginla was interviewed by Boston 25 News for a story datelined in Lexington, MA. You can clearly see him interviewed on camera, instantly recognizable by pretty much any hockey fan who saw him play over the last two decades.

It’s difficult to explain how funny it is to see Iginla, a wildly popular and recognizable figure in Canada and the larger hockey world, be interviewed like any old person. It was probably a welcome change not to be recognized. If you, like the interviewer, don’t know who Iginla is he played 16 seasons for the Calgary Flames, leading them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004. This is a guy who scored 52 goals in 2002 and helped Canada win gold twice at the Olympics just randomly chatting about a snowstorm and handing out winter driving tips.

“I like the snow, I like the winter, but not necessarily this,” said Jarome Iginla. “May be a little too much.”

Visibility was poor on the highways as heavy snow came down for a few hours. Getting around was a challenge, even for those who are used to this.

“Pretty tough, we’re from Canada, so it’s not too crazy,” Iginla said. “I mean we got some winter tires. Used to this growing up so, it’s not great, I’ll tell you, you get some tough stretches, but if you don’t go too fast it’s doable.”

What’s particularly funny about all this is that Iginla actually played for the Boston Bruins during the 2013-14 season, so it’s not like he’s an unknown stateside.

It’s just one of those things about humanity: not everyone knows everything, and even famous people can go unnoticed by the right typically dogged reporter. What’s even odder about this is that it’s not the first time a hockey player has gone unnoticed in a story about the weather. Here’s former all-world goaltender Roberto Luongo talking about how nice a day it is a few years ago.

It all made for a very fun Sunday for hockey fans, who are still very uncertain about whether there will be another NHL season amid a pandemic. At least we know Iginla is still out there, navigating a fairly mild New England winter storm safely.

Every parent knows the woe of kids leaving their dirty clothes lying around. When I was a kid, my dad would see my pile of clothes on the bathroom after I took a shower and cry, “Oh no! Annie melted!” I thought that was a clever alternative to yelling at me to pick up my stuff, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the way a Washington state mom handled a dirty sock left behind by her daughter.

Xep Campbell shared how her and her 10-year-old daughter Kestral’s creative one-upsmanship escalated on Facebook, and people are loving it.

“On the evening of Thanksgiving when I went to bed I noticed one of Kestrel’s socks on the bathroom floor,” Campbell wrote. “I decided not to toss it in the hamper but instead see how long it would stay there, sort of a sociological experiment. Today, a week later, it remained, so I decided it must be intentional and deserved recognition as such. I made this little label hoping it would motivate her to pick it up. Oh no.”

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Xep Campbell/Facebook

The label reads like a sign at an art installation—”The Forgotten Sock, Mixed Media, Nov 25, 2020. On loan from the collection of the artist.”

Xep Campbell/Facebook

“She sent me a text message asking if I had done it.,” Campbell wrote.

Xep Campbell/Facebook

“When I got home she said ‘I made a pedestal for it!’ She gamed my shame.”

Xep Campbell/Facebook

Game on.

“I figured as long as it was on display, it deserved an audience so the barnyard animals arrived,” wrote Campbell. “They find it very fascinating.”

Xep Campbell/Facebook

Xep Campbell/Facebook

That alone would have been enough to draw a chuckle from anyone. But it didn’t end there.

You know those “mysterious” metal monoliths that have been making the news?

Xep Campbell/Facebook

Oh yes, she did.

Xep Campbell/Facebook

And it just kept going. “I came back from walking the dog and this had appeared,” Campbell wrote. More art for the animals to enjoy.

Xep Campbell/Facebook

And then? This happened. “It’s a miracle!!!” Likely the only nativity scene of its kind, ever.

Xep Campbell/Facebook

And it kept growing. “They heard about the party.” Oh. My. Goodness.

Xep Campbell/Facebook

“I should point out this is a *very small* bathroom,” Campbell added. “I asked when the sock might go away. She said ‘how long do art exhibits usually last?’

Xep Campbell/Facebook

The creative escalation of the abandoned sock story has delighted tens of thousands as the post has gone viral.

Campbell tells Upworthy that she tries to live live in a way that results in a net positive gain for herself and anyone she comes in contact with—a philosophy that clearly extends to her relationship with her daughter.

“I always try to take the creative route whenever possible,” she says. “There is a lot of beige in the world that needs to be countered. There are also endless possibilities to be creative with even the most mundane aspects of life. I tend to go for the weird option when it’s there.”

As one example, when Campbell had to have brain surgery, she invited her friends to a zombie-themed roller skating party where they ate giant, brain-shaped jello. She says that Kestral isn’t phased by any of her mother’s antics because she’s grown up with it. “She definitely appreciates the absurd, though.” Campbell adds.

Not only is this story wildly entertaining, but seeing a unique approach to an extremely common parenting situation can help all parents expand their toolbox. Not only is this sock-turned-art-turned-manger-scene a fun way to make a memory with a child, it’s also likely to be far more effective at helping her remember to pick up her clothes off the floor than simply reminding her for the dozenth (or hundredth) time to use the hamper. Normally a kid might overlook something they left behind, now any time her eyes hit a piece of clothing on the floor, her brain will remember this goofy scene and at least notice that it’s there.

Well done, mama. Thanks for the entertainment and the positive parenting example.

DeMar DeRozan has never won the NBA’s Defensive Player of The Year award, but maybe he should after he had to defend his house from a home invasion last November.

The Spurs guard was staying in his Los Angeles home when he heard a noise in a different part of his house. When he went to investigate he found an intruder and managed to chase them off. The invader was later arrested by local police and according to TMZ claimed he was not trying to break into DeRozan’s home but was instead looking for Kylie Jenner’s. An odd thing to admit when you’re being arrested, but I guess at that point you don’t have much else to lose.

DeRozan spoke about the incident while meeting with the media on Saturday and he shrugged off the situation, via ESPN.

“I grew up in Compton, California,” DeRozan said Saturday. “I’ve been through worse.”

Thankfully it sounds like nobody was seriously hurt in the invasion and we’re hopeful that everyone is okay from a mental standpoint as well. Home invasions are a very real fear and can have lasting effects. With DeRozan making light of the situation we can be hopeful that he’s not too hung up on the incident.

Every now and again, the comedy gods conspire to give one member of the Saturday Night Live cast a perfect opportunity for an impression that defines a viral moment. Saturday brought one for Cecily Strong, as a witness in Rudy Giuliani’s fruitless election hearing in Michigan brought a slurring, wild performance to the viral public that everyone hoped she’d take full advantage of.

Strong hit it out of the park on Saturday with a pitcher-perfect take on Melissa Carone, who went viral due to her wild testimony that had even a squeaky Giuliani trying to restrain her a bit. The moment made many wonder where Giuliani even found the cast of characters who have appeared to allege all kinds of bogus claims, and some digging done by reporters has revealed some wild things about Carone in particular.

As the Huffington Post’s Ryan J. Reilly caught up with Carone, who had plenty to say about not only her viral appearance but some other wild things in her history.

As Reilly detailed in a Twitter thread as well as the story on HuffPo, Carone recently got probation in a case where she apparently framed a woman for stealing sex videos.

She was previously charged under the name Mellissa Wright with first degree obscenity and using a computer to commit a crime. Under a plea agreement, she reduced her charge to disorderly conduct and received 12 months of probation, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County, Michigan, prosecutor’s office told HuffPost. Her probation ended on Sept. 13, just weeks before Election Day, when a temporary staffing agency employed Carone to assist Dominion Voting Systems in Detroit.

But Carone, in an interview with HuffPost on Saturday, claimed that it was actually her fiance, Matthew Stackpoole, who sent the explicit videos to his ex-wife and that she took a plea deal only because they didn’t want to spend any more time in court. Stackpoole also admitted to HuffPost in a text message that he sent the videos and suggested that police officers knew he had done so when officers “took [Carone’s] official ‘confession.’”

“The reason I got charged for it is it was sent off of my phone,” Carone, a self-proclaimed cybersecurity analyst, told HuffPost. “I just said screw it, I’m going to have to take it.”

Committing crimes using the technology you claim to be an expert in is a pretty brazen move, though perhaps not as brazen as claiming widespread election fraud and having produced zero evidence to back said claims up. The Huffington Post story has plenty of details about the weird sex tape scandal, but perhaps it’s Giuliani’s defense of Carone that best sums all this up. It also helps to know the context where the quote came from.

Giuliani is definitely right about one thing: you could certainly describe all this using the word “incredible.”

[via HuffPo]

Teyana Taylor has been very open with her frustrations regarding her current standing at her Def Jam. The singer has shared the ill feelings she carries toward the label, but this time around it seems that they have reached a breaking point for her. She recently announced that she will be “retiring this chapter” of her career due to “being overlooked,” a statement that left some fans confused about what chapter she meant. As a result, she went on Instagram Live on Saturday night to clear up the confusion and confirm her desire to retire while explaining the exact things that upset her about her label.

“[The] majority of what that post was to warn my label who I’ve been signed to for almost 10 years,” the “Rose Harlem” singer said. “Everything that you guys see of me, everything that I put out, everything that I do is like, 100% me… My thing about it is, there’s no gun to anybody’s head to do anything that they don’t want to do. So yes, I am going to feel under-appreciated if I’m putting in 110% and my label is giving me, they’re reciprocating what 10% of that.”

She added, “I constantly feel alone, I constantly feel under-appreciated, I constantly feel failed…there is literally no push.” She then revealed that she’s asked Def Jam to drop her “on almost 10 different occasions” before addressing some of the reactions she’s received from fans.

I asked Def Jam to drop me on almost 10 different occasions. Straight to the face. Up in the building. At this point, I can’t let this kill me. Granted, to my fans, I think that, you know — and I can see how my message can come across but at the same time, I feel like it’s a tiny bit selfish to say, “What about your fans? Do it for your fans.” Baby, I gotta do it for my mental health. I have to do it for my emotional health. I have to do it for my kids so I can stay alive for my kids.

Elsewhere in the livestream, Teyana said that she’s never received the support from her label that she felt like she deserved and that she’s been left high and dry to handle issues that are the label’s responsibility, like the recent conflict she had with Mykki Blanco.

“I constantly get attacked for all the f*ck sh*t the label do and, y’all know me, I stay quiet. But, it’s so much I can take. So maybe, if I retire, n****s will let me go. Drop me, fam. Let me be free,” she said. “I’m tired… Baby, I’ve been doing this since I was 15 years old. I’m about to be 30. And besides performing for my real fans and actually being in a booth, nothing else about music makes me happy.”

You can watch clips from her livestream above.

Jason Bateman hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time in 15 years, and his monologue got right to talking about the last time he did a monologue in Studio 8H. While the cold open and Weekend Update focused on current events, Bateman got a bit nostalgic talking about the time a monkey nearly bit his face off.

“It is very very great to be back hosting SNL for the second time. The first time was 15 years ago so you know I made a hell of an impression, Bateman said during the monologue. “Honestly I was just too busy I had not one free Saturday for 15 years but I finally freed up.”

Bateman did explain, though, that “something kinda weird” happened to him last time he hosted. As he detailed, he was in a sketch called “Monkeys Throwing Poop At Celebrities,” and the show used a real primate for the sketch. That creature was on stage after the show, when everyone hugs it out and says goodbye for the night.

“We’re all hugging, saying goodbye, the credits are rolling and then the monkey tried to kill me,” Bateman said. “The chimp unhinges his jaw, flashes the teeth and tries to bite my entire nose off.”

As Bateman explained, the animal got a bit territorial because it got directly in its face, and lashed out in response. The actual video of the incident played during the segment, so you know he’s not kidding. And the monologue is funny, if only to see his reaction to the moment compared with what he was actually thinking.

“I’m smiling, but inside I’m thinking a monkey just attacked me and nobody cares,” Bateman said.

There are some pretty wild reactions to the moment, despite Bateman downplaying the reaction to it. Rachel Dratch, for one, looks as horrified as Bateman claims he actually was. Bateman said the animal was later “destroyed,” joking “it was my choice, lessons have to be learned” despite the fact that the two creatures apparently did meet up after the show to make things right.

Bateman stressed that the monkey is “still alive” at the very end of the sketch, so nobody has to feel all that bad about the jokes. But it certainly made for an interesting story. And, for the record, there was no monkey waiting for him to bump elbows with after Saturday’s show.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond ended its first season last Sunday with a few twists that ultimately saved a season that started off slowly but picked up dramatically in the last few episodes. As it turns out, Annet Mahendru’s character, Huck, was a mole all along — in fact, her character’s real name is Jennifer, and she’s the daughter of the lieutenant colonel of the CRM, Elizabeth. The reveal, in addition to Hope’s decision to surrender herself to the CRM, sets up what is essentially another All-Out War between the CRM and the remnants of the Campus Colony, including Felix, Iris, Silas, and Elton.

With a limited two-season series, however, what’s the end game? How does that All Out War end?

Where it began, of course: with Rick Grimes, according to Annet Mahendru herself in an interview with ComicBook.com.

“We’re the lead-up to the movies, so we’re going there. All the questions fans have had for, I don’t know, inherently a decade, right? Our show is the answers to that. So we are very much heading to CRM. I mean, that’s the helicopter… We’re getting really close, you know?”

Still, despite the end of the series leading into the Rick Grimes movies, Scott Gimple — the architect of The Walking Dead universe — wants viewers to know now that Rick Grimes will not be making an appearance in The World Beyond. “That’s one, I don’t know if people are being cagey about that. But I feel that one’s important not to be cagey about,” Gimple told ComicBook.com. “I think people could watch this show and learn a lot about the mythology that Rick Grimes is caught up in. And they might even see places where Rick Grimes has been … I just don’t like people watching it, sort of expecting Rick.”

Gimple also added that he and others are very much still “cranking away” on the movies, and they’re excited about the prospect of theaters for screening the Rick Grimes movies returning in 2021. “As we move toward the spring,” he told The Hollywood Reporter, “we’re talking about things potentially getting better in a permanent way. I would hope that come the end of next summer, people are piling into movie theatres again and laughing until they’re screaming together, eating popcorn together, and that we are once more enjoying each other’s company in front of a huge screen with awesome things happening on it. We hope to be a part of it.”

Despite the pandemic, all the threads for those movies seem to be coming together, with The Walking Dead coming to an end in 2022, writing on the second season of The World Beyond continuing and writing on season seven of Fear the Walking Dead ramping up even as they are finishing shooting on season six. Season 10C of The Walking Dead — the six bonus episodes — have already been shot, and they will air in February. Fear, meanwhile, should return soon thereafter with season 6B.

After giving their writers and actors nearly a month off after six straight weeks of new episodes, Saturday Night Live made its return and quickly got to work on addressing the numerous events that occurred in the last 30 days. An example includes a re-enactment of Rudy Giuliani’s Michigan election hearing led by Cecily Strong. Elsewhere in the new episode, the show got into its creative bag on a few occasions, one of them being a skit led by Pete Davidson that parodied Eminem’s legendary “Stan” video.

In the skit, Pete takes on the role of “Stan,” the extremely fanatic supporter of Eminem that the rapper debuted back in 2000. However, fitting for the Christmas season, Pete’s character, “Stu,” takes aim at Santa Claus in his letter. Just like Stan did in the video for the The Marshall Mathers LP track, Stu spends the majority of the skit writing letters to Santa in hopes that he’ll be able to get him the new PlayStation 5 for Christmas.

Unfortunately, a lapse in communication between the two causes Stu to grow increasingly upset with Santa’s refusal to respond to his requests. As a result, he sends one final letter in a fit of rage while driving off a “fifth of eggnog.” Due to his anger and repeated letters, Santa dismisses Stu’s requests and instead, gives the PlayStation 5 to Eminem himself who appears at the end of the skit.

The “Stu” skit comes a few months after Eminem celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Marshall Mathers LP with new merch for fans and the release of his “Stan” and “The Real Slim Shady” video remastered in HD

You can watch the “Stan” parody in the video above.