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Welcome back!
I hope you’ve had a brilliant start to 2026. I’m so excited to be back in your inbox with our first Culture newsletter of the year. We’re all about balance here at TDA, so I thought I’d share my high-brow and low-brow culture picks from the summer break.
Starting way down low is the viral hit ‘Heated Rivalry’ on HBO Max. The hockey romance definitely isn’t one to watch with your parents/colleagues/kids/siblings etc, BUT (stay with me), as 90% of the internet has already discovered, it’s feel good escapism that will leave you smiling from ear to ear.
My high brow recommendation is a two-in-one, after I saw ‘Roofman’ at the Moonlight Cinema. Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst star in this unbelievable true story about a charismatic criminal on the run. I’ve been wanting to try the outdoor cinema for years, and I’m so glad I finally did. A movie under the stars is an amazing way to spend a summer evening, so if you’re in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, or Perth, check it out!
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the week
“You must have something that I don’t see.”
Cher, speaking to actor Dax Shepard about why she thinks Kristen Bell married him. The music legend made the comment during an appearance on Shepard’s podcast, Armchair Expert. “You’re lucky,” she told him, “she’s definitely the better half.” Cher starred alongside Bell in the 2010 film ‘Burlesque’.
Stat of the week
30
The number of songs by The Weeknd to earn over one billion streams on Spotify. The Canadian singer became the first artist to hit the milestone earlier this week with his 2022 track ‘Is There Someone Else?’
Photo of the week
Awards season is in full swing, but the big winners at this week’s Critics Choice Awards (including Aussie Jacob Elordi) were overshadowed by the food served at the LA ceremony. While accepting the award for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Comedy, Abbott Elementary star Janelle James shouted out the snack plate, saying: “The best thing about being nominated four times is I finally realised they’re never gonna feed us at this thing.”
I’ve got 30 seconds
The group chat TL;DR
A “toxic mom group” drama has escalated after singer and actress Ashley Tisdale penned a personal essay for The Cut. The High School Musical star claims she was “frozen out” by her social circle, writing: “I thought I found my village, instead I was back in high school.” Fans were quick to connect Tisdale’s comments to a group of Hollywood mums including Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff and Meghan Trainor. Duff’s husband, Mathew Koma, responded on his Instagram stories, sharing an image of his face photoshopped onto Tisdale’s body with a mock headline: “A Mom Group Tell All Through A Father’s Eyes: When you’re the most self obsessed tone deaf person on earth, other moms tend to shift focus to their actual toddlers”. A spokesperson for Tisdale has since stated the essay was about “a completely different group of friends.”
The lawyer representing the son of the late Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner has withdrawn from the case. Nick Reiner is accused of murdering his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner and photographer-producer Michele Reiner, who were found dead inside their LA home on 14 December. Alan Jackson, a criminal defence lawyer who has previously represented Harvey Weinstein, announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the case but gave no immediate reason. A public defender will take Jackson’s place for the time being. The change in lawyers took place at a hearing where Nick was expected to enter a not-guilty plea to two counts of murder. The plea hearing has now been postponed to 23 February.
A group of artists including SZA, PinkPantheress, The Weeknd, and Central Cee are banding together to raise money for Sudan. An online auction organised by Freedom for Sudan is running from 6-12 January, offering fans the chance to bid on exclusive meet-and-greets, original artwork and signed merchandise from some of their favourite artists. The group said 100% of proceeds will go to Sudanese non-profits to “support the people of Sudan in their mission to end the violence and exploitation and rebuild with a civilian government.”
I’ve got 1 minute
Dean Lewis and Universal Music part ways
Record label Universal Music Group has parted ways with Australian singer Dean Lewis.
In a statement to TDA, a Universal spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Dean Lewis is no longer signed to Universal Music Australia or any Universal Music Group label.”
It comes two months after the musician was at the centre of misconduct allegations. In October, Lewis released a statement admitting to “embarrassing” behaviour but claimed none of it was “illegal”.
The singer also withdrew nominations for ARIA and TikTok awards in November.
Allegations
Last year, Lewis was accused of inappropriate behaviour by women who posted videos to social media, some of which included alleged screenshots of texts with the singer.
In a social media statement at the time, Lewis addressed the “incredibly stupid, insensitive, and embarrassing things” shared by fans.
Responding to the allegations, Lewis apologised to those who “felt hurt by my words or behaviour”, but said some posts got “out of hand” or were “fabrications shared as fact.”
Lewis also said he was “enrolling [himself] into intense therapy to make better choices”.
Label departure
Lewis was signed to Universal Music Australia and Island Records Australia, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.
This week, Universal Music Australia confirmed to TDA that Lewis is no longer with either label.
It did not provide a reason for why the partnership is ending.
Lewis is currently on tour in North America, after postponing half of his shows due to a vocal haemorrhage.
Reporting by Emily Donohoe.
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I’ve got 2 minutes
Drake is being sued for allegedly using a gambling scheme to artificially inflate his streaming numbers.
Online casino Stake and two popular streaming personalities are also named in the class action, which argues the group used the platform to secretly transfer money.
The lawsuit was filed by two U.S. consumers who claim they were “influenced to participate” in Stake’s “predatorial gambling environment,” after seeing Drake promoting the platform on social media.
Stake is banned in Australia.
Stake
Online casino and sports betting site Stake was founded by Australian billionaires Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani in 2017.
The duo also founded streaming platform Kick in 2022.
Stake.com has been banned in several countries. An alternate version for American users, Stake.us, has also been banned in 19 of the country’s 50 states.
Players cannot gamble with real money directly on Stake.us, but they can buy electronic betting tokens using cryptocurrency.
Celebrity endorsements
Stake has partnered with several high profile personalities to promote what the platform calls a “completely free and social casino”.
This includes Drake, who reportedly signed an endorsement deal with Stake worth $100 million in 2022. Since then, he has promoted Stake extensively to his 142 million Instagram followers.
The rapper frequently livestreams online gambling sessions with U.S. streamer Adin Ross, who also serves as a major marketing ambassador for Stake.
The lawsuit
A class action lawsuit against Stake and their celebrity partners was filed in the U.S. state of Virginia last week.
The lead plaintiffs, LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines, are seeking damages on the basis that the platform has breached consumer protection laws.
The lawsuit names all users of Stake.us as plaintiffs, calling the website “one of the largest and most profitable illegal online casinos.“
Illegal gambling
The complaint alleges that Stake.us uses crypto betting options to bypass gambling regulations.
The lawsuit also claims Drake and Ross were paid to promote the platform and participated in livestreamed gambling sessions using virtual currency secretly provided by Stake rather than their own funds.
They are accused of misleading their followers into believing they were genuinely gambling with personal money, encouraging fans to wager real funds on the platform.
Music streams
The complaint also alleges that Drake used automated bots to boost play counts of his music across major streaming platforms, such as Spotify.
Drake is accused of artificially inflating his streams to manufacture popularity, and distort playlists and charts.
The plaintiffs claim that Drake, Ross and Australian internet personality George Nguyen used Stake’s user-to-user tipping feature to transfer large sums of money to each other to finance the streaming fraud.
Response
Global media outlets have cited a statement from Stake.us calling the complaint “nonsense”. “We are not concerned about this lawsuit,” it said.
Drake and Ross were also named in similar lawsuits in October 2025.
Separate claims, filed in Missouri and New Mexico, accuse the men of promoting online gambling in states where such activity is outlawed.
Ross previously dismissed those legal challenges. Drake has not yet publicly commented on the cases.
Reporting by Elliot Lawry.
Recommendation of the week
TDA’s Content Production Manager Orla is watching “Tell Me Lies”.
“If you’re looking for a new show to binge, look no further than ‘Tell Me Lies’ on Disney+. It's a messy college drama that dives into complicated relationships and bad decisions that are hard to look away from. There are two season available to watch now and season three drops on next week - cancel your plans accordingly.”
TDA asks
