Destiny's Child Reunion, Taylor Swift's New Music Video, Astronomer Taps Gwyneth Paltrow

Destiny’s Child Reunites at the Cowboy Carter Tour

As the Cowboy Carter tour draws to an end, Beyoncé decided that she has one more surprise in store for the fans. In a moment that sent the crowd into a frenzy, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland joined her onstage to relive the magic of their Destiny’s Child days.

The trio lit up the stage with electrifying performances of their early 2000s hits, “Lose My Breath” and “Bootylicious.” They also teamed up for a special rendition of Beyoncé’s track “Energy.”

The trio hadn’t performed together since their surprise appearance during Beyoncé’s headline set at Coachella in 2018. 

After a chart-topping career that wrapped up with their final tour in 2005, Destiny’s Child disbanded and each member pursued solo ventures. Over the past two decades, they've only reunited for a few brief performances, making each rare moment on stage together a major event for fans.

Astronomer hires Gwyneth Paltrow as ‘temporary spokesperson’

Tech company Astronomer has teamed up with Gwyneth Paltrow, ex wife of Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin, to be their “temporary spokesperson” after the viral cheating scandal of their former CEO. 

The company released a tongue‑in‑cheek video featuring Paltrow in which she introduces herself as working for the “300-plus employees at Astronomer.” 

She playfully dodges scandal-related questions like “OMG, what the actual f---?” and “How is your social media team holding up?” instead redirecting attention to Astronomer’s tech offerings–highlighting their work with Apache Airflow and promoting the company’s upcoming Beyond Analytics conference with a light, humorous tone.

"We will now be returning to what we do best — delivering game-changing results for our customers. Thank you for your interest in Astronomer," Paltrow concluded.

The entire controversy was set off when former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and ex-head of HR Kristin Cabot were revealed to be having an affair after they were seen with their arms around each other on the jumbotron at a Coldplay concert in Boston.

ICYMI:

• Ariana Grande and Gracie Abrams have spoken up to raise awareness about the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza, using their platforms to amplify humanitarian calls for aid and justice.

• Frank Ocean and Tyler, The Creator have unfollowed each other on Instagram, sparking speculation among fans about a possible rift between the longtime friends and collaborators.

• Sabrina Carpenter has offered fans another exciting glimpse into her highly anticipated album, Man’s Best Friend. The 26-year-old singer has been gradually unveiling the tracklist, recently revealing five new titles: “When Did You Get Hot?” (Track 8), “Go Go Juice” (Track 9), “Don’t Worry I’ll Make You Happy” (Track 10), “House Tour” (Track 11), and “Goodbye” (Track 12).

Women-only Dating Safety App ‘Tea’ Hit by Data Breach

Tea, an app that has recently made waves for giving women a space to candidly share their experiences with men in the dating world, has suffered a major data breach. As a result, thousands of users’ personal data had been leaked.

According to a spokesperson for the company, approximately 72,000 images were compromised in the breach. This includes around 13,000 verification selfies as well as photos of government-issued IDs, raising serious concerns about identity theft and user safety.

“Protecting our users’ privacy and data is our highest priority. Tea is taking every necessary step to ensure the security of our platform and prevent further exposure,” the spokesperson added.

The breach reportedly began as part of a coordinated “hack and leak” campaign orchestrated by a right-wing troll group on 4Chan. Early Friday morning, a user on the platform allegedly shared a link that provided access to the stolen image database. Since then, hundreds of personal verification selfies and identification photos believed to belong to Tea users have surfaced across 4Chan and X (formerly Twitter).

Taylor Swift Reportedly Films ‘Top Secret Music Video’ in LA

Heads up, Swifties! Taylor Swift has reportedly been spotted filming a new music video in Los Angeles, according to The Sun.

"It was so top secret that those working on set were not even allowed to hear the song, only the beat,” said their insider.

"Even though she’s been taking time off from touring and working a lot to spend time with Travis, there are still projects she’s working on, which will no doubt please fans."

While Taylor Swift’s team has yet to confirm or deny the rumors, the buzz has only intensified speculation that the 35-year-old pop icon is hard at work on her highly anticipated 12th studio album.

ICYMI:

• Former Congressman George Santos has officially begun serving his seven-year prison sentence following his guilty plea to federal charges of wire fraud, identity theft, and other offenses. The disgraced lawmaker admitted last year to falsifying details about his background and misappropriating campaign donations to fund a lavish personal lifestyle.

• Micheal Ward, known for his roles in Blue Story and Top Boy, has been charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. In a statement, the actor has denied the allegations: “I recognise that proceedings are now ongoing, and I have full faith that they will lead to my name being cleared.”

• A fresh round of casting announcements has been revealed for the highly anticipated film adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping. Iris Apatow will portray Proserpina Trinket, while Edvin Ryding has been cast as Vitus.

• The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act officially took effect on Friday, July 25. Under this new legislation, platforms that host user-generated content—such as Twitter/X—must now implement age verification measures to help restrict minors from viewing potentially harmful or sensitive material.

— Bea Burtuldo

Subscribe to the newsletter to discover new releases through Pop Base weekly and to find out what songs we declare the best of the week.