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One of Twitter’s unlikeliest icons would like a few words with its new owner. In a new interview for People, R&B legend Dionne Warwick said that she feels compelled to meet with Elon Musk to find out his “true intent” for the platform. Musk was forced to follow through on his $44 billion acquisition bid in October after the company filed a lawsuit against him when he tried to back out of their agreement in July. Now, he seems to be flailing, firing and threatening core employees, rolling out and disabling features on the fly, and even withholding rent on the company’s offices.

“I have to meet him,” Warwick told People. “I know a lot of people have walked away from Twitter. That’s prior to knowing exactly what he’s going to do. He’s new to the game. His attitude is freedom of speech, which is mine as well. However, there’s a way to do it. That’s one of the conversations I’m going to have with him. What is your true intent? I understand your freedom of speech attitude but how are you going to contain it, so it does not get out of hand?”

Elon may be “new to the game,” but funnily enough, Warwick isn’t. Despite being old enough to be many of the platform’s users’ great-grandmother at 82, she’s become one of their favorite follows. She’s chimed in on viral discussions about everything from Britney Spears’ conservatorship to Chet Hanks’ proposed “White Boy Summer,” and her playful roast of Chance The Rapper later led to a full-fledged musical collaboration. She’s a real treasure on the app, knowing its impact and importance as well as anyone — perhaps even better than Elon, who recently held a poll on the app to see if users want him to step down as CEO. The answer was “yes” by a sizable margin.

Bob Dylan did a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, where he shared his thoughts on a range of music industry subjects. In the piece, Dylan notes specifically that he’s “a fan of” both Eminem and the Wu-Tang Clan, as he believes they have “feeling for words and language.” He also said that he enjoys listening to “anybody whose vision parallels mine.”

This isn’t the first time Dylan’s talked about Eminem either. During a 2001 interview with Time, he stated that the Detroit rapper was “doing something right” and that “I almost feel like if anything is controversial, the guy’s gotta be doing something right.”

Dylan also touched on his love for Royal Blood, Celeste, Leonard Cohen, Rag N’ Bone Man, and Nick Cave in the WSJ, as he felt they held a similar goal to Eminem and the WTC.

As for concerts, he’s been to see Metallica, Oasis, Klaxons, and “made special efforts” for Jack White and Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. Yet, Dylan doesn’t love everything.

“There’s a sameness to everything nowadays,” he revealed. “Everything’s too easy. Just one stroke of the ring finger, middle finger, one little click, that’s all it takes, and we’re there… It’s all too easy, too democratic.”

At least Eminem and Wu-Tang Clan are in good company with Bob Dylan’s musical taste.

Justified is a great show, one of the best of the 2010s, but I do have one complaint: Quentin Tarantino should have directed an episode. It’s a natural fit: he’s a fan of the series; he’s adapted other Elmore Leonard works; and he’s worked with numerous cast members, including Walton Goggins in Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight and Timothy Olyphant in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The 2019 film was also, in a way, what led to the Justified revival — and a possible directing gig for Tarantino?

“One day the phone rang and it was Tim Olyphant who said, ‘I’ve been sitting on the set with Quentin, and we were talking about this book, City Primeval. We thought it would make a great year of Justified.’ So we started kicking around the idea, and FX was into it,” co-showrunner Michael Dinner told Entertainment Weekly about City Primeval.

He continued:

“It was very complicated to put together because the rights situation was a little murky — part of the rights belonged to the estate, part belonged to MGM which was going to make this movie several times, and it took a while to get it going, but then we did. We had a great time for seven years on this show, and so the real intention was what if we did a long movie, a limited series, that’s not really trying to go back for the past with Justified, but to do a mashup between this book and this character that we loved, and not to revisit the past as much as we looked at this character as if he had three chapters in his life, and this is the second chapter.”

Dinner and co-showrunner Dave Andron don’t comment on the rumors about Tarantino directing at least part of the limited series. But if it comes true, maybe Tarantino can get Julia Butters to sign up, too. She’d make a great lil’ crime boss. Or better yet, in episode one, Raylan gets a dog, played by Brandy.

Justified: City Primeval is expected to premiere in 2023.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Another day, another clothing store finds itself in the hot set. On the chopping block today: retailer giant H&M. The Swedish fast-fashion company is accused of copyright infringement. Pop singer Justin Bieber took to his Instagram Stories to blast the chain store for using his likeness in their latest musician merch collection.

While the Canadian musician is always up for a fun collaboration, look at his work with the restaurant Tim Horton’s. According to the “Justice” singer, though, this new “partnership” was one-sided.

In a note uploaded to his Instagram Stories yesterday (December 19), Bieber wrote, “I didn’t approve any of the merch collection that they put up at H&M. All [items are being sold] without my permission and approval.”

The entertainer has been keeping a low profile since being diagnosed with the rare condition Ramsey Hunter Syndrome which caused him to postpone his Justice world tour. Bieber urged fans to steer clear of the unauthorized items, saying, “I wouldn’t buy it if I were you. The H&M merch they made of me is trash, and I didn’t approve it. Don’t buy it.”

Initially, H&M stood by their decision to move forward with the line, telling Page Six they followed proper approval procedures: “As with all other licensed products and partnerships, H&M followed proper approval procedures.”

But after receiving heated backlash from Bieber’s fan base online, the retailer pulled all tote bags, tee shirts, and other items with Bieber’s image off their website.

There’s no word on whether or not the singer plans on suing the retailers, but in the past, Bieber hasn’t hesitated to take these matters to court. For example, after being accused of sexual assault, Bieber sued for defamation before dropping the case. Also, a visual artist attempting to use Bieber’s likeness was hit with a $100,000 lawsuit preventing them from using his work in a pop-up exhibition.

Throughout her acting career, which experienced a significant bump thanks to Game of Thrones, Gwendoline Christie had one name towards top of her wish list of people to work with: Tim Burton. When Christie was offered a shot to work with the iconic director on his new Netflix series, Wednesday, she genuinely had no idea how to react.

“Truly, I stopped and went silent,” Christie told WWD. “I’m fairly certain I atomized. And then by some mysterious force I came back together into something at least partially resembling a human being, and I had to just put the phone away and carry on. I didn’t even say anything for a little bit because I just had to process.”

However, when Christie hopped on our first Zoom call with Burton to discuss her playing the role of Principal Weems, she learned that Burton was also starry-eyed at meeting the one and only Brienne of Tarth:

“At the end [of the call], I was really red in the face and I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m just so embarrassed and overwhelmed.’ And he said, ‘God, I want to hide under the table,’” Christie says.

After the thrill of meeting each other finally subsided and everyone stopped trying to duck under the furniture, the two immediately got to work crafting Christie’s Wednesday character, and she was surprised at the creative freedom that Burton gave her.

“I really wanted the opportunity to transform, I really did,” Christie said. “And nobody would ever have cast me in that role. As an actor, I always want to play something far away from myself.”

(Via WWD)

Celebrity net worth websites are unreliable. For instance, Matt Damon having a net worth of only (“only”) $170 million sounds low. Or maybe I only think that after learning the Oppenheimer actor lost out on an extra $250 million by not starring in Avatar.

Back in 2019, Damon revealed, “Jim Cameron offered me Avatar. And when he offered it to me, he goes, ‘Now, listen. I don’t need anybody. I don’t need a name for this, a named actor. If you don’t take this, I’m going to find an unknown actor and give it to him, because the movie doesn’t really need you. But if you take the part, I’ll give you ten percent of [it].’” Ten percent of Avatar‘s highest-grossing-movie-of-all-time box office total is roughly a quarter of a billion dollars. Damon’s doing fine, but still. Oops.

Cameron was asked about Damon’s comments (he was presumably up for Jake Sully) in a BBC Radio 1 interview while promoting Avatar: The Way of Water. He had a candid Mr. Haters Need to “Shut the F*ck Up”-like response. “He’s beating himself up over this, and I really think, ‘Matt, you’re kind of like one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Get over it.’ But he had to do another Bourne film, which was on his runway, and there’s nothing he could do about that, and so he had to regretfully decline,” the director said.

The role went to Sam Worthington. His net worth? A measly $30 million.

(Via Insider)

Last year, Summer Walker had her first baby. Now, she’s giving pregnancy another go: This summer, she revealed she’s pregnant again, saying, “People asking me if I’m pregnant… I am and you know I’m very, very, very, very, happy about it. Very excited about it. And this is gonna be… I’m very very excited because it’s going to be different from how it was before. It’s really peaceful, really happy, lots of help, lots of love.”

Recently, that part about this time being “different” appears to have gotten some additional context.

A couple days ago, Walker revealed that Erykah Badu will be her doula for the second time, with an Instagram post showing them preparing for the birth. Shortly before that, Badu shared a photo with her daughter Puma Curry, writing, “Peace peace .. MEET THE WELCOMING COMITTEE. Mother – Daughter DOULA duty. Today I am training a very capable doula who is shadowing me while we assist a mommy in labor with twins. @pumacurry I’m so proud of u and I really really like you.”

So, it would seem that Walker is the one having twins. Indeed, in the photos from Walker’s post, her pregnant belly does look like it could be home to a couple of bundles of joy.

Walker has yet to share a due date, but since it’s been half a year since she made the pregnancy reveal this past June, it would seem the baby/babies is/are set to arrive really soon.

Though the band may be on hiatus until 2025, BTS is keeping the #Army fed. This past October, the boys performed at Busan’s World Expo 2030 bid, and now, fans will get a chance to see the epic performance. Next year, BTS will share their official Busan concert movie, BTS: Yet To Come In Cinemas.

Arriving to theaters in February, Yet To Come will show footage from the concert that has been “re-edited and remixed for the big screen,” according to a press release. Fans will be able to experience Yet To Come in various formats, including screenings with and immersive 270-degree field of view ScreenX, 4DX, which is designed to replicate the effects of the concert’s live atmosphere and 4DX Screen, which combines the effects of both formats. There will also be a special screening on February 4, in which fans will be given glowsticks to wave throughout the on-screen concert.

“We look forward to collaborating once again with the teams at CJ 4DPlex, and HYBE to bring BTS’ awe-inspiring Busan concert to the big screen in this special cinematic cut,” Trafalgar Releasing CEO Marc Allenby said in a statement. “The group’s engagement with audiences has always been perfectly suited to the cinema, and we are excited to welcome fans from all corners of the globe to this must-see celebration.”

BTS: Yet To Come In Cinemas arrives in theaters on February 1, 2023 and will screen in 110 different countries. Tickets for the screenings will be available for purchase beginning January 10, 2023 at 7 p.m. ET.

Jack Antonoff and his sister Rachel hosted their annual talent show event at NYU’s Skirball Center last night, with proceeds going to The Ally Coalition. As promised, Antonoff packed the place with talent indeed. The show featured performances from a range of artists, including comedian Mike Birbiglia, musicians Joy Oladokun, Andrew Dost, Claud, and so many more.

While Antonoff opened the music side of the talent show by playing “I Miss Those Days” with his band Bleachers, he had even more surprises in store. After fans had spotted both Matty Healy of The 1975 and Phoebe Bridgers roaming around New York, it was sure that they’d show up. And they did.

The 1975 hopped up on stage to share three songs — “Be My Mistake,” “All I Need To Hear,” and a joint performance with Bleachers on “Wintering.” Antonoff produced the band’s most recent album.

Weyes Blood did a two-song mini set, with “Picture Me Better” and a cover of “O Holy Night.” There was also a partial Boygenius reunion, as Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus (and Christian Lee Hutson) played Bridgers’ scream-worthy 2020 hit, “I Know The End,” and a fan-favorite, “Graceland Too.”

The Antonoffs closed out the Ally Coalition talent show by bringing back Bridgers, Dacus, Weyes Blood, Healy, and Phish’s Trey Anastasio for a tight-knit cover of Nico’s “These Days.” The girls took the forefront around the mic as the three guitar bros provided the instrumental.

Watch the full finale cover of “These Days” above. Continue scrolling for some fan reactions.

Vladimir Putin is reportedly heading to the bunker for the holidays, but he did find time to point some fingers over his disastrous war in Ukraine. Most recently, we’ve heard reports that Russia itself is feeling the squeeze (and people can’t even find paper throughout the nation). Putin has been ignoring the reality of Russia making soldiers use degraded ammo, and the Russian President has decided that making a champagne-fueled speech would somehow help matters, although it clearly did not.

Forbes now has details on Putin starting to admit that things are “complicated” over in Ukraine, as though he’s typing out a Facebook relationship status update. This news also arrives courtesy of Russian state news agency TASS, which reported that Putin is calling upon his security and intelligence officials to “significantly improve” the Russian border situation to ward off against potential terror attacks. Putin also seems nervous about being able to hold onto the Ukrainian territories that he claimed to annex in 2022:

The Russian leader added that the security situation was “extremely complicated” in the four occupied Ukrainian territories–which Moscow claimed to illegally annex following a sham referendum earlier this year–as he urged the security agencies to do everything needed to ensure the safety of “Russian people” living there.

The Moscow Times further reports that Putin is wagging fingers at his various counterintelligence experts while urging them to crack down on any “traitors, spies and saboteurs” within Russia’s ranks or coming in from elsewhere. Although paranoia might seem “normal” for a man who’s rumored to order his enemies/critics to be poisoned, this report did arrive after Russia passed the 300-day mark in Putin’s imperialistic war. He’s feeling the heat, and we can probably expect him to keep lashing out. For now, though, he’s off to the bunker.

(Via Moscow Times & Forbes)