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Carly Rae Jepsen is no longer lonely. Her The Loneliest Time era is a disco-infused good time. First, Jepsen manifested a collaboration with Rufus Wainwright for her sixth album’s title track, and Wednesday (December 14), she made good on last week’s promise to give fans “a little holiday gift.”

The video for “Surrender My Heart” is directed by Brantley Gutierrez, but Jane Krakowski deliciously plays the caricatured, egotistical director in the six-minute visual. It starts with scenes of classic New York City, such as the Empire State Building, before viewers are taken inside a Broadway theatre. Jepsen looks on as preparations are being made when Krakowski busts through the doors and exclaims, “Sorry I’m late! My trainer blasted my quads!”

Jepsen showers the five-time Emmy nominee with thanks for directing, but Krakowski shushes her. “I don’t do this for the thank yous,” she says. After Krakowski makes her artistic demands and gives out-of-touch instructions to the ballerinas, including Isabella Boylston, it’s finally show time. A very sparkly Jepsen takes the stage and gives a stunning rendition of “Surrender My Heart.”

“We wanted to capture a little of the chaos of show business, and the feeling that every time you put on a performance like this, it feels like a mini-miracle,” Jepsen told USA Today in an exclusive interview published alongside the video’s premiere. “This shoot was no different. We had a lot of moving parts, but it all came together in the end.”

Though Florida governor Ron DeSantis hasn’t even announced if he wants to run for president in 2024, he’s absolutely dominating Donald Trump in early polling. Between that news and the continued fallout from Donald’s dinner with a Black white supremacist and a preeminent Holocaust denier — not to mention the lawsuits and investigations — things aren’t going so well for the former POTUS. So he did what any toddler-brained human would do and attempted to cause a big distraction. And it’s definitely got people talking, including Jimmy Kimmel.

On Wednesday, Trump posted an embarrassing video to TRUTH Social in which he declared that “America needs a superhero,” accompanied by an animated video in which a muscular Super Trump reveals himself to the world outside Trump Tower. Yes, it is every bit as embarrassing as it sounds.

“Trump’s looking like such a loser right now we may have to start calling him ‘Don Jr.,’” Kimmel said of the former president’s waning popularity, then went on to explain that as a result of announcing his 2024 presidential run too early:

[H]e’s desperate to shift attention away from his waning popularity. So today, Ranta Claus took to TRUTH Social to announce — he announced that tomorrow he’ll be making an announcement. And not just any announcement, but a MAJOR announcement.

​​https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/1603087072398610433

“Wow! How exciting! What could it be?,” Kimmel wanted to know. “I don’t know, from the look of the cartoon, maybe he got liposuction? Maybe that’s the announcement? Maybe Eric learned to tie his shoes? Who knows!”

“I don’t know about you, but I won’t be able to sleep tonight waiting to find out,” Kimmel added. (Something tells us he slept just fine.)

You can watch the full clip above, beginning around the 3:10 mark.

Barely two months ago, Henry Cavill announced he was finally returning as Superman after years of speculation about his future as the character. Not even a week later, he dropped an equally huge bombshell that he was exiting The Witcher after Season 3. Surely, this meant the actor was about to have his hands full as the Man of Steel — or not so much.

On Wednesday evening, new DC Studios James Gunn chief confirmed swirling rumors that he’s planning to reboot some, if not all of the DC Cinematic Universe (formerly known as the DCEU) and move the franchise away from Zack Snyder’s ill-fated take on the classic characters. As part of that process, Gunn is personally writing a new Superman movie that will feature a younger version of the character who won’t be played by Cavill.

The actor also confirmed the news in an Instagram post where he voiced his frustration at the reversal following his Black Adam cameo, but he still had kind words for Gunn and DC Studios. Naturally, this information set off The Witcher fans who were also quite stunned to learn that Cavill walked away from the show only to get sacked by Warner Bros. The reactions started flying on Twitter, which you can see below:

Of course, it should be noted that there has not been a definitive reason for Cavill’s exit. While the Superman timing seemed to suggest that he left to return to the DC Comics fold, reports also started coming in that the actor had grown frustrated with the writing on the Netflix series. Cavill often spoke in interviews how he wanted the series to stay more faithful to The Witcher novels where Geralt is more of a philosopher. Instead, the Netflix series mostly featured him grunting and dropping perfectly timed f-bombs.

In other words, there’s a good chance Cavill would’ve left the show regardless of whether he was getting to slip back into his Superman tights or not.

(Via Henry Cavill on Instagram)

Xoxo, Charli XCX. The UK pop star completed an American rite of passage by appearing on newest episode of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl reboot, streaming today (December 15), titled “One Flew Over The Cuck’s Nest.” OG Gossip Girl fans will draw a direct parallel to 2009, when a pre-globally famous Lady Gaga appeared on the Season 3 episode “The Last Days Of Disco Stick” and performed “Bad Romance.”

Charli’s appearance came as everything that could go wrong was going wrong at the “Kiss On The Lips” Valentine’s Day party. Her Crash track “Lightning” only amplified the drama. After slaying on the stage in a spicy outfit, Charli did what everyone on this show has done since 2007: Check the latest Gossip Girl blast.

Around Crash‘s release in March, Charli XCX sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and spoke on how much Lady Gaga has influenced her.

“I actually always remember when Lady Gaga first came out with ‘Just Dance.’ She’s amazing, but I always remember thinking, like, ‘This girl is playing the game. This is smart,’” she said. “I remember when ‘Just Dance’ came out, I was like, ‘This is a really cool pop song and the video is really weird,’ but I was like, ‘This is just beginning.’ Like, ‘I know this girl is trying to do something more.’ And she did! She made ‘Bad Romance.’ She made ‘Telephone,’ ‘Alejandro.’ Like, she played the game to give herself the platform to be able to whatever the f*ck she wanted on this insane, crazy level, and I always really respected that because I think it’s genius. She had the vision.”

Who could have envisioned they’d both have Gossip Girl cameos to their names, 13 years apart?

Charli XCX isn’t done bringing her music to the screen. She is set to executive produce and provide the soundtrack for the forthcoming A24 comedy Overcompensating.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Hong Chau has worked with some of the finest directors in Hollywood, including Paul Thomas Anderson and Darren Aronofsky. Next up for The Menu and Watchmen scene-stealer: roles in Asteroid City, the new film from Wes Anderson, and Showing Up, directed by Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, the devastating Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff).

You can watch the art world railer above.

Showing Up follows a sculptor, played by frequent Reichardt collaborator Michelle Williams, “preparing to open a new show [who] must balance her creative life with the daily dramas of family and friends,” according to the official plot synopsis from A24. Chau is a fellow artist and her landlord (she seems to be better at one than the other).

The film premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it received positive reviews. “Showing Up is an absolute, wry joy of a little comedy about making art and living life,” Alissa Wilkinson wrote for Vox. “The film feels pulled from familiar reality for anyone who’s ever tried to make creative work — and it’s quiet, clever, and a whole lot of fun.”

Showing Up, which also stars John Magaro, André “3000” Benjamin, and Judd Hirsch (fresh off his scene-stealing performance in The Fabelmans), opens spring 2023.

On December 9 and 10, many Bad Bunny fanatics were left distraught outside his shows in Mexico City due to being denied entry despite their tickets. Ticketmaster’s statement claimed it was a result of fans buying fake tickets from secondhand sellers. Either way, the incident was devastating.

According to The Guardian, Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is so invested in the situation that he brought it up during a morning news conference, asking Bad Bunny to give a free concert at the capital’s central Zócalo plaza. He said, “I ask Bad Bunny, I know he is overworked and tired because he works a lot, but I ask him to consider the possibility of coming to Mexico, to the Zócalo. Hopefully he comes.”

“It made us very emotional to see sad young people who couldn’t enter because their tickets were cloned, because they were cheated, some crying,” he added. “They saved for a long time to be able to buy their tickets.”

It was also previously revealed that Mexico’s Federal Attorney’s Office For Consumers (PROFECO) launched an investigation into Ticketmaster. “As we are a fiscal authority, if they don’t want to pay of their own will, we will seize their accounts then, and they will pay because they have to,” said Ricardo Sheffield, the head of PROFECO.

When it comes to Halloween, Janelle Monáe is one of the best to ever put on a costume. Her high-effort looks wow every year, like when she came through with a Fifth Element-inspired get-up this past October. Monáe sat down for an interview on Late Night yesterday (December 14) and Seth Meyers went through some of her best costumes, including her pitch-perfect The Grinch from 2021. Here’s that in case you need a refresher:

Meyers brought that up and Monáe referred to it as “Johnny Grinch,” then revealing that she had an idea for a Grinch reboot movie. After Meyers’ prompting, she explained, “If you go on my page, you’ll see the Johnny Grinch is, like, this sort of hipster. Like, you know, vegan and green eggs and ham… or wait, not really a good vegan. Anyway, forget that, forget that, forget that, I’m off course. But the pitch is: What if the Grinch had an illegitimate child? Like, he didn’t know that he had Johnny and she somehow brings him back.”

The host, ever the writer, had some valid concerns about plot logistics, like when he noted, “I also want to hear this story about how he’s like, ‘I had no idea.’ I’m like, ‘Alright, Grinch. You lived alone in a cave and you’re like, ‘I don’t know how I’m a dad.’ You know.”

Check out the full interview above.

It’s usually Tucker Carlson who makes things uncomfortable on his Fox News show with his terrible opinions. But during Wednesday’s episode of Tucker Carlson Today, it was Mike Tyson who supplied the awkwardness.

The boxer was there to discuss his famed career. “How did you feel about the guys you were in the ring with?” Carlson asked. Without any hesitation, Tyson replied, “I wanted to kill them.” Carlson laughed that unnatural laugh of his, but Tyson was dead serious. “I’m laughing nervously,” Carlson said to cut the tension as Tyson just stared at him. He doubled down on the question asking the friend of pigeons everywhere, who once bit a rival’s ear off, if he really felt that way. “Yeah,” Tyson responded. Nothing more.

Carlson then opted for a better question, asking Tyson how he came to have that frame of mind. Tyson cited his socio-economic background, which he had touched on in the same interview, a portion of which aired on Tuesday night as well.

“Just think about who I am. I don’t want to go back there no more. I don’t want to be in that poverty state of mind anymore. Not from a physical perspective; I don’t want to be poverty-stricken here,” he explained, pointing to his head.

When Carlson again asked if Tyson thought about his opponents, he answered, “Absolutely. The more you hurt them, the higher you go in life. That’s just my mentality: the more you hurt them, the more people love you.” Carlson can relate, if the “them” is Joe Biden / Anthony Fauci / AOC / other Republicans / rap lyrics and “people” is the average Fox News viewer.

You can watch the interview here.

(Via the Daily Beast)

Lil Nas X had a big year, most notably with his Long Live Montero tour. Now, as 2022 winds down, the rapper is enjoying some much-deserved leisure time with a visit to Japan, as he has been chronicling on social media over the past week or so. His latest dispatch is especially noteworthy and particularly NSFW.

On Twitter yesterday (December 14), Nas shared a three-image gallery from his trip, a photo set that leads off with the rapper smiling as he holds a couple of pornographic videos and is surrounded by similarly saucy materials, seemingly in a store that specializes in it.

That’s his latest post, but it’s not his only one. One in particular that generated some attention (with about 28 million views as of this post) is a TikTok video in which he stands in a busy part of Japan and goes unnoticed by passersby. The video is captioned, “me realizing i’m not famous in japan,” and in it, Nas mouths along to a sound (originally from the 2022 movie Pearl) in which an exasperated person screams, “No, I’m a star! Please, I’m a star!”

Elsewhere, he surprised some on-the-street Twitch streamers in the country by unexpectedly popping up and making an appearance in their broadcast.

Check out some more posts from Nas’ Japan trip below.

Kendrick Lamar gave us a lot to celebrate in 2022. Namely his long-anticipated first album in five years, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. The follow-up to the Pulitzer prize-winning Damn sees Kendrick once again placing the microscope firmly on himself as arguably the best rapper on the planet, waxing on subjects that other MCs wouldn’t touch. But besides putting out another brilliant album, it’s everything that surrounded that release that really made Kendrick Lamar stand out in 2022. Here are his best moments of the year:

Super Bowl Halftime show

Kendrick appeared with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and 50 Cent in February. Taking place at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, Kendrick let his hometown crowd know that he was back. The performance even netted three Emmy Awards.

“The Heart Part 5” video

Before Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers dropped, Lamar shared the video for what many thought would be the album’s first single. Turns out it was a one-off cut with an incredible video that was later tacked on as a bonus single on the streaming version of the record. The clip saw Kendrick using deep fake technology to morph into a variety of famous faces from OJ Simpson to Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey Hussle.

Inspiring Fans (And Security Guards) On The Big Steppers Tour

Shortly after Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers came out in May, Kendrick set off on a glorious tour. Portraying himself on stage as a Christ-like figure with a crown of thorns, his worldwide performances were highlighted by delivering an inspiring message to a young boy, using his Glastonbury platform to champion women’s rights, and making a security guard cry with his lyrics. The latter went extremely viral, and for good reason.

Saturday Night Live Performance

Kendrick’s third stint on SNL was another one for the ages. He performed a medley of “Rich Spirit” and “N95” and then brought out Sampha for “Father Time.” It was an incredible artistic display from the rapper, no doubt.

A Cherry On Top With Six Grammy Nominations

Kendrick led all rappers at the 2023 Grammy Awards with six total nominations and bringing his grand total to 47. Among this year’s awards, he’ll be up for Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year. It’s indeed the ultimate cherry on top for an illustrious 2022 for Kendrick, that’ll surely lead to a big 2023.