Quick Hits

• The Kelly Clarkson Brooklyn store saga enters its evidence era: timestamped security footage dropped, AND the store is now selling the bird she allegedly wasn't allowed to buy — for $15 million (BuzzFeed/TMZ).
• Powderfinger were so blindsided by reunion tour demand they're expanding the 2027 run — their reaction, per Billboard: "Holy S—."
• Zach Bryan announced a North American and Australian tour with maybe the wildest tour title of the year: 'Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs,' with John Fogerty among the openers.
• Rosalía's viral 'SNL' performance sent 'Magnolias' streams up 300 percent (Rolling Stone).
• Netflix's 'Victorious' spinoff 'Hollywood Arts' arrived, and Variety's review calls it a bland copy of shows from a past era. Ouch.

What's Trending

The Kelly Clarkson vs. Art of Play saga is the gift that keeps on giving. BuzzFeed got its hands on timestamped security camera footage of Kelly's infamous visit, which shows her pulling out her phone immediately after leaving the store at 2:54 p.m. — with her now-viral tweet about alleged "Pretty Woman" treatment following soon after. People remain "very divided," per BuzzFeed. Meanwhile TMZ reports the store, which allegedly insisted the singing bird installation Molly wasn't for sale, is now — wait for it — selling Molly for $15 million. They really said "it's not for sale" and then priced it like a Chelsea townhouse. The audacity is doing numbers.

Also sparking big conversation: Florence Pugh's blunt statement circulating on r/popculturechat, in which she said "frat houses breed possibility and opportunity for rape and sexual assault" and called to "shut these torture houses down," adding that "the Cornell 57 rage didn't reach the right people." Heavy, but she didn't mince words.

Music

• Powderfinger mania is real: the Aussie rockers' reunion pre-sale demand was so overwhelming they've expanded the 2027 tour, with the band admitting genuine surprise at the rush.
• Rosalía's evocative 'SNL' performance went viral this week, and the receipts arrived: 'Magnolias' streams surged 300 percent.
• Zach Bryan's 'Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs' tour spans North America and Australia, with support from John Fogerty, Ryan Bingham and The Texas Gentlemen, "and more." The title alone deserves a Grammy.
• Rauw Alejandro and Camilo's 'Tattoo (Remix)' entered YouTube's Billion Views Club — six years after release. Slow burn, permanent ink.
• Carín León's 'Desde Que Te Tengo' hits No. 1 on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay chart, his third chart-topper there.
• Miranda Lambert serenaded husband Brendan McLoughlin for his birthday with rewritten 'Choosin' Texas' lyrics — including the line "He's in Vegas, I can tell" — which Billboard notes puts a spin on the longest-leading Hot 100 hit of all time.
• Hilltop Hoods now have Hilltop Hoods Lane in Adelaide's CBD, unveiled by the City Of Adelaide — "real estate that money can't buy," per Billboard.
• Quick hits: Chance the Rapper won his long-running legal fight with ex-manager Pat Corcoran ("I'm grateful to finally close this chapter of my life"); Drakeo the Ruler's mother settled her wrongful-death suit with Live Nation, though claims by his son and brother still head to trial next month; Sienna Spiro is the first big international name confirmed for the 2026 ARIA Awards at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion; and Mon Laferte, Francisca Valenzuela and Juanes will headline the Latin Grammys' In The Mix/Los Producers event honoring producer Sebastian Krys.

Movies & TV

• Thirteen years after 'Victorious' ended, Netflix's spinoff 'Hollywood Arts' is here — and Variety's review calls it a bland copy of shows from a past era. The Nickelodeon revival machine does not bat a thousand.
• 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' VFX boss Jerome Chen revealed the film juggled nearly 2,000 VFX shots in just 24 weeks of post-production — including a genuinely unhinged 445 shots delivered in a single week — plus a Hulk redesign. The VFX artists deserve hazard pay.
• Movistar Plus' Mipcom title 'The Castle' is shaping up as another hit from the 'La Bola Negra' team — described as "'Zodiac' with sex clubs," told from both perpetrator and victim POVs, and a big hit at San Sebastián. It's series creator Isabel Peña's debut.
• Karla Sofía Gascón (Oscar-nominated for 'Emilia Pérez') and 'Money Heist's Itziar Ituño will star in 'When Devils Rule,' a good-vs-evil Spanish fantasy satire from Atlantika Films.
• Dori Media Group and India's Sphereorigin are developing a film about last month's FlyDubai hijacking incident — pitched as harrowing but ultimately hopeful.
• Quick hits: MK2 Films picked up shorts by Brady Corbet, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Céline Sciamma; Edinburgh Film Festival's 80th edition is set for Aug. 12–18, 2027; Dharamshala's fest opens with Rima Das' 'Not a Hero' and premieres Kirti Kulhari's producing debut 'Kinaare'; and Gersh launched Victoria House, expanding into scripted film and international co-productions.

Celebrity Tea

• Anne Heche's 24-year-old son Homer Laffoon is being called a "deadbeat dad" by his toddler's mother, Jessica Lamberto, who made the accusation to Page Six. Messy, sad, and very public.
• Russell Brand's rape trial opened with the prosecution alleging he was "ruthless and calculated" with an "indiscriminate and voracious" desire for sexual contact, per Variety's report on the opening statement. Allegations, not verdicts — the trial is ongoing.

TikTok & Internet

• TikToker Bryce Hall is in serious legal trouble: per court docs obtained by TMZ, his ex Mika Lafuente alleges he assaulted her on July 27 after they fought over a vacuum, and alleged injury photos have now surfaced. Heavy stuff — no jokes here.
• Amazon's "Internet Famous" list is basically TikTok-but-shopping, and BuzzFeed rounded up 34 current favorites, from holiday Laneige to buttery-soft Skims lookalikes.
• BuzzFeed apparently declared it Geography Week: three separate geography quizzes dropped in one day (country-ordering, a 90-second sprint, and a landmarks test Americans will allegedly fail). Somewhere, a map is blushing.
• For the 30-and-over crowd, there's a quiz asking you to ID 2000s cartoons by outfit alone — "Reformed Couch Potato Children only."
• And the "signs you grew up poor" thread is making the rounds, including the quietly devastating "I never saw it as strange until my husband asked why I was doing that."