Quick Hits

• The Kardashians promo poster for their show's upcoming season is going viral for all the wrong reasons — people are creeped out by how AI-looking it is, and "Whose faces are these???" is basically the quote of the day.
• After 22 years, Karan Johar is ending Koffee With Karan — the ninth and final season hits JioHotstar Oct. 14, and he calls the decision "emotional and personal."
• Streamflation has snapped something in people: "I'm cancelling all my shit besides YouTube" is the mood, and the collective yearning for Blockbuster and DVDs is loud.
• A fitness influencer had to publicly apologize for riding a protected sea turtle while it laid eggs. For content. I'm going to need a minute.
• BTS picked up three new VMA wins Sunday night, and j-hope made sure ARMY got the flowers: "It's all thanks to you guys."

What's Trending

The Kardashian poster situation. BuzzFeed rounded up the internet's collective unease over the family's heavily filtered promo art for the new season, and it's less "glam reveal" and more "uncanny valley support group." When your family is the most famous on earth and people still can't identify you in your own poster... maybe a light touch on the sliders next time?

The streamflation rebellion is here. Between price hikes and ad breaks that never end, people are telling BuzzFeed "The prices are getting outta control!" and cancelling everything except YouTube — while openly fantasizing about Blockbuster nights and DVDs. Physical media truthers, this is your victory lap.

Spooky szn loading. Billboard just dropped a costume guide built entirely from 2026's biggest music and pop culture moments. It's Sept. 30 — if you don't lock in a costume this week, you deserve the panic of Oct. 30.

Also making the rounds: the NFL's first-ever mariachi U.S. national anthem, performed by Mariachi Herencia de México on Sunday for Latino Heritage Month. History!

Music

• BTS weren't even in the room when the 2026 MTV VMAs handed out Moon Persons on Sunday, but j-hope still celebrated the group's three wins with a sweet shout-out to ARMY. Class act.
• It's new Billboard chart day — Tuesday's refresh (Oct. 3 charts, tracking Sept. 18–24) has highlights from Miley, Madonna, and ADÉLA. Madonna still showing up on chart day in 2026 is honestly iconic behavior.
• Troye Sivan says he's "happiest" in the "orbit of a woman" — "I'm so comfortable in that world" — talking to Billboard about getting ready for the party with the girls being the real main event. Relatable king.
• Rolling Stone's headline of the day, no contest: "Songs in Ursa Minor" — Yes legend Rick Wakeman performed a private show for 150 rescue bears at a Vietnamese animal sanctuary, raising awareness of bears farmed for bile extraction. The pun AND the cause? We stan.
• Zara Larsson brought out Sexyy Red in Los Angeles for a live "Lookin' for the Hoes," and her Midnight Sun tour keeps rolling through early November.
• Laneway Festival 2027 is loading: Fontaines D.C. and The Hayley Williams Show headline across four Australian and New Zealand cities. Down Under dispatch also includes Spotify RADAR tapping Becca Hatch and Lewis Love, and Mushroom Group's longtime Melbourne HQ hitting the market after almost five decades.
• Rolling Stone has a fun deep dive on Tinashe, MNEK, and Adéla all making albums about... wanting to be pop stars. The fourth wall did not survive.
• Tom Morello brought "Soldier in the Army of Love" to Kimmel — it's off his new album Everyone Gets Everything They Want, which is a title I feel in my bones.

Movies & TV

• The end of an era, for real this time: Karan Johar tells Variety the ninth season of Koffee With Karan — streaming from Oct. 14 — will be its last after 22 years of rapid-fire rounds and couch controversy. "The decision is emotional and personal," he says.
• Ajay Devgn tells Variety that Drishyam 3: The Conclusion clears the bar set by the first two films — he's promising unpredictable twists — and it ends the franchise for good. Big swings, final bows everywhere apparently.
• Over in the UK, distributor True Brit Entertainment has filed for administration less than three years after launching, citing "extremely challenging market conditions." Rough one for indie theatrical.
• RIP to Taylor Hanson's DWTS run: the 43-year-old was eliminated Tuesday after the show's Yacht Rock special. Sailing off into the sunset, presumably very smoothly.

Celebrity Tea

• Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin announced the birth of their daughter with an adorable family photo, and per BuzzFeed, the matching outfits are doing numbers on my heart. Awwwww.
• Mama June's ex Sugar Bear (Mike Thompson) is engaged again — he tells TMZ he met fiancée Taylor on TikTok and popped the question on there too. Love found on the clock app is still love!
• Love & Hip Hop star Althea Heart has moved out west and launched an OnlyFans, per TMZ. A career pivot we cannot pretend to be surprised by.
• Sweet backstory resurfacing via BuzzFeed: Taylor Swift quietly supported Bebe Rexha after Bebe publicly called out designers who refused to dress her for the Grammys over her size. ("If a size six/eight is too big, then I don't know what to tell you," Bebe said back in 2019.) Taylor showing up for people is just consistent behavior at this point.

TikTok & Internet

• The sea turtle influencer saga, expanded because it deserves it: a fitness influencer issued a full apology after riding a protected sea turtle while it was laying eggs — for content. The turtle was literally in labor. The internet's verdict was swift and merciless, as it should be.
• And the cleanse we need: Tim Meadows and his rescue cats have officially joined TikTok. That's it. That's the good content. Go follow.