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American singer Jason Aldean has spoken out to thank his fans after his “racist” song Try That In A Small Town becomes a hit. The country singer’s track saw a 999 per cent increase in streams after it began trending last week for its content following the release of the accompanying music video. The tune also made it to number 2 on the Billboard Chart. The lyrics of the song have been accused, by some, of having violent and racist undertones. The chorus says: “Try that in a small town, see how far you make it down the road. Round here we take care of our own. “You cross that line it won't take long for you to find out, I recommend you don't try that in a small town.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter On Twitter, Aldean shared a montage clip featuring imagery taken behind the scenes of his tour. In one clip, Aldean addressed the crowd referencing the controversy around the song. “So, somebody asked me, ‘Hey man, do you think you’re going to play this song tonight?’. The answer was simple. The people have spoken and you guys spoke very, very loudly this week.” Aldean denied that the track has any racial undertones, taking to social media last week to write: “In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.” The music video for the song features imagery of riots and protests and was pulled from the air by television network Country Music Television (CMT) in the US three days after it was first shown. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The release of Oppenheimer has got off to a box office success, but fans in some countries have been left feeling cheated after a nude scene with Florence Pugh was censored with CGI. On 21 July, the highly-anticipated Christopher Nolan film was released in movie theatres drawing millions of people around the world to cinemas. The film about the “father of the atomic bomb” stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr and Florence Pugh. Pugh, who played the character Jean Tatlock, was pictured after a sex scene sitting naked on a sofa having a conversation with Oppenheimer, played by Murphy. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter But for some cinemagoers in India, the full effect of the scene was diminished by the use of CGI to cover Pugh with a dress. To ensure the film would be classified in the U/A category, Universal Pictures made an edit to the Indian version of the film by placing a dress over Pugh to shield the nudity. One user joked: “The best ever CGI work in India award goes to the Indian censor board for Florence Pugh's black dress in Oppenheimer.” But, others pointed out that it wasn’t only India that screened the censored version of the film. According to other Twitter users, the same CGI-edited version was also played in cinemas in Indonesia, Pakistan and the Middle East. Another claimed: “In Malaysia, they deleted both 1st and second sex scenes because they didn't add anything to the plot (it was an R rated movie, I paid to see that). “But they couldn't delete this scene because it's important to the plot so they choose to cover her.” Someone else suggested that in Nepalese cinemas, the Pugh nude scene was simply cut altogether, without them realising the significance it had on the rest of the film. According to figures, Oppenheimer’s domestic opening weekend made a gross of $83m (£64.75m). Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Women's World Cup co-host New Zealand can potentially secure a place in the tournament's knockout stages with a win against the Philippines in Group A on Tuesday.

George Ezra closed out his 18-month tour as the final headliner of Barclaycard presents Latitude Festival on Sunday (23.07.23).

Football is right around the corner and CBS is looking forward to its Super Bowl year. Earlier today they released their coverage plans, complete with how the roster will stack up.

Don't know about that.

Ever wondered what it would be like to see John Wick rock out on stage? What about Neo, from The Matrix, playing a bass solo? Well, soon you might be able to – and people on social media are loving it. Hollywood star Keanu Reeves has confirmed that his band Dogstar is hitting the road, announcing a new tour to accompany the release of their first album in 23 years. After the band played a show at the Roxy in Los Angeles recently, they took to Instagram to announce the record, as well as an American and Japanese tour. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "WE ARE BACK!!! Thank you to everyone who came out to The Roxy last night," they captioned the Instagram post. "We are so excited to announce our new album Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees out on October 6th on our label Dillon Street Records," the post said. "A very limited quantity of signed vinyl is available in the Official Shop - act quick! "Listen to the lead single "Everything Turns Around" & watch the music video now. Next month, we kick off our 25+ date headline tour in North America & Japan. Get tickets this Friday at 10am local time. VIP packages available." Reeves fans on social media were excited by the news. One person tweeted: “I need to be there!! I need to be there!! I need to be there!!!” Another person wrote: “My love, tell me what you can't do.” One other commenter said: “John Wick can shred too? Nice. Seriously though I did not know he was in a band but this totally tracks.” Last time Dogstar released an album was in 2000, with Happy Ending. Before that it was 1996’s Our Little Visionary. Set for release on October 6, Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees will feature 12 tracks in total which includes the new single 'Everything Turns Around'. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Barbie and Oppenheimer did so well at the box office at their opening weekend that Vue International reported its biggest weekend for UK cinema ticket sales since before the pandemic. On Sunday, the cinema chain said a fifth of its customers had bought tickets to see both films in a double bill. More than 2,000 of Vue’s screenings for Barbie were sold out, according to the company. The company said the comedy drama Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, would exceed ticket sales for Super Mario Bros and expected Oppenheimer to become the biggest film of the year. Tim Richards, chief executive and founder of Vue International, said: “Vue saw its highest weekend admissions since Avengers: Endgame in 2019 with the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer, proving that when the movies are there our customers will come to watch them on the big screen. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “Barbie is tracking to become the biggest film of 2023 and has a good chance of getting into the Top 10 highest grossing films of all time. “It is an incredibly exciting moment for the industry, and we expect this trend to continue for the coming weeks.” In total, the cinema chain had more than 4,000 sell-out sessions across the country for both films. Meanwhile, Odeon reported on Thursday that more than 200,000 advance tickets had been bought and more than 10,000 guests were expected to see both films during the opening weekend. Universal Pictures said Oppenheimer had made £8.05m in the UK and Ireland since Friday. They said the biopic is on track to have a better opening three days than Nolan’s other blockbusters Dunkirk, Interstellar and Inception. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Doja Cat is facing a backlash after speaking out about the practice of pop stars’ obsessive fan bases using collective nicknames to describe themselves. Taylor Swift has the "Swifties", Ariana Grande has the "Arianators" and Lady Gaga has the "Little Monsters". And until recently, Doja Cat had the "Kittenz". However, in a now-deleted post on social media platform Threads, the pop star said: “My fans don’t name themselves s***. If you call yourself a ‘kitten’ or f***ing ‘kittenz’ that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.” The backlash was strong and immediate, in the latest instance of hordes of devoted fans getting just a teensy bit too invested in what musicians say and do. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter One of her fan accounts, The Kittenz Web, said: “Just delete the entire account and rethink everything. It’s never too late.” Another fan on Twitter said: “Imagine telling your fans to get a job when they are the ones that buy your music, merch and concert tickets.” Another asked on Threads if she could tell her fans that she loves them. Doja Cat replied: “I don’t though cuz I don’t even know y’all.” One fan hit back: “And we don’t know you. But we have supported you through thick and thin. Mind you, you’d be nothing without us.” But Doja wasn’t having it. She said: “Nobody forced you. IDK why you’re talking to me like you’re my mother... You sound like a crazy person.” The singer eventually deleted her account on the platform following the backlash. It’s not the first time 27-year-old Doja Cat, whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, has been forced to stand up for herself in the face of fanatical social media followers. She was previously accused of blocking people who weighed in on her relationship with Twitch streamer J Cyrus. “I DONT GIVE A F**K WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE,” she wrote on Instagram. “I NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL GIVE A F**K WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME OR MY PERSONAL LIFE.” Meanwhile Doja Cat fan pages like Doja HQ, The Kittens Room and Doja Cat News have all deactivated their accounts since the most recent incident. The Grammy award winning musician is expected to release her fourth studio album later this year. According to reports, that will likely steer away from the pop music she has previously released and draw more from hip-hop and R&B. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Barbie movie has been out for mere days but it is already making history. The Greta Gerwig directed film scored a US$377m (£293m, A$560m) opening weekend around the world, making it the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman. Now that is the Kenergy we love to see. At the North American box office – combining the US and Canada – Barbie claimed top spot with $155m in ticket sales from 4,243 locations, surpassing The Super Mario Bros Movie and every Marvel film released this year to become the biggest opening of the year. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Internationally, Barbie earned $182m from 69 territories and women made up 65 per cent of the audience, according to PostTrak, with 40 per cent of ticket buyers under the age of 25. “It was a truly historic weekend and continues the positive box office momentum of 2023,” said Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners. “People recognised that something special was happening and they wanted to be a part of it.” It comes after director Gerwig revealed the scene in Barbie that she refused to cut, despite pressure from the studio. The Academy Award-nominated director said that it was suggested she remove a scene where Barbie meets an elderly woman on a bench and tells her she’s beautiful. “I love that scene so much,” Gerwig told Rolling Stone. “And the older woman on the bench is the costume designer Ann Roth. She’s a legend. It’s a cul-de-sac of a moment, in a way - it doesn’t lead anywhere." "And in early cuts, looking at the movie, it was suggested, ‘Well, you could cut it. And actually, the story would move on just the same.’ And I said, ‘If I cut the scene, I don’t know what this movie is about.'” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Cillian Murphy has addressed the sex scenes with Florence Pugh in Oppenheimer, calling them “f***ing powerful” and praising the acting talents of his co-star. Murphy plays the titular role in the Christopher Nolan movie, focusing on the “father of the atomic bomb” J. Robert Oppenheimer. The actor was asked about the sex scenes between Oppenheimer and his mistress Jean Tatlock, played by Pugh, and he described them as “perfect” and “not gratuitous”. Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Murphy said: “Those scenes were written deliberately. [Director Nolan] knew that those scenes would get the movie the rating that it got.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Murphy went on to say “I think when you see it, it’s so f***ing powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect. And Florence is just amazing.” The actor went on to praise Pugh’s performance, saying: “I think she’s f***ing phenomenal. She has this presence as a person and on screen that is staggering. “The impact she has for the size of the role, it’s quite devastating.” Meanwhile, Oppenheimer has sparked controversy in India over a sex scene referencing the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita. Oppenheimer’s line “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” is, apparently, true to real life. It also appeared in the Bhagavad Gita when the god Vishnu is trying to persuade Prince Arjuna that he should do his duty and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says the same words. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

One of the most famous lines in Oppenheimer is when J. Robert Oppenheimer, the protagonist, thinks of the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita when the first bomb is detonated during tests. Oppenheimer’s line “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” is, apparently, true to real life. It also appeared in the Bhagavad Gita when the god Vishnu is trying to persuade Prince Arjuna that he should do his duty and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says the same words. Now, it turns out some members of the Hindu community in India are upset about how this quote is first brought into the movie – when he is having sex with Florence Pugh’s character, Jean Tatlock. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter While in bed, she gets up and goes to his bookshelf, taking a book written in a language she doesn’t know. Presumably, we can interpret this to be the Bhagavad Gita. Then, she asks him to read it while they continue having sex, feeding the scientist’s ego and further inflating the god complex he has over his own intelligence. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some on social media aren’t too happy about their holy book being read during a sex scene. Uday Mahurkar, an Indian journalist and founder of the Save Culture Save India Foundation, called it a “direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus” in an open letter addressed to Nolan. The post argues that Hollywood is deliberately “very sensitive” about Islam and asks why “the same courtesy” can’t be shown to Hindus. It adds that if Nolan does not remove the scene from the film, it will be interpreted as a “deliberate assault on Indian civilization”. News outlet Variety reports that Oppenheimer got a “U/A Certificate” from India’s board of film certification, which is roughly equivalent to a 12A rating in the UK. The publication also reports that Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut originally contained a song on the soundtrack with a line from the Bhagavad Gita during an orgy scene. Warner Bros. later removed the scene and issued a public apology. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.