Month: August 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has been tough for a lot of industries, and that includes shipping. The US Postal Service, for example, expects to run out of money by the end of 2021 unless Congress steps in with some sort of reform. In April, Donald Trump issued an executive order that called for a review of USPS, which perhaps has something to do with a beef with Amazon.

Whatever the case may be, USPS is in a time of need, and Maggie Rogers is doing her part to help.

A fan of Rogers’ noticed something when making an order on Rogers’ website, tweeting, “When going to order Heard It In a Pastlife, I literally cried the happiest tears of hope. @maggierogers is supporting the @USPS by offering them as a her ONLY shipping method! She is in control of her music and this is such a powerful statement!!” Sharing the tweet, Rogers added, “USPS forever,” along with a red heart emoji.

The US Postal Service is an essential service for a lot of musicians and music retailers. Pitchfork noted in an April feature that Media Mail service is a key inexpensive option that allows independent artists to send CDs and records without breaking the bank. The publication quotes Jim Henderson, co-owner of California independent chain Amoeba Music, as saying, “Not having access to the USPS would certainly eliminate our ability to continue the free shipping offer, as alternate shipping options are dramatically more expensive and cumbersome to navigate, and would likely shut down the commerce part of our site entirely.”

Kids, I’m going to tell you an incredible story, the story of how Ted Mosby could have warned us about the coronavirus, but chose not to.

How I Met Your Mother, the Emmy-winning CBS sitcom that ran from 2005 to 2014, might not be on the same most-watched level as Friends or The Office but it’s still mighty popular, at least based on how often reruns air on cable. I assume it was while watching one of those old episodes that Reductress contributor Tara Millette noticed something peculiar. “Ted Mosby, in the year 2030, told the story of how he met his children’s mother and HE NEVER MENTIONED THE CORONAVIRUS ONCE,” she wrote. Here I was thinking that a dad telling his kids about all the women he slept with (cue the “Bang Bang” song) before meeting their mother was the worst thing about Ted — I was wrong.

Look, I’m not saying Ted Mosby is to blame for the spread of COVID-19, but it wouldn’t surprise me, either. Millette’s tweet caught the attention of How I Met co-creator Craig Thomas, who responded, “In his defense, Ted didn’t want to make the story overly long.”

Classic Shmosby.

Robin must be lording this over her American friends so hard.

Earlier in the week, Mission: Impossible 7 found itself under fire after reports began surfacing that production planned to blow up a bridge that Polish locals consider to be a “monument.” The film franchise is known for its infamously realistic stunts that could place Tom Cruise’s life into all kinds of danger. Seriously, it’s a miracle he’s still in one piece.

However, Polish officials were quick to point out that characterizing an old bridge as “monument” was not an accurate description and was stirring up unnecessary controversy. “I would not be fixated on the fact that the Pilchowicki Bridge is a monument,”Deputy Culture Minister Pawel Lewandowski told The Independent. “It stands in ruins and has no value. Not all old things are monuments.”

Now, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie has entered the fray, and in a twist worthy of the spy film franchise, there appears to be nefarious forces working in the shadows. In a rare open letter published in Empire, McQuarrie details how the production reached an “enthusiastic” agreement to blow up a bridge in Poland that was already in need of demolition. Blowing it up for a stunt was actually doing local officials a favor as it would pave the way for a new railway bridge that could potentially boost tourism. But according to McQuarrie within his letter, a disgruntled individual tried to sideline the stunt in an act of vengeance:

One individual, for reasons I cannot specify without revealing their identity, claimed they were owed a job on the production for which we felt they were not adequately qualified.

When this individual’s demands were not met, they retaliated.

After harassing members of our production publicly and anonymously on social media, as well as privately, this individual misrepresented our intentions and concealed their personal reasons for wanting to penalize us. They even tried to have this condemned, unsafe and unusable bridge landmarked in the hopes of preventing it from ever being removed and rebuilt (which we understand would be to the detriment of the area’s economic needs). Then they reached out to us to gloat about it. In short, this individual manipulated the emotional response of the people in a move that has now compromised our ambitions to bring our production to Poland.

Despite the recent controversy, McQuarrie states that he still plans to bring Mission: Impossible 7 to Poland and, hopefully, destroy a fair chunk of this bridge with the blessing of local officials.

(Via Empire)

As the Lakers look to shore up their chemistry and shot-making ahead of what they hope will be a deep playoff run, their Orlando seeding games are off to a rough start. Fresh off of a 19-point loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, the 2-2 Lakers will be without LeBron James on Thursday as they take on the Rockets.

James is apparently struggling with groin soreness, something Lakers head coach Frank Vogel mentioned after the loss to the Thunder.

In four bubble games, James is shooting just 42 percent, quite uncharacteristic for him, especially during a portion in the season in which, typically, James would be rounding into postseason form. All that rounding is impossible in the unfamiliar confines of the Wide World of Sports complex, and James is struggling, as are the .500 Lakers.

With the No. 1 seed locked up, it’s no surprise Vogel would try to steal a night of rest for James, especially on the second night of a back-to-back. It might be just what James needs to feel better and look more like the player we know him to be. Guard Alex Caruso is also questionable for the game against the Rockets, who are 2-1 in Orlando and have been exploding on offense in a way that will be tough for the depleted Lakers to match.

TeaMarrr, Issa Rae’s first Raedio artist as part of her partnership with Atlantic Records, follows up her splashy debut single “Kinda Love” with another new single taking on a heavier topic: Racial inequality. Recruiting Wale for an energized and socially-conscious verse, TeaMarrr shared “Colors” today, speaking on the way people allow something as simple as skin color divide us.

Meanwhile, Wale’s verse cleverly uses colors associated with with various groups to call out police brutality, the topic of conversation in the public discourse for the past several months. “The Black hate the blue because the blue shoot whatever,” he chants. “Which mostly is the Blacks because the blue acting yellow.” It’s familiar territory for Wale, who released his “Sue Me” video earlier this year addressing similar topics.

In May, TeaMarrr also released her debut EP, saying at the time, “I want people to heal themselves with my sound. I hope they walk away thinking, ‘TeaMarrr is my new musical pharmacist.’ My catalog will heal whatever mood you’re in; if you’re in a lovey-dovey vibe put on ‘Kinda Love.’ If you’re angry at your ex and don’t understand why he couldn’t have done the one thing you asked him to, I definitely have a song for that too. Think of me as the sonic doctor prescribing music as medicine to help you heal.” That mission is on clear display with her latest as she seeks to heal racial divides as well as emotional wounds.

Listen to TeaMarrr’s “Colors” featuring Wale above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

While Cardi B remains an ever-present voice on social media, it’s been a while since the rapper has actually released new music. That all will change this Friday when Cardi joins forces with Megan Thee Stallion for the brand new track “Wap.” Ahead of the single’s release, Cardi hopped on an interview to talk about her career and give her view for the future of music.

Amid her single’s rollout, Cardi took some time to sit down with Apple Music’s Beats 1 to discuss her music and vision of a female-led music industry. The rapper said she hopes to see a diverse array of artists that women everywhere can relate to:

“I feel like there should be different female artists that everybody can relate to. Somebody might relate to me, or my past — I was a dancer. I was in the streets. But then somebody could relate to another female artist that was a schoolgirl or something. Some female artists are like more tomboyish than others. And some female artists can relate to the girly type of person. And some females can relate to the pop your pussy type of female artist. So I feel like there should be variety.”

This isn’t the first time since Cardi B has talked about being an inspiration for women in the industry. Last October, the rapper said her major-label record deal offered a guiding light for other female rappers who weren’t getting recognition in the industry.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

New York attorney general Letitia James has filed a lawsuit that seeks to dissolve the National Rifle Association, the biggest and most influential gun-rights lobby in the country, and will set up a legal confrontation that will likely take years to play out in the courts. This comes as the embattled organization (often accused of overt and covert racism), continues to lay off staffers.

In a tweet thread announcing and outlining the lawsuit, James writes “I filed a lawsuit to dissolve the National Rifle Association for years of self-dealing and illegal conduct,” noting that the NRA has become “fraught with fraud and abuse” at the hands of the 148-year-old organization’s senior leadership.

According to the New York Times, AG James’ suit also targets four current and former NRA leaders, including the organization’s most publically visible member, chief executive Wayne LaPierre, as well as general counsel John Grazer, LaPierre’s former top lieutenant Josh Powell, and the NRA’s former CFO Woody Phillips. The suit alleges that the four executives violated “numerous state and federal laws” and took improper actions that cost the NRA $64 million over three years while they enriched themselves as well as their families and close friends.

“The four defendants failed to fulfill their fiduciary duty to the NRA and used millions upon millions from NRA reserves for personal use, including: trips for them and their families to the Bahamas & safaris in Africa, private jets. expensive meals. and other private travel,” Attorney General James outlined in a tweet.

The New York Times reports that since AG James has regulatory authority over the NRA as a nonprofit organization operating in the state of New York, she is seeking to bar all four men from ever serving on nonprofit boards in the state of New York again. The lawsuit alleges that LaPierre spent the organization’s money on private plane trips, visiting the Bahamas by private air charter eight times in just three years, managed to secure a $17 million post-employment contract without board approval, and spent over $3.6 million on travel expenses over just two years — while also failing to accurately report annual filings to the state and IRS.

The lawsuit was officially filed in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan as a civil action on August 6th, 2020.

A few months ago, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande dropped their futuristic video for “Rain On Me,” and a lot went into making the clip. Now, Gaga has offered a behind-the-scenes look at how the video came to be in the latest installment of her “Gagavision” series.

The video compiles footage of rehearsing for and filming the video, and in one moment, Gaga accidentally scratched Grande in the face. Feeling bad, she offered Grande Neosporin for the wound, which Grande refused. Gaga wouldn’t let up, though, so she playfully chased Grande around the rehearsal space, tube in hand.

Beyond that, the video is mostly rehearsal and filming footage, with clips of Grande and Gaga enjoying each other’s company.

Gaga previously spoke of forging a friendship with Grande, telling Zane Lowe back in May, “Her and I connected right away and she was so wonderful. And I think maybe she assumed that it [would] be that she came in and I was like, ‘Here, just sing this and thank you so much for your time.’ Right? But instead, I asked her what she needed, how she wanted to do things. When we were vocally producing her, […] I was sitting at the console and talking to her. And then I remember I said to her, ‘OK, now everything that you care about while you sing, I want you to forget it and just sing. And by the way, while you’re doing that, I’m going to dance in front of you,’ because we had this huge big window. […] And then I did it and she sang, and she started to do things with her voice that were different. And it was the joy of two artists going, ‘I see you.’”

Watch the behind-the-scenes video above.

You thought Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s “entanglement” was messy? Wait until you hear about Megan Fox, Brian Austin Green, and Machine Gun Kelly.

Some scene setting: Fox and Green, who got married in 2010 and have three sons together, separated in May 2020; a month later, she went public with her relationship with rapper and actor Machine Gun Kelly. This week, the Jennifer’s Body (an excellent movie everyone should re-watch) actress made it Instagram official with a photo of herself and her heavily-tattooed beau in front of a mirror, him without a shirt and her wearing a bikini top and towel. “Achingly Beautiful Boy… My heart is yours,” she wrote, capturing the attention of Green, who’s been spotted with reality television mainstay Courtney Stodden (she wrote a song about it) and Australian model Tina Louise. The Beverly Hills, 90210 star responded to Fox’s Instagram in the most cringe way possible.

“Achingly beautiful boys…… My heart is yours,” Green wrote, along with photos of his kids with Fox and another son from a previous relationship. Yeesh.

This latest drama comes after Fox appeared in Machine Gun Kelly’s “hot” music video for his song “Bloody Valentine,” and Green “posted a picture of a butterfly to Instagram with a caption alluding to his separation from Fox,” according to the Cut. The caption: “Eventually butterflies get bored sitting on a flower too long. They start feeling smothered. It’s a great big world and they want to experience it.”

Call me Marie Kondo, because I love mess.

Odyssey Sims, who was not with the team after giving birth to her first child back in April, has joined the Minnesota Lynx in Florida.

Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune reports that Sims joined the Lynx in the bubble on Thursday and could be available to play in approximately a week. Sims will have to go follow the WNBA’s quarantine COVID-19 protocol before she’s allowed to see any action on the court. However, once that’s completed, the 5’10 guard will have to serve a two-game suspension without pay due to a drunken driving charge she received last summer.

The Texas native led the Lynx both in points (14.5) and assists (5.4) while chipping in 1.4 steals per game en route to becoming a first-time All Star in 2019 season. Without one their best the players, the Lynx have started the season with an impressive 5–1 record.

The Lynx could use Sims after Shenise Johnson went down with an injury. A player will have to be cut from the roster to make room for Sims, although there is no word on which player would lose out on a roster spot. While Sims would not be able to suit up, Minnesota’s next game is on Friday evening at 6 p.m. against the Indiana Fever.