Benzinga Buzz: TikTok... Boom? Plus Joker, Trump, Mark Cuban, Musk's Weird T-Swift Tweet

Each week, Benzinga compiles the latest entertainment news into a cohesive column for your consideration. Read on for the latest updates — both useful and irreverent.

• App-alling Behavior. Video app TikTok had a rough week. Politicos are sounding the alarm more than ever before. TikTok, they say, is a danger to children. "One-sixth of American youth say they're constantly on TikTok — that's a loaded gun," says four-star general Paul Nakasone, director of the National Security Agency. Ironic, considering the U.S. has an actual loaded gun problem that politicians choose to ignore.
• Selective Outrage. Currently, there is zero evidence that TikTok is jeopardizing anyone's privacy or taking advantage of data. There were former employees who did, but they have since been fired from the company. It's worth noting that several of the vocal Congress members who want to ban TikTok are also investors in Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms Inc META — a company that did, in fact, misuse the data of millions of its users. And while TikTok's CEO was getting grilled this week, Meta's stock enjoyed quite a spike.
• Justice Is Blind. And apparently deaf. The newest song at the top of the Billboard charts features former President and totally legit businessman Donald Trump. He apparently collaborated with the J6 Prison Choir, comprised of people who were jailed for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, for the song “Justice for All." It surpassed “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga. Who says Americans lack good taste in music?
• Cuff Love. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author and Trump pal Robert Kiyosaki says, "Please, please, please, arrest my friend Donald Trump." The theory is that if voters see Mr. Mar-a-Lago in handcuffs, it will only strengthen his reelection campaign. Senator Lindsey Graham even made a bet on "The Daily Show" that if Trump was indicted, he'd win in 2024. Note to self: The secret to winning over 7 million voters — handcuffs and a mug shot. 
• Clown Prince Of Crime. Rumor has it that the production team behind the upcoming “Joker” sequel wants to film outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, where the Trump hush money case is expected to take place. Listen, too many supervillains in one movie can convolute a plot.
• A.I. A.I., Captain. The Writers Guild of America is now proposing the use of artificial intelligence, namely Microsoft Corp's MSFT ChatGPT, to write scripts for television and movies. The problem with Hollywood before? Not lazy enough!
• Game Changer. Mark Cuban says tech bros are "pretentious AF" and that he does his best to avoid Silicon Valley. But the Dallas Mavericks owner says Kirin Sinha, the CEO of San Francisco-based Illumix, is the exception to the rule. She's neither a tech bro nor pretentious. Sinha, whose company developed the latest iteration of video game "Five Nights At Freddy's," spoke to Benzinga about her raising a cool $18 million.
• Swift Action. Fans of Taylor Swift clapped back at Elon Musk, whose cryptic tweet about the singer didn't go over well. "Stay away," seemed to be the consensus. You mean T-Swift shouldn't hook up with this sophisticated gent?

press@twitter.com now auto responds with 💩

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2023

For last week's column, click here.

Image: Shutterstock & Pixabay