By Mark Kennedy, Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Justin Bieber leads this year's list of nominees at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards, followed closely by Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish, BTS, Doja Cat, Drake, Giveon, Lil Nas X and first-time nominee Olivia Rodrigo.
Bieber has seven nods, including video of the year and best direction for "POPSTAR," artist of the year, best cinematography for "Holy" and best pop song, best editing and best collaboration for "Peaches."
Megan Thee Stallion is right behind with six nominations, mostly from her hit song "WAP," triggering nods for video of the year, artist of the year, best collaboration and best hip-hop song. She also was nominated for a second time in the best hip-hop song category for her work on Lil Baby's "On Me (The Remix)."
Eilish, BTS, Doja Cat, Drake, Giveon, Lil Nas X and Rodrigo each have five nominations. Bieber and Megan Thee Stallion will compete with Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift for artist of the year.
The video of the year category is filled by "WAP" by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion; "POPSTAR" by DJ Khaled featuring Drake and Bieber; "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat featuring SZA; Ed Sheeran's "Bad Habits"; Lil Nas X's "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)"; and The Weeknd's "Save Your Tears."
"WAP" is also up for song of the year, alongside "Mood" by 24kGoldn featuring iann dior; "Leave The Door Open" by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Silk Sonic; "Dynamite" by BTS; Dua Lipa's "Levitating" and Rodrigo's "drivers license."
The 2021 VMAs will return to New York City, airing from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sept. 12. The show will simulcast across CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land, VH1 and The CW Network.
The best new artist nominees are: 24kGoldn, Giveon, The Kid LAROI, Olivia Rodrigo, Polo G and Saweetie. Best rock song nominees are Evanescence's "Use My Voice," Foo Fighters' "Shame Shame," John Mayer's "Last Train Home," The Killers' "My Own Soul's Warning," Kings Of Leon's "The Bandit" and Lenny Kravitz's "Raise Vibration."
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More