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Normani knows her way around the Dancing with the Stars dance floor. The former Fifth Harmony member and solo star came in third place during her run in season 24 and she was back on the boards on Tuesday night (Nov. 25) to lend a surprise hand to Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles during last night’s season 34 finale.
Chiles made her entrance in style to the strains of Beyoncé’s “Bow Down (Homecoming Live),” seated regally on a silvery couch shaped like a pair of lips as four hunky backup dancers spun her around in the air and then brought her back to the ground, where she ripped off a series of end-over-end round-offs while rocking a black bra top and leather pants with her first name down one leg.
Joined by a group of eight backup dancers, Chiles ripped off a series of fierce body rolls, spins and an easy-as-pie standing backflip as Bey growled “bow down b–ches!” Then, halfway through the routine, Chiles sprinted to a chain link fence at the back of the floor and climbed up as the male dancers lifted the section of fence and laid it flat, revealing Normani striking a pose underneath.
With the music, and vibe, shifting to Normani’s 2019 Billboard Hot 100 No. 33 debut solo hit “Motivation,” Chiles leapt off the fence to join ‘Mani on the floor. The women touched hands and proceeded to tear it up with a freestyle routine that had them popping their hips and executing perfectly coordinated, side-by-side cartwheels.
With Normani twerking up on the fence, Chiles moved center stage with professional dancing partner Ezra Sosa for a final round of dips, sways and high leaps that helped earn the tumbler third place in this year’s competition.
Speaking to E! News afterwards, Chiles said that the double-up was Normani’s idea. “She’s the one that actually said, ‘I think I should be in your freestyle,’” Chiles said, describing how Normani pitched the idea while attending a taping as an audience member in late September. “I didn’t know she was serious until her manager called me and was like, ‘No, she’s being serious. She wants to be in it.’”
Chiles did not hesitate, detailing how she told Sosa that they were definitely going to include the pop singer in their routine. “We’re gonna make it one of the most iconic freestyles,” Chiles said she told Sosa of the dance that judge Carrie Ann Inaba dubbed the best freestyle routine she’s seen in the show’s 20-year history.
Watch Chiles and Normani dance below.
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On the same day in which he accused six Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior” that he said was “punishable by death” and shared someone else’s post that called for the Congress members’ hanging, Donald Trump once again lashed out at his late night nemesis Jimmy Kimmel.
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It started with Trump’s Truth Social post on Thursday (Nov. 20) in which he asked why “ABC Fake News” keeps Kimmel, “a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air?,” claiming the network’s (or Kimmel’s?) coverage of him is “totally biased.” He ended by demanding, “Get the bum of the air!!!”
The president, ensnared in particularly bruising media cycle whipped up by the back-and-forth over the release of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein — in which Trump is named more than 1,500 times, more than anyone else — appeared to be spun up again about Kimmel’s relentless jokes about the two men’s close ties.
So, on Thursday night’s show Kimmel doubled-down once again, sloughing off the latest attack from the leader of the free world on his late night comedy show. Kimmel opened his monologue by admitting that he’s “lost count” at this point of how many times Trump has called for him to be pulled off the air, revealing that he woke up that morning to his wife telling him that he was on Trump’s mind again.
“She’s got her phone. She goes, ‘Um, Trump tweeted you should be fired again,’” Kimmel said she told him. “I was like, ‘Oh.’ And then I went downstairs and made bagels for the kids… Talk about a snowflake, this guy. Every five weeks, he flips out and wants me fired. If you got this many threats from a neighbor, you’d have no problem getting a restraining order. The judge would be like, ‘Yeah, sounds like the guy’s nuts.’”
Kimmel read the president’s post to boos from the audience, noting that the late night missive went up at 12:49 a.m., just 11 minutes after his show ended on the East Coast. “Which is nice, he watches us live. Hi, Mr. President! How are you? Thanks for watching us on TV instead of on YouTube, we appreciate that. And I’ll tell you, it’s viewers like you who keep us on the air, ironically,” he joked.
And then Kimmel likely heaped more fuel to Trump’s fire by saying, “It’s also sweet that, even in the middle of the biggest sex scandal in the history of the American presidency, he takes precious time on the toilet to post about our show. Keeps saying we have bad ratings. And you should listen to him, because if anyone knows about bad ratings, it’s that guy,” he added, before rolling out a montage of clips with reports about Trump’s plunging polling numbers.
Trump’s latest broadside against Kimmel comes after ABC’s decision in September to pull Kimmel off the air for a few days after Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, issued a warning to stations carrying the show following criticism about Kimmel’s comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Back on the air the next week, Kimmel continued tweaking the president in his nightly monologues and it appears to have again incensed Trump, who has also called for other late night hosts to be fired in seeming pique over their jabs at his administration.
Kimmel pulled not punches again on Thursday, laying down the gauntlet, saying, “Mr. President, I admire your tenacity. If you’re watching tonight, which I presume you are, how about this: I’ll go when you go, OK?,” before adding another teasingly disparaging nickname to his endless pile of alternate titles for the commander in chief. “We’ll be a team. Let’s ride off into the sunset together like Butch Cassidy and the Suntan Kid. And until then, if I may borrow a phrase from you: Quiet, piggy.”
The latter was a pointed reference to the insult Trump hurled at a reporter on Air Force One after she asked him a question about Epstein, with Trump snapping at Bloomberg News journalist Catherine Lucey, “Quiet! Quiet, piggy!“
After swift passage in the House and Senate, Trump signed legislation on Wednesday ordering the Justice Department to release documents related to Epstein. That came after multiple attempts by Trump to kill the legislation before changing course following the defection of several Republican House members urging their release, including such typically MAGA faithful stalwarts as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.
The Justice Department now has 30 days to release the files, which Kimmel suggested could make for a “very merry Christmas indeed. I have a prediction for the next 30 days: I think we’re going to see Trump do some of the craziest s–t ever.”
Watch Kimmel’s monologue below.
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Robert Irwin is just three routines away from being the second member of his family to hoist the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. The conservationist who has wowed the crowds every week on season 34 of Dancing With the Stars did it again on Tuesday night’s (Nov. 18) Prince-themed episode, when he and partner Witney Carson landed one perfect score and one near-perfect rating for their flawless routines.
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The couple danced a jive to Prince & the Revolution’s “Baby I’m a Star,” which kicked off with Irwin leaping off the judge’s table in perfect time to one of the late pop icon’s high-pitched squeals, then sliding on his knees toward Carson and doing a gravity-defying stand-up move from a prone, flat-on-the-floor position.
From there, the couple pulled off fancy footwork, spins and acrobatic moves that would have made the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer proud, including a tricky maneuver where Carson flipped Irwin over her back, earning them a perfect score of 30.
Their sensual routine to Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL’s “WOW” found the pair dressed in leather, sheer tops and iridescent purple for a stunning Viennese Waltz in which they swooned around the floor, their bodies moving in time as one. It ended with Irwin spinning Carson in circles as she hovered just inches above the floor before he let go and slid on his knees to meet her for a final, sensual embrace.
Irwin’s younger sister, Bindi Irwin, won season 21 of DWTS in 2015.
The night also featured the first drop-in from Zac Efron (The Iron Claw), who showed up to support younger brother Dylan Efron (The Traitors), who made it through to the finale with a tango to Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” and a second dance to “Kiss,” which earned Efron and professional partner Daniella Karagach a 28 out of 30.
And, because that’s how these things go, someone had to have their dance card punched for the final time. Despite getting the third-highest score of the night for their cha cha to “1999” and a waltz to “Slow Love,” MomTok and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt and partner Mark Ballas were sent home in what the internet deemed a “shocking” elimination.
The three-hour, three-round season 34 finale (Nov. 25) will feature influencer Alix Earle with partner Val Chmerkovskiy, Efron and Karagach, Irwin and Carson, gymnast Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa and Parent Trap actress Elaine Hendrix with Alan Bersten; the show will air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
Watch Irwin’s Dancing With the Stars routine to Prince’s “WOW” and “Baby I’m a Star” below:
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After taking a few days off to mourn, Jimmy Kimmel was back on the air on Monday night (Nov. 17), less than a week after the death of his lifelong best friend and late Jimmy Kimmel Live! bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III. Longtime viewers of the show likely noticed that when announcer Lou Wilson ran down the night’s guests, Samuel L. Jackson and comedian Ms. Pat, instead of ending with a shout-out to Cleto and the Cletones, Wilson debuted the house band’s subtly tweaked new name: The Cletones.
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The small, but significant change was another example of the huge hole left behind by Escobedo’s death on Nov. 11 due to the heart condition cariogenic shock. After a lifetime of friendship beginning when they were neighbors as children in the Las Vegas suburbs, Escobedo had been by Kimmel’s side during the entire run to date of his late night show, beginning in 2003.
Fighting through tears, Kimmel paid loving tribute to his pal during last Tuesday’s show when he announced Escobedo’s passing, calling his 22-minute homage the “hardest” monologue he’s ever had to do. “We loved all the same things. Baseball, fishing, boxing, [Muhammad] Ali, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen, Michael McDonald, Huey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, and most of all, we loved David Letterman,” Kimmel said.
“I wanted Cleto to lead my band,” he said of the late night ensemble that also featured Escobedo’s horn-playing father, Cleto Escobedo Sr. “The idea that anyone other than him would lead the band was terrifying. It had to be him. “ was so scared they would say no and I would have to have another band. I had to work up the nerve to bring it up. Because I knew [saying], ‘My best friend from growing up plays the saxophone, he could lead the band,’ wasn’t a great pitch.”
In further tribute to Escobedo, Kimmel announced over the weekend that he has started two fundraisers to celebrate the musician’s life and give back, one for UCLA Health in honor of the care Escobedo received there and The Animal Foundation to honor his “love of animals.”
Trending on Billboard The Television Academy announced on Friday (Nov. 14) that Cris Abrego has been re-elected to a second two-year term as chair, beginning Jan. 1, 2026. Abrego’s first term marked a period of institutional progress and strategic gains for the organization. Under his leadership, the Academy achieved record membership and retention. It now […]
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Taylor Swift‘s future mother-in-law is getting into the biz. Travis Kelce‘s mom, Donna Kelce, makes a brief appearance in the first trailer for the upcoming fourth season of the hit reality show The Traitors. The series hosted by Broadway veteran Alan Cumming dropped a 90-second trailer for the fourth go-round of the Emmy-winning competition series on Tuesday (Nov. 11) in which reality stars descend on a castle in the Scottish highlands, with a group of “Traitors” facing off against the “Faithful” in a bid to win a $250,000 prize.
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“All the world’s a stage and all the people merely players,” Cumming intones with hokey gravitas in an invitation to the fresh crew of reality stars via Shakespeare’s famous As You Like It quotable quote. With the dramatic music swelling, we then meet the cutthroat competitors one-by-one. There’s One Tree Hill‘s Stephen Colletti, the Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Porsha Williams and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna, who promises, “I think I’m gonna play this game in a way that maybe no one’s ever played it.”
Among the other contestants are Natalie Anderson and Rob Cesternino (Survivor), Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho (Survivor 44), Mark Ballas (Dancing With the Stars 5) and Kelce, who is viewed briefly in the intro and, lacking reality show bona fides, identified as “Mama” Kelce. The matriarch of the legendary football family and mother of Jason Kelce and younger brother Chiefs tight end, and Swift fiancé Travis Kelce, looks menacingly at the camera as her profile is reflected in a round mirror in the background.
She’ll be facing off against Real Housewives of Potomac cast member Candiace Dillard Bassett, actor/comedian Ron Funches, Love Island UK 5‘s Maura Higgins, Top Chef‘s Kristen Kish, professional figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Monét X Change, actor Michael Rapaport, The Bachelorette‘s Colton Underwood and Real Housewives of New York‘s Dorinda Medley.
“No baby, I came to be treacherous, shady and win this money. Okay?” warns Change. While many of the contestants offer up glimpses of their planned treachery or make ominous threats, Kelce keeps her powder dry in the preview, not uttering a single word.
Kelce was once a mild-mannered football mom, but since her youngest son began dating Swift in 2023 she has stepped into the spotlight, frequently getting airtime during games alongside the pop superstar in the family’s luxury box as well as appearing in two Hallmark Channel holiday films last year, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story and Christmas on Call.
The 23 famous folks will face off on The Traitors U.S. beginning on Jan. 8 on Peacock.
Watch The Traitors season 4 trailer below.
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By now you’re surely aware that Kelly Clarkson can sing just about any song. The pop star and talk show host has run the gamut from pop and rock to country and soul during her beloved daily “Kellyoke” sessions that open each episode of her daytime chat series. Over the years, she’s taken on songs from Ariana Grande, theWhite Stripes, Dolly Parton, Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Heart and the Pixies, as well as fellow American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, My Chemical Romance and many more.
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So we know Clarkson has eclectic musical tastes, but what inquiring minds really want to find out is what are the singer’s top three albums of all time? Luckily, on Monday’s (Nov. 10) show, Clarkson spilled the beans on her royal trio. Taking viewers on a walk through the backstage of her series’ studio, pointing to some of the pictures of her biggest influences lining the walls, Clarkson set the stage for the big reveal.
Pointing to the framed cover of Lauryn Hill‘s Grammy-winning debut solo album, 1998’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Clarkson said if you don’t like the Billboard 200 No. 1 smash “you’re an idiot,” adding that the LP is one of the reasons she became a songwriter. She also noted that Americana legend Patty Griffin is her all-time favorite singer-songwriter and also shouted out Alanis Morissette, the Toadies and Aretha Franklin, among others.
But when it come to her absolute favorites, there was no doubt, with Clarkson giving a jokey, no bones caveat: “I hope you like them. If you don’t, you’re dumb.”
First up with Griffin’s 2002 classic 1000 Kisses from the artist Clarkson loves so much that her fans have put together “secret” compilation albums of Griffin’s music that have never been officially released.
“I love her so much. Her storytelling, her voice, her tone, her musicianship… the timing. She just does everything so beautiful,” Clarkson said of the 61-year-old Maine native whose self-titled 2019 LP won the Grammy for best folk album. Clarkson recalled that former boyfriend musician Graham Colton introduced her to Griffin’s music. “He was a great dude, but I wills ay the best part of that relationship was honestly him showing me this artist. I cannot thank him enough, she’s changed my life,” Clarkson said.
Number two on Kelly’s list was U2‘s 1998 compilation, The Best Of 1980-1990. While there are other U2 albums she loves, Clarkson said this 14-song compilation featuring such indelible hits as “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “New Year’s Day,” “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Desire,” “Angel of Harlem” and others is the bomb.
“I saw them at Madison Square Garden and it was the most insane show of my life and it was like a spiritual experience,” said Clarkson, who noted that she appreciates the band’s career-long struggle with the sacred and the profane. “Sometimes you’re like, ‘is he talking about a woman? Is he talking about a relationship with God? Is he just stoned and having a good time?’ I don’t know but I’m in and I want to know more,” she said.
The third pick might be a surprise given Clarkson’s pure pop roots, but holding up Hill’s Miseducation, the singer said she had the CD — which she bought with her own money — cued up in her Walkman and did not leave her home except to go to school for days in order to listen to the album on repeat. “I was like, ‘this is the coolest thing,’” she recalled thinking. “It wasn’t just the fact that she’s an incredible vocalist. It wasn’t even the fact that there’s incredible [background vocals] and how they interact with each other and intertwine. It was so clever, but not so processed and thought out. It was, like, organic.”
She also, of course, loved the “real, authentic” messages in the lyrics that, as a budding songwriter, taught her about the importance of writing with an authentic, believable voice. “This was a whole album story like something that will stand the test of time,” she said.
Watch Clarkson talk about her favorite albums below.
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Snoop Dogg will not be ringing in the new year on NBC. After previously announcing that the rapper would host a two-hour musical variety special from Miami titled Snoop Dogg’s New Year Eve as an extension of the hip-hop icon’s larger deal with NBCUniversal, Deadline reported on Wednesday (Nov. 5) that the network has decided not to proceed with the project.
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The show, which was slated to be carried live by the network and stream on Peacock, has reportedly been shelved in order to allow Snoop to focus on his gig as a Winter Olympics correspondent. “Sometimes the calendar gets in the way of the celebration, which is why my NBC family and I decided this winter was time for us all to focus on the Olympics,” Snoop told Deadline in a statement. “But don’t worry, we’ll party together bigger and better later in 2026. Ya dig.”
Though NBCUniversal’s announcement of the NYE special in May promised, “a night packed with unforgettable music, iconic performances and surprise artist collaborations,” up until the cancellation, no lineup or performer details of the planned special were revealed.
Snoop, who delighted audiences with his dispatches from the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, will be back on his ring game next month as a roving correspondent for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. According to the announcement from NBC in September, Snoop will “explore northern Italy, from the vibrant streets of Milan to the breathtaking Dolomites, providing his unique perspective to viewers during NBCUniversal’s Winter Olympic primetime coverage.”
The opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Games will air on Feb. 6 on NBC and Peacock and for the duration of the 17 day games, Snoop will appear alongside NBC Olympics host Mike Tirico and bring primetime audiences his unique perspective on Northern Italy winter games.
“I am excited to be back with my main man Mike Tirico for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina,” said Snoop in a statement when his winter games gig was announced. “The D O double G will be on the scene, and I am looking forward to celebrating with the athletes and their families. The Olympics is the biggest stage in the world and, as everyone knows, I’m all about sports, bringing people together, and unifying while bringing the fun. I’ll be bringing my puffy jackets, snow pants, goggles, skates (and will definitely be iced out).”
Deadline reported that it is currently unclear what NBC will air to replace the Snoop NYE special. Last year, NYE fell on Sunday and NBC carried Sunday Night Football instead of a live variety special after airing Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party live from Miami with Miley Cyrus the previous two years.
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BTS‘ Jimin and Jung Kook are hitting the road again next month. No, the K-pop group has not (yet) announced the dates for what fans are hoping will be their 2026 comeback tour. But the bandmates will be packing their bags for the upcoming second season of their hit reality travel series Are You Sure?!, which will premiere exclusively on Disney+ on Dec. 3.
According to a release, the second go-round of the show was filmed after the duo completed their mandatory South Korean military service and it “captures Jimin and BTS lead vocalist Jung Kook embarking on an unforgettable 12-day journey that spans from the majestic mountains of Switzerland to the vibrant shores of Vietnam. Traveling light with only their luggage, a modest budget, and a trusty guidebook, the pair dive into a mix of thrilling adventures, serene getaways, and spontaneous, fun-filled moments.”
The show will cover their 12-day adventure across eight episodes, with two new ones releasing every Wednesday from the premiere date through Dec. 24. “Viewers can look forward to plenty of heartwarming camaraderie, breathtaking scenery, and the unfiltered humor and chemistry that made the first season a fan favorite,” according to the release.
In the first season, fans watched the pair explore New York state, as well as Jeju Island in their native South Korea and Sapporo, Japan.
The show will be the table-setter for the main course, which will find the pair reuniting with Jin, Suga, RM, J-Hope and V next year now that all the group’s members have completed their military training. Their comeback will come a full five years after the release of their last proper studio album, Be, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in Nov. 2020. Since then, fans have had their thirst for BTS content slaked thanks to a series of solo albums, singles and tours.
Now, the countdown is ticking on what promises to be a big year for the crew, with an album and world tour on tap.
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What happens when two Oscar-winning Wednesday stars join forces? They come up with a hilarious ASMR video perfectly timed to Spooky Season.
On Halloween (Oct. 31), Netflix took to X to share a silly ASMR video clip featuring Lady Gaga and Catherine Zeta-Jones trying their hand at the viral content style. Set in a Wednesday-esque room, complete with moody lighting and adorned with props including dead roses, a gold candelabra, a black violin and faux poison, Gaga and Zeta-Jones sit behind a table and whisper into a microphone, aiming to help viewers relax.
“I think because this is Wednesday, we should say dark words like ‘death,’ ‘coffin,’ ‘cemetery,’” Gaga said while rubbing dead rose petals into the microphone, before Zeta-Jones added “Pugsley,” referring to Wednesday’s brother in the series.
While Gaga earned her Academy Award for best original song for “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, Zeta-Jones earned her statuette for best supporting actress thanks to her work in 2002’s Chicago. The “Abracadabra” singer referenced the latter film in the ASMR clip, joking, “Snap! Pop!” after plucking a petal off the rose. Once Zeta-Jones joined in with “Six,” the two stars finished the iconic opening lines of “Cell Block Tango,” a standout number from the six-time Oscar-winning film.
Outside of their Oscars and affinity for musicals, Gaga and Zeta-Jones also bonded over their same-named husbands in the Halloween ASMR clip. After mentioning that her fiancé (and Mayhem co-writer) Michael Polansky was from Minnesota, Zeta-Jones responded, “My Michael’s from Hollywood,” speaking of her husband Michael Douglas. “Your Michael is so sexy,” Gaga quipped, with Zeta-Jones replying, “I’d love to meet your Michael; I’m sure he’s just as sexy as my Michael.” Always one to laud a fellow powerful woman, Gaga said, “He would love to meet you. He may never come back!”
The duo’s Halloween ASMR clip arrives the month after the conclusion of Wednesday season 2. After scoring a surprise viral hit with “Bloody Mary” thanks to the Netflix series’ first season, Gaga appeared in the second season as Rosaline Rotwood, which gave way to “The Dead Dance,” he most recent Billboard Hot 100 entry (No. 40). As Zeta-Jones is prepping upcoming films like Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist, in which she’s set to star alongside Charli xcx and Jenna Ortega, Gaga is wrapping up the European leg of her Mayhem Ball Tour.
Watch Lady Gaga and Catherine Zeta-Jones try their hands at ASMR below.
