TV/Film
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Beyoncé’s long-awaited album of the year victory at the 2025 Grammy Awards for Cowboy Carter has garnered plenty of praise across the music industry, but some weren’t as happy to see Queen Bey rack up the award wins, and The View‘s Whoopi Goldberg isn’t letting it slide.
The actress had some words to share after Raymond Arroyo joined Laura Ingraham’s The Ingraham Angle on Fox News on Monday (Feb. 3), following Bey’s history-making night the evening before, and he slammed the Recording Academy for Beyoncé’s country dominance while she had more wins than artists such as Dolly Parton.
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“The country artists are not really happy about this,” Arroyo said. “I’m gonna put this in some context Laura: Dolly Parton has 10 Grammys. Frank Sinatra had 11 Grammys. Beyoncé has 35. How is that possibly commensurate with that talent? I mean come on.”
He continued to tell the host: “What people don’t know about the Grammys is everybody votes in every genre. You can vote in up to 20 genres. So basically Lady Gaga’s cat sitter votes for, you know, best reggae and best country album. So that’s why you get this ridiculous outcome that has nothing to do with the country audience or the country musicians.”
Oscar winner Goldberg came to Bey’s defense the next day, scolding the pundit on the Tuesday (Feb. 4) episode of The View.
“Sir, are you aware that you have to be in the music industry to be a Grammy voter? So, the cat sitter can’t just vote,” she fired back. “Are you aware that when the Grammys began in 1959, there were only 28 categories — now there are 94?”
Goldberg added: “The year that Frank Sinatra got six nominations despite having two No. 1 albums, he only won one Grammy that night for his album cover — not even for his singing, for the album cover. Listen, man. You can’t do that. She earned it.”
Arroyo is wrong on some other points. Sinatra won nine competitive Grammys, not 11. Voters cannot vote “in up to 20 genres.” In addition to the six General Field categories, voters can vote in no more than 10 categories spread across no more than three fields.
Beyoncé collected another three wins at the 2025 Grammy Awards, including her first album of the year victory for Cowboy Carter to bring her grand total to 35 Grammys. She also took home victories for best country album and best country/group performance for “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus.
Watch Whoopi Goldberg’s slam the conservative pundit on The View below.
If you are on a hunt for more clues about The Weeknd‘s upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow film, the first trailer for the Trey Edward Shults-directed thriller won’t provide much clarity. The two-minute first look at the movie inspired by the singer’s album of the same name dropped on Tuesday morning (Feb. 4) and unlike many contemporary trailers it leaves more questions unanswered.
The action opens with a vertigo-inducing helicopter shot of an upside down cityscape as co-star Jenna Ortega’s character Anima intones, “Death is nothing at all. It does not kill,” over a shot of the Weeknd submerged in a bathtub up to his eyes.
Then, things start to get a bit weird. As we get our first glimpse of Anima, her voice appears to merge with Abel’s as they say, “everything remains exactly how it was. Whatever we were to each other that we are still.” Keoghan’s character, Abel’s manager, Lee, then pops up with a weary look on his face as a ghostly voice announces (not for the last time in the tailer), “call me by the old familiar name.”
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According to EW, in an interview conducted before the trailer dropped, Shults said it was “absolutely” possible that the movie is the vehicle by which Tesfaye will lay his long-running artistic alter ego to rest. “I tried to make the movie in a way where, for his fans and people who want to approach it at that level, I hope it’s very satisfying and you get a good meal out of it,” Shults said. “And for people that aren’t his fans and don’t know anything about him or even care about the final capping of the Weeknd, I think you still have a great movie to go through.
Speaking to Variety last month, Tesfaye confirmed that he was planning to retire his enigmatic Weeknd persona following last month’s release of the Hurry Up Tomorrow album, the conclusion of a trilogy that began with 2020’s After Hours LP and continued on 2022’s Dawn FM. “It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he said of his stage name. “You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.”
The movie follows insomniac Abel as he’s pulled into an “odyssey with a stranger [Anima] who begins to unravel the very core of his existence.” Fans will recognize the by-now-familiar gold leaf-decked hooded robe in the trailer that Tesfaye has been wearing in recent performances in a bit where the bleary-eyed singer is hoisted on a lift up to a stage at a packed arena.
As a techno track bubbles up, we see Keoghan’s Lee trying to hype up Abel — “stop self-doubting, you’re f–king invincible!” he says — whose performance appears to make Anima tear up in the audience. She assures the singer, “this is all very intense, but I’m not trying to hurt you,” adding, “I’m really sorry about this. I really am,” as she sits next to a seemingly dazed and confused Abel on a bed.
The finale 45 seconds are a headlong rush of hectic imagery, including Anima pouring gas in a home as if to torch it as Abel gets more and more freaked out by the chaos around him. In keeping with the album trilogy’s visual presentation of an often-battered, spun-out singer, Shults told EW that the film is about an artist “on the verge of a mental breakdown,” explaining that he meets a woman [Ortega] and they “go on this odyssey together. It’s a mix of psychological thriller and drama. I honestly feel like I’ve never seen a movie quite like it.”
Ortega added that she thinks her character is another version of the singer, “a side of him that the persona the Weeknd doesn’t show as much.” The Hurry Up Tomorrow film — co-written by Shults, Tesfaye and The Idol co-creator Reza Fahim — will premiere in theaters on May 16.
Watch the trailer below.
If you asked H.E.R. what her life’s purpose is, she’d tell you it’s to inspire women and young girls. It’s no accident, then, that many of the major projects she’s taken on over the past couple of years have fallen in line with that mission, from contributing her newly Oscar-nominated Diane Warren collaboration “The Journey” to Tyler Perry’s Six Triple Eight — about the all-Black, all-female 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of World War II — to examining her own definitions of womanhood and empowerment on a highly anticipated followup to 2021’s Back of My Mind, which she’s teased is arriving at some point in 2025. And now, H.E.R. is turning her focus on girls in sports, reimagining Bruce Springsteen’s iconic 1975 hit “Born to Run” for Dove’s moving new Super Bowl commercial that premiered Tuesday (Feb. 4) with an important message at its center.
Her full version of the track will arrive one day later.
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In the 30-second spot — which will air during fourth quarter of the ultimate Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles game Sunday (Feb. 9) — a breathless 3-year-old girl sprints through her suburb as H.E.R.’s buoyant take on The Boss’ anthem plays. “These legs are unstoppable,” onscreen text reads. “At 14, she’ll think they’re unbearable.”
Reminding viewers how frequently young female athletes hear critiques about their bodies, the commercial then calls on it’s audience to “change the way we talk to our girls.” It’s a directive that feels especially poignant considering the popularity boom women’s sports have seen in recent years (thanks in no small part to powerhouses like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese), as well as the sociopolitical influx in online communities picking apart players’ appearances (thetransphobic hate cisgender Algerian boxer Imane Khelif experienced during the 2024 Olympics comes to mind). And it’s definitely something that weighs on H.E.R.’s mind as a former athlete and role model to her 18-year-old and 3-year-old sisters, which is why she says she jumped at the chance to translate “Born to Run” into a heartfelt tribute for young girls all over the world.
“I’m seeing myself in all of these young girls and thinking about all these things that we forget to appreciate,” she tells Billboard. “I have a body that simply moves, and I love all the things that it can do.”
“We’re born to run,” she adds, her voice swelling with passion. “There’s so many layers to that message. It’s like you’re born to be exactly who you are, to chase your path and follow your own dreams and your own heart. It’s not about anyone else. You’re born uniquely you.”
Speaking over Zoom just one day ahead of the premiere of Dove’s new campaign, the singer-guitarist broke down how she made Springsteen’s signature song her own, revealed how the project informed her upcoming album’s sound and explained why she aligns so strongly with the brand’s message. Read her conversation with Billboard below.
How did you approach re-recording such a famous song?
The song itself is so iconic, I didn’t want to do a complete left turn in my recreation of it. It’s so uplifting and joyful, and “born to run,” it’s the perfect lyric. It’s the perfect message, and kind of the perfect pace for a message like this.
It was all about the image of this young girl — keeping that in mind was the most important thing. We started with drums to kind of keep the energy but still make it my own, and I played some guitars on it to keep that iconic lead. It was all about adding even more soul to it. That iconic line that’s usually just the guitar line, I turned into vocals. I like doing things like that — taking pieces from the instrumentation and turning them into vocals — and my vocals definitely make [the song] a little more feminine.
Is Bruce a personal hero of yours?
Oh my gosh, absolutely. I love Bruce. I grew up listening to a lot of Bruce with my dad. He’s iconic.
I actually got to meet him two years ago and he was so sweet. I was like, “I’m such a big fan, my name’s Gabi.” He was like, “Oh my god, H.E.R., I’m such a big fan of you, I’ve mentioned you in interviews, you really rock out on stage.” And I’m like, “Man, I get it from you!”
Why does the message of the campaign resonate with you personally?
Where do I begin? A lot of my purpose has been to encourage women to be authentic and comfortable in their own skin and embrace who they are. That to me is one of the most important things I could ever do on this planet. That’s always been my mission, so that’s really what got me excited about this. It’s really perfect timing — I’ve been working on an album and the messaging of this album has really been about empowerment.
I have younger sisters, and it’s always so important for me to show them that they’re — I don’t want to say “enough.” I think we’ve outgrown that word. I think it’s to show them that who they are is perfectly imperfect, you know what I mean? We live in this age of social media, and comparison, like they say, is really the thief of joy. I’ve definitely experienced not feeling adequate. I’ve felt like, “Oh, maybe I need to change this about me, I need to fit into this mold.” But I’ve realized that there is no mold. I’ve tried to maintain that in my own life and exemplify that.
Speaking of your new album, what can you tell us about it?
I’ve been working on it in the midst of this [campaign]. It’s funny, because working on “Born to Run,” working on a Springsteen song, I feel like it’s only enhancing my process in the studio. I’m playing a lot more guitar on this album. And again, [the album] is all about empowerment. It was just perfect timing.
It’s this exploration of femininity and what it means to be a woman, what it means to me, what it means to depend on people around you and depend on yourself and love yourself, and what community means. What your expectations of love are, and the expectations you put on yourself. Just learning how to stand on my own.
It’s a lot of accepting ugly. And I mean that to say the parts of myself that I may ignore, that I think haven’t been enough. The parts that I may be afraid to face. It’s really been about embracing those things and empowering myself, not in the way that you’d expect, where it’s all about being triumphant … It’s more like, it’s OK not to be OK. It’s okay to be in the process of healing. You’re never fully healed. Just trusting the process and being OK with it.
One of your recent projects, “The Journey,” recently earned a best original song nomination ahead of the 2025 Oscars. How does that feel?
Oh my gosh, it’s crazy. I’m super excited about the song. It’s such a powerful song, and it’s also a really, really powerful movie — again, about women empowerment, and under-appreciated women. These stories hadn’t been heard. I feel blessed to be a part of that story, in a small way.
Women’s sports are more popular than ever, but with that there’s been an uptick in certain people picking apart women athletes for not looking “feminine enough.” With that in mind, why is this campaign more important than ever?
It’s discouraging. Telling a woman that her body is not the right type, or that she needs to look a certain way, or that she’s not “feminine enough” — what does that even mean? It just shows you what society’s idea of what’s feminine is, and it’s just not right. This message was definitely to break that barrier.
I played sports in high school and middle school, and I’m really grateful that my parents gave me that confidence to not care. But there’s definitely that shyness in the locker room, there’s those moments of, “Oh man, I’m afraid of myself. I’m afraid that people won’t accept me, that people won’t like me, despite my gifts or my ability.” You should never be discouraged to do something that you love and are passionate about because of the way you look.
There’s also been an outpouring of women expressing fear and uncertainty following the results of the 2025 election. Was that on your mind at all when working on this project?
I think, in general, we can’t live our lives in fear, no matter what. It’s all about empowering each other — I think that’s what it comes down to.
Hear H.E.R.’s cover of “Born to Run” in Dove’s new Super Bowl ad below.
Matthew McConaughey has a conspiracy theory about football that dates back hundreds of years — and he’s recruiting Charli XCX, Martha Stewart and more stars to convince people it’s true in a hilarious Super Bowl commercial for Uber Eats.
Premiering Tuesday (Feb. 4), the 90-second spot — which will air during the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles game on Sunday (Feb. 9) — opens with the Interstellar star telling viewers, “From the very beginning, football has been a conspiracy to make us hungry.”
He then defends his thesis by starring in flashbacks to important moments in his version of football history, including the inception of the “pigskin” nickname — to “make people crave bacon,” as McConaughey and costar Kevin Bacon explain to a group of players in the 1800s — and the decision to name the Green Bay Packers after meatpackers, while their fans are called “cheeseheads.” At one point, Hot Ones host Sean Evans makes a fitting cameo as he and the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actor decide on the Buffalo Bills’ team name over a plate of Buffalo wings.
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Flash forward to 2025, and McConaughey says that the Super Bowl gods “aren’t even hiding it anymore.” Presiding over a conference table where the “Von Dutch” singer sits next to Stewart, the Oscar winner points out that this year’s Halftime Show is “presented by an apple” — at which point Charli takes a smug bite out of a Granny Smith, a reference to both her Brat song “Apple” and the name of the tech company sponsoring Kendrick Lamar’s highly anticipated mid-game performance Sunday (Feb. 9).
One person who doesn’t buy McConaughey’s theory, however, is filmmaker Greta Gerwig, who tells him at the end, “No one believes that football is just some conspiracy to sell food.”
It was first announced that Charli and the domestic doyenne would star in the McConaughey-led Super Bowl campaign in late January. At the time, the Grammy winner also joined Stewart for a round of “We Listen and We Don’t Judge” for the food delivery company, as well as broke down football positions in club terms.
“It was cute filming my first Super Bowl campaign with Uber Eats!” Charli said in a statement at the time. “Matthew and Martha are obviously legends, so I felt right at home.”
The musician is just one of several music stars fans can expect to see grace their TV screens come Super Bowl Sunday. Also appearing in lucrative game-day ads are Post Malone — who appears alongside Shane Gillis and Peyton Manning in Bud Light’s 2025 campaign — and Mountain Dew partner Becky G.
See Charli and Stewart in Uber Eats’ Super Bowl commercial below.
The Weeknd is giving fans a glimpse of his upcoming psychological thriller film, Hurry Up Tomorrow, by revealing the first-look photos Monday (Feb. 3). The photos arrive one day after the Canadian-Ethiopian superstar made his triumphant return to the Grammys and performed “Cry for Me” and “Timeless” with Playboi Carti from his new album, Hurry […]
Japanese Breakfast guitarist and vocalist Michelle Zauner has offered a disappointing update to the status of her critically-acclaimed memoir’s film adaptation.
Zauner, who co-founded the Philadelphia-based band in 2013, released Crying in H Mart in 2021 following an essay of the name that name was published in The New Yorker in 2018. Inspired by her mother’s passing and the emotional experience of visiting the titular H Mart stores, Zauner had previously chronicled her encounters with loss in a 2016 essay for Glamour magazine.
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The publication of Crying in H Mart was met with an overwhelmingly-positive response, with the book ultimately spending 55 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. In 2023, it was reported that The White Lotus’ Will Sharpe would be directing a feature film adaptation of the book, with Stacey Sher and Jason Kim producing.
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According to an official synopsis, the adaptation was described as a “coming-of age story about a half-Korean daughter who returns to small town Oregon to care for her Korean mother. Critical and smothering Chong-mi and creative and independent Michelle struggle to understand each other across a cultural fault line, only learning to see and accept one another through the formative power of music and the vibrant flavors of Korean cooking.”
In a recent interview with SSENSE, Zauner discussed the current status of the adaptation and revealed that those who had hoped for a timely arrival of the film will now be left waiting for an undetermined period of time.
“Well, it’s on pause,” Zauner explained. “There were issues with the Hollywood strikes, and the director stepped away from the project. I spent a year working on the screenplay, which was a tough but rewarding process. I still have faith it will get made someday, but it’s not happening anytime soon,” she added. “Right now, I’m focusing on other creative projects, so the film will have to wait.”
Though she didn’t address specifics of her creative projects, Zauner and her Japanese Breakfast will be releasing their fourth album, For Melancholy Brunettes (and Sad Women), on March 21. Their previous record, 2021’s Jubilee, was their first to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching a peak of No. 56.
Post Malone had the dream team backing him up on set for his fourth Super Bowl commercial with Bud Light, with the singer-rapper this year starring alongside Peyton Manning and comedian Shane Gillis for the beer’s game-day spot. In the 60-second spot that premiered Friday (Jan. 31), Posty and Gillis come to the rescue when […]
The Weeknd doesn’t just perform—he curates experiences.
Hours before the release of Hurry Up Tomorrow, the Canadian artist made a striking appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, delivering a cinematic rendition of “Open Hearts” that blurred the line between live television and a full-scale production.
The performance opened in stark black and white, with Tesfaye cloaked in a shadowy robe, his glowing eyes creating an almost otherworldly presence. The stripped-back visuals felt deliberately unsettling, as if pulled from the surreal worlds of David Lynch, setting the tone for what was to come.
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As the song progressed, the atmosphere began to shift. The stage dissolved into an animated, stop-motion dreamscape, with jagged transitions and uncanny imagery. The performance balanced minimalism and surrealism, offering a glimpse into the darker, more introspective aesthetic underpinning Hurry Up Tomorrow.
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The surreal aesthetic has only heightened speculation that the upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow film—arriving in theaters May 16—will explore similarly haunting and imaginative territory.
With Hurry Up Tomorrow now out via XO/Republic Records, the performance stands as a gateway into The Weeknd’s latest (and potentially final) chapter under his longtime moniker.
The album, which serves as the closing installment in his trilogy following After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022), carries a deeply introspective tone. While it boasts high-profile collaborations like Playboi Carti (“Timeless”) (which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100) and Anitta (“São Paulo”), the most talked-about moment is Lana Del Rey’s uncredited feature on “The Abyss.”
Meanwhile, “Dancing in the Flames,” which was previously teased, was left off the final tracklist entirely, leaving fans speculating about its fate.
Originally scheduled for release on Jan. 24, the album was delayed as The Weeknd pledged $1 million to LA wildfire relief efforts, canceling a planned Rose Bowl album release concert in the process. Proceeds from the track “Take Me Back to LA” will also be donated to the LA Regional Food Bank, providing further aid to those affected.
As The Weeknd pivots toward his feature film debut in Hurry Up Tomorrow, directed by Trey Edward Shults and starring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, performances like his Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance suggest that his storytelling is only becoming more ambitious.
Whether or not this truly marks the end of The Weeknd, his ability to merge music and visual spectacle continues to evolve, making Hurry Up Tomorrow a fitting conclusion to this phase of his career.
In tandem with his live performance, The Weeknd has launched a series of events to further immerse fans in the world of Hurry Up Tomorrow.
In partnership with Spotify, the Hurry Up Tomorrow Pop-Up Experience will take place in New York City from Friday, Jan. 31, through Sunday, Feb. 2. This interactive art installation will transport fans into Tesfaye’s creative world, offering a glimpse into the final act of his acclaimed trilogy.
Meanwhile, specialty retailer Hot Topic is showcasing an expansive Hurry Up Tomorrow merchandise collection, including tees, hoodies, posters, and the highly anticipated The Weeknd x Frank Miller Hurry Up Tomorrow apparel capsule – available only in Las Vegas at the “takeover”.
From Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, the Downtown Summerlin Hot Topic store in Las Vegas will host a Hurry Up Tomorrow “takeover,” transforming the space into an exclusive retail experience.
Watch his performance on Jimmy Kimmel below.
The Weeknd has officially closed the chapter on his iconic trilogy with Hurry Up Tomorrow, released Friday (Jan. 31) via XO and Republic Records. While fans expected collaborations from artists like Playboi Carti and Anitta, a surprise feature emerged: Lana Del Rey’s uncredited vocals on the track “The Abyss.” Listeners quickly identified Del Rey’s distinct […]
Netflix are reportedly moving ahead with their Building the Band reality series following the recent passing of judge Liam Payne.
News of Building the Band first broke in August 2024, with Netflix revealing they had recruited Payne as a judge for the show alongside the Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger and Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland. The Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean was also confirmed to host.
Planned to film over the summer, the series’ novel concept revolves around bringing together a number of talented singers and tasking them with crafting their own bands without ever seeing each other. Through the use of isolated booths, the singers would then have to select their bandmates based upon musical compatibility, connection, chemistry and merit.
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“And when the bands finally do meet, how will looks, choreography, and style come into play?” asked a press release. “Expect plenty of drama, next-level artistry, and unforgettable performances.”
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Following the untimely passing of Payne in October 2024, it was confirmed the series’ filming had wrapped in the U.K. earlier in August, though its future appeared unclear.
Now, Netflix have reported they will be moving ahead with the series as planned, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.
Though the streaming platform stated they never had announced plans to shelve the show, their issue instead revolved around how prominently Payne would feature in the aftermath of his passing.
Netflix reportedly hosted a “special presentation” regarding the series in Los Angeles on Wednesday (Jan. 29), during which Netflix Vice President of Nonfiction Series and Sports Brandon Riegg explained that the platform had been involved in conversations with Payne’s family about how to handle his role in the show.
Currently, no premiere date for the series has been announced, though Riegg reportedly claimed there would be more to say about the matter in the future.
Payne passed away in Argentina on Oct. 16 following a fall from a hotel balcony. Earlier this month, a U.K. inquest into Payne’s cause of death returned a finding of “polytrauma”, which refers to multiple traumatic injuries to a person’s body and organs.
To date, five people have been charged in Payne’s death, including the January arrest of Braian Piaz, one of two men accused of supplying drugs to the singer. The others charged to date include CasaSur Palermo Hotel manager Gilda Martin, receptionist Esteban Grassi and Payne’s friend Roger Nores, all of whom are facing manslaughter charges; hotel employee Ezequiel Pereyra has also been charged with supplying drugs to the singer.