Month: October 2021

Parlux Fragrances and Jay-Z are embroiled in an ongoing legal battle. Jay-Z testified today in Manhattan Supreme Court as part of a suit filed against him by the perfume company, who claim he didn’t hold up his end up the bargain when it came to promoting the Gold Jay-Z cologne line. According to a report by Rolling Stone Jay-Z was adamant that he had fulfilled his obligations properly, stating: “You have me on trial from something I didn’t do.”

The opposition’s counsel pointed to a specific part of his contract that required “promotional tie-ins” and asked if the rapper had made any appearances for the Gold Jay-Z launch. “I did a lot for the Gold Jay-Z launch,” Jay-Z said. “I had a year to complete these [obligations], correct? I don’t know if you answered my question,” Jay-Z said. “I had a year to complete these right?” After more tense exchanges in which the lawyer tried to prove Jay-Z hadn’t read the contract he signed with the company, and therefore didn’t know what his obligations were, more of Jay’s personal feelings about the company came to light from some email exchanges where he wrote that they “suck.”

“I wanted great products and these guys didn’t understand,” he said. “It was so frustrating working with them.” According to the suit, which Parlux first filed in 2016, Jay-Z earned $2 million in royalties for the perfume, but they lost $18 million on the launch. They stated that Jay was supposed to make several appearances in support of the launch but never came through. After the suit was filed, Jay and his team countersued, alleging that they gave him with “inadequate accounting reports and promotional resources,” and still owe him $27 million in royalties.

A jury will decide the verdict for the trial, but proceedings are still underway.

A video on TikTok posted by Chelsie Gleason has more than 12 million views because of the way she assertively told a man who who was harassing her to get away. Gleason was filming herself lifting weights when a man approached her attempting to strike up a conversation. She ignored him and was wearing earbuds, but the man didn’t get the point.

“I was just trying to work out when this happens,” a voiceover says in the video taken at a Crunch Fitness gym. “I’ve never met this guy and he’s been harassing me for months.”

Finally, Gleason had enough and snapped at the man. “Don’t come near me,” she said confidently as she dropped her weights and took a step back. The man immediately turned and briskly walked away. You can tell she got her point across because he looked like he wanted to get out of there fast.

Registered dietitian Carrie Taylor says that Gleason did the right thing by telling the man to stop while he was harassing her. She says that if you tell someone to stop harassing you at the gym and they persist, to immediately talk to the manager and threaten to call the police if swift action isn’t taken.

She says you should also get a restraining order if necessary. Anything to stop the harassment because it could intensify. Gyms should also prominently post signs that warn people about sexual harassment so that these situations don’t happen in the first place.

After the video went viral, Crunch Fitness announced it had found the man and banned him from its facilities.

“Our philosophy at Crunch is ‘no judgments,’ where we promote positive self-esteem and respect all races, cultures and nationalities in a fun atmosphere,” a spokesperson for Crunch Fitness told Newsweek. “All of our gyms are committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all members.”

“He’s been found and as been banned! Thank you @CrunchFitness,” Gleason wrote in the comment section.

One person in the comments made an important point about why this type of harassment is so dangerous. “Imagine if a shyer girl is walking to her car at night and he’s out there…he needs to be kicked out,” a TikTok viewer wrote. Who knows what the man’s intentions were and whether he was grooming her for something truly terrible?

This isn’t the first time Gleason has faced harassment in the gym. She’s tweeted about it several times in the past. It’s clear from the video that she’s hit a breaking point.

there’s a solid 3 people I actually like talking to at the gym, and you’re most likely not one of them.

— chelsie gleason (@c_gleason09)
1634611547.0

If I don’t know you,
pls do not come up to me in the gym and give me advice or offer to spot me. If I want/need help, I’ll ask.
Thanks.

— chelsie gleason (@c_gleason09)
1627527614.0

Gleason’s brave decision to confront the man put an end to his creepy, threatening behavior in the moment. But the video may serve a greater purpose by showing women how to react to men who harass them. Further, it could also deter men from harassing women in the first place by showing them there are serious consequences for being a creep.

By now, Saweetie’s commitment to elaborate Halloween costumes should be near-legendary. Last year, she completely reproduced Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” single cover with herself as each of the three members. The same year, her and Quavo’s matching costumes saw them become Beast and Mystique from the X-Men, building on their comic book character theme from the year before when they went out as Harley Quinn and the Joker.

This year, Saweetie keeps the superhero streak going, dressing up as Halle Berry’s version of Catwoman from the oft-ridiculed 2004 film. But, being Saweetie, she couldn’t just shoot and post photos of the costume. Instead, she went all-in with a complete sketch video featuring none other than Halle Berry herself. The video opens with Saweetie strutting her stuff on a rooftop reciting a line of dialogue from the movie when Halle Berry bursts out from the stairwell to wonder, “What’s going on here?” The two regard each other for a bit, with dramatic music building and an intense staredown ensuing when Halle takes a page from Saweetie’s book, declaring, “I know that’s right!”

Saweetie isn’t the only star getting into the spooky spirit. Megan Thee Stallion also impressed fans with her own cosplay shots on Instagram after dressing up as a sexy Pinhead from the Hellraiser horror franchise. You can catch Saweetie on Netflix this weekend, hosting Sex: Unzipped, a comedy special about, well, sex featuring… puppets? I guess if you’re not into all the horror of Halloween, there are worse ways to spend a Saturday night.

Following Superman and Lois being renewed for a second season earlier this year, the hit CW show is looking to expand its cast — and is hitting up some pretty familiar faces to do so. Six years after making her debut as Lucy Lane in CBS-turned-The CW drama Supergirl, Jenna Dewan (Step Up, The Witches of East End) is returning to the DC Universe to reprise the role in Greg Berlanti’s “Arrowverse,” bringing all her former character’s signature kindness and charisma with her.

Perhaps even more exciting is Dewan is being credited as a reoccurring character on the series rather than a special cameo, meaning that even after Supergirl finally comes to a close on November 9, we’ll still be seeing Dewan’s Lucy Lane (and perhaps even some other friendly faces) pretty regularly. In addition — and seeing as Superman and Lois is so early in its run compared to other ongoing “Arrowverse series such Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash — this could mean Dewan will be sticking around the DC universe for some time via our television screens.

Superman and Lois is the latest DC series from The CW, and follows the caped crusader (Tyler Hoechlin), his partner-in-life-and-journalism, Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), and their two teenage sons, Johnathon and Jordan, as they lead their not-always-so-super lives.. As soon as the series premiered back in February, it was met with critical acclaim, with our critics saying it goes so far as to injects an energy into Clark Kent lacking in recent DC movies, making it not at all surprising the series was renewed so early on. Superman and Lois is scheduled to return to network early next year.

The Brooklyn Nets are without the services of Kyrie Irving, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change any time soon. Irving is not vaccinated against COVID-19, and because of a mandate put in place by New York City, he’s unable to participate in the team’s home games. While he could play in most road games and practice with the team, the Nets decided they did not want Irving to be a part-time player.

As such, Irving is hanging out at home, and according to Nets owner Joe Tsai, there haven’t been any conversations between the team and the player since the decision was made. Via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN:

“Last time [I] talked to him was when we made the decision that he was not going to be playing until something changes,” said Tsai, who owns the team with his wife, Clara Wu Tsai. “We haven’t communicated since then.”

Added Tsai: “Obviously Kyrie has his own belief so I respect that. But we have to make a team decision. This is not a decision about him. This is a decision about where we go as a team. And it is just not tenable for us to have a team with a player that comes in and out, no home games, only away games. What do you do in practice then?

Tsai made it a point to mention that he is unaware of whether or not New York will change its regulations, making it so Irving could play without the vaccine. Brooklyn has gotten off to a 2-3 start to the season in Irving’s absence.

Wheel of Fortune‘s bread and butter is usually in making its viewers feel good about how well they can fill in the blanks on phrases and names, but ahead of Halloween, the show decided to freak out some horror fans by getting very close to summoning a horror legend.

Wednesday’s episode of the long-running program featured a very repetitive puzzle, a rarity on a show that usually makes things tough on its contestants. But the puzzle, labeled with the “Movie Quote” category, was just the word “Candyman” four times in a row.

The horror standout, which was reimagined by Jordan Peele earlier this year, was clearly the reference for Wednesday’s puzzle.

Of course, Candyman only is said to arrive if you say his name five times in a row. So the puzzle stopped just short of actually tempting fate. Wheel of Fortune demands accuracy on saying the puzzles out loud, but it was certainly rife for an accident if a player got a bit overzealous. Which maybe is why so many people reacted to the puzzle on social media.

Thankfully we’ve seen subsequent episodes air by this point, so it doesn’t seem like anyone actually was haunted on the soundstage. But it was a nice puzzle to mix things up with, and maybe gave a screenwriter or two out there a few good ideas for a game show-themed horror flick.

[via Yahoo]

In the video for “Best Of Me,” Alicia Keys’ new single and loving ode to her husband Swizz Beatz, the singer spends time cuddling, dancing, and posing with Swizz, as clips from various home movies featuring their whole family appear throughout. The single is the first from Alicia’s upcoming double album Keys, which will play on the two sides of the singer’s career — the laid-back, piano-driven Originals side, which will be produced by Alicia herself, and the hip-hop-friendly, upbeat Unlocked side produced by Mike Will Made-It.

In that spirit, two versions of “Best Of Me” hit Alicia’s YouTube. While the video uses the stripped-down “side A” version produced by Keys herself, the “unlocked” version adds extra instrumentation, including drums and synth. Keys’ excitement for the new project is palpable in her social media posts leading up to its release, saying the track gives her chills. The project will around just over a year removed from the singer’s last full-length album, Alicia, which contained features from Jill Scott, Khalid⁣, Miguel, Sampha, Snoh Aalegra, and Tierra Whack. Keys is due on December 10 via RCA Records. You can pre-save it here. Check out the cover below.

Watch the “Best Of Me” video above and listen to the alternate “unlocked” version below.

After taking the action movie genre by storm, The Rock is breaking into a whole new genre — which, okay, still has action in it. The Black Adam star is reportedly teaming up with Jumanji director Jake Kasdan for an all new holiday film for Amazon that was, at one point, titled Red One. Apparently, that title may change, but The Rock’s involvement will not. He’s now set to deliver the holiday blockbuster that already has “make me a franchise” on its Christmas list. Via Deadline:

The movie is billed as a globe-trotting, four-quadrant action-adventure comedy, imagining a whole new universe within the holiday genre. The hope here is that this concept will reach beyond a tentpole movie, across multiple industries and businesses in the Amazon fold. The pic aims to shoot in 2022 with a 2023 holiday release.

The holiday film is yet another project from The Rock’s Seven Bucks Production, which already has the action star barreling onto Netflix in November with the action spy film, Red Notice, starring Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot.

In the meantime, the wrestler turned actor is currently hard at work on post-production for his DC Comics debut when Black Adam smashes into theaters next summer. The Rock showed off a small preview during DC FanDome, and if you’ve ever wanted to see him disintegrate people with bursts of lightning while he effortlessly lifts them off the ground, Black Adam has you covered. Definitely lots of that happening.

(Via Deadline)

Fresh off the success of Square Enix’s Guardians of the Galaxy game, Marvel has announced they have another super-powered collaboration in the works. Earlier today, the studio published a blog post revealing they have 0fficially entered a partnership with Skydance New Media to create “a narrative-driven, blockbuster action-adventure game, featuring a completely original story and take on the Marvel Universe.” Skydance’s current head, game industry veteran Amy Hennig (Uncharted, Legacy of Kain, Jak and Daxter), took to Twitter to share the news shortly after, saying her team has been “having a blast working with @MarvelGames on [their] first project at @Skydance New Media.”

While it can be assumed the game will feature the same old Marvel characters we all know and love, as of right now neither studio is dishing out any details in regards to the project’s plot, characters, or name. However, seeing as Insomniac Games is currently working on a Spider-Man series and Wolverine game while Square Enix has kept busy with Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel’s Avengers, it feels safe to say the game will most likely follow a different hero and/or supergroup. Based on Hennig’s experience with fast-driven, action-adventure games that sprawl across the globe, like Uncharted, I think we could very well be looking at a Black Widow, Doctor Strange. or Black Panther story here, though only time will tell. Regardless, the pairing seems like a match made in heaven, with Hennig herself saying “the Marvel Universe epitomizes all the action, mystery and thrills of the pulp adventure genre” that she adores.

“I can’t imagine a better partner than Marvel for our first game,” said Hennig, president, Skydance New Media. “The Marvel Universe epitomizes all the action, mystery and thrills of the pulp adventure genre that I adore and lends itself perfectly to an interactive experience. It’s an honor to be able to tell an original story with all the humanity, complexity, and humor that makes Marvel characters so enduring and to enable our players to embody these heroes that they love.”

Marvel has also expressed excitement with working with Hennig and the team over at Skydance. While the studio’s game division, Skydance New Media, is fairly new, the crew consists of several developers with years of AAA experience, as well as a “diverse team of creative consultants from the worlds of film, television and comics to bring this new game to life.”

“Amy has been setting the bar for narrative adventure games for decades and we are happy to be collaborating with the talented and experienced New Media team at Skydance,” said Jay Ong, executive vice president and head of Marvel Games. “Their ambition and vision for making innovative entertainment using beloved Marvel IP was obvious from our first meeting. We’re excited to share more with Marvel fans when the time is right.”