There are plenty of reasons to love Sir Elton John. He has serious eyewear game, he’s written some of the most iconic pop songs of the past fifty years, and he’s a committed champion for human rights everywhere.

And his remarks about Jesus Christ’s hypothetical stance on gay marriage are totally spot-on.

Speaking in an interview with Sky News, John stated, “If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen. He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together and that’s what the church should be about.”

Though John stated he believes there are “signs of hope” everywhere in the changing tide of long-held religious beliefs, there are still miles to go.

“These are old and stupid things,” he said. “Globally, we seem to have gone backwards over the last 18 months, in certain areas.”

But it’s not just in England — where the Church of England’s refusal to allow gay clergy to marry, in addition to the requirement that Catholic priests remain celibate, are big issues for John — the singer also has his eye on influencing the fraught sexual politics in places like Russia.

“I’m going to Russia in November, and I will try and meet Putin and I will try to talk to him. I don’t know what good it will do. But unless you build a bridge…It’s no good ...

Last year, guitar music god Kurt Vile released the excellent record Wakin’ On A Pretty Daze accompanied by a beautiful mural in his hometown of Philadelphia. The mural served as the album’s artwork, but since people are generally terrible, a man began painting over the commissioned piece this weekend claiming it “attracted graffiti.”

Philadelphia resident Najeeb Sheikh caught the man defacing the mural and angrily posted about it on his Instagram. “So this is the ignorant piece of sh-t that took it upon himself to buff the @steveespopowers [sic] Kurt Ville [sic] mural. When I asked if he knew it was a commissioned piece by a world renown artist he said he did and he didn’t give a sh-t. He claimed it attracted graffiti to the neighborhood!”

The Metro Philadelphia paper picked up the story, given that the mural was painted by world-renown artist Steve Powers. Jane Golden, the executive director of the city’s Mural Arts Program called the loss tragic. “I think the big point here is that it’s really sad to lose a work of art,” she said.

Najeeb wasn’t the only one who was horrified by the defacing—Kurt Vile himself took to Facebook to express his sadness and disappointment. “Bummer of a day yesterday,” Kurt wrote. “The mural that was painted for the cover of Wakin’ was defaced. We’re all working on plans to have it redone and updated.”

Here’s the original mural and cover art for Vile’s album:

Matador ...

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” crushed at the domestic box office this weekend, leaving competitors in its Decepticon dust. According to Deadline, it reeled in $41.2 million on Friday, almost $32 million on Saturday, and is projected to bring in over $27 million today. The real question is: will it hit $100 million?

Only time will tell, but we’re pulling for the big 1-0-0, lest director Michael Bay release his Dinobots upon us. Truly, we cannot imagine what theater-goers would choose over almost three hours of pure Bayhem.

Now that the fourth installment of Bay’s “Transformers” series is a hit, we’ve also got some theories about the fifth, along with a few helpful suggestions regarding which Autobots and Decepticons to feature. Hey Michael, call us!

Did you see “Transformers: Age of Extinction” this weekend? Give us your review in the comments!

Katie Calautti

Now that former “Destiny’s Child” member Kelly Rowland has confirmed her pregnancy, it seems she can’t stop showing off her baby bump – not that we’re complaining, because she’s just about the most adorable preggo woman ever!

She’s also pretty fierce, as evidenced by photos posted to her Instagram account on Friday, which show her working out with a trainer. Seriously, we can’t even do a squat – let alone fathom putting in time on a treadmill while pregnant!

Don’t you love how the guys behind her look totally winded and she’s all, NBD I got this.

All her hard work is clearly paying off, because Kelly’s got that extra-special glow in these two super-sweet shots posted to her Instagram yesterday.

Girl, give us your secret? (And directions to that beach, because OMG GORGEOUS!)

Katie Calautti

It’s probably safe to assume that no one would ever categorize “Transformers: Age of Extinction” as a love story — though one man in China probably hopes his own romantic comedy will begin due to the Michael Bay film.

At least that’s the reasoning behind why he bought hundreds of tickets to IMAX screenings of the film — to prove to a woman who once rebuffed his romantic advances seven years ago (yup — SEVEN!) that he’s a regular ol’ Moneybags now. Really.

According to The South China Morning Post, a man named Wang (it’s his last name, you children) bought hundreds of tickets to a bevy of Beijing IMAX screenings of the film in order to prove his financial security to a woman. As the story is told from his point of view, she upped and moved to Beijing immediately after Wang was unable to afford to take her out on a movie date. So now that Mr. Wang is rolling in the proverbial dough, he’s decided to spend a quarter of a million yuan (Read: $40,000) to buy out all the seats in four of the six IMAX theaters in the capitol city. To prove to a woman that she made some big, huge mistake.

Taking to his Weibo blog (Weibo is essentially China’s answer to Facebook and Twitter), Wang touted his so-called romantic gesture to say, “I only want to say that you might have been wrong when you made that decision.” Because nothing says ...

It’s probably safe to assume that no one would ever categorize “Transformers: Age of Extinction” as a love story — though one man in China probably hopes his own romantic comedy will begin due to the Michael Bay film.

At least that’s the reasoning behind why he bought hundreds of tickets to IMAX screenings of the film — to prove to a woman who once rebuffed his romantic advances seven years ago (yup — SEVEN!) that he’s a regular ol’ Moneybags now. Really.

According to The South China Morning Post, a man named Wang (it’s his last name, you children) bought hundreds of tickets to a bevy of Beijing IMAX screenings of the film in order to prove his financial security to a woman. As the story is told from his point of view, she upped and moved to Beijing immediately after Wang was unable to afford to take her out on a movie date. So now that Mr. Wang is rolling in the proverbial dough, he’s decided to spend a quarter of a million yuan (Read: $40,000) to buy out all the seats in four of the six IMAX theaters in the capitol city. To prove to a woman that she made some big, huge mistake.

Taking to his Weibo blog (Weibo is essentially China’s answer to Facebook and Twitter), Wang touted his so-called romantic gesture to say, “I only want to say that you might have been wrong when you made that decision.” Because nothing says ...

Tomorrow will be the 25th anniversary of Spike Lee’s monumental film “Do The Right Thing,” so naturally, he threw a party in Brooklyn to celebrate. Despite the star-studded guest list—Dave Chappelle, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and Erykah Badu—a video message from the nation’s first couple took the cake.

Lee played it before the film both at the Bed Stuy screening, and later, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art screening. Who can blame him, a presidential co-sign is clutch.

President Obama and his now wife, Michelle, explained that “Do The Right Thing” was the movie they went to see on their first official date. They will celebrate their 24th year of marriage in October of this year, but in the video the couple recall the details of their first date.

“‘Do The Right Thing’ was actually the first thing we saw together on our first official date,” Michelle explained. “He was trying to show me his sophisticated side by selecting an independent filmmaker.”

“I took her to this new movie everybody was talking about directed by a guy that not that many people had heard of,” Barack said. “But it was supposed to be pretty good.”

Michelle agreed: “It ended up being a pretty good movie—really great!”

“So Spike, thank you for helping me impress Michelle,” Obama joked. “And thank you for telling a powerful story. Today, I’ve got a few more grey hairs than I did back in 1989. You don’t look like Mookie anymore. But ‘Do the Right Thing’ still holds up ...

Bradley Cooper graced the Glastonbury music festival with his hotness this weekend, taking in some Metallica and heartily popping bubbly like a boss. Is there anything this guy does that’s not insanely charming?

Even while looking slightly dazed amongst the muddied masses, Cooper rallied and brought the charisma when asked to pose with fans. The pearly whites, the dimples, the baby blues – these photos are like a beacon of hope for everyone who’s found themselves crammed into an outdoor space during inclement weather. Stay strong, packed-like-sardine concert-goers. If you’re very lucky, a Cooper may appear.

Katie Calautti

When Miley‘s Alaskan Klee Kai puppy Floyd suddenly died earlier this year, all her fans could relate to her heartbreak. Miley was in the middle of her Bangerz tour at the time, so she didn’t even get to say goodbye to her favorite puppy.

But now, she’s finally healed enough to love again. She posted on Twitter and Instagram that Emu, a new Shetland sheepdog puppy, is here to stay. His full name is Emu Coyne Cyrus, which might be a nod to Cyrus’ friendship with Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips.

Miley is probably clarifying because back in April, her mom tried to replace the puppy with another dog named Moonie. Soon after that though, Miley decided she wasn’t ready and gave the dog away.

But it looks like Miley is fully healed now—she’s been decorating pictures of Emu with her signature, over-the-top style.

She even took a shower with her new pup…

But that doesn’t mean she isn’t still honoring the memory of Floyd.

We can’t wait to see more cute puppy pics of Emu! Here’s the full post she wrote about Emu on her Instagram:

“time to start making Emu accounts smilers. Hes [sic] here and here to stay”

Caitlin White

MTV Weekend Editor. Acts like Madonna but listens to Merle.

Lily Allen had some choice words for FIFA president Sepp Blatter during her performance at Glastonbury on Friday.

And, appropriately, she said them with a song. Namely: her 2008 ditty “F-ck You.”

The rant began innocently enough, when she admitted she’d been worried the World Cup would affect Glastonbury attendance. But, since England didn’t advance to the group stages of this year’s tournament, “That didn’t happen,” Allen told the massive festival crowd. “Not only cause we are shit, but I reckon there’s probably a little bit of corruption going on.”

Then, all playful smiles and bubbly laughter, she went on to dedicate the aforementioned song to, “Possibly one of – actually not the most corrupt person, but annoyingly corrupt person there is in the world – Sepp f-cking Blatter, you c-nt.”

You can see the dedication in all its uncensored glory here, starting at the 7:28 mark:

Katie Calautti