From MTV's hottest artists to Barbie in the Middle East, here's what's happening in entertainment.
'23 VMAs
With just over a month to go before the 2023 MTV Music Video Awards, the network has released this year's nominees.
Taylor Swift leads all artists with eight nominations, including major categories like Video of the Year, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year. SZA checked in with six nods, while a slew of other artists are tied at 5 nominations each.
The ongoing Hollywood writer's strike will likely impact the show, as it has other award shows this year. That means showrunners will have to get creative when selecting a host and creating segments to keep the show interesting.
The ceremony is set for September 12 at Newark, N.J.'s Prudential Center.
Travis Tour
Fresh off the release of his fourth solo studio album, UTOPIA, Travis Scott is set to hit the road.
Scott took to Instagram to confirm the news and announce U.S. and European dates will be publicized soon.
The tour will be Scott's first since Astroworld, which was marred by crowd crush in Houston that left 10 people dead and dozens others injured. Litigation around the deadly festival is ongoing and just as recently as two days ago, it was revealed that Scott settled with a third family who lost their 14-year-old son in the melee.
The announcement also comes days after a slated show at the Pyramids of Giza was cancelled by Egypt's Musicians Syndicate which cited Scott's image as going against its societal values.
The wild success of the Barbie movie won't be escaping the Middle East after all.
The film is set to debut in theaters this weekend after a three-week delay. It was set to go live two days before the rest of the world on July 19, however critics in the region wanted to censor parts of the movie that did not align with their societal values.
For example, there were concerns in the United Arab Emirates over LGBTQ+-related dialogue, according to Variety. Barbie isn't the first movie to face this type of reaction. This year, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was not released in Saudi Arabia or the UAE, presumably because of a "Protect Trans Lives" flag that appeared in a scene of the movie.
There's a new ETF designed to offer investors exposure to 'meme stocks.' Roundhill Investments launched it earlier this month and says the ETF is the first that is explicitly designed to track the performance of meme stocks. Roundhill Investments Vice President of Research Mario Stefanidis joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Mobile bill payment application Papaya recently raised $50 million in a series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Papaya lets users take a photo of any bill, and the app's AI-powered 'bill understanding technology' pays the bill in seconds. The company says its goal is to help people spend more time on things that matter, by making bill-paying as painless and quick as possible. Papaya CEO and co-founder Patrick Kann joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
According to the CDC, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. The grim statistic is one of the main reasons why two organizations came together to do something. The Bump and the National Medical Association are partnering to launch The Black Maternal Health hub. The online resource will help expecting mothers feel supported, informed, and empowered throughout pregnancy and the early days of parenting. Jennifer Lee at The Bump and Dr. Rachel Villanueva, a clinical assistant professor of OB/GYN and member of the National Medical Association join Cheddar News to talk about the initiative.
If you're looking for a date, 2022 might be your year. Online dating platform Bumble is buzzing with dating predictions from its latest survey. Shan Boodram, sex and relationships expert at Bumble, joined Cheddar to discuss some of the findings and what people can expect from the future dating landscape. Some of the results showed that public displays of affection are back on the rise as more people get vaccinated and that more users are opting for alcohol-free first dates. She also explained the trend of "explori-dating," a way that users are attempting to get out of their comfort zone. "People are willing to date outside of their city to get to that," she said.
Cheddar is looking back at the 12 biggest buzzwords of the year leading up to Christmas. The seventh term in the countdown is Transitory. Definition: (adjective) of brief gratification, not permanent.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Omorpho Co-Founder explains the innovation driving gravity sportswear; Cool Beans CEO breaks down the science behind 'good mood food;' A look at Curiosity Stream's 'Building The James Webb Telescope.'
Stefan Olander, Co-Founder of Omorpho, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how they are bringing innovation into athleticwear by creating 'gravity sportswear.'
Tyler Mayoras, CEO of Cool Beans, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss the science behind being a 'good mood food,' and what makes these burritos good for the environment.
