Quick Hits

• Tom Welling had an Instagram incident. The Smallville star posted the view from his hotel window Friday and shared... a little more than the view, per BuzzFeed. His on-screen nemesis Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor himself!) has already recreated the accidental NSFW selfie — but added one important message. This is elite bits.
• Kelly Clarkson vs. a $15,000 singing bird. She's in a full-blown beef with a Brooklyn toy shop, and the internet is losing its collective mind.
• Taylor Swift and The Beatles are sharing the Billboard 200 top 10 at the same time, and Billboard's Pop Shop podcast is digging into how these two tell the story of chart history "Now & Then."
• Shane Gillis's third SNL hosting monologue is getting cooked — Maren Morris, Flavor Flav and Maggie Baird are among those pushing back, per Billboard.
• Gracie Bon is getting dragged for what TMZ says seemingly turned Panama's earthquake devastation into a photo op.

What's Trending

• It's National Coming Out Day, and r/popculturechat is trading favorite TV coming-out scenes — Ted Lasso's Colin telling the team and Schitt's Creek's Patrick are getting tons of love. The one wholesome corner of the internet today, and we're here for it.
• BuzzFeed rounded up 16 of the most surreal celebrity headlines ever, including an iconic model who killed a goose on a roller coaster. Also honored: the Jeremy Renner app, which lives in our heads rent-free forever.
• Procrastination queue, if you dare: BuzzFeed's "Rate These 50 Artists" (overrated, underrated, or accurately rated — they admit it's "going to cause a stir"), a '60s movies screenshot quiz, and a Disney princess outfit ID challenge for anyone who claims photographic memory. Ariel's blue dress forever.

Music

• DistroKid takedown mess: Rolling Stone reports the distributor removed songs from streaming platforms in response to UMG's copyright suit — the target was ostensibly AI slop, but numerous artists say their original music got caught in the crossfire. Independent artists, check your catalogs.
• MAMA Awards nominations are here: BTS leads with five nods and BIGBANG is right there with them — announced Monday, the same day first-round voting opened for the 2027 Grammys. K-pop calendar chaos.
• Shakira closed out her Madrid residency with show No. 13 and a friends-and-family finale: Maluma, Bizarrap, Laura Pausini, Beéle and Dani Martín all showed up. Her verdict: "Someone pinch me." A historic European run ending on the highest possible note.
• Fontaines D.C. double-drop: a 2027 North American tour with Westside Cowboy and Iceage, in support of an upcoming album called Dopamine Chamber. New music AND a tour announcement — the Irish lads do not miss.
• Australia's Pitch Music & Arts returns March 5–9, 2027 for its 10th-anniversary edition in the foothills of Gariwerd (the Grampians). Start saving.

Movies & TV

• The BBC is making a two-part J.K. Rowling docuseries from Rogan Scotland (Becoming Frida Kahlo), tracing the Harry Potter author's dramatic rise and cultural influence. Already bracing for the discourse.
• Marion Cotillard will preside over the competition jury at the 23rd Marrakech Film Festival in November. Oscar winner, Inception legend, festival royalty — correct choice.
• The vertical video takeover continues: Raindance is launching the UK's first major vertical festival and market, with Variety noting short-form vertical media is projected to generate $150 billion outside China this year. The 9:16 apocalypse is real, and we're all living in it.
• Dante, but cursed: Skincrawl Studios debuted a first look at a horror retelling of The Divine Comedy from Invoking Yell director Patricio Valladares. Inferno but literally.
• At Turin's View Conference, God of War's Bruno Velazquez revealed James Cameron's Avatar tech helped shape the games' look, alongside The Mandalorian & Grogu's Hal Hickel — the film/game crossover era is fully upon us.

Celebrity Tea

• The Kelly Clarkson bird saga (per BuzzFeed): a Brooklyn toy shop called Art of Play, a $15,000 singing bird, and a beef so absurd BuzzFeed says they "couldn't make this up if we tried." The internet's official statement: "Ryan Murphy, pick up the phone!!!!" We need the limited series greenlit by Friday.
• Gracie Bon, per TMZ, is getting "torn to shreds" for posing amid Panama's earthquake wreckage — the country was rocked by a 7.7 quake just last week. Even by influencer standards, read the room.
• The Shane Gillis SNL monologue fallout keeps rolling: Billboard reports Maren Morris, Flavor Flav and Maggie Baird are among those speaking out against the third-time host's opener, with Morris calling it "actually dangerous for women." This one's not going away quietly.

TikTok & Internet

• Parke's cult-favorite mockneck got cropped and drops today (Oct. 13) as part of the Everyday Edit — Rolling Stone is openly betting it sells out again. If you know, you know: set the alarm.
• IvyBears is getting an animated feature after breaking out on YouTube, per Variety — and yes, it all started with a theater-and-film-studies grad's "lifelong love for gummies." A gummy vitamin cinematic universe. In this economy? Sure. Why not.

Slow gossip day? Absolutely not. Between a rogue singing bird and a recreated nude selfie, the internet is eating good. See you tomorrow — same chaos, new headlines. 🫡