Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the Spotlight! Proudly artificial intelligence and brain chip-free since 2021^SM. Would ChatGPT or a Neuralink brain-computer interface make my weekly task here easier? Perhaps. But ChatGPT wouldn’t be authentically me and a thought-reading Neuralink chip would be maybe *too* authentically me. That being said, I don’t have a high bar of originality to prove otherwise with history repeating itself with the Super Bowl matchup from four years ago (Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers) matching the one on tap for February 11. Speaking of high bars of originality, TikTok creators woke up Thursday morning to learn that they may need to channel their inner Charlie Chaplain on account of Universal Music Group pulling its song library from TikTok due to a row over an unfair artist royalty structure and proliferation of artificial intelligence on the platform. It will be interesting to see whether other labels follow suit to ratchet up pressure on the music-driven platform—now that’s something for which users could tap into their boundless attention span. (Editor’s Note: it was at this moment that—between Charlie Chaplain references and sarcastic remarks about the younger generation--Josh realized he’s turning into an old curmudgeon). Now, let’s get the rest of this out of the way…

• • Tom Brady’s Brady and TB12 apparel and fitness brands merge into Mike Depole’s (of VitaminWater and BodyArmor) athletic performance wear brand, NOBULL. Brady and Depole elected to keep the NOBULL name, though as a Giants fan, i think NORINGS might have been more fitting. 
    
    
  • An upcoming documentary will examine on the recording of the philanthropic 1985 song “We Are The World” meant to foster global cooperation in support of Africa. Me thinks the world could use more songs…
    
    
  • Slim Jim snaps out of its decades-long sponsorship of World Wrestling Entertainment after disgraced former chairman Vince McMahon is the subject of sex trafficking allegations. A shocking move considering the bad taste and difficult-to-digest things are the core of Slim Jim’s business model.