Twenty One Pilots ‘Heathens’ Music Video, Featuring ‘Suicide Squad’ Clips, Tops 2 Billion YouTube Views

Amazon Studios is taking to the streets to promote Ben Affleck’s “Air,” which chronicles the beginnings of the iconic Air Jordan sneaker brand. The studio has teamed up with iconic sneaker culture icon Jason Markk to host a multi-city consumer experience, dubbed “Fresh Air,” which ties into the film’s social campaign, “A shoe is just a shoe until I step into it.” The activation will see guerilla street teams flood U.S. cities including Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Chicago, in a unique opportunity to bring together sneakerheads and celebrate the culture and history of the sneaker community. The street team will also have a presence at the Jason Markk flagship store in L.A.

Lollapalooza will be taking place in Grant Park, featuring 170 bands in nine stages, from Thursday, August 3, to Sunday, August 6.Some of our favorite artists will be taking the stage during the four days of the festivals, including Karol G, who is enjoying the success of her recent album and collaboration with Shakira, Lana Del Rey, following her incredible Billboard recognition, and Billie Eilish, after recently making her acting debut in horror. Check out the full line-up below!Attendees can also expect to see model-turned-singer Suki Waterhouse, Jared Leto’s band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and other fan-favorites including Maggie Rogers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Diplo, Rina Sawayama, Lil Yachty, Sabrina Carpenter, among others.Karol G will be making history, as she is the first female Latin artist to headline Lollapalooza, following her incredible performance in Coachella last year.

Ever since it was revealed that James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-CEOs of DC Studios, would be doing a bit of a soft reboot on the DCU (keeping only a handful of actors while recasting nearly all of the major roles), there has been a barrage of questions from fans about who is staying and who is leaving. Henry Cavill? Gone.

Twenty One Pilots covered Blink-182 at Lollapalooza Argentina where the band were filling in for the reunited pop-punk trio.Blink-182 were originally scheduled to headline the festival but had to pull out last month when drummer Travis Barker injured his finger.Twenty One Pilots took the reunited pop-punk trio’s place and, last night (March 18), paid homage to the group. During their set, the duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun covered ‘All The Small Things’.For the song’s opening verse and chorus, Joseph let the crowd sing the words before joining in with them for the “na na na na na, na na na na na” refrain.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After more than two years, YouTube has lifted its suspension on Donald Trump, the twice-impeached former U.S. president who was booted from major internet platforms in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. “Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content,” YouTube said in a statement Friday. “We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election.” YouTube added that Trump’s “channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube.” The channel currently has 2.64 million subscribers. The most recent videos uploaded to it (on Jan. 12, 2021) are clips from the far-right OANN (One America News Network) coverage a Trump press conference on the border wall in Texas.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube TV is getting pricier, as Google has raised the monthly subscription fee of the service by $8 — an increase of 12.3%. In a notice to customers, YouTube TV said, “As content costs have risen and we continue to invest in our quality of service, we’ll be adjusting our monthly cost, after 3 years, from $64.99/mo to $72.99/mo, in order to bring you the best possible TV service.” New subscribers to YouTube TV will see the higher price effective Thursday (March 16), and existing members will see the price hike on their first monthly bill on or after April 18. The price hike comes after YouTube TV dropped MLB Network from its lineup after the streamer’s previous deal with Major League Baseball expired Jan. 31, 2023 — and the two sides failed to reach a new agreement.

Oscar-winning actress is set to film a new project in Ireland in the coming months, but has insisted against wearing a mask because she is “full of antibodies and very healthy”, having contracted the virus a number of times.Speaking as part of her keynote speech at the SXSW Film and TV Festival on Monday (March 13), she said (via Vanity Fair): “I’m about to shoot a picture in Ireland, and I was told to wear a mask at all times, and I’m not.“I’m sure this is being recorded. I’ve had COVID-19 multiple times so I’m full of antibodies and very healthy.”Last year, Swinton explained that while she had got off “relatively lightly” with the virus, she suffered with memory problems and vertigo as a result.She told The Guardian: “I was coughing like an old gentleman who smoked a pipe for 70 years, and had nasty vertigo.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Nike drama “Air” is heading to Austin, Texas. The movie will screen to the public for the first time at SXSW as the festival’s closing night film on March 18. Currently on the SXSW website, there’s a TBA under the Closing Night Special Screening at Paramount Theatre at 6:30 p.m. Amazon is releasing “Air,” which centers on real-life Nike shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro and his pursuit of basketball phenom Michael Jordan, in theaters on April 5. According to the film’s logline, “this moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time.”

Katie Reul editor The latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” opened with Marcello Hernandez and Heidi Gardner masquerading as two reporters from Access Hollywood stationed at the 2023 Oscars red carpet. The two recounted the miserable circumstances they’ve endured throughout the day — from limited bathroom breaks to long lines outside of the Dolby Theatre — before Hernandez chimed in, “But it’s all worth it to ask Angela Bassett if she really did the thing.” The comment was aimed at “Westside Story” star Ariana DeBose, who celebrated leading and supporting actress nominees at the 2023 BAFTA awards with a now-viral rap. But the jokes didn’t stop there; Gardner proceeded to levy jabs at the Academy, satirizing the award show’s implementation of revised security protocol following last year’s ceremony.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, said it is considering launching a new Twitter-like social network. “We’re exploring a standalone, decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. The rep said the company had no additional info on the prospective social network to share. News site Moneycontrol first reported on the potential Meta service, which is code-named “P92.” The new Meta app would be based on — and interoperable with — the framework that powers Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that launched in 2016 and has seen a surge in popularity since Musk’s takeover of Twitter last October.

With the Academy Awards this weekend, one can’t help but think about last year’s ceremony. And last year’s Oscars will forever live in infamy, thanks to Will Smith getting onstage and slapping Chris Rock in the face for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify is releasing what it calls its biggest app redesign to date — revealing a new “dynamic” mobile interface aimed at providing listeners a more active role in discovering new audio content and giving creators new ways to share their work. The newly redesigned Spotify app will roll out to users worldwide in waves, starting Wednesday (March 8), the company said. It unveiled the new user interface at Stream On, its second event showcasing new features, creator tools and programming. The update is most significant change to Spotify’s mobile app since it debuted more than a decade ago and is about “bringing Spotify to life,” CEO Daniel Ek said at the event.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in a $44 billion, debt-laden deal a little over four months ago, said advertising revenue has dropped as much as 50% since he took over. But the mega-billionaire tech mogul said a few large advertisers have continued to spend with Twitter, and he specifically called out — and thanked — Disney and Apple as remaining two of the biggest marketers on the social network, speaking Tuesday at the 2023 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco. According to Musk, Twitter is improving its ability to serve timely and relevant ads. He said he was speaking with David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, who asked Musk why Twitter couldn’t put an ad with the trailer for HBO hit show “The White Lotus” next to every tweet that mentions “White Lotus.” Musk responded affirmatively, describing it as basic keyword-based ad buys that Twitter is now selling: “It’s just Google AdWords but applied to tweets.”

Will Smith has “tried unsuccessfully” to make amends with Chris Rock after he struck him at the Oscars, according to reports.At last year’s ceremony, Smith stormed the stage and hit Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.Following a number of apologies, directed towards Rock and the organisers, Smith resigned from the Academy. He was later banned from attending all Academy events for 10 years.According to People, Smith has “felt terrible for so long” about the incident. “He’s tried unsuccessfully to make amends in the best way he could with Chris,” a source told the outlet.They said Smith had “leaned” on his family after the altercation, adding: “It all has helped him look inside and mature.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok is opening up a new monetization spigot for creators on the popular short-form video app. The Chinese-owned app announced Series, a new way for creators to sell their stories as premium content. With the Series feature, available initially only to select creators, users can post Collections of premium content behind a paywall that viewers can purchase. Each individual Series can include up to 80 videos, each up to 20 minutes long, giving the TikTok community “a new, longer format to watch their favorite creators and content,” the company said. TikTok creators can select the price for their Series. The content can be purchased via direct in-video links or through a creator’s profile page. The company noted that, like all content on TikTok, Series videos must adhere to its community guidelines standards.

Chris Rock is still feeling the sting of the slap and isn’t listening to Will Smith‘s apologies!

Will Smith has reportedly attempted to make things right with Chris Rock after slapping him across the face on national television during the 2022 Oscars.

Comedian Wanda Sykes remembers Will Smith’s Oscars slap of Chris Rock well, and she thinks even Troy Kotsur, the deaf actor who won Best Supporting Actor for “CODA” last year, heard it.But did she really need to go there with it?The actress, who hosted last year’s ceremony, appeared on the 100th episode of the Sherri Shepherd Show Friday to discuss her comedy career, retirement and more. Shepherd asked her about Rock’s live comedy special coming out Saturday on Netflix.“We love Chris Rock. You have a close relationship with Chris, but are you happy that this special is coming out?” Shepherd asked Sykes.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” starring Austin Butler as the gyrating rock ‘n’ roll icon, has been streamed for a total of about 2.7 billion minutes by HBO Max viewers in the U.S. since it came to the platform Aug. 8, 2022, according to new data from Nielsen. That makes “Elvis” the most-streamed title on U.S. subscription services among the films nominated for in the Oscars best picture category this year — but only if you are looking at the platforms for which Nielsen reports metrics. What’s important here: Nielsen’s Streaming Content Ratings do not include Paramount+, which added “Top Gun: Maverick” on Dec. 22, whereupon it became the service’s most-streamed movie premiere to date. Nielsen also does not report streaming estimates for Showtime, which has the rights to best-picture frontrunner “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Neal Mohan posted his first open letter to creators as YouTube’s new boss, coming after CEO Susan Wojcicki stepped down last month. Mohan, previously the video platform’s chief product officer, detailed new features and tools coming in 2023 and beyond. “Creators and artists are the heart of YouTube, and I’ll continue to put them first,” Mohan, whose new title is SVP, head of YouTube, wrote in the letter, continuing the tradition of Wojcicki’s regular updates to creators. “In today’s challenging macroeconomic climate, we’re offering opportunities to grow a business on our platform.” Wojcicki exited as CEO after nine years at the helm but will continue in a role as an adviser to Google and Alphabet. According to Mohan’s letter, he first visited YouTube’s offices 15 years ago when it was located above a pizza parlor: “In its earliest start-up days, I saw YouTube’s potential. Now, I’m incredibly excited to lead it into the future.”