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SNL alums Martin Short and Maya Rudolph’s COVID-19 diagnosis led Steve Martin to refer to a “curse” on the cast of the anniversary special.
On Thursday night (Feb. 20), veteran comedic actor Steve Martin shared on social media that fellow comic Martin Short had come down with COVID-19 after the 50th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live last Sunday (Feb. 16), potentially catching it from Maya Rudolph. Martin shared a photo from the night on Instagram, which shows Short and Rudolph sharing a kiss.
“Maya had Covid. Marty has Covid. I wonder why? The SNL 50th Covid curse is real,” Martin wrote in the caption of the post, adding: “Unfortunately, we have to reschedule this weekend’s sold-out Durham and Knoxville dates to 10/17 Knoxville and 10/18 Durham. So sorry for the inconvenience. I think we’ll be funnier then, anyway.”
The Only Murders In The Building star might’ve been referencing a joke from current SNL star Colin Jost during the Weekend Update segment of the show. “Health experts are facing increased pressure this winter in the face of outbreaks of COVID, the flu, RSV, and norovirus, which they’re calling a quad-demic,” Jost said. “So we did the smart thing and packed every beloved entertainer over 60 into one tiny space.”
Rudolph and Short aren’t the only two dealing with illness after the special. EGOT winner and co-host of The View, Whoopi Goldberg, missed several tapings of the show this week after attending the special. “Whoopi is still out with the flu. It’s going around, be careful,” co-host Joy Behar told the audience on Thursday. “We hope you’re feeling better, Whoopi. Come back soon!”
The timing of the special did lead to a couple of notable absences. Dana Carvey, one of the show’s best-known figures who made a partial return to the show this season, shared that he had to miss the special due to recovering from the flu under doctor’s orders. Another beloved alum, Dan Akroyd, didn’t appear due to “prior commitments” and Bill Hader wasn’t present citing a “longstanding scheduling conflict.”
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Kevin Durant recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to give his praises to J. Cole, showering the rapper with accolades for his latest track “cLOUDs.” Durant, known for his candor, expressed admiration for Cole’s mastery, stating, “I don’t care about none of that fake tough guy sh*t. This is mastery,” acknowledging the precision and attention to detail in the song. It was a gesture that highlighted Durant’s genuine respect for Cole’s artistry and lyricism.
However, the praise didn’t stop there. A troll decided to jump in, trying to undermine Durant’s appreciation for Cole by saying, “But you listen to Drake lol ok.” Easy Money Sniper never lets shade slide without a response, swiftly shot back, “THE GOAT.” With those two words, Durant crowned Drake as the greatest of all time. The comment was a testament to Durant’s unwavering support for the Canadian rapper and his confidence in Drizzy’s place in hip-hop history.
Durant’s loyalty to Drake has long been known, especially during the Canadian rapper’s beef with Kendrick Lamar. While many celebrities distanced themselves from Drake during this time, Durant has remained one of his most steadfast allies. By calling Drake “the GOAT,” Durant is making it clear that his admiration for the rapper goes beyond just their friendship—it’s rooted in a deep respect for Drake’s impact on the culture.
This moment only solidifies the bond between Durant and Drake, with Durant showing that he stands by his friends and their artistry, no matter the outside noise. The respect between these two icons seems unshakable, and it’s clear Durant’s admiration for both Drake and J. Cole is genuine.
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Dan Bongino, a popular podcaster known for putting forth conspiracy theories, was appointed as the deputy director of the FBI over the weekend By President Donald Trump. Dan Bongino will be second in command to FBI chief Kash Patel, and many online have shared their thoughts.
President Trump took to his Truth Social platform to celebrate the addition of Dan Bongino to the FBI leadership role.
From Truth Social:
Great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice! Dan Bongino, a man of incredible love and passion for our Country, has just been named the next DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, by the man who will be the best ever Director, Kash Patel. Dan has a Masters Degree in Psychology from C.U.N.Y., and an MBA from Penn State. He was a member of the New York Police Department (New York’s Finest!), a highly respected Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, and is now one of the most successful Podcasters in the Country, something he is willing and prepared to give up in order to serve. Working with our great new United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Director Patel, Fairness, Justice, Law and Order will be brought back to America, and quickly. Congratulations Dan!
As noted in Trump’s post, Bongino has worked in law enforcement but, similar to Kash Patel, has never headed an agency much less oversaw the headquarters of an office. Bongino has garnered attention in the past for making charged statements about the COVID-19 virus, and he’s also been public in saying that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of President Joe Biden.
On X, formerly Twitter, many are reacting to the news that Dan Bongino will be the FBI’s deputy director. Keep scrolling for more.
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ASCAP has announced the nominees for the 2025 ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards.
A first-of-its-kind program among U.S. performing rights organizations, the ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards gives the ASCAP composer community a forum to recognize the artistic accomplishments of their peers. The nominations committee includes composers and film, television and video game industry leaders. Voting is open to eligible ASCAP writer members through March 7 at 11:59 p.m. ET on the ASCAP website.
Winners will be revealed on April 30 during an exclusive party celebrating the 2025 ASCAP Screen Music Awards in Los Angeles.
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More information about the 2025 ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards, including excerpts of the nominated music, is available on the organization’s website.
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Following are ASCAP composers and their works nominated for the 2025 ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards. Categories with six or more nominees reflect ties in voting.
Film score of the year
(Films released in the U.S. in 2024, whether theatrically or via another medium)
Challengers – Trent Reznor
Dune: Part Two – Hans Zimmer
Inside Out 2 – Andrea Datzman
Nosferatu – Robin Carolan
Wicked – John Powell & Stephen Schwartz
Young Woman and the Sea – Amelia Warner
Television score of the year
(Episodes originally airing in the U.S. in 2024)
Agatha All Along – Michael Paraskevas
Mr. & Mrs. Smith – David Fleming
Only Murders in the Building – Siddhartha Khosla
Palm Royale – Jeff Toyne
Slow Horses – Daniel Pemberton & Toydrum
Television theme of the year
(Episodes originally airing in the U.S. in 2024)
Bad Monkey – Jamie Jackson & Waz
Franklin – Jay Wadley
Nautilus – Nainita Desai
Only Murders in the Building – Siddhartha Khosla
Palm Royale – Jeff Toyne
Documentary score of the year
(Documentary films or series released in the U.S. in 2024)
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life – Marc Shaiman
Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes – Logan Nelson
Jim Henson Idea Man – David Fleming
Planet Earth III – Sara Barone & Hans Zimmer
The Real Red Tails – Stanley A. Smith
Will & Harper – Nathan Halpern
Video game score of the year
(Games originally released in the U.S. in 2024)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – Jack Wall
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – Gordy Haab
Helldivers 2 – Wilbert Roget, II
Star Wars Outlaws – Wilbert Roget, II, Cody Matthew Johnson, Jon Everist, Kazuma Jinnouchi
Tales of Kenzera: Zau – Nainita Desai
Carín León, Becky G, Edición Especial and DannyLux are slated to grace the stage at Brookside at The Rose Bowl for its inaugural Latin music event on May 24, Billboard Español can exclusively announce on Monday (Feb. 24).
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The Pasadena, Calif., venue, managed by Goldenvoice — the creators of Coachella — has hosted annual festivals such as Cruel World, focusing on new wave and alt-rock, and Just Like Heaven, themed around early ’00s alt-rock. This year, the one-day event will embrace Spanish-language music for the first time since the space began hosting multi-stage festivals in 2017.
“It’s a dream to bring the best of música mexicana to an iconic place like Brookside,” a Goldenvoice representative tells Billboard Español. “We’ve been fortunate to be a part of each of these artists’ journeys and it’s a great feeling to have it all come together for this event. We hope to continue more events like this in the future.”
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Headliner Carín León — this year’s Grammy honoree for best música mexicana album (including tejano) for Boca Chueca, Vol. 1 (2024), which debuted at No. 5 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Albums chart and No. 8 on Top Latin Albums — has quickly emerged as a key figure in Latin music. His distinctive fusion of traditional Mexican music with country elements has marked a significant evolution in the genre.
“I feel very proud to be a pioneer in bringing regional Mexican music to this iconic place,” said León in a press release. “Everything that has happened with our genre is incredible and the presence that México has today in global music. This is just an example of what our country has prepared for the future, and we are moving forward with firm steps! I’m excited to see how Mexican music is being recognized, and for me, it’s an honor to represent it with respect, always going all out.”
Becky G, whose albums Esquemas (2022) and Esquinas (2023) reached the top 10 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart at No. 5 and No. 7, respectively, continues to highlight her Mexican-American roots with her latest release, Encuentros (2024), which debuted at No. 15 on the same chart last October.
“As a proud Chicana born and raised in Inglewood, I’m beyond excited to be part of this historic moment where música mexicana is included for the first time,” said Becky G in a press release. “Bringing my music and culture with me everywhere I go means everything, but there’s something incredibly special about performing música mexicana in L.A. I can’t wait to go out there and celebrate with my people.”
Also joining the lineup are Edición Especial from Culiacán, Sinaloa, fresh off the group’s successful Segunda Edición tour; and rapidly rising star DannyLux, who fuses romantic sierreño music with a poetic flair.
Presale tickets will be available on Wednesday (Feb. 26) via Carin Leon’s website. General ticket sales start on Friday (Feb. 28) at 12 p.m. PT on the AXS website.
Tate McRae gets why she keeps getting compared to Britney Spears. The 21-year-old Canadian pop star who first came into our lives as a tween finalist on the 2016 season of So You Think You Can Dance has mastered the art of dance pop temptation in videos like the one for her slinky new single, […]
Mariah Carey has booked a massive summer 2025 gig in the U.K. at Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on August 15. The show at the 20,000-capacity venue will feature support from Eternal and Nile Rodgers & Chic. The outdoor gig in Norfolk, England presented by Heritage Live Festivals is the third concert announced for the venue this summer, joining previously announced shows by the Stereophonics (Aug. 16) and Michael Bublé (Aug. 17).
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Tickets for the Carey concert will be available during a pre-sale on March 5 beginning at 9 a.m. GMT (4 a.m. ET). Fans can register for pre-sale access in advance here. A general on-sale will kick off on March 7 at 9 a.m., with information available here.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to bring one of the greatest pop artists of all time to the Royal Sandringham Estate for an exclusive UK headline show. Mariah Carey is an award-winner, a record-breaker, and an absolute global icon – this show will be historic,” Heritage Live Festivals’ Giles Cooper said in a statement. “Mariah’s live show is second to none and with such a catalogue of huge hit singles, it’s going to be an incredible occasion. It will most definitely be an ‘I was there’ event that will live in all of our memories forever.”
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Carey has also booked another U.K summer gig with a headlining slot at the Pride in the Park event at the Brighton Pride festival, which will take place on August 2-3; Carey was supposed to play the Pride fest in 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The singer recently celebrated her second nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, writing on Instagram earlier this month that she was “so grateful” to get her second nod in a row after first becoming eligible in 2016. “It’s always an incredible honor to be recognized alongside so many legendary artists I admire. Thank you to the @rockhall and, of course, to my amazing fans— you are the heart of everything I do. This means so much! ❤️🎶,” Carey wrote in a post that also featured the full list of 2025’s nominees, which includes Bad Company, The Black Crowes, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Maná, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, Soundgarden and The White Stripes.
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Kanye West is back to doing the absolute most on social media, and he most recently suggested that Cassie extorted Diddy with her lawsuit.
As per HipHopDX, Ye has returned to X, formerly known as Twitter, and continues to troll the world. On Feb. 20 he shared a post that questioned Cassie’s morale character and intentions for pursuing legal action against her former lover and record label CEO. “Did Cassie extort Puff?” he wrote. As expected, Kanye was greeted with harsh criticism from X users. “Crazy to think this ni**a made ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’”, wrote one former fan. “The single best album I ever heard in any genre of music……now cuz mind is completely gone.” Another user hypothetically asked him how would he feel if Cassie was one of his family members. “Did [Cassie] get beat up used and abused are you so outta touch if someone did to your mother … may she rest in peace… would you feel same.”
This is not the first time Kanye West has put on a cape for Diddy. Earlier this month, he tried to rationalize Diddy’s sickening 2016 assault on Cassie saying, “When [a] man truly loves a [woman] he may express it in rage. I empathize with both sides,” he wrote on X. Later that day, he announced he would be selling a hooded sweatshirt similar to what Cassie was wearing that same day Diddy put hands on her in a Los Angeles hallway.
Back in November 2023 Cassie, born Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit accusing Diddy of assault and more. The lawsuit was settled the following day but Diddy denied the allegations. Later on, footage from the brutal hotel attack leaked online forcing him to apologize for his actions.
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President Donald Trump has cut protections for thousands of Haitians in the country, placing them on a path for deportation months away.
On Thursday (Feb. 20), President Donald Trump took another step in furthering his immigration crackdown by removing the Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the United States. The number of those affected by the move amounts to over 500,000. An 18-month extension that had been signed by former President Joe Biden before he left office was revoked by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, meaning that those Haitians are subject to deportation in August instead of next February.
“For decades the TPS system has been exploited and abused,” the DHS said in a memo announcing the move and echoing Trump’s sentiments about the system. The move comes as Haiti is dealing with continued instability, as gangs currently control 85% of the capital city of Port-au-Prince in addition to sexual violence incidents inflicted on children increasing by 1000% during the past year, according to the United Nations. Some have had TPS since 2010 when it was first invoked by then President Barack Obama. It follows the decision on Feb. 1 to end TPS for Venezuelans living in the United States, who number 600,000 currently in the country. Trump has badmouthed Haitians in the past and made it a campaign pledge to revoke protections.
“T.P.S. has served as a crucial lifeline for many members of the Haitian community, allowing them to live and work in the United States at a time when Haiti is experiencing tremendous political, social and economic instability,” Ahilan Arulanantham, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the U.C.L.A. School of Law head said. Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley decried the decision as “shameful,” adding: “Haitians who have lived in the U.S. for 15 years are at risk of deportation for “no reason other than being Haitian.”
Attorneys are currently fighting the Trump administration in court on behalf of an advocacy group for Venezuelans, filing a lawsuit on Wednesday (Feb. 19). Haiti’s migration director, Jean Negot Bonheur Delva, said to AP News that only 21 Haitians have been deported back to the country so far, but worries about what the others would come back to. “It’s very sad that people who left Haiti to look for a better life elsewhere … will come back,” Delva said. “With the insecurity problem, the lack of resources, they will be miserable.”
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Ever since it was announced that Charlie Cox would be reprising his role as Daredevil in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe, many fans have been clamoring for the return of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones (Iron Fist not so much) and we get a glimmer of hope as it seems like Marvel Studios might actually bring said characters back.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Marvel Studios’ streaming and TV boss Brad Winderbaum and his team have been brainstorming on how to bring back Mike Colter’s Luke Cage, Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones and even Finn Jone’s Iron Fist for another run at some point in the future now that Daredevil: Born Again is just a few weeks from premiering on Disney+. While we wouldn’t be heartbroken if we never see Iron Fist again (no shots), fans would very much love to see Luke Cage and Jessica Jones standing side-by-side some of your favorite Marvel superheroes at some point.
Whether or not that will come to pass remains to be seen, but it just might as Winderbaum wouldn’t let something like this slip if they didn’t intend on making it happen.
Per Variety:
“I can’t say much, but I’ll tell you that it’s so exciting to be able to play in that sandbox,” Winderbaum says. “Obviously we don’t have the unlimited storytelling resources like a comic book. If you can draw it, you can do it. It’s dealing with actors and time and the massive scale of production in order to build a cinematic universe, especially on television. But I can just say that all those variables taken into account, it is certainly something that is creatively extremely exciting and that we are very much exploring.”
Keep in mind, there was word that the Russo Brothers were planning on adding Luke Cage to Avengers: Infinity War and having him save Iron Man’s butt when he was getting his ass handed to him during his fight with Black Dwarf in the beginning of the film. Ultimately, they decided against it as they felt Luke wouldn’t fit into the overall story and had Spider-Man get involved in that fight. So we understand why they might feel the need to give them more backstory before having them appear in big budget Marvel movies. Still, that would’ve been dope.
Now that it seems like Luke Cage and company might be joining the main MCU at some point, that leaves questions about additional side characters that have appeared in Marvel’s Netflix series as well and whether or not there’s hope for them too.
When asked about characters like Elektra (played by Elodie Young across the Netflix run) and ninja clan the Hand, Winderbaum says, “Who knows what the future brings? Once we arc out here, there’s obviously any number of stories that we’d want to revisit or pull from the comics that involve Elektra or the Hand or any part of the Daredevil mythos.”
“100 percent it’s in the back of our heads,” Sana Amanat, another executive producer on Daredevil: Born Again, comments to EW separately of Elektra and the Hand. “Eventually we’ll try to figure out a bit more with that.”
Never give up hope, y’all.
What do y’all think? Should Marvel bring back Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist? Let us know in the comments section below.