Category: Viral

Marc Maron, podcaster extraordinaire and coiner of the phrase “human centipede in Austin,” is gearing up to film his first HBO comedy special. Finally? Yes, finally. The master of GLOW ceremonies and the sort-of Joker actor (I feel like he might appreciate that one) regularly discusses his comedy sets on his WTF show. He’s a freaking stand-up veteran and has been doing this since the late 1980s (at least).

From there, it’s a real head scratcher to fathom how he hasn’t previously come together with HBO for an official comedy special, but it’s time to make up for lost time. As Variety first reported, Maron’s special will tape on December 8 during a live set at at New York City’s Town Hall. The special will be in your living room sometime in 2023.

In a press release, Executive VP of HBO Programming Nina Rosenstein declared that this “[t]his long overdue collaboration is an extra special one for us.” She called the set “deeply personal and darkly funny,” and here’s what Maron added:

“I’ve wanted to do an HBO special my entire life. Literally my entire life. Not since I started doing comedy, but since I started watching comedy as a kid. It was where the real comedy happened. Always. I’m honored to be working with them. It’s been a hard few years and the hour I’ve been working on is very provocative and personal. I trust HBO to present it properly because they have the courage to have a point of view as a network. AND they get the deep funny.”

On the personal and “hard” note, Maron is certainly alluding to the sudden 2020 death of girlfriend Lynn Shelton. He’s been real about the tragic subject on his podcast and will likely be even more so about the process of grief. Obviously, he’ll still be bitingly funny in this special. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about his “time with The Sandman.” Hint, hint.

In mid-October, Maron let it slip that he scouted locations for “my HBO special” and that he enjoyed “avoiding the Comedy Cellar” during his recent NYC voyage. Mission accomplished.

(Via Variety)

Pete Davidson made his first appearance on the November 17 episode of The Kardashians, which was a little awkward considering he and Kim Kardashian had already broken up back in August. Nevertheless, the obviously pre-recorded episode offered a rare inside glimpse into their whirlwind tabloid romance.

While the couple dominated headlines with their appearance at the 2022 MET Gala (thanks in no small part to the drama over Kim wearing Marilyn Monroe’s dress), the two had actually met the year before at the 2021 MET gala. As the episode reveals, Davidson tried to make a move during that first meeting, but Kim politely shot him down with a creative excuse.

“Remember when I asked for your number at the last Met and you pretended that you couldn’t give it to me because you had gloves on?” Davidson said to Kim before admitting that he admired the move. Via E! News:

Looking back on Kim’s answer, Pete continued, “It was actually the nicest excuse ever. I knew it was an excuse, but I remember being in the car being like, ‘Wow, she knows how to, like, make someone feel really good about themselves.’ I thought that was really sweet.”

Kim noted, “Aww. Had only I had known.”

Sadly, their romance wasn’t meant to be. While Kim has yet to be linked to a new partner, Davidson’s name comes up practically every single time there’s a celebrity breakup thanks to his now-confirmed BDE. Heck, even Martha Stewart wants a crack at him, but she’s going to have to wait her turn. Davidson is reportedly seeing model Emily Ratajkowski at the time of this writing.

(Via E! News)

If four more years of Donald Trump as president is the most terrifying thing you can possibly imagine, Jimmy Kimmel is here to up the ante: Picture four more years of Trump with kooky, crazy-eyed Marjorie Taylor Greene — who has randomly started appointing herself to committees — as his vice president.

Yes, that is the sound of millions of Americans screaming at the very top of their lungs simultaneously.

Fortunately, it’s just a theory — at least for now — but Kimmel raised the heart rates of practically all his viewers on Wednesday night when he suggested that the conspiracy theory-loving Georgia congresswoman’s obnoxious attempts to very publicly kiss Trump’s dumpy ass could all be in the name of securing the second most powerful position in the country.

Even before Trump officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, many of his former accomplices were making their allegiances known — and not all of them were with their former boss. According to Kimmel, among those who seem to be bailing on the twice-impeached former president are his daughter Ivanka and even wife Melania, who was spotted entering Trump Tower in Manhattan just hours after her husband’s big announcement. “But there are still plenty of swamp creatures onboard for round two,” said Kimmel. “Trump picked up a key endorsement… before he even threw his wig in the ring.”

That show of solidarity, of course, came from none other than Greene, Miss Jewish Space Lasers herself, who was happy to confirm that “President Trump has my FULL endorsement and my support as our Republican nominee in 2024.”

We should probably all wait and make sure he’s not indicted first, but Kimmel went along with it:

Ok, so he’s got one vote. I think I know why she’s doing this: We know Mike Pence isn’t going to be running mate again. His own vice president won’t even endorse Trump; Pence says he thinks Republicans have better choices. So maybe this goblin named Marjorie Taylor Greene is hoping she gets the nod!

Kimmel even went so far as to mock up a possible ad campaign for Marge, highlighting the many things she has in common with Trump — including a frighteningly weak grasp on both reality and the English language.

You can watch the clip above, beginning around the 8:00 mark.

After announcing they would be splitting up, to the dismay of many fans, Brockhampton has decided to treat the fan base to not one but two final projects. Fans allege the gracious move is similar to when Frank Ocean dropped 2016’s Blonde and his visual album, Endless, shortly after that.

The Texas music collective has been on an “indefinite hiatus” since performing at Coachella last spring. Luckily for fans, during the show, they announced they would be releasing another project titled The Family, which dropped today (November 17).

But in a shocking turn of events, the group revealed it would release not one but two final albums, with the second dropping at midnight. The surprise project, TM, is “an album made up of songs that were started by the group during a two-week stint in Ojai, California in 2021, but were never fully completed during those sessions,” the group said in a recent press release.

Brockhampton leader Kevin Abstract revealed in a letter on social media that the project will let the group members, him included, “explore their individual futures.” Abstract is the only one featured on the 11-track project.

The move has fans comparing the group to Frank Ocean after he dropped 2016’s Blonde and his visual album, Endless, not too long after.

“BROCKHAMPTON PULLED A FRANK OCEAN?” one person tweeted.

One fan said he couldn’t believe he had gotten “Frank Ocean’d” but was all for it.

“Cannot believe I just got Frank Ocean’d by Brockhampton man,” they wrote. “don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing, though.”

Another person suggests the move was not only “genius” but expected.

“Brockhampton is genius for pulling that frank ocean move lol,” they tweeted. “it was kinda obvious they were on big p*ssy by Kevin abstract.”

The swift demise of FTX is quickly shaping up to be one of the biggest business unravellings in history. Literal billions of dollars remain missing, FTX has abruptly declared bankruptcy, its corporate leadership is essentially on the run and the crypto market at large is on edge as the ripple effect of one of its biggest companies evaporating echoes throughout other firms.

At the center of all this is FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has very publicly tried to post through all of this despite it becoming increasingly clear that something very, very bad (and possibly extremely illegal) happened to make FTX fail so quickly. As various agencies continue to investigate FTX, what’s left of the company has to undergo bankruptcy proceedings. And that started in earnest on Thursday when a new CEO — John J. Ray III — took over to essentially try overhauling the company so it can continue to function.

Essentially, Ray III is an expert at taking over “distressed” companies in bankruptcy and salvaging what he can from the mistakes of others. In four decades of this work, he’s taken over a lot of big name failed entities, with energy behemoth Enron atop that list. So it probably tells you everything you need to know about FTX that on Thursday in legal filings Ray III said he’s never seen a company in worse shape than FTX.

I have over 40 years of legal and restructuring experience. I have been the Chief Restructuring Officer or Chief Executive Officer in several of the largest corporate failures in history. I have supervised situations involving allegations of criminal activity and malfeasance (Enron). I have supervised situations involving novel financial structures (Enron and Residential Capital) and cross-border asset recovery and maximization (Nortel and Overseas Shipholding). Nearly every situation in which I have been involved has been characterized by defects of some sort in internal controls, regulatory compliance, human resources and systems integrity.

Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here. From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented.

The emphasis is ours here, but it’s a remarkable statement about the horrorshow that was FTX’s books. The numbers coming out of the legal proceedings are truly remarkable. For example, the amount of cryptocurrency the company holds at “fair value” is so small you’d be worried about accidentally overdrafting your checking account.

Business Insider reported Thursday that number was not $659, but $659,000. Which is still a far cry from the $5.5 billion SBF claimed at one point the company actually had. And despite all that, Bankman-Fried keeps talking to the media and plans to raise $8 billion in an attempt to make things right with the customers who lost it all when FTX went belly up. In a way, you have to admire Bankman-Fried for trying. But if I’m an investor, there’s no way I’m reading the above and trusting him with more of my money, digital or otherwise.

[via @kadhim on Twitter]

It’s not often that the Heisman Trophy winner returns to college football. It’s even more rare that the Heisman Trophy winner is required to come back because they’re not old enough to be eligible for the NFL Draft. As such, Bryce Young is a rarity in the sport, as the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner won the award following a productive sophomore campaign for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

He’s won a ton of games, tends to put up huge numbers in Alabama’s high-scoring offense, and thanks to the recent changes to NCAA rules that allow athletes to get compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness, has gotten the opportunity to become a spokesperson for Dr. Pepper. Recently, we got the chance to sit down with Young to discuss his recent meeting with the folks who will compete in the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway at conference championship games this year, being an athlete in the NIL era, how things are going in his second year as a starter, and much more.

What do you have going on with Dr. Pepper?

I’m excited to be a part of this, the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway. This campaign is something I’ve seen growing up, my entire life. So, being able to be a part of it — I’ve met the finalists, talk to the contestants, and just being able to meet them and talk to them and tell me their stories, it’s a great opportunity for me. So, I’m super excited.

We’re in the NIL era, which means this is a new thing to do for college athletes. What’s been the most fun part about getting to work with Dr. Pepper?

It’s the people that I’ve worked with, and Dr. Pepper as a whole, it’s a brand that we all know, and we’re all familiar with. But everyone that I’ve worked with from Dr. Pepper has been so personable, very understanding, they’ve been really easy to work with. So, with a brand like Dr. Pepper, obviously a huge name, something that everyone knows, they have every right to be big, and to be difficult, and to be tough. But I’ve had an amazing experience on working with them, whether it’s on set shooting commercials, being here — whether it’s on Zoom meeting people or being able to meet some contestants that they were able to pick out. I really just think it’s the people in the organization that have made this the most enjoyable for me.

I’m glad you mentioned the commercials, because the commercials are hilarious. And obviously, the hope when you’re a kid is that football brings you the success you had in high school, the success you’ve had at Bama, that you’re lifting trophies for the next 15, 20 years of your life. But were you watching commercials with athletes as a kid and going, “Man, it’d be really cool if football can have me doing some of those someday?”

I think subconsciously, I was always watching athletes in advertisements, on commercials, wherever it may be. And I always thought it was really cool. But I never even really put two and two together until I was actually being approached for it. It was always something that was really cool, but I never really thought of it as like, “Oh, that’s gonna be me, that’s my goal.” It felt so, especially when I was a recruit, so far fetched, it’s so far away. It wasn’t even something that I really looked at, it was something that I thought was really cool. And then when NIL came along, obviously the prospect of it was super intriguing, was cool to hear about. And then hearing I would actually be a part of it, and filming it, and watching it, that’s a whole, whole different experience.

You’re part of the first generation of college football players who’s learning what it’s like to be a student-athlete in this era. What have you learned about managing the off-field expectations and the time commitment that comes with being a student athlete right now?

I think it’s all about time management, and having priorities and having a hierarchy. For me, with NIL, I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had, and I’ve been able to work with great people. It’s been a lot of opportunities that have really been life changing for myself, my family.

But at the end of the day, being a student-athlete comes first, making sure that I’m taking care of things academically, and then making sure that I’m taking care of things on the field. So for me, I feel like making sure that I know that hierarchy, I have that order, and knowing what my priorities are, I think that’s been what’s made it the easiest for me. It’s allowed me to kind of traverse everything that’s been going on, because this is very new territory, something that obviously is new to me, but new to everyone. But for me, what I found was making sure that I have priorities, I have the hierarchy, and make sure that the main thing really remains being the main thing.

And any time I’ve talked to NFL guys from Bama, the one thing that they always say is the Bama has the best people to help you with everything, so I imagine that’s the case here.

Yeah, 100 percent. We have a lot of people here that are super supportive, super helpful. They want us to obviously represent the university well, but they want us to go out and have as much success and do as much as we want to, and they support us with that. And you know, knowing that the coaches have our back, administrators, everyone involved, knowing that they support us and want us to be successful — not just on the field and with the university, but in our personal endeavors — having that support system really means a lot.

Let’s talk a little bit of football. What are your general thoughts on the season so far?

We’re just taking one day at a time, one game at a time. There’s been ups, there’s been downs, but we really feel like we’re pushing to be stronger. Right now, everything that happened in the past, it’s just stuff to learn from. So, we’re focused on the future, and we’re going to attack it one day at a time.

Whenever I talk to guys — NFL, NBA, any sport — they always talk about how that first season is learning, and that second season, you’re just so much more comfortable and in command of things. What’s been the biggest difference between first year starter Bryce Young and second year starter Bryce Young?

I agree, I feel like just that comfort, and I think having been in scenarios and circumstances before, not being my first time, obviously you feel more comfortable. I think the biggest thing is just stepping up as a leader, kind of having that respect from my teammates and coaches and using that to do what’s best for the team and leading. I feel like those have been the biggest differences. You prepare with practice, mental reps, and when you’re playing and getting that experience, it was invaluable. So having of more that under my belt, that definitely helped me be more comfortable.

Have you noticed that you’re leading, that you’re being more of a teacher to younger teammates, you’re more of a go-between for coach Saban and coach O’Brien and the rest of the guys on the offense?

Yeah, 100 percent. Me being leader is something I take pride in, my leadership and trying to make sure that I’m getting best out of each other. So again, just having more experience, being more comfortable in situations, and being able to have that respect from my teammates and coaches, that means a lot and that pushes me to be a better leader every day. Like you said, I feel like it’s my job to bring others along, to make sure, first and foremost, that I’m doing the right thing, that I’m holding myself to the same standard, and then to do the same with with others and to make sure that I’m bringing everyone along. So, I definitely feel like that’s a place that I’ve gone this year.

You’re the rare Heisman Trophy winner who had to come back to school. Not a lot of guys have to deal with that and the extremely high expectations, the pressure, all that. Are you someone who tries to tune out all that noise? You try to tune out those expectations? Are you someone who goes, “I hear that and I’m gonna let that motivate me, and it’s pushing me to be better”?

For me, I kind of tune stuff out. I understand everyone’s gonna have opinions and expectations, but those are things I can’t control — what people think, how people feel, that is out of my control. I really try to live up to the expectations and standards that I set for myself, and that we set for us as a team, in this building at school. So, that’s really who I work for, what I look for as far as I’m gonna try and be the best version of myself.

I’m grateful for everyone’s opinion, whether it be positive or negative, I feel like everyone’s entitled to that opinion. Everyone can feel, good or bad, however they like, but it’s something I can’t control, and I my best to focus on what I can and to control what I can control. I set expectations and standards for myself, and I live up to those and I work to live up to those and to the standards and expectations that we set as a team.

Have you noticed that guys on opposing teams have brought that little extra something this year now that they know they’re going up against the Heisman Trophy winner? Or is it just one of those things where it’s Bama, you’re getting everybody shot every single game, and you’ve been dealing with that for a year and a half now?

I think it more so is just because of it being Bama, us being who we are. I think everyone on the team, throughout recruiting, we all understand that we all have a target on our backs. And that’s why we all chose to be here, we like everyone’s best shot. But we understand that we have to try to be consistent with ours, week in and week out. So, I think it more so just speaks to coach Saban, the legacy that he has and the program that is here at the University of Alabama more so than anything.

How do you manage the pressure and the stress and the expectations that come from everything? Are you someone who, when you leave the football field, you’re putting everything away and you’re focusing on being with friends, video games, whatever? Are you someone who, when you get away, that’s more time to focus on football?

First and foremost, I enjoy it, I enjoy playing, I enjoy being a part of the team, I enjoy the little intricacies about preparing for games. I’ve never felt like a job, it never feels like a chore. So, first and foremost, I enjoy it. It’s not like I’m at the facility and I’m waiting until I get home, or dreading the next day. I enjoy the process, so that definitely makes a lot easier.

But you know, at times, I do feel like it’s important to detach when I’m going home. Watching YouTube, or listening music, nothing too big. I do try to detach just so I can be fresher and more into it when I am in the building throughout the long days that we have. But I enjoy it again, I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. I enjoy every day, I enjoy the process, that’s really what drives me the most.

And last question, is Tua the NFL MVP?

That’s a great question. I feel like he definitely has to be in that conversation, he’s been playing amazing, obviously, someone that I’ve looked up to, coming here, I learned a lot from. So, I have a huge amount of respect for him. But yeah, I definitely feel like he’s on track for that. I definitely feel like so far, he’s working for it and earned it, so I’m excited to watch him continue to have success and to keep moving on.

Ticketmaster bosses clearly didn’t pay attention to Taylor Swift’s unprecedented Billboard Hot 100 top-10 monopolization. Did they miss the news that Swift’s Midnights album enjoyed the biggest first-week numbers since 2015? There has to be a reason why Ticketmaster underestimated how many people would be clamoring for The Eras Tour tickets, Swift’s first tour in four years. And the general public sale hasn’t even started yet.

Swifties dealt with technical difficulties during this week’s presale, which began Tuesday, November 15 — from a stagnant queue to Ticketmaster crashing altogether. “There has been historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up to buy tickets for the TaylorSwiftTix presale,” Ticketmaster’s Fan Support statement read, in part, during the outage.

Liberty Media CEO and Live Nation chairman Greg Maffei provided a more detailed explanation on CNBC today (November 17). Maffei was asked about US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet calling for the dissolution of the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger.

“First, all the Live Nation team is sympathetic that the long wait times and fans who couldn’t get what they wanted,” Maffei said. “Reality is, it’s a function of the massive demand that Taylor Swift has. The site was supposed to be opened up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift fans. We had 14 million people hit the site, including bots — another story — which are not supposed to be there. And despite all the challenges and breakdowns, we did we sell over two million tickets that day. We could’ve filled 900 stadiums.”

Maffei then directly responded to AOC’s tweet, “And the reality is, this is not actually a Live Nation-promoted concert. Taylor Swift is promoted by one of our largest competitors. So though AOC may not like every element of our business, interestingly, AEG, our competitor who is the promoter for Taylor Swift, chose to use us because we are, in reality, the largest and most effective ticket-seller in the world.”

AOC wasn’t the only politician to chime in on Ticketmaster’s failure. Tennessee attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti raised questions over potential consumer protection law violations.

For those lucky enough to attend The Eras Tour, it will be Swift’s longest US run to date after she added 17 shows to her already ambitious stadium trek. It will kick off on March 17, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The grand finale will be a five-date stretch at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in early August.

The general public sale begins 10 a.m. local time tomorrow (November 18). Buckle up.

Brendan Fraser went to bat for the “janky” CGI look of The Rock‘s Scorpion King character in The Mummy Returns. While looking back at his blockbuster career, Fraser recalled working on The Mummy sequel, which involved turning the wildly popular wrestler into a giant scorpion that he readily admits looks like a video game cut scene. However, Fraser argues that it gives the film a certain kind of kitsch.

“Some of the charm of it now is… it could get remastered I guess, but it wouldn’t be as fun if you didn’t see this janky video game character of Dwayne,” Fraser told GQ. “It’s somehow just perfect how it works.”

That said, the actor met both The Rock and the CGI team at The Mummy Returns premiere, and they were extremely apologetic about the final product. Fraser used the moment to encourage people to be kind to CGI artists because time constraints have been a problem going back decades.

Via Variety:

“I never met Dwayne until after the premiere because he was a piece of tape on a stick that we referred to,” Fraser said. “Of course they put him in CGI later. I know, I know. Be kind! The guys who did the CGI of the Scorpion King, [I saw them] at the premiere and they were like, ‘Hey, how are you? We did the Scorpion King CGI. Yeah we needed a little more time. It was very last minute.’”

Fortunately, Fraser had experience dealing with burgeoning CGI effects in George of the Jungle. Although, apparently, the actor was not a favorite with the artists on that film because of the way he kept petting George’s elephant. If Fraser didn’t put his hand in exactly the right position, the whole shot would be ruined, so he tried to contain his over-eager petting as much as possible.

You can see Fraser reminisce about his filmography below:

(Via Variety)

Katy Perry shared a selfie from inside the midterm elections voting booth earlier this month. She wanted everyone to know that she’d voted for Rick Caruso, a longtime businessman and Republican who registered as a Democrat in January, to be Los Angeles’ next mayor. “I am voting for a myriad of reasons (see the news) but in particular because Los Angeles in a hot mess atm,” Perry captioned the photo. Regardless of her reasoning, she was slammed online.

Perry turned off the comments on her post, but that hasn’t stopped people from letting Perry have it after Karen Bass was officially declared the winner over Caruso last night (November 16). Bass is the first woman and second Black person to serve as LA’s mayor.

“At the end of the day Rick Caruso spent 100 million + dollars to get everyone to hate Katy Perry,” Gareth Reynolds tweeted.

Perry hasn’t explicitly addressed the backlash, but on November 13, she tweeted a particularly interesting meme given the circumstances. “I finally realized it!” it reads. “People are prisoners of their phones. That’s why they are called cell phones!”

Perry wasn’t the only celebrity publicly endorsing Caruso. Others include Snoop Dogg, Chris Pratt, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

See some of the reactions to Caruso’s (and Perry’s) L below.

Right about now, Rick Caruso should listen to Katy Perry's

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"California Gurls" https://t.co/OmCH5uJkA6

— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) November 17, 2022

Yesterday, we got Christian Lee Hutson‘s mournful rendition of “Silent Night” to give us a melancholy introduction to the holiday season. Now, we have none other than Phoebe Bridgers to make us emotional with a cover of The Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine,” a similarly pained holiday soundtrack.

She opens the song with the immediately visceral lines, “I had nothing to say on Christmas day / When you threw all your clothes in the snow / When you burnt your hair, and you knocked over chairs / I just tried to stay out of your way.” She’s known for releasing heartbreaking holiday songs, including “If We Make It Through December,” “Day After Tomorrow,” and more. Proceeds from “So Much Wine” will go to the Los Angeles LGBT Center. It also features vocals from her rumored fiance Paul Mescal, Marshall Vore, Harrison Whitford, and Sebastian Steinberg, plus vocals, violin, and whistling from Andrew Bird.

Though this ballad is dejected, the singer-songwriter opened up earlier this year about trying to write happy songs. “I’m striving to do more stuff like that. I think it’s more challenging to sound smart and write well about happiness than it is about sadness,” she said. “In the interest of not seeming trite, I lean toward darker subject matter, just out of comfort. And I think a challenge to myself, now, is being articulate about things that are good [laughs].”

Listen to her cover above.