TV

Jay-Z Called Dave Chappelle ‘Brave’ And ‘Genius’ During A Discussion About ‘The Closer’

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Last month, Dave Chappelle stirred up some controversy with his Netflix special The Closer. Comments he made about the transgender community led to outrage, including from the streamer’s employees. Chappelle did get some support from the likes of 50 Cent and Caitlyn Jenner. 50 agreed with Chappelle about DaBaby’s homophobic comments, which Chappelle semi-defended, while Caitlyn Jenner said Chappelle’s words were “100% right.” Jay-Z also showed Chappelle some love during a recent conversation about the special on Twitter Spaces.

Jay spoke said “true art has to cause conversation.” He admitted that The Closer made him uncomfortable at multiple points but said, “Sometimes it’s going to be abrasive, sometimes it’s going to be off-putting to folks. But it opens up an opportunity to have a dialogue.” Jay later called Chappelle “super brave and super genius. If you spend time with him, he’s brilliant,” adding, “I think he pushed a lot of buttons.”

He continued. “These algorithms allow you to talk to people who agree with you,” he said, adding, “We have to speak to one another when we disagree… Anything that doesn’t have that tension, it’s not going to be real. We had fake conversations all this time before Trump was in office, then we got to see people for who they really were. And then we got to have real conversations.”

Jay also said, “I think great art is divisive. Some people like it, some people hate it. When you’re making great art, you have to be fearless and create something that you believe in. That’s what it’s about.”

Jay’s comments come after Chappelle, along with Barack Obama, inducted him into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

Finally, At Long Last, Dolly Parton Will Guest Star On ‘Grace And Frankie’ For The Full ‘9 To 5’ Reunion

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Adding Dolly Parton to any project is always a good idea, but it gets even better when it finally completes a long-awaited reunion with her 9 to 5 costars, which is exactly what’s happening on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. According to a new report, Parton will guest star on the series’ seventh and final season, putting her back on screen with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. Via TVLine:

For the uninitiated: 9 to 5 was released in 1980, and starred Parton, Fonda and Tomlin as the above-mentioned Doralee, Judy and Violet, three working women who decide to get revenge on their sexist boss (played by Dabney Coleman). The movie went on to gross over $100 million at the box office.

At the moment, Parton’s role on Frankie and Grace is being kept under wraps, but she will appear in the show’s final 12 episodes that will drop sometime in 2022. (Four episodes were released early in August to tide over fans.)

When it wraps up its seven-season run next year, Grace and Frankie will have the distinct honor of having the most amount of episodes for a Netflix original series. While Orange Is the New Black is the current record holder at 91 episodes, Grace and Frankie will top that by streaming 94 episodes when the final season premieres. And, now, the show will get to say it had Dolly Parton stop by for a freaking 9 to 5 reunion, so yeah, try and top that, whichever Netflix series is still racking up episodes. (Narcos, maybe? — Nope, that’s not it. It’ll come to us.)

(Via TVLine)

Cardi B Might Be Officiating Kal Penn’s Wedding

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A few weeks ago, Cardi B was licensed to perform a wedding for a lesbian couple for her show Cardi B Tries… but it looks like that license might be coming in handy again sooner than anyone expected. When actor Kal Penn noticed the “WAP” rapper on his flight, he joked on Twitter that he had a dream she officiated his wedding. However, Cardi somehow saw the tweet and seemed into the idea, wondering why the Harold & Kumar actor didn’t say hi — and suggesting that she was open to actually performing the ceremony.

When Penn responded explaining that Cardi’s “do not disturb” light was on and enthused about the idea, Cardi had just one response: “I’m down I’ll get my suit.”

Sometimes, Twitter can be good.

Kal Penn announced his impending nuptials to his longtime partner earlier this week in addition to officially coming out as gay. In his upcoming book You Can’t Be Serious, he details how the couple unexpectedly became close after his NASCAR fan partner Josh got him hooked on the sport as well.

Meanwhile, Cardi’s interactions with fellow celebrities continue to amuse and delight fans on the internet. Prior to her interaction with Kal Penn, Cardi and Penn Badgley of Netflix’s You had a cute back-and-forth resulting in the two stars swapping their profile pics to photos of each other.

Give Saweetie Her Own Netflix Show, Already

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A show hosted by Saweetie and a pack of sex-positive puppets sounds like a strange proposition but oddly enough, it works. That’s the premise of Sex: Unzipped, a new hour-long Netflix comedy special that plays like an adult sex education course mashed up with raunchier sketch comedy than you’ll ever see on SNL, all in the mode of the least kid-friendly episode of Sesame Street ever.

It helps that the human host is game for the silliness, shamelessly flirting with the puppets and vice versa. For all of the complaints about Saweetie’s live performances, the Bay Area-bred star has a lot of charisma. While not as boisterous and playful as rap contemporaries Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, Saweetie still has a laid-back, confident charm that makes her the perfect on-camera personality for any number of situations. From hosting her own Icy University YouTube series, to coolly cruising through the full taste bud punishing course of wings on Hot Ones, Saweetie’s easygoing, round-the-way bearing almost demands that she skips the rap portion of her career trajectory and goes straight to hosting her own show.

Saweetie’s media takeover strategy isn’t new to hip-hop but the way she’s going about it sort of is. Plenty of rappers have made the jump from purely making music to acting, hosting, and any number of other media gigs (the new one seems to be podcasting, with everyone from Joe Budden to Nicki Minaj contracting with Apple and Spotify for their own shows). But usually, the artist in question must be established; Will Smith had already won his first Grammy by the time he jumped into television with The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, Eve had a number of supporting roles in movies after delivering multiple platinum albums, then got her own sitcom, and both versions of Queen Latifah’s talk show came after two albums and an ensemble role on Living Single.

More recently, Saweetie peers like Cardi B reversed the formula, utilizing a role on the popular Love & Hip-Hop franchise to develop a huge social media following, then translating that into rap superstardom. After becoming the first female rapper since Lauryn Hill to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200, it was only natural that Cardi B would go on to host her own show on Facebook, Cardi B Tries…, which built on her established fame and naturally outgoing personality. Likewise with her role on Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow. Cardi’s move into television (or what passes for television when everything we watch is on a computer, phone, or tablet screen) launched from the springboard of her existing catalog of hits and near-ubiquity in the wake of her breakout hit “Bodak Yellow.”

Saweetie, on the other hand, has yet to even release a full-length project. So far, she’s only dropped a trio of EPs, of which only Icy even registered on the Billboard 200. She’s had a string of virally successful singles, including her original hit “Icy Grl,” “My Type,” and “Tap In,” but only three have reached the Top 40, with “Best Friend” charting the highest — arguably due in large part to her co-star on the song, Doja Cat. It’s probably fair to say that Saweetie is not the pop culture dominating juggernaut that Cardi is. Even Doja Cat, fresh off her first award show hosting gig at the 2021 MTV VMAs has a No. 1 hit record in “Say So” and multiple viral trends to her name.

Yet Saweetie has still managed to cultivate the air of a much more successful artist by sheer will. At this point, I think Forbes might be the only major magazine she hasn’t done a feature with. She’s been on every internet interview show (twice, in some cases), she’s got a Sprite sponsorship, she had a guest-starring role on Freeform’s Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish, and who could forget the infamous McDonald’s partnership — which seemed based almost entirely on a handful of viral moments of people teasing her for her off-the-wall food combinations (ranch on spaghetti!?!?). Nearly all of the media Saweetie has done has been to promote her upcoming debut album Pretty Bitch Music, yet she’s pushed the album back multiple times, once as a result of the ridicule she received for a few lackluster performances.

At this point, Saweetie is just as well-known for just being Saweetie as she is for rapping. Here’s a crazy idea: She should lean into this. After releasing her album and completing the requisite tour, why doesn’t she just do a bunch of different projects with Netflix? She’s already proved that she can handle herself in front of a camera. Do another comedy special — maybe try standup! Do a Christmas movie! I’d watch a Christmas movie with Saweetie in it — and you would too. Do a travel show! Saweetie is always shouting out her Filipino heritage — take her to the islands and follow her around with a camera. Gold is guaranteed. I’d watch a Saweetie talk show, a Saweetie sitcom, a Saweetie police procedural… the possibilities are literally endless. Did you see Saweetie’s Halloween sketch where she dressed up as Catwoman and won the approval of Halle Berry? Saweetie superhero movie.

None of this is to dismiss Saweetie as an artist. She’s a way better rapper than she gets credit for (check out some of her earlier car freestyles or the time she rapped for J. Cole), she’s just had a hard time adjusting her rhyme-heavy style for the pop-friendly beats she’s employed in her attempts to crossover (something that also happened to J. Cole himself, lest we all forget). Rumor has it, she has some pretty brassy musical swings on the upcoming album, which could finally endear her to a skeptical public if they don’t turn people off entirely. The hip-hop public is notoriously fickle — why keep trying to please them when there are so many on-screen opportunities that make use of Saweetie’s best weapons? She’s got the chops, and against the odds, she’s got the resume. All she needs is the official Saweetie show, which even her haters would love to watch.

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

Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl Scandal Is Getting The ‘New York Times’ Documentary Treatment For Hulu

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Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl scandal has become the subject of a new documentary coming soon to Hulu and FX, according to Deadline. After the success of the New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears, the streamer is taking on the backlash against Jackson in Malfunction: The Dressing Down Of Janet Jackson, launching on November 19 (incidentally, both docs prominently feature Justin Timberlake for his role in both women’s respective downfalls. I don’t know what it says about JT that he was so closely involved in both but it feels a little like he’s gone through his own version of what they went through over the last few years, falling out of public favor as social media became more prevalent.).

For those who don’t remember, during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, Janet Jackson joined Justin Timberlake on stage during a performance of his song “Rock Your Body,” ending with Timberlake pulling part of Jackson’s costume off, baring her breast and touching off a national controversy that led to Janet essentially being blackballed by the entertainment industry. The incident coined the infamous term “wardrobe malfunction” and a content crackdown by government and network regulators.

According to Deadline, the film will “examine the racial and cultural currents that collided on the Super Bowl stage, and explores how the incident impacted one of the most successful pop musicians in history.” It will include interviews with some of the producers of the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, as well as “music industry insiders,” cultural critics, and members of Janet’s famous family.

Tracy Morgan Will Take Over The Lead Role In ‘Squidbillies’ After Stuart D. Baker’s Firing For Offensive Comments About, Among Other Things, Dolly Parton

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After competing against Adult Swim’s very strong stable of animated voice talent, Tracy Morgan has emerged as the new voice of Early Cuyler in the final season of Squidbillies. The role was originally voiced by Stuart D. Baker, who essentially detonated his career last summer by launching a parade of offensive posts on Facebook, including one where he referred to country music superstar Dolly Parton as a “freak-titted, old Southern bimbo” because she voiced her support for the Black Lives Matter protests.

After being fired from the role, Baker lashed out at Cartoon Network and the makers of Squidbillies while continuing to make some not great remarks about Americans “forsaking your own race.” Via The Wrap:

“I just hope you a-holes are happy you took a good Man and talent down. You succeeded. Be proud that you ruined a person’s life all because of [the] Freak Show called ‘Dolly Parton and BLM.’ Thanks a lot. I gave my best to you assholes for over 30 years. I guess you just love to kick someone when they’re down. That’s so twisted and perverted. Again, thanks! I’m [sic] remember you bastards!”

Clearly, nothing of value was lost as Morgan steps into the role, which was revealed via a video of other voice actors auditioning for the part. When he won, Morgan celebrated the moment by announcing, “I’m Tracy Morgan, and I’m the new voice of Superman.” (He’ll eventually get it right. It’ll be cool.)

The Squidbillies final season premieres November 7 on Adult Swim.

(Via Deadline)

Donald Glover Released The First Cryptic Teaser For ‘Atlanta’ Season 3

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The last new episode of Atlanta aired in May 2018. Since then, Donald Glover has played Lando Calrissian and voiced Simba; Brian Tyree Henry joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Lakeith Stanfield has been nominated for an Oscar; and Zazie Beetz has excelled in everything from Deadpool 2 to Joker to The Harder They Fall. A third season of Atlanta (Uproxx‘s best show of 2018) was not guaranteed with the cast’s busy schedule, but it’s happening — and there’s a teaser to prove it.

On Halloween, Glover tweeted a link to a site called Gilga, which features a clock, the user’s location, and a link to the teaser. It can be only viewed at certain times (“WHILE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, GILGA IS A ‘NITE-SITE’ OPERATIONAL HOURS ARE 8PM-3AM,” it currently reads), but the footage can be viewed elsewhere. Earn, Darius, and Vanessa are nowhere to be seen and there’s no dialogue (Sun Ra’s “It’s After the End of the World” provides the score), but Paper Boi appears at the end sitting at a table. That’s… basically it, and I couldn’t be more excited. Atlanta is almost back!

“I align the seasons I think, to me, like Kanye records,” Glover said back in 2019. “I feel like this is our Graduation. This is probably our most accessible but also the realest — an honest version of it — and I feel like the most enjoyable, like the third album. We were all on iMessage together and kind of talking about it, and I think people were really hungry to like beat ourselves, which is great.”

Atlanta, which filmed in Europe for seasons 3 and 4, will premiere in 2022.

Donald Glover Has A Problem With People Comparing Lil Dicky’s ‘Dave’ To ‘Atlanta’

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Ever since Lil Dicky’s FX series Dave premiered last year, it drew instant and bountiful comparisons to Donald Glover’s show Atlanta. Indeed, there are obvious major parallels: Both shows are made by rapper/comedians, they’re both about what it’s like to be a rapper, and they both air on FX. The two were also paired together in headlines last year when Dave passed Atlanta to become FX’s most-watched comedy series ever. So, while many people put the shows on similar ground. Glover (aka Childish Gambino) is tired of it.

In a now-deleted tweet shared yesterday, Glover took exception to the Atlanta/Dave comparisons, writing, “and just for the record, im watching yall saying ‘dave’ is on par. like yall forgot what we did. no disrespect.” he quickly added, “we got black people on here debating which is better, and IM the sellout?”

In a New York Times interview from this summer, Dicky said he doesn’t think the two shows are that alike: “I’m a big fan of that show, I think it’s a great show. I feel like they’re very different shows.” When the interviewer responded, “I can’t think of two more similar shows,” Dicky replied, “That’s crazy. When I hear it, I don’t feel offended I feel complimented.” He continued, “I think they’re very different. I think our show is trying to be funny — a lot more jokes. Theirs is just the tonal brilliance. I see them as different shows.”

Joe Exotic Called On Cardi B To Help Him Get Out Of Jail And She Responded

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Next month will bring the premiere of Tiger King 2, for which Netflix shared a trailer a couple days ago. Ahead of that, though, Joe Exotic is looking for help with getting out of prison and has called on Cardi B for assistance, a call that Cardi recently answered.

On October 21, Exotic’s unverified Twitter account shared a photo of a handwritten note that is addressed to Cardi and reads, “When you see the truth in Tiger King 2 I need you to rally everyone together to be my voice of freedom! Be my hero girl.” Cardi finally saw the post yesterday, as she shared it and wrote, “Wait is this the real tiger king?”

John Michael Phillips, Exotic’s lawyer, responded to Cardi’s tweet, writing, “I represent Joe. He heard about your message from prison. I’d love to put you two together on a phone call next week.” He later added, “I can’t even imagine facilitating the call between @iamcardib and @joe_exotic. That collaboration may make the world explode. Here kitty kitty (the WAP remix) is so 2022. Cardi, I can probably get you on a call with Joe next week. He’s grateful for you taking on Carole early.”

Exotic sees an ally in Cardi due to her previous run-ins with Carole Baskin. Baskin shared criticisms about Cardi over the animals used in her “WAP” video, and Cardi responded, “I’m not gonna engage with Carole Baskin on that. Like, that’s just ridiculous, you know? Oh, Lord. Like, girl: you killed your g*ddamn husband.”

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

JID Joins Imagine Dragons On An Epic Quest In The ‘Enemy’ Video From Riot Games’ Netflix Series, ‘Arcane’

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Imagine Dragons and JID are two names most music fans would never have “imagined” together, but thanks to Riot Games and the upcoming, League Of Legends-inspired animated Netflix series, Arcane, you won’t have to use your imagination — just click play on the video above. Made up of clips from the series itself, which follows the origins of several of the game’s characters, the video previews some of the exciting scenes fans can look forward to when the show hits Netflix on November 6. The video also features an animated JID rapping his lightspeed verse.

“Enemy” isn’t the first time Riot Games collaborated with musicians. In 2019, they partnered with a group of real-life stars to conceive True Damage, a virtual band in the game itself consisting of Becky G, Keke Palmer, Soyeon of (G)I-dle, Duckwrth, and Thutmose. While it’s a slightly different concept from what “Enemy” is doing — essentially, it’s a soundtrack song, which is definitely something we’ve seen before — the new track broadens Riot’s relationship with popular music and opens some exciting doors for the future.

Meanwhile, Arcane looks like an exciting show itself, deepening the League Of Legends story while leaving plenty of room for new or casual fans to get invested in its sci-fi/fantasy tale. You can watch the trailer below.