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Taylor Swift‘s Punk’d episode was over a decade ago, but fans are still laughing — even Travis Kelce.
On the Wednesday (April 24) episode of his and brother Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end spoke about the pop star’s 2012 appearance on Ashton Kutcher’s prank show with guest comedian Andrew Santino. The Ricky Stanicky star was one of the writers and actors who helped pull off an elaborate joke on Swift, which found the “Anti-Hero” singer’s former friend Justin Bieber tricking her into setting off fake fireworks that appeared to destroy a private wedding ceremony in Malibu.
Travis couldn’t stop laughing as Santino recalled the sequence of events that left Swift in tears before she realized Bieber had been pranking her the whole time. “So good,” the three-time Super Bowl champion said. “I gotta ask Taylor about that one.”
Santino, who played the fake groom in the Punk’d scenario, explained to the Kelces how he’d yelled at Swift for “ruining” his wedding as the then 22-year-old star tried to assure the fake bride that the incident hadn’t been a “sign” to call their nuptials off. “I’d set the boat on fire, and there was a wedding party on the boat … and we blamed her for ruining our wedding,” he explained. “[Bieber] was like, ‘I have these fireworks from Japan … Let’s set them off.’ And Taylor, obviously, to her credit, who’s always on point, was like, ‘I don’t know if I wanna do that.’”
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On the new episode, Travis also spoke about his post-Chiefs game ritual. “I thoroughly enjoy going up to the suite after football games and seeing all the friends and family,” he gushed. “Being so grateful for getting to where you are in this world and being able to share that excitement and success with the people that you grew up with, man, and the people that you’re with now, man, it’s just the absolute best.”
During the 2023-24 season, Swift was a mainstay in the Kelce family suite at Arrowhead Stadium. She was also at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium to help Travis celebrate after his third Super Bowl win in February, joining the team on the field and kissing the Ohio native.
The scenario sounds a lot like the one described by Swift in her new song “The Alchemy,” which appears on her April 19-released album The Tortured Poets Department. With lyrics such as “When I touch down, call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team” and “Where’s the trophy? He just comes running over to me,” Swifties are convinced the 14-time Grammy winner penned the triumphant track about Travis.
Watch the new episode of New Heights above, and check out Swift’s 2012 Punk’d episode below.
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As she winds down her American Idol run Katy Perry is gearing up for her next pop era. And to hear tell it, the best is yet to come. Earlier this week while doing Idol promo, Perry snuck in a tantalizing tease about her upcoming single, which, low key, she think is among her greatest work to date.
Perry said the unnamed track — whose release date has not yet been revealed — is “one of my biggest songs that has yet to come out.” The track was co-written by 28-year-old Canadian-Congolese singer Lu Kala, best known stateside for her feature on Latto’s 2023 song “Lottery.”
“But it’s coming out,” Perry, 39, says excitedly, counseling Kala, “don’t say anything!” as she covers her mouth in mock horror.
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Kala, of course, could hardly contain her excitement, sharing a roll of pics with Perry from her visit on Tuesday (April 23) with the caption, “To know me is to know that I’ve been a Katy fan FOREVER!! You can’t spell Pop without @katyperry and as a Pop gurlll, this means the WORLD TO ME!!!!🥹💕 brb, still crying.” The pics include Kala standing arm-in-arm with Perry, as well as a slide with the caption featuring Perry’s tease.
“I was not expecting any of this, wow😭 Thank you @katyperry for letting me be the tiniest part of what you have coming. I can’t wait for the world to hear it🥹💕,” Kala captioned the video post. Kala, who was named a Vevo #DSCVR Artist to Watch for 2024 just released her aching new ballad “Nothing But Love.”
On the same night, Perry further pulled back the curtain on the long-awaited follow-up to her 2020 album Smile, telling Access Hollywood that her as-yet-untitled LP is one of her happiest to date. “I just have yet to make a record from a place of feeling really happy and whole and full of love,” she said. “Sometimes artists are like, ‘Oh, that’s boring, you want to make music from kind of like a tougher place,’ but actually it’s very bright and joyful, like pure joy and fun and playful and celebratory and a party.”
Check out Kala’s post below.
“Stop” what you’re doing right now: All five of the Spice Girls were back together Saturday night to celebrate Posh Spice’s birthday, and they even gave us a mini-performance. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking all about how the legendary girl group — Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell-Turner, Emma Bunton, […]
Katy Perry is working late… with all her roles! The superstar took to Instagram to share a sweet video lip syncing along to Sabrina Carpenter’s summery new single, “Espresso,” while she changes from a casual outfit on the set of American Idol into a stunning purple leather dress ready for the taping. “I’m a singerrrr […]
Hayley Williams is loving this new Taylor Swift era. The Paramore frontwoman took to her Instagram Stories following the release of her longtime pal Swift’s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, to name the project as one of her favorites in honor of Record Store Day. “Had me from the storytelling alone, my friend,” […]
Post Malone has entered the #FortnightChallenge! The superstar took to YouTube Shorts to share a montage of himself on tour, meeting fans, playing onstage, having fun after the show and everything in between — all soundtracked by his contribution to Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, “Fortnight.” Earlier in the day, Swift launched the #FortnightChallenge with […]
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The 31-track LP sold 1.4 million copies in its first day.
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Taylor Swift spent quite a few fortnights creating her freshly released 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department, and the superstar gave fans a glimpse into her recording process with a brand new YouTube Short released on Tuesday (April 23). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Soundtracked […]
Couldn’t score tickets to the last Billie Eilish tour? Fortnite is bringing fans the next best thing. The game’s third season of its Rock Band-esque Festival experience went live Tuesday (April 23), featuring the 22-year-old pop star as its featured artist.
To celebrate the launch, Fortnite shared a trailer featuring Eilish. In the clip, her avatar — dressed in a patterned shirt and pants combo with matching sneakers, her roots dyed bright green as they were in 2019 — falls through a portal in the sky and crashes into Earth, leaving a fiery explosion in her wake.
With callbacks to the tiara of spiders and paranormal levitations in her “You Should See Me in a Crown” and “Bury a Friend” music videos, the trailer eventually finds the singer making her way to the digital stage, jumping and spinning around while performing her track “All the Good Girls Go to Hell.” ]
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“you should see her in a crown,” reads the video’s caption, referencing Eilish’s hit When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? track. “@billieeilish has arrived as our featured artist for Fortnite Festival Season 3, live now!”
Players will be able to unlock new Eilish-themed outfits in the game, instruments and Jam Tracks, which will be available to players until June 13. Eilish’s participation in Fortnite Festivals follows those of Lady Gaga (season two) and The Weeknd (season one).
Midway through her tenure in the game, the two-time Oscar winner will release her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, on May 17. Last week, Eilish shared the project’s tracklist, featuring the titles “Skinny,” “Lunch,” “L’Amour De Ma Vie,” “Blue,” “Wildflower” and more.
“Every time you put anything out, it feels like your nudes leaked a little bit,” she told Zane Lowe of the record in a recent Apple Music 1 interview. “We kind of made the album that if somebody had said, ‘I want you to make an album and no one is going to hear it. You don’t have to worry about anyone’s ears or opinions or anything at all. It’s in your contract to make an album but no one can hear it.’ We pretty much made that album. We made that album without much thought of other people.”
Watch Eilish’s Fortnite Festival season three trailer below.
Idina Menzel is heading back out on the road.
The superstar announced her Take Me or Leave Me Tour exclusively via Billboard on Tuesday (April 23), marking her first tour in nearly eight years. “I was really missing the connection with my fans,” she tells Billboard of the decision to tour again. “I have my new musical Redwood at La Jolla Playhouse that I’m passionate about, and it’s been occupying me. I thought, if that goes through another iteration, I wanted to make sure I got my time with my fans from a personal perspective as opposed to through a character.”
The North American run kicks off July 19 in Seattle, Wash., before stretching throughout the summer, hitting venues in Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and more before wrapping up on August 18 in Greensboro, NC. The tour title, of course, is inspired by the beloved song, “Take Me or Leave Me” from the musical Rent, in which Menzel made her Tony-nominated Broadway debut as Maureen Johnson in 1996.
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“Maureen was always uninhibited and extremely comfortable in who she was, maybe to the fault [laughs],” Menzel says. “I’ve always loved that song and I miss that character, but I would say I’m naming the tour this from a different perspective. Obviously, many, many years later, it’s about who I am in this point in my life. I haven’t seen my fans in a long time, and I want to show them how I’ve changed, and how I haven’t. I want to show them my experiences and hopefully, they’ll love me no matter what.”
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The beloved actress’ tour will feature a career-spanning setlist of hits, which she’s currently putting together and stays “up all night thinking about,” and she promises an “eclectic” mix of hits from her own albums and jazz standards as well as musicals she’s performed in like Wicked, Rent and, of course, Frozen. “I often wrestle with the fact that I often assume that people will be bored if I sing the same songs over and over, like ‘Let It Go’ or ‘Defying Gravity,’” she shares. “I’m always trying to rewrite things, discover or cover new songs, reinterpret them and then I always get this feedback of ‘No, we want to hear these songs!’ I’m trying to strike a balance between performing songs the way I think my audience would want to hear them and feeling like, as an artist, that I’m growing and singing the songs in a way that their lyrics resonate with me. I juggle it and then I sit with my band and we play with it and assess it and sort of see what kind of floats to the top.”
She concludes in theme with the tour’s “Take Me or Leave Me” title, “I’ve always said back in the day that versatility was my curse. Now, I embrace my versatility. It makes me who I am.”
Artist presale tickets for Menzel’s tour as well as VIP packages will be available starting on Wednesday (April 24) at 10 a.m. local time. General on-sale for tickets begins Friday (April 26) at 10 a.m. local time. See the full list of dates below, and check out the venues and ticket information here.
July 19 – Seattle, WashingtonJuly 21 – Oakland, CaliforniaJuly 23 – Los Angeles, CaliforniaJuly 25 – Mesa, ArizonaJuly 26 – Highland, CaliforniaJuly 27 – Las Vegas, NevadaJuly 30 – Austin, TexasJuly 31 – Dallas, TexasAugust 2 – Atlanta, GeorgiaAugust 3 – Charleston, South CarolinaAugust 4 – Orlando, FloridaAugust 6 – Auburn, AlabamaAugust 7 – Greenville, South CarolinaAugust 9 – Chicago, IllinoisAugust 10 – Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaAugust 11 – Detroit, MichiganAugust 13 – Toronto, Ontario, CanadaAugust 15 – New York, New YorkAugust 16 – Hershey, PennsylvaniaAugust 17 – Washington, DCAugust 18 – Greensboro, North Carolina
