Category: 5. Entertainment

  • Prime Video’s Off Campus series set for 2026 release with first look revealed

    Prime Video’s Off Campus series set for 2026 release with first look revealed

    Prime Video’s adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s best-selling Off Campus book series is officially in production, with the first season set to premiere in 2026.

    The announcement came from Amazon MGM Studios’ head of television, Vernon Sanders, who confirmed that while no exact date is set, the series will debut next year.

    Based on Kennedy’s 2015 novel The Deal, season one will follow the romance between Hannah Wells, a music major with a difficult past, and Garrett Graham, Briar University’s star hockey player struggling to keep his grades up. Ella Bright (The Crown) and Belmont Cameli (Saved by the Bell) will lead the cast as Hannah and Garrett.

    Supporting roles include Antonio Cipriano as Logan, Jalen Thomas Brooks as Tucker, Stephen Kalyn as Dean, Mika Abdalla as Allie, Josh Heuston as Justin, and Khobe Clarke as Beau Maxwell. Steve Howey (Shameless) will portray Garrett’s father, Phil Graham. Louisa Levy will serve as showrunner, with Temple Hill producing.

    Filming locations include Riverview Hospital in British Columbia, Canada. In August 2025, Prime Video released a behind-the-scenes look at Bright and Cameli during hair and makeup tests, followed by a teaser featuring the core four hockey players in Briar U gear.

    The series will explore themes of love, heartbreak, and self-discovery while depicting the lives of the university’s elite hockey team and the women connected to them. If successful, future seasons may adapt the remaining Off Campus books—The Mistake, The Score, The Goal, and The Legacy—and potentially expand into Kennedy’s Briar U and Campus Diaries spin-offs.

    Off Campus season one will stream on Prime Video in 2026.

     

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  • Summer Goth, Pucci Princess, Beachside Birkin: The Unhinged Anatomy of Celebrity Vacation Style

    Summer Goth, Pucci Princess, Beachside Birkin: The Unhinged Anatomy of Celebrity Vacation Style

    The jubilant, swirly Pucci print has been reveling in a summer 2025 renaissance. Once the print du jour for stars like Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren, now Bieber, Dakota Johnson, Lindsay Lohan et al. are taking up the mantle. It speaks to a particular summer vibe of Mediterranean maximalism, primed for Euro Summer Pinterest boards and starter packs alongside plates of pasta, Hugo Spritzes, and the vespa scene from the Lizzie McGuire movie. Tie a Pucci print scarf over your pants or nab an overpriced “fair” condition Pucci bikini on The RealReal to live the dream. Juicy!

    Dakota Johnson’s Ibiza it-girl pieces

    Photo: Backgrid

    Setting herself up for a short break across the Fourth of July weekend with pals including Kate Hudson, Tom Brady, and Sofia Vergara in Ibiza’s southern bay, Dakota Johnson delighted in the summer high season with just about every piece on the Net-A-Porter “new in” vertical.

    There was the sheer cream, floral lace embroidered dress under which she wore a chocolate brown bikini—a look perfect for wandering through the markets and lounging on the rocks. Other hits included a Dôen floral skirt, Vogue editor-approved Alaïa ballet flats, a novelty cap, and a very casual rare Gucci green shopper bag from the house’s fall 2025 runway. (Ibiza seems to be the place for ultra lux beach bags—who would have thought?). And we just know those super hyped Dune flip-flops from The Row were lurking in Johnson’s finca wardrobe.

    It’s the beach goth life for Jenna Ortega

    Jenna Ortega on Sydneys Bondi beach

    Photo: Media-Mode / SplashNews.com

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  • The 30 Best Grateful Dead Shows

    The 30 Best Grateful Dead Shows

    From their earliest days to Jerry Garcia’s final years, here are our picks for the Dead’s most magical, must-hear concerts

    During Jerry Garcia’s lifetime, the Grateful Dead played about 2,300 concerts, so what better way to celebrate the band’s 60th anniversary than focusing on their greatest live shows? Whittling that list down to the 30 best was no simple highway. Between ever-evolving set lists, lineups, and energy levels, no two Dead shows or tours were ever quite the same. But taking into account classic Dead-related venues, epic performances of their gems, and noteworthy additions to their membership, we decided to do it anyway. From out-of-the-way halls to stadiums, here are the 30 near-perfect shows that prove, as the bumpers sticker once read, “There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert.”

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  • See photos of ‘Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride’ on Broadway

    See photos of ‘Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride’ on Broadway

    Here’s your first look at comedian Jeff Ross making his Broadway debut in Take a Banana for the Ride! Ross is best known as the “Roastmaster General” for his fiery celebrity roasts, but in his latest solo stand-up show, he gets personal, peeling back layers of memory and emotion while still remaining raucously funny.

    Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride is inspired by how periods of grief in Ross’s life shaped his approach to comedy — and it includes some moments of his trademark roasting along the way. Check out photos of Ross performing at the Nederlander Theatre below, and get tickets to see him before Banana‘s limited run ends on September 28.

    Read our interview with Jeff Ross about Take a Banana for the Ride.

    Get Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride tickets now.

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    Get Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride tickets now.

    Photo credit: Jeff Ross in Take a Banana for the Ride on Broadway. (Photos by Emilio Madrid)

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  • What’s Next for Sydney Sweeney After American Eagle Jeans Controversy?

    What’s Next for Sydney Sweeney After American Eagle Jeans Controversy?

    ‘Tis the season of Sydney Sweeney. It just now comes with an asterisk.

    The two-time Emmy nominated actress, producer, Ford aficionado and booked-and-busy brand partner is revving up for the busiest run of a still rising career. On the heels of a meaty role opposite Oscar winner Julianne Moore in the Apple TV+ movie Echo Valley, Sweeney has two films in theaters on back-to-back weekends in August: Tony Tost’s Americana followed a week later by Ron Howard’s period thriller Eden opposite Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Brühl.

    September delivers an anticipated Toronto International Film Festival world premiere for a big swing as a queer boxer in David Michod’s biopic Christy, which she also produced, followed by Paul Feig’s psychological thriller The Housemaid opposite Amanda Seyfried. Early footage of the latter film electrified CinemaCon audiences when it debuted in Las Vegas in April. Oh, and the final season of Euphoria, the show that made Sweeney a star, is on the horizon for early 2026.

    Who could have guessed that a seemingly harmless denim campaign would force a footnote on what could have been a glorious few months because of how it stirred up a surprise culture war that stretched from TikTok to the White House, with everyone from Lizzo to Donald Trump weighing in with an opinion. But that’s what happened after American Eagle dropped its “Sydney Has Great Jeans” campaign July 23. It was designed as an ambitious partnership that included print ads, 3D billboards (including one on the Sphere in Las Vegas), Snapchat lens technology that allowed users to interact with a digital Sweeney, and a limited run of the “Sydney Jean” with 100 percent of the net proceeds donated to a nonprofit of the star’s choice.

    Within days, a handful of TikTok users took offense to a campaign clip that features Sweeney saying (with unique inflection), “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” The users claimed it promoted eugenics or was a form of Nazi propaganda because Sweeney is white, blond-haired and blue-eyed. While countless users dismissed the theories as nonsense, the dog pile had begun causing the hot takes to go viral. Mainstream media outlets picked up on the swirl and the coverage helped spread the controversy far and wide, from from late night to the White House. President Donald Trump clocked in after The Guardian reported that Sweeney registered as a Republican in Florida prior to the 2024 election.

    “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em Sydney!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The tide has seriously turned — Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be.” His post came hot on the heels of American Eagle defending its campaign while pushing back on the narrative that there was any other message to the pun. “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans is and always was about the jeans,” the brand shared on Instagram on Aug. 1.

    Sweeney stayed silent. She still hasn’t said a word about the campaign or its backlash but she did return to Instagram on Wednesday to promote Americana with a carousel of artistic behind-the-scenes images for her 25.3 million followers. “A few years ago I filmed this little movie with some friends and now you get to meet Penny Jo,” posted Sweeney, seen in many of the images that also feature Paul Walter Hauser and pop star turned actress Halsey. It’s the only recent promotion for the film that Sweeney has done aside from hitting the red carpet for a premiere at L.A. venue Desert 5 Spot on Aug. 3. But that night, she only posed for photos before quickly ducking inside without speaking to reporters.

    It begs a question: What should Sweeney do now?

    Not much says Nathan Miller, CEO and founder of full-service strategic and crisis communications firm Miller Ink, which represents Fortune 500 companies and celebrities. “American Eagle played it reasonably well,” he explained, adding that the brand’s response reflects the current culture. “The same brand five years ago would’ve apologized profusely and tried to move past it quickly. Instead, they stuck to their guns and stood by the campaign. It was irreverent enough without being offensive. What was great about it for Sweeney is that while it may have had everyone talking, she wasn’t. Everyone was speaking about her, and she doesn’t have to do anything.”

    But with a busy fall up ahead, she surely will have to speak at some point about her new films even if the first time she does field questions from the press is during a TIFF press conference. Asked how she should respond to the reveal about her voting record as a Republican, Miller said, again, she doesn’t need to engage. “If it is authentic to her and she wants to be public about it, great, but she should not feel compelled to do so just because someone dug up her party registration. It’s totally appropriate for her to say, ‘I don’t discuss my politics, that’s personal. I’m only here to talk about my movie.’ And she doesn’t lose. That’s the safest strategy,” he noted, adding that on the flip side it is possible today to build a brand as a political celebrity as there have been plenty of examples on the left. Reaching across the aisle today only helps to widen one’s appeal, Miller said.

    Lucy Robertson, head of brand marketing at Buttermilk, an agency that specializes in creator marketing, said the American Eagle campaign felt like a “misstep” for Sweeney because rather than leveraging her as a creative partner who helped shape the narrative. “It uses her as a convenient ‘hook’ to hang the campaign on, in this case, with a tone-deaf ‘good genes’ message that quietly reinforces Eurocentric beauty ideals like white skin, blonde hair, blue eyes.”

    Robertson said that “real influence” in today’s market comes from being “embedded in the creative ecosystem for the long-term” rather than just doing one-off endorsement deals. Sweeney has a long history of brand deals after having partnered with Laneige, Miu Miu, Armani Beauty, Kérastase, Heydude, Dr. Squatch and Baskin-Robbins.

    “Zendaya’s partnership with On, for example, sets the benchmark. In that 14-month collaboration — set to be the first chapter of a multi-year partnership — she hasn’t just starred in ads — she’s co-designed the Cloudzone Moon sneaker, helped craft the visual story in the evocative ‘Be Every You’ campaign, and shaped how her identity and movement translate into both product and storytelling,” Robertson explained of Sweeney’s Euphoria co-star. “That level of integration deepens cultural currency where we’ve seen Sydney front multiple brand campaigns in a short space of time, the result can feel more transactional than transformative.”

    A well-placed legal source familiar with negotiating A-list brand deals says it may be too soon to tell whether the social media swirl will affect Sweeney’s future partnerships and acting gigs. Companies might prefer not to work with her if they believe consumers have Sweeney fatigue or if her exposure could tarnish their image. (Amid the American Eagle backlash, Baskin-Robbins disabled comments on its TikTok videos featuring Sweeney.) The expert notes their advice to clients varies based on star wattage and that there’s a science to measuring celebrity. At a certain level of fame, too many product endorsements could dull one’s A-list image, the source added, while others turn to international markets to keep cash flow coming in while avoiding being “everywhere” on their home turf. Meanwhile, brand deals are becoming a necessity for middle-of-the-road actors who are feeling the squeeze of studio consolidation with fewer available gigs.

    Matt Herbert, co-founder and co-CEO of brand tracking platform Tracksuit, tells The Hollywood Reporter that the reaction to AE’s campaign “doesn’t need to necessarily define AE, but it is about how they react from here on.” He cites Pepsi’s controversial 2017 ad with Kendall Jenner that some called tone-deaf for using strikingly similar themes to Black Lives Matter protests. (The company later pulled the commercial online.)

    Tracksuit also found that brand awareness for another one of Sweeney’s brand partnerships for Dr. Squatch saw that company boosted by three percentage points from August 2024 to July 2025. (Recall that the men’s soap brand sold bars made with her actual bathwater due to popular demand.) The company also notes that “trendy” is a common theme associated with Laneige, Dr. Squatch and Miu Miu among survey respondents already familiar with all three brands. As for AE’s bottom line, the company’s next earnings report is Sept. 4, which could offer insight to how much of an impact, positive or negative, the controversy had on sales.

    Herbert notes that AE was “facing pretty big challenges over the past 18 months,” with brand awareness down by 6 percentage points from January 2024 to June 2025; and consideration, preference and usage declined by 5 percentage points. … any celebrity [endorsement or] brand activation is an attempt to drive relevance, which we know from looking at all of our tracking data.” 

    In the case of AE, “the news is so fresh, the conversation is so fresh, and we’ll be keeping an eye [on the outcome of the campaign in] the coming months,” says Herbert. That could mean even more eyes on Sweeney and her upcoming projects, which in Hollywood is always a good thing.

    Sweeney in American Eagle’s fall 2025 campaign.

    Courtesy of American Eagle

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  • Adam Levine ‘Blown Away’ When He Took Daughters to See Olivia Rodrigo

    Adam Levine ‘Blown Away’ When He Took Daughters to See Olivia Rodrigo

    Adam Levine is a loud and proud girl dad. As the father of two daughters (as well as a two-year-old son), the Maroon 5 singer is not afraid to say that his girls’ musical taste sometimes shapes his own.

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    So when he sat down with the Sirius XM Hits 1 this week to promote his band’s just-released Love Is Like album as part of the radio streamer’s new Artist Residency program, Levine opened up about bonding with Dusty Rose, 8, and Gio Grace, 6, over their mutual obsession with Olivia Rodrigo. “I gotta do Olivia ’cause of my kids. They’ll be so excited. I mean, I’m also a fan of Olivia. I’m not shying away from the fact that I’m a big fan of Olivia Rodrigo,” he said.

    “I took my girls to go see Olivia Rodrigo play at the Forum last summer and she was phenomenal,” Levine added. “I was blown away. She keeps it real. She puts on a rock show. All you kids out there, she does it for real. Not too much glitz and glamor and smoke and mirrors. Just the real deal. I think she’s amazing, so I’m gonna play a song by Olivia Rodrigo.”

    Levine also told SiriusXM Hits 1 about the circuitous route the album’s soulful title track took to its final destination. The song, on which Levine sings in an almost rap-like cadence over a sample of the 1972 Ashford & Simpson song “Silly Wasn’t I,” was originally titled “Drugs,” but the band nixed that name because it felt too harsh.

    He said he was at home writing and messing around with samples when he wrote the line, “love is like drugs,” which he wasn’t sure fit his vibe. “I was like, ‘Am I really gonna do this? This is weird. This is not my normal style,’” Levine recalled thinking of the track that started out as “a joke,” but then took on a real life when he sent it to a few friends thinking they’d agree it was a dumb idea.

    “I was like, ‘Oh, this is dumb. I can’t do this. This is silly, right?,’” he asked them. “And every response I kept getting back was like, ‘No, this is actually really good,’ and so there’s that scary feeling of something when you’re doing something that you don’t usually do.” More confident he was on to something, Levine kept working on the track before having a lightbulb moment that what it really needed was a verse from Lil Wayne.

    “So we got it to his team and it’s funny because when they got it, they were like, ‘Oh, this is so sick. When is Adam gonna cut it?,’ and they were like, ‘No, that’s Adam singing in the song.’ And they’re like, ‘What?’” But for Levine, 46, who is more than three decades into his career, putting the final touches on the song was “scary” because it was definitely new territory for him. “But they loved it. Wayne loved it. His verse is crazy,” he said. “It worked out, you know?”

    Maroon 5’s eighth studio album also features the previously released team-up with BLACKPINK’s LISA on “Priceless,” as well as the singles “All Night” and “California” and “I Like It” featuring Sexyy Red.

    Maroon 5 will hit the road in the fall to support the new album, kicking off with a Sept. 19 stop at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, followed by the proper tour kick-off on Oct. 6 at PHX Arena in Phoenix.

    Listen to Levine’s interview and watch the “Love Is Like” video below.

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  • Queen of the South landlord must raise £500k after deal reached to buy pub

    Queen of the South landlord must raise £500k after deal reached to buy pub

    The landlord of a south London pub is appealing for help to raise £500,000 by the end of September to prevent its closure after reaching a deal to buy the venue.

    Clement Ogbonnaya, who has run the Queen of the South pub in Tulse Hill since it opened in May 2023, previously said brewery Young’s had given “us a deadline to buy it back or risk losing it forever”.

    Announcing the deal on Instagram, Mr Ogbonnaya said they were “now in pole position”, but “we still have a way to go”.

    The brewery, which owns the freehold, said it was “pleased to have reached a positive solution”.

    At present Young’s owns 50% of the lease and 100% of the freehold.

    Mr Ogbonnaya said he had agreed a fee with Young’s to buy the freehold and their 50% of shares in the company that owns the lease, as well clearing all loans owed to them.

    He said on Instagram: “We wish to raise £500,000, to complete the purchase of the freehold.

    “And in return give an agreed percentage of said freehold as well as a percentage of operating profits of the business.”

    The money must be raised by 30 September for the deal to go ahead.

    Mr Ogbonnaya previously told BBC London the venue was named in homage to his mother, wife and two daughters and had replaced the White Hart pub, which needed a new roof, was infested with rats and had rotting floors.

    He said: “We’ve got rid of that ugly tooth on the high street and created a communal space as a hub, a meeting place, a place to celebrate, a place to mourn, a place to share ideas.”

    He added: “It would be a massive shame for this pub to become a Lidl or something else.

    “We’re finally finding our feet. The Queen of the South needs to exist.”

    A spokesperson for Young’s said: “We are pleased to have reached a positive solution with Clement which will allow him to independently run the Queen of the South pub.

    “As we have said previously, it has always been our intention that this pub remain independent to best serve its community, and we sincerely hope the pub will continue to thrive.”


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  • Border 2: Sunny Deol Spills Beans On Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh Starrer, Says ‘Darr Lag Raha Hai’ | Exclusive | Bollywood

    Border 2: Sunny Deol Spills Beans On Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh Starrer, Says ‘Darr Lag Raha Hai’ | Exclusive | Bollywood

    Border 2: Sunny Deol Spills Beans On Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh Starrer, Says ‘Darr Lag Raha Hai’ | Exclusive

    Marking India’s 79th Independence Day, the makers of Border 2 unveiled the film’s first poster along with its release date. The much-awaited sequel is all set to hit theatres on January 22, 2026, perfectly timed for an extended Republic Day weekend, which will guarantee a patriotic cinematic experience like never before. Fans are super excited for the film and in an exclusive chat with Zoom, Sunny spilled some beans on the shooting and said, “Darr lag raha hai…”

    Sunny Deol Spills Beans On Border 2

    In a recent conversation, Deol said in Hindi, “I have just done a little work with Varun till now. Now I am going to be shooting with Diljit and Varun again together, so it’s going well, I hope that we live up to it because it’s very scary.”

    Further, he added, “Just like when we were doing Gadar, it was very scary, similarly when we are doing Border, I am very scared. But because of that fear, I am not going to let it stop me from doing things. Let’s follow the script and flow with it, and hopefully, we will satisfy the audience’s expectations.”

    More About Border 2

    The actor also shared how a small inconvenience can cause a delay on the sets. He shared, “We are hoping early next year it releases, like we are hoping for January. And for these films, we fix dates, and till now, everything has been going fine but you never know, you know, because they are creative things, right? Sometimes there are special effects, sometimes something else, sometimes someone gets sick, and the project gets delayed a bit. Sometimes these things happen, and there are many such things. But we keep moving forward with our goals in mind.”

    Directed by Anurag Singh, Border 2 boasts a stellar ensemble cast including Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh, Ahan Shetty, Medha Rana, Mona Singh, and Sonam Bajwa. Produced by Bhushan Kumar and J.P. Dutta, the film draws inspiration from true stories and aims to connect its patriotic essence with the spirit of the nation.


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  • In ‘Infernal Hulk,’ an Ancient Horror Begins Its Conquest of the Marvel Universe

    In ‘Infernal Hulk,’ an Ancient Horror Begins Its Conquest of the Marvel Universe

    INFERNAL HULK #1

    Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON

    Art and Cover by NIC KLEIN

    Promo Variant Cover by NIC KLEIN

    On Sale 11/26

    “I’ve been promising Hulk fans the biggest, boldest status quo change in Hulk’s history, and that time is finally here,” Johnson said. “The next few issues of INCREDIBLE HULK give fans all the answers they’ve been waiting for about Eldest and the Mother of Horrors, and INFERNAL HULK is the beginning of a terrifying new normal, not just for the Hulk series but for the entire Marvel Universe.”

    “Working on Hulk whether it be Incredible and now Infernal with Phillip has been a dream,” Klein said. “Phillip is not only an amazing world-builder and craftsman who pours so much heart into this book, but he has also become a great friend and fantastic collaborator throughout this. INFERNAL HULK is where the journey was always going to go all along, and I’m excited to see reader’s reactions to it. I know I’m putting a lot of blood, sweat, ad tears into it, as always.”

    On what to expect in this new era, Johnson explains, “There are monsters way worse and more powerful than anything we’ve seen so far, bigger and stronger than Hulk with origins that go back to the foundations of the Earth. It’s time to take this story to the next level, and no corner of the Marvel Universe will be left untouched before the end.”

    Check out the main cover and preorder INFERNAL HULK #1 at your local comic shop today!

    Grab these comics and more at your local comic book shop! Or redeem then read your digital copy on the Marvel Unlimited app by using the code found in your print comic. Find and support your local comic book shop at ComicShopLocator.com.

    To read your Marvel comics digitally, download the Marvel Unlimited app for iOS and Android devices. Gain an expansive catalog of 30,000+ comics spanning Marvel Comics history, plus access your entire digital library including comics redeemed from print.

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  • Halsey cancels concert after months of planning

    Halsey cancels concert after months of planning

    Halsey has announced the cancellation of her highly anticipated Istanbul concert, a show that had been in the works for months and was set to be her only performance in continental Europe. The Grammy-nominated singer shared the news in an emotional Instagram statement, saying she was heartbroken to call it off.

    According to Halsey, unforeseen logistical limitations had made it impossible to move forward in a way that would deliver the event and ensure a safe, enjoyable experience for fans. She explained that she and her team had explored every possible solution with the local promoter before making the final decision.

    The concert, which had already been rescheduled once, was eagerly awaited by fans, many of whom had booked travel and accommodation. The announcement sparked frustration online, with some expressing disappointment over the timing and the financial loss incurred from their preparations. Others accused the singer of being unprofessional, suggesting she could have gone ahead with a scaled-down performance.

    However, many supporters defended her choice, highlighting that safety and quality should take precedence. Some fans urged others to be understanding, pointing out that cancellations can happen and that Halsey’s regret was clear in her message.

    In her post, the artist assured fans she remains committed to returning to Türkiye in the future, emphasising her love for performing there. She confirmed that refunds would be available at the point of purchase.

    The cancellation comes a year after Halsey revealed she had been diagnosed with lupus and leukaemia, conditions she described as life-altering. At the time, she said she was determined to focus on her health and envisioned a future free from illness as she turned 30.

    For now, fans will have to wait for a new date, but the singer’s promise to come back suggests the Istanbul crowd may yet get their long-awaited show.

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