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A significant amount of Jeopardy! fans want Mayim Bialik to become permanent host once this era-of-sharing (with champ Ken Jennings) runs its course. And it’s a good thing that Mayim clarified her vaccination stance and came out on the pro-COVID jab side of the equation because, well, no one wants another Mike Richards fiasco. No sir, producers surely want someone as non-controversial as possible, even if there’s no way to find someone for the job who’s as beloved as Alex Trebek.

That’s a valid concern, which also jibes with reports that Jennings was initially passed over as host because of his past tweets. And for a little while, it looked like Aaron Rodgers could have been the pick, given how impressively prepared he was during his guest host stint. Well, we all know what happened next. Richards took the job, and Rodgers kept doing his GQ thing for the Green Bay Packers.

Fast forward, and life comes at you fast. Earlier this week, Rodgers tested positive for COVID, so he’ll miss this Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Cue a firestorm amid speculation that he lied about his vaccination status (he’s since revealed himself as a skeptic who reportedly questions fertility implications of the shot), and Rodgers followed up his positive test by going on a rant about the “woke mob” and “cancel culture casket.” He also revealed that he’s taken COVID advice from his friend and fellow Ivermectin proponent (!) Joe Rogan.

Boy, this is a mess for the NFL. It could be an even bigger mess if Rodgers had somehow become the Jeopardy! host. Fans of the show are both aghast over the near-miss and breathing a sigh of relief.

Talk about a game-show bullet dodged.

It’s an old truth that bears repeating: those close to us are never truly gone. They live on through our memories, our traditions and, most importantly, our love.

Just under a year ago, in December of 2020, style editor for the TODAY show Bobbie Thomas suffered the tragic loss of her husband Michael Marion. In the blink of an eye, she became a single parent to their 6-year-old son Miles.

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Showing undeniable emotional resilience, Thomas recently posted a quick recap of her October, sharing that it “was a month filled with celebrations (& sweets).” She then added: “up first was Michael’s birthday…”

The post included two side-by-side photos. One showing Michael’s birthday a year prior, with the whole family gathered around the cake for that last, final time. And the other showing little Miles on the beach with donuts, “remembering daddy.” Bobbie shared that donuts on the beach was a “favorite pastime” for father and son.

Bobbie previously told TODAY that keeping Michael’s memory alive for Miles was an utmost priority, saying that it not only helps heal and navigate through the uncharted waters of grief, it also helps alleviate the knowledge that she can’t always protect him from pain.

The post continued “A few weeks later, I turned 47… not being able to share that day with Michael made his loss a hyper reality…”

October is usually a time to kick off more family bonding, to don silly costumes and begin celebrating the simple joys of life. But for those like Bobbie, holidays can often serve as a devastating reminder for what is now gone. Luckily, she had her son Miles, who stepped in to help Mommy deal with grief. Apparently it was a piece of cake.

“Miles was a rockstar and asked our neighbor to help him get a piece of birthday cake (all his idea she said),” Bobbie captioned. The photo depicts Miles sporting the proudest grin, clearly knowing he did a good job, and a fantastically decadent cake slice. A rockstar indeed.

And just like that, poof, a moment that was at first sad and lonely transformed into a beautiful memory to cherish. Say what you will about sugar, desserts have a magical way of making certain moments that much sweeter (though kids seem to never forget it).

When Bobbie lost Michael in 2020, she shared an Instagram post with the message: “Hold onto what you do have right now instead of focusing on what you don’t. One thing we all have is kindness. Absorb it, extend it, exhaust it. Because in the end the ONLY thing that matters is love.”

Bobbie and Miles are living out that statement with every beach donut, birthday cake and moment of remembrance. Does it take away the pain? No. But it does remind us that love is stronger and eternal. If there’s someone near and dear to your heart who has passed, it’s never too late to feel gratitude for the impact they had on your life. Like a delicious piece of cake, savor the sweetness of their spirit and they won’t ever be fully gone.

Oh, you thought Mariah Carey didn’t have any new Christmas music coming? The Queen Of Christmas is a truly benevolent one and as you’re getting ready to fire up her Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues special this holiday season, there’s a new slow jam on deck to help you warm up the fireplace.

“Fall In Love At Christmas” is an R&B croon at its core. Heck, Carey even brought on R&B sensation Khalid to lend a hand on this one. In the song’s delightfully extra video, the pajama clad pair (Carey sleeps in a Chicago Bulls jersey, because comfort) are sitting on a couch in the immaculately decorated “The Butterfly Lounge,” at Carey’s house. A 7x Platinum plaque for The Emancipation Of Mimi casually hangs behind them on the wall, next to the 8x Platinum plaque for her iconic Merry Christmas album, the best-selling Christmas album by a female artist of all time. These are merely reminders that when it comes to Christmas, Mariah Carey means serious business. And while she and Khalid sport a sumptuous duet, two piano players join them, one of which is none other than gospel music titan Kirk Franklin.

The song’s second movement is Franklin’s time to shine. His gospel choir of carolers join in to up the stakes as Mariah ranges into high notes as only she can. As the song closes, Franklin stoically proclaims: “Listen, more than ever before, love needs to be something we do, not something we say. This holiday season, let’s give love away.”

Listen to “Fall In Love At Christmas” above.

More details are emerging about the recent failed QAnon Ressurection in Dallas this week and, if you thought the story about MAGA followers making a pilgrimage to Texas to see John F. Kennedy, Jr. rise from the dead to reinstate Donald Trump as president couldn’t get any more insane … boy, do we have news for you.

Turns out, the great QAnon Migration was launched by a middle-aged anti-semitic demolition worker named Michael Brian Protzman. Protzman’s been focused on becoming a right-wing conspiracy theorizing influencer over the past few years, launching his own sub-cult within the larger fanatical group where he regularly spews anti-semitic nonsense — the normal, incredibly unoriginal Holocaust-denying, pro-Hitler bullsh*t you’d expect — and occasionally tries to get his fans to invest in foreign currency via his personal website. You know, your basic online grifting nonsense.

Despite how eye-rollingly average Protzman appears on paper though, he was able to convince hundreds of QAnon cult members to travel to Dallas recently where he predicted that John F. Kennedy, Jr. would be resurrected — along with former President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Kennedy Onassis who Protzman views as the second incarnation of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. Obviously, that did not happen — though believers who went to the Rolling Stones concert later that day to see JFK, Jr. open for the English rock band did claim to see the spirit of Michael Jackson amongst the crowd — but the lack of physical evidence hasn’t stopped Protzman or his fans from buying into these truly bizarre doomsday prophecies.

Apparently, Protzman is so obsessed with the Kennedy family because he believes that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had four children. Their bloodline is the source for many of today’s famous celebrities, including the Kennedys. Along with JFK and Jackie’s role in this reincarnation theory, Protzman also believes that JFK, Jr. is Archangel Michael, and Donald Trump is the Holy Spirit. And he’s selling this wild con by co-opting a Jewish numerology system that assigns numerical values to names, words, and phrases which, in turn, lets him infer whatever mystical b.s. he wants to back up his oracle-like visions.

Protzman also believes that people with an O blood type share a bloodline with Christ and that the COVID-19 testing system is just the government’s way of swabbing for DNA so that they can identify those specific descendants. And look, this would all be a real riot if it was coming from that crazy estranged uncle drinking his own piss out in West Virginia, but Protzman has hundreds of thousands of followers on his Telegram account that are ingesting this mental bile every day. So please, go check on your grandparents and those second cousins who bought out entire feed stores-worth of horse-powered Ivermectin to make sure they haven’t fallen prey to this piece of work.

(Via Vice)

In October, Billy Porter expressed his dissatisfaction with Harry Styles donning a dress on the cover of Vogue, saying, “I created the conversation [about non-binary fashion] and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time. I’m not dragging Harry Styles, but he is the one you’re going to try and use to represent this new conversation? He doesn’t care, he’s just doing it because it’s the thing to do.”

Now, Porter has gone ahead and walked that back some with an apology to Styles. Appearing on The Late Show last night, Porter addressed the situation and said that the conversation isn’t actually about Styles:

“Well apparently I’m famous now, and it was a slow news day, so the first thing I want to say is, ‘Harry Styles, I apologize to you for having your name in my mouth. It’s not about you. The conversation is not about you. […] The conversation is actually deeper than that. It is about the systems of oppression and erasure of people of color who contribute to the culture. Now, that’s a lot to unpack. I’m willing to unpack it sans the dragging and cancel culture of the Internet because I do not now, nor will I ever, adjudicate my life or humanity in sound bites on social media. So when you’re ready to have the real conversation, call a b*tch, OK?! […] I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean no harm. I’m a gay man. We like Harry, he’s cute!”

Stephen Colbert then asked if Porter was surprised by how much attention the comments got and he responded, “I am surprised because there are so many other things that are important on this Earth to talk about. It’s just weird.”

Check out the full Porter interview on The Late Show above.

[Big honking SPOILER ALERT for Eternals, so don’t say we didn’t warn you]

The best mid/post-credits scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, and will always be, Nick Fury’s entrance in Iron Man, followed closely by Captain America informing everyone that they wasted precious moments on this Earth waiting for nothing in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Third place probably would have gone to Shawarma Palace from The Avengers — until Harry Styles appeared in Eternals.

The pop star makes his MCU introduction in a mid-credits scene for Eternals as Thanos’ brother, Eros. Director Chloé Zhao told Deadline that Styles has been on her radar since she saw Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. “Harry as Eros was very much a package deal for me,” she said. “I kept tabs on Harry since Dunkirk, I thought he was very interesting. After meeting him, I realized he is that character — the same way I cast the rest of my cast. There’s so much of Eros in him. For me, if he says yes and [Marvel Studios head] Kevin [Feige] says yes then it’s a go. And I’m very happy they both did.”

Harry Styles being in Eternals for, like, five seconds added $20 million to the film’s total gross. It would $50 million if he was in the much-discussed sex scene, but alas. Styles will next appear in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling alongside Florence Pugh.

(Via Deadline)

Aaron Rodgers went onto Pat McAfee’s radio show on Friday afternoon. In light of the All-Pro quarterback testing positive for COVID-19 and getting placed on the shelf for a minimum of 10 days due to his positive diagnosis as an unvaccinated individual, Rodgers appeared to want to go on the show to explain his decision to not get vaccinated and much more.

What happened instead was one of the more bizarre media appearances we’ve seen out of an athlete in recent memory. Among Rodgers’ claims were that he is “in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now,” that they are trying to put the “final nail” in his “cancel culture casket,” and that upon presenting his research to the NFL to explain why he did not get the vaccine, he was viewed as “a quack.” Rodgers also said he is consulting with Joe Rogan, who also was unvaccinated and got COVID, on how he could treat himself, and said that he is taking ivermectin as part of his treatment.

Rodgers, who also used a Martin Luther King Jr. quote that does not apply here, drew up quite the stir among Twitter users for his cameo, many of whom could not believe the lengths to which he went to avoid getting what is proven to be a safe and effective vaccine against the virus.

A number of folks brought up Rodgers’ well-documented desire to host Jeopardy!, too.

Maria Ducasse of Brooklyn is an inspiring example of how one person can unite a community to ensure no one loses their pet because of hardship.

Three years ago, she founded East New York Dog Lovers a nonprofit that has grown to have 29 foster homes, 200 volunteers, and helped reconnect more than 50 dogs with their people. It’s a safety net where struggling pet owners get emergency fostering, help with medical bills, and food for their fur babies.

“Our biggest mission is to end pet surrendering,” Maria told Chewy. “So whatever help may be needed—food, vet care, whatever you need to keep your pet at home—we are willing to supply and help you.”

Maria has arranged for people struggling with homelessness, domestic violence, and medical emergencies to connect with fosters who care for their pets until they’re back on their feet. Her hard work keeps families intact and pets safe.

“We just keep getting bigger,” Maria says. “Every time we go out there and help somebody, they’re like, ‘I’m in—how can I help?'”

Maria’s wonderful work was recently profiled by Chewy in the video above entitled, “A Day in the Life of a Community Pet Foster.”

It’s been a pretty good year for directors Chloe Zhao and Denis Villeneuve and not just because they’re each responsible for one of the year’s two most-anticipated cinematic experiences — though that certainly would be enough. No, instead of the pair merely creating two of the winter’s biggest blockbusters, Zhao and Villeneuve have also created something else: a beautiful friendship.

Back in September, Zhao and Villeneuve made headlines when they appeared on Harper’s Bazaar together for an in-depth discussion on the film industry and its future. Zhao also became one of the first filmmakers to offer up rave reviews for Villeneuve’s Dune, telling Sight & Sound magazine (via IndieWire) “it gives me hope that a filmmaker like Denis is able to really harness his vision and put together something that’s so incredible, so cinematic” and she was “blown away” by the motion picture.

A few months later and Zhao is back to gushing about her friend and colleague, revealing that Villeneuve not only helped guide her pitch for Eternals, but also let her watch Dune early so she could observe how he adapted the source material for IMAX in a compelling way. According to IndieWire, Zhao praised the director for being so generous with his film and said he even offered her other references to look at to help her make Eternals the best it could be.

“I gotta say that I’m a big fan of Denis; he’s a friend,” Zhao said. “[Eternals and Dune] got pushed and shifted because of the pandemic. We got pulled apart and then now we’re back together again at the same time. Even when I was working on IMAX for ‘Eternals,’ I asked him if it was okay for me to watch Dune. I knew he did incredible things in IMAX, so I knew I could learn from him. He was so generous; he was like, ‘Yes.’ He also gave me other references to look at.”

If all that has warmed your heart and made you believe there is some kindness in the at-times cutthroat movie industry, you’re not alone. Zhao also said the director has been a great source of “strength” for her, and getting able to hug on another at festivals and see one another go through the film industry together has been “empowering.”

“I actually find a lot of strength in our films coming out at the same time and to have a colleague who I respect and love and to be able to go through this together and to hug each other at Venice [International Film Festival] when Dune came out. He even sent me a message last night, so it all feels very empowering.”

Aaron Rodgers was ruled out for at least 10 days earlier this week after he tested positive for COVID-19 as an unvaccinated NFL player. It led to Rodgers being the butt of jokes and receiving a ton of criticism, as there were elements of the league’s policies for unvaccinated players that he did not follow, particularly when it came to not wearing a mask when he met with members of the media.

On Friday, Rodgers appeared on Pat McAfee’s radio show to discuss his positive diagnosis, what it means, and, uh, a lot of other things. In the eyes of the All-Pro quarterback, the fact that people responded to this so viscerally is proof that the woke mob is on a witch hunt that is trying to cancel him, among other buzzwords.

Rodgers kept talking after this, saying that he believes the vaccines could cause him to become infertile and mentioned that he has been discussing things with “a now good friend of mine, Joe Rogan.”

The Packers’ star’s entire cameo on the show went in a number of different directions — he was Just Asking Questions about how how the left questioned the vaccine while Donald Trump was president but changed their tune once he was out, admitted he is taking ivermectin, said that he presented evidence to the NFL and was viewed as “a quack,” and much more.

Here is a website from the CDC about the COVID vaccine that addresses many of the things Rodgers said and explains why they are not correct.