Pop culture this past week has certainly been messy! If you aren't tuned into Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield's drama, you've probably heard about the Lextopia drama… or the Katy Perry drama… or all of the other drama… If I were to include a comprehensive list of all of the pop culture lore from this week, this column would go on for ages. But, here's some of the recent buzz I've been paying attention to:

People arrested in relation to Matthew Perry's death

Five individuals have been arrested in connection to Matthew Perry's death—including his assistant and two doctors. Matthew Perry died in October 2023 due to a ketamine overdose. 

The five people are said to be a part of an underground criminal network that supplied ketamine to Perry and others, “taking advantage of his addiction issues to enrich themselves.” Prosecutors said that Perry received several injections on the day he passed away. 

Leztopia round two… or three? 

Sedona Prince, basketball player who is known for dating women much shorter than her, is under fire once again in the lesbian community. Her ex-girlfriend, Olivia Stabile, made a ten-part series about her trick to Mexico with Sedona, in which there were a series of concerning events, such as an ATV incident in a jungle at night. It should be noted that in Sedona's final text to Olivia included her telling Olivia to not go to social media, otherwise she would sue her. 

Because of this, additional women have come forward about the domestic abuse they allegedly faced when dating Sedona. Her ex-girlfriend Rylee and ex-situationship Faithlynn also spoke about their negative experiences with Sedona. 

Fans have also created a petition, calling Texas Christian University (TCU) to remove Sedona from the basketball team. This petition has over 150,000 signatures. 

Imane Khelif files a lawsuit against JK Rowling, Elon Musk

Olympic gold-winner Imane Khelif has filed a lawsuit in France for online harassment. The Algerian boxer faced a lot of online discourse about her gender—in which people were claiming that she was actually a man who was a transgender woman. When I say everyone wanted to say their two cents on this, I mean everyone… JK Rowling, Elon Musk, Logan Paul, Donald Trump… 

She filed specifically against X for the false statements that were spread around the app about her gender identity. The lawsuit states that there was aggravated cyber-harassment. Although it didn't particularly name individuals in the lawsuit, the Paris investigators will determine who took part in the harassment. 

Imane Khelif has since talked about how the harassment affected her, saying, “This is a big shame for my family, for the honor of my family, for the honor of Algeria, for the women of Algeria and specifically the Arab world. The whole world knows I'm an Muslim girl.” 

Tensions increase between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively 

Tensions have increased since It Ends With Us was released. Fans have been speculating what really happened between Justin Baldoni, producer and main character, and Blake Lively, main character, when they filmed the film adaption of Colleen Hoover's hit novel “It Ends With Us”. 

Since fans noticed the lack of interaction between Justin and Blake, they also noticed how the two responded to press differently. Most notably, Blake Lively has been called out for being rude to an interview and talking to her co-star as if the interviewer was not present. 

Additionally, apparently Blake felt that Justin was fat-shaming her. Justin asked his set trainer how much Blake weighed due to his back issues, as there was a scene in which he had to lift her. 

The largest tension seems to be that Blake stepped on Justin's toes too much from a production standpoint. Blake commissioned Shane Reid, who edited Deadpool & Wolverine to produce her own cut of the movie. This is seemingly weird, considering how Justin was the producer.

Will they speak about the tension between them? We'll just have to wait and see. 

UAW files federal labor charges against Donald Trump and Elon Musk

The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) filed a federal lawsuit against Donald Trump and Elon Musk following their interview on Twitter (X).  

During the interview, Trump told Musk that if workers go on strike, they should be fired. 

However, under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on strike, and threatening to fire them for striking is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. 

Will the lawsuit go anywhere? Only time will tell. 

COVID-19 lockdown… part 2? 

Monkeypox has been declared a public health emergency of international concern. There has been an increase in cases around the world, causing the World Health Organization to declare it an emergency. Monkeypox symptoms are headaches, fevers, muscle aches, rashes, swollen lymph nodes and exhaustion. It's spread by touching things (like bedding) that an infected person has touched, touching Monkeypox blisters or scabs and direct contact with bodily fluids. 

The outbreak of it has caused people to be worried that there will be another lockdown, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. 

But, there are two vaccines already that reduce the risk and harm of a Monkeypox infection—JYNNEOS (Imvamune or Imvanex) and ACAM2000. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, JYNNEOS is the preferred vaccine. 

Katy Perry's latest music video is under investigation 

Katy Perry's latest music video, ‘Lifetimes', is under investigation for possible environmental damage. According to the Environment Department of the Balearic Islands, where the video was filmed, the company didn't request the proper authorization to film in the location. 

VMAs performers list dropped… 

Some performers for the 2024 VMAs have been announced! Here's the list:

• Katy Perry
• Chappell Roan
• Sabrina Carpenter
• Camila Cabello
• GloRilla
• Rauw Alejandro

Additionally, the VMAs announced that the show will now be on September 10.

New music now

• Die With A Smile – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
• Quantum Baby – Tinashe
• New Woman – LISA & Rosalía 
• Unaired – Hozier
• Call It What You Want – Grace Vanderwaal
• Sweep It Up – Coco Jones
• SIS (Soft Is Strong) – KATSEYE

Upcoming new music 

• ETERNAL – Taemin | August 19 
• Short n' Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter | August 23 
• J – Jaehyun | August 26
• Black Out – Chanyeol | August 28 
• Alligator Bites Never Heal – Doechii | August 30 

My recent media enjoyments

• Hozier, who I saw in concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota this past Saturday! He said he was sick, but he still sounded amazing… 
• you know social media is public, right? – David Achu | YouTube 
• A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (2024) | series on Netflix
• Goodread's giveaway section 
• Exploring The Harry Styles Fanfic Cinematic Universe – Casey Aonso | YouTube
• Allison Russell, who opened for Hozier! What an incredible artist.