Category: News

Tekashi 69 (Daniel Hernandez) was reportedly hospitalized yesterday (March 21) after being attacked at a gym sauna in South Florida.

Per WPTV, his attorney, Lance Lazzaro, said that the rapper obtained cuts and bruises — particularly to his face — after the attack.

“Employees heard the disturbance and the perpetrators fled,” Lazzaro said. “Police in South Florida were called and he was transported via ambulance to a local hospital.”

TMZ also had video footage of the incident, where an unidentified man is seen punching and kicking Tekashi. However, Lazzaro also noted that there were several attackers in the incident.

Lazzaro also told TMZ that while Hernandez tried to fight off the attackers, there were too many. Gym staff called for the police and an ambulance after hearing the scuffle. Hernandez was taken to the hospital.

“Take a picture, I’m gonna be famous now,” one of the men can be heard in the video.

“I’m a fan, homie,” the one filming it added.

His attorney notes that the next step is to work with “Feds” to secure protection for Hernandez. He had previously been granted early release from federal prison “after cooperating with authorities to land several of his gang member cohorts behind bars.”

However, it is still unknown if this cooperation for his early release played a part in the attack.

The beginning of Swarm begins with a disclaimer: “This is not a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is intentional.” While it might seem like an intense way to start a show, the series takes a look at the downside of fandom and stardom in the modern age of pop stars and social media influencers, and they even call out some people by name. But the claim also has fans wondering if the events of the show actually happened.

The series follows a young fan named Dre who obsesses over superstar Ni’Jar while becoming increasingly violent and aggressive. But fans were quick to notice the real-world influences on the show that remind people of a a certain fandom. The show is called Swarm, after all!

Even though the show takes inspiration from real-life fans, creator Donald Glover insists that the show is a cautionary tale about this age of fame. At the show’s premiere last week, Glover spoke to the audience, saying, “I am so happy that you guys are here, able to enjoy this, and uh, yeah… like, um… Beyhive: don’t kill us. It’s not that bad. It’s actually, like, pretty cool.” Sure, it looks cool, but is Beyonce on board with this story, given her intense fandom?

Co-creator Janine Nabers says that Queen Bey is well aware of the series, and she might have even seen it. “She knows about the show,” Nabers told EW this week. “I wrote her a letter basically being like, ‘Yo, you’re great. I love you. This is a show that we’re working on. These are the people that are writing on it.’ She’s worked with a lot of the people who have worked on our show. It’s a family,” Nabers added.

Seeing as Glover has worked with Beyonce quite a bit (they played Simba and Nala together!) it seems like the two are on decent terms, so hopefully, the series doesn’t get any backlash from her team. Or from Halsey.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Prime Video’s new thriller series, Swarm, which is inspired by Beyoncé‘s fanbase, the Beyhive, has garnered much buzz. Since the show’s premiere last Friday (March 17), fans have taken to Twitter to express their fandom toward the series, as well as share some theories around the show’s terrifying plot lines.

At the same time, fans are wondering if the Queen Bey herself has seen the series. In an interview with Vulture, Janine Nabers, who co-created the series with Donald Glover, confirmed that she made Beyoncé aware of Swarm and its premise while the show was in production.

“She knows about the show,” said Nabers.

She continued, saying that she believes she has seen the show, as a lot of people who are close to her work behind the scenes of the show. “I wrote her a letter basically being like, ‘Yo, you’re great. I love you. This is a show that we’re working on. These are the people that are writing on it.’ She’s worked with a lot of the people who have worked on our show. It’s a family.”

In the past, Beyoncé has worked with Glover, with whom she co-starred in the 2019 live-action version of Disney’s The Lion King. She has also mentored Chloe Bailey, who plays Marissa Jackson on the show.

Though Nabers has reached out to Beyoncé about Swarm, she also revealed that she has never met her in person.

Rapper Quavo has earned his spot in the hip-hop textbooks for having one of the smoothest flows in the game. As a former member of the rap rap trio Migos, he, along with his former groupmates, has been credited as a formative force behind the now-thriving Atlanta rap sound. Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz have also been deemed pioneers for a cultural wave in Atlanta’s music history.

The “Greatness” rapper’s appearance on NBC’s latest music show, That’s My Jam, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, put his buttery smooth flow skills to the test. Quavo was prompted to perform a hilarious cover of Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz’s classic song “Get Low,” however, due to the rules of the Nonsense Karaoke segment, all of the song’s lyrics were changed.

Swapping out the beloved chorus for, “Pickle brine / Taste like wine / Straightening my teeth with Invisalign / Jello, Jello, Jello, Jello, Jello, Jello / I bought a Kindle at the mall / Belly flop’d Niagara falls / Read a book opened by Roald Dahl,” the musician didn’t miss a beat.

As an Atlanta native that grew up hearing the song and a successful rapper in his own right, it probably wasn’t as difficult as it may have seemed. But nonetheless, the Hunco knocked it out of the park.

Watch the performance above.

As Ron DeSantis continues to show signs that he’s willing to take on Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, the Florida governor sat down for a new interview with Piers Morgan where he took a notable shot at Trump’s handling of the pandemic. The moment came after Morgan asked DeSantis what makes him different from the former president, and DeSantis went straight for a Republican bogeyman that he claims he would’ve dealt with.

“The approach to COVID was different. I would have fired somebody like Fauci,” DeSantis said. “I think he got way too big for his britches, and I think he did a lot of damage.”

DeSantis also called out Trump for his “daily drama,” which is particularly poignant as the former president is reportedly facing a possible indictment in New York. Via Fox News:

The governor, a top rumored contender for the 2024 GOP nomination, said that he and Trump also differ “in terms of my approach to leadership… The way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board and I think that’s something that’s very important.”

However, despite knowing he’ll have to take on Trump in a primary, DeSantis made it a point to note that, “if I were running,” his true opponent would be Joe Biden.

“We are competing for the Republican [nomination], potentially, I get that, but ultimately you know the guy I’m gonna focus on is Biden because I think he’s failed the country,” DeSantis said. “I think the country wants a change. I think they want a fresh start and a new direction, and so we’ll be very vocal about that.”

When asked if he thinks he can beat Biden, DeSantis responded, “I think so,” which would be another stark difference from Trump if DeSantis can actually pull it off. Heavy emphasis on the if.

(Via Fox News)

(WARNING: Spoilers for The Mandalorian episode “The Foundling” below.)

As the actor who played Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequels, Ahmed Best did not have the best experience with fans following the release of those films. In recent years, Best has opened up about receiving death threats and constant insults that he “destroyed” people’s childhood. The fan backlash was so intense that, at one point, Best contemplated suicide. It’s one of the most glaring examples of Star Wars fandom at its worst.

Fortunately, the tide has significantly turned. While Best has continued to work with the franchise by voicing Jar Jar in The Clone Wars animated series and hosting Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge for Disney+, The Mandalorian just made one of the actor’s dreams come true in a huge way.

Over the past three seasons, executive producer Dave Filoni has hinted that he knows who rescued Baby Yoda (or Grogu, if we must) from the Jedi Temple during the Order 66 attack that took place during Revenge of the Sith. A brief glimpse of Baby Yoda witnessing the Jedi massacre was shown in Season 2, but it The Mandalorian Chapter 20, Star Wars fans finally get to see his escape.

In the action-packed episode, Baby Yoda makes a run for it as clone troopers breach the temple. His odds of getting out aren’t looking great until another Jedi comes to his rescue. That Jedi? Kelleran Beq played by none other than Ahmed Best, who helped develop the character for Jedi Temple Challenge.

It was a huge moment for Best, who finally got to live his dream of playing a canonical Jedi (and a pivotal one at that) and Star Wars fans are absolutely here for it. Shortly after The Mandalorian episode started streaming, Twitter exploded with love for Best. The actor’s name has been trending all Wednesday morning as Mando fans geeked out over his badass rescue.

You can see some of the reactions below:

New episodes of The Mandalorian stream Wednesdays on Disney+.

Pat Sajak has been hosting Wheel of Fortune since 1981. And yet even after over 7,000 episodes with co-host Vanna White, he’s still finding ways to keep things fresh, like faux-attempting to wrestle contestants.

During Tuesday’s episode of Wheel, Fred, a drama teacher who also works as a bar trivia host and wrestler, had a “perfect game”: he correctly answered every puzzle, including the bonus. “Just because he’s a professional amateur, you want me to body slam him for you?” Sajak asked the other contestants, while Fred flexed. Speaking of flexes: Fred took home a grand total of $75,800.

During the post-game celebration, Sajak walked over to Fred like he was going to shake his hand before putting some amateur “wrestling” moves on the contestant. Orange Cassidy, he ain’t. But Fred did a good job of selling Sajak’s patented armlock-hand over mouth combo, probably because he just made more in one game of Wheel of Fortune than he has in years of wrestling.

When the show cut back, Pat having said nothing during the actual act – Vanna said to him: “I had no idea you were a wrestler.” Pat replied: “Yeah I used to do that professionally,” to which one lone audience member laughed loudly and Pat stared them down. “Like you’ve never heard of ‘The Masked Sage?’ Come on…” he joked, giving himself a wrestler pseudonym.

You can watch the Wheel of Fortune clip above.

(Via the Sun)

It’s never fun when one of your favorite shows ends, especially if it’s unexpected. But we all know that the end of Succession has been coming because how long can that family realistically survive each other? There are only so many baseball caps on the market these days, anyway.

Even though the end is coming, the first batch of Succession reviews for its final season are promising a steady flow of drama, wit, and enough family bickering to make your own relatives seem like angels in comparison.

The HBO series will return this Sunday for its season four premiere, but critics have reviewed the first four episodes. While they are mostly spoiler-free, it seems like the build-up for this season will be even more earth-shattering than promised. Check out the reviews below:

Brian Grubb, Uproxx:

This show is fun and preposterously watchable but it’s also a show about broken people walloping each other with the scraps of a personality they have left. Buckle in.

Ben Travers, Indiewire:

“Succession” won’t rest on its laurels. No, the final season is here to annihilate you.

Angie Han, The Holywood Reporter

What I will say is that the biggest difference this year is the knowledge that we’re in the endgame. In earlier seasons, no matter how dramatically the sands shifted, we’d be waiting to see how they’d shift again. This season, though, they’re almost out of runway, at least as far as the viewers are concerned. That raises the stakes just a bit with each passing episode.

In the meantime, though, Succession hasn’t lost any of the hilarity or darkness we’ve come to expect from it. Love the colorful insults? We’ve got some real bangers, including my personal favorite: “I’m going to take you apart like a human string cheese.”

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

Succession’s forthcoming shocker [still not to be spoiled here!] will undoubtedly be the talk of the entertainment world. In the end, though, it’s both a fitting turn of events for a show on the way out, and conclusive proof that, when it comes to the Roys and their various associates, accomplices, and hangers-on, strategically conspiring for the crown isn’t merely a full-time job—it’s a way of life.

Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone,

Logan knows the end is coming, and so does Succession. Without spoiling what happens in the episodes sent to critics, the way that events unfold, and the impact that they have on Logan and everyone else, never plays like a rehash of what’s come before. Significant choices are made, by both the characters and the creative team, that cannot be taken back. It is full steam ahead to the end. Much of what happens is shocking and/or shockingly poignant, especially since it is a show about the absolute worst human beings alive.

Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair:

The show’s ultimate point may not be a comforting one, nor one with any kind of actionable entreaty. But just as Shakespeare and the Greeks tended to have something heavy to say about their ruinous and ruined royals, so too might Armstrong.

Joshua Alston, Variety:

While the season takes a bit longer to catch fire than its predecessors, once the shady dealing begins in earnest, “Succession” is more intense than ever. And with the series finale in sight, the show has a full tank of gas and an 800-pound gorilla’s foot on the pedal. Better than ever doing business with you, “Succession.”

Bob Strauss, The Wrap:

It all settles into a superb array of the show’s signature strengths: Machiavellian plotting, comic rationalizing and withering put-downs. The whole gang is at their calculating best, with a survivalist urgency to the business and emotional stakes at hand.

Meghan O’Keefe, Decider:

Succession Season 4 also happens to be Armstrong and the writers’ most ambitious season yet. Huge swings are made from the jump and every one of them lands with creativity, nuance, and grace. The most impressive thing about the writing in Succession Season 4 is how major emotional moments are amplified by the smallest of details: a hand tentatively reaching for another hand, a shoulder jerked away, or even a Sudoku game.

Succession returns to HBO this Sunday, March 26th. Good luck holding it together.

J. Cole‘s album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, was well acclaimed — enough to earn him a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album in 2016. He lost to another beloved project in Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, though.

However, in a new interview on ESPN’s Lead By Example With Bob Myers, the musician opened up about while the accolade was important to him at the time, just making the record great meant more in the long run.

“It was so important to me,” J. Cole said. “Had I had won it early on, I think it would have validated all those feelings I had for it. Maybe it would have felt like a championship at that point, I’m not sure. The fact that it didn’t happen and then it didn’t happen and it didn’t happen, it allowed me to reflect.”

“There was an album that felt like a championship,” he added. “The making of this album I got called Forest Hills Drive, and the releasing of it and the tour. That was a championship run in a way I would look at how the Bulls look at The Last Dance. That was the feeling. Guess what, that album didn’t win a Grammy. A Grammy didn’t increase my enjoyment or decrease my enjoyment. If that album had won a Grammy, it wouldn’t have changed my experience. The fact that it didn’t win didn’t change my experience. That was what a championship felt like to me.”

Cole eventually did go on to win a Grammy for his “A Lot” collab with 21 Savage in 2020.

Chlöe and Halle Bailey are having a big year — both as a group and as individuals. We are just over a week away from Chlöe’s solo debut album, In Pieces, and in May, we will see Halle take the big screen in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

While we are excited to see what the sisters bring to us individually, fans wonder what their future as a duo entails.

While promoting her new campaign with Zyrtec (per PopSugar), Halle revealed that she and Chlöe are excited about this new era in each of their lives. But she also made it known that fans haven’t seen the last of them as Chloe x Halle.

“This journey has been a really beautiful one,” said Halle. “My sister and I are so close, she’s like my arm. […] And she’s my biggest supporter. I’m her biggest supporter. We’re just really excited to be able to be doing all of this together and for this all to be happening. I’m so proud of her. And her album comes out March 31, In Pieces, and everyone should be so hyped for it. But people should definitely know that we are not finished making music together.”

In Pieces is out 3/24 via Columbia and Parkwood. Find more information here.

The Little Mermaid is in theaters 5/23.