Tiffany Haddish recently spoke with Cosmopolitan, in which she opened up about her comedic craft. While it’s customary for celebrity comedians to poke fun at other celebrities, some are often caught off guard by certain jokes. Haddish, on the other hand, makes sure she receives permission to use certain jokes in which a specific celebrity is the target.
Haddish offered a joke about R&B singer Usher as an example.
“I got this joke, ‘I curse you out with joy. I hope that you spread it. I hope you spread it like Usher spreads herpes.’ I have said that in front of Usher,” said Haddish.
According to Haddish, Usher told her “Your ass is crazy.”
“I said, ‘Yeah, well, there’s a rumor out there saying you got herpes,” she said. ‘I don’t know if you do or don’t, but that sh*t is funny.’”
The joke refers to a few 2017 lawsuits, in which a handful of women accused Usher of passing them herpes. Haddish said Usher agreed that the joke was funny, however, if he hadn’t, she would be willing to withhold the joke from her set.
“If he had said, ‘Tiff, don’t say that no more. I don’t like it. I’m not comfortable with you saying that,’ I would stop saying it,” Haddish said.
Haddish currently has several film and television projects in the world, including a remake of Disney’s Haunted Mansion. She is also currently working on music with Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg.
When young R&B star Halle Bailey was announced as the star of Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of the beloved animated 1989 classic The Little Mermaid, not everyone was as enthused about the update to the Disney Renaissance favorite as her co-stars. To put it plainly, the subset of genre fans who always complain loudly whenever a minor change is made to a character’s skin color or gender really came for Halle, denouncing her casting as a case of “race-swapping” gone overboard — despite the fact that the main character Ariel’s race is in no way important to the story of her trading her voice for legs.
And unfortunately, due to the ever-pervasive nature of social media, those complaints made their way back to the actress herself. However, she was undeterred by the criticism, as she told Variety in a long-form feature published today. This was thanks mainly to her grandparents, who encouraged her in the face of the racist #NotMyAriel movement.
“It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement,” she said, “telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you.’” Their words helped put things into perspective for her: “What that would have done for me, how that would have changed my confidence, my belief in myself, everything,” she explained. “Things that seem so small to everyone else, it’s so big to us.”
Elsewhere in the feature, Halle recounted how the time spent away from her sister Chloe while filming during 2020, the height of COVID lockdowns, affected her. “She couldn’t visit me; everything was on lockdown,” she said. “It was that agony, that pain of being pulled away from something that’s like your arm, so I was pulling from that.”
The Little Mermaid is set for release on May 23, 2023.
For much of her life, singer and actress Halle Bailey has worked creatively alongside her older sister Chlöe. From making YouTube videos, to getting signed to Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment label as Chloe x Halle, to acting on Freeform’s hit TV series, Grown-ish, the two have been a dynamic duo.
Over the past two years, the two have embarked on separate endeavors. They are both working on solo music and movies of their own. In 2019, Halle was announced to play Ariel in the live adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Production was often delayed, but took place during late 2020 and early into 2021. When the film wrapped last summer, Halle immediately went to film her parts for a remake of The Color Purple, in which she will play Nettie.
The Color Purple contains darker themes than The Little Mermaid, however, Halle revealed to Variety that while filming The Color Purple, she drew from the pain of being in London filming The Little Mermaid, and not being able to see Chlöe, who was in the US for much of that time.
“She couldn’t visit me; everything was on lockdown,” Halle said, “and it was that agony, that pain of being pulled away from something that’s like your arm, so I was pulling from that.”
The Little Mermaid will arrive to theaters on May 23, 2023 and The Color Purple will premiere on December 20, 2023.
The Weeknd had a handful of collaborators on his latest album, Dawn FM, but perhaps the most important of them all was Jim Carrey, who does voice acting at various points throughout the project and helps move the narrative forward. While he ended up being a pivotal part of Dawn FM, Carrey says he initially turned down The Weeknd’s request to get on board.
“He’s an incredible guy, an incredible artist, and a lovely person, and I feel very lucky to be his friend. He put it to me that he was doing this thing that was the radio station in purgatory, and I was like, ‘I love you, but I don’t want to do any work.’ And he said, ‘You know, you can just do it into your iPhone.’ Like, that it’s broadcast quality.
And then I started waking up in the middle of the night, which is what happens with me: I wake in the middle of the night and I start spitting bars [laughs] of all things, for god’s sake.
And to have our lives comes full-circle, because The Mask was the very first movie he ever saw and kind of inspired him to want to be in this thing, and boy, did he ever get in this thing.”
Following a very public break-up with Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson received some not so kind words from Kardashian’s ex-husband, Kanye West. In a since-deleted Instagram post, West shared a mock-up of a fake New York Times front page, which read, “Skete Davidson Dead At Age 28.” This wasn’t the first time West expressed disdain toward Davidson while Davidson and Kardashian were dating: In a video for “Eazy,” a song by The Game on which Ye is featured, West kidnapped and buried an animated version of the comedian. He has also made several violent threats to Davidson numerous times on social media over the past few months.
A source close to Davidson spoke with People and revealed that since April of this year, Davidson has “has been in trauma therapy in large part” due to posts by West.
“The attention and negativity coming from Kanye and his antics is a trigger for [Pete], and he’s had to seek out help,” the source said.
The source also noted that since the breakup with Kardashian, Davidson “has no regrets for dating Kim and wants it to be made very clear that she’s been nothing but supportive of him throughout their relationship.”
“Moving forward, he just wants to focus on his career,” the source said.
Idris Elba makes a memorable appearance on Jay-Z’s 2007 album American Gangster, speaking on and producing “Intro.” Now Elba has spoken a bit more about how that came to be, telling Jimmy Fallon he “hustled [his] way onto” the album
On The Tonight Show yesterday, Elba (who was in the American Gangster movie on which the album was based) said:
“I was in American Gangster and at the time, I heard Jay was about to do an album associated with the film and I was like, ‘I need to get on that.’ As you do. You’re like, ‘I’m Idris, I need to be on that Jay-Z album!’ I had no idea why Jay would be like, ‘Yeah, sure, do it.’ So Lenny S., who works with Jay, was a good friend of Oronde and Oronde’s my guy, and I said, ‘Yo, I’m gonna write this thing.’ And I wrote this long poem… a friend of mine, we wrote this long poem, we put it to a beat. Actually, it was a rap, but it didn’t sound good as a rap. […] I said, ‘Maybe I should speak this,’ because Jay might be a little more accommodating to my speaking voice. And I sent it to him and we got this text back from Jay saying, ‘I don’t love this… I f*cking love it.”
Following the tragic news that actress and Grammy award-winning singer Olivia Newton-John has passed away at the age of 73, her Grease co-star and longtime friend John Travolta kicked off an outpouring of social media tributes from the entertainment world.
“My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better,” Travolta wrote on Instagram. “Your impact was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the first moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!”
Following Travolta’s tribute, more and more of Hollywood took to Twitter to mourn the loss of Newton-John, who was iconic presence for generations.
“I am SO saddened at the news of the passing of Olivia Newton John,” tweeted Marlee Matlin. “I remember being so star struck when I met her at my first Hollywood gathering for Paramount. She was the sweetest and brightest light and I loved getting to know her on “It’s My Party.” RIP dear, sweet Olivia.”
I am SO saddened at the news of the passing of Olivia Newton John. I remember being so star struck when I met her at my first Hollywood gathering for Paramount. She was the sweetest and brightest light and I loved getting to know her on “It’s My Party.” RIP dear, sweet Olivia. pic.twitter.com/4FFgolVQNk
“My heart is broken. Rest now, sweet friend. You were as kind and loving a person as there’s ever been,” Richard Marx wrote. “I’ll miss you every day.”
My heart is broken. Rest now, sweet friend. You were as kind and loving a person as there’s ever been. I’ll miss you every day. pic.twitter.com/Z1zkVe9CVb
“‘Grease’ is my #1 movie of all time and made me a lifelong Olivia Newton John fan,” Gabrielle Union tweeted. “Me and my sister watched Xanadu more times than I could count. Sending so much love and prayers to a real gift of a woman and talent.”
“Grease” is my #1 movie of all time and made me a lifelong Olivia Newton John fan. Me and my sister watched Xanadu more times than I could count. Sending so much love and prayers to a real gift of a woman and talent. #RIPOliviaNewtonJohnhttps://t.co/1M8lcVQuON
“Very sad that lovely, talented, brave Olivia Newton- John has died,” wrote Mia Farrow. “I never got to meet her, but everyone says she was wonderful- always kind.”
Very sad that lovely, talented, brave Olivia Newton- John has died. I never got to meet her, but everyone says she was wonderful- always kind.
Really sad to hear about the passing of Olivia Newton-John. My first real crush as a kid. I loved Grease & her music & I coincidentally also bought & lived in for a while the wonderful home she built in Malibu. May she Rest In Peace. https://t.co/gP10SJWqFZ
We have lost a great, iconic artist in Olivia Newton John, gone too soon from us at age 73. I trust she is now in the great Xanadu beyond. Know that we are forever hopelessly devoted to you, Olivia. Rest in song and mirth.
Olivia Newton John. When my sis&I were little we used to watch Grease on repeat. We were obsessed. I was obsessed with her. So charming and so beautiful with this spark within a veneer of girl-next-door. One of the first romance leads I felt affinity to. May she rest in peace
i am absolutely rocked to hear about the passing legendary olivia newton john. thank you for inspiring my childhood alongside many other young girls.may an icon rest beautifully xx pic.twitter.com/GJXfi1CIfq
Olivia Newton-John has died at 73. She won 4 Grammys and had 5 #1s and 10 top ten hits in the US, was a champion for the environment and animal rights, but really, her role as Sandy Olsson in “Grease” showed her brilliance forever, and will be missed. pic.twitter.com/AkfCt0rdVe
Now that the Davidson/Kardashian relationship is no more, now feels like a good time to break down the beef between the rapper and the former Saturday Night Live star. So, let’s get into it.
September 2018: West’s Donald Trump rant on SNL
On the September 29, 2018 episode, in a rant that didn’t make it onto air, West said many things, including, “So many times I talk to a white person and [they] say, ‘How could you like Trump, he’s racist?’ Well, if I was concerned about racism, I would have moved out of America a long time ago.”
The next week, Davidson addressed the rant during “Weekend Update,” saying, “What Kanye said after we went off the air last week was one of the worst, most awkward things I’ve seen here, and I’ve seen Chevy Chase speak to an intern. He added, “Then Kanye said that Democrats broke up Black families with welfare and that slavery’s not real. You know how wrong about politics you need to be for like me to notice? Do you know how annoying that is? Like, Kanye is a genius, but a musical genius. Like Joey Chestnut is a hot dog-eating genius, but I don’t want to hear Joey Chestnut’s opinions about things that aren’t hot dog-related.”
December 2018: Mental health tweets
In December that year, Ye fired off a bunch of tweets about his mental health, which Davidson applauded, writing, “Bravo Kanye West for standing up for yourself and speaking out against mental health. I can’t explain to you enough how difficult and scary it is to be honest about stuff like this. We need people like Kanye. No one should ever point fingers at you for your bravery in speaking about mental health. I’m seriously disgusted.”
The two continued to be on good terms in January 2019, when they, Kardashian, Kid Cudi, and Timothée Chalamet celebrated Cudi’s birthday with dinner at Nobu. Davidson later revealed he didn’t know West or Chalamet would be there, saying that March, “Kanye kept ordering the whole entire time. I didn’t know he was coming. And I already put my card down to pay, ’cause I thought it was just me and Cudi, and then Chalamet showed up, and then Kanye showed up, and I was like, ‘F*ck.’ And then I had to book two more gigs in Ohio.”
In February 2022, West shared an edited version of the Captain America: Civil War poster, which pits West, Drake, Megan Fox, Travis Scott, and Future against Davidson, Kardashian, Cudi, Billie Eilish, and Taylor Swift. This is also around the time Ye started calling Davidson “Skete,” as the caption read, “THE INTERNET HAS STILL NOT FOUND A DECENT PICTURE OF SKETE.”
In March, a text conversation between West and Davidson leaked. The most famous takeaway there was Davidson telling West he was “in bed with your wife” and sharing a photo of him in said bed to prove it. West later said, “At this point, it’s going too far. The boyfriend texts me, antagonizing me, bragging about being in bed with my wife. He texts me, talking about bragging about how he’s in bed with my wife. And it’s like, well, who’s watching my children?”
Shortly after, West expressed concern that Davidson was going to get Kardashian “hooked on drugs.”
April 2022: Stand-up
As comedians do, Davidson worked this significant life event into his stand-up act. At Netflix’s comedy festival in April, Davidson made light of Kanye saying his rival has AIDS, saying he had an “AIDS scare” this year before revealing West told him he has it: “I better call my doctor: The guy who made College Dropout thinks I have AIDS.” He also joked that he hopes West “pulls a Mrs. Doubtfire.”
May 2022: Davidson’s SNL farewell
On Davidson’s final episode of SNL in May, he briefly poked fun at his Ye drama, starting, “Hello Colin [Jost] and [Michael] Che and millions of people only watching to see if I bring up Kanye.”
August 2022: Breakup
Kanye West gives us the morning news by trolling the Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian break up while taking a shot at Kid Cudi. pic.twitter.com/mzvVYw7cPe
Things on the Davidson/West front have been mostly quiet over the past few months as Davidson and Kardashian continued to enjoy dating each other. Just a few days ago, though, it was revealed the two had decided to end their relationship after nine months. Naturally, this brought West much joy: This morning (August 8), West celebrated by sharing a fake newspaper headline that read, “Skete Davidson Dead At Age 28” (and has since deleted the post).
That’s where things stand now and given that Davidson and Kardashian are no longer romantically linked, there may not be much reason for this Kanye beef to continue, especially since Davidson isn’t an active social media user and hasn’t responded to most of the jabs Ye has thrown. So, while Pete Davidson is alive and well, Skete Davidson may truly be dead.
A “source close to” Kardashian reportedly told The Daily Mail, “Kim won’t stand for this. She is demanding that Kanye take the post down, but he won’t. She has been vigorously defending Pete. She’ll never get back together with Kanye over the way he’s treated the people she loves and respects. She has tried incredibly hard to have a good co-parenting situation for the children. She won’t stand for this type of behavior from him.”
Kardashian has yet to offer a public comment of her own about the post.
This isn’t the first time she has addressed Ye’s behavior in recent months: On a May episode of The Kardashians, she said to her family, “I do recognize the impact that my relationship has had on my family, and I’ve never had the opportunity to just say: I’m sorry, guys.” Later, though, she did share a Father’s Day tribute for West, writing, “Thank you for being the best dad to our babies and loving them the way you do! Happy Father’s Day Ye.”
Fans of celebrity relationships had a loss to mourn a couple days ago, when it was revealed that Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian had broken up after nine months of dating. Now, Kanye West has decided to take the mourning a little more literally with his celebration of the relationship’s end.
On Instagram this morning, Ye shared a fake front page of The New York Times, which features mostly just a giant headline reading, “Skete Davidson Dead At Age 28,” with “Skete” being the nickname West has used with Davidson since the start of his and Kardashian’s romance. Below the headline is a subhead, a jab at Ye’s former collaborator and Davidson’s current friend, Kid Cudi: “Kid Cudi meant to play funeral but fearful of bottle throwers.” That’s a clear reference to Cudi’s recent performance at Rolling Loud, which he ended early after audience members repeatedly threw things at him on stage.
Kanye West gives us the morning news by trolling the Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian break up while taking a shot at Kid Cudi. pic.twitter.com/mzvVYw7cPe
West has made it clear on many occasions that he’s not a fan of Davidson and his relationship with his ex-wife. He perhaps most notably showed that with a video for “Eazy,” in which an animated Davidson gets kidnapped and buried. If that was intended as an intimidation tactic, it didn’t seem to work, as Davidson apparently thought it was pretty funny.
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