Category: 5. Entertainment

Deadline was the first to tell you that Lily James would be playing Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, the first to bring you a production photo and now we finally get the trailer.

The Hulu film Swiped also stars Myha’la, Jackson White, Dan Stevens and Pierson Fode, as Deadline previously announced. It begins streaming September 19.

Plot details for the film remain vague, as it’s said to be somewhat loosely inspired by Herd’s life and career journey, rather than a beat-for-beat recounting. Famously launching the online dating platform Bumble after co-founding and departing Tinder, Herd became one of the youngest self-made billionaires at age 31 when Bumble went public in 2021. While she stepped down as CEO last year, the app continues to be popular amongst the single crowd.

The trailer follows Herd’s rise among the Twitter boys club, her disillusionment and departure, and her effort to “change the rules of online dating” by empowering women to choose on Bumble.

Watch the trailer above.

In the past few weeks, rap fans have celebrated legendary mixtapes from Lil Wayne and Rick Ross being uploaded to streaming platforms, but their time on these services may be cut short. A source close to Wayne told Rolling Stone that his Dedication and Da Drought mixtapes, recently removed from Tidal and Apple Music, were “not legal [or] legitimate uploads,” even though they were on his official artist pages. (Reps for Tidal and Apple Music did not respond to requests for comment.) 

These uploads reflect potential flaws in the process of adding music to Digital Service Providers (DSPs). Streaming services like Apple Music, Tidal, and Spotify require artists to utilize third-party music distributors such as Distrokid, TuneCore, and RouteNote to upload music to their platforms. However, the scale of music regularly uploaded to self-service distributors means anyone can upload a song or album without official rights, attribute it to any artist they choose, and sometimes have these uploads slip through regulation onto artists’ official pages. 

Coach Bombay 3000, a Brooklyn music manager for rapper Rome Streetz and several other acts, believes that it’s “pretty easy” for anyone to upload music to digital music distributors and have it appear on an artist’s official page. “There’s been times where there’s so much shit that says Rome Streetz [and] we never uploaded [it],” he says. “We’re like, ‘Who the fuck is this?’ We got to issue strikes to get it taken down.” Bombay says he’s dealt with people trying to upload music to Rome’s streaming pages “three times” in the last month. 

He explains that when people use one of the digital music distributors, they can type Rome Streetz or Lil Wayne in the “primary artist” category of the upload form, add a link to the URL of the official artist page on the streaming service, and have a chance of the music bypassing quality control functions. He says that once the music is uploaded to streaming providers, his team has to ask the official distributor (an independent distributor or record label) to issue a takedown notice, which can take days. In the case of Wayne, it took almost a week for his mixtapes to be removed from Apple Music and Tidal. 

Another anonymous source, who works in the streaming world, confirmed the ease of illegitimate uploads, adding “it happens that way all the time,” and they’ve seen a “crazy influx of fraud” in recent months. Sometimes users upload unlicensed music onto artists’ official pages, while other times they use accounts featuring the artist’s misspelled name or a nickname as the “primary artist.” The source also notes that artists sometimes take it upon themselves to add their legitimate collaborators as a “primary artist” without permission. “Some artists don’t like being added as a primary artist without their permission because whatever they’re tagged on as a primary artist shows up as their latest release.” 

The source says that they’ll occasionally see these pending uploads fast enough to contact the music distributor or streaming platform, but sometimes they’re “not quick enough,” resulting in them going live on the platform. “It would likely come down to a shitty distributor or one with too much volume,” they said, likening the process to whack-a-mole. Bombay bemoans the “free-for-all” atmosphere on streaming platforms. “There’s no filter system,” he says. “There’s no process to make sure that everything that’s being uploaded is quality.”

While the mixtape scene allowed artists and DJs to release songs to blogs and sites like Datpiff and LiveMixtapes without regulation, streaming services are more stringent with unlicensed music, especially from popular acts. Wayne’s Dedication and Da Drought mixtapes feature him freestyling over beats from other artists who would have to clear them being used — ditto for his collaborators, who would have to approve their appearances for the projects to avoid copyright strikes. 

In recent years, artists have re-released their early career mixtapes on streaming services. In 2020, Lil Wayne dropped a truncated version of 2011’s No Ceilings, Drake celebrated the 10th anniversary of So Far Gone with a 2019 release on streaming platforms. Nicki Minaj reissued her seminal 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty in 2021, and Travis Scott commemorated the 10th anniversary of Days Before Rodeo with an official release on streaming last year, while J. Cole went on to re-release a trio of his early mixtapes two months later. In each case, the artists announced the impending releases; the mysterious recent appearance of Wayne’s mixtapes, as well as Rick Ross’ 2011 Rich Forever project, made some fans skeptical. 

When Ross was asked in May about clearing Rich Forever for streaming services, he said, “I really don’t wanna do it. That was at a certain point, I just wanted to do that for the streets.” There’s an entire wing of canonical mixtape music that’s available on YouTube, as well as platforms like LiveMixtapes and Datpiff, but isn’t officially on streaming platforms. 

In 2021, the late Prodigy’s friend and engineer Joe “The Engine Ear” told Complex about the tedious process of getting the rap legend’s music cleared for DSPs. Joe noted that after Prodigy’s 2017 death, his estate removed his music from streaming to ensure that samples were cleared, publishing splits were correct, and all credits were properly attributed. “It’s hard to explain the amount of work that it took to get The Book of Heroine near the finish line,” he said.   

While fans may sometimes circumvent overloaded or shoddy digital distributors to release unlicensed music, they usually won’t last long before being flagged. Still, Bombay notes, “the digital streaming platforms have no control over what goes out and what comes up.” The anonymous source expressed a slightly different sentiment, saying, “I think folks are trying to eliminate this issue. The problem is with rapid fans and hypebeasts, I feel they’ll always find a way.” 

Nicola and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham had a wedding so nice they decided to do it twice.

A24 has secured worldwide rights to The Undertone, the debut horror feature from genre writer-director Ian Tuason, following its July 27, 2025, world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival.

The acquisition came after a competitive bidding war involving six potential buyers, with the deal reportedly closing in the mid-seven-figure range — a remarkable achievement for Tuason’s first feature film.

The Undertone stars Nina Kiri (The Handmaid’s Tale) as Evy, a paranormal podcast host who returns to her hometown to care for her terminally ill mother. Soon after, she begins receiving disturbing audio recordings from a married couple experiencing mysterious noises in their home. The unsettling events pull her into a chilling spiral of paranoia and dread.

Fantasia Fest programming director Carolyn Mauricette described the film as “a slow-burn nightmare” reminiscent of SKINAMARINK and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House.

Produced by Dan Slater of Slaterverse Pictures and Cody Calahan of Black Fawn Films, the film’s executive producers include Steven Schneider and Roy Lee of Spooky Pictures, Chad Archibald of Black Fawn Films, and Brit MacRae and Daril Fannin of Kino Studios.

Toronto-based Tuason is known for his award-winning work in the genre space, including live-action virtual reality horror shorts that have amassed over 14 million views online and screened at SXSW, Fantasia, and Cannes.

The distribution deal was negotiated by Stuart Manashil of Novo, Black Fawn Distro, and 3 Arts Entertainment.

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For decades, print media has been transitioning to digital, with physical magazines, newspapers and newsletters declining in numbers and delivery cadence. But there are exceptions, just witness the New York Post’s forthcoming California edition.

On a smaller scale, Kevin Durant’s Boardroom plans to launch a new print magazine. Boardroom has only been a digital site, so it is moving in reverse order from the once-typical print to online migration. A trial issue is due out later in August with a cover feature on number one ranked female tennis star Aryna Sabalenka, and the plan is to print four times a year starting in 2026.

Durant and his business manager, Rich Kleiman, started Boardroom in 2019, following its sister company 35 Ventures (named after the jersey number the NBA star has worn much of his career), which houses their investment and media production arms.

The content is focused on athletes, musicians, film stars and other entertainers, so it’s not a pure sports site. A recent “cover” story is on R&B singer Giveon, with other links to stories including the FIFA World Cup, Nike FC Barcelona’s Kobe Bryant kits, and on the opening viewership for Happy Gilmore 2.

Why publish a physical magazine? Expenses are far greater than digital only, the publication has to be printed and delivered, and is typically out of date before it comes off the presses.

“There’s starting to be more and more of a value put on something in the physical because of how saturated the digital landscape is and just how much time we all spend on it,” said Kleiman, a music industry veteran before he partnered with Durant as his business manager and partner in 35 Ventures. “So it is not meant to become the main revenue generator of our business, that is built around subscription and brand integration … It’s not something that we’re seeing as a big driver in growth from a monetization standpoint, as much as a driver in marketing, and adds a level of kind of cachet and premium to our existing businesses.”

The magazine, also monikered Boardroom, will first be available later this month at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, and also next month at the sports business conference in Los Angeles the media platform hosts annually with CNBC.

“We’re calling it a mini mag, and we’re only making a few thousand of them, but starting next year, we’ll be putting out a quarterly, more traditional print magazine,” Kleiman said. The mini mag is set to run 50 pages, with 120 targeted for the quarterly next year.

There has been a slow drip of new print publications in recent years, testing the conventional wisdom that print is dead. To name a few, trailblazing online magazine Tablet this year put out a print edition; cultural toy brand POPMART launched a youth culture magazine this year called play/Ground; and last year rock online magazine SPIN relaunched its print edition.

Boardroom occupies a hard to define space. It’s not a sports publication, or a sports business outlet, because it also covers popular culture. It was ahead of the trend of sports sweeping into popular culture, whether it’s the explosion of women’s sports or the ubiquity of the NFL, and the cross over between sports and entertainment.

In addition to a story on Sabalenka, which is a Q&A that Kleiman conducted himself, the pilot issue has other items, including a piece on Rolex’s sponsorship presence in tennis. Boardroom does not plan to hire a dedicated staff for the magazine, Kleiman said, but largely tap into its existing employees who put out the digital news, including on the main site and in newsletters.

This back to the future moment of a new print publication Kleiman likens to the uptick in sales of vinyl records. It doesn’t harbor a return to the old way of doing things, he said, but is simply one more platform among many.

Jennifer Lawrence admitted to Vogue as part of Emma Stone‘s new cover story that she originally argued against Stone shaving all her hair off for Yorgos Lanthimos’ upcoming “Bugonia,” a reimagining of the 2003 South Korean film “Save the Green Planet!” that casts Stone as a pharmaceutical CEO who gets kidnapped by a pair of conspiracy theorists (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) convinced she is an alien set on destroying Earth.

“I really didn’t want her to shave her head,” Lawrence said about her two-time Oscar-winning friend. “I had already lived through the Billie Jean King haircut.”

Lawrence is referring to the hairdo Stone rocked in “Battle of the Sexes,” in which she played the iconic tennis player Billie Jean King. For “Bugonia,” Stone channeled her inner Natalie Portman in “V for Vendetta” and shaved her hair off on camera while filming a scene for the dark comedy in the back of a Range Rover. The actor broke down in tears in her trailer before shooting the shaving scene, as it reminded her of when her mother, Krista, battled breast cancer. As Stone put it: “She actually did something brave. I’m just shaving my head.”

But Stone ended up loving it, saying, “No better feeling in the world. The first shower when you’ve shaved your head? Oh my God, it’s amazing.”

The final result also had Lawrence admitting she was wrong, too. As Lawrence told Vogue: “Honestly, she looked beautiful. She pulled it off.” Even Stone’s mom reacted by telling her daughter: “I’m so jealous. I want to shave my head again.”

“The more challenging it gets, the more I like it,” Stone added about her acting career. “If you’re not growing or pushing yourself to different places—and I feel it’s the same for most people in almost any job—you get stagnant.”

Stone won her second best actress Oscar for “Poor Things,” also directed by Lanthimos. Lawrence happened to be on stage at the time and fellow presenter Michelle Yeoh handed off the Academy Award to Lawrence so that she could bestow it to her longtime friend Stone.

“In true Emily form, as soon as we got offstage and ran into the bathroom to scream and cry,” Lawrence said about the moment, “I whispered, ‘Two-time best-actress winner,’ and she replied, ‘I feel like that’s bad, though.’”

“Bugonia” is set to world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival before releasing in theaters Oct. 24 from Focus Features. Head over to Vogue’s website to read Stone’s cover in its entirety.

Musexpo has announced Kirk Sommer, WME’s senior partner and global co-head of music, as their International Music Person of the Year for 2025.

Sommer will be recognized for his years-long efforts in aiding the careers of Amy Winehouse, Adele, Andrea Bocelli, Artic Monkeys, Benson Boone, Billie Eilish, the Killers and many more at a VIP Awards Gala Luncheon on March 24, 2026 in Burbank, Calif.

As part of a weeklong series of industry gatherings including the global synch and brands summit, the A&R summit, and other marquee events, Musexpo will bring together key decision-makers and innovators from around the world to examine the future of music, media and technology.

Prior to the luncheon, Musexpo will host a keynote conversation with Sommer, offering a rare, in-depth look into his professional journey — from starting in the WME mailroom in 2000 to becoming an industry leader in global music representation.

Sat Bisla, president and founder of A&R Worldwide and Musexpo, stated, “Kirk M. Sommer has not only shaped the careers of some of the world’s greatest musical voices but has also helped redefine what it means to be a leader in today’s ever-evolving music industry. His deep respect for artists, his commitment to mentorship, as well as his strong global perspective and vision make him an exceptional choice for this honor. It’s our privilege to recognize his outstanding contributions to the worldwide music ecosystem.”

+ Lo Ting-Fai, known as Lofai, has been appointed president of Warner Music APAC, at Warner Music Group. Effective Aug. 11, he will be based in Hong Kong, reporting to Robert Kyncl, CEO of WMG. All of the company’s recorded music territory heads across the Asia-Pacific region will report to Lofai.

Lofai joins WMG from telecoms giant PCCW, where he most recently served as CEO of its subsidiary MakerVille, a leading entertainment company which focuses on content creation, artist management, and live events, and COO of Viu, its regional OTT streaming platform. He has also written hit songs under the pseudonym “Yu Ri.”

Lofai said: “I’m excited to be taking up this incredible role. WMG has been rewriting the rules when it comes to how a music company works in our changing industry, and it has massive ambitions for growth in the APAC region. I look forward to collaborating with Robert and WMG’s teams around the world as we help more Asian artists hit the global stage, strengthen our incredible catalog, and find fresh, innovative ways to build passionate, loyal fanbases.”

Kyncl adds: “Lofai will oversee many of our highest priority markets both today and in the future, with culturally diverse music scenes, filled with next generation talent and iconic copyrights. He brings his creative flair, business acumen, and connections throughout the digital economy to this super important role. Together, we’re committed to finding and developing artists with massive creative and commercial impact, evolving our suite of services, and growing our market share across the region.”

+ Red Bull Records has signed country artist and award-winning songwriter Pynk Beard (Sebastian Kole) alongside the release of his new single, “Sip,” the third offering from his debut EP, “Red Dirt Diaries,” coming this fall.

On the signing, Greg Hammer, managing director of Red Bull Records states: “Pynk Beard effortlessly blends his traditional Southern roots with culturally resonant lyrics, creating a sound that is truly original. To watch him build a loyal following before releasing any music officially has been incredibly impressive and speaks to how special he is. We’re thrilled to welcome him to Red Bull Records and we’re confident he has a bright future ahead of him that we’re proud to champion.”

“I’m so grateful to be a part of the Red Bull Records family!” Pynk Beard added. “They have been nothing short of amazing in supporting me in the release of my first two singles ‘I Lived’ and ‘Mine Lord Willing’, and their genuine interest and care for me as an artist has shown in every action. The future here is bright and Pynk.”

+ Los Angeles-based lifestyle and fitness apparel brand YoungLA has tapped artist Lil Baby to star in the brand’s latest campaign drop launching online Aug. 13. “YoungLA x Lil Baby” merges streetwear with Lil Baby’s signature style and influence, and includes standout denim outerwear and bottoms, graphic tees, and a statement leather jacket featuring the Batman emblem.

+ Adidas has announced multi-platinum international DJ-producer Uncle Waffles as the latest global talent to join “Superstar: The Original” a campaign celebrating the sneaker’s long-lasting influence in sports, culture and beyond. The partnership with Uncle Waffles is adidas’ newest installment of its global campaign starring a multi-generational cast of original voices, including Samuel L. Jackson, who narrates the campaign, as well as Missy Elliott, Jennie, Anthony Edwards, Mark Gonzales, GloRilla, Teezo Touchdown and Gabbriette.

+ 5020 Records, a division of Sony Music, has signed singer-songwriter Carla Morrison to its roster.

A three-time Latin Grammy winner and two-time Grammy nominee, Morrison is widely recognized for her blend of indie pop and alternative styles. Originally from Tecate, Baja California, Morrison shared news of her signing with 5020 Records via her official social media channels, posting a welcome letter from the label thanking her for entrusting them with her music.

Launched in 2022, 5020 Records is a Sony Music imprint that represents a dynamic lineup of talent, including Residente, Beele, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso, Christina Aguilera, Kany García, Nathy Peluso, Kenia OS, and Tini.

Jennifer Aniston just came out with an unexpected, wistful comment about her “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry’s death: Part of her, she said, thinks it might be “better” for him that he died.

“We did everything we could when we could,” the “Morning Show” star said in an interview published Monday by Vanity Fair, talking about Perry’s friends’ attempts to help him when he was struggling with addiction. “But it almost felt like we’d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight.”

Indeed, Perry discussed his friends’ efforts to help him in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” which recounted his decades-long struggles with substance abuse as well as his numerous recovery efforts.

“Although he asserts he was never high while filming ‘Friends,’ he’d often be sick or hungover,” former staff writer Christina Veta wrote in The Times’ review of the memoir. “Once, Perry passed out on the Central Perk couch and [co-star Matt] LeBlanc had to nudge him awake to say his line. Later, Aniston called him out for drinking again, telling him, ‘We can smell it.’”

Perry told Aniston, “I know I’m drinking too much, but I don’t exactly know what to do about it.”

“In nature, when a penguin is injured, the other penguins group around it and prop it up until it’s better,” he wrote in his memoir. “This is what my costars on Friends did for me. There were times on set when I was extremely hungover, and Jen and Courteney [Cox], being devoted to cardio as a cure-all, had a Lifecycle exercise bike installed backstage. In between rehearsals and takes, I’d head back there and ride that thing like the fires of hell were chasing me — anything to get my brain power back to normal. I was the injured penguin, but I was determined to not let these wonderful people, and this show, down.”

Aniston told Vanity Fair in the new interview, “looking solemn and out toward the ocean” as she spoke about Perry’s death, “As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there’s a part of me that thinks this is better. I’m glad he’s out of that pain.”

Perry said in his memoir that amid all his drinking and drug use, he was never suicidal.

“In the back of my mind I always had some semblance of hope. But, if dying was a consequence of getting to take the quantity of drugs I needed, then death was something I was going to have to accept,” he wrote about the period after “Friends” ended.

“That’s how skewed my thinking had become — I was able to hold those two things in my mind at the same time: I don’t want to die, but if I have to in order to get sufficient drugs on board, then amen to oblivion.”

Almost exactly a year after the memoir came out, on Oct. 28, 2024, at 4 in the afternoon, Perry was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. The drug ketamine would later emerge as his official cause of death, with drowning a contributing factor.