Kicking off their global tour in the South Korean city of Incheon, the five members of K-pop boy band Cortis saunter onto stage in casual, streetwear-inspired outfits, exuding an effortlessly cool vibe.
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"Put your phone down," one of the members bellows. Piercing screams erupt. A sea of illuminated screens flickers back.
"I told you, put your phone down," he repeats, louder this time.
Some fans do just that, but the packed stadium vibrates harder with cheers as thousands of phones stay in the air.
It's hard to say how serious this theatrical command is.
"Put your phone down" is also the name of Cortis's ongoing concert tour, which started in Incheon on 18 July and will head to cities like New York and Los Angeles before returning to Seoul later this month.
The refrain reflects a message the band has long pushed: that fans should stop watching concerts through six-inch screens and engage with their performances in real life.
It's drawn mixed reactions from their fandom: fan-filmed content is a valuable social currency in K-pop.
Park Ji-yeon, for one, could not bring herself to stop recording Cortis's performances. The 22-year-old had specially rented a new, top-tier smartphone for both days of the Cortis concert just so she could film in the highest quality.
"I was standing right at the front, and I couldn't bring myself to put my phone down because I don't know if I'll ever get this opportunity again," she tells the BBC.
"I usually film concerts because I know a lot of those memories will fade as soon as I leave the venue."
While fans like Park continued to film, some heeded the band's call. Kim Ga-eun, 25, who was seated in the amphitheatre-style venue, saw it all.
"People in the back of the standing section were having a great time dancing together. I thought that really reflected the intention behind the concert," she says.
Cortis has had a whirlwind year since debuting last year under record label BigHit Music - part of the company that created pop sensation BTS. Most of its members are teenagers. The oldest of the group, James, is just 20 years old.
Their music videos have each amassed millions of views. Over the weekend they performed at Lollapalooza, the famed music festival in Chicago.
The band's name, Cortis, is derived from the phrase "colour outside the lines", which according to their record label is meant to encapsulate the band's free spirit and refusal to conform to societal rules - which, in this case, appears to include telling fans to resist the temptation of the phone camera.
They join a prominent wave of artists around the world who have been advocating the same.
Singers like Phoebe Bridgers and Alicia Keys have required their concert attendees to use lock pouches - sealed bags that allow people to hold on to their phones without being able to access them.
Few have gone as far as British rock group Suede, whose frontman Brett Anderson leapt over a barricade during a 2023 performance in Singapore to grab at fans' phones.
Billie Eilish, who has defended filming as a way for fans to relive precious memories after a show, gently cooed to her front row audience during a performance in Amsterdam: "Put your phone down, I'm right here."
Even BTS, K-pop's golden boys, have made similar requests. "Stop looking at your phone screen. Just look at me," BTS member Jungkook teased the audience at one concert.
"From the artists' perspective, interacting with fans is a really important part of performing, so I think they want people to focus more on that than on their phones," Park says of Cortis's anti-mobile rallying cry.
After all, fancams - zoomed-in videos focusing on a single celebrity - are a prized currency in K-pop communities. Once shared online, people meticulously study the choreography in them and delight in catching subtle movements and expressions by their favourite band members. These clips live on as fodder for collective swooning and fan-made montages.
And this is why Cortis's incessant calls to for people to put their phones down have rubbed some the wrong way - in a fan culture that's obsessed with capturing every moment. After the first day of their concert, disgruntled comments emerged online among fans.
"I spent over one million won ($700; £520) attending both days," Park says, referring to the sum of not just concert tickets but also additional expenses like transport and accommodation.
"I think a lot of fans spent similar amounts of money, so constantly hearing them asking us to put our phones down made some fans even more frustrated."
These murmurs appear to have reached Cortis, who fans say dialled down their message on the second day of the concert.
"On the first day, the message felt more like, 'Let's put our phones down and have fun together.' On the second day, it changed slightly to, 'We understand why you want to film, so let's just make sure we enjoy ourselves together,'" Kim recalls.
"They said filming was okay, but they wanted us to enjoy the concert together, and that 'Put Your Phone Down' was more of a mindset." %!s()
Tries: Barron 3, Martin, Cust, Bell Goals: Hardaker 4
Harvey Barron's first senior hat-trick inspired lowly Hull FC to a first win at the BrewDog Stadium in nine years as St Helens' season continues to unravel.
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The 23-year-old wing struck twice before the interval and once after the break as Hull snapped a seven-match losing streak in Super League.
The defeat leaves injury-depleted Saints, who have never failed to qualify for the Super League play-offs, looking like missing out in seventh place with five games remaining.
After last week's loss at York Knights, a home defeat against the league's second bottom side - in which they missed 49 tackles - was little short of calamitous.
It was only Hull's second away win in Super League this season and moved them above Bradford Bulls into 12th place. It was fully deserved after a dominant second half that blew a fragile Saints away.
St Helens, whose chairman Eamonn McManus confirmed before kick-off that the search for a successor to head coach Paul Rowley had been narrowed down to a "four- or five-man" shortlist, took the lead inside two minutes through left wing Lewis Murphy.
But Hull, without the injured Davy Litten, who has been linked with a move to Wakefield Trinity, hit back with Barron's first try.
The visitors went close twice through the power of Herman Ese'ese but there was no denying wing Lewis Martin, back from a concussion issue that sidelined him for four weeks, who stepped inside Jack Welsby in the 25th minute to give the visitors the lead.
Welsby scorched in from George Whitby's inside pass in the 33rd minute, but Barron went over for his second try with the last play of the half from a chip by Aidan Sezer to tie the scores at the break. And the wing completed his hat-trick seven minutes after the break from Zak Hardaker's pass to give Hull the lead.
Three minutes later Cade Cust went over from dummy half to leave the ten-times Super League champions reeling.
Harry Robertson's try for Saints was chalked off for obstruction and Hardaker's converted penalty following a high tackle by Daniel Suluka-Fifita on Cust put Hull out of range.
Robertson did win a chip and chase to score with eight minutes left but former Saint James Bell picked off an interception try at the death to rub salt into the home side's wounds.
To add to their woes, Saints lost Whitby, who was returning from knee surgery, to a separate knee problem in the second half.
St Helens interim head coach Eamon O'Carroll told BBC Radio Merseyside:
"There were far too many times when we were shooting ourselves in the foot and putting some pressure on ourselves. We're clearly not at that level at the moment where we seem to handle that the way we'd like to or how we have in the past.
"We've got some young boys in there who may have got exposed at times. They will be better for this experience - I'm really proud of the young lads - but at the minute we seem to be swapping one of our younger lads for another younger lad.
"We're then automatically asking a lot of some of our senior boys.
"I think you can see where we are at with that at the minute."
[On play-off qualification] "It's going to be a difficult one for us to achieve, but it's not unachievable."
Hull FC interim head coach Andy Last told Sky Sports:
'It feels absolutely fantastic. I just want to dedicate that to the supporters who have stuck by us and turned up in big numbers. It was great to get a win for them.
"There were some parts of the performance I was really pleased with and some parts of the game we still need to improve [such as] individuals' decision-making, but I'm not going to take anything away from tonight.
"To get a win at St Helens, I'm really, really pleased.'
Editor's Note: This article is sponsored by Foot Locker.
Soon we’ll be stepping into a new season, and if you’d like to do that in the latest styles, grab some fresh kicks and apparel from Foot Locker. Not only is there up to 40% off back-to-school essentials like shoes, bags, and more, but Foot Locker also has the hottest trending sneakers in stock in a bunch of sizes, including the New Balance 9060 and the Jordan Retro 3. All the classics from Adidas, Nike, New Balance, ASICS, and more are available, too. So, whether you’re heading to campus or hitting the gym, you can do so in style with Foot Locker’s back-to-school lineup:
…
Foot Locker's 7 Top Sneakers for Fall
If you’re after a go-to option for everyday, Nike’s Air Force 1 '07 and Adidas’ Originals Campus 00s or Samba are no-brainers. These deliver essential streetwear style and have remained timeless closet staples for a reason, blending comfort, functionality, and fashion. While black and white remain the most popular colorways and are sure to match just about any outfit, these iconic kicks also come in flashier options for those after a bolder look.
Want to make even more of a statement? Get Nike’s Jordan Retro 3, featuring a unique, eye-catching design with an elephant-print texture. Two color options are currently available: white and blue, or grab the olive option for 30% off if your size is still in stock. The New Balance 9060 is another cool kick that delivers futuristic vibes, combining features of other classic New Balance sneakers like the 990s and 860s.
For shoes that are more functional than fashion-forward, there’s the Nike Zoom Vomero 5 or the ASICS GEL-1130. Both make excellent running and gym options with a nice modern aesthetic for everyday wear.
No matter which of these sneakers you grab, they’ll seamlessly take you from summer to fall, ensuring you’re classroom- or street-ready.
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Foot Locker’s Back-to-School Sale is full swing, saving you up to 40% off select apparel. Beyond athletic wear, socks, and bags, a whole slew of shoes are on sale. Certain colorways of some of the kicks mentioned above are even discounted.
Beyond those deals, Foot Locker has its FLX membership. It’s free to join, with members enjoying free shipping, free returns, and a point system that turns current purchases into FLX Cash to spend on future items. Sneakerheads will also love the members-only sales and opportunity to jump the queue during launch reservations.
Danielle is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history. %!s()
Not everyone needs a keynote slot to make noise at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Sometimes the best way to meet investors, customers, and partners is by exhibiting directly on the Expo Hall floor at San Francisco’s Moscone West from October 13-15.
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That’s exactly what our Exhibit Program offers, and it’s still open to showcase your startup.
Here’s what $12,500 buys you:
A 6’ x 30″ table in the Expo Hall, which is the highest-trafficked part of Disrupt, where more than 10,000 founders, VCs, and tech leaders come looking for partnerships, investments, and networking.
We provide the table, linen, chairs, and signage so you can focus on showcasing your startup — not logistics.
10 Disrupt passes, including five all-access Exhibitor-Partner passes and five Expo+ passes, so your whole team can work the floor, not just staff a booth. Those cover nearly $4,000 of the exhibition price by themselves!
Lead generation through the Disrupt 2026 mobile app, so every conversation turns into a follow-up, not a lost business card.
Access to the Disrupt 2026 press list and Silver Tier sponsor branding across the site, app, and signage.
Joining fellow exhibitors is the fastest, lowest-lift way for a startup at any stage to get in front of the exact room that matters, from investors sourcing deals, to operators evaluating tools, to founders scouting partners.
There is one catch, though: Tables are limited. This offer ends when the last exhibit table sells out, or on September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT, whichever comes first.
Book your exhibit table now by heading here. Or, if you’re not ready to exhibit this year, get a Disrupt 2026 ticket here while we’re running a limited-time $400 discount and start planning your presence for next year!
Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photograpy
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When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.%!s()
When Ryan Murphy called up each of his legacy American Horror Story stars to ask them if they would return for the upcoming 13th season, he couldn’t even get out the full question.
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“I couldn’t get the sentence out of my mouth fast enough: ‘Will you come back…’ ‘Yes.’ I was like, ‘Well, OK,'” Murphy tells The Hollywood Reporter with a laugh. That even included Jessica Lange, who hadn’t starred on his and Brad Falchuk’s hit horror anthology in a series regular role since season four’s Freak Show.
“If she had said no, I probably wouldn’t have done it,” he admits.
But Lange said yes. So did Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Billie Lourd, Frances Conroy, Gabourey Sidibe and Leslie Grossman.
The 13-episode season, which returns Sept. 24 on FX and Hulu (at 6 p.m. PT), is a tribute to the entire series, and will see the returning cast reprising many of their iconic roles. Lange is playing all four of her characters; Paulson is playing six and Peters, five. Murphy has compared the season to the Avengers, saying they all come together to defeat the ultimate evil.
“This season is a tribute to all of the seasons, which we’ll never do again,” he says now of the effort, which included many, many months of writing. “But it was fun. It was like getting the band back together and once they got on the set with me, it was like we never stopped making this. Most of them had accents and they instantly fell back into their characters. It was fascinating and thrilling.”
With Murphy’s latest TV offering, The Shards, now released (we talked about that this week, too), THR pressed the prolific creator on what he’s doing next, which includes the next season in his Monster franchise, The Lizzie Borden Story, him seriously considering rebooting Glee and spilling more details about AHS season 13 — including on Ariana Grande’s exit. He also reveals that he’s already working on season 14 and another untitled adaptation. Mainly, Murphy says he has one thing in mind: “How do I bring projects back to L.A.?”
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There is a ton of excitement around the upcoming all-star 13th season of American Horror Story. How many more seasons of AHS do you want to do?
American Horror Story is an interesting thing, because some seasons I’m very involved and some I’m not involved at all or some I’m half-way in. Brad Falchuk and I created that show together, and we worked on it this year together. And [showrunners] Ned Martel and Charlie Carver were our lieutenants on the crowd who did a wonderful job.
I have a great passion for that show, and [FX boss] John Landgraf has a great passion for that show. It’s a very important show in my career. It’s something that John said, “As long as you want to keep making them, I’ll keep airing them.” That’s always been the idea behind it, which is very empowering.
Season 13 is not the end; I’m working on season 14 as we speak in terms of, “What’s the idea?” and “Who wants to be in it?”
I loved doing this season because I had not directed an American Horror Story since Freak Show, I think. Not since season four. And I directed the pilot this year and I just love the process of going to all the castmembers, all of whom are very busy, and saying, “Hey, can we get the band back together?”
How did those calls to the AHS cast go?
It all started with Jessica [Lange] because Jessica, after we did the first four seasons, wanted to go off and do different things, which I understood completely. But I reached out to her thinking she would say no, and if she had said no, I probably wouldn’t have done it. She told me a story about how she was doing Broadway last season and she would go out after the show, and there were all of these young people who were there because they all watched her work on American Horror Story. And she was very moved by that. I said, “Well, that’s funny, because my idea is for you to do all four of your favorite characters.” And she said, “Sign me up. I’d love to do it.” I was so grateful.
Sarah [Paulson] and I talked about it. She said yes. Sarah played six characters in the season. With all of the OGs, it wasn’t even a conversation. I couldn’t get the sentence out of my mouth fast enough. “Will you come back…” “Yes.” I was like, “Well, OK.” So before I started writing it, I had all of them — Emma [Roberts] and Evan [Peters] and Kathy Bates; Angela Bassett and Gabourey Sidibe and Leslie Grossman.
We also had a lot of the original costumes still in storage that we got to use. So there are little Easter eggs threaded around in the set decoration where fans can be like, “Wait, wasn’t that in season two?” It was. This season is a thank you to the fans for continuing to watch.
Jessica Lange and Evan Peters in American Horror Story season three, Coven.
Michele K. Short/FX Networks/Courtesy Everett Collection
Ariana Grande exited season 13 because of her Eternal Sunshine tour. (She’s since announced a step back from the public eye.) Can you reveal what role you had in mind for her, or is it something you would save for down the line?
I love Ariana Grande. We’re great friends. I had an idea and I came to her and she, very immediately, said, “I’m not sure because I think I’m going on tour.” I don’t think the tour had been announced, and she had obviously just finished the Wicked movie. So when it came time to do that episode, I called her up and she was like, “I don’t know how I’m going to juggle the tour with this.” And I said, “OK, if you can’t, we can push to another season.” She said, “Great.”
You have to be respectful. Who is busier than Ariana Grande? No one. She had told me at the time, “I have this album that’s dropping.” It was really, truly a scheduling conflict. I said, “OK, we’ll kick that can down the road,” and she said, “Great.” Ariana is a big fan of horror. She’s obviously done homages of that in her work; she did Scream Queens for me and loved the experience, and people love her in that show. So I will always work with her.
I love her, and I support her. It was a very big swing, but I might bring that back for another season, per Ariana’s availability. I think the world of her.
You also just dropped your Lizzie Borden series first look. The other Monster cases were clear-cut crimes, while Lizzie was acquitted and the case remains unsolved. She’s also a female serial killer, which is rarer. Did any of that give you pause when tackling this story?
I find that show, which I do with Ian Brennan, to be very interesting because you know that no matter what you do, it’s going to be controversial. That’s baked into the cake. I’m always interested in, not glorifying these characters, but the Monster franchise is only about one thing: Are monsters made, or are they born?
With the Lizzie Borden case, I had a very deep connection to that. When I was in kindergarten, I won first place singing the Lizzie Borden nursery rhyme [“Lizzie Borden Took an Ax…”] in a choral competition, if you can believe that. That was the first thing I ever won. So I grew up with that nursery rhyme. I’m from the Midwest. I thought everybody knew that nursery rhyme, and they did not.
I like investigating that story because, in many ways, you can look at what it deals with women and society and it’s very about today. It’s a very modern story. The story of Lizzie Borden is: Did she do it or did she not? There are many theories. But I think it taps into Victorian America and this idea of, “Why can’t I do this? Why can’t my parents understand me?” I think everyone, male or female, who is a teenager knows about that. And I’m like, “Why can’t we write about that?”
It is an interesting season because it is the Lizzie Borden story, but there are also other female “killers” who I was always interested in exploring. I always wanted to do something about Aileen Wuornos. I’ve always wanted to do something about the Countess Elizabeth Báthory, who Dracula was modeled after. So we are kind of doing this fantasia of women vs. the system, and it’s not what they did, it’s the question of: What made them do it? Why did they do it, if they did it? That’s what the show is about. And it has three really great “monsters” behind it: Lizzie Borden [played by Ella Beatty], Aileen Wuornos and Elizabeth Báthory.
Vicky Krieps plays Báthory, as well as the maid. She plays two parts. And then when I was working on it, there was only one actress who I thought could [play Wuornos], and that was Sarah Paulson. I told her, “I have this thing,” and she’s like, “Oh, God.” Then she read it and said, “It’s going to be hard, but I’ll do it.”
I love the season. Sarah Adina Smith, who directed many of the episodes, is a wonderful female director and I’m going to work with her again on something soon. I thought it was really interesting to explore the themes that are modern.
Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, premiering Sept. 17 with all episodes on Netflix.
Courtesy of Netflix
Some burning questions: What is the status of The Beauty season two? Have you landed on what couple you want to focus on for Love Story season two? And what’s a white whale story you want to tackle next?
Those are all things that I’m considering and thinking about. And trying to figure them out.
You have to figure out what you’re interested in doing next, and I’m lucky enough that I have really great partners who want to do this and that. I haven’t figured it out yet. I have many things coming out between August and Christmas, and I’m sort of plotting out my next two years. I don’t think I’ll ever do as much again as I did this year because I have three young children.
With me, it always starts with the idea: What are you interested in? And sometimes, you work on something and abandon it. We were doing an entire other Monster season — Ian and I wrote two of them. And it didn’t feel right. So sometimes, I work on something and kick the can down the road.
The next thing I’m doing, I start shooting December in Europe — I’ve always wanted to do a vampire story and I always wondered why nobody has made a show about these characters I love [from a book and movie adaptation]. So that’s the next thing I’m going to tackle.
I’m also considering Glee.
How seriously?
It’s something to consider. For many, many people now in their 20s, they grew up on that show and it meant something to them. The music meant something. So, let’s kick it around and see what we get. It’s always about the story for me. What’s the story? Do I want to tell the story now? Sometimes I want to wait.
I’m considering a lot of stuff. To me, it’s always about how the scripts come in and what it costs. You have to be conscious about all of that. But because I have such great partners, I’m able to create things that give thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people jobs. We need to bring production back to LA. We have to figure out: How do we make shows in L.A. so that people who came here and worked here can be with their families and not have to go out of state? I think that caused a lot of difficulties for people, so I’m not thinking about it in terms of projects, I’m thinking about: “How do I bring projects back to L.A.?”
But I am optimist and I love everything I have coming out. I think I’m in a development phase.
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The Shards releases new episodes Wednesdays on FX and Hulu; American Horror Story season 13 premieres Sept. 24.%!s()
