NEWS
Gérard Depardieu Charged with Rape and Sexual Assault
Gérard Depardieu, one of the most lauded French actors of his generation, has been charged with rape and sexual assault. As Variety notes, French press agency AFP broke the news. The charges against the 72-year-old stem from a 2018 incident. A then-22-year-old actress says she had been invited over to his Paris home to rehearse a play, and during that process was twice assaulted. In 2019, the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence, but the case was reopened in 2020, and criminal charges were ultimately filed last December. Depardieu’s lawyer, Herve Temime, said his client “completely rejects the accusations.” The attorney for the alleged victim asked that her client’s “private sphere will be respected.” AFP spoke to a “source close to the case,” who said that Depardieu is a frie...
HBO Max Will Not Remove Woody Allen Films
Despite producing a whole miniseries about the disturbing sexual assault allegations against Woody Allen, HBO has no plans to remove his films from its HBO Max library. On Sunday, February 21st, HBO and HBO Max debuted the first episode of Allen v. Farrow, a four-part docu-series investigating claims made by Allen’s adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow. Besides that, the flagship streaming platform from WarnerMedia currently hosts six Allen films, five of which star Dylan’s mother Mia: Another Woman, Broadway Danny Rose, Radio Days, Shadows and Fog, Scoop, and September. And HBO plans to keep them for the foreseeable future. “These titles will remain available in the library,” the company wrote in a statement (via The Wrap), “to allow viewers to make their own informed decisions a...
Ford Extends King Ranch Beyond F-Series and Expedition, Possibly to Explorer
It’s been twenty years since Ford first introduced the cowboy-themed King Ranch trim, named after the King Ranch in Texas and featuring liberal use of the ranch’s W-shaped brand. King Ranch has since become staple of the Ford F-150 and Super Duty pickups, slotted above the XLTs and Lariats but below the high-end Limited and Platinum models. From a marketing perspective, a King Ranch Explorer makes sense. It’s possible Ford would pattern such an Explorer after the pickup trucks, slotting it between the $35,890 Explorer XLT and the $46,895 Explorer Limited. We think it’s more likely that a theoretical King Ranch Explorer would follow the Expedition’s lead and be based on the top-of-the-line Platinum model. If that’s the case, a Kind Ranch Explorer would li...
2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 First Look: Forget the Ioniqs You Know
Do not adjust your screen brightness or call your optometrist—that image above is not a rendering. It’s not a depiction of a concept car, either. As futuristic and cyberpunk as it may appear, this is your first glimpse at the very production-ready 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5, the first vehicle from Hyundai’s new Ioniq sub-brand and visually in a different ionosphere from the humdrum Ioniq range of affordable electrified compact cars that preceded it. This is roundly one of the most significant new Hyundais we’ve seen since the 2011 redesign of the Sonata, a car that ushered in a new era for Hyundai/Kia design and inarguably elevated the Korean manufacturer onto the same playing field of Toyota and Honda. Multiple Battery and Motor Combinations With the Ioniq 5, Hyundai...
A Timeline of the Legal Battle Between Chris Cornell’s Widow & Soundgarden
December 2019 – Vicky Cornell sues Soundgarden In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Florida on Dec. 9, 2019, Vicky accused surviving band members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Hunter Benedict Shepherd — along with the band’s longtime business manager Rit Venerus — of attempting to “strong-arm” her into turning over seven unreleased audio recordings Chris made prior to his death by withholding royalties owed to his estate, of which she is the personal representative. She says that the group reached out to her in July 2017 about using Chris’ unreleased recordings for an upcoming Soundgarden album, which she agreed to as long as her late husband’s s longtime “trusted producer” be in...
Bella Thorne Opens Up About Pressures of ‘Perfect’ Disney Image: ‘Kids Need to See Real’
In fact, Thorne said showing more of her true self, including her poetry, sexuality, past struggles with abuse and more, has allowed her to form a deeper connection with her fans. “My life has changed in a lot of really amazing ways. Now when fans come up to me, they don’t always say, ‘I love you from this movie, that movie.’ They say, ‘Oh my God, I read your book and I connected to it so much because of this terrible time.'” “They tell me these stories and we connect. We usually both cry a little bit, and we hug. The book has curated me these beautiful moments in time that I get to fully be in,” she continued. Nowadays, Thorne has mastered the art of brushing off haters. “You just can’t react,” she explained. “If...
Breaking Down BTS Label Big Hit’s 2020 Earnings
A new BTS album, Map of the Soul: 7, and four mini album releases by the group Seventeen from Big Hit’s investment in K-pop label Pledis in May, helped Big Hit sell 13.2 million albums. That’s up 54% from 2019, with $288.5 million of revenue — a 196% improvement. Eight tracks from Map of the Soul: 7, released last February, spent time on the Billboard Global 200 Chart in 2020, with BTS’ later singles “Dynamite” and “Life Goes On” both reaching No. 1. In the U.S., Map of the Soul: 7 sold 674,000 units in 2020 while its tracks were streamed 715 million times, according to MRC Data. Normally, Big Hit’s holistic business model is well suited to the modern music business. But the pandemic killed touring, traditionally Big Hit’s largest revenue stream, and favored record companies that can...
Nandi Bushell Gets Flea’s Approval With ‘Under the Bridge’ Cover
The 10-year-old rock phenom Nandi Bushell dropped her latest cover on Sunday — an enthusiastic rendition of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” — and she got the stamp of approval on it from none other than Flea himself. The legendary RHCP bassist tweeted “always love to Nandi!” after the young prodigy tagged him and his bandmates in her tweet announcing the cover. always love to Nandi! https://t.co/hT3ZuyCBd5 — Flea (@flea333) February 21, 2021 Of course, supporting Bushell has proven to be a valuable decision for artists in recent months, because otherwise, she may very well challenge them to a musical battle and then outplay them on social media for all to see. Just ask Dave Grohl how that feels. The unique take on the RHCP track comes hot on the heels of Bushell’s lates...
“El Chapo” Guzman’s Wife Arrested on Drug Trafficking Charges In U.S.
Source: New York Daily News / Getty Infamous Mexican drug overlord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is currently serving a life sentence for moving weight like whales up and down the Americas, and now it seems like his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, is going to be sharing the same fate. The Associated Press is reporting that the 31-year-old Aispuro (El Chapo is 63-years-old by the way) was arrested yesterday (February 22) at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on charges that she helped him run his drug empire along with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana. The U.S. Justice Department is also accusing the former beauty queen of helping El Chapo escape a Mexican prison in 2015 and plotting to help him escape a second time before he was extradited to the U.S. ...
When Apple’s iPhone 13 Is Announced, It Will Reportedly Have These Upgrades
Source: Apple / iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini It hasn’t been a year yet since the release of the iPhone 12, but we are already talking about the iPhone 13 and what to expect from Apple’s forthcoming new flagship smartphone model. Tech YouTuber Filip Koroy (EverythingApple Pro) linked up with Max Weinbach, a well-known leaker, and revealed that the iPhone 13 would be sporting some major upgrades. Weinbach tells Koroy that Apple will “refine” the matte back on the iPhone 13 Pro model with a “more grippy textured back that will be slightly more comfortable [to hold],” taking cues from Google’s Pixel smartphone, which already sports a similar design feature. Weinbach also notes that the iPhone 13’s chassis “will not be changing, so overall the same look at the iPhone 12 lineup.” Another upgrade...
Dr. Dre Got Off Some Bars Towards Ex-Wife, Calls Her “Greedy B*tch”
Source: Emma McIntyre / Getty Dr. Dre has seemingly made a speedy recovery after suffering a brain aneurysm just last month and is back to work at a breakneck speed. A leaked snippet played by a member of the AfterMath’s production team featured bars from the legendary Compton producer that were aimed at his ex-wife Nicole Young and references his recent hospital stay. As reported by HipHopNMore, DJ Silk played a portion of a KXNG Crooked and Dr. Dre collaboration rumored to be from the famed and long-awaited Detox album. While it isn’t known when or if the full-length will see the light of day, the rhymes said by Dre were recently recorded as evidenced by the song’s subject matter. “Trying to kill me with them lies and that perjury/I see you trying to fuck me while I’m in surgery/In ICU, ...
Get Redman On The Phone: Marijuana Is Now Legal In New Jersey
Source: JOHANNES EISELE / Getty Lovers of the leaf living in The Garden State just got the news of a lifetime. They will now be able to purchase marijuana legally. As spotted on The Gothamist New Jersey has decriminalized cannabis. Legislation has been in discussion for several years but failed to get approved to be a law not once but twice in 2019. On Monday, February 22 Governor Phil Murphy signed three bills that permit the use of the drug throughout the territory. In addition to being able to partake in the drug, establishments will be able to legally sell it to customers who are preapproved by medical professionals. While the news is welcomed by enthusiasts this new ruling comes with some strict swim rails. According to the formal press release citizens are allowed to keep up to ...
