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Sports Daypop

Ottawa Senators’ forward Austin Watson suspended two games for interference on Boston Bruins’ Jack Ahcan

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced on Sunday that Ottawa Senators forward Austin Watson has been suspended two games for interference on Boston Bruins defenseman Jack Ahcan.

The incident occurred at 8:07 of the first period in the Senators’ 2-0 loss to the Bruins on Saturday, when Watson hit Ahcan up high after clearing the puck from the corner and was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for interference.

The 30-year-old Watson will forfeit $15,000 in salary, with the money going to the players’ emergency fund; however, he does have the right to appeal the decision.  Watson has two goals and one assist in 30 games for Ottawa this season.

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Country Daypop

Chris Stapleton earns his second country airplay No. 1 with ‘You Should Probably Leave’

Chris Stapleton earned his second No.1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with “You Should Probably Leave.”  The achievement comes nearly four years after Stapleton’s previous leader on that chart, “Broken Halos,” which spent a week at No. 1 on March 2018. “You Should Probably Leave,” written by Stapleton, Chris DuBois and Ashley Gorley, is Chris’s fifth Top 10 airplay success over a span of nearly six years.

Stapleton returns to his All-American Road Show tour on March 17 in Houston, running through September. Artists on various dates include Margo Price, Yola, and Elle King.

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Country Daypop

Dollywood to pay 100% of college tuition for all employees

Dollywood announced that the theme park will cover college tuition, including fees and books, for its employees.  The education benefit package goes into effect on Feb. 24 and benefits all part-time, seasonal and full-time employees of Dollywood Parks & Resorts. This covers workers for the following properties of operating partner Herschend Enterprises: Dollywood, Dollywood’s Splash Country, Dolly Parton’s Stampede, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort, Dollywood Cabins and Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show.

Eugene Naughton, president of The Dollywood Company, said: “We know when our hosts are happy and feel cared for that they are going to pass that along to our guests. The creation of the program allows another avenue for us to care for our hosts. One of The Dollywood Foundation’s key tenets is to ‘learn more’. This program is created with that very tenet in mind. We want our hosts to develop themselves through advanced learning to fulfill the foundation’s other tenets: care more, dream more and be more. When our hosts strive to grow themselves, it makes our business and our community a truly better place.”

Editorial credit: Michael Gordon / Shutterstock.com.

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Entertainment Daypop

‘In the Heights’ star Anthony Ramos joins Marvel series ‘Ironheart’ on Disney+

“In the Heights” star Anthony Ramos will be entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe, joining the upcoming series “Ironheart” at Disney+.

Ramos joins previously announced series lead Dominique Thorne, who will star as Marvel character Riri Williams, a genius inventor and the creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. In the comics, the character built her own version of the Iron Man suit in an MIT dorm.  Details on Ramos’ role are being kept under wraps.

Ramos broke out with his role in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton. In addition to In the Heights, his on-screen credits include HBO’s In Treatment, Netflix’s She’s Gotta Have It and A Star Is Born.  He next will appear in another franchise — Transformers: Rise of the Beasts — which wrapped principal photography ahead of a planned 2023 release.

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Entertainment Daypop

Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg perform at Super Bowl 2022 halftime show

Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar brought hip-hop to the Super Bowl LVI halftime show, taking the stage as the Los Angeles Rams faced off against the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium.  Surprise guests included 50 Cent with his song “In Da Club,” and Anderson Paak on drums during Eminem’s performance.

Snoop Dogg and Dre kicked things off together with their song “The Next Episode” before segueing into Dre and Tupac Shakur’s “California Love.” 50 Cent, in a surprise appearance, started off literally upside down to perform “In Da Club”.  Next Blige entered, singing “Family Affair” and “No More Drama”, followed by Lamar, performing his hit “Alright” in front of the stage.  Finally, Eminem came to the stage to perform his Grammy and Oscar-winning song “Lose Yourself.” Heading into the finale, Dre played the iconic first notes of his hit “Still Dre,’ with all the performers gathered together on the top of the center building structure to close out the epic show.

The Los Angeles defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The Rams victory made it the second straight year where a team playing in the Super Bowl at their home field were declared Super Bowl champions.

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

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Rock Daypop

Slipknot’s Corey Taylor announces new solo acoustic, covers album

Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor will be putting out a B-side album of covers and acoustic songs on February 25. The B-sides album follows Taylor‘s debut solo LP, CMFT (an acronym for “Corey Mother F**king Taylor”), which came out in October 2020.

The first release from the LP is a cover of John Caffery & the Beaver Brown Band‘s “On The Dark Side.” The track is, “One of the best rock tunes ever,” according to Taylor. “It’s one of our favorites to play live.” Taylor also said in a recent interview that he plans to perform some solo shows. “We’re doing little stuff here and there. We just did ShipRocked, which was a lot of fun… It’s looking like we’re gonna do a handful of shows in the U.K. in October, kind of threaded around the Slipknot schedule. So we’re just gonna do it here and there while we kind of gear up [for the next album].”

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Rock Daypop

MASTODON and OPETH to launch 2022 co-headlining North American tour

Mastodon and Opeth have announced a second leg of their North American co-headlining tour, set to kick off this spring on April 21st in Montreal, running through May 11th in Riverside, California. The tour will visit 16 cities (six in Canada).

Opeth singer-guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt said in a press release: “We’re excited to come back to North America for the second leg of shows together with our ‘brothers from other mothers’ in Mastodon. And… hello, Canada! It’s been too long, we know! We’ll soon dust off the ole guitars etc. and get in shape for this run. The last tour was quite splendid; the only downside being the restrictions.”

See the full list of 2022 dates for Mastodon and Opeth’s co-headlining tour below. For tickets, head here.

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Pop Daypop

Caroline Polachek shares video for new song “Billions”

Caroline Polachek has shared a new single titled “Billions,” co-produced by Polachek and Danny L Harle. The song comes with a new visual co-directed by Polachek and Matt Copson.   “Billions” is Polachek’s second new solo track within the last year, following last summer’s “Bunny Is a Rider.”

Polachek said of ‘Billions’ in a statement:  “The overabundance of this world overwhelms me. Sometimes it seems like ultimate tragedy, the earth being pillaged and destroyed for it. Sometimes it seems pre-human, beyond morality, sublime. I don’t pick sides, I just live here, with you. How does it feel, being so rich?” The new single will be part of a 7″ vinyl with a B-side featuring a rework of Polachek’s recent Oneohtrix Point Never collaboration ‘Long Road Home’.

Take a look at the video for “Billions” – here.

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

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Pop Daypop

Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran release ‘The Joker & the Queen’ remix

Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift have teamed up for a remix of Sheeran’s “The Joker And The Queen”.  The song marks Ed and Taylor’s fourth official collaboration, following “Everything Has Changed” (2012), “End Game” (2017) and “Run (Taylor’s Version)” (2021).

The original version of ‘The Joker And The Queen’ is featured on Sheeran’s latest album ‘=’ which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200.  In the official video for the song, directed by Emil Nava, the storyline from the “Everything Has Changed” video continues (that song was Ed and Taylor’s previous 2012 collaboration).  The video for ‘The Joker And The Queen’ features the original actors portraying now 18-year-old Ava and Jack, as they embark on new adventures.

Watch the new music video ‘The Joker And The Queen’ – here.

Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift Prove ‘Everything Has Changed’ With ‘The Joker and the Queen’ Sequel

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News Daypop

Senate passes bill to end forced arbitration in sex harassment cases in the workplace

On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill barring forced arbitration in workplace sexual harassment cases. The measure, which the House had overwhelmingly passed earlier this week, will go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The bill bars employment contracts from forcing people to settle sexual assault or harassment cases through arbitration rather than in court, a process that often benefits employers and keeps misconduct allegations from becoming public.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., sponsored the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. Gillibrand said in a press statement: “I am thrilled to announce that the historic Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act has passed the Senate and is now headed to President Biden’s desk,” adding that the bill is “one of the most significant workplace reforms in the last 50 years and is a major step forward toward changing a system that uses secrecy to protect perpetrators and silence survivors.”

Graham said in a statement: “I’m very pleased the Senate has now joined the House of Representatives in passing this important legislation and sending it to President Biden’s desk to sign into law. The days of sexual harassment and sexual assault cases being buried in unfair arbitration clauses are now over.”

The legislation would invalidate existing forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts that prevent sexual assault and sexual harassment survivors from seeking justice and public accountability under the laws meant to protect them.

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