Welcome to ICYMI, pop culture fanatics.
Before we get any further, after weeks of speculation, yes, Taylor Swift was at the Super Bowl today.
Praise be, the billionaire managed to fly her private jet from her tour stop in Tokyo allll the way to the US just to play WAG to Travis Kelce for The Big Game.
Truly a triumph for Swifties and CO2 emitters everywhere.
Now, in other entertainment news…
First looks at Wicked and Moana 2, The Bear and Abbott Elementary greenlit for return series
Are you ready to defy gravity? Our first look at the two-part Wicked movie is here — in the form of a minute-long teaser dropped at the Super Bowl.
Directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), the long-awaited adaptation of the Broadway smash musical tells the story of Elphaba, the so-called Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
In the trailer, we see Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as friend-turned-enemy Glinda, and snippets of the rest of the cast (including Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh) in a dark and moody CGI Oz. Part one is out November 24, with part two set to be released a year later.
We also saw new trailers for Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters, Kingdom of the Planet of The Apes and The Fall Guy thanks to the big sports game.
But there are more new film and TV teasers and trailers that didn't air at the Super Bowl.
Get ready to scream, cry and throw up because a Moana sequel is coming this year and the first teaser trailer for it has dropped.
The movie will follow Moana on a new journey "to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced".
It's currently scheduled for a November 27 release date in the US, but we don't have word on when it will hit cinemas in Australia yet.
BRB putting How Far I'll Go on repeat until then.
In more pure news, Abbott Elementary has been renewed for a fourth season. No official release date yet beyond "Fall 2024" (aka between September and November).
And in deeply *stressful* news, The Bear has been renewed too, with a third season set to air in June. At least this means more Ayo Edebiri.
— Jared Richards and Yasmin Jeffery
Kanye releases new album, controversy ensues (because OFC)
We regret to inform you that Kanye West, otherwise known as Ye, has a new album out.
Last week Ye and Ty Dolla $ign premiered Vultures I at a listening event in Chicago, following the release of single Talking/Once Again, featuring his daughter North West.
Then the scandals began.
Multiple artists, including Ozzy Osborne and Nicki Minaj, have bopped Ye for using samples of their music without their permission.
There's also the multitude of anti-Semitic lyrics Ye raps on the new album, which reportedly caused his Chicago event live stream to be aborted after just an hour.
So, same old, same old from someone once considered the GOAT.
Of course, if you'd like to listen to a rap album that won't get you kicked off Twitter (pre-Elon Twitter, that is) might we suggest Little Simz's new EP Drop 7, which also came out on Friday.
— Velvet Winter
AACTAs turn pink to honour trailblazer Margot Robbie
Margot Robbie well and truly conquered Hollywood in 2023, and now she's come back home over the weekend to collect the Trailblazer Award at this year's AACTAs.
Fellow Aussie legend Cate Blanchett presented Robbie with the award, appropriately dressed in a neon pink get-up that she quickly and hilariously christened "Middle-aged Barbie".
Robbie waxed lyrical about being a Gold Coast girlie (the AACTAs were held in Surfers Paradise) and found the time to reunite with her fellow Neighbours star Lincoln Lewis.
Awards-wise, the night belonged to the RackaRacka brothers and their A24 hit Talk To Me. The horror movie took home nine awards including best film, best direction, best screenplay, and best lead actress for Sophie Wilde.
Tears were shed as the late Cal Wilson was honoured with the award for best comedy performer for her work on The Great Australian Bake Off.
— Velvet Winter
British Vogue editor Edward Enninful brings 40 fashion icons together for last cover
How do you get Serena Williams, Jodie Comer, Naomi Campbell, Adwoa Aboah, Victoria Beckham, and Dua Lipa into one room?
You become the editor-in-chief of British Vogue, announce your retirement, and then gather the supermodels, movie stars, musicians, sporting legends and moguls "who have shaped British Vogue for close to 108 years now" for one last, epic cover shoot before you leave.
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"It was clear to all of us on the team that no one woman could or should encapsulate these past few years for the magazine," Edward Enninful wrote of the shoot in his final editorial.
"What we needed was a group, to lean into the power of the collective to bring to life what I hope has been a daring, disruptive and evolutionary period in Vogue's history.
"They also – by dint of extraordinary impact, force of personality, style and influence – needed to have reached beyond fashion and culture to change the fabric of society in the 2020s, in ways small and large and always positive."
Despite his monumental impact on the world of fashion over the course of his boundary-breaking, six-and-a-half-year tenure at British Vogue, Enninful said he held his breath for weeks expecting a series of "No"s.
Instead, 40 stars turned up. And because we know you'll ask, here's the proof the cover wasn't Photoshopped:
Enninful will be succeeded by British journalist Chioma Nnadi, who is the first Black woman to lead the magazine.
— Yasmin Jeffery
P!nk fan goes into labour at her Sydney concert
Not content with dizzying fans as she flips and flies through the air, P!NK took audience engagement to new heights at a Sydney concert, sending a fan into labour.
On Friday February 9, P!NK – real name Alicia Moore — stopped her concert at Allianz Stadium when staff alerted her to what was happening, miming it out offstage.
The song that triggered the exciting moment appeared to be Our Song, a cut from new album Trustfall.
"Wouldn't have called that one!" P!NK mused.
"I thought it would've been Get the Party Started or Never Not Gonna Dance Again."
The woman was escorted out by medical staff to a hospital, where it's believed she gave birth. Funnily enough, this is the second time an audience member has gone into labour during P!NK's current Summer Carnival tour, the last being a fan in Boston in July. We'll raise our glass to that, I guess?
P!NK's Australian tour continues around Australia into March, if you're currently overdue and wondering how to hurry things up.
— Jared Richards
Hannah Conda is repping Down Under in new international RuPaul's Drag Race season
Even for the biggest Drag Race fan, it can be hard to keep up with the 20+ franchises, so you're forgiven if you missed the premiere of UK vs. The World season two this weekend.
But among the glut of currently airing seasons (US16 and España: All Stars), it's worth a watch, not only does it put queens from across the globe together in one competition, but Australia's own Hannah Conda is competing.
And by the first episode alone, it's clear she's gunning for the crown, after having just lost out in Down Under S2.
We particularly loved her home country runway, a beautiful nod to both Priscilla's frilled-neck lizard outfits and First Nations culture, via a handpainted print by Marrithiyel designer Paul McCann. The word "TREATY" is emblazoned on the back.
"This is what I think of when I think of what it means to be a drag queen in Australia!" she wrote on Instagram.
— Jared Richards
Josh Brolin wrote a poem for Timothée Chalamet and it is… sensual
We didn't expect the Dune II rollout to be quite this salacious. But not only do we have the *ahem* dual-purpose popcorn buckets, but now Josh Brolin has written a steamy ode to star Timothée Chalamet.
"Your cheekbones jump towards/what are youth laden eyes that slide down a prominent nose/and onto lips of certain poetry," a line from the poem reads.
I mean, fair play to Brolin, who among us hasn't at one point admired lil' Timmy Tim's cheekbones?
Will we get any more loving passages before Dune II hits cinemas on March 14? Only time will tell.
— Velvet Winter