Entertainment Roundup: What Happened in February

February brings a lot of things to our lives; love, winter weather, and of course, some of the hottest news stories straight from Hollywood. This month gave us plenty to discuss in our monthly roundup. From Twitter rants to award shows to the dark side of the music industry, these are the top stories from February 2016.

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Not Your Grammy’s GRAMMYs

When you think of the GRAMMYs, you think music, mash-ups, and moving speeches. This year’s show gave us all three! The night, hosted by LL Cool J, was kicked off by a smashing performance by Taylor Swift. The ‘Style’ songstress performed the single ‘Out Of The Woods’ from her hit album, 1989. We also received an incredible performance from Kendrick Lamar, who performed a moving and dramatic rendition of his hit song ‘Alright’. The rapper created conversation on present day civil rights, and even included new lyrics to his tune relating back to the tragic loss of Trayvon Martin. Other memorable moments includes Adele’s performance, which suffered technical malfunctions, Tori Kelly and James Bay’s mashup, and viewers were treated to a front row seat of Broadway’s newest hit show, Hamilton. Let’s not forget those winners though. The night saw artists such as Alabama Shakes, Kendrick Lamar, and Chris Stapleton deliver speeches for winning their respective categories. The winner of the night, however, was Taylor Swift. Not only did Swift accept the GRAMMY for ‘Album of The Year’ for her album 1989, she also gave a killer speech in which she encouraged women to work hard, and served it up to Kanye West for claiming he “made that b**** famous” in his new tune ‘Famous’. In her speech, Swift said, ‘There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success, or take credit for your accomplishments, and your fame. But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and know it was you and the people that love you that put you there.” Good for you, T! And speaking of Kanye…

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He’s Just Being Kanye

For those who don’t know, Kanye West tends to go off on Twitter rants, and February gave us plenty to read. First, after releasing his latest album The Life Of Pablo, a song titled ‘Famous’ made the rounds online due to lyrics that reignited an old feud with pop star, Taylor Swift. West’s lyrics, as stated above, involved claims that he is responsible for her fame. After seeing the backlash from fans and celebs alike, West took to Twitter to clear the air. Sort of. West says Swift was aware of the lyrics, and found them ‘funny,’ even going so far to say the line was her idea. However, Swift’s rep quickly denied the claims, saying the singer was absolutely unaware of the line being included in the song. After her GRAMMYs acceptance speech, West once again tweeted his thoughts, saying Swift had the chance to “be cool,” but squandered it. There’s also a leaked video of West ranting about the singer backstage at SNL during his performance duties, as well as the most recent rant, captured on video at 1Oak night club. West has also recently announced his love of Will Ferrell on the social media site, so there’s that. For his latest musings, be sure to check out West’s Twitter.

Source: 20th Century Fox

Love For Deadpool

A favorite pastime on Valentine’s Day is heading to the theater to see the latest films. Over the Valentine’s Day weekend (as well as President’s Day), Ryan Reynolds’ helmed Deadpool beat out Rebel Wilson and Dakota Johnson’s How To Be Single, raking in around $135 million in it’s first three days in theaters. Meanwhile, Wilson’s romantic comedy made $18.7 million. Overall the R-rated superhero film has grossed over $520 million worldwide, for now. Deadpool is now the record holder for President’s Day weekend debut, taking the spot previously held by Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey. But how much will the action comedy take in overall? Only time will tell.

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Kesha’s Uphill Battle

One of the top stories this month in Hollywood is also one of the most heartbreaking. Before we dive in, here’s a little back story: Kesha, in legal documents, alleges her longtime producer, Dr. Luke, has been abusive to her verbally and sexually, including accusations of rape. The ‘Tik Tok’ singer, who has been involved in the legal battle since October 2014, was denied an injunction from a Manhattan judge this month which would have broken the singer out of her contract with the producer, early. Since the judgment, many famous faces have shown their support for the artist, from Kelly Clarkson and Adele to Taylor Swift and Snoop Dogg. Kesha has since taken to her Instagram account to thank her fans and fellow artists for their countless and continued support of her through this tough time. Since the judge’s decision, many have called on Sony, the parent company of Kesha’s label Kemosabe Records, to dissolve the contract, allowing the singer to record free from Dr. Luke. Sony has released a statement claiming they have done everything possible to allow Kesha to record without any association with the producer. Dr. Luke has since denied all claims of raping the singer.

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Rock The Oscars

There hasn’t been an Academy Awards more talked-about than this year’s show. The continuous topic of racial inequality began circulating around the award show after it was announced that this year’s nominees in the four main acting categories (Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress) are all white, for the second year in a row. With Chris Rock taking over hosting duties, many wondered if the host would broach the subject. And boy, did he. From start to finish, Rock made sure to address the subject and didn’t hold back any punches. Overall, the comedian did a fantastic job, balancing the serious with the funny, while reminding viewers of the importance of inclusion and opportunity. Other memorable moments of the night included Rock getting audience members to buy Girl Scout cookies for his daughter’s troop, a sultry number from The Weeknd, and a moving performance from Lady Gaga.

But let’s not forget, there were plenty of winners to discuss as well. Alicia Vikander took home the statue for Best Supporting Actress, Mark Rylance for Best Supporting Actor, Brie Larson received the award for Best Actress, and Leonardo DiCaprio finally got his Academy Award for Best Actor. Best Picture went to Spotlight. Congrats to the winners!

There you have it! Remember, we update the top stories from each month, every month! Be sure to check back in with us next month for the newest batch of headlines! For more stories like these, follow us on Twitter, and “like” us on Facebook!