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After President Donald Trump was elected chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, many have speculated about what the embattled commander in chief would do with his new position. This week, one performing group got an answer.
On Wednesday (Feb. 19), the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington announced that the Kennedy Center had canceled its upcoming Pride Month performance of a show titled A Peacock Among Pigeons, based on the LGBTQ+-inclusive children’s book of the same name. The concert, which was set to take place with the National Symphony Orchestra in May, was scheduled to kick of Washington, D.C.’s Pride celebrations ahead of the city hosting WorldPride 2025.
“We are deeply disappointed with the news that our upcoming Pride performance with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) has been canceled,” the chorus wrote in a statement posted to its Instagram page. “We believe in the power of music to educate and uplift, to foster love, understanding, and community, and we regret that this opportunity has been taken away.”
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The organization continued, adding that they would still perform their rendition of the piece during the WorldPride festivities. “While we are saddened by the decision, we are committed to this work and to our mission of raising our voices for equality for all,” the statement read. “We are grateful to those who have supported us, and we will continue to seek spaces where our voices, our stories, and our music can be heard.”
Billboard has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.
The news comes just a few weeks after President Trump staged a dramatic takeover of the cultural institution. The president purged the Kennedy Center’s board of 18 Democratic appointees while promising to install himself as chairman, added new members to the board more aligned with his politics, was unanimously named the new chairman and fired the Center’s former president, Deborah F. Rutter.
In a statement given to NBC News, the National Symphony Orchestra’s executive director Jean Davidson claimed that the decision to cancel A Peacock Among Pigeons was made prior to Trump’s reshaping of the Kennedy Center’s board. “Before the leadership transition at the Kennedy Center, we made the decision to postpone [A Peacock Among Pigeons] due to financial and scheduling factors,” she said in a statement. “We chose to replace it with The Wizard of Oz, another suitable program for World PRIDE participation.”
Kim Kardashian was in protective mother-lion mode after North West‘s performance in the Hollywood Bowl’s Lion King production received backlash.
On the latest episode of Hulu’s The Kardashians Thursday (Feb. 20), the reality star clapped back at critics of her eldest daughter’s stage presence and vocal chops, which North showcased as Simba in the May 2024 production. “She’s so proud of herself,” Kim said. “She did such a great job. And anyone that is hating on a kid is just a hater — she’s not there to be Mariah Carey.”
“And if anyone wants to hate on a child that is having the time of their lives, ‘F–k you,’” the Skims founder added.
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Clips of the 11-year-old — whom Kim shares with ex-husband Ye (formerly Kanye West), along with three other kids — singing “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” at the Bowl were quick to go viral last spring. Many critics theorized that North had snagged the role only because of her famous parents, while others went as far as accusing the former couple of “buying” the experience for North.
But on The Kardashians, Kim countered those claims. “North is the moment,” she told cameras. “They want to see North West on a TikTok, on a this, on an anything. Because she’s a personality, a performer.”
And while some people on social media weren’t so kind to North, the aspiring performer had plenty of support in the moment. As shown on the new episode, both Kim and Ye were in the audience to cheer on their firstborn, with the mogul and rapper — who finalized their divorced in 2022 — taking a moment to gush over North after the show.
“Man, she did so good,” Ye told Kim, who replied, “I was just crying from the side.”
North has also continued nurturing her artistic side, collaborating with FKA Twigs — and rapping in Japanese — on a song titled “Childlike Things” off the English singer-songwriter’s latest album Eusexua. And shortly before facing more backlash for his latest flurry of antisemitic hate speech, Ye revealed that he was personally “training” North in the art of music-making.
“This little girl made me love music again,” the rapper gushed on Instagram in January. “She asked me to make beats for her I got back on the ASR Chopped up beats for her album.”
JISOO‘s acting career is going strong despite being busier than ever with upcoming BLACKPINK plans and solo music, with Netflix announcing a new Korean romantic-comedy series starring the performer Wednesday (Feb. 19).
Tentatively titled Boyfriend on Demand, the Kim Jung-sik-directed show will see JISOO as Mi-rae, an “exhausted webtoon producer” who starts a virtual dating program that introduces her to the “boyfriends of her dreams” as part of a monthly subscription service, according to the description. She’ll star opposite South Korean singer-actor Seo In-guk, who will play Park Kyeong-nam, a rival colleague of Mi-rae’s.
“Blending the relatable challenges of daily work life and a never-before-seen virtual reality dating subscription program, Boyfriend on Demand promises to revolutionize dating,” the release teases, adding that the series will “deliver heart-fluttering moments and laughter.”
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Boyfriend on Demand is just the latest onscreen project JISOO has taken on, with the K-pop star establishing herself as a leading lady in 2021’s Disney+ K-drama Snowdrop. Most recently, she played Kang Young-joo in Prime Video’s Zombie series Newtopia.
The announcement comes the same day BLACKPINK finally unveiled dates for its previously teased world tour, which kicks off July 5 in Seoul and will see JISOO and bandmates ROSÉ, LISA and JENNIE traveling through Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Barcelona, London and more through mid-August. ROSÉ also recently confirmed that the quartet is coming out with new music soon.
BLACKPINK’s last album, Born Pink, dropped in 2022, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. After touring the LP through 2023, the four stars have spent the past year or so working on solo projects.
For JISOO, the break has included the release of her debut solo EP, AMORTAGE, which arrived on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) with four new tracks: “Earthquake,” “Your Love,” “Tears” and “Hugs & Kisses.” In a recent interview with Billboard, she called working by herself “an amazing experience” — but she’s more than excited to get back into the band swing of things.
“Last year, as each member focused on individual activities, we all grew a lot,” she said in a video interview with Tetris Kelly. “Now, as we come together for this year, I feel like we’ll be able to return with an even bigger and more spectacular presence. Everyone’s excited about it, and we’ve been sharing ideas. We’ve already done a lot of preparations for this year.”
Janelle Monáe will explore the art of the con in the upcoming Universal Pictures adaptation of Tanya Smith’s 2024 memoir, Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System – and Pocketed $40 Million. According to Variety, Monáe will star in the film and also produce through her Wonderland Pictures company.
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Smith — who saw herself a modern-day Robin Hood after figuring out how to wipe out her relatives’ debt by manipulating the banking system — will be an executive producer on the movie. The gripping story is described as a heist thriller that provides a “powerful examination of systemic prejudice and economic inequality,” following Smith’s journey from mischievous teenage hacker to a master manipulator of the U.S. financial system.
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The book’s publisher, Hachette Book Group calls the story a riveting tale of an “unsuspecting woman who creates an ingeniously clever white-collar scheme that manipulates the Federal banking system out of millions — who eventually loses everything that is most important to her.”
The story follows Smith as she begins her life of deception as a teenager with an interest in technology, figuring out how to acquire the phone numbers of stars including Michael Jackson and other celebs, before moving on to stealing and depositing $5,000 into her grandmother’s bank account, and, by 18, confiscating $40 million dollars in cash, gold, diamonds and commodities from banks using hacked wire transfers.
“The FBI is hot on her tail and hauls her in for an interview, demanding Smith let them know who she’s working for, ‘as these are not the kind of crimes Black people are smart enough to commit,’” reads the book synopsis. “Their words, indicating that intelligence was determined by race, severely offended Smith. Up for the challenge, she proves the FBI wrong and over time steals $40 million dollars, while securing diamonds, gold bars, and other commodities. Her lifestyle attracts the wrong kind of people, even those who set out to kill her.”
The investigators hot on her trail, Smith is tagged as “one of the single biggest threats to the entire U.S. banking system,” earning her the longest prison sentence ever (13 years) for white-collar crimes, only to be released after mounting her own “brilliant defense.” Along the way, Smith escaped from prison two years into her sentence by disguising herself as a lawyer and gave birth to two children while incarcerated.
Monáe latest starring role will follow up on her well-received roles in the films Moonlight, Hidden Figures, Harriet, Antebellum and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
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Green Day are on the hunt for extras to star in their upcoming film.
Dubbed New Years Rev, the film was announced last week (Feb. 10) with Live Nation revealing the new comedy is being developed by Lee Kirk alongside Green Day themselves. Production is currently underway in Oklahoma City, and a casting call has now been put out for an upcoming concert scene.
According to the call by Oklahoma’s Freihofer Casting, producers are seeking “punks, emo, hardcore, alternative and rocker young adults, aged 18-30” for a multi-day shoot which will see them appearing “as attendees of a pop-up rock show” in an outdoor location.
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Interested applicants have been promised there will be “live music, skateboarding and a rowdy good time,” with a $101.50 per diem promised. One day of the four-day shoot will be for a “rain and mud fight” event, with extras offered an additional $25 when they get wet and muddy.
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Further details for the role specify that producers are searching for “punks, rockers, goths, alternative, or emo young adults. The type of person who would roll up on a secret outdoor concert out on someone’s land.”
Though a release date for the forthcoming film has not yet been announced, the coming-of-age story has confirmed Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman and Ryan Foust to star. The story sees their characters heading to Los Angeles under the false impression that they’ll be opening for Green Day on New Year’s Eve. Per a press release, the plot is inspired by the Californian punk trio and their years of living in a tour van.
“Van days rule. You will drive all night on no sleep then play a show for 10 kids in a basement of a friend of a friend’s house 50 miles east of anywhere you’ve ever heard of,” Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said in a press statement. “But you’ll do it again the next day, and the one after that. Because you’re doing it with your bandmates who become your family and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever known. It’s electric. Let the music and mischief ensue.”
While specifics of the scenes the casting call is recruiting for remain unclear, inspiration being taken from Green Day’s career suggests the “rain and mud fight” event may be a retelling of their infamous Woodstock 1994 performance.
Taking place in upstate New York in August of that year in support of February’s breakthrough album Dookie, the concert featured Green Day appearing before a rain-soaked crowd who swiftly began hurling mud at the band. The pay-per-view broadcast of the concert raised the profile of Green Day on a global scale, and in 2019 a recording of the show was issued for Record Store Day.
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The 97th Academy Awards are still more than a week away, but the nominations are in and the coveted best picture award is up for grabs. With a jam-packed lineup of nominees, it’s hard to pick a clear favorite in this year’s Oscar race.
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Emilia Pérez leads the pack with the most nominations of the night with 13, setting a record for a non-English movie. Tied for second, is A24’s The Brutalist and Wicked with 11 nods; A Complete Unknown and Conclave came in third with eight mentions each. Other best picture nominees include the blockbuster sci-fi, Dune: Part Two; the Neon darling, Anora; the international hit, I’m Still Here; the indie gem, Nickel Boys; and the viral horror, The Substance.
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It’s a long list of films, and unless you’re a pro Letterboxd reviewer, you probably haven’t seen every best picture nominee yet. Luckily, now you can without leaving the comfort of your own home. Almost every film has made their way online to streaming and video on-demand services to buy or rent.
If you’re feeling the Oscar buzz, check out our guide to watching every best picture nominee online below.
Where to Stream Every Best Picture Nominee
A Complete Unknown
Starring alongside Edward Norton, Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro, Timothée Chalamet completely transforms into the iconic Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown. The biopic paints a beautiful portrait of 1960 New York City as Dylan transforms the Greenwich Village folk scene forever.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, producers), best directing (James Mangold), best actor (Timothée Chalamet), best supporting actor (Edward Norton), best supporting actress (Monica Barbaro), best writing (Mangold, Jay Cocks), best costume design (Arianne Phillips), best sound (Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco)
Where to Stream: Available Feb. 24; pre-order at Apple TV, Prime Video
The Brutalist
Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce and Joe Alwyn star in this incredible story about a visionary architect who escapes postwar Europe to rebuild his life, career, and marriage in America.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Nick Gordon, Brian Young, Andrew Morrison, D.J. Gugenheim and Brady Corbet, producers), best directing (Brady Corbet), best actor (Adrien Brody), best supporting actor (Guy Pearce), best supporting actress (Felicity Jones), best writing (Corbet, Mona Fastvold), best cinematography (Lol Crawley), best editing (David Jancso), best original score (Daniel Blumberg), best production design (production design: Judy Becker, set decoration: Patricia Cuccia)
Where to Stream: Buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
Conclave
Ralphn Fiennes shines as Cardinal Lawrence in this Vatican mystery thriller. While participating in the selection of a new pope, many deep secrets are brought to light that could shake the very foundation of the Roman Catholic Church.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, producers), best actor (Ralph Fiennes), best supporting actress (Isabella Rossellini), best writing (Peter Straughan), best costume design (Lisy Christl), best editing (Nick Emerson), best original score (Volker Bertelmann), best production design (production design: Suzie Davies; set decoration: Cynthia Sleiter)
Where to Stream: Stream on Peacock
Wicked
The record-breaking musical stars everyone’s favorite celebrity duo, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The Jon M. Chu’s Wizard of Oz-inspired fantasy, based on the hit Broadway musical, also includes Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Marc Platt, Producer), best actress (Cynthia Erivo), best supporting actress (Ariana Grande), best costume design (Paul Tazewell), best editing (Myron Kerstein), best makeup and hairstyling (Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth), best original score (John Powell and Stephen Schwartz), best production design (production design: Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Lee Sandales, best sound (Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis), best visual effects (Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould)
Where to Stream: Coming to Peacock on March 21, buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
Anora
Breakout star Mikey Madison steals the show in the Sean Baker-directed film about a young woman who gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and marries the son of an oligarch. However, his family will go to great lengths to get the marriage annulled.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, producers), best directing (Sean Baker), best actress (Mikey Madison), best supporting actor (Yura Borisov), best writing (Sean Baker), best editing (Sean Baker)
Where to Stream: Coming to Hulu on March 21. Buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
Dune: Part Two
Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi sequel is a grand spectacle with an even greater cast. Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, as well as newcomers, Austin Butler and Florence Pugh, this film is meant to be seen on the largest screen possible.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, producers), best cinematography (Greig Fraser), best production design (production design: Patrice Vermette, set decoration: Shane Vieau), best sound (Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill), best visual effects (Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer)
Where to Stream: Stream on Hulu + Max bundle
Emilia Pérez
The Jacques Audiard directed musical, starring Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Karla Sofía Gascón, centers around a Mexican lawyer who’s offered an unusual job to help a notorious cartel boss retire and transition into living as a woman.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Pascal Caucheteux and Jacques Audiard, producers), best directing (Audiard), best actress (Karla Sofía Gascón), best supporting actress (Zoe Saldaña), best writing (Audiard, in collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi), best cinematography (Paul Guilhaume), best editing (Juliette Welfling), best makeup and hairstyling (Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini), best music (Clément Ducol and Camille), best original song (“El Mal” with music by Ducol and Camille; lyric by Ducol, Camille and Audiard), best original song (“Mi Camino” with music and lyric by Camille and Ducol), best international feature film (France), best sound (Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta)
Where to Stream: Stream on Netflix
I’m Still Here
Fernanda Torres stars as a mother of five who learns the truth behind the disappearance of her husband, former PTB deputy Rubens Paiva, while trying to keep her family together.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Maria Carlota Bruno and Rodrigo Teixeira, producers), best actress (Fernanda Torres), best international film feature (Brazil)
Where to Stream: Pre-order at Apple TV, Prime Video
Nickel Boys
Starring Brandon Wilson, Ethan Herisse and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Curtis, Nickel Boys centers around two black boys who strike up a friendship to navigate a punishing reformatory school in the Jim Crow South.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Joslyn Barnes, producers), best writing (Ross and Barnes)
Where to Stream: Buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
The Substance
Demi Moore gives a career defining performance as a fading actress who injects herself with a mysterious serum that promises a younger, better version of herself, but things go horribly wrong.
Oscar nominations: Best picture (Coralie Fargeat, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, producers), best directing (Fargeat), best actress (Demi Moore), best writing (Fargeat), best makeup and hairstyling (Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli)
Where to Stream: Stream on Mubi; buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video
One of Too $hort‘s songs has inspired a movie and it looks pretty good. Set in 1987 Oakland, starring Pedro Pascal, and narrated by the Bay Area legend himself, Freaky Tales tells the story of a career thief doing one last job before he calls it quits. Of course, we all know how that story […]