The daily gossip: January 28, 2020

Justin Bieber's new album will be out on Valentine's Day, Vin Diesel drops a Fast & Furious 9 teaser, and more

Justin Bieber.
(Image credit: LISA O'CONNOR/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Justin Bieber's new album will be out on Valentine's Day

Face front, true Beliebers: Your patience has been rewarded. Following the release of his single "Yummy" — an apparent effort to see how many times you can squeeze the word "yummy" into a four-minute pop song — Justin Bieber has announced that his new album, Changes, will drop on Valentine's Day. The new album is Bieber's first since marrying wife Hailey in 2018, and is expected to herald a more mature sound — so we can presumably expect more songs about being in love and fewer songs about abandoning your pet monkey in Germany.

2. Vin Diesel drops a Fast & Furious 9 teaser

Even by the bloated standards of modern Hollywood, you have to hand it to the Fast & Furious franchise, which spun a little street-racing thriller into a globe-spanning, billion-dollar blockbuster action franchise. Now, Vin Diesel has shared the first teaser for the ninth installment, simply titled F9, which follows his character into that most thrilling of journeys: Fatherhood. "I can't live my life a quarter mile at a time anymore," says Diesel's character in the teaser as he tucks his young son into bed — because apparently he's never heard of car seats.

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Entertainment Weekly

3. Meghan Markle's father challenges Prince Harry to a duel

For some celebrities, fame can have an annoying and undeserved halo effect on the people around them — which is why Meghan Markle's estranged father pops up in the tabloids every week despite Markle having no contact with him since 2018. In his latest deeply obnoxious interview, Thomas Markle threatens to draw pistols and shoot his "candy ass" son-in-law Prince Harry in a duel, because apparently he thinks marrying into royalty means you get to live like you're in the 18th century. Meghan Markle and and Prince Harry have not responded to the challenge, because come on, they have bigger things to worry about than this clown.

Page Six

4. Brad Pitt wore a name tag to the Oscars luncheon

In an apparent bid to maximize his impact on Oscar voters, Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood star Brad Pitt turned up for the Academy Awards luncheon wearing a name tag just in case he encountered anyone who wasn't familiar with Brad Pitt. And while the whole thing might seem a little silly when you're, you know, one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, it's worth noting that Pitt was apparently the only nominee who bothered with a name tag — so if he actually takes home the Oscar gold next month, we'll see if the name tag makes the thank-you list in his acceptance speech.

ET Online

5. Don't worry, there are a bunch more Transformers movies on the way

Did you watch six Transformers movies over the past 12 years and go, "Come on, this still isn't enough?" Then we have great news for you and only you: Paramount is working on how best to expand the Transformers franchise even further, with two separate new films in the works simultaneously. And while the perilously low bar set by the previous Transformers might make you skeptical that there's much juice left in the franchise, you never know — if Transformers has taught us anything, it's that something can be turn out to be more than meets the eye.

Variety

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.