Quick Hits

• Some truly sad news to start: in the wake of Dolly Parton's death, her sister Stella Parton is calling out "fake AI garbage" and "snarky tweets," asking people online to "show more compassion" while the family grieves.
• Jay-Z opened his two-night London stand by pausing the show so a sold-out stadium could serenade Beyoncé for her 45th birthday — and somehow ALSO squeezed in a Fugees reunion. Biggest flex of the day.
• The feud is over: Big Sean joined Kanye West at his Soldier Field homecoming in Chicago to run back "Clique" and "Mercy." Grown men hugging energy, and we love it.
• Phaedra Parks confirmed she's dating CT Tamburello, and honestly the Bravo-to-MTV pipeline has never produced a more chaotic power couple.
• Beyoncé marked her 45th birthday and the B'Day anniversary by selling a $948 "Bee Keeper Collector's Box" — a wooden box, limited to 500, that contains zero vinyl records. The box is empty, darling.

What's Trending

• A resurfaced 2002 clip of Britney Spears talking about celebrities getting showered with free stuff is blowing up, with Britney saying "When I was poor… nobody gave me anything." The top take making the rounds: "This is why so many wealthy people are some of the stingiest, most entitled people you'll encounter." Twenty-four years later, still correct.
• Grab tissues: Bindi Irwin posted a video honoring Steve Irwin on the 20th anniversary of his death, writing that the world "lost the most passionate and dedicated wildlife conservationist" and her family "lost our superhero." The comments are a collective sob.
• Naomi Osaka's comments on influencers attending the US Open have r/popculturechat fully divided — athletes versus vibes-merchants is apparently the culture war we're having now.

Music

• The Dolly Parton news hangs over everything today: per Billboard, Stella Parton is pushing back on AI-generated fakes and cruel tweets about her sister's death, urging compassion for the grieving family. Mourn accordingly.
• Beyoncé's birthday haul: "Morning Dew (Donk)" hits No. 1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Airplay chart (dated Sept. 12), a very on-brand 45th birthday gift. Meanwhile Jay-Z stopped his Tottenham Hotspur Stadium show cold so the crowd could sing to her, THEN brought out the Fugees. Unbelievable night for the Carter-Jones-Knowles expanded universe.
• Chicago got its moment too: Big Sean and Kanye West officially buried the hatchet on stage at Soldier Field, performing "Clique," "Mercy," and "I Don't F* With You." Whatever it took to get here, "Clique" live again is a win.
• Rising star Stella Lefty is facing a THIRD song-copying accusation — TikTok users say "Why Wouldn't We" sounds a lot like Blake Shelton's "I'll Name the Dogs," on top of earlier comparisons to Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" and The Chicks' "There's Your Trouble." At this point it's less a accusation and more a pattern, per the internet's forensic musicologists.
• New pop girl alert: Adéla dropped a single literally titled "Nicole Kidman," packed with references, ahead of her album "PRIMA," which leans into 2012/2013-era pop. Two queens, one slay.
• Victony's STARLIFE album sparked eight debuts on Billboard's U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart — the strongest week of his career so far.
• In less fun news: Lil Durk's murder-for-hire trial wrapped its second and final week of evidence, with a defense witness calling the key government cooperator "a liar and a thief," per Billboard. And a judge ruled Friday that Diddy can proceed with his defamation suit against NewsNation over claims he laced baby oil with drugs.
• Country corner: Jason Aldean says he knew "immediately" he had to cut his new Ronnie Milsap tribute song, "Anytime Soon."

Movies & TV

• The weirdest sentence of the day: Robert Pattinson stars in "Primetime," a tense thriller about Chris Hansen of "To Catch a Predator" fame (premiering Saturday), and he's openly hoping Hansen — who's been critical — comes around: "I hope the inspiration his character has given is some kind of compliment." Rob, my dunderhead, I adore you.
• Maggie Gyllenhaal, currently Venice jury president, revealed she tried using AI to turn Dakota Johnson into Marilyn Monroe for her short film "Flesh Impact" and scrapped it because it "fundamentally did not work." The machines lose again, hallelujah.
• Early Venice buzz: Variety calls Carrie Coon "breathtaking" in "The Liberation," playing a fortysomething woman drawn into a cult in Guy Nattiv's "observant, harrowing" film. Put it on your list.
• Marion Cotillard is at Venice mentoring emerging filmmakers and delivering the quote of the festival: "Not all films are destined to draw millions of viewers and turn a profit." Someone frame that.
• And if you're behind on 2026 movies, BuzzFeed's Spencer Althouse (who watches 400+ films a year, casually) rounded up 19 underrated gems worth catching up on.

Celebrity Tea

• The Phaedra-CT lore deepens: she confirmed the romance Friday on Jeff Lewis' radio show. The Real Housewives of Atlanta meets The Challenge is a crossover no one predicted and everyone deserved.
• Messiest legal saga of the week: McKenna West — already locked in a surrogacy dispute with the biological parents of the baby she carried — is now being sued by the father of her biological son, who claims she's "not mentally stable," per TMZ. This story gets more tangled by the filing.

TikTok & Internet

• Influencer Jack Doherty was arrested in Florida, and the r/popculturechat reception can be summarized as "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy lol." The Schadenfreude is off the charts.
• A grim update in the Rachel Tussey case: the JourneyLite surgery center countersued her doctor after her death, arguing she couldn't have overdosed because she didn't respond when Narcan was administered. This one's just sad.