Shawn Cooke

Jake Paul isn't ruling out throwing more parties during the pandemic
By Shawn Cooke
Nothing’s getting in Jake Paul’s way. Last month, the YouTuber-turned-boxer hosted an irresponsible, mostly maskless rager at his Calabasas mansion. After seeing countless videos of party-goers dancing in close quarters and dangling from a…
Netflix will now allow you to slow down and speed up shows
By Shawn Cooke
If you can remember back to last October, there was a minor outcry over Netflix testing the option to change playback speed on the app. Judd Apatow said, among other things, “don’t fuck with our timing.” The Incredibles director Brad Bird expressed…
The best albums of the week, from Beyoncé, Madeline Kenney, and more
By Shawn Cooke
Daniel Ek, Spotify’s bald CEO who always appears to be clutching an invisible orb in photos, had a harsh assessment for artists this week. If you want to make a living in the streaming-ravaged music industry without touring, he suggests, simply…
'Ellen Show' producers now face allegations of "rampant" sexual misconduct
By Shawn Cooke
Following reports of a toxic workplace rife with intimidation, racism, and bullying, former employees have now accused executive producers on The Ellen DeGeneres Show of “rampant sexual misconduct and harassment.” A new report from BuzzFeed News…
Beyoncé's 'Black Is King' has arrived on Disney+
By Shawn Cooke
Beyoncé has released her highly anticipated new visual album, Black Is King. Available to stream as a Disney Plus exclusive, the film serves as a refashioned companion to last year’s soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift. She’s said that it “reimagines…
Oprah gave up the cover of O Magazine for the first time to honor Breonna Taylor
By Shawn Cooke
On Thursday, Oprah Winfrey announced that Breonna Taylor will be featured on the cover of September’s Oprah Magazine. Winfrey has been on every O Magazine cover since its inception — sometimes with another star in her orbit, like Michelle Obama or…
Netflix adding seven classic Black sitcoms is a step in the right direction
By Shawn Cooke
In the immediate aftermath of protests against police brutality and racial injustice, the entertainment industry began a reckoning with racist power structures and celebrating Black stories in all genres. Now, Netflix has announced plans to add…
The new 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater' soundtrack recaptures the magic of the original
By Shawn Cooke
The pandemic has activated some nostalgic impulses, from all the Zoom TV reunions to social media users exposing their favorite high school albums. These are ideal conditions for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater to mount a comeback, as it plans to remaster…
The best new releases on Netflix this month
By Shawn Cooke
It’s hard to keep track of the hundreds of movies and shows migrating between the dozens of streaming services every month — on top of those precious quibis. This space is here to keep you updated on the best movies and shows coming to Netflix on a…
'Ramy' makes Emmy history as the first Muslim-American sitcom nominated
By Shawn Cooke
The Emmy nominations seemed to sneak up on the feed this year, which you could attribute to a global pandemic or lingering questions about how exactly they’re going to stage an awards show by September. It marked the first year without at least 20…
'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' is now under investigation for its workplace culture
By Shawn Cooke
Earlier this month, BuzzFeed News published an extensive report on The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s toxic work environment. With the pandemic offering a harsh glimpse into poor working conditions on the show, WarnerMedia has opened an internal…
The Chainsmokers' drive-in concert didn't look especially distant
By Shawn Cooke
Much like you might be taking notes of which friends and acquaintances have vacationed in Jamaica since the pandemic began, it’s helpful to monitor which artists are tossing their fans to the wolves. On Saturday, the Chainsmokers became the latest…
Taylor Swift's fans are terrorizing music critics again and they must be stopped
By Shawn Cooke
Let’s get this out of the way: Taylor Swift’s folklore is great, some of her sharpest songwriting yet! She’s one of my favorite modern pop artists. Evidently, this might not be enough insurance against her most toxic fans, who appear to take…
The ill-advised MLB season is already spiraling out of control
By Shawn Cooke
After an opening weekend filled with creepy cardboard cutouts of fans, fake crowd noise, and otherwise empty stadiums, the MLB season is already facing its first significant coronavirus outbreak. After learning that eight additional players and two…
The best albums of the week, from Taylor Swift, Boldy James, and more
By Shawn Cooke
They’ve been cosmically linked, trading public goodwill, controversies, and quality of output over much of the past decade, but Taylor Swift and Kanye West still can’t escape each other’s orbit. Although fears emerged that they’d be in a release day…
The protests to #FreeBritney crashed a Zoom court hearing
By Shawn Cooke
This week, the fan campaign to free Britney Spears from her conservatorship took a disruptive turn. According to a report from TMZ, some uninvited #FreeBritney supporters crashed a status hearing Zoom call and refused to leave for over two hours.…
In latest gaffe, the Redskins will temporarily be renamed the 'Washington Football Team'
By Shawn Cooke
Right as the NHL unveiled an objectively cool new logo, name, and uniform for the Seattle Kraken, Dan Snyder’s disgraced NFL franchise announced a strange temporary team name. Washington will effectively be known as the “Washington Football Team,”…
Mary Trump tells Stephen Colbert that her uncle "demonstrates sociopathic tendencies"
By Shawn Cooke
The tell-all memoir penned by President Donald Trump’s niece, Too Much and Never Enough, is a certified blockbuster at this point. Publisher Simon & Schuster recently announced that Mary Trump’s book sold 1.35 million copies in its first week and is…
That overacted anti-racism PSA has as messy of an origin as you'd expect
By Shawn Cooke
Two weeks into the worldwide protests against racist policing, a who’s-who of B-list celebrities acted their hearts out for the “I Take Responsibility” campaign. It was roundly lampooned on impact, with special attention given to stars like Justin…
Why was an obscure Joaquin Phoenix documentary at the center of a Ukrainian hostage situation?
By Shawn Cooke
On Tuesday, a prolonged hostage standoff in Ukraine ended with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, plugging an obscure animal abuse documentary narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. The gunman, a 44-year-old man named Maksym Kryvosh, was armed with…