Month: October 2020

Before he passed away in 2018, Mac Miller planned to release his albums Swimming and Circles as companion pieces in a trilogy. However, he died during the creation of Circles, which was finished by his production partner Jon Brion. That won’t stop his estate from combining the two finished albums into a collection for Mac’s fans, fulfilling his wishes as best they can.

The Swimming In Circles box set, which Miller’s estate announced today, will include a double-disc set, a booklet featuring photos from the making of the albums, a poster, and a “six-panel lyric scroll.” The estate also shared a behind-the-scenes video from the recording sessions in Hawaii, where he told Vulture‘s Craig Jenkins he recorded “Hurt Feelings” and “Wings” from Swimming, which released just a month before Miller’s death in 2018 and for which he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Album.

Earlier this year, Miller’s family also released a deluxe version of Circles. Whether this was the unnamed project his estate asked fans to contribute to in July remains to be seen.

Swimming In Circles is due 12/18 through Warner Records. You can pre-order it here.

Mac Miller is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

About 120 miles away from where the Milwaukee Bucks staged a playoff game strike on Aug. 26, Holly Rowe was watching a similar scene unfold in the WNBA Bubble at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. As she got ready to report on the scheduled double-header on ESPN that night, Rowe realized the WNBA, led by the Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream, might soon follow the Bucks’ lead. As the only media member in the WNBA Bubble, Rowe sprung into action.

On Twitter, Rowe initially reported games would go on, a sign of the uncertainty the sporting world faced that day, before officially declaring the WNBA would take the night off. With ESPN producers in her ear clamoring for an update, Rowe grabbed Mystics guard Ariel Atkins and Dream center Elizabeth Williams for live interviews to explain their decision. Then, she dashed down the hallway to grab WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for an explanation on the league’s stance toward the strike. WNBPA executive committee president Nneka Ogwumike had entered the court to help her players make a unified decision, so Rowe threw a few questions her way as well.

Work wasn’t over. As dusk turned to night, Rowe’s phone chirped and she got word of a candlelight vigil being put together by the players to honor Jacob Blake, the victim of the latest police shooting that had spurred the demonstrations across sports, and mourn as a league. Rowe captured intimate video footage that soon went viral.

Another quick foray back to her hotel to edit the video together was interrupted when Rowe received another message, this time from Ogwumike, who wanted her to come sit in on an executive committee meeting. By this time it was morning, but Rowe hustled over to a conference room where she was greeted by the most powerful players in the league, who had a simple question: If they chose not to play again on Thursday, what type of platform might they get? Rowe reached out to ESPN’s producers to gauge the next day’s schedule while at the same time, she texted Doris Burke in the NBA Bubble to get a sense of that league’s plans. Once it was clear the men would not play either, Rowe and the executive committee put together a 12-minute roundtable that ended with a powerful shot of the entire league standing with arms linked in unity.

The strike leading into the roundtable was not only the “most fascinating” 48 hours of Rowe’s career, but a symbol of what it’s been like the past 12 weeks reporting from the IMG Bubble.

“It’s this crazy blend of (being) on television and being a news-breaker and documenting what’s happening in an unprecedented way, and then you’re your own producer scrambling to find a guest to explain the situation,” Rowe tells Dime.

Whereas the NBA Bubble has everyone from Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes doing double-duty with digital content and TNT sideline reporting to Rachel Nichols hosting The Jump on ESPN, in Bradenton there is only Rowe. The shot she captured of the WNBA standing arm-in-arm only happened with the help of the New York Liberty public relations staff, who pointed Rowe’s TVU kit — a live gateway to ESPN broadcasts — at the women from a completely different room than where Rowe was.

“I just want to cry when I think about it because that shot will go down as one of the most powerful if not the most powerful images in WNBA history, and it took teamwork to get it,” Rowe says. “I’m just so proud of all of us pulling together.”

Having cultivated relationships covering women’s basketball for over a decade and earned the trust of ESPN producers who made a big bet on the WNBA this summer, Rowe was ready for the moment. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been trying. After a back-and-forth all summer about whether the WNBA could host her, Rowe got a call on July 15 with the news that she’d have to report to Bradenton that day. A seven-day quarantine awaited her once she arrived, and because of the tighter confines of IMG compared to the Wide World of Sport complex where the NBA lived all summer, Rowe could see and hear everything going on in the WNBA ecosystem while she waited out her quarantine.

Before she could even head out and start working, the intrigue of the Bubble experience had already worn off.

“It was really weird because at first I was really excited and thought I was so creative, I brought my Nespresso, brought a blender, I was so proud of myself,” says Rowe. “And after day three in the hotel room, I was going crazy, like, ‘I’ve done yoga, I’ve learned every TikTok dance, I’ve done 10 or 12 Zoom calls with every team today, and I’ve listened to JJ Redick’s podcast, and it’s 4 p.m. Now what?’”

When she was let out, Rowe got to work immediately. Not only was she the on-site eyes and ears for each of ESPN’s 37 regular-season broadcasts and the network’s coverage of each of the league’s 22 potential playoff games, but she has fueled content across ESPN’s digital platforms as well. Rowe shot the viral pictures of the Storm and Mercury wearing “Vote Warnock” shirts as part of their endorsement of Rev. Raphael Warnock in the race for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia. She is working with The Undefeated on a documentary short on the league’s fight for racial justice this summer, as well as a separate short for ESPN’s digital platform on life in the #Wubble, which players delightfully renamed the IMG Academy.

Shortly after the season began, WNBA PR head Ron Howard sat Rowe down with reps from all 12 teams in the league for a breakfast pitch meeting. Team reps got the chance to give Rowe their best ideas for what could be featured in a halftime feature story or a SportsCenter feature this season. Rowe grinded to get all 12 done before the end of the season, which lasted less than two months.

Still, Rowe has had to find a balance. Because she is so tightly wound up with the players, referees and executives of the league, she has had to craft her own line in the sand as a reporter. When Rowe fell off her bike while recording from her phone and trying to steer midway through the season and had to take some time off, she was told by league medical staff to do some rehab work in the pool to ease the pain. Right next to her during an early session were Sydney Wiese and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt of the Los Angeles Sparks, who were also rehabbing from injury. Rather than “crossing a boundary,” Rowe decided whatever news she gathered from moments like those would be for others to report, not her.

“I’ve had to be really careful (and) I don’t just report everything I see here because I’m here at the pleasure of the WNBA and I want to be respectful of all else,” Rowe said.

As a reporter, Rowe has felt a bit conflicted to be “at the pleasure” of anyone rather than stationed as an unbiased observer, but the nature of the pandemic and the Wubble has changed the shape of journalistic ethics a bit for her. Many have wondered why the WNBA only allowed one reporter in, even as the Bubble emptied out for the playoffs, meaning there was even more pressure on Rowe to nail the opportunity. So if the choice was to stifle certain news-breaking impulses in order to cover the season, the decision was relatively easy.

“I am conflicted because you’re a reporter because you have news instincts,” Rowe explained. “I’ve had to kind of be like, ‘It’s OK if that news gets out another way or if that gets out through the team and how they release it instead of me breaking news.’ That’s not my job here, to break news, my job is to cover games and be respectful.”

At the same time she is navigating the WNBA calendar, Rowe still hosts a daily Big 12 football show on SiriusXM from her hotel room. Because Rowe is on-campus with the players unlike in the NBA Bubble where media is separated from teams, she shares a wall with Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young, who will sometimes overhear Rowe when she winds up for her loudest takes on air. Rowe recently ordered a box of chocolates for Young as an apology for the noise.

All these projects fill up the extra time in her schedule, but game broadcasts are a full-time job. Because everything is virtual these days, Rowe sat through meetings with all four coaches from that night’s double-header before another meeting with producers and broadcasters in Bristol before running away to do in-person interviews with players. Those interviews fill in the gaps where NBA broadcasts are able to do “Wired” segments on players and coaches or cut-aways to broadcasters who are in the building. While ESPN’s WNBA team of Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Pam Ward, and LaChina Robinson call games from ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Rowe configures most of the broadcast from on the ground.

“We certainly wouldn’t have had the quality of broadcast we had, if it wasn’t for Holly not only being in the bubble, but Holly being in the bubble,” says Lobo. “She just brings something a little bit different than anybody else, and some of that is her relationships with the players, some of that a lot of that is, she just has a really … exceptional ability to just take in everything she’s seeing.

“She is a great observer, and that adds a lot to our telecast, even if it’s been she’s relaying all of that on the air.”

Back in Bristol, Lobo and her counterparts are calling games from a studio that might normally house a halftime show. Big monitors cloak the walls around them as producers orchestrate the broadcast nearby, negotiating camera angles and commercial breaks. All the while, Rowe is in everyone’s ear with tidbits of news or stories to watch.

Shouldering the success of a league’s entire national television slate would be stressful for most, but for Rowe, who had been antsy to get back on the court since finding out the NBA shut down while in a gym at the women’s Big 12 tournament, it was a gift.

“I don’t think pressure is what I would say, but more excitement,” Rowe says. “I had been sitting home without sports for five months. The more games, the more opportunities to work, the better for me.”

The pride in her work and ability to coax out interesting stories is what makes Rowe so easy to work with for Lobo and others at ESPN, but it’s also what makes for great broadcasts. During the opening day of WNBA games in late July, Layshia Clarendon and Breanna Stewart took a moment pregame to dedicate the season to the Say Her Name campaign and the movement for Black lives. Teams left the court prior to the playing of the national anthem in an act of dissent. Throughout the weekend, players refused to answer basketball questions in favor of drawing attention to Breonna Taylor’s case in Louisville and ongoing systemic racism in the country.

Rowe was able to pivot quickly to these issues in a compassionate way while also keeping the broadcast moving, balancing basketball and the big picture just like the players on the court. When it comes time to ask a tough question — or question Bill Laimbeer’s haircut — it’s a natural conversation.

“Because of her personality, she has a way of being able to do things without in any way being off putting” Lobo says. “She’s like this bossy teddy bear, she gets the content that is so good just because people like her.”

Anyone watching would understand that some of what sports reporters have had to confront in 2020 is more visceral than in years past as the line blurs between sport and society, but Rowe still sometimes worries that the emotional response in certain moments goes too far. When players like Ogwumike are standing and pleading for fans to care about Black life and join their effort to beat back racism, it’s hard not to respond genuinely to it. And to not do so would be against who Rowe is.

“Sometimes I second-guess myself and think that’s unprofessional and (I) shouldn’t be like that, (I’ve) gotta be stoic and just a reporter, but it’s who I am and I just have to be myself,” Rowe says. “I think I’m just a really big-hearted, soft person that loves people and I got into sports because I love telling stories and I’m such a fan of people. That naturally transcends to my reporting.”

Yet as players like Paul George and Fred VanVleet have attested to on the NBA side, the Bubble is enough to compromise anyone’s cheer and positive outlook. Rowe has been in the same squished hotel room for three months. She hasn’t seen her son since she jetted out after that call on July 15. She has watched as players have left with joy on their faces, happy to escape even as their seasons came to an end. The sick trick of the Bubble is that those who play the best must suffer the longest. For reporters, the job’s not over until a champion is crowned.

Rowe recently ordered shirts for the playoff teams left on campus that said “I survived the Wubble” and has heard from even ultra-competitive players like Diana Taurasi that the chance to leave and be back home was enough to outweigh the disappointment of failure. “Unless you’re here, you don’t understand the mental challenges,” Rowe says. “I don’t know if anyone will truly understand.” Still, Rowe remains energized after moments like that one with Taurasi, when the legendary scorer offered a sincere thanks to Rowe for sticking it out. “It was important,” Taurasi told Rowe.

Her assignment is winding down as the Finals between the Storm and Aces now reaches a potential conclusion with Seattle up 2-0 heading into Game 3, but Rowe earned the opportunity to see the season through even as her college football slate picks up. Lobo and Ruocco are still calling the Finals from Bristol, where they’ve fashioned a great routine with Rowe from hundreds of miles away. At this point, it’s hard to see the season throwing Rowe a curveball crazier than what she’s already seen. Rowe has made sure every women’s basketball fan knows the temperature in the Wubble from start to finish.

Whether it be Laimbeer’s haircut or the union reps’ roundtable or a pitch meeting over eggs and bacon, the WNBA family knows what to do when something happens: Find Holly.

“She really is unique in this business,” Lobo says. “It’s just different. People love Holly Rowe, and it comes across on the air. If it’s Holly, she just gets more.”

If you’re anything like our style team, you’ve already burned through the six short episodes that make up Netflix’s Sneakerheads — a new sitcom that explores the modern culture of sneakers and follows one sneaker-buying squad’s quest to track down an elusive pair of Jordan Zeroes (they don’t actually exist, don’t worry). From the absurdity of ultra-exclusive drops and heated auctions to the terminology that can make outsiders feel like hypebeasts are speaking another language entirely, Sneakerheads does a great job of exploring sneaker culture while informing newcomers of its more obscure aspects. That move was very much by design according to Allen Maldonado, who plays the show’s lead.

“My character, Devin… he’s coming in as the person who takes all the shots when he doesn’t know what a ‘hyperstrike’ is or what these auctions are,” he explains. “So you live through Devin, as far as the sneaker culture aspect of it.”

Watching Maldonado as Devin fighting to keeps his life together when a passion he’s been trying to bury comes bubbling to the surface might leave you wondering if Sneakerheads is a reflection of the actor’s own life. The short answer is “no.” While Devin is straight-laced, Maldonado is unafraid to express his passion for kicks. He brims with energy when asked to share his real-life sneaker-buying experiences, from growing up in a single-parent home and forcing himself to ignore all-things Jordan to going HAM at the sneaker store when he finally made it.

We chopped it up with Maldonado this week about the wide appeal of Sneakerheads, the pivotal sneakers that shaped his tastes, the signature AJ-1 he dropped to coincide with the show, and the one sneaker trend he can’t get behind.

Near the end of Sneakerheads your character Devin exclaims, “Nobody wants to watch a tv show about shoes!” How did you react when you first saw the script?

I immediately loved the idea of doing a show about sneakers, because it’s never been done. This is the first scripted series about it and I was willing to take the risk just because I believe in the culture and I believe the culture would respond the way they have, and… it’s been incredible, man!

Sneaker culture has a lot of gatekeepers that can really alienate casual sneaker fans. What will non-sneakerheads find in the show that won’t make them feel left out?

I believe the show educates you about the sneaker culture and doesn’t make you feel bad for not knowing it. My character Devin, even though he was a sneakerhead in the past, in the past five years the game has totally changed and he’s coming in as the new person. He’s coming in as the person who takes all the shots when he doesn’t know what a “hyperstrike” is or what these auctions are. You live through Devin as far as the sneaker culture aspect of it.

But what I think people really enjoy — outside of the sneakers — is the self-improvement that Devin is going through. He’s going through a mid-life crisis, he’s at a point where his life in the present doesn’t really match his life in the past and he’s unsure of how he wants to have his life in the future. I feel like during this pandemic and during this time, a lot of people have been dealing with themselves in a similar way, and I think that’s an aspect of the story people are really gravitating too because we are all in that position.

The world is changing now — do I change with it or do I stay the same? Devin is going through that in the world of sneakers.

One of the best parts of the show is the dynamic between Devin and Bobby. I read that you hand-selected Andrew Bach (King Bach) for that role, what was your thinking behind that, why was it so important work alongside Andrew?

It was important for me because I was playing the straight character for the first time in a series. I’m known for playing the Bobby type characters, the high-energy funny man who energizes the scene comedically, so I knew I needed someone I could trust to stay as grounded as I need to be and not feel forced to bring up my comedy in order to get a laugh.

Having someone you could trust, that makes me feel like I don’t need to do anything funny — because he’s going to ignite that comedy in that scenario — is important. We worked together in a movie called Where’s The Money? a couple of years before, and I felt like we had amazing chemistry but I felt like we were in the wrong position. He was the straight man and I was the big comedy guy and I was like “man if we switch places, I think we can make magic,” and that’s basically what we did for Sneakerheads.

What’s the furthest you’ve ever gone to for a pair of sneakers?

I like to consider myself a novice sneakerhead. Because there are levels — there are gentlemen who have shoe collections worth millions, I’m not that and I’m not the guy who is heavily informed about when the next shoe is gonna drop. For me, it’s the special moment rather than the lengths of going to get the shoe.

The first shoe I ever got that was expensive was in high school. My mom was a single mom raising three kids so buying expensive shoes was not an option, it was ludicrous, like, “No, we need to pay the bills.” But she bought me a pair of Crazy 8s. As I got older, I walked into a shoe store and they had the Crazy 8s in there, and I asked for every Crazy 8 in every colorway, I said “I want to buy them all.”

It meant something to me because I remember when I could barely afford one, and now I’m in a position where I can buy as many as I want. That’s a pat on my back, like “You did it, kid! You moved the chips forward and you deserve this!” that was a special moment for me.

So were the Crazy 8s that pivotal first pair of sneakers that made you realize you were a sneaker guy?

No. This is a story I haven’t shared, but early on because I couldn’t afford these shoes, I would basically make myself not like them. I was like “If I can’t have them I don’t like them. I don’t like those Jordans — cool whatever!” I had to really force myself to believe that I didn’t really care about these sneakers.

Coming from the situation of growing up in a single-parent home, we had a lot of struggling. I didn’t buy my first pair of Jordans until I was 25, 26, it wasn’t that I wasn’t making any money, it was just that I really tricked myself into not liking these shoes because I couldn’t afford it.

The first time I bought sneakers as a “sneaker guy,” I think I bought like seven pairs of Jordans. It was just excessive! But it was making up for the time when I had to dictate my decisions due to my situation rather than from my heart and that’s something I’ve continuously grown better at as I’ve grown successful. I’m kinda dealing with survivor’s remorse!

I went through a similar thing in my 20s, where I realized I didn’t need to keep wearing Vans Classics because my mom wasn’t buying my shoes anymore.

Right right, exactly man! “Yo give me that two for $89 man. Just run them, I don’t know what they are just run them. I know they some Nikes or something, run me those I’m good.” That’s how it had to be, it was cool, it was a school year, I got the two for $89!

Let’s talk about your sneakers The Wild Ms, what’s behind the name and what were you going for with that mixed animal print design? You’ve got zebra print, tiger, leopard…

Shout out to Katty Customs. I’ve said it before and I continue to say it, because I believe the world is going to realize that she is iconic. The type of creativity that she’s been able to execute with shoes is ridiculous. We began to talk as Sneakerheads was set to release and I wanted to do something special for the culture along with the drop of the series.

Look I’m not going to take any credit for the design, because all I said was, “AJ1s are the shoe, do your magic!” and that’s what Katty Customs came with man. She came with some fire, I love it.

I can guess where she got the motivation from as far as the animal print. The different things that I do as a person, how it represents me, not only am I an actor, writer, producer, I’m an entrepreneur, long-distance runner — I’m not one animal. I’m not one thing and at any moment I can be what I need to be and that’s what I feel she got the energy from to come up with that particular print for the shoe. Just because I am who I need to be when I need to be, that’s the gift that God gave me.

What is it about the AJ1s that you love?

Man, you can just wear the AJ1s with anything! They’re a universal shoe. I’m talking casual, formal, you can bust them with a suit you can wear them with sweats. They can be the only thing you’re wearing, you can be wearing a white t-shirt and some regular jeans but if your AJ1s are crisp you don’t need anything else. It’ll be the highlight of whatever ensemble you’re putting together.

I used to be about the 11s, but the AJ1s won me over just because they just go on and off so easy. I’m all about efficiency. I don’t want to touch my laces — I want to slide my shoes on and off and get to moving. It’s a no shoe in the house policy, so its just convenient to my lifestyle!

What’s your least favorite modern sneaker design trend?

Ahh man, what’s the shoes man — I gotta keep it all the way 100, what are those called? The Balenciagas…

Oh, you mean the Triple-S, the “ugly shoe?”

That’s what I’m saying, see?! You even gotta mention it’s the “ugly shoe.” I ain’t feeling that I feel like somebody lying to me like this is a joke. This is one big joke that someone is making.

“We are being laughed at, people!”

This is how I feel about that shoe. Respectfully of course…

Sneakerheads is all about celebrating the modern sneaker scene, but I think an important thing the scene needs to do is self-examine. I know you’re a novice — in terms of the sneaker world — but what is something about modern sneaker culture you wish was different?

Oh wow, that’s a very good question… I guess the exclusivity of it all. The idea of what makes sneaker culture great is that, but what also turns people off is that exclusivity. For a novice getting into the game, they’re going to get ridiculed for not knowing certain things, and sometimes that can discourage people from immersing themselves into that culture.

Allowing everybody to grow as a sneakerhead without any type of criticism — I wish the culture would embrace new sneakerheads to the culture rather than make people feel bad for not knowing everything.

The 1865 Lewis Carrol novel Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland is perhaps one of the most cinematically adapted books of all time. The 1951 animated Disney film Alice In Wonderland is probably the best-known one, but there have been other remakes or works based on the book in recent years, like Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland film from 2010 and the 2016 sequel Alice Through The Looking Glass. Now Netflix is having a crack at it, but they’re taking a decidedly different approach.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Sabrina Carpenter will produce (under her newly launched At Last Productions banner) and star in Netflix’s upcoming remake, which is described as a “musical reimagining.” The publication also describes the film as “a contemporary take on the classic Lewis Carroll story” and notes that “the modern-day musical” will be set “against the backdrop of a music festival called ‘Wonderland.’”

Along with Carpenter, the film will also be produced by Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Dutton’s Alloy Entertainment, who were also involved with the Carpenter-starring Netflix movie Work It, as well as movies and shows like You, Gossip Girl, and The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants. The screenplay will be written by Ross Evans.

The film does not currently have an announced title or release date.

In 2019, Chance The Rapper co-starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Doritos alongside the Backstreet Boys. At one point, he was apparently also supposed to be in another ad during the big game by a different food company: McDonald’s. Chance actually says he actually passed on the opportunity, however.

Designer JoeFreshGoods (with whom Chance has collaborated) responded to a tweet about J Balvin’s new McDonald’s menu item, and Chance took the opportunity to reveal a deal gone wrong with McDonald’s. He said he was supposed to be in a McD’s Super Bowl ad, but turned it down because he didn’t like the way negotiations were going. Chance wrote, “I was supposed to do a superbowl commercial with them. They played wit the money and when I said no, they hired a fake me.”

Chance has yet to clarify when these talks took place or what ad features the “fake me,” but it seems possible he’s referring to the McDonald’s 2017 Super Bowl commercial, which features a generic rapper rapping about the Big Mac while backed by a marching band. It’s also worth noting that in January 2014, Chance tweeted at the restaurant, “Let’s talk business.”

Speaking of talks Chance didn’t care for, he was critical of Donald Trump following the first presidential debate recently, writing, “The entire country has to make a decision as to whether it will continue to downplay the fact that our President is an openly racist White Supremacist and what that means for its citizens, or… VOTE HIM OUT.”

With season two of The Boys coming to an explosive close this week, showrunner Eric Kripke has started dropping more details on the recently announced spinoff that will take place at a superhero college. According to initial reports, the spinoff would focus on “America’s only college exclusively for young adult superheroes” that’s run by the “Supes” creators Vought International. But now Kripke has opened up on the comics inspiration for the new series.

“I would say it’s loosely inspired by an element of the comics, which is the G-Men,” Kripke told The Wrap. “Part of the G-Men is there’s sort of an educational, college experience.”

In The Boys comics, the G-Men were a “blatant parody” of the X-Men, and it appears that Kripke and The Boys co-creator Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will be mining that storyline for the spinoff. Although, Kripke’s use of “loosely inspired” is notable because the G-Men parody went to some very dark and twisted places in the source material. Here’s a description of their origin story via Comic Vine:

John Godolkin initially kidnapped six children from different homes. They were taken to a secret training center in upstate New York and given weekly injections of Compound-V until they either developed super powers or died. After their powers activated, the children were raised with an unlimited bank account, as well as a not terribly strict system of discipline that followed only one rule, protect the secrets of the G-Men at all costs. Beyond that one unbreakable rule, every human inhibition and taboo was fair game. Godolkin further reinforced this by regularly sexually molesting the children, eventually allowing key officers in Vought-American to join in.

We’re guessing the spinoff will downplay the more controversial elements of the G-Men’s origin story, but then again, The Boys hasn’t exactly shied away from some of the more graphic elements from the comics such as Homelander’s assault of Butcher’s wife or The Deep sexually harassing Starlight. Not to mention, the penultimate episode of season two featured an entire subplot about superhero porn. So… yeah.

(Via The Wrap)

If you weren’t a big fan of Colin Quinn has anchor on “Weekend Update,” you might have that in common with Colin Quinn himself. Indeed, excluding the Dick Ebersol years — when SNL’s “Weekend Update” operated under different titles, like SNL NewsBreak and Saturday Night News and was hosted by the likes of Brian Doyle-Murray, Brad Hall, Charles Rocket, Mary Gross, and Christine Ebersole — many folks agree that Colin Quinn is one of the least successful “Update” anchors in the modern era, beginning with Dennis Miller. (On the other hand, Quinn was a terrific contributor to MTV’s Remote Control, along with Dennis Leary and Adam Sandler).

Quinn, known for better or worse as a “comedian’s comedian,” would not take offense to that characterization. The comic — who has also written and starred in seven stage shows — has a book out now called Overstated: A Coast-to-Coast Roast of the 50 States, and he appeared on Conan O’Brien’s podcast to promote it. The conversation naturally turned toward Quinn’s time on the “Update” desk.

“In retrospect, it was not really for me,” Quinn told Conan when asked if he liked doing “Weekend Update.” “Lorne knew it, too. He wouldn’t yank me, but it was not a good fit. I was much happier doing ‘Update’ segments. Those were my happiest days at SNL.”

Why did Lorne Michaels let Quinn flail on the “Update” desk for a full two and a half years? Quinn and Conan both explained it as a “strange soft spot for Irish comedians and writers,” but also because Michaels is known for being loyal, perhaps to a fault. “I mean, look, even the fact that he lets people work there for 50 years,” Quinn continued, illustrating Michaels’ misguided loyalty. “There’s people that have been there since 1975 … that’s the soft side of him that many people don’t realize. He would never get rid of people. He’s loyal to his employees until the end.”

That, however, is not always true. Just ask Adam Sandler and Chris Farley (RIP), who were fired after their incredibly successful run on the show. (Sandler didn’t return to SNL for 24 years). Conversely, rather than twist in the wind in a gig that she did not enjoy, Cecily Strong successfully extracted herself from the “Update” desk a few years ago and has gone on to become one of the more popular cast members ever on the long-running comedy series.

Source: Conan Needs a Friend

If 2020, melting now into its final few months, has left you feeling disoriented and adrift, without a clear sense of which tangible or theoretical direction to take, why not accept some sensible advice from Josh Hart?

“All roads lead to Burgundy.”

Granted, in the context of this particular conversation the Pelicans guard was noting the way his palate has shifted, but the advice, as a matter of his broadening tastes and the aspirational moves they’ve inclined him to make, is sound.

For someone who has been in the wine world a relatively short while in the grand scheme of a hobby or lifestyle — depending on how you approach it — that is synonymous with careful cultivation over slow, intricate spans of time, Hart is a quick study. His wine cellar is extensive, boasting bottles older than him from regions all over the world, and he’s become a go-to guy in a league already brimming with connoisseurs. Still, it’s a love affair so fresh he can easily remember how it started.

“I got into wine several years ago and really got attached to it and loved it. I tried it earlier, three or four years [before], and I didn’t like it. I hated it,” Hart laughs, “I tried it again, I feel like my tastebuds kind of changed a little bit, I really liked it and kind of went all-in on it.”

Hart, just over a month clear of his first and prolonged season in New Orleans, is warm and relaxed over the phone, unguarded and happy to ramble down the roads he’s traveled with wine.

“When I first got into wine I was drinking American wine — Napa, Sonoma Coast, Alexander Valley, then I got into Bordeaux,” Hart explains. “I’m big into Bordeaux. And then, probably two or three months ago, I started really getting into Burgundy. I love Burgundies. I love Cab but Burgundy’s kinda making me a bit of a Pinot guy. My palate’s definitely changed since I first started drinking wine. There’s some wines that I first started drinking that I’m like, ‘Yo, this shit is terrible, why was I drinking this? Lord.’”

It’s no stretch to say that same easygoing approachability has been a factor in creating what Hart called in a post-practice interview from the Orlando Bubble a “close-knit” team with the Pelicans.

“We bond off the court,” Hart says. “There’s no drama within our team, no one doesn’t like each other. It’s all love with all of us.”

At least some of that off-court bonding has included wine.

“Some of those guys have talked to me about it, talked to J.J. [Reddick],” Hart says when asked whether his teammates have started to come to him for wine advice, “J.J. is a big wine guy so me and him share bottles all the time. Guys like E’Twaun Moore kinda wanted to learn a little more about it, kinda dabbled into it a little bit more recently. If we’re on a flight, you know, Lonzo [Ball] would have a little bit, Brandon [Ingram] would have a little bit. Jrue [Holiday] would have some, Frank [Jackson] would have some. It’s definitely something that’s growing more and more in the NBA, and I think it’s definitely getting to younger players, they’re getting that exposure.”

While Hart credits the time he spent in L.A. alongside the league’s quintessential vintages veteran of LeBron James, plus the sprits-savvy Rajon Rondo, who both frequently brought bottles to share on team flights, as being his enthusiastic guides into wine, he quickly realized that the real world did not provide as many welcoming avenues into a complex and occasionally overwhelming world.

As Hart’s initial interest turned into an engaging hobby, taking him to vineyards, meeting producers and leaders within the wine space, that realization grew notably starker, and distinctly homogenous.

“There’s that stereotype,” he pauses, “it’s like old, white men. Old white wealthy men, who drink wine.”

He laughs (well, we both laugh) before his voice turns serious, sincere.

“The biggest thing for me was, okay, there’s obviously a lot of division in our country right now, and in the wine world there’s not too many minorities,” Hart opines. “And obviously it’s getting bigger and bigger in the NBA, and bigger and bigger with this generation now, so my thought process was ok, how can I help minorities get into the wine space?”

To distill his passion into something tangible, Hart turned to the industry experts at Wine Access, one of the largest online wine retailers, headquartered in Napa, Calif., and the Diversity In Wine Scholarship was launched.

The initiative aims to address racial representation gaps in the industry, from the production of wine to the selling and service of it, by offering 100 scholarships to BIPOC working in or aspiring to pursue a career in wine. The scholarships will cover the cost of Level 1 certification through global certification and awarding body, the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET). The top five scorers from that initial pool will have their Level 2 certification sponsored, and the top three scorers from that group will spend three days in Napa Valley with Hart literally wining and dining, as well as meeting experts and pairing with potential mentors in the industry.

“I went to Napa and met some different people and different winers in Napa, so I had a leg up those times getting into the wine world just because I had those connections,” Hart says, “For a minority who doesn’t have those connections, it’s almost impossible to get into. So my thought process was ok, let’s lend a hand to those people and if this is something they really want to pursue as a career, let’s give them the opportunity to do that.”

Applications for the initial scholarship close at the end of October, but Hart is already thinking longterm. When asked if he’d like to offer something like this again he affirms enthusiastically, “I think it’d be really dope. It’s definitely something I would like to do again. It would be an amazing opportunity to get into the world of wine and see if it’s something you really liked and want to have a career in, it’s a good start for it.”

In talking about his own prospective plans in the wide, growing world of wine, Hart’s voice shifts gears, no less driven, but casual, cruising through the future and its potential.

“Maybe a little bit in education, but not too much, I’m not trying to be a master somm [sommelier] or anything like that.” Hart laughs. “It’s nice to have more of an understanding for wine and what I’m drinking,” he pauses, loops back, “Maybe I’d like to do the first level of somm, the WSET, but I think five, ten years down the line maybe trying to come out with my own wine. I don’t think I’m going to go out there and buy a vineyard and retire and do that, but doing something like how D Wade [Dwyane Wade] is, or Channing [Frye] is doing it, and partnering with a vineyard and going out there and tasting the grapes. They’re doing their own tastings and all that kind of stuff.”

He pauses again, this time his voice turning almost dreamy.

“That’s something that I definitely want to do, that’s probably the next step,” Hart says. “Who knows? Maybe if I’m great at that I could go get my own vineyard, but I think baby steps. Baby steps.”

For the rest of us, we can lift another lesson from wine. One bad year really only adds to life’s overall vintage. For Hart, whether taking strides to reform the structure of the very industry his hobby has matured in, building a contender with the Pelicans, or in the small, aspirational steps on his own road leading to (or beyond) Burgundy, he’s sure to get there.

It doesn’t take a lot for a celebrity to make a young fan’s day, especially now when modern technology allows them to reach out very easily. That’s just what Drake did for a young supporter recently, by recording a video message for Zelek Murray, a 14-year-old who had to spend his birthday in the hospital.

On a GoFundMe page for Murray, his mother Temeka notes that he has been battling a rare form of brain cancer since he was nine years old. In the video from Drake (which Temeka shared on Instagram), the rapper addresses the situation and gives the kid his full support, saying, “Zelek, what’s up? My brother [Mustafa The Poet] hit me the other day and informed me of the extremely tough situation that you’re fighting through, and we both thought it would be a great thing if I got send you some love and some admiration and some respect. I can’t imagine how tough you have to be, and Mustafa let me know how you’re a fan of mine. Well, I’m a fan of you. I’m a fan of people with heart, and I can tell that you have a lot of heart. I just wanna tell you, stay strong, I love you, and I appreciate you.”

Temeka later posted a video of Murray reacting to the message from Drake. From the moment he heard Drake say his name, he hung his mouth open in shock, looking back and forth at the tablet screen and his mother.

Temeka showed her appreciation for Drake, writing in the description of the reaction post, “You don’t even know how much this ment for US but most importantly ‘HIM’. His strength is like no other and yes he has his good days and bad days, BUT THIS is exactly what he needed to lift up his Spirit.. to never give up. Because you took time out of your day to put a smile on a 14yr old boys face (ZELEK MURRAY) @wxvy.zk06 you are my hero.”

Watch the videos above.

Travis Scott may have taken a break from strangling the Billboard Hot 100 over the past year, but now that the first-week numbers are in, it looks like his time away hasn’t reduced his grip strength much, if at all. Travis’ new single “Franchise” featuring Young Thug and M.I.A. debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 this week, beating international superstars BTS and the juggernaut that is Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” on the chart dated October 10, 2020.

“Franchise,” which pays homage to the 2004 Dem Franchise Boyz single “White Tee” and was previewed during Travis’ McDonald’s promo campaign, premiered with a short film ahead of select IMAX viewings of Tenet. The video eventually made its way online, while Travis delivered a cheeky performance of the track on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, all of which added up to a buzz that buoyed the new single to similar heights as Travis’ last No. 1 single, “The Scotts,” with Kid Cudi. It’s Travis’ fourth chart-topping single after “Highest In The Room” and “Sicko Mode” with Drake.

To beat BTS’ “Dynamite” and Cardi’s “WAP,” “Franchise” racked up 19.4 million U.S. streams and 98,000 units sold. It’s M.I.A.’s first No. 1 and Young Thug’s second. Check out more info on Billboard.com.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.