Source: James Devaney / Getty Since ‘The Donald’ has effectively gone from celeb to leader of the free world, countless other entertainers have thrown their hats in the ring in consideration for eventual presidential bids. Could the Fresh Prince be next? Via | HotNewHipHop Would you vote for Will Smith? Donald Trump has convinced the nation that celebrities can get elected. Trump isn’t the first celebrity to become a president, but he is by far the most divisive. Since the last election, several celebrity names have been thrown into the hypothetical presidential race including Dwayne Johnson, Oprah, and Will Smith. Smith recently performed his first stand up act ever at the Peppermint Club in Los Angeles at an event held by Dave Chappelle. The two legendary celebrities were approached about a possible presidential run, and their answers were positive.
Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty 50 Cent and Tekashi6ix9ine had appeared to be buddy-buddy, considering their recent collaboration and video shoot. However, it appears that things may be taking a turn for the worse. However, I’m not sure if anyone let 6-9 know – but ‘Fif don’t lose no internet battles. Game on! Via | HotNewHipHop He’s putting his “son” in check. Tekashi 6ix9ine is a self-proclaimed “disrespectful kid.” The entertainer has proved himself in that regard while trolling his collaborator 50 Cent . He showed no respect for his elder in a video he shot in Milan, where he effectively called him a “broke kid” while inviting him and other rappers to keep scrapping for the “King of New York” title. READ MORE
Is Charlie Puth going to bat for Selena Gomez? Something odd is going on, because the up-and-coming pop singer randomly shouted “F**k you, Justin Bieber!” during a concert Friday night in Dallas. But it gets better. Charlie delivered this odd directive while performing “We Don't Talk Anymore,” a track that features Selena. The songstress was not present during the concert, but you gotta wonder why Charlie chose that moment to attack the Biebs. Maybe something romantic has developed between the two. Or maybe Selena spilled some unfavorable dirt to her collaborator about her ex. Or perhaps the former YouTube star just thinks the Biebs is a big ol' d-bag. He's certainly not the first. Whatever the case, Charlie seems to be confused about his feelings, because he released a series of tweets apologizing on Saturday morning – but then deleted them. The tweets included: “What I said at the concert last night about Justin was meant to be a joke.” “However the way it was said mid song did not sound like one.” “I am a massive @JustinBieber fan and I have nothing but great things to say about him and his music always.” “Please find it in your heart to forgive me and know that this is coming from a real place. I am not a mean person.” “I am very sorry if I offended anyone, and mostly to Justin.” “His work is inspiring. I would never intentionally or publicly bash him.” Sounds like a valid apology. So why'd he change his mind? One can only guess. Back in September, after Selena posted a photo of herself with Charlie , fans speculated on a possible romance between the two, but she insisted they were just friends. If you can't recall where you've seen Charlie before, it may have been during last year's AMAs when he made out with Meghan Trainor on stage after they performed their hit song, “Marvin Gaye.” Check out Charlie's diss to Justin below.
Collaborator Paul Williams accepted the night’s biggest honor on behalf of the French duo, who took home five awards during the telecast. By Gil Kaufman
Brad Pitt faces off against zombies in the first peek at World War Z , the anticipated and notoriously troubled book adaptation that has Hollywood aflutter. Are those notorious behind-the-scenes woes evident from these 30 seconds of footage? More importantly: Will Pitt’s gloriously shaggy mane keep its luster as he flees from these hordes of CG zombies? Entertainment Tonight has the first look (they’ll debut a full peek on November 8): Even compensating for the annoying infotainment voice-over and terrible picture quality, this just a little… underwhelming. This is the kind of I Am Legend -esque zombie CG $170 million and counting buys you? That said, I do love me some Mireille Enos even if my brain isn’t ready to accept the idea of her and Pitt as a couple. Does not quite compute. I look at her frantically on the phone with Pitt in this trailer tease and think of Linden frantically on her flip phone with her neglected teenage son, chewing Nicorette, hunting down perps in Seattle while being the worst mother ever. And then I think back to The Killing , which I loved even if it was two seasons of red herrings and Holderisms, because remember Holder? God , I loved him. I’d like to think Holder would survive a zombie apocalypse. Hiding out underneath a hoodie, calling zombies names like “home slice.” Yeah. Give me that movie. World War Z zombie-runs into theaters on June 21, 2013. Let’s hope seven months is enough time to make those CG effects look vaguely realistic. Leave your thoughts below. [ Entertainment Tonight ]
Steel yourself, cinephiles: A sequel to the 1942 classic Casablanca , one of the greatest films of all time , could happen in the near future. But while practically 99 percent of all Hollywood sequels and spin-offs seem like cash-grabs that have no good reason for existing, is there a case to be made for revisiting the saga of star-crossed lovers Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca 2 ? Consider the source of said would-be sequel, per the New York Post : Original Casablanca screenwriter Howard Koch, who shared the Oscar for Best Writing with fellow scribes Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein. Blacklisted a few years after Casablanca became a hit, Koch penned a sequel in 1980 revolving around the grown son of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), who goes searching for his father in the Middle East. Unearthed by The Post ‘s Lou Lumenick, Koch’s 1960s-set Return to Casablanca synopsis goes a little something like this: “[Laszlo and Ilsa] attempt to locate Rick after he and Renault left to join the Free French forces opposing Rommel in North Africa. They have had no success. After leaving Casablanca for America, Ilsa learned she was pregnant. She gave birth to a boy who grew up in America. The real father of the boy, it turns out, was not Laszlo but Rick. He was conceived the night Ilsa came to Rick’s place to plead for the Letters of Transit . . . The secret was not kept from Laszlo, but being the kind of man he was and owing so much to Rick, he adopted the child and treated him as his own son. The boy was named Richard, and he grew up to be a handsome, tough-tender young man reminiscent of his father. He had been told the truth about his origin and has a deep desire to find his real father, or at least more about him, since Rick’s heroic at actions in Casablanca have become legendary. Richard finds himself very much a stranger in the Arab world, a world now under Arab rule since the expulsion of the Germans and Vichy French who occupied Casablanca during the war.” Richard becomes involved with an Arab guerilla fighter named Joan as he searches out the truth of his father’s fate in the script, which Warner Bros. passed on in 1989. Producer Cass Warner, grand-niece of Jack Warner, took up Koch’s cause and brought it back to the studio, who turned it down again – but, she says, left open a window of opportunity. “Warner Bros. passed on it a year, a year and a half ago,” Warner told The Post. “But they indicated they were willing to revisit this if I could find a filmmaker they were interested in working with.” And who in young Hollywood could play the son of Rick and Ilsa today? Let Casablanca expert Aljean Harmetz weigh in: “Certainly not Robert Pattinson , though maybe that guy who’s popping up everywhere, Joseph Gordon-Levitt .” Yes, “that guy” Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be a solid choice. He could even sing an acoustic cover of “As Time Goes By” for the sequel soundtrack! Or, you know, David Thomson’s pick : Tom Hardy . But seriously, as perfect as Casablanca ‘s wonderfully ambiguous, utterly romantic unhappy ending is, don’t we all wonder what became of Rick and Ilsa? (And their respective chosen life partners, Laszlo and Renault?) A part of me loves the idea of finding out that they waited out the war and found their way back to one another again, the way we always hoped deep down inside that they would, pulled by that invisible thread that time, place, and violent world-changing upheaval couldn’t sever. Or maybe, probably, that wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying as it sounds now. How would you like to see a Casablanca follow-up unfold, if at all? [ New York Post ]
Besides commanding millions for his heavy rotation of films, co- shepherding a large brood and building housing in New Orleans, Brad Pitt is adding another set of skills to his resume – designing furniture. His pieces will likely not be heading to an Ikea near you any time soon, but it is not just a passing fancy either. Pitt has been designing buildings and furniture since the 1990s and some of his pieces will be on display in New York in the coming days. The actor will present a dozen pieces including tables, chars and what Architectural Digest dubbed “one rather fantastic bed” along with dozens of other pieces with his collaborator, Frank Pollaro, whose New Jersey-based company is renowned for its re-productions of Art Deco furnishings. [ Related: ‘World War Z’ First Look: It’s Brad Pitt Vs. CG Zombies ] The display will open November 13th (pollaro.com has details). “I’ve been doodling ideas for buildings and furniture since the early 1990s, when I first discovered [Charles Rennie] Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright,” Pitt said. “Actually, I found Wright in college, when looking for a lazy two-point credit to get out of French. It forever changed my life.” Pitt’s architectural affinity is evident in his Make It Right foundation, which taps the services of veteran architects to create “quality, affordable housing” in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Pollaro noticed Pitt’s concepts in a sketchbook the Killing Them Softly actor had made while installing a re-production Ruhlmann desk the actor purchased a few years ago, Pollaro said, “I asked him, ‘Why don’t we make some of this stuff real?'” he recalled. “Brad said he thought that could be fun.” Now the two meet regularly pouring over what Pollaro said are “thousands” of ideas. The meetings “last anywhere from seven to ten hours.” It’s not everyone who gets to collaborate with a Hollywood A-lister mulling over aesthetics. “We talk about design, about materials, about craftsmanship, about classicism, about modernism. He has a respect for the masters of design,” noted Pollaro. The pieces headed for display include a bed, in which only nine will be made in different materials. Additionally, there is a dining table, a cocktail table, several side tables, a few club chairs and a bathtub that fits two in Statuario Venato marble. The designs will be customized in a variety of material and finishes that will be made in limited productions signed by Pitt and Pollaro who said some pieces may eventually be adapted for larger-scale productions. “The same chair we charge $45,000 for might sell for a fraction of that,” said Pollaro. Despite the new gig, Pitt will maintain his day job . His latest project, Killing Them Softly by Andrew Dominik will hit theaters November 30th. [ Sources: Architectural Digest , Yahoo ]
‘I don’t think either of us could have predicted the success of the song,’ she tells MTV News. By Jocelyn Vena Kimbra Photo: MTV News When Gotye dropped “Somebody That I Used to Know,” neither he nor his collaborator on the sad breakup track, Kimbra , had any idea how the song would resonate with fans. When Kimbra stopped by MTV News last Friday, she told us she never imagined hearing the song on primetime TV shows and seeing it on the charts. The single (off Gotye’s 2011 album, Making Mirrors ) was covered by Matt Bomer and Darren Criss on “Glee,” and contestants on both “The Voice” and “American Idol” pinned their music industry dreams on the track. “I don’t think either of us could have predicted the success of the song,” she said of Gotye (a.k.a. Wally De Backer). “Used to Know” topped several Billboard charts, including the Alternative and Rock Songs lists, and peaked at #2 on the all-important Hot 100. And over the weekend, the duo performed the track on “Saturday Night Live.” “I knew it would resonate with people when I heard it,” Kimbra said. “Wally has a really great way of penetrating an emotion. But, you know … ‘Glee’ and ‘The Voice’ and all of these crazy pieces of exposure … that was really out of our imagination.” What makes the song stand out on pop radio, which is driven these days by dance loops and producers like Dr. Luke and Max Martin, is that it’s a mid-tempo ballad that pays homage to the kinds of songs that acts like Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and the Police pumped out in the ’80s. “I think it’s a really exciting time for pop music right now, to see such a reflective, kind of vulnerable song shoot to the top of the charts, I think it’s paving the way for some really exciting artists to come through,” Kimbra said. “And I hope to be one of them, in terms of putting out my record here in the States. I think Wally’s doing something that’s really progressive for the pop world anyway.” Kimbra’s album, Vows, will be out in the U.S. on May 22. Related Artists Kimbra Gotye
Minaj tells MTV News she ‘did that song for Wayne two and a half years ago.’ By Rob Markman Nicki Minaj Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/ WireImage Rick Ross is hip-hop’s self-proclaimed Bawse, but despite giving it up to Rozay on his new single , Nicki Minaj answers to another. While on the set of Birdman’s “Y.U. Mad” video, the Female Weezy told MTV News that she originally wrote Ross’ “You the Boss” for Young Money CEO Lil Wayne. “You know what’s interesting about that song,” Minaj said while in character as her alter ego, the Female Weezy, “Nicki originally did that song for Wayne two and a half years ago.” The slow-rolling track, which is the first single off of Ross’ upcoming God Forgives, I Don’t, finds Minaj on the hook toasting the larger-than-life Rozay. “I’ll do anything you say, anything, ’cause you the boss,” Nicki sings softly. Wayne never ended up using the track, but it seemed all too perfect for Ricky. “It was just lingering, and then she gave it to Rick Ross,” Lady Wayne said. “I think it’s hot.” On October 14, Ross gave the rap world quite a scare after he suffered two separate medical emergencies on his way to a Memphis, Tennessee, concert. Ross is currently on the road to recovery, but while on set with Birdman and Wayne, Minaj wished her collaborator and friend well. “We actually been talking about him and praying for him on the trailer because he’s such a crucial part of hip-hop right now and we’re just hoping he’s healthy,” Minaj told MTV News. “That’s all we can do is pray and hope that he gets some rest and comes back stronger.” Related Artists Nicki Minaj Rick Ross
Ambition track brings duo back together after calling a truce on Twitter. By Alvin Blanco Wale Photo: Getty Images NEW YORK — Wale and Kid Cudi ‘s reconciliation will be certified with a new song. The Maybach Music Group rapper’s sophomore album, Ambition, is dropping November 1 and will include a song called “Focused,” which features Cudi. While previewing his album for select media outlets, Wale dropped hints about the collaborator — a friend of his that lived in Brooklyn while he was living in SoHo — on the song he was about to play last. “We’re 23 years old at this time, we’re trying to figure it all out,” Wale told MTV News. “We went from not having sh– to having money at our disposal, so it kind of f—ed up our friendship. He doesn’t smoke as much anymore, but his name is Scott.” That “Scott” is Scott Mescudi, a.k.a. Kid Cudi. The two rappers started gaining notoriety in the hip-hop world almost simultaneously a few years ago, with Wale even appearing on “Is There Any Love,” a bonus track from Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of Day debut. However, the pair had an infamous falling-out , which, according to Wale, was rooted in a lack of communication. “The last time me and him spoke was Governor’s Island maybe three years ago,” Wale said. “It was a weird exchange. … When you don’t talk to somebody for a long time and you see them on TV and you’re trying to figure them out through music … we bumped into each other, and we spoke, and it was just weird. It was already animosity for me, because I was like, ‘Yo, this is my guy and it’s just weird now.’ Just weird. “I can’t say that word enough,” Wale continue. “So [later on], it was Drake’s birthday party in D.C.; he was there. I’m getting off the elevator and I see him. So he was like, ‘What’s up?’ I was like, ‘What’s up?’ And that was it. Next thing I see is the Complex interview. That was maybe like a year after that.” After that Complex interview, many thought the two would never be friends again. Nevertheless, earlier this year, they reconciled via Twitter. Wale recalled not believing it was Cudi who called him to make up before their Twitter truce. “The main reason why I didn’t believe it was him was because his voice was really light, and I remember it always being raspy,” Wale said. “He was like, ‘I don’t smoke weed anymore, bro. My voice is changing. I’m about to hit you on Twitter right now. This is really me. I saw it was him. I was like, ‘Sup, man, how you been?’ He said, ‘I been good, man. I just wanted to get right to it: I know I’ve been acting kind of f—ed up and weird,’ and this that and a third and all that other personal sh–. He threw that out there, and we just made amends. The next morning, he called me like, ‘I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t high or anything when I called you. I really meant it.’ ” Wale then further extended the olive branch by saying he had a track he felt Cudi would be perfect for. “I never really thought we capitalized off what we had,” Wale said. “I sent him the beat, and we made this record I’ve been trying so hard to keep for myself for a long time.” “Focused” features Wale rapping, with Cudi supplying a chorus in his sing-song, Mr. Solo Dolo type of delivery over a synth-loaded uptempo track. “It’s a testament to where I am lyrically, spiritually, all of that, because this song almost never happened, as y’all know,” Wale said of “Focused.” “It feels like the record that ‘Is There Any Love’ was supposed to be. When they kept talking about me and Cudi in every magazine, this is the record I felt like they needed to hear — the one that everybody was going to get behind, and it was going to go top 40 and not be corny. This is like the best top 40 non-cheesy record that you’re ever going to hear in your life. That’s how I feel about it.” Wale recently dropped a new mixtape called The Eleven One Eleven Theory, which temporarily crashed Hulkshare’s site upon its release. The project features a song called “Chain Music,” that will also be on Ambition. What are you expecting from Wale and Cudi’s collabo? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Wale Kid Cudi
