Only a few days after Against Me!’s lead singer Laura Jane Grace came out against the casting of Andrew Garfield in their video for “We Exist,” Arcade Fire‘s frontman and the video’s director have come forward to explain why they decided on the “Amazing Spider-Man” actor to embody the trans character of Sandy.

It all started on Twitter, when Grace — an openly trans woman born Tom Gabel — questioned the use of a cisgender (a.k.a. non-trans) actor to portray the transgendered Sandy. “Dear @arcadefire,” the tweet started. “Maybe when making a video for a song called ‘We Exist’ you should get an actual ‘Trans’ actor instead of Spider-Man?”

Grace’s criticism follows a recent wave of conversation from the trans community about the use of non-trans actors to portray their struggles in popular culture. Similar questions were raised in regards to Jared Leto playing a trans woman, Rayon, in “Dallas Buyers Club.”

However Win Butler, lead singer of Arcade Fire, stands by the choice, telling The Advocate, “For a gay kid in Jamaica to see the actor who played Spider-Man in that role is pretty damn powerful, in my opinion.”

The magazine also spoke with the clip’s director, David Wilson, who explained he was aware of the concerns before they even decided on Garfield. “Before I got on the call, I thought, Is this the right person — should we be using a transgender person? But then getting on the phone with Andrew, and Andrew’s ...

Let’s face it: Many of Kanye West’s rhymes suggested that we would never arrive at this moment — the time where he commits to one woman for the rest of his life. But that’s exactly what went down this weekend, when Yeezy tied the knot with Kim Kardashian.

CLICK: Kim Kardashian And Kanye West Are Officially Married

He probably didn’t win her heart over with lines like, “Whipped it out, she said ‘I never seen Snakes on a Plane.’”

But ‘Ye’s got a romantic side, too. So, in honor of the big day, here are nine of Kanye’s most romantic lines.

“Yesterday I was half the man you see/ Baby that’s because you the other half of me” — Pharrell’s “Number One”

“There’s a lot of stars in here ain’t it?/ But you shine so much they don’t seem famous” — The Dream’s “Walking On The Moon”

“But, oh child you my destiny, and I know it’s especially” — Ne-Yo’s “Because of You (Remix)”

“And told her, ‘Even though I met you in a club in a tight dress/ At first sight I could picture you in a white dress’” — “White Dress”

“Let the wind blow the ash right before my glasses/ So I wrote this love letter right before my classes” — Keri Hilson’s “Knock You Down”

“I know I seen you before, but don’t know where I seen ya/ Oh I remember now, you’re something that I dreamed of” — Kid Cudi’s “Erase Me”
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Apparently some time between getting a braid-tastic hairstyle and sending Kimye some wedding love, Beyoncé crafted a killer Memorial Day Playlist for her BeyHive.

And Bey’s pulled out the old school jams for her mix — we’re talking Earth, Wind & Fire‘s “September,” Frankie Beverly and Maze‘s “Joy And Pain,” A Tribe Called Quest‘s “Bonita Applebum” and, of course, no old-school playlist would be complete without rocking Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder tunes.

She even gave a nod to the newer school, sharing a Kanye West track, and her sis Solange‘s “Losing You” in the mix.

Enjoy Beyoncé’s Memorial Day Playlist and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Althea Legaspi

There has been some speculation that Rob Kardashian did not attend his sister Kim Kardashian and Kanye West‘s wedding. Some photos surfaced that suggest he was not in Florence, Italy, during the time of Kimye nuptials, but instead show him arriving Saturday evening at Los Angeles International Airport, which, unless he time travels, would imply that he was not at their wedding.

What could keep a sibling away from a wedding? And in Florence, no less? Could this have anything to do with Rob not feeling in shape? Whatever the reason, we hope they work everything out because family first.

There’s also a rumor that Beyoncé was not in attendance, either. If true, it looks like Rob wasn’t the only one to miss the affair.

Althea Legaspi

This is a good week for Sheerios. Ed Sheeran shared his puppet-enhanced “Sing” video, featuring a guest appearance from Pharrell earlier in the week, and on Saturday (May 24) he stopped by BBC Two program “Later… With Jools Holland” in the U.K., where he delivered new tune “Thinking Out Loud.” Both singles hail from his forthcoming Multiply (also known as X) album, due June 23.

Where “Sing” is literally a grooved-up ride as the erratic truck in the teaser clip echoed, the swoon-worthy “Thinking Out Loud” finds Ed in a more pensive, romantic mood. For our friends in the U.K., watch Ed’s acoustic performance of the song, which is buoyed by piano accompaniment. And for those of us not in the U.K., here’s another version.

Althea Legaspi

Directioners, so you aren’t in Glasgow, Scotland, this weekend for BBC Radio 1′s Big Weekend, either? Same. Fortunately, the good folks at BBC shared a video from One Direction‘s epic performance on Saturday (May 24), and just in time for us to officially kick off summer with Memorial Day Weekend.

1D recently told MTV News that rumors that they’re in the midst of filming a sequel to their 3-D “This Is Us” film are not true, though it may happen in the future.

For now, we have their weekend performance of “You & I” to watch, where Harry, Zayn, Louis, Niall and Liam showed off their pop/rock chops and fans (screamed!) and sang along. The lads also performed the now fan-fave “What Makes You Beautiful.”

Althea Legaspi

Nicki Minaj dropped a video teaser for “Pills N Potions” on Saturday (May 24), and from the looks of it, the potion in the video mix includes a sultry Nicki and her bodacious bosom (sans any nip slips, courtesy of her strategically placed locks).

On the catchy rap/pop ballad, Nicki addresses some unfortunate situations in love and work but without naming any names. She’s equally mysterious in this moody Instagram video clip below for her new single, which currently sits at No. 6 on the iTunes chart.

Althea Legaspi

On his “Control” verse, Big Sean raps that it’s “Detroit vs. everybody.” But Royce da 5’9″ may beg to differ, as new lyrics suggest that Sean has been avoiding the fellow D-Town native’s calls.

The rhymes come on “Keep It 100,” a solo Royce song that’s featured on House Rules, the new mixtape from he and his Slaughterhouse groupmates, which dropped this week. As the song title suggests, the 36-year-old uses the track to speak honestly about some situations in his life — both personal and professional.

At the 1:50 mark, he sets the stage by describing what it’s like when people are constantly hitting him up to get to Eminem, before bringing up Sean:

“Shady got these industry n—as on some fiend sh-t/They use me to try to get to him, like a seamstress/ I tell a n—a quick to e-mail Paul/ And quit acting like a female dog/ Other than that, shout out my n—a Khaled/ You the homie, my n—a/ If it was up to me, you know bro would be on it my n—a/ You turned that Ross verse around for me in like a day/ While I’m blowing Big Sean phone up for a verse/ Feeling like, instead of this busy body sh-t with my family/ I might as well try for ‘Ye”

It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Nickle mentions people using him to get to Em just lines before ...

2 Chainz and Kanye West have developed both a working relationship and what appears to be a friendship in recent years. So does that mean Tit will be at Yeezy and Kim Kardashian’s this weekend?

“Why would you put me in that blender?” the rapper laughed when MTV News asked if he had received any invitations lately.

Though he ended up dancing around the question, Chainz did wax poetic about love, and for that we salute him. “Life is a book with many chapters,” he said. “So, you know, we gonna have our up and downs. We talk a lot of stuff on these records, but rappers be falling in love, too.”

And it’s a beautiful thing, but can you just answer the question please?

Adam Fleischer

Usually pouring water on my head. Catch me @adamfleischer

You can put away your time machine kids — there’s no need to figure out a way to jump through the space-time continuum and into the future, because “X-Men: Days of Future Past” is finally here.

Bridging the storylines of previous installments with the actors involved in each, director Bryan Singer’s return to the franchise has been percolating the buzzbox for weeks now, with comic book fans and action movie enthusiasts chomping at the bit to see just how the criss-crossing storyline — one of the most popular in X-Men history — translated to the big screen.

Focusing on a dystopian present wherein the mutants are under government attack, a plan is hatched that involves sending Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time to stop the catalyst event that turned everyone against our powerful friends.

Related: Confused about the post-credits scene? We explain everything you need to know

And as one would expect with a summer blockbuster of this magnitude, critics had a lot to say! With big screen comic book-based adaptation films a dime a dozen these days, it’s hard to really impress a crowd — let alone a bunch of film critics.

Is the “X-Men: Days of Future Past” complicated, time-traveling storyline too much for audiences? Does the mash-up of mutants young and old feel like a gimmick? Are the 70s hairstyles of Peter Dinklage and James McAvoy too distracting or not prevalent enough?

We waded through the myriad opinions out there to provide you with the a well-rounded ...