"Making a Murderer" has dominated conversations and headlines for nearly three months now, but a new ratings report proves that you don't need to have a ton of viewers to start building that hype.

For "Making a Murderer," Netflix's docuseries about the trial and conviction of Steven Avery in the 2005 murder of a female photographer, the viewership was slow at first.

Netflix is famously guarded about its viewing numbers, but Symphony Advanced Media looks at a sample of users to measure numbers for Netflix and other streaming services that stay quiet about their ratings.

Symphony told Ad Week that only 565,000 average adult viewers watched each episode of "Making a Murderer" when it was released on December 18.

A huge ratings leap for "Making a Murderer"

After its first week, the audience for "Making a Murderer" jumped to 2.3 million viewers. In 14 days, it went to 5.5 million. And by 35 days, 19.3 million viewers watched the series. This reflects a huge boost in viewership as word of mouth and the media surrounding the series increased.

For comparison, using other numbers from Symphony, Netflix's "Marvel's Jessica Jones" averaged 8.8 million viewers in the 35-day period. Amazon's "Man in the High Castle" clocked 3.4 million, and "Transparent" was viewed by 2.1 million.

Nielsen doesn't report ratings 35 days out, but we took the average daily viewership of "Making a Murderer's" 35-day window and translated that into live plus seven days, so we can roughly compare it to other TV programs.

Here are some rough comparisons to broadcast shows around the same time period (live plus seven days): 

"Jane the Virgin" (The CW) – 1.6 million viewers

"World's Funniest" (Fox) – 1.9 million viewers

"Making a Murderer" (Netflix) – 3.9 million viewers

"20/20" Friday (ABC) – 4.0 million viewers

"MasterChef" Junior (Fox) – 5.6 million viewers 

For the record, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos defended the media company's ratings secrecy last month at the Television Critics Association press tour by arguing that ratings don't matter in the streaming business, where revenue is generated from subscribers and not advertising. He also called Symphony's ratings numbers, which were previously presented in an NBC ratings panel at TCA, "remarkably inaccurate."

SEE ALSO: Homer Simpson is the accused in this 'Making a Murderer' parody

SEE ALSO: 'Making a Murderer' subject Steven Avery's sons speak out about whether they think he's guilty

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NOW WATCH: The lawyer from 'Making A Murderer' describes what's wrong with America's criminal justice system

In an ode to all of Kanye West's most recent accomplishments, the rapper-turned-fashion designer held a big event at Madison Square Garden during New York Fashion Week to celebrate his newest fashion collection and his latest album, which after multiple name changes is called "The Life of Pablo."

Kanye showed the world that clothes and shoes are not the only thing he can design when he unexpectedly dropped a teaser for a video game he developed, which is about his mother, "traveling through the gates of heaven." The game shares a name with a song he released at the end of 2014 about his mother and child, called "Only One."

Story and editing by A.C. Fowler

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The band OK Go is known for pulling off some impressive feats in their music videos.

Their first big hit came in 2009 with the music video for "Here It Goes Again." In that video, they ran on treadmills while belting out the lyrics. For their song "This Too Shall Pass," they set up an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine. 

Now the band has topped its previous efforts. On Thursday, OK Go released a music video for their single "Upside Down & Inside Out," in which the members perform while floating in an airplane in zero gravity (well, actually reduced gravity).

The band shot the video in a parabolic flight that produces weightlessness. Lead singer and guitarist Damian Kulash told Business Insider that shooting in zero gravity was always a dream of his. But it didn't seem feasible until a few years ago, when SpaceX and Virgin Galactic talked about making space travel possible for just about anybody.

"Suddenly, [space travel] is opening up to the rest of the world. And I remember thinking at that point, that means people are going to be able to make art in space. I was like, 'I want to make art in space!'" Kulash said. "It was a very, very loose idea because it was such an improbable one for a long time."

Kulash went on a parabolic flight in 2011. Even after that experience, the idea of doing a music video using those conditions didn't seem practical enough.

"It actually seems not so promising on the first flight simply because it's so hard to do anything. In one flight, what you learn is it makes you nauseous, and it's really hard to control yourself," he said.

Yet OK Go still managed to pull it off, adding piñatas, laptops, and paint into the mix. Since nobody has ever shot a music video like this before, it did come with its challenges.

"The biggest challenge is not defaulting to your normal type of movement. You're so used to controlling yourself by working against the ground. You use your environment to push you around. Gravity is part of that," Kulash said. "Most people essentially start swimming. They doggy-paddle because they're disconnected."

But before that, there was one more obstacle to overcome.

"Actually, before that, the first thing most people do is just puke," Kulash clarified. 

Thanks to anti-nausea medication, the band managed to get through the entire shoot vomit-free.

The experiment has paid off. In less than 48 hours, the music video for "Upside Down & Inside Out" has already gotten over 27 million views on OK Go's Facebook page. Kulash says they have no plans as of yet to actually make a video in outer space, but filming in zero gravity was already a dream come true.

"It seemed so unlikely for so many years. It seemed like the answer to that question, 'If you could do anything, what would it be?' Well, what I would do is a zero-gravity video, but c'mon."

You can watch the full video below:

SEE ALSO: What it's really like to fly in 'zero gravity' like OK Go did in their new music video

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With only a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "Zoolander 2" isn't coming out of the gates with a lot of love.

The original film, released 15 years ago and starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as dimwitted male models who team up to foil an assassination attempt on the prime minister of Malaysia, became a cult favorite once it hit the home-video market.

But according to many critics, the long-awaited sequel, out Friday, lacks the silly hilarity of the first.

Before you spend your hard-earned cash, read how the critics felt about it.

SEE ALSO: There's one huge character missing from the new 'Game of Thrones' photos, and it's driving fans insane

The movie just isn't funny.

The biggest gripe many critics have is that "Zoolander 2" tries but falls so short of the original gags.

"'Zoolander 2' tries to blow the same silliness out to epic, world-spanning proportions, and it just winds up feeling overstretched," The Verge writes.

And the Boston Globe argues that "'Zoolander 2' is just another lazy grab bag of sketch ideas acted out by 'Saturday Night Live' cast members and alumni, each of whom comes up with a schtick and then beats it into the ground."

If those aren't enough, here's Vulture's take: "How bad is 'Zoolander 2'? It's 'Batman and Robin' bad."

The Derek Zoolander act gets old in a hurry.

For the Chicago Sun-Times, the idiotic Zoolander character, whose fatherhood inabilities come into the plot, is just hard to watch:

"If you find Zoolander's mannered style of speaking and his narcissism and his monumentally tiny brain hilarious, I can't argue with you. I'm just not with ya."

The cameos make it tolerable — almost.

It seems like every other scene in "Zoolander 2" has an appearance from a celebrity. But the one who tops them all is Kiefer Sutherland, who has a special connection with Hansel (Owen Wilson).

That was a bad omen for the San Jose Mercury News: "When Kiefer Sutherland is the funniest person in your movie, you have a problem."

While promoting "Hail, Caesar!" at the Berlin Film Festival, George Clooney discussed the hate speech seen in America's current election cycle. 

Story by Ian Phillips, editing by Adam Banicki.

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Statements made by Brendan Dassey during the Teresa Halbach murder investigation may change the way some see his uncle, Steven Avery, the central subject of Netflix's "Making a Murderer."

Dan O’Donnell, one of the reporters who covered the trial documented in the popular docuseries, said that the prosecutors, defense team, and the Netflix filmmakers ignored Dassey's claims that Avery sexually molested him.

According to court records obtained by The Wrap, on May 13, 2006, Dassey, 16 at the time, told police during one of his highly contested interviews, which some believe resulted in a false confession, that his uncle sometimes tried to grab his genitals “through the pants.” Later that day, Dassey told his mother, Barb Tadych, that Avery “would grab me somewhere where I was uncomfortable."

Read the phone transcript between Dassey and his mother below:

“He clearly is saying that Steven molested him,” said O’Donnell, who now hosts a podcast about the trial and Netflix series, which he believes treats Avery preferentially. “Really, I don’t have any reason to believe that Dassey would have been lying.”

O'Donnell told the site that he's troubled that the Netflix series “never even entertained as a possibility” that Avery molested Dassey.

Both Avery and Dassey are serving life sentences after being convicted of the murder of Halbach.

Netflix and representatives for series creators Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi declined to comment on the subject to TheWrap.

Avery's new attorney, Kathleen Zellner, referred to the molestation claims as "rumor and innuendo" meant to distract from the facts of the case. 

“Mr. Avery categorically denies this unsubstantiated allegation,” she said in a statement.

“Mr. Dassey’s confession is clearly false, as the lack of corroborating evidence shows," she continued. "The master/slave analogy is more applicable to the police abusing their power by coercing a confession from a 16-year-old who was highly suggestible because of his low IQ and isolation from his family during the interrogation. It is typical for wrongful conviction cases to be based on rumor and innuendo such as this in an effort to distract the public from the complete lack of evidence supporting the conviction. Pure, utter rubbish — never used in either trial because it is untrue.”

Former Calumet County prosecutor Ken Kratz said that the state was never asked to investigate sexual molestation allegations against Avery. He pointed out that the defense instead focused on “the issue of false confessions, and whether Mr. Dassey’s limited intelligence made him more susceptible to police interrogation methods.”

And Dassey's first attorney, Len Kachinsky, who was removed from the case after the judge discovered that he let police interrogate Dassey twice without him or a parent present, said he had no knowledge of Dassey's claims of sexual abuse by Avery.

SEE ALSO: Here's how popular Netflix's 'Making a Murderer' really was according to a research company

SEE ALSO: 'Making a Murderer' subject Steven Avery's sons speak out about whether they think he's guilty

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NOW WATCH: The lawyer from 'Making A Murderer' describes what's wrong with America's criminal justice system

An Australian boy named Domenic is suffering from cystic fibrosis. As his one wish from Make-A-Wish, he got to be Iron Man for the day. Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., even made him an honorary member of The Avengers.

Story by Ian Phillips and editing by Alana Yzola

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President Barack Obama recently went on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." During his last year as president, he reflected on his first.

"The good news is, we're generally going in the right direction. My hope is that we'll continue to do so." Obama concluded.

Story by Ian Phillips and editing by Kristen Griffin

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Advertising is everywhere. Most of us do our best to ignore, or even block it. However, there are always some campaigns that manage to penetrate through our ambivalence and make us stop and listen.

But what makes these successful campaigns different from the ones we avoid? The Gunn Report just produced its list of the most successful advertising campaigns of 2015, along with insights into each of the top 8's strategy, media execution and effectiveness.

The report identifies the most awarded adverts by combining the winners' lists from the 45 most important award festivals around the world. It does not disclose which awards festivals are included, so no one gets annoyed. The common theme for success among most of the ads is to look beyond the brand to make a positive impact in an innovative way.

Scroll down to find out about the top 8.

SEE ALSO: All the ads that ran during the Super Bowl, in order

ZDK Exit Deutschland — Nazis against Nazis

Idea: The small German town of Wunsiedel has a big Nazi problem. Each year, neo-Nazis march through the town, against the wishes of many of the townsfolk. So ZDK Exit Deutschland came up with a genius plan to put them off. For every step the neo-Nazis took, more money would be donated to a charity. This charity was devoted to getting people away from the neo-Nazi scene. So the neo-Nazis would essentialy be marching against themselves.

Strategy: The arriving neo-Nazis were treated just like charity walkers. They were encouraged by banners, street markings and even given bananas to keep them marching on.

Effectiveness: More than a dozen other towns have applied the idea to put off neo-Nazi marches. The campaign reach 175 million impressions worldwide and much print and TV coverage. The neo-Nazis of course raised € 10,000 for a charity against their organization.

Vodafone Red Light App — Between Us

Idea: Vodafone created an app to help Turkish women call for help during an incident of domestic abuse, simply by shaking their phones.

Strategy: Because of the nature of the app, Vodafone wanted to keep it secret from men, so the brand disguised it as a simple flashlight app. It was promoted only to women by hiding messages adverts for it deep within long videos about traditionally feminine topics, or sewn onto the label of women's clothes. After knowledge of the app became widespread, it changed its name and masqueraded as a mirror app.

Effectiveness: The app was incredibly successful. 24% of Turkish women (254,000) downloaded the app, according to the Gun Report.

Oreo — The Oreo Eclipse

Idea: Oreo jumped on the chance to get involved with the hype in the UK surrounding the first solar eclipse in 16 years. The real eclipse turned out to be a massive let down for most Brits as it was hidden behind grey clouds. Fortunately, Oreo created videos of its own eclipses across the country.

Strategy: Oreo started by putting a full page translucent image of its biscuit over the cover of the UK's most read newspaper, The Sun. It also created real time eclipses on digital billboards across the country, using data from the Royal Astronomical Society to make sure it was accurate in each location.

Effectiveness: The Gunn Report claims that the Oreo Eclipse was seen by 20 million people in one day. Sales rose by 35% that March.

See story here.

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NOW WATCH: George Clooney nailed America's problem with hateful political speech

The premiere of Kanye West's new album on Thursday afternoon got off to a rocky start.

The rapper hosted a listening party and performance piece at New York City's Madison Square Garden, in which he played "The Life of Pablo," his latest record, and showed off his fashion line's new season. The event was live-streamed for free via Tidal, but it kept freezing.

"Pablo" is definitely an evolution from "Yeezus," his last album, which had a harder edge. The beats are still minimal and there is still some Kanye screaming, but he layered in soulful vocals, including by Rihanna. There's also one Taylor Swift reference that's definitely not safe for the whole family.

Kanye wrestles with a lot of personal themes in "Pablo": where he came from, his mega-celebrity, his family, and his relationship to his fans. He promised gospel and, in his own way, delivered.

The debut itself saw everyone from Pusha T and Naomi Campbell to Kim Kardashian and Lamar Odom joining the occasion.

See what happened when Kanye debuted his new album below:

SEE ALSO: Kanye West's new album has a harsh diss of Taylor Swift everyone will talk about

The premiere of "The Life of Pablo" at Madison Square Garden was sold out, but anyone could watch the live stream through Tidal — even non-Tidal members.

The problem was that as soon as things kicked off at 4 p.m., the stream started freezing. It was soon up again and you could watch on a low resolution.

Kanye West entered, along with family and friends, while speakers played the new album from beginning to end. Kanye grinned a lot, and danced and mouthed along to some lyrics, but he did not do any actual performing.

There's a huge upside to being a nominee in one of the major Oscar categories this year, even if you lose.

That honor, of course, is the "swag bag" that's given to each contender in the best actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, and director categories.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and more will walk home with one of them, valued at more than $200,000 — if they're willing to report them to the IRS, since gifts of this size are taxable.

Known as "Everyone Wins" prizes and provided by Distinctive Assets, a company not associated with the Academy, they include some swanky and even bizarre items: trips to Japan, Israel, and Italy, $275 toilet paper, and something known as a "Vampire Breast Lift."

Check out everything that's in the Oscar-nominee gift bags below:

Haze Dual V3 Vaporizer, $249.99

A vibrator by sex-toy company Fiera, $250

Personalized My M&M's, $300

As many prepare for the battle between Team Captain America and Team Iron Man in “Captain America: Civil War,” out in May, for now we're taking a detour in the Marvel universe as we’re introduced to one of its most complex characters, Deadpool.

Led by Ryan Reynolds as the character, the new movie adaptation of the comic book, in theaters February 12, is the first look at a Marvel character from an R-rated perspective. Filled with graphic violence and a lot of bad language, 20th Century Fox's effort brings a harder-edged feel to the superhero genre than what we're familiar with from the Disney releases (“The Avengers,” “Iron Man,” etc.).

But there’s more to why “Deadpool” is one of the most unique superhero movies ever made.

We’ve come up with 5 big reasons you should see it:

(Warning: spoilers ahead.)

SEE ALSO: 20 modern classic movies everyone needs to watch in their lifetime

1. Ryan Reynolds making fun of himself

The Deadpool character is a former Special Forces operative who, after an experiment, possesses accelerated healing powers. True, that doesn’t sound much different from any other superhero origin story, but it’s the psychotic persona of Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool) that sets him apart. To harness that on the big screen, Hollywood has called on Mr. Sarcasm himself, Ryan Reynolds.

But “Deadpool” goes a step further than having Reynolds throw a fun line or two. To really portray the character correctly, it had to be brutal. And Reynolds obliged. He plays on his box-office bomb as Green Lantern in 2011, once being People’s Sexiest Man Alive, even taking jabs at his own acting talents.

It’s fun to see Reynolds can take a joke (or five). 

2. Lots of pop-culture references

Don’t fret if you’re not up on your “Deadpool” comics knowledge. The movie is made for both the super-fan and the novice. One of the pleasures is taking in the references to pop culture that are filled throughout. From a Salt-N-Pepa song to Deadpool throwing out lines about Negasonic Teenage Warhead looking like Sinéad O’Connor (and then there’s the scene after the end credits; don’t worry, we won’t give it away), it’s a fun ride for the '80s-and-'90s-nostalgic audience.

One of the biggest threads through the movie is Deadpool’s love for the band Wham!, specifically the group's hit “Careless Whisper.”

3. Breaking the fourth wall

Most superhero movies are focused entirely on the action, but Deadpool is fully aware there’s an audience looking at him, and he can’t help but chat it up. This leads to some enormously entertaining moments, like explaining how he met his roommate, Blind Al, or giving us his backstory while being pummeled by Colossus. And as anyone familiar with Ryan Reynolds' style of comedy knows, he is very comfortable doing that.

The long wait is over. Kanye West finally dropped his new album, "The Life of Pablo," early Sunday morning.

You can stream "The Life of Pablo" in full right now over on Tidal.

West's new album features Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Chance the Rapper, Rihanna, Young Thug, and Kid Cudi, among others.

"The Life of Pablo" originally debuted on Thursday at a listening party held at Madison Square Garden. West streamed the album launch at MSG on Tidal, but the official release was delayed the following day when West decided he wanted to include additional tracks on the album.

After originally saying that he would release "The Life of Pablo" on February 12 with the new tracks, West further delayed the album so that he could include one last track, "Waves," a song produced by Chance The Rapper featuring Chris Brown. Waves was also one of original names for the album before West finally landed on "TLOP" or "The Life of Pablo," and even sparked a Twitter beef between West and Wiz Khalifa that's since been resolved.

While Chance The Rapper polished off "Waves" throughout Friday and Saturday, West appeared on "Saturday Night Live" and performed "Highlights" and "Ultralight Beam" along with a portion of his freestyle "I Love Kanye."

West dropped "The Life of Pablo" — with "Waves" included — shortly after his "Saturday Night Live" performance concluded Sunday morning.

While you could initially purchase the album for $20 over on his website, West removed the download link on Sunday afternoon, tweeting out that he was making it a Tidal exclusive for the next week.

 Here's the full track list and album artwork:

1. Ultralight Beam [ft. Chance the Rapper and Kirk Franklin]
2. Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 [ft. Kid Cudi]
3. Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2 [ft. Desiigner]
4. Famous [ft. Rihanna]
5. Feedback
6. Low Lights
7. Highlights [ft. Young Thug]
8. Freestyle 4 [ft. Desiigner]
9. I Love Kanye
10. Waves [ft. Chris Brown]
11. FML [ft. The Weeknd]
12. Real Friends [ft. Ty Dolla $ign]
13. Wolves [ft. Frank Ocean and Caroline Shaw]
14. Silver Surfer Intermission
15. 30 Hours
16. No More Parties in LA [ft. Kendrick Lamar]
17. Facts (Charlie Heat Version)
18. Fade [ft. Post Malone and Ty Dolla $ign]

You can stream the album in its entirety over at Tidal.

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NOW WATCH: Kanye West shocked everyone with his video-game teaser at Fashion Week

"Deadpool" has only been out in theaters since Thursday night, but box-office analysts have already realized they grossly underestimated the film's performance.

Ryan Reynold's foul-mouthed antihero brought in a big $12.7 million haul Thursday night, the largest Thursday night box-office intake for an R-rated movie.

Friday, the merc with a mouth earned $47.5 million. 

Early estimates had "Deadpool" making $55 million to $70 million opening weekend. Now, analysts are calling for "Deadpool" to bring in well over $100 million by the end of the four-day holiday weekend. 

Here are some of the predictions going around.

Boxoffice.com is predicting $114 by the end of the weekend, and $127 million after the four-day holiday weekend.

Forbes' Mark Hughes is calling for $115 million domestically by the end of Monday.

Film statistic research firm Exhibitor Relations is calling for $127 million+ by Monday's end.

The film is poised to break several box-office records including largest February opening weekend, largest R-rated opening, largest R-rated comic adaptation, and — get this — the largest opening ever for 20th Century Fox, according to BoxOfficeMojo.

Here's a look at the previous chart toppers for February. "Deadpool" should blast past them all.

Here are the largest R-rated opening weekends:

For what it's worth, $55 million to $70 million was a big number to estimate for the weekend given the film's R-rating and its February release. As well, "Deadpool" was made on a much more stingy budget than other superhero movies. It's budget is estimated at $58 million. 

There also has never been a movie -- or superhero movie -- quite like Deadpool. Following a former mercenary Wade Wilson (Reynolds) who finds out he has cancer, Deadpool is aware he's a comic book character and breaks the fourth wall throughout the film, casually making jokes about other superheroes, celebrities, and even himself to the audience. 

One of the things analysts didn't seem to be accounting for was the character's massive popularity and appeal. "Deadpool" may not have been a household name before this weekend, but he has a very large internet presence. He's also been a favorite at Comic-con events for years. We're talking Batman / Superman big.

A sequel for "Deadpool" is reportedly already in the works.

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Turns out audiences will flock to an adult-focused superhero movie.

Exceeding what its studio, Twentieth Century Fox, or anyone else in Hollywood thought it could earn, "Deadpool" has become the highest-grossing February release of all time with a three-day weekend total of $135 million, according to Exhibitor Relations. And the Presidents' Day holiday weekend isn't even over yet.

Projections have the latest Marvel movie to be at around $150 million by the time the four-day weekend ends (the film was made for around $58 million).

These figures blow away the openings of some superhero titles with great pedigrees, like "Man of Steel" ($116 million opening) and 2002's "Spider-Man" ($114 million).

"Deadpool" shattered the previous February record set last year by Universal's "Fifty Shades of Grey," which had a three-day total of $85 million and a four-day of $93 million. "Deadpool" also now owns the biggest Friday opening in the month, with $47.5 million. ("Grey" was also the previous record-holder with $30.2 million.)

Throwing a comic-book movie in February, a time of year in the movie business when studios don't release their big guns, might seem like a no-brainer. But "Deadpool" is not your typical Marvel movie.

One of Marvel's most controversial characters with his foul language and graphically violent storylines, Deadpool's movie, with Ryan Reynolds playing the lead, has been in development for close to a decade. There was trepidation about whether there would be enough of a fanbase to come out to theaters, especially as Fox narrowed the audience when it went with a hard R rating. But "Deadpool" proves that you can stay true to a character's roots and still rake in the dough.

It seems "Deadpool" has tapped into the market of fanboys who wanted to see edgier material on screen and not the regular do-gooders like "The Avengers." Not to mention that it's filled with jokes about Reynolds ("Deadpool" has now made more than the entire run of the actor's last comic-book attempt, "Green Lantern"), digs at other comics, and pop-culture references that give it a unique feel.

This all bodes well for darker comic-book adaptations coming out later this year: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Suicide Squad" (though neither went the R route, and will be released as PG-13).

"Deadpool" also demolished the weekend competition, as the relationship comedy "How to Be Single" took in an estimated $18 million over three days, and "Zoolander 2" took in a disappointing $13 million, according to Variety.

Now, the first "Zoolander" did horrible at the box office, too, but with the cult following it built Paramount was at least hoping for a $20 million opening. Sadly, with a 22% Rotten Tomatoes rating, it might have been better to pass on the sequel.

SEE ALSO: "Deadpool" is the most unique superhero movie in years — here's why you need to see it

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Before "Hamilton" premiered on Broadway in August 2015, composer-lyricist, director, and star Lin-Manuel Miranda performed the opening number to the musical — the then mix-tape — for President Obama at "An Evening of Poetry and Music: The Spoken Word" in May 2009. This song will also be performed on the Grammy's by the entire cast of "Hamilton."

Produced by Emma Fierberg

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Rep. Pete King (R-New York) released a lengthy statement on Monday condemning Beyoncé's latest video and the media for embracing it.

"Beyoncé may be a gifted entertainer but no one should really care what she thinks about any serious issue confronting our nation," King said.

Beyoncé released her new video, "Formation," ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show during which she performed the song.

The video featured a number of nods to the Black Lives Matter movement. It opened with the singer lying atop a police cruiser and ended with a young boy confronting police officers in formation.

These nods rankled King, a law-and-order Republican who once considered running for president.

"The mainstream media's acceptance of her pro-Black Panther and anti-cop video 'Formation' and her Super Bowl appearance is just one more example of how acceptable it has become to be anti-police when it is the men and women in blue who put their lives on the line for all of us and deserve our strong support," King said.

King took particular exception to the video apparently referencing the death of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014:

Not unexpectedly, the video makes the ritualistic reference to Michael Brown and Ferguson, Missouri by featuring a scene of innocent people with their hands raised high above their heads in surrender. This fable of an innocent Michael Brown being murdered by police while attempting to surrender, which dominated the airwaves for months in 2014, has been thoroughly discredited. In simple language it was and is a lie from beginning to end.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) also criticized the video on Monday as "outrageous" and for serving as a "platform to attack police officers."

View King's full statement below:

Beyoncé may be a gifted entertainer but no one should really care what she thinks about any serious issue confronting our nation. But the mainstream media's acceptance of her pro-Black Panther and anti-cop video "Formation" and her Super Bowl appearance is just one more example of how acceptable it has become to be anti-police when it is the men and women in blue who put their lives on the line for all of us and deserve our strong support.

Not unexpectedly, the video makes the ritualistic reference to Michael Brown and Ferguson, Missouri by featuring a scene of innocent people with their hands raised high above their heads in surrender. This fable of an innocent Michael Brown being murdered by police while attempting to surrender, which dominated the airwaves for months in 2014, has been thoroughly discredited. In simple language it was and is a lie from beginning to end.

Michael Brown was a criminal who had robbed a convenience store and then attempted to kill Police Officer Darren Wilson. Michael Brown never raised his hands above his head and never tried to surrender. He was killed in self-defense by Officer Wilson after Brown first attempted to take the officer's weapon away and then charged at him. Officer Wilson was exonerated not just by a local prosecutor but by the Justice Department of Eric Holder and President Obama. Officer Wilson should be praised, not condemned, for his courageous action against a dangerous criminal.

Yet the big lie continues by Black Lives Matter, by pandering politicians and now by Beyoncé who gets star billing at the Super Bowl.

Maybe it's because I've attended too many police funerals and because my father proudly served in the NYPD for more than 30 years but I strongly believe that this false and irresponsible narrative of police violence premised on lies and distortion endangers police officer lives, such as NYPD Officers Liu and Ramos, and is extremely damaging to our nation and to people of all races and backgrounds. For example, no organization has done more to save innocent black lives than the NYPD.

SEE ALSO: 'Like a spoiled child': Donald Trump goes off on Jeb Bush at New Hampshire event

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Ashley Graham, 28, is about to make history, as she will be the first-ever curvy model to appear in the pages of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue. And on Saturday night, the publisher revealed that she would be one of three models gracing the issue's cover, along with model Hailey Clauson and fighter Ronda Rousey. Graham's reaction was priceless.

Story by Aly Weisman and editing by Adam Banicki

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