Bubba Wallace has become the face of NASCAR in recent weeks as they look to move forward as a more inclusive and diverse organization. Wallace, the Cup Series’ lone Black driver, has been outspoken amid nationwide protests of systemic racism and police brutality, and helped push NASCAR to finally ban the confederate flag from racetracks.

That decision led to some backlash from fans, as NASCAR pledged to make races a more welcoming place for all fans, regardless of color, by banning a flag that is a symbol of racism and hatred. It’s a move that should’ve been made much sooner, but Wallace, who drove a car with Black Lives Matter decals last week, has praised NASCAR for finally stepping forward and speaking out on racial issues.

Wallace has received plenty of racial epithets on social media for speaking out, but on Sunday he was targeted by someone within NASCAR. Late Sunday night, after rain washed out the race at Talladega and pushed it back to Monday, NASCAR issued a statement that they were “angry and outraged” after a noose was found in Wallace’s garage stall and that an investigation was under way to find who was responsible and “eliminate them from the sport.”

Given that fans are still not being allowed on the infield at races, it had to have been someone (or multiple people) from one of the race teams that put the noose in Wallace’s stall as a threat, and as such NASCAR will seek to find out who it was and kick them out of the sport. It is a horrific thing to do and clearly meant to intimidate and push Wallace out of the sport.

There have been multiple Black Americans that have been found lynched across the country in recent weeks, and it is a serious threat that should not just yield a NASCAR investigation but also legal charges for whomever was involved as a hate crime. Wallace issued a statement on Sunday night, promising he won’t “give in nor will I back down” after this effort to intimidate him.

The 2020 ESPYs took place on Sunday night, with Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, and Russell Wilson serving as the remote hosts for the show that typically takes center stage during the lone major sports-less night of the calendar — the day after the MLB All-Star Game.

However, this year’s festivities were moved up due to the ongoing pandemic that has kept the U.S. major sports leagues on hiatus for the last three months, as ESPN continues trying to fill the Sunday night airwaves following The Last Dance. As one might expect given the current climate, this year’s event took on a bit of a more serious tone than usual. The three hosts opened the show with a call to action for Black Lives Matter and the ongoing movement against systemic racism and police brutality that’s led to protests in major cities around the country and world for more than a month, along with a powerful video from many in the sports world.

ESPN also had Snoop Dogg pay tribute to a fellow L.A. legend in a video about Kobe Bryant, who died along with his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash that rocked the sports world earlier this year.

It’s a touching tribute, with Snoop pointing to Kobe’s lasting legacy and saying “this is your city,” as a montage of Kobe’s finest moments on the court were interspersed with the numerous murals put up to honor him after his death. Given that this took place on Father’s Day, when a number from the NBA community remembered Bryant for what he did off the court and his proud status as a “girl dad,” it was a fitting tribute from one L.A. icon to another.

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The latest Star Wars trilogy may have proven controversial, but there’s one thing most people can agree on: Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron was one of its key assets. He had the swagger of an old fashioned hero even as the movies critiqued his type; in The Last Jedi, he’s as bold as he is reckless, and not every feat of derring-do paid off. (Isaac wanted them to go even further with the character.) So here’s some potentially bad news: While it’s still up in the air if we’ll ever see the kids from the last three episodes, don’t count on Isaac returning.

The esteemed actor was speaking to Deadline (in a bit teased out by ComicBook.com) when he explained that, all things considered, Star Wars isn’t really his bag. Here’s what he said:

“I enjoyed the challenge of those films and working with a very large group of incredible artists and actors, prop makers, set designers, and all that was really fun. It’s not really what I set out to do. What I set out to do was to make handmade movies, and to work with people that inspire me. Paul [Schrader]’s movies, the things that he’s made, it’s in my DNA. I’m not alone, obviously. [For] every actor of a certain generation, those are the films that made them who they are, so that’s certainly my case. It feels like for me a personal turning point and that, as far as I’m concerned, it has nothing to do with the finished product. It’s the process of doing this.”

When pressed if he’d ever return to Star Wars, he joked, “Probably, but who knows. If I need another house or something.”

Isaac, of course, has done plenty of big franchise numbers, like the 2010 Robin Hood, The Bourne Legacy, and X-Men: Apocalypse — in which he played the titular baddie — he’s more into challenging fare, such as Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year, and Ex Machina. He’ll also be seen, allegedly at year’s end, in another sci-fi classic: the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune.

(Via Deadline and ComicBook.com)

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Including unbreakable plates, a shampoo bar, and suuuuper soft undies.

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I’m talking pre-Freeform days here…

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You better hope you’re not one…

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