Pop Culture
Grimes, Alanis Morissette to Judge New Avatar Singing Competition Show Alter Ego
There’s a new singing competition show in town, albeit one unlike ever seen before on TV. FOX upcoming series, Alter Ego — a.k.a. “the world’s first avatar singing competition series” — is slated to air this fall, featuring Grimes, Alanis Morissette, will.i.am., Nick Lachey, and Rosci Diaz as its judges. Building off the sight-unseen auditions of The Voice and the completely-anonymous performances of The Masked Singer, Alter Ego will use motion capture technology to transform its participants into their “dream avatars.” “Alter Ego merges talent and technology to revolutionize the singing competition show in only a way Fox can do,” Rob Wade, Fox’s president of alternative entertainment and specials, said in a press release. Advertisement Related Video “We are so excited to bring the f...
Britney Spears Appears to Call Out Family Members In Cryptic Instagram Post
With the #FreeBritney movement at its crux, Britney Spears has become more and more vocal about her 13-year conservatorship and the strain it’s put on her relationships — even those between her and her family members. On Friday night, the pop star shared a cryptic Instagram post that reads: “Never forget who ignored you when you needed them and who helped you before you even had to ask.” While Spears didn’t name names, fans are speculating that her caption was targeted at her family, most notably her sister Jamie Lynn Spears. Spears wrote in the caption: “There’s nothing worse than when the people closest to you who never showed up for you post things in regard to your situation whatever it may be and speak righteously for support … there’s nothing worse than that !!!! How dare the people ...
John Mulaney Announces New “John Mulaney: From Scratch” Tour Dates
With no advanced notice, John Mulaney took to social media on Friday to announce more stand-up comedy shows for his upcoming “John Mulaney: From Scratch” tour. Check out the complete list of dates below. The trek consists of several residencies across the US later this fall. After a stretch in Boston from August 14-29th, Mulaney will do a one-off show in Las Vegas on September 4th and then perform multiple-night runs in Atlanta from September 16-19th, in Philadelphia from October 1-5th, and in New Orleans from November 3-7th. Previous performances under the “John Mulaney: From Scratch” tour earlier this year were hailed as being “raw and vulnerable.” Taking that into consideration, maybe that means these shows will get into the rocky events of the 38-year-old comedian’s past year, includin...
Sad! No One is Buying Tickets to Donald Trump’s Pity Party “History Tour”
Turns out a twice-impeached ex-president isn’t a good concert draw. As Politico reports, Donald Trump’s upcoming “History Tour” with disgraced FOX News commentator Bill O’Reilly is having a hard time moving tickets. The tour, which was announced last month, promises “hard-hitting” conversations between Trump and O’Reilly offering a “never-before-heard inside view of [Trump’s] administration.” In a statement announcing his participation, Trump said the events would be “fun, fun, fun, for everyone who attends!” And yet, more than a month later, a large amount of tickets for each of the four shows remain available for purchase. Politico checked in with the box offices at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL; Amway Center in Orlando, FL; Toyota Center in Houston, TX; and American Airlines Center...
James Gandolfini Was Reportedly Paid $3 Million to Decline a Role in The Office
For fans of The Sopranos, the podcast Talking Sopranos has unveiled a number of interesting details about one of the country’s most beloved crime dramas. A recent episode alleges that HBO paid Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini, a cool $3 million so that he would turn down a role on the US version of The Office. The topic came up during a chat with co-hosts Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa and their guest, Ricky Gervais, who created the UK Office. Evidently, after Steve Carell departed The Office, NBC was scouring for their next regional manager of Dunder Mifflin. “You know, they talked about having Gandolfini at one point replace him,” Imperioli said. Schirripa explained that a few years after The Sopranos ended, NBC had offered Gandolfini $4 million for one season of The Of...
Britney Spears Uses #FreeBritney Hashtag in Instagram Post Celebrating Court Ruling
The #FreeBritney movement has been pop culture canon for quite a while now, and it’s been cemented even further now that its namesake has finally utilized the hashtag on her own social media. Celebrating Wednesday’s court ruling that she can at last hire her own lawyer, Britney Spears shared a gleeful Instagram post expressing her gratitude with clips of herself horseback riding and doing cartwheels. Tacked on at the end of the caption was a cheeky “#FreeBritney.” “Coming along, folks … coming along,” Spears wrote, with a middle-finger emoji for good measure. “New with real representation today … I feel GRATITUDE and BLESSED !!!! Thank you to my fans who are supporting me … You have no idea what it means to me be supported by such awesome fans !!!! God bless you all !!!!! Pssss this is me ...
Mel Gibson Seen Saluting Dear Leader
When Donald Trump entered the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 264 over the weekend, he was greeted by a chorus of “U-S-A” to drown out the scattered boos. But one other attendee gave the ex-POTUS a special hailing, as video shows Mel Gibson saluting Trump as he walked to his seat. Saturday’s headline bout between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirer drew a star-studded crowd, bringing out everyone from Dave Chappelle to Justin Bieber. Trump’s attendance wasn’t terribly surprising, as UFC head Dana White is his longtime friend, and Irish national/ultimate heel McGregor once called the head of a recently indicted organization a “phenomenal” president. And to be fair, events like UFC are unifying regardless of political affiliation. Still, watching Gibson, a man known for his bigoted and craz...
Bill Cosby Planning Standup Comedy Tour Following Prison Release
Fresh off his overturned conviction for sexual assault, Bill Cosby is ready to make his return to show business. That’s right, the disgraced comedian wants to mount a full-blown standup comedy tour. According to TMZ, Cosby’s spokesperson Andrew Wyatt confirmed the 83-year-old’s team has started reaching out to club promoters across the country, with many allegedly saying they’d be open to having him perform. “The world wants to see Mr. Cosby,” Wyatt told the gossip outlet. Among those who likely aren’t interested in seeing Cosby back in the limelight are the more than 60 women who’ve come forward with allegations of the former Cosby Show star engaging in rape, drug-induced sexual assault, sexual battery, and child sexual abuse. In 2018, Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated ind...
Bill Cosby Says the “Mainstream Media Are the Insurrectionists”
Despite only recently having his sexual assault conviction overturned due to a procedural technicality, Bill Cosby is wasting no time making batshit public statements again. While defending his former on-screen wife, Phylicia Rashad, after she was reprimanded for celebrating his release from prison, Cosby took things to a weird place by blaming the mainstream media for the January 6th insurrection. Upon Cosby’s release after serving two years of a potential 10 year sentence, Rashad tweeted, “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” Previously known as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, Rashad is now a dean at Howard University, and her current employer wasn’t thrilled with her applauding a man formerly labeled a sexually violent predator. ...
The Weeknd to Write, Produce, and Star In New HBO Series From Euphoria’s Sam Levinson
Soon, The Weeknd’s acting resume will consist of more than his perfect cameo in Uncut Gems: the singer born Abel Tesfaye is set to star in, co-write, and executive produce a new show coming to HBO Max. Titled The Idol, the upcoming drama comes from co-creator Sam Levinson, known for his work on Euphoria and Malcolm & Marie. Deadline reports that The Idol will center around a female pop singer who begins romantically seeing a mysterious LA club owner, the latter of the two just so happening to lead a secret cult on the side. Tesfaye and Levinson created the series together alongside “nightlife entrepreneur-turned-writer” Reza Fahim. We don’t know much else about the series yet, but we’re excited. Stay tuned here for more info as we hear about it. Though it’s been over a year since the W...
Owner of Flintstone House Allowed to Keep Life-Sized Dinosaurs on Front Lawn
Fred Flintstone and a menagerie of dinosaurs can stay on the lawn of the landmark Flintstone House, thanks to a settlement between owner Florence Fang and the ultra-wealthy Bay Area town of Hillsborough. As reported by Palo Alto’s Daily Post, Fang will receive $125,000 as part of the terms of the settlement agreement and will be allowed to keep the changes she made to the property, including large metal dinosaurs, life-sized sculptures of Flintstones characters, and a “Yabba Dabba Do” sign. In March 2019, Hillsborough filed a complaint calling the outdoor decorations “a highly visible eyesore and are out of keeping with community standards” after Fang didn’t adhere to three stop-work orders. Related Video “Most of the residents that I talk to are concerned that if we don’t enforce our...
Conan O’Brien Gives Tearjerking Tribute on Final Late-Night Episode: Watch
After nearly three decades, Conan O’Brien’s tenure as the longest host in late-night history has come to a close. The final episode of Conan aired Thursday on TBS, serving as a fitting tribute to the comedian’s 28 years on the air. The episode opened with a Simpsons sketch in which an overly-excited Homer Simpson conducted O’Brien’s exit interview. While discussing the moments that stood out to them most throughout Conan history, Homer recalled a fairly vague interaction: “There was a time you had this actor on, and he was promoting a movie. And you asked him if there was any wacky stuff that happened on the set, so he told this mildly interesting anecdote,” he said with a laugh. When it came time for O’Brien’s last monologue, he reflected on the show’s 4,000-hour history, admittedly hesit...
