Welcome to the second installment of Pop Culture Recap. Allow us to catch you up to speed on some of the hot news from this week you may have missed.
The SAG Awards
This past Sunday, the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards, aka the SAG Awards, were held over Zoom (stars—they’re just like us!) with a pre-taped ceremony that lasted merely one hour instead of the usual two. The Crown and Schitt’s Creek won the major cast awards for the Drama and Comedy series respectively, Chadwick Boseman won Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Levee Green in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, making it his ninth posthumous award.
There were a few curve balls thrown, like The Trial of the Chicago 7 winning Best Motion Picture Ensemble, Viola Davis winning Best Actress in a Leading Role as Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Youn Yuh-jung winning Best Actress in a Supporting Role for playing Soonja in Minari, which could make them all Oscar frontrunners.
You can check out the full list of nominees and winners here and the fashion from the virtual red carpet here!
Marvel Drops the Official Trailer for New Disney+ Show, Loki
Loki has been a fan favorite character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since he appeared in the first Thor movie way back in 2011. Ten years later, he’s finally getting his own stage where he’s the main character (and not just the side character that steals the show). On Monday, Marvel dropped the official trailer, confirming a bunch of fan theories that the show will follow Loki—from an alternate timeline—who messed up the flow of time after escaping from the Avengers’ custody in Avengers: Endgame.
From the two-minute trailer, we can already tell it is going to be action packed, as Loki is recruited (against his will it seems) to help the Timekeepers repair the damage he caused to the natural timeline. The god of mischief’s very own show will premiere June 11th on Disney+, but in the meantime, you can check out the trailer for Loki here.
Jimmy Fallon Invites TikTok Creators to the Tonight Show After Backlash
Last week, we talked about the backlash Addison Rae and the Tonight Show faced for not crediting TikTok dance creators who were mostly people of color. As a result, the creators were invited to the show to talk about themselves, the origins of the dance they choreographed and even dance their own dances!
It was very endearing to see how the folks behind insanely viral TikTok dances/challenges were incredibly humble and excited to be on such a popular show. Even if it was after the backlash, credit was given where credit was due. Check out the full segment here.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Announce Their Netflix Deal and First Series
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex—and newly announced founders of Archewell Productions—have signed a multiyear deal to create documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows and children’ programming for Netflix.
“Our focus will be on creating content that also gives hope,” said Megan and Harry in a statement, adding that Netflix’s “unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action.”
The unlocking begins with Archewell Productions’ first Netflix series Heart of Invictus. The docuseries follows athletes as they train for the 2022 Invictus Games, an international sporting competition taking place in The Hague, Netherlands, for military service members and veterans who have suffered life-changing injuries. Harry launched the Invictus Games in 2014 and will appear on-camera throughout the series, an exciting full-circle moment for the Duke as he brings his philanthropic service to the big screen.
Meghan Markle has no plans to resume her acting career anytime soon, but stay tuned for the future of Archewell Productions on Netflix—the Duchess just might make an appearance!
More on Heart of Invictus here!
Taylor Swift releases Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift’s second album is back again, re-recorded with an additional six previously unreleased songs from the “vault” of songs that never made it to the original Fearless album. The 26-song album was released today, including classics like “Fifteen” and “You Belong With Me” in addition to the unreleased “You All Over Me” featuring country singer Maren Morris and “That’s When” with Keith Urban.
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is the first of Swift’s albums that she’s re-recorded—so far. She confirmed back in 2019 that she would re-record her songbook all the way up to her 2017 Reputation album, so this is just the beginning!
Listen to Fearless (Taylor’s Version) here!