Month: September 2020

On Wednesday afternoon, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced the decision from a grand jury regarding charges for the three officers who raided the home of Breonna Taylor and her boyfriend in late March and killed Taylor, who was unarmed. Cameron announced that only one officer (Sgt. Brett Hankison) would be charged at all, and that his crime was merely “wanton endangerment” for firing shots into other apartments, unrelated to Taylor’s death. Athletes across the NBA and WNBA, who have called and fought for justice in this case all summer, responded swiftly on social media.

In particular, alumni of the University of Louisville, near where Taylor lived and was killed, criticized their adopted home for the way it handled the case and handed down limited charges.

Many others responded as well, including fervent criminal justice reform advocate and a leader in the WNBA’s push to support Taylor’s family and case, Layshia Clarendon.

Washington Mystics center Tianna Hawkins, whose son the team rallied around all year in an effort to create a brighter and less dangerous future for him, questioned how the charges on Hankison could be considered justice at all.

Chicago Sky head coach James Wade, one of only two Black head coaches in the WNBA, called out how little Black life means to society when it comes to serving justice.

Veteran leaders in the NBA responded too, arguing that the settlement the city came to with Taylor’s family and this one simple charge are far from real justice for Taylor’s killing.

All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins put into context the hypocrisy of these charges, which he called a “slap on the wrist,” for malfeasance that resulted in the death of an average citizen compared with the extreme charges we’ve seen against protestors all summer.

Expect to hear more from around the two leagues as the day continues. The WNBA dedicated its entire season to Breonna Taylor, whose name is on the back of each player’s jersey this year. Players across the NBA have held media blackouts in order to draw attention to her case and have redirected conversations back to charging the officers who killed her. Now that the decision is out and the opposite has happened, we are seeing an extremely frustrated reaction across basketball.

We’ve heard from U.S. intelligence officials for at least four years that other countries are engaging in disinformation campaigns designed to destabilize the U.S. and interfere with our elections. According to a recent New York Times article, there is ample evidence of Russia attempting to push American voters away from Joe Biden and toward Donald Trump via the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency, which has created a network of fake user accounts and a website that billed itself as a “global news organization.”

The problem isn’t just that such disinformation campaigns exist. It’s that they get picked up and shared by real people who don’t know they’re spreading propaganda from Russian state actors. And it’s not just pro-Trump content that comes from these accounts. Some fake accounts push far-left propaganda and disinformation in order to skew perceptions of Biden. Sometimes they even share uplifting content to draw people in, while peppering their feeds with fake news or political propaganda.

Most of us read comments and responses on social media, and many of us engage in discussions as well. But how do we know if what we’re reading or who we’re engaging with is legitimate? It’s become vogue to call people who seem to be pushing a certain agenda a “bot,” and sometimes that’s accurate. What about the accounts that have a real person behind them—a real person who is being paid to publish and push misinformation, conspiracy theories, or far-left or far-right content?

The fact of the matter is that these accounts are hard to spot. The art of online psychological warfare has only gotten more and more honed—as strange as it may sound, these are highly skilled, professional-level trolls. And the more hyper-partisan and polarized our discourse become, and the more kooky conspiracy theories slip into the mainstream, the more success these trolls will have in swaying the minds of the masses.

Two professors from Clemson University have created a quiz to help us learn to spot fake accounts. In the “Spot the Troll” quiz, users examine eight sample social media accounts to determine if the account is legitimate or a disinformation tool of bad actors. You get to see the person’s profile and can scroll through some of their posts. All eight accounts are real-life examples—as in they actually exist or existed—though some of them have since been removed for being troll accounts.

Not gonna lie. The quiz is really hard. I feel pretty good about my ability to spot fake accounts, and I got a 6 out of 8. I’d be super impressed if someone were able to get a perfect score. But Darren Linvill, one of the quiz creators, pointed out that a perfect score is not the point.

“This quiz is about the journey, not the destination,” Linvill told the Charleston City Paper. “I don’t care what your score is. I care that you went through it and thought about it. Our goal is to get people to consider who they’re engaging with, who they are retweeting and not do it lightly because their accounts are the tools of disinformation. Disinformation doesn’t spread without people spreading it.”

The quiz is part of Clemson’s new Media Forensics Hub, which is designed to explore innovative ways to evaluate social media and help people spot and stop disinformation.

You can take the quiz cold, or take the advice of Linvill as you try to determine which accounts are real.

“The main thing is to be wary,” Linvill told City Paper. “When something looks too good to be true, it probably is. And at the end of the day, strangers don’t always have your best interests at heart. There are signs one can look for that someone is a real human being. Trolls don’t have depth.”

Take the quiz here: spotthetroll.org.

Pro athletes in 2020 have reinforced the overlap between sport and society, and in this year’s TIME 100 Most Influential People list, the NBA is well-represented, with both retired Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade and two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo featured.

The list, which is not written in a specific order, highlights powerful people from all walks of life who made a difference in 2020. For Wade, whose influence increasingly comes outside the scope of basketball even as he serves as an analyst for Turner, it was about ongoing activism in all walks of society. That includes partnering with organizations and companies like CAA and Goldman Sachs on the Social Change Fund along with Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. It also includes Wade’s purposeful discussion of his daughter, Zaya’s, transition as a young transgender girl.

Here’s what John Legend wrote about Wade in TIME:

He has always been willing to spend his social capital on standing up for other people, using his platform and his philanthropy to move the conversation forward. He doesn’t have to do these things. But he sees that he has a larger purpose, and that his athletic career put him in a position to make the world a better, safer and more loving place.

Antetokounmpo continues to dominate the NBA and was a figurehead of the NBA’s strike of playoff games in late August as his Milwaukee Bucks created a ripple across pro sports to demonstrate against police brutality in America.

The great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote of Giannis: “I once asked Giannis what his name meant, and he told me ‘the crown has arrived.’ It certainly has.”

Many athletes affected change in their growing spheres of influence in 2020, but TIME highlighted a pair of distinct and powerful NBA stars who took on new power this year and pushed the boundaries of athlete activism even further.

John Cena‘s The Suicide Squad character hasn’t even made his big screen debut yet, and he’s already landed his own HBO Max series.

As part of the streaming service’s ongoing commitment to live-action series based on DC Comics characters, Peacemaker will explore the origin story of Cena’s problematic anti-hero in a new “action-adventure-comedy” show. Adding to the surprise announcement is the news that The Suicide Squad director James Gunn will write all eight episodes of the first season.

“Peacemaker is an opportunity to delve into current world issues through the lens of this superhero/supervillain/and world’s biggest douchebag,” Gunn said in a statement. “I’m excited to expand The Suicide Squad and bring this character from the DC film universe to the full breadth of a series. And of course, to be able to work again with John, Peter, and my friends at Warner Bros. is the icing on the cake.”

Cena is, of course, pumped for the new project. “I have said before that it has been a tremendous honor and an incredible opportunity to be part of The Suicide Squad and to work with James on what is going to be a fantastic movie. I am unbelievably excited to have the chance to team up with him again for Peacemaker. We can’t wait for fans to see this.”

Peacemaker is now the second HBO Max series with direct ties to a DC Comics film. Back in July, the streaming platform announced a spinoff show connected to Matt Reeves’ The Batman starring Robert Pattinson. That series will reportedly focus on the Gotham PD as it reacts to Batman’s first year on the job.

Editor’s Note: This story will be updated as events are developing.

A grand jury in Jefferson County, Kentucky has formally charged a former Louisville police officer with with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree for his conduct in the shooting that killed Breonna Taylor. According to the Washington Post, the jury said Brett Hankison “wantonly and blindly” shot 10 times into the apartment where Taylor was sleeping. Under the current charges, Hankison faces up to 5 years in prison.

In responding to the charges, Kentucky’s Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the grand jury ruled the other officers in the incident — Sgt. John Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove — acted accordingly. Cameron urged calm in response to the charge, noting that “peaceful protests are your right as an American citizens,” and that many people would be “disappointed” both that the other officers were not charged and some offended that Hankison was charged at all. However, saying acts of “revenge” were not warranted, Cameron said his department’s own role is to enforce the law: “It isn’t the quest for revenge, it’s the quest for truth,” adding that he hopes to be part of “the healing process.”

The indictment comes six months after the killing of Taylor, which has sparked national outrage and played a major role in demonstrations around the country in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Last week, the city of Louisville entered in a $12 million settlement with Taylor’s family over the fatal shooting.

You can watch a livestream of Cameron’s remarks here.

In advance of the ruling, officials in Louisville declared a state of emergency, a 9pm curfew and called in the National Guard to help maintain some semblance of order in anticipation of major protests in response to the ruling.

The Courier-Journal reported on how the city was preparing for the verdict:

“Louisville was placed under a state of emergency Tuesday as city officials closed down a more than 25-block perimeter to traffic. Most city administrative buildings and other businesses were boarded up in anticipation of the decision. Protests in Louisville related to Taylor’s death in March have been taking place for more than 100 consecutive days.”

CNN reported on how other Southern cities have been preparing for fallout from the verdict.

Taylor’s death has inflamed political passions across the spectrum. In the days following her death, many people noted that gun rights activists were silent on the killing, asserting that groups like the National Rifle Association to not speak out when Black gun owners are killed in incidents of police misconduct, as opposed to incidents involving white victims.

Black Widow was originally scheduled to come out on May 1 before being pushed back to November 6 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. With under two months to go and most theaters still closed, Disney has again delayed the release of director Cate Shortland’s Marvel Cinematic Universe film, all the way to next year.

Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh, will now come out on May 7, 2021. That was the former release date for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which has also been pushed back to July 9, 2021. The shifting schedule also affects Eternals, now out on November 5. “Eternals delayed to Nov 5, 2021. Marvel made the right & responsible decision. There’s a pandemic. Nothing is more important than health & lives. I can’t tell ppl to go to a movie theater until I feel safe going to one,” star Kumail Nanjiani tweeted. “Take care of yourselves. I promise it’ll be worth the wait!

Other changes include:

Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, from 20th Century and Amblin, is being delayed almost an entire year, and is moving from Dec. 18 to Dec. 10, 2021. Disney isn’t giving up its seat at the 2020 Christmas table entirely and is relocating Death on the Nile from Oct. 23 to Dec. 18… Elsewhere on Disney’s calendar, The King’s Man is being moved up from Feb. 26, 2021, to Feb. 12, 2021.

Pixar’s Soul will remain (for now) on November 20, 2020, portending a possible Disney+ release. Gotta have something to distract the kids on Thanksgiving.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Fat Joe has been thriving in his new career as a podcaster during the quarantine, but he has at least one rap luminary pushing him to step back into the booth to get some bars off. During the latest episode, as Fat Joe interviews rapper Big Sean about his new album Detroit 2, he reveals that another Motown rap icon called him recently to coax him out of his rap retirement: Eminem, who once sent Joe his demo tape six separate times.

After being told by Sean that he’s one of Eminem’s favorite rappers, Joe revealed that the “Rap God” has been chasing him down. ““You defy the odds and I think that’s a true testament to your character,” Sean told him. “I know that’s why Eminem is such a big fan of yours too ’cause I talked to Eminem and he said that you were one of his favorites.”

Joe replied, “That’s nuts to me, bro. That’s nuts. You know, Em called me last week — I don’t want to keep throwing his name around — but the man was trying to talk me out of retirement last week. This is all I ever wanted my whole life, for one of the rap gods like to call me and tell me, ‘Yo Joe, you nice. You need to get back in there.’”

In December last year, Joe released his Family Ties album — which, incidentally, features Eminem on the track “Lord Above” — saying during the promo run that he was thinking about walking away from the rap game. “I’m almost out of here,” he told CBS This Morning, ” I think I’m retiring. I think it’s time to give it up. I’ve got mad at all the other rappers who said that they’re retiring and they came back. I’m a strong advocate against that so I’m really… I’ve been flirting with it. I’m like 85 percent gone.”

Watch Fat Joe’s interview with Big Sean above.

During a Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, Rand Paul attempted to argue that New Yorkers have reached “herd immunity,” causing Dr. Anthony Fauci to dress down the senator from Kentucky for repeatedly making false and dangerous statements about the pandemic.

The showdown began when Paul criticized Fauci for “lauding” New York for its shutdown even though the state had one of “the highest death rates in the world.” Fauci immediately told Paul that assertion is wrong and made it a point to note these remarks were becoming a pattern.

“You’ve misconstrued that, senator, and you’ve done that repeatedly in the past,” Fauci said.

Fauci informed Senator Paul that New York got hit especially hard at the beginning of the outbreak, but the state has brought its rate of positive COVID cases down to one percent thanks to following health guidelines such as wearing a mask, washing hands, social distancing, and gathering outdoors instead of indoors. This response prompted Paul to interrupt Fauci with yet another incorrect theory.

“Or they’ve developed enough community immunity that they’re no longer having the pandemic,” Paul interjected. This remark earned Paul a pointed rebuke from Fauci who schooled the senator on how herd immunity actually works. Via The Hill:

“I challenge that, senator,” Fauci said, before asking for more time to finish his response “because this happens with Senator Rand all the time.”

“You are not listening to what the director of the CDC said, that in New York [the infection rate is] about 22 percent. If you believe 22 percent is herd immunity, I believe you’re alone in that,” Fauci said.

You can watch Dr. Fauci’s takedown of Rand Paul above.

(Via Scott Dworkin on Twitter)

LeBron James did not responded to remarks from Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva last week connecting James’ rhetoric about police brutality to the recent shootings of two sheriffs in Compton, but James did take the chance after Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night to reiterate why he sees police violence as a systemic, racist problem in America.

“I’ve never, in my 35 years, ever condoned violence. Never have,” James told reporters. “But I also know what’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong, and I grew up in [an] inner city, in a Black community, in what we call the hood or the ghetto, however you want to picture it. And I’ve seen a lot of counts, first-hand, of a lot of Black people being racially profiled because of our color. And I’ve seen it throughout my whole life. And I’m not saying that all cops are bad, because I actually, throughout high school and things of that nature, I’m around them all the time and they’re not all bad. But when you see the videos going on — you can see all over, not only in my hometown but all over America, you continue to see the acts of violence toward my kind — I can’t do nothing but to speak about it. And see the common denominator, but not one time have I ever said let’s act violent toward cops.”

Earlier this week, James had offered his condolences to the two injured sheriffs, who both survived the shooting. James also maintained that he hopes no one gets hurt as the city of Los Angeles and the broader United States try to fix the systemic problems that afflicted James as he grew up and continue to disproportionately affect Black people and people of color in the country.

Like the women of the WNBA in their war of words against U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, James is not looking to get pulled down to the level of the individual whose No. 1 priority appears to be to prod him into a response that makes him look bad. Instead, the platform being provided by nature of being a professional athlete is being used to explain the problem at hand by bringing perspective to the issue.

Guapdad 4000‘s name has been the subject of confusion and conversation among hip-hop fans since he started accumulating attention for his music after releasing Scamboy Color in 2017. While he’s got an explanation for it — it was Kehlani who inspired the name, based on his AIM Messenger handle — fans can’t help theorizing how he settled on 4000. One fan’s theory even drew the attention of the man himself, earning an “automatic W” and a free merch bundle for their (frankly insane) level of effort.

Settling on the “simplest” solution, the fan posited that there must have been a Guapdad 1, 2, 3, and so on before Guapdad 4000, and then began counting — then wrote out an entire thread of every Guapdad number all the way up to 4000. Guapdad, who regularly searches his name for trolls to troll back, found the tweet and expressed his approval, telling the fan to “DM ME YOUR ADDY” so he could “SEND YOU FREE MERCH.”

Meanwhile, the man himself has been on a break after releasing a string of weekly tracks in his Falcon Fridays series and compiling them as The Platinum Falcon Tape, Vol. 1 and Platinum Falcon Returns.

Guapdad 4000 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.