The Bachelorette has found its Season 13 villain in Lee. But this isn't a Corinne situation where you love to hate her, but you also kinda love to love her. There is no redeeming quality about this guy.
I wanna fight Lee. Sorry he's literally every lowkey racist pussy ass white boy ve ever met. Is that aggressive? #TheBachlorette
While I'm not interested in defending Lee even a little bit because... #obviously, I also don't think Kenny handled the situation in the right way either. Why did he feel the need to keep having these "talks" with Lee? Just ignore him. Act like he doesn't exist. Because Kenny is just playing right into Lee's hand by continuing the drama. Lee is lying to get a rise out of Kenny, and it's working.
I wouldn't be surprised if Rachel sends both of these guys packing. She's not interested in the drama. We saw that very clearly in the whole Whaboom situation, and I think we'll see it again at the end of this two-on-one.
Get it, Lawyer Rach. Because you know she's going to get to the bottom of the situation between these two men. She is not stupid, but these guys are stupid for bringing pettiness into Rachel's search for love.
It's been three seasons of absolute torture for fans who 'ship Liza and Charles on Younger. Now that Josh appears to be out of the picture, does this mean Season 4 will finally be the time for Liza and Charles to take their relationship even further?
We can only hope that is what the new season will bring. Based on how Season 3 concluded, we think it's safe to say that the romantic forecast for Liza and Charles is looking better than it has in past seasons.
For those who don't recall, last season's finale found Liza and Charles kissing in the Hamptons. They eventually ended up outside Liza's hotel room, where Josh was waiting to propose to Liza. Unfortunately for Josh, he saw Liza and Charles kissing.
It's unclear whether Josh will forgive Liza or whether they will once again get back together. Has anyone else noticed that all these two do is break up and get back together? Talk about an on-again, off-again relationship. Maybe it's finally time for Liza to try something new — and with Charles, perhaps?
Liza and Charles' chemistry has been teased from the beginning. Now that the two have shared a few kisses and things are rocky with Josh, it seems like the perfect opportunity for Liza and Charles to see where things go romantically.
Who knows if it would last, because, well, he doesn't know Liza's secret. Either way, it's about damn time Younger gives Liza and Charles 'shippers what they want. How are we going to know if things will work out between them unless they actually try? The teasing has become a bit frustrating, and if something isn't done about Liza and Charles soon, we may just have to walk away from Younger.
We don't know for certain what will ensue between Liza and Charles, if anything, in Season 4. That said, there is a quick moment featured in this season's trailer that sure makes it look like Liza and Charles are going to get busy up against a stack of books. Finally! And how hot is that?
As you can see below, this absolutely looks like Liza having a great time with a mysterious man. If you look closely, it appears to be Charles, yes?
Here is another screengrab from the trailer. As you can see, that is the same stack of books behind Charles that is also behind Liza in the above image. Charles is also taking off his tie, which just might mean that he and Liza are getting hot and heavy.
This doesn't mean Josh is completely out of the picture, but it's definitely a move in the right direction. Also, if you watch the Season 4 trailer below, it kind of seems like Josh and Kelsey are getting a lot closer. It could be purely platonic, especially since they can now bond over Liza's secret.
Or, you know, their newfound bond could push them together in the romantic sense. If that's the case, then that could also open the door for Liza and Charles.
Serena Williams is so often the absolute picture of composure — have you seen her on the tennis court? She's fierce. She's unshakable. So it's a little hard to believe that finding out she was pregnant was as terrifying for her as it would be for a lot of unsuspecting new moms.
Williams, who covers the latest issue of Vanity Fair with a stunning nude pregnancy shot, explained to the magazine how she discovered her bun was in the oven in the week leading up to the Australian Open, which she won even after getting that life-altering surprise.
"[I] did a double take and my heart dropped. Like literally dropped," Williams said. She thought, "Oh my God, this can’t be — I’ve got to play a tournament. How am I going to play the Australian Open? I had planned on winning in Wimbledon this year."
Williams continued, "If you would have told me last year in October or November that I would have a baby, not be pregnant but have a baby, I would have thought you were the biggest liar in the world. This is kind of how I am right now. This is happening sooner than later, and it’s going by so fast."
The pregnancy announcement came very soon after Williams announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, whom she met in Rome. He proposed in the same place they met, and even though he hoped to orchestrate a grand surprise proposal, Williams said she knew exactly what he was up to. "I knew it was coming. I was like, 'Serena, you're 35, you're ready. This is what you want,'" she remembered.
While Williams says she "loves being pregnant," she admits that she's as panicked as any other first-time mom would be about the details. "I don’t know what to do with a baby," she said. "I’ve done absolutely nothing for the baby room."
Did you know Netflix's new hit show GLOW was actually inspired by a real TV show from the late '80s called GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling? Don't worry. We didn't either, and we've been questioning how we've gone our whole lives not knowing this existed.
Netflix's GLOW and the real-life GLOW have very similar DNA, but names have been changed as well as the location and the events depicted in the show. For example, both TV shows have all-female casts of mostly actors who turn up to a casting call for a new kind of television show. Also in both TV shows, the women take up far-out stage names and adopt larger-than-life personas they put to good use in the ring. But of course, things like names had to be changed (for example, Marc Maron's character, clearly modeled after GLOW's real-life director Matt Cimber, is named Sam Sylva) and Netflix moved the location of their show to Los Angeles, whereas the real-life GLOW was shot in Las Vegas.
As Entertainment Tonight reported, GLOW was an unintentional success, spawning a massive fandom and legit breaking down barriers of how women could look, move, and express themselves on television. They beat the other wrestling shows in their ratings and were both kid-friendly as well as grown-up friendly. In the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling documentary, many of the women recall getting totally lost in their characters; they even had to call their fellow lady wrestlers by their stage names or risk getting fined by their managers. But they all seem to recall those days so fondly.
While the women of GLOW are older now and in careers outside of wrestling or performing, their great wrestling days are forever memorialized on television. The women, who were aspiring actors looking for their big break, ended up creating something bigger and more meaningful than they could ever imagine.
Typically wrestling as a duo and named after one of the most famous intersections in Los Angeles, Basone wrestled as Hollywood (pictured on the left) and Bowers wrestled as Vine (pictured on the right). After their respective runs in GLOW, Basone went on to pose for Playboy magazine (as mentioned in the GLOW documentary) and she currently works as a stuntwoman, model and actor. Bowers on the other hand appears to have quietly moved out of the limelight since GLOW.
The former athlete was a prominent one before her thriving career on GLOW. She went through the Olympic trials and she is a former track and field star. In the GLOW documentary, Dole is regarded warmly for her ability to be both kind and powerful. These days, she maintains a quiet and private life.
Before graduating to the WWE and becoming well-known as the formidable wrestler Ivory, Moretti was known as Tina Ferrari. She currently makes appearances for certain GLOW and WWE events but has officially retired from wrestling.
Godiva, played by Dawn Rice, was a beautiful British wrestler who took down the other GLOW characters with grace and poise. Although she no longer works as a wrestler, viewers of the GLOW documentary will learn that Rice "works in ministry as a mentor and community outreach leader."
Meltzer, known as Roxy Astor on GLOW, currently still competes as a wrestler after making a name for herself on GLOW.
Still curious to know what the real GLOW was like? Take a look for yourself.
The GLOW opening credits say it all
The GLOW opening credits gave fans a proper introduction to the gorgeous ladies who would smack down in the ring and crack us all up in their skits.
They were actors as well as wrestlers
Sure, many of these women were not wrestlers by trade, but they really transformed into wrestlers as time went on. Luckily, their transformations didn't erase all of that charming and quirky acting talent many of the women had. Check out some of these super-cheesy (but kinda totally awesome) skits that the GLOW women also got to perform for the show.
This is a rap that should truly go down in history. For a special episode, each wrestler was given the spotlight to rap a verse about their own wrestling persona. These are a total hoot.
If you're curiosity is still super-piqued, you can check out the very first GLOW episode here. Just looking at these clips alone, it's clear to see GLOW was way, way ahead of its time.
Updated June 27, 2017, 10:18 a.m. PT: Shortly after the first clips of DeMario Jackson emerged showing him telling his versions of the alleged events in the Bachelor in Paradise incident, a new set of statements has come out from that interview wherein he defends Corinne Olympios.
For Jackson, he seems perturbed by how quickly the public applied labels to both he and Olympios during the initial reports. "The minute you release this black man's face and this white girl's face," he shared, "before either of us commented on it, I was already a 'rapist.'" Jackson also commented on the despicability of Olympios being labeled a "whore" and a "slut" by those who had not heard her version of events. "They were slut-shaming her because of what she did last season with Nick [Viall]. For me, it goes back to the human race. We failed." Jackson's account of the scandal fallout makes it appear as if he is on Olympios' side in this matter, removing those harmful labels from both of their names in the process.
Original story:
After a few short weeks of frenzied reporting on who did what to whom on the set of Bachelor in Paradise, DeMario Jackson is telling his side of the story. Jackson, who was named from the very beginning as one of the people allegedly involved in this incident, sat down with E! News to exclusively detail his first meeting with Corinne Olympios on the BIP set as well as what he believes happened that led to the complete shutdown of production while Warner Bros. studios conducted an investigation.
The interview, which will take place over two nights in three installments, begins with Jackson telling E! News' Melanie Bromley what his state of mind and role going into filming was. "It was crazy from the last season with the fake girlfriend," Jackson told Bromley, referencing the incident on the current season of The Bachelorette when a young woman claiming to be Jackson's girlfriend appeared to tell Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay that Jackson was still attached to someone. "I was the villain for this, straight-up. I was nervous. I was sweating [coming onto BIP]."
Jackson then went on to tell Bromley about his first real conversation with Olympios. He made it clear that the two appeared to bond because they have been painted as "villains" on their respective seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette; this gave Jackson the impression they could be friends.
"Our first real conversation was at the bar. We were hanging out. We kind of were just complimenting each other on being villains. I was like, 'Look, I've accepted this role.' We were kind of just laughing, like, 'Oh, we're about to dominate Paradise!' Like homie stuff, like really, really like friends. And then, you know, we started having a little bit more fun... and had a few drinks," he detailed.
Jackson continued to detail that he and Olympios took some shots — here is where Olympios' own account can be somewhat confirmed, as she claims her drinking led to blacking out — before heading to a more secluded area. In his mind, Jackson wanted to make sure there were cameras around because he believed his race might have something to do with how his actions would be perceived with Olympios in this situation.
"It's crazy because when you're a man — mostly African-American man — no matter where you're at, you always look for things that can help you out. And at that moment, I made sure the cameras followed us. It just seemed too perfect in a sense for me, and at the point, that's when my Spidey senses got up," Jackson stated, before going on to claim that Olympios made the first move.
Jackson's claims also involve statements that Olympios pushed for oral sex and that she was the one who was the aggressor, but that he wanted to go along with it (he speaks about it in the video clip above).
"[We were] kissing, rubbing, touching. It's nothing too sexual yet. Things got wild because it was more her being the aggressor, which was sexy... When you have a very attractive girl telling you what she wants, it's like a very, like, 'Wow, OK! This is hot. This is very... I like it.' [...] I get out of the pool, and I have my legs in the pool, and I'm just hanging out. This is when she gets up out of the pool and puts her lady parts right on my face," he told Bromley.
While it's easy to push blame onto one another during a tense incident like this, until statements of true fact can be made, it's hard to tell whose side you should come down on. After Warner Bros. completed an independent investigation into the incident and found no evidence of misconduct, Olympios' legal team stated they were going to conduct their own investigation in an attempt to exonerate Olympios. Hopefully, if the investigation does go through, Jackson may be exonerated of any claims he violated consent too.
I have a pretty high tolerance for people doing asshole things. Call me names. Get in my face. It's all fine. I'm not gonna let it bug me. You touch my dog, though, and you're done. Jennifer Lawrence and I clearly have that last trait in common.
In a new video obtained by TMZ, Lawrence is minding her own business, keeping her head down, eyes pointed at the ground, ignoring questions from the paparazzi gathered outside the airport she's exiting. She's about to get in her car without having even acknowledged their existence... until one of them tries to touch her dog.
The video will make every devoted dog mom say, "YAS QUEEN" to Lawrence, who snatches up her dog and tells the offending pap, "Don't touch my dog, you fucking loser" — and he deserves it. Because you do not touch anyone's dog without the dog owner's permission. That's a thing. We live in a polite society with rules, people.
This isn't the first time Lawrence has gone toe-to-toe with reporters — remember the time she humiliated one for using his phone at an event? You know, the piece of technology that reporters use to communicate, take notes, shoot photos and videos — to do just about every aspect of their jobs? That time, Lawrence was being rude AF. This time, she's so totally in the right.
Hi, everyone. It's 2017 and the old TV shows are the hottest thing right now. They're getting revived left and right: Girl Meets World, Fuller House, Raven at Home, etc., etc.
Most of the shows that are getting all these modern revivals are nostalgic, but not objectively great TV. They're fine, and the revival series are popular because people want to rediscover their memories of that old TV they watched when they were younger. But they're just not the epitome of storytelling or anything like that, you know?
Until now (maybe). Rumor has it that one of the greatest TV shows of all time (and if you think otherwise, fight me) is getting a revival of sorts. The Sopranos is reportedly being eyed for a prequel series, and this is the kind of revival I can truly get behind.
It's not a true revival, and that's OK for a lot of reasons. The cast of The Sopranos has aged significantly, and the way that story was resolved (or not depending on who you ask) was pretty damn-near perfect, not to be giving away any spoilers or anything. A prequel, though, is the perfect way to revisit The Sopranos. It could have a whole new cast and storylines that tell a more thorough backstory of the famous family. Are you imagining the possibilities yet? Because they are good.
Also, just tell me you don't want to watch a show about organized crime in the '70s and '80s. It would be like Mad Men meets The Departed, and you know you're into that.
HBO hasn't confirmed anything here, but series creator David Chase is all about it — he told Entertainment Weekly he's not only willing, but ready to revisit the Sopranos universe.
The dust still hasn't even settled after allegations of sexual misconduct and a production shutdown rocked the set of Bachelor in Paradise's current season.
Yet filming has gone on, Warner Bros. has released an airy statement about how nothing bad happened, you guys, really, and Chris Harrison is cheersing a beer on the beach as if everything is fine.
A post shared by Chris Harrison (@chrisbharrison) on
Seriously, Harrison posted a photo of himself raising a drink on the beach at Playa Escondida with Jorge the bartender and hashtagged it "#AlmostParadise," as if paradise is being totally chill about the fact that your show was shut down due to fucking rape allegations.
Is this Bizarro World? Why isn't anyone taking issue with this?
Can I just take this moment to remind everyone that Corinne Olympios has publicly stated that she does not remember what happened on the night of the alleged misconduct, has referred to herself as a "victim" and has hired a lawyer to represent her as she pursues her own investigation into the events of that night? And (I cannot believe that in 2017 this still needs to be said), if a woman is too drunk to remember an entire evening, she. Was. Too. Drunk. To. Consent. To. Sex. That's it. That's the whole story.
And because I know this is a real sticking point to those asshole proponents of rape culture out there: Multiple studies have found that rape is not falsely reported at instances any higher than any other crime. Believe victims. Believe Olympios. Shut down BIP until we have some real answers and we know the women on the show are safe.
Hey, Good Wife fans — good news! Will Gardner, aka actor Josh Charles, may have left that show, but he's obvi not done with TV. He's headed straight to a new show, and one we're honestly super-excited about.
Charles' next role will be as Dr. Jerome Oziel, the controversial psychiatrist in the case of the Menendez siblings, who were famously convicted of killing their parents in 1996. It's all part of Law & Order: SVU producer Dick Wolf's new project: an anthology series on NBC called Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.
In the real-life case, Oziel played a pivotal role in the brothers' case and conviction. The eight-episode anthology will focus on the brothers' backstory before they were sentenced to life in prison for the killings.
This is Charles' first major role since he left The Good Wife in 2014, but he's appeared since then on a number of shows, including Inside Amy Schumer, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Masters of Sex, Drunk History and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Law & Order True Crime will also star Heather Graham as Charles' character's unstable mistress, Miles Gaston Villanueva and Gus Halper as the Menendez brothers, TheSopranos‘ Edie Falco as defense attorney Leslie Abramson, ER’s Anthony Edwards as judge Stanley Weisberg, Parenthood’s Sam Jaeger as Detective Les Zoeller, Law & Order: Criminal Intent’s Julianne Nicholson as defense lawyer Jill Lansing and Grey’s Anatomy‘s Elizabeth Reaser as deputy district attorney Pam Bozanich.
There are some things you can always count on in life, like the sun rising and setting each day — or, you know, the fact that Eminem's face will never change. After all, the rapper has looked exactly the same since circa 1997 when we were all still toting around Trapper Keepers and wearing body glitter.
No longer is his trademark buzz cut peroxide blonde. Rather, he has quite literally returned to his roots, rocking a natural brown shade. The bigger shocker, though? Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers) grew a beard. A legit grown-up man beard.
"Just a couple of guys from Compton and one from Detroit. With a beard. #thedefiantones," Eminem captioned a photo on Instagram of Dr. Dre, himself and Kendrick Lamar at The Defiant Ones premiere in Los Angeles.
Accordingly, the internet immediately proceeded to, ahem, lose itself, gushing over Em's hot new look.
"Looking sharp, man!" one fan wrote. "Damn, @eminem! Looking good," chimed in another. Others called the look "dope ass," "sexy," "amazing," and "grown man shit." Suffice it to say, the Grammy winner has a hit on his hands with his newly-debuted facial hair.
The photo garnered over 900,000 likes the first day it was posted, with the tally now over 1 million and rising steadily.
And although Eminem looks nearly unrecognizable now, even an incognito face won't keep fans from keeping an eagle eye out for the man many consider to be one of the greatest rappers of all time.
Of course, the fact that Eminem keeps a relatively low-profile makes it even more difficult to spot him... new beard notwithstanding. In case you were wondering about his whereabouts and goings-on these days, rest assured the rapper is steady hustling.
In addition to making a cameo in The Defiant Ones — a four-part HBO documentary exploring Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's massive pop culture impact — Eminem recently re-issued The Eminem Show as a limited edition cassette, and he also launched a line of exclusive "E13" products through his collaboration with workwear brand Carhartt.
But if you're hoping to catch a glimpse of the man-beard, you'll have to hit up one of Eminem's U.K. shows in August. Fingers crossed that facial hair will still be center stage.
If Ireland Baldwin's portion of Spike's upcoming One Night Only roast is any indication, no one can accuse Alec Baldwin of not having a sense of humor about himself. Apparently, he is a man who knows how to dish it out and how to take it.
As part of the special — which was taped over the weekend but won't air until Sunday, July 9 — Alec's 21-year-old model daughter went straight for the jugular, albeit in jest.
"Hello, my name is Ireland, and I'm a Baldwin. Yes, I'm a member of that family. The Baldwins. I see other recovering Baldwins here. Some cousins, uncles... I'm here to roast this big old ham I call my father," she said, just before teasing her dad about a now-infamous voice mail message.
"Speaking of pigs, some of you may remember me as that 'thoughtless little pig' you read about. That was a decade ago, and my dad and I are in a much better place now. He would never say something like that . . . because I'm 6-foot-2. I would kick his ass."
"The truth is, that whole awful period nearly killed him emotionally. I wouldn't see my dad that upset ever again, until I showed him my first tattoo. OK, my second tattoo. I couldn't show him where I got the first one," she teased.
Although that leaked voicemail from 2007 was undoubtedly a sore subject for a very long time for the veteran actor, Ireland routinely downplays its significance. In 2012, she told Page Six that "people made it out to be a way bigger deal that is was."
Either way, it's great to see that Alec and Ireland have put the past in its rightful place: behind them.
According to People, Alec playfully threw food at his mischievous daughter during her speech. And, for her part, Ireland ended on a super-sweet and sincere note showing just how far this father-daughter duo has come since those notorious "little pig" days.
"I know you've heard this time and time again, but I really am proud to be your daughter, and I'm so happy to be here tonight. And I absolutely love and adore you," she said.
We love a happy ending, don't you? Which brings us to another bit of good news to come out of Alec's camp: the hilarious father-slash-Emmy-winner has confirmed he will be returning to NBC's upcoming season of Saturday Night Live to reprise his spot-on role as President Donald Trump.
"Yeah, we're going to fit that in," he told CNN. "I think people have enjoyed it."
While most of us are still bewildered that Bachelor in Paradise decided to resume filming in the wake of troubling allegations about non-consensual sex, ABC has apparently decided an appropriate response would be to implement a 2-drink maximum rule.
While Chris Harrison is hanging out on a beach in Mexico toasting this development, we're all still here slow-blinking and wondering what in the actual eff is going on. 'Cause, y'all, this new "safety" rule is a GD joke.
According to TMZ, production sources revealed the 2 drink max. Per hour. PER HOUR! Yes, you read that right. The cast members will all still be able to imbibe all.damn.day.
Although everyone metabolizes alcohol differently, it takes a 120-lb woman an estimated three beers to become legally drunk. Call me cynical, but I highly doubt the bartender is going to stop pouring the cerveza after an hour and a half.
Yet, the crew has reportedly vowed to monitor drinking levels and is making a point of providing food on set at all times to "absorb the alcohol." Someone should clue ABC into the fact that food doesn't, in fact, absorb alcohol — it simply helps break it down in the body.
But sure, why not throw some sammies at the problem while you're at it?
Meanwhile, Corinne Olympios maintains that she can not remember anything from the time period in which she and fellow contestant DeMario Jackson allegedly engaged in sexual conduct.
Despite the fact that some sources who've seen footage of the incident claim Olympios was lucid throughout, accusations of rape (or anything remotely like it) deserve a certain level of gravitas clearly not being given here.
While I love guilty pleasure TV as much as the next person, watching this season of BiP would provide far more guilt than pleasure. Although Chris Harrison loves a cliffhanger, here's a spoiler: when it comes to tuning in to this trainwreck, that'll be a hard pass from me.
The series finale of PLL was a doozy, to be sure. One of the biggest plotlines was, in fact, answered. We finally found out who the true identity of A.D. Spoilers ahead. It turns out that A.D. stands for Alex Drake, Spencer's evil twin. This was a very popular fan theory in the weeks leading up to the finale, so it felt like a a sweet victory to have one of the many theories floating around in cyberspace confirmed. Consider there were lots of theories about how this show would end, it's nice to be able to tick one off the list.
It would also appear that there was a lot of room left for happy endings for the Liars of Rosewood. Aria and Ezra got married and announced their intention to adopt since Aria can't have kids. Emily and Alison settled into domestic bliss with their twins, who were fathered by Wren (who died in the finale) through A.D.'s sadistic impregnation methods on Alison. Spencer and Toby ended up together. And Hanna, who married in a previous episode, announced she was pregnant. This should have been a clean wrap-up, right?
— KING Of StrongStyles (@GloriousSlack9) June 28, 2017
It looks like fans are left with more questions than they began with as the series finale unfolded. Nowhere was that dissatisfaction, confusion, annoyance, and even celebration about the series finale more evident than Twitter. Fans did not hold back to let all their feelings be known and some hilariously and accurately pointed out major plot holes, annoying moments, and outright rejects PLL's tantalizing reveal of a new set of Liars (which some read as the show trying to open the door for a spin-off).
And there you have it. Just a taste of the confusion and semi-annoyed feelings that the finale left with many fans. Are you just as pissed? Or satisfied with the ending?
Summer's finally here, and with it brings ample opportunities to sit back, relax and listen to podcasts. Whether you're on a road trip, hanging out at the beach, hiking or just sipping a cold drink on the back porch, a podcast can be the perfect warm-weather companion. Compared even to last year, there are tons more podcasts than ever before, and their quality improves every day. Faced with the sheer volume of subjects and choices, what should you download to accompany your summer adventures?
Don't despair! We have rounded up our favorite new(er) listens, from political offerings to true crime to gossip — something for every activity and every mood. Ready to pick a few listens?
Dear Sugar Radio
Image: WBUR
Cheryl Strayed might be best known for her memoir Wild and its popular movie adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon. But before she hit the silver screen, Strayed was a beloved anonymous advice columnist on The Rumpus who simply went by Sugar. Sugar stopped answering letters in written form several years ago, but now she's back with co-host (and fellow writer) Steven Almond for the podcast version of the column —and it's just as wonderful. Strayed often offers empathetic, poetic advice that can be applied to any number of problems, and it's a great choice if you listen to Savage Lovecast but are looking for even more from the advice genre.
My Favorite Murder
Image: Feral Audio
We know you need your true crime fix for the summer. First up for that genre is My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. It's an hour-ish-long podcast in which the two women trade true stories of murder and intrigue. Of course, it's more complicated than that. Both women are Los Angeles-based comedians (Kilgariff was part of Mr. Show, while Hardstark is from the Cooking Channel's Tripping Out With Ali and Georgia). The result is the very weird combo of true crime and comedy filled with tangents, storytelling, laughing and fan participation. You have to listen to an episode to really understand.
Nancy
Image: WNYC
Next up is a storytelling podcast from one of the biggest public radio stations in the country, WNYC. Funny and fun hosts Kathy Tu and Tobin Low are best friends who also happen to be both Asian and gay. The pair, who deeply makes you want to be their other best friend, launches into personal LGBTQ stories each week that will make you laugh and cry in turn. The podcast, which the pair jokingly calls Gay-diolab, is great for anyone, not just queer folk, who has ever felt emotions, been in love or felt just a little different.
Terrible, Thanks for Asking
Image: APM
This American Public Media podcast might not sound like a fun summer listen at first. It's about grief and the grieving process as told by host Nora McInerny. McInerny lost her husband and father to cancer within weeks of each other in 2014. She also miscarried a badly wanted baby within that timeframe. Today, she is in love again and has a new baby, but still struggles with her losses and moving on. The podcast, which tells the very different stories of others grieving, is strangely truthful, candid, uplifting and even funny.
As many online reviews warn, this is laugh-out-loud funny. Here's the premise: Jamie Morton has a dad who wrote a pornographic novel called Belinda Blinked under the pen name Rocky Flintstone. Instead of burying that information deep in his subconscious, he decided to start a podcast with two friends, James Cooper and Radio 1 DJ Alice Levine, who read the book out loud and discuss it in depth. Season 3 kicked off in May — and there is plenty of time to catch up.
Crimetown
Image: Gimlet
Released by podcast company Gimlet late last year, Crimetown is a long, deep look into the world of crime in one specific city during one specific time period. The first season, which recently wrapped, focuses on Providence, Rhode Island, in the 1970s and 1980s. The series, which was created by the same team responsible for The Jinx, is an absolutely amazingly researched journey into new England mob life. We don't know the term for podcasts that are "page-turners," but Crimetown is one.
It might be hard to relax this summer if you have the deep, dark weight of the Trump Administration on your shoulders (and if you like the Trump Administration, party on, we guess). The best therapy for feeling helpless or uninformed when it comes to politics may be Pod Save America. Put out by the openly left-leaning Crooked Media, it features hosts Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor. Each week they cover the latest news, talk to guests and talk us off a ledge. We wish there were more women involved on the show, honestly, but the coverage is so great that we are willing to forgive it, at least for another season or two.
Rabbits
Image: Public Radio Alliance
Do you need something weird to listen to? How about a creepy mystery about a strange game that sounds like a documentary but is really (probably? We think?) fiction? Enter Rabbits, a new podcast by Public Radio Alliance. The premise is that host Carly Parker's best friend has gone missing only months after she started a new alternate reality game called Rabbits. Parker investigates and the story unfolds — and yes, you end up pretty far down a rabbit hole.
2 Dope Queens
Image: WNYC
Also from WNYC public radio, we have comedians Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams just "talking about a bunch of shit" (their words, not ours). We just absolutely love both of these women, as well as all of their guests, plus the entire feel of the show. Dive into subjects like Carrie Borwnstein's first date and Robinson's fanny pack. It's the perfect light summer listen.
No Such Thing as a Fish
Image: Quite Interesting
This podcast has been around since 2014, but it is just perfect for summer listening, especially if you want to keep sharp before school starts again in the fall. The show features the researchers of the U.K. quiz show Quite Interesting, who share four of their favorite facts from the week. From there, there's a wild ride of jokes and tangents (more than one panelist is a comedian) and a lovely mix of learning and laughing. The episodes also run just between 30 to 40 minutes long, allowing you to breeze through one while driving, cooking a meal or going on a quick jog.
Olivia Wilde's new play sounds wild, fam. It's reportedly so intense that it's causing audience members to throw up, pass out, scream and get into fistfights. This is not exaggerated. The show only opened on Thursday, and all of those things have happened.
The play is an adaptation of George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984, but it sounds like the totalitarian Big Brother in Wilde's version is even more cruel in bending his subjects to his will than in the book — The Hollywood Reporter's review called the show "political torture porn."
"We’re not trying to be willfully assaultive or exploitatively shock people, but there’s nothing here or in the disturbing novel that isn’t happening right now, somewhere around the world: People are being detained without trial, tortured and executed," director Duncan Macmillan told THR. "We can sanitize that and make people feel comforted, or we can simply present it without commentary and allow it to speak for itself."
Co-director Robert Icke added, "You can stay and watch or you can leave — that’s a perfectly fine reaction to watching someone be tortured. But if this show is the most upsetting part of anyone’s day, they’re not reading the news headlines. Things are much worse than a piece of theater getting under your skin a little bit."
The stage production of 1984 never explicitly mentions President Donald Trump, nor is it set specifically in today's present, but there are clear parallels between the storyline and the current administration. Not to mention, the decades-old book jumped back onto the bestseller list after the election.
The show has created some viscerally negative reactions, but that came as no surprise to Wilde, who broke her tailbone and dislocated a rib during previews.
"I’m not surprised, since this experience is unique, bold and immersive," she said after the show's opening night, where one attendee passed out. "It allows you to empathize in a visceral way, and that means making the audience physically and emotionally uncomfortable."
She added that the show is not for anyone of any particular political affiliation.
"The term ‘Orwellian’ is used by both sides of the aisle, and members of the right really claim this book as their own, so I hope they come see it," she said. "I hope this show makes people question everything they’re being told. All we’re saying is, the truth matters."
1984 is playing at Broadway's Hudson Theatre, with tickets on sale through Oct. 8. While it sounds like a difficult production to take in, it's also getting rave reviews — Variety even went so far as to say it's "worth the cost of losing your lunch." Worth a trip to New York to see it? It just might be.
A wildfire outside Los Angeles that officials are calling the Hill Fire has raged through 1,500 acres and forced evacuation of families from around 100 homes. One of those was The Big Bang Theory actor Johnny Galecki, who confirmed to People magazine this week that the fire destroyed his house.
Galecki was not home at the time the blaze reached his property, but the statement he released in the aftermath is everything.
"My heart goes out to all in the area who are also experiencing loss from this vicious fire, the threat of which we live with constantly, which may seem crazy to some but we do so because living in our beautiful, rural area makes it worthwhile," he said in a statement about the loss of his home. "It's never the structures that create a community — it's the people. And if the people of Santa Margarita have taught me anything it's that, once the smoke has cleared, literally and figuratively, it's a time to reach out and rebuild. We've done it before, and will need to do it together again, and it will make our community even closer and stronger. Endless thanks to CalFire and the Sheriff's Office. I know you guys are fighting the good fight to keep us safe. So very relieved no one has been hurt."
Galecki reportedly owns another home outside LA, in the Outpost Estates area. Now, all that remains to be seen is how he'll step up to help San Luis Obispo — remember the heartwarming stories of Dolly Parton pledging millions to support families after last summer's fires in Gatlinburg? We could use more of that kind of good coming out of tragedy.
If you, like me, grew up in the '90s and had a die-hard love of boy bands, then you may recall an Orlando-based boy band who stole a ton of hearts across the world. They called themselves the Backstreet Boys. Oh? You've heard of them? Then you've probably got the lyrics to their hit songs memorized too. "Incomplete"? "As Long As You Love Me"? "I Want It That Way"? I'm sure you could sing 'em right now if I put a microphone in your hand.
With all those '90s memories flooding back, you might be gobsmacked to realize that the Backstreet Boys have been around for the better part of two decades and that one of their most infamous music videos — the video for "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" turns 20 years old. Today. Crazy, right?
So to celebrate this milestone moment, I thought it would be fun to compile a list of some fun behind-the-scenes, making-of facts for you about the music video itself (because I'm sure your BSB trivia is all up to date).
1. The video was meant to parody Michael Jackson's "Thriller"
According to the song's Wikipedia entry, the record label thought the harebrained idea cooked up by the Backstreet Boys was a little too far-fetched. Given the immense stature of the video nowadays, it seems like the record company shouldn't have doubted, should they?
3. Parts of the video were shot in the same house as 1995's Casper
A lot of the interiors were shot in an airplane hangar in Los Angeles, but from certain angles, you can totally tell they're using the Casper set, especially during the masquerade ball dance sequence.
Can you name 'em all? Here's the cheat sheet: Howie is Dracula; Kevin is Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde; Brian is the Wolfman; A.J. is The Phantom of the Opera; Nick is the Mummy. Spooky, right?
5. Supermodel Josie Maran is Howie's love interest
Are you a fan of '90s supermodels? Then you may have recognized the eternally beautiful Josie Maran as Dracula's love interest. At the time, she was most recognizable for her work in various commercials, including Guess? Jeans. Today, she runs an incredibly successful cosmetics line that bears her name.
6. The director of the video has directed Taylor Swift
Joseph Kahn, the director of "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," is kind of a super-big deal in music. He has directed videos for U2, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and Maroon 5 — just to name a few.
7. The boys got to choose their monster characters
Nick originally wanted to be the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but it was soon agreed his features were more Mummy-like; Howie wanted to be Dracula because everyone thought he looked like Dracula already; Brian got to be the Wolfman because, as Kevin put it, "he's already a rambunctious, rampaging" kind of guy.
8. One of the makeup artists also did the special effects makeup for Hellraiser
Howie recalled that fun fact about yet another horror movie connection during the documentary interview. It totally explains why each of the boys' makeup looks badass as hell.
We all watched Kelly Osbourne grow up in one of heavy metal's royal families, but does she want a family of her own? The singer, actress, fashion designer and television personality recently sat down for a chat with SheKnows and revealed that not only does she want lots of kids in her future, she might want to adopt.
"It’s my dad’s dream to walk me down the aisle," she said. "He says ‘When are you gonna give me a baby?’ and I’m like, ‘All right, Dad, I'll give them to you.' I want kids. I want tons of kids. I think I would want to adopt."
Osbourne said that she would likely want to adopt close to home, as there are so many kids who need homes here in the United States. She said, "I couldn’t imagine my life without kids. I get along with them better than adults."
Osbourne often talks warmly of her two nieces, 3-year-old Pearl Clementine and 1-year-old Andy Rose, and her Instagram feed is filled with love for the girls, the children of brother Jack and his wife, Lisa Stelly.
The 32-year-old TV personality said, "My niece keeps asking me, 'Aunt Kelly, how old are you?' And she goes, 'You’re not a grown-up, you’re a kid like me.' I got really excited and then I had a whole panic attack about it because I was like, 'What’s that saying about me if my niece thinks I’m a kid?'"
Osbourne has a long history with dogs — she currently has a bulldog named Willy and a number of teacup Pomeranians, including Polly, Sid and Story. While her mom Sharon has a history of adopting rescue puppies, Kelly has come under fire for buying her pets from breeders.
Although rumors about Osbourne and country music singer/songwriter Dustin Lynch have been swirling for some time now, the two have kept quiet about any relationship they might have. Osbourne posted a video of the two celebrating their "first anniversary," but Lynch later claimed that they were celebrating their friendship and that he is still single.
When SheKnows asked if she was currently paired up, she said "I'm keeping that side of my life for me."
The couple revealed that Huntington-Whiteley had given birth to a son with a sweet black and white photo of this baby's hand on Instagram, and in the caption revealed his name. Spoiler alert: It's perfect.
Huntington-Whiteley and Statham have been together seven years, so their baby announcement wasn't exactly a surprise, but since they let the public in on their secret, they've kept mostly to themselves. They were even careful to decorate for Huntington-Whiteley's baby shower with gender-neutral colors so the public wouldn't find out the baby's sex from pictures on social media even though both Huntington-Whiteley and Statham (and, presumably, their close friends and family) have probably both known for months that they were expecting a boy.
Back in March, we heard from a source that they were getting ready for the baby's arrival, but that's about the only information we got until now. "Rosie and Jason are looking forward to becoming parents," the insider said at the time. "They are starting to get their nursery together. They are just such a lovely couple and really in love."
That source also said that Huntington-Whiteley was taking careful care of herself to stay healthy throughout her pregnancy and that Statham was helping. "Rosie and Jason both still stay very active because fitness is important to them both," the insider said. "She feels good overall."
We're so excited the little guy is finally here, and we hope his parents open up to the public a little more so we can watch him grow.
Rob Lowe's new show is, to quote his Parks & Rec character Chris Traeger, "lit-rally" something he has never done before. It's also something I "lit-rally" cannot wait to watch. Lowe's new project is a reality series in which he and his two adult sons try to track down paranormal entities, some of which they say they have found and confirmed. The show, which will air on A&E, is called The Lowe Files because, honestly, what else would it be called?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lowe shared some of the details about what viewers are in for, including his encounter with a wood ape, which is basically the Ozarks version of Bigfoot. The way Lowe recounts it, it sounds harrowing but also low-key hilarious even though he's not giving away too many details since the wood ape will be featured on the season finale.
"I’m fully aware that I sound like a crazy Hollywood kook right now," Lowe said about his wood ape encounter, adding, "We’re 100 miles from the nearest town. We spent 45 minutes on the most rugged, brutal mountain trails. It’s 1 in the morning. There are a lot of serious former military men with loaded weapons, then something starts approaching our camps that is defying their orders to stop and their warnings that [they were] armed... I was lying on the ground thinking I was going to be killed."
The Lowe Files will be nine episodes in its first season, and Lowe and his sons will attempt to track down aliens, "angry, vengeful spirits" and more, A&E said in a release.
"While fun in spirit, the Lowes are able to conduct deliberate and scientific investigations on a highly-sophisticated level by meeting with top experts, using high-tech monitoring equipment and taking in-depth training courses," the network's statement continued.
