Bono gave Bruce Springsteen a hard time for refusing to license his song “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” for a commercial for the clothing brand Gap in partnership with Bono’s AIDS foundation (RED).
While presenting Springsteen with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at Tribeca Festival, Bono started to praise the Boss’ ability to bring a Woody Guthrie sensibility to pop radio. It reminded him of his failed attempt to get Springsteen to bring it to a TV ad.
Bono was partnering with Gap for a clothing line supporting his nonprofit and recalled, “I tried to get you to give … I said, ‘Bruce, this song “Girls in Their Summer Clothes,” this is like one of the great pop songs ever … Would you think about using it for a commercial, for (RED) and the Gap?’ And you said, ‘No.’”
“That was a big mistake,” Springsteen said, drawing laughs. “I should have said yes.” He called the 2008 song one of his “personal favorites” that the “audience doesn’t really care” about.
“That was just a song that I love,” Springsteen added. “Damn it, I still think back: ‘Bono asked you to put this thing on a commercial on television.’ I should have fucking done it! People would hear it like a hit, you know? So I have to apologize.”
At the beginning of the event, Tribeca Festival founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal introduced Bono, who then delivered heartfelt words of praise for the “Born to Run” legend. “Bruce Springsteen is America,” the U2 frontman said. “Bruce made poetry from the voices of the people and set that poetry to music. We honor him tonight as a musician and poet and as an activist and a patriot.”
In a brief conversation, the two talked about bringing resistance on the road for Springsteen’s Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour, on which he has blasted President Donald Trump and sang his recent ICE protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis.”
To close the event, Patti Smith (backed by Tony Shanahan) sang her 1988 song “People Have the Power” in honor of Springsteen. Then, he and Bono joined for a reprisal, joyously singing backup vocals on the chorus.

Kate Princess of Wales, left with her children Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George ride in an open top carriage during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Prince William sits on his horse wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards outside Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Britain’s King Charles III salutes the troops outside Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Britain’s Prince George and Princess Charlotte ride on an open top carriage during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Britain’s King Charles III waves to the crowd along side Queen Camilla as they return to Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Republican ‘Not My King’ protesters demonstrate during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Kate, Princess of Wales and her son Prince Louis return to Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Members of the Household Cavalry ride back from Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Britain’s King Charles III, and Queen Camilla look out from their carriage at the crowds lining The Mall as they return to Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Britain’s King Charles III, third left and Queen Camilla, second left wave to the crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, with other members of the royal family, Princess Anne, left Prince William, Kate Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince Louis during Trooping The Colour, the King’s annual birthday parade, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The New York Knicks are one game away from securing their first NBA championship dating back to 1973. They’re up 3-1 on the San Antonio Spurs, having secured the largest comeback in NBA Finals history in Game 4. Game 5 takes place tonight (June 13, 2026) in Texas.
A victory would be huge for New York but equally as great for Danhausen.
That’s right, the WWE star who uncursed a team that decidedly felt cursed over the past few decades is getting plenty of credit for their historic postseason. If they can close out the series — and history says it’s all but certain they will do so, statistically speaking — Fightful Select reports WWE has big things in store for the very nice, very evil star who helped them along.
Indeed, there are discussions on how to include Danhausen in the Saturday Night’s Main Event show scheduled for July 18 at Madison Square Garden, the venue the Knicks call home. They’ve also got ideas for merchandise and other content at Fanatics Fest, set for that very same weekend. The man is about to become a New York hero and a staple there when WWE heads to town.
All because he used his powers for the good of the local basketball team.
That deserves all the human monies.

In 2026, Marvel and Mattel are both releasing projects designed to capitalize on people’s love for iconic animated heroes from their childhoods. Masters of the Universe has put a live-action He-Man on the big screen, and the second season of X-Men ’97 is about to fling some of Charles Xavier’s mutants into an apocalyptic future. Both projects were clearly made by people who love the source material, and they are similarly filled with nerdy Easter eggs meant to get hardcore fans hyped up. X-Men ’97 and Masters of the Universe are both nostalgia plays, but the biggest difference between the two — and arguably the reason one of them hasn’t been all that much of a success — is the work that has gone into keeping their respective characters and worlds alive in the pop culture consciousness.
In its second season, X-Men ’97 splits its team of mutant heroes up into multiple teams that find themselves stranded at drastically different points in history. While one group winds up in ancient Egypt, another is transported thousands of years into the future. Though both teams want to get back to the ’90s, they’re also desperately searching for a way to stop the virtually immortal mutant villain Apocalypse (Ross Marquand) from destroying the world. And because Apocalypse happens to be alive in both time periods, the two X-Men squads agree that it’s worth spending some time exactly where they are.
Rather than adapting a single storyline from Marvel’s comics, the new season of X-Men ’97 combines narrative elements from a number of different limited series — chief among them The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix from 1994 and 1996’s Rise of Apocalypse. Using beats from those specific comics to expand its story makes some sense given the ’90s of it all. But more surprising is the amount of relatively recent X-Men comics lore the show introduces in order to flesh out the world around its core characters.
While X-Men ’97 is a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, Marvel has made it feel fresh by reworking the established canon in significant ways. Taking that approach is part of what made the series a ratings hit when it first premiered in 2024, but fans’ long-standing fondness and familiarity with the X-Men were also key factors in the equation.
One of the main reasons that fans have been foaming at the mouth for new X-Men projects like ’97 and the upcoming X-Men MCU film is that Marvel has never really let this property fade into the background. Even though 20th Century Studios’ X-Men features tended to be terrible, there were always enough X-Men comics and TV series in the mix to give fans hope that a studio would eventually come up with something excellent. And if Marvel spent less time cultivating the X-Men’s brand, the franchise might have found itself floundering the way Mattel’s Masters of the Universe currently is.
There have been a handful of newer series inspired by the original Masters of the Universe cartoon. But on the whole, He-Man’s pop cultural prominence has waned in the years since Prince Adam and his friends were explaining the lessons behind their adventures on television every weekday from 1983 to 1985. This is likely part of why Mattel’s new Masters of the Universe movie has been underperforming at the box office since its release last week. So far, the movie has raked in a paltry $54.4 million against a $200 million production budget, making it a massive financial dud.
Masters of the Universe has become a case study in Hollywood’s tendency to learn the wrong lessons from its previous successes. People flocked to theaters to see Barbie because it was a funny, feminist deconstruction of an ever-present icon, but Mattel interpreted that a sign that viewers are hungry for stories about toys in general. Masters of the Universe attempts to do some mildly critical exploration of toxic masculinity, but that clearly hasn’t been enough to convince audiences to care about He-Man. Aside from hardcore fans, many people simply aren’t that invested in or emotionally connected to He-Man’s world, and Mattel hasn’t done enough to convince audiences that there’s anything interesting about this latest film.
If He-Man was a fixture in more people’s imaginations the way the X-Men are, the conversation around Masters of the Universe would likely be very different. Mattel would do well to internalize this as a valuable lesson, but there have yet to be signs of that being the case. Between X-Men ’97’s second season and Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel is rolling into a year of massive stories that put mutants front and center. And it’s a moment that the studio has been building toward for years.
The second season of X-Men ’97 hits Disney Plus on July 1st, and Masters of the Universe is in theaters now.

Vanessa Trump is staying optimistic amid her breast cancer fight … sharing a promising update after weeks of recovering from surgery.
She took to social media Saturday to let followers know she’s completed the recovery phase following her operation, and is now preparing to begin the next stage of treatment. She also used the post to offer encouragement to others navigating similar health battles. The update comes as she continues her high-profile relationship with Tiger Woods.
In her latest message, Vanessa said she’s spent the last month healing and focusing on her recovery … and while the journey isn’t over, she appears to be keeping a positive outlook as she moves forward.
As TMZ previously reported, Vanessa revealed in May she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had already undergone a procedure as part of her treatment plan. At the time, the former wife of Donald Trump Jr. thanked supporters for their prayers and well wishes while asking for privacy.
We also reported that Tiger temporarily left his rehab stay to be by Vanessa’s side after her diagnosis … underscoring just how seriously the couple has approached her recovery journey.
Vanessa says she’s grateful for the support she’s received along the way and is focused on taking the next steps in her fight. There’s still a road to travel … but she sounds ready for whatever comes next!