ere's everything that's been happening in the world of Pop Culture this past week... in case you missed it! Feel free to comment on any of the stories and info shared here, add any news bits that you caught going on that may have been missed, or at least show us some love if you read the post but have nothing to comment on by clicking on that little heart icon at the bottom of the post...

GENERAL POP CULTURE NEWS:

- The Metropolitan Museum of Art and designer JOHN GALLIANO jointly announced that the “John Galliano: Horizons” 2027 Costume Institute exhibition and Met Gala Galliano theme will not go ahead as planned, following backlash over the resurfacing of the designer’s past anti-Semitic and racist remarks. A replacement exhibition and new Met Gala theme will be announced at a later date.  

- Professional dancer ADELE ZAIKMAN was named the winner of ABC reality competition series “Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro”. Dancers AJ PRITCHARD and SELENA HAMILTON came in second and third, respectively. As winner of the series, Zaikman earned a slot as one of the pro dancers on season 35 of “Dancing with the Stars” airing this fall.

- Former gang leader DUANE ‘KEFFE D’ DAVIS was found guilty of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rapper TUPAC SHAKUR. The trial came 30 years after Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. Davis, who was previously a leader of a prominent gang in California, was first arrested in connection to Shakur’s murder in 2023. He was not accused of pulling the trigger himself, but was accused of operating as the “shot caller”, having allegedly orchestrated the murder after his nephew ORLANDO ANDERSON, got into an altercation with Shakur in Las Vegas (Anderson allegedly was the shooter; he has since passed away and thus could not be brought to justice). Davis was long-rumored to have been behind the crime and his own words about the murder were used as part of the prosecution’s case to convict him.

- NAMES, HASHTAGS, MEMES, AND TRENDS FROM THIS PAST WEEK –

TOM HARDY’s rap alter ego FRANKIE PULITZER; TAYLOR & TRAVIS’ new pup Wendy

AWARDS UPDATE -

- The 78^th Emmy Awards: The Television Academy announced that iconic ‘50s comedy series “I Love Lucy” has been selected to receive the organization’s inaugural Legacy Award. The new annual award, meant to recognize a series that made a “profound and generational impact on audiences and remains relevant to society, culture, and the industry today, will be presented on the second night of the Creative Arts Emmys, which will take place on September 6^th.

GOVERNMENT 101 -

- US: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to allow President DONALD TRUMP to continue with his White House ballroom project. In siding with the liberal minority, Chief Justice JOHN ROBERTS stated that the “construction is likely unlawful” because only Congress has the right to appropriate funds and Congress never approved the project, but the rest of the conservative majority on the court did not take that aspect of the case into account because they felt the preservation group that filed the suit did not have standing (meaning, they could not show they were directly adversely affected by the construction) to bring the suit in the first place, thus allowing the building to continue.

MOVIE NEWS:

- Paramount Pictures has confirmed it is going forward with a sequel to the 1990 film “Days of Thunder”. Actor TOM CRUISE will return as NASCAR driver Cole Trickle; he is joined in the sequel by actress ANNE HATHAWAY, who will be playing a team owner and engineer. Plot details are being kept under wraps. The movie, which will be filmed for IMAX, has been set for a June 2, 2028 release.

- DC Studios’ “Supergirl”, starring MILLY ALCOCK as the titular superhero, will make its streaming debut on HBO Max on September 10^th. The film will make its linear premiere on HBO on September 12^th.

- MOVIE CASTING UPDATE -
- Actors AMY MADIGAN, CALLUM TURNER, and PATRICIA CLARKSON have joined the cast of Sony Pictures’ “The Comebacker”, based on a short story by DAVE EGGERS that revolves around a young pitcher (Turner) for the New York Mets whose life is turned upside down when he gets hit by a batted ball. Actor TOM HANKS was previously confirmed to play the team’s pitching coach; Madigan will play the owner of the team; Clarkson will play Hanks’ character’s wife.

- Actors LESLIE ODOM JR. and AUNJANUE ELLIS-TAYLOR have joined the ensemble cast for Paramount Pictures’ “Get Lite”, which follows a talented but sheltered dance student who finds inspiration, love, and family in the subways of New York City. The film is set to star NFL rookie-turned-actor CEYAIR WRIGHT and actress STORM REID and will be directed by actress/dancer/singer TEYANA TAYLOR, making her directorial debut.

TV NEWS:

- Radio host HOWARD STERN is teaming up with HBO Max or bring weekly filmed episodes of his SiriusXM radio show “The Howard Stern Show” to the streamer this fall. The series will premiere on HBO Max globally on September 17^th at 12:01am PT/3:01am ET with new episodes dropping on subsequent Thursdays. The new season of “The Howard Stern Show” will premiere on SiriusXM on September 14^th, with new live episodes airing every Monday (as the program does down from two to one show a week) – those will be adapted into streamable episodes on HBO Max three days later, along with periodic extras.

- CBS will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of America’s highest-rated court tv series ever, “Judge Judy”, with the special “Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable”. The 90-minute primetime anniversary special will see Judge JUDY SHEINDLIN trace her journey from her Brooklyn childhood to her stint as a judge on the New York City Family Court to parlaying her reputation of being one of the toughest judges in the country into her tv court series career. It will also include interviews with several notable names as well as her family, friends, former colleagues, litigants, and people whose lives she touched through the years. “Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable” will air on September 22^nd from 8pm-9:30pm ET/PT on CBS and will stream on Paramount+ the next day.

 TV CASTING UPDATE –

- “Wheel of Fortune” announcer JIM THORNTON has been indefinitely suspended from the game show by producer Sony Pictures Television reportedly due to unspecified allegations connected to an incident on a commercial flight in May. The game show will recast the announcer position in the meantime as they conduct a thorough investigation into the incident. Thornton has served as the announcer for the long-running syndicated game show since 2010.

- ABC officially announced the full cast for season 35 of reality competition series “Dancing with the Stars” airing this fall. This year’s cast and their pro partners: actress TATYANA ALI with JAN RAVNIK, “Bachelor” nation alum/HGTV host TYLER CAMERON with SHARNA BURGESS (who returns after a five-season absence), celebrity chef GIADA DE LAURENTIIS with ALAN BERSTEN, actress JENNA DEWAN with VAL CHMERKOVSKIY, Paralympic track & field athlete EZRA FRECH with DANIELLA KARAGACH, Olympic figure skater AMBER GLENN with PASHA PASHKOV, music artist TAYLOR HANSON with BRITT STEWART, “Love island UK”/“The Traitors” star MAURA HIGGINS with (“Traitors” costar) MARK BALLAS, “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star CONNER LEAVITT (who follows in the footsteps of his wife, WHITNEY LEAVITT, who competed last season) with “DWTS: The Next Pro” winner ADELE ZAIKMAN , “Summer House” star CIARA MILLER with BRANDON ARMSTRONG, “Love Thy Nader” star SARAH JANE NADER with new pro HAILEY BILLS (marking the show’s third same-sex pairing in its history), Savannah Bananas baseball player JACKSON OLSON with EMMA SLATER , “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” sidekick GUILLERMO RODRIGUEZ with WITNEY CARSON, actor HARRY SHUM JR. with JENNA JOHNSON, actress JULIA STILES with EZRA SOSA, and comedian/social media star CONNOR WOOD with RYLEE ARNOLD.

- Actor ALIMI BALLARD has joined the cast of ABC daytime drama series “General Hospital”. Ballard debuted as William Baines this week. Additionally, actor CHRIS MCKENNA has exited the series following the untimely demise of his character, Jack Brennan; McKenna joined the cast in February 2025 when he took over the role of WSB station chief Brennan from actor CHARLES MESURE.

- Fox News announced that host MARIA BARTIROMO was fired by the cable news channel this week, allegedly due to sharing “internal network guidance” with the White House, although the network has only publicly confirmed that her departure was a “business decision”. Bartiromo had been with the network for 12 years.

- Former CBS News anchor NORAH O’DONNELL is returning to CBS’ morning news program “CBS Mornings” as a cohost. O’Donnell previously cohosted the program for 7 years prior to moving on to anchoring “CBS Evening News”. Her official return date is September 8^th.

- Actors SYDNEY MALAKEH and FRANCO LOPRESTI are joining the cast of Peacock soap opera “Days of our Lives”. Malakeh will play Sydney DiMera, the daughter of Sami and EJ, while Lo Presti will play Dante. Malakeh’s first airdate is September 9^th; LoPresti’s first airdate is September 14^th.

- TV RENEWALS* AND PICKUPS/EXTENSIONS** -

* “American Ninja Warrior”, NBC, renewed for seasons 19 and 20

* “Tires”, Netflix, renewed for season 4

* “Mobland”, Paramount+, renewed for season 3

- TV CANCELLATIONS* AND TRIMMED/NOT-EXTENDED SEASONS** -

* “Love Overboard”, Hulu, cancelled after one season

MUSIC NEWS:

- Country singer ELLA LANGLEY’s “Choosin’ Texas” broke the record for the longest-running No. 1 non-holiday pop single on the Billboard charts after marking its 20^th (non-consecutive) week atop the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard US Pop Singles charts (the only other song to accomplish this feat is MARIAH CAREY’s perennial holiday favorite “All I Want for Christmas is You”, which has topped the charts for a total of 22 weeks including trips to the top spot in each of the last seven years). The song, which first reached No. 1 back in mid-February, also broke a tie with LIL NAS X and BILLY RAY CYRUS’ “Old Town Road” for third all-time longest-running Hot 100 chart-toppers with 19 weeks. The 6x platinum single has also spent 28 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart since November, making it one of only 32 songs to ever top both the pop and country charts.

- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 SINGLES AROUND THE WORLD –

Australia/ New Zealand: “Choosin’ Texas” by ELLA LANGLEY

Japan: “Setsuna Hanabi” by TOMORROW X TOGETHER

South Korea: “Swim” by BTS

- LAST WEEK’S NEW #1 ALBUMS AROUND THE WORLD –

Australia: “DMA’S” by DMA’S

Canada: “The Great Divide” by NOAH KAHAN

Ireland: “The Highlights” by THE WEEKND

UK: “Jenius” by PAUL HEATON

US: “The Sin: Bliss (EP)” by ENHYPEN