Entertainment

George Wallace Wants To Make Sure That Questlove’s Oscar Win Isn’t Overshadowed By The Will Smith Slapping Skirmish

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Ahmir Questlove Thompson 94th Annual Academy Awards Oscars 2022
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Chris Rock wasn’t the only casualty of Will Smith’s rage at Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony. Sure, it was Rock’s face that absorbed the power of Smith’s smack after the comedian made a joke about the King Richard star’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. But the confusion that ensued in the moments following the unexpected skirmish left many viewers trying to piece together what they had just seen, as the American broadcast cut the live feed in order to censor Smith’s language and some of what had happened. Had it all been a skit?

As viewers feverishly texted friends and checked Twitter to see what exactly they had missed, one person seemed to get lost in the shuffle: Questlove, the Philly-born musician who first rose to fame as the frontman for The Roots, and who has racked up credits as a songwriter, record producer, author, actor, film producer, and director (when he’s not heading up the house band for The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon).

It was Questlove, a.k.a. Ahmir Thompson, who ended up inching one step closer to an EGOT when he won the Oscar for Best Documentary for Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), an outstanding reminder of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a celebration of Black music and culture, which was largely overshadowed by Woodstock, as the two events partly overlapped.

Fortunately, legendary comedian/actor George Wallace made sure to call out Questlove’s achievement, and assure Quest—who directed and executive produced the doc—that “We saw that sh*t, Quest!”

Questlove appreciated, and felt, the love.

Meanwhile, Smith has officially issued an apology to Rock for how things went down at last night’s ceremony, saying that he is “a work in progress.” Maybe an “I’m sorry” to Questlove will come next.

Diddy Claims That Will Smith And Chris Rock Settled Their Beef After The Oscars Ceremony: ‘It’s All Love… They’re Brothers’

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P Diddy Chris Rock Sean Combs 2016
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In case you haven’t been online for the past 12 hours, what will certainly go down as one of the year’s defining pop culture events happened last night. While on stage to present the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards last night, Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. Will Smith, her husband, didn’t take kindly to the jab, so he got on stage, slapped Rock in the face pretty hard on live television, returned to his seat, and screamed twice, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth!”

It was a surreal moment and now we’re left with the aftermath. On that note, it appears Rock and Smith have settled their differences and moved on: Diddy, who was in attendance, told Page Six, “That’s not a problem. That’s over. I can confirm that.” The publication noted he did not elaborate on how the two had reconciled but continued, “It’s all love. They’re brothers.”

This comes after Page Six reported, citing “sources at the Academy Awards,” that Diddy talked to both Rock and Smith and that the two had “agreed to make amends later in the evening.” Later, Smith showed up to Vanity Fair‘s Oscars party, while Rock did not, as Page Six notes. They also said of the scene, “Smith arrived after midnight and headed to the dance floor. DJ D-Nice was spinning tunes and played a number of songs by Smith as a tribute when the star and his family arrived. Smith, 53, danced and rapped along to his ’90s hits ‘Summertime,’ Miami,’ and ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.’ Jada, 50, was by his side grooving on the dance floor, along with their kids Jaden, 23, and Willow, 21.”

Two ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestants Expressed Deep Regrets For A Very Awkward Diana Ross Incident

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Diana Ross Wrong Answer Jeopardy
Sony Pictures Television

Legendary singer Diana Ross received not one, but two apologies from a pair of very embarrassed Jeopardy! contestants who incorrectly thought the singer is 95 years old. It all went down during a Final Jeopardy! round earlier in the week when host Ken Jennings read the following clue: “In 2021 at age 95, this singer achieved a Guinness World Record for the oldest person to release an album of new material.”

The correct answer is “Who is Tony Bennett?” But that’s not what Karen Johnson and Finn Corrigan went with. According to the New York Post, the contestants both guessed Ross, who for the record is not 95, and has a ways to go until she is. Realizing that they just insulted the singer’s age, Johnson and Corrigan took to Twitter to apologize.

“Deepest apologies to the iconic Diana Ross!” Johnson tweeted. “I didn’t really think you were the answer, but was running out of time and had to put something!”

“Me too!” Corrigan wrote in the replies. “I knew she was not nearly that old but better to write something than nothing. Just glad we’re in this together hahahaha”

In Corrigan and Johnson’s defense, Ross did achieve a Guinness World Record in 1993 for “Most Successful Female Singer of All Time.” So the whole age thing aside, they weren’t entirely wrong for thinking of Ross. As for Tony Bennett, he was just happy to be part of the show. The crooner tweeted a screencap of the Final Jeopardy! clue with the simple caption “Who is… ?”

(Via New York Post)

Ice-T Says He Got Robbed At A Gas Station — By The Pump (And He’s Got People Rolling)

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Ice-T had people rolling on the floor after the rapper/actor dropped a humorous tweet lamenting gas prices. In the anecdote, which initially starts out with a somber admission that Ice-T was “robbed at a gas station last night,” the Law and Order star proceeds to break down the aftermath of the “robbery.” Of course, the first red flag that something was amiss is Ice-T said his hands were “trembling,” which seems out of character for the badass rapper, and that’s because it never happened. The whole thing was a setup for his gas price punchline.

“I was robbed at a gas station in NJ last night,” Ice-T tweeted. “After my hands stopped trembling.. I managed to call the cops and they were quick to respond and calmed me down….. My money is gone.. the police asked me if I knew who did it.. I said yes.. it was pump number 9…”

Within hours, Ice-T’s tweet went viral as it racked up almost 100,000 likes at the time of this writing and instantly made the rapper trend on Twitter as the reactions started pouring in. People were either dying with laughter at the joke or feeling Ice-T’s pain at the cost of gas.

You can see some of the reactions below:

Of course, the gas prices are market forces reacting to the Russia invasion of Ukraine, but if you think Ice-T is pushing for a quick end to that problem, think again. The rapper/actor is fully aware of the gravity of the situation and is all for avoiding a global conflict.

“Here’s the Situation: As soon as the US fires ONE bullet at a Russian solider. From the Ground or Air…. WE are at War with Russia,” Ice-T tweeted at the beginning of March. “Not good.”

(Via Ice-T on Twitter)

Britney Spears, Continuing To Live Her Best Life, Does Not Know Who Pete Davidson Or Scott Disick Are

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Things have really turned around for Britney Spears. Over the last handful of months, the pop goddess has seen her father’s longtime conservatorship finally put to an end, a new documentary arguing that she was mistreated by not only her father but also the music industry and the media, and generally just a renewed re-interest in her music. And now this: She recently revealed she has no idea who Pete Davidson and Scott Disick are.

The revelation came after Disick, former partner of Kourtney Kardashian and reality star of Flip It Like Disick, shared a video on Instagram of him hanging out with the SNL star and Kanye West tormentor. It shows Davidson filming himself watching Martin Scorsese’s classic The King of Comedy with Disick…who had fallen asleep, missing out on some of Robert De Niro’s finest work.

Spears found the video extremely funny…even though she had zero clue who either of them were. “Sorry had to repost this … no idea who these people in the video are but it made me laugh so hard !!!!” she wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post.

Ignorance can be bliss, and though Davidson is a nice boy who nevertheless is in the news a bit too much, even if it’s not always his fault, it must be nice having no clue about the identity of certain tabloid fixtures. Of course, that may be because she spent the last 13-some years having her every move controlled by her father, and is only now able to have some semblance of freedom, to do and to watch whatever she wants without having to get someone’s else’s permission. So good for her, even if she’s by now learned all about Disick’s clothing line, which is actually called “Talentless.”

(Via Page Six)

From Miley Cyrus Bangers To Bollywood: The Story Behind The ‘Bridgerton’ Season 2 Soundtrack

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Netflix

If you didn’t know by now, Bridgerton is not like the other girls (and by “girls” we mean Regency-era romance dramas). And sure, that comes across fairly early on in how diverse its cast is and how generous its writers are with explicit sex scenes, but the show’s biggest weapon is, actually, its music.

Far from the sometimes-stuffy classical compositions that lull audiences to sleep in the background of the ball scenes and country dances and third-act climaxes used by its predecessors, Bridgerton’s choice in music cleverly bridges the gap between the past and the present. Translating bangers from Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande into stringed-out symphonies that harmonize with the most emotionally-loaded, pivotal plot points, the show gained a reputation after the success of its debut season.

It was a period piece that slapped.

And, as the show readies to launch another installment focused on a new Bridgerton sibling (hello Jonathan Bailey) and a fresh love interest in Simone Ashley’s fiercely independent Kate Sharma, its choice in music is more important than ever. Especially since, this time around, fans are paying attention.

We chatted with Bridgerton’s showrunner Chris Van Dusen and music supervisor Justin Kamps to nail down exactly how they landed on this season’s soundtrack – one filled with Madonna, Nirvana, and Miley Cyrus covers – that Bollywood nod, and approval from Sir Harry Styles.

The string covers were such a hit in season one. Did that influence any choices you made this time around?

Chris Van Dusen: As far as the music, there are more covers this season than last. I think that’s because it worked so well the first time around. The whole intention with these songs is that I want our audience to feel the very same way our characters feel onscreen. So when the Sharmas walk into a ballroom and hear this amazing classical rendition of “Material Girl,” I want the excitement they’re feeling in the moment to translate to the audience, too. I think it’s incredibly immersive and effective, and it’s definitely one of the things I love most about this show.

You’ve both talked about the trial-and-error process of the pop covers in season one. What was the process for season two like?

Justin Kamps: We start early on matching these covers with the type of dance that our choreographer, Jack Murphy, is planning for the ball — which includes tempo, time signature, just general feel, and everything. And then as the show comes together in post, we take another look at these sequences that have sometimes been newly edited together into an actual scene. And [sometimes] we need to look at a different song because maybe it’s been edited in such a way that the song we used for choreography doesn’t fit or there’s a different vibe now that it’s been put together. That’s when we start looking at different covers in the post process and seeing what really fits that moment and that sequence.

So do the lyrics of these pop songs come into play more in post-production then?

JK: Yeah, when it’s into post is where we start having more of the thoughts of like, “Okay, what would make the most sense here? What are the characters feeling? What’s happening in the scene? What’s the subtext? What can we be cheeky with?”

CVD: There are some songs I’ll find in post, but there are also times when I’ll write a scene to a specific song. I wrote one particular scene in the season two finale to a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” It captured the exact emotion I wanted that scene to convey so beautifully. Usually, we end up replacing whatever song we use during shooting, but that was an exception. I asked our choreographer to choreograph a dance to that version of the song. Our onscreen musicians actually played to it on the day, too. The result is magical.

JK: Yeah, for me, that really encapsulates Kate and Anthony and their relationship — how they’re meeting each other and how that blew up everything in their lives.

When choosing which songs to cover, which carries more weight, the lyrics vs. the melody?

JK: There is some room to take a song that maybe the lyrics don’t completely fit, but the melody and the way the strings are performed really works for the scene, but I do feel it is a bit 50-50. Even if you’re not literally hearing them, these are songs that most people know and recognize — you’re hearing the lyrics in your head maybe as the song is happening. So we’re still aware that we can’t totally disregard the lyrics.

CVD: The actual song we’re covering has to make sense for us both emotionally and lyrically. “Dancing on my Own,” [by Robyn] for example, manages to be both beautiful and painful at the same time. It’s the kind of song that makes you lean into your screen. The lyrics are relevant too, especially when you think about what’s really happening in the scene it scores. It’s angsty and bittersweet and soul-stirring. It’s a transcendent moment.

Does the popularity of a song or an artist come into play when choosing which tracks to use?

JK: I do think it’s important. In general, the music that I am pitching down to the show that the producers and Chris gravitate towards are songs that are recognizable. There could be a song that I totally love, and it’s like, “Oh, this is a beautiful string cover of this song that no one’s heard,” but then if no one knows the song, it would play in the show as just score potentially. It would just go by and no one would notice. So the whole reason to use covers in the first place is that it is a song that people recognize and when it comes up, it creates this instant connection between the characters, these characters in the past and the audience in the present.

But this season you did experiment a bit more with how old a pop song could be to still have that reaction when fans heard a string cover of it.

JK: Yeah, we did expand back into some older classics — “Material Girl,” we got Nirvana in there as well. I think that’s just a testament to Chris’ taste and his interest in songs from all eras because again, creating a string quartet version of them levels the playing field. Maybe the original song itself is old, but now this cover is being heard. The audience is now experiencing these songs as a new thing even if they were released in the eighties and nineties.

You’ve both said that the Harry Styles track was the hardest license to get this season. How do you convince artists to hand over their music? Do you have to send them a script, show them the scene?

JK: It depends on the artist. Sometimes artists understandably are protective of their songs. Because this is their creative endeavor and their work and they want make sure that it’s being used appropriately. So yeah, sometimes we do have to show the artist and their team the clip. Other times we just give a detailed description of what’s happening and some people are okay with that. It kind of depends but this season, yes, we did have to show a couple of people.

The show has changed the Sharma’s ethnicity and cultural background this season and a lot of fans are excited for the Bollywood track that’s been included. Why was that such a big deal to cover that song?

JK: I’m personally very proud of the Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham cover. That was another one I was really excited about because when we were looking into including a Bollywood song in the show this season, there was lots of trepidation about Bollywood being a tough clear because they’re very protective of… Those films are a very important part of their culture. I’m just really excited for people to hear it.

CVD: The song itself is about family and the bonds that hold them together. When I heard the original song, I fell in love with it — and I thought it was perfect for a scene featuring all of our Sharma ladies — who have just arrived in London from India. So it’s a nod to that family’s heritage. My writers and I wanted to honor the culture of this new family and weave certain elements of their South Asian heritage into the series.

JK: There’s already been lots of fan excitement. And I actually saw an article with one of the composers that I guess his son told him how popular Bridgerton was, and he was very excited about the song being considered and used in the show. So that warms my heart. And I’m just excited for people to hear this song. I think it’s important that we got that one in there.

Speaking of changes from book-to-screen, were there any that were particularly challenging to make?

CVD: I wanted Edwina to be a multi-dimensional character in terms of having her own wants, needs and desires in the show. It’s always the goal to be writing characters who are fully-realized, complicated, and flawed. And then of course I was always interested in further expanding the beautiful, multi-ethnic world that was set up in the first season. Introducing the Sharma family was very much a part of that.

Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ returns on March 25.

Finally, Dolly Parton Wants To Give The People What They Want (A Musical Biopic About Her Life), And She Knows Who Should Play Her

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A decade-and-a-half ago, John C. Reilly helped kill the musical biopic dead. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story mercilessly mocked movies like Walk the Line and Ray, skewering their tropes so devastatingly that no one dared make them for years and years. But they were bound to one day rise from the dead. And so they have. The last few years have seen movies like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, about Queen and Elton John, make a ton of money, all while reviving the clichés that once made the genre ripe for satire. So why hasn’t anyone done one yet about Dolly Parton? That’s what Dolly Parton wants to know.

According to CNN, the country music goddess, too occasional movie star, and theme park owner last month appeared on the radio show Mr. Nashville Speaks, where she discussed her first novel, Run, Rose, Run. She also revealed that she’s in talks to do a big screen Dolly movie.

“I do intend someday to be on Broadway, but I’m thinking now that I might do my life story as a feature,” Parton told host Larry Ferguson. “Maybe possibly even a musical feature, so we’re in talks about that.”

Parton said that a Broadway Dolly musical almost happened, but the pandemic delayed that so long that she changed her mind. Now she’s pursuing a Dolly movie.

But who on earth could ever hope to summon even a scintilla of the charisma of one of the great entertainers? Parton had some ideas.

“I love Kristin Chenoweth,” Parton said. “She’s just absolutely fantastic.” But perhaps Chenoweth, if she’s comfortable inhabiting the shoes of the woman who wrote both “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same frickin’ day, would only be one of multiple Dollys. “We’d probably have to have-as long as my career has been-like a little Dolly and a middle Dolly and then the older one.”

So there you have it, Hollywood. Go forth and make a Dolly Parton movie. In the meantime, go watch the too few movies she’s made over the years. Yes, even the one with Stallone.

You can watch Parton’s Mr. Nashville Speaks interview in the video below.

(Via CNN)

Lizzo Will Be Double-Dipping As The Host And Musical Guest On ‘SNL’ Next Month

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You don’t have to stretch your imagination very far to think about what Lizzo might be like acting in a Saturday Night Live sketch. The multi-talented “Truth Hurts” singer is not just a multi-Platinum, Grammy Award-winning artist, but she’s a viral TikTok star who has shown time and time again that she’s both hilarious and not afraid to speak her mind. So, SNL is ready to put all of Lizzo’s talents on display when she does double-duty as both the host and musical guest of NBC’s hit show on April 16th.

The entire April slate of hosts and musical performers was announced today. In addition to the “Lizzo-palooza” on April 16th, Gunna and Camila Cabello were also confirmed as musical guests in April. Gunna, whose DS4Ever topped the Billboard 200 chart earlier this year, will appear on the April 2nd episode, hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael. Meanwhile, Camila Cabello, who just announced that her new album Familia will be out on April 8th, will be the musical guest for an episode hosted by Jake Gyllenhaall on April 9th. It’s a perfectly timed appearance for Cabello with her album coming out the day before the episode, and it’s also a boost that it will mark Gylenhaal’s first time hosting the show in 15 years.

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

Trevor Noah Is Weighing In After Kanye West Got Banned By The Grammys

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Despite Trevor Noah warning people that the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian situation has the potential to devolve into violence, Noah has come out against the recent move by the Grammys to pull West’s performance.

The music awards ceremony has barred West from performing due to his “concerning online behavior,” which recently involved hurling racial slurs at Noah in response to his Daily Show segment. Those slurs resulted in West being banned from Instagram for 24 hours and have now culminated in the decision from the Grammys, which Noah opposes.

“I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye,” Noah tweeted late Sunday night.

It’s yet another classy move by The Daily Show host who responded to Kanye calling him a racial slur by saying how much the rappers’ work has inspired him, which is why he hates to see him in his current state.

“You’re an indelible part of my life Ye,” Noah wrote in the comments of the now-deleted Instagram post. “Which is why it breaks my heart to see you like this. I don’t care if you support Trump and I don’t care if you roast Pete. I do however care when I see you on a path that’s dangerously close to peril and pain.”

Of course, Noah did light up Kanye a little by saying, “Clearly some people graduate but we still stupid, but for the most part, Noah’s main concern has been pushing for Kanye to get the help he likely needs.

(Via Trevor Noah on Instagram)

If A Netflix Series About U2 From J.J. Abrams Is What You’re Looking For, You’re In Luck

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Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, TV show me.

A day after Nancy Pelosi said that Bono “has been a very Irish part of our lives,” Variety reports that a series about U2 is in “early development” at Netflix. J.J. Abrams is attached an executive producer through his Bad Robot production company, while Bohemian Rhapsody writer Anthony McCarten is working on the screenplay.

It is unclear at this time exactly how involved U2 would be in the project. Exact plot details for the show are currently under wraps, but given McCarten’s involvement it seems logical to assume that the show would delve into the history of the band.

There’s a lot of history to tell, from the band’s post-punk beginnings in Ireland to releasing one of the biggest albums ever in The Joshua Tree to the Super Bowl performance to Bono’s humanitarian efforts to the day that Edge found his hat. Say what you will about the music (“All I Want Is You” slaps), but it’s impressive that a group as popular as U2 has stayed together for this long with all the original members still in the band.

Of course, this assumes that Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. will, as expected, allow the show to use their music and likenesses. Otherwise, we’ll have another extremely funny Jackie Jormp-Jomp situation on our hands.

What’s your favorite YouToo song? Mine’s “Tuesday Gory Tuesday.”

(Via Variety)