The daily gossip: March 27, 2020

(Image credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

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1. Rihanna returns with first new music in 3 years
2. Kourtney quits Keeping Up with the Kardashians after giant fight with Kim
3. Bob Dylan releases 17-minute song about the JFK assassination
4. Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello host guided meditation on Instagram
5. Grey's Anatomy shortens its season

published 27 March 2020

1. Rihanna returns with first new music in 3 years

Rihanna is back with her first new music in three years, although fans hoping for a single off the long-awaited R9 are going to be pretty let down. Late Thursday, Canadian rapper PARTYNEXTDOOR dropped his new track, "BELIEVE IT," which features Rihanna on backing vocals. While the collaboration makes sense — PARTYNEXTDOOR co-wrote "Work" and "Sex With Me," which are on Rihanna's 2016 album Anti — fans were upset to not have gotten something more from the 32-year-old Barbadian singer, whose last releases were in 2017. "[H]er army of devoted followers are disappointed RiRi only sings the track's five-word chorus and backup," noted the New York Post. Listen to the full song, which NPR calls "a mid-tempo jam," here.

Kourtney Kardashian confirmed she has quit Keeping Up with the Kardashians after the show's dramatic premiere left fans reeling. In the episode on Thursday, Kourtney, 40, got into a physical fight with her sister, Kim, 39, after Kim claimed she didn't have a work ethic. On Twitter afterwards, Kourtney responded to viewers' tweets, telling one person who was concerned about if the family ever apologizes to Kourt, "Never. They actually don't see where my hurt comes from." Khloé, the youngest Kardashian sister, didn't seem too impressed by that response: "Wait, so no one ever apologizes to you?" the 35-year-old tweeted back at Kourtney. "Lol please." Yikes!

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Bob Dylan just dropped his first new original song in almost a decade, and it's … about the JFK assassination? On Friday, Dylan surprise released "Murder Most Foul," a 17-minute epic about "a dark day in Dallas" that's his first non-cover material since his 2012 album Tempest. Lest you assume this is something Dylan threw together while in self-quarantine, the Nobel Prize-winner explained it's actually an "unreleased song we recorded a while back." It's also his longest song, surpassing "Highlands" on 1997's Time Out of Mind. Rolling Stone heaped praise on the new track, describing it as a "dizzying" and "utterly extraordinary" song that's "allusive as it is elusive." Listen here.

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello want to remind everyone to breathe. On Friday, the "Señorita" singers hosted a guided meditation with coach Jeff Warren, focused on the importance of centering yourself during turbulent times. "When I really started committing to a meditation practice, and doing it at least 15 minutes a day, I started to notice some really big changes," Cabello admitted. Mendes agreed, noting that meditation "can help you build patience and love for the people in your lives who need it the most right now." Warren — whose guided meditations are available on the 10% Happier and Calm apps — praised the couple for their dedication: "I'm blown away by how articulate you are and your good hearts," he said.

Like many TV shows, Grey's Anatomy halted production after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The show apparently knows when to cut its losses, too — on Friday, the Shondaland favorite announced it will wrap up early, on April 9, with a shortened 21-episode season, rather than running for the full planned 25. Grey's has already been renewed for its 17th season, but it isn't clear when that will eventually start shooting. The long-running drama was one of many hospital shows to donate its props, including masks and gowns, to medical staff in order help combat the unfortunately not-fictional pandemic currently taking place.

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.