Month: December 2020

A lot has changed since the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the ’80s. Sadly, up to 40 million people died across the world due to the epidemic, but the numbers have been dropping rapidly over the past 15 years.

New HIV infections have been reduced by 40% since the infection rate reached its peak in 1998, and AIDS-related deaths are down 60% since 2004.

Over the past three decades, scientific advancements have turned an HIV diagnosis from a death sentence to a manageable condition. As a result, many countries in the Western world are beginning to reevaluate how the medical community sees those most likely to become infected.

via Matt Buck / Flickr

Currently, UK rules stipulate that “all men must wait three months after having oral or anal sex with another man before donating.”

However, these rules were seen as unnecessary and discriminatory against men who have sex with men. So, starting in the summer, the UK is relaxing its rules and allowing all blood donors who have had one sexual partner and have been with them for more than three months to be able to donate.

These rules apply regardless of gender or the type of sex acts they’ve performed.

Donors who have had more than one sex partner or a new one in the past three months will be allowed to donate only if they’ve abstained from anal sex.

According to the CDC, anal sex is the riskiest type of intercourse for getting or transmitting HIV.

These recommended changes came after The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs — which advises the UK health department — examined the latest evidence regarding the safety of blood donors.

The UK government claims their new approach to blood donors is a “more individualized risk-based approach” to donor selection criteria. “Patients rely on the generosity and altruism of donors for their life-saving blood. I’m pleased to have concluded that these new changes to donor selection will keep blood just as safe,” Su Brailsford, associate medical director at NHS Blood and Transplant,” said according to the BBC.

“This landmark change to blood donation is safe and it will allow many more people, who have previously been excluded by donor selection criteria, to take the opportunity to help save lives,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock adds.

“This policy is a fundamental shift toward recognizing people are individuals,” Ethan Spibey, the founder of FreedomToDonate, a British activist group, told The New York Times. He added hoped it would “have ripple effects around the world for potentially millions of gay and bi men.”

The United States recently relaxed its restrictions on blood donations from men who have sex with men. In 2015, the FDA lifted the lifetime ban for gay and bisexual males and reduced it to any men who had homosexual sex within the past 12 months.

On April 2, 2020, to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA reduced the ban to men who’ve had sex with men within the past three months.

The new ruling also allowed women who’ve had sex with a man who’s had sex with a man to donate after three months of abstinence as well.

“To help address this critical need and increase the number of donations, the FDA is announcing today that based on recently completed studies and epidemiologic data, we have concluded that the current policies regarding the eligibility of certain donors can be modified without compromising the safety of the blood supply,” the notice said.

These changes in policy acknowledge that when it comes to how we see people from a medical perspective, it’s more important to judge them based on their behavior than their sexuality. Responsibility knows no orientation, so hopefully, more governments will follow suit in reassessing how blood donors are evaluated.

Thanks to a short blurb in a Hollywood Reporter profile on former Warner Bros. executive and almost CEO Jeff Robinov, headlines started rolling in that Ben Affleck is attached to star in the long-simmering Houdini movie to be directed by Black Mirror‘s Dan Trachtenberg for Disney. However, there’s a catch: Affleck is not playing the famed magician. According to /Film, Affleck will play a “supporting character who is some kind of agent.” The film is based on the book The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero and has bounced around Hollywood for years with Trachtenberg being the latest director attached to the project:

The book posits that Houdini was actually a secret agent who investigated the occult, and the pitch for the movie was that not only was the man a world-class magician and escape artist, but also “part Indiana Jones and part Sherlock Holmes.” When last we heard, the latest draft of the script was written by Noah Oppenheim (The Maze Runner, Jackie). Trachtenberg has been attached to direct since 2016.

Lead role or not, Affleck’s participation could signal a career shift after personal upheaval, which coincided with the poor reception to Batman V Superman and Justice League. However, despite his candid remarks on how his time in the DC Comics world may have exacerbated his struggle with alcoholism, Affleck not only participated in reshoots for Zack Snyder’s director cut of Justice League, but he’ll be returning as Batman in the solo The Flash movie from It director Andy Muschietti.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter, /Film)

Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, and now even his most devoted media outlets are betraying him with that reality. The latest example of this is right-wing news outlet Newsmax referring to Joe Biden as “president-elect” which, well, he is until he’s sworn in as president in mid January.

But the network had been adamantly supporting Trump’s insistence that the election was not ever, baselessly citing widespread voter fraud that necessitated the throwing out of millions of ballots in specific states that would be enough to undo the election and give him a second term. It’s all ridiculous and falls apart if you think about it even a little bit, which may have finally happened at Newsmax on Monday when an anchor intentionally described Joe Biden as “president-elect” when discussing the voting of the electoral college.

As Mediaite and several other sites reported on Monday, the severely right-leaning news network that’s gotten a boost from Trump supporters finally had someone admit on-air that Joe Biden was elected to be the next president of the United States:

“The electoral college votes are being cast today, here is video from four states, New York, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Illinois, all certifying the election for President-elect Joe Biden,” Bachman stated, on Monday afternoon.

Moments later, Bachman referred to Biden as president-elect for a second time — confirming there had been no mistake.

The momentous occasion came on the same day the electoral college voted which, at least in theory, would end any of the fledgling legal battles Trump has embarked upon in order to deny reality. That’s a reality Newsmax and millions of Trump supporters have willfully denied in the weeks following the election. It got so blatantly ridiculous that even Saturday Night Live parodied Newsmax in its latest episode, framing the absurdity of reporting Trump may have won the election with a sports network that denied the winless New York Jets were the worst team in football.

At least that sketch — which also poked fun at the New York Knicks — had something to laugh at. At this point, Trump and his followers still trying, and failing, to twist reality to their whims is mostly sad.

(Via Mediaite)

With the year coming to a close, many are taking a look back at their streaming history in 2020. Spotify unveiled their annual Wrapped series which confirmed the late Juice WRLD had the most streams out of any other US artist this year. SoundCloud has now shared their year-end review — and their top artist of the year also saw millions of posthumous streams.

Following his tragic death in February, SoundCloud revealed that Pop Smoke was their platform’s most popular artist this year. The Brooklyn drill rapper had 65 tracks uploaded to the site and his music was streamed 191,500,188 times in 2020 alone. His song “For The Night” with DaBaby and Lil Baby impressively made up 40 million of those streams.

While Pop Smoke was the platform’s most-streamed artist this year, SoundCloud’s top song and remix spotlighted some other musicians. Lil Mosey, who uploaded his first track to SoundCloud when he was just 14 years old, claimed SoundCloud’s top track for his Certified Hitmaker album opener “Blueberry Faygo.” The song was streamed 54.6 million times and also became double-Platinum certified.

As for SoundCloud’s top remix of 2020, the award goes to NLE Choppa for his remix of Lil Baby’s “Emotionally Scarred.” While the rapper may have some questionable opinions about the COVID-vaccine, it’s clear he hit the mark on his charged remix of Lil Baby’s My Turn track.

NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

With the holidays just around the corner, Will Smith wants to go out of his way to put a smile on people’s faces. That’s exactly what he plans to do on the second season of Will From Home, his show made in partnership with Snapchat which sees him joining celebrities to enact good deeds. The show’s new season premiered Monday with a heartwarming segment: the actor tapped Jason Derulo to surprise a 14-year-old fighting cancer with the best present.

Derulo and Smith got together to chat with Aiden, a 14-year-old who was diagnosed with cancer back in April. According to TMZ, Aiden can have minimal contact with his family during chemo treatments due to the pandemic and at times, his father Chuck can only interact with him from outside his bedroom’s door. So in order to help Aiden pass the time, Smith and Derulo decided to give him the gift that’s bound to be on countless Christmas gift lists this year: the new PS5 console.

Aiden and his dad were on a video call with Smith and Derulo as he opened the PS5 box. “That’s the PS5,” Smith said as Aiden’s gift was revealed. “You can’t even get those yet.” Along with sending him the gaming console, Smith also made a $10,000 donation to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Aiden’s honor.

While Derulo helped Smith kick off the second season of Will From Home, the series has a handful of exciting guests booked. Smith will invite Alicia Keys, DJ Khaled, Lil Nas X, and Ludacris on his Snapchat show to celebrate every-day heroes in the coming weeks.

Watch the full clip here and see a trailer for Smith’s Will From Home season two above.

Stranger Things may have reminded the general population that Dungeons and Dragons can make for some good entertainment source material, but Chris Pine is apparently set to bring the legendary role playing game to the silver screen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pine is set to star in a movie based on the pen and paper (and lots and lots of die) RPG from the guys who made another tabletop-based film.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley — the duo behind New Line’s sleeper hit Game Night— are set to direct the feature that is based on the popular role-playing fantasy game. Goldstein and Daley also wrote the latest version of the script, based on a previous draft by Michael Gilio.

Plot details are scarce, but you can probably guess there will be an orc or two involved once everything is said and done. And there are a lot of directions to go: Pine could be a super serious person set in a Dungeons and Dragons universe or star in a film that looks a bit more like the recent pair of Jumanji movies. Considering the Game Night influence the latter seems more likely, with characters thrust into a mystical world and learning to roll their way through it.

The source material is basically endless here: the role playing mechanics and vast lore of the franchise can be applied to anything as nerdy as the most technical and mythological dungeon crawl to a Rick and Morty-inspired universe. But as THR pointed out, the project has had a long road to get to Pine in the first place, as legal battles and other announced leads and issues have made this a project two decades in the making:

The role-playing game from Hasbro was previously adapted in 2000 by New Line for a film starring Jeremy Irons. In recent years, the property has been at the center of a legal battle over its film rights, with a 2015 settlement appearing to have paved the way for Warner Bros. to make a movie that at one time had Ansel Elgort in early talks to star. However, the rights eventually hit the trail for Paramount, which has a production and distribution deal with Hasbro.

As any experienced player can tell you, sometimes the best stories take a bit longer to play out than you’d like. Hopefully for Pine, all the players involved here stick around and see it through to the end.

[via THR]

The Netflix Afterparty: The Best Shows Of The Worst Year (Netflix special) — No can argue that this has been a hellish year for humanity, but it’s still been a pretty great year for TV. We’ve ranked our favorites, and Netflix is now celebrating the most crowd-pleasing shows that the streaming service had to offer. Expect appearances from Anya Taylor-Joy of The Queen’s Gambit, Lily Collins of Emily in Paris, Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor of The Crown, and more. On tap as hosts? David Spade, Fortune Feimster, and London Hughes. And next year, this shall become a full-fledged weekly comedy panel show with the Cobra Kai cast and Bill Burr hosting the first 2021 episode.

Tiny Pretty Things (Netflix series) — Dance into the world of a Chicago-set elite ballet academy in this series based upon the book by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. Once inside, this show will introduce an oasis for young adults who adapt to a new world, far away from home, while preparing for the city’s renowned professional dance company. All walks of life will unite through their passion for dance and their desire to fulfill lifelong dreams.

Industry (HBO, 10:00pm EST) — The Succession-esque series for the younger crowd does the holiday party thing with plenty of sex, drugs, and secrets descending upon the financial set in London. Expect a lot of tension, both good and bad, along with a painful predicament when Greg parties too hard.

His Dark Materials (HBO, 9:00pm EST) — The Dust-filled fantasy series picks up with Will and Lyra working to recover what’s been lost and Mary taking a leap of faith.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Chance The Rapper, Christopher Walken

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Taylor Swift Christian Serratos, Sabrina Claudio

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Gal Gadot, Ricky Martin, Lana Del Rey

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Kyle Chandler, Meghan Trainor

Late Night With Seth Meyers — The Chicks, Jamie Demetriou, Christina Aguilera

In case you missed these picks from the weekend:

Adult Material (HBO Max) — Hayley Squires stars as a well-known British porn star who lives in the spotlight while also juggling motherhood. Rupert Everett plays her old colleague, with whom she navigates the Internet’s porn revolution, and they search for innovative ways to put a fresh spin on all things erotic. WarnerMedia’s streaming service acquired this drama series, which is currently airing on the U.K.’s Channel 4, from Banijay Rights.

The Prom (Netflix film) — Ryan Murphy’s relationship with Netflix keeps on giving, this time with a neon-bedazzled Broadway adaptation, which stars Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and James Corden. The three help shake up the prom at a small Indiana town after a teen faces bigotry while attempting to attend her high school’s biggest dance with her girlfriend. Also, glitter, glitter, and more glitter, all in service of inclusion.

Ava (Netflix film) — Jessica Chastain stars in this spy action-thriller, along with Colin Farrell, who plays her character’s handler. Chastian is a globe-trotting assassin who is somehow attempting to reunite with estranged relatives, and everything gets to be a bit too much. Oh, and John Malkovich is along for the ride.

Everybody has that one person in their life who is just like Guy Fieri. Sometimes that person is even us! We may not all have bleach blond hair, a goatee-soul patch combo we earnestly call our “flavor saver,” look like if a Smash Mouth song came to life, or regularly rock bowling shirts, but many of us view food through that same Diner’s, Dive-Ins, and Dives-influenced lens: the more over-the-top the better.

Pure culinary maximalism. Give us all the sauce and cheese you can.

The Fieri-fan digs state fair food, anything with wiz, and at-home options that taste as good as they are easy to make. If that’s you or someone you love, you’re going to want to invest in Guy Fieri’s Trash Can Nachos ASAP.

Made in collaboration with food gift brand Goldbelly, Guy Fieri’s Trash Can Nachos are everything you need to make nachos… in a can. A can that you also use to stack the elements together to make your completely-dysfunctional-but-visually-alluring feast. (Seriously, how are you supposed to eat this thing? Do you cut it with a chef’s knife? Play food Jenga with it? We’ll eat it regardless, we just want to know.)

Each can of Trash Can Nachos feeds four to six people and is available in three different iterations: Guy’s BBQ Trash Can Nachos, Guy’s BBQ Brisket Trash Can Nachos, and Guy’s BBQ Pulled Pork Trash Can Nachos. The kit ships with ice packs to keep them fresh, extra chips to account for the number of chips that will no doubt break in transit, and include a can for stacking, cheddar cheese, Guy’s SMC Cheese Sauce (SMC stand’s for Super Melty Cheese, of course), black beans, a bottle of Guy’s Signature BBQ Sauce, pico de gallo, jalapeños, sour cream, cilantro, pickled red onions, and your choice of meat.

The idea is to cook your nachos on a roasting pan using your oven’s broiler, and then — instead of just putting them on a plate and eating them like a regular person — you’re going to pile them into a can (using it as an oversized ring mold) until you create a stacked tower of nacho goodness that you and your quarantine collective can marvel at. Throwing up some devil horns and yelling “That’s Gangster!” “Bomb-dot-com” or “Welcome to Flavortown” while eating is, obviously, encouraged.

Fieri’s Trash Can Nachos are available now nationwide exclusively at Goldbelly for a retail price of $69-$79. It’s a gimmicky present sure, but that’s what buying presents for your cousins or in-laws is all about. Besides, what says “2020” better than a gift with “trash” in the title?

All jokes about Fieri and the denizens of Flavortown aside, Fieri is a good dude who has done a lot for struggling restaurant workers since the start of the COVID19 pandemic. Through his Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, Fieri has raised over $21.5 million to assist unemployed restaurant workers, picking up a ball that Congress is so shamefully dropping.

Wheel of Fortune is getting its own primetime treatment in January, and the celebrities who will try not to embarrass themselves in front of a large wheel and a big letter board are now set. ABC, which earlier in 2020 aired the Jeopardy! Greatest Of All-Time Tournament and now will take the Wheel for a spin in 2021, announced the list of contestants on Monday.

Vanna White and Pat Sajak will share the stage with a number of notable celebs, including a few that have done some game show hosting of their own.

The biggest names on the list, quite frankly, depend on what you’re into. Sports fans would instantly recognize broadcaster Joe Tessitore’s name as well as skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. Those more into comedy are probably excited about Rob Riggle and Patton Oswalt, and fans of The Bachelor franchise have Chris Harrison to root for. But Leslie Jones on the list here sparks an interesting connection between a number of the contestants.

Jones (Supermarket Sweep), Alfonso Ribiero (Catch 21), Drew Carey (The Price Is Right), Joel McHale (Card Sharks) have all hosted game shows themselves, so you might see a bit of host-to-host jabbing on the soundstage early next year.

Here’s the full list of contestants you’ll see vie for up to $1 million for charity in early January:

Leslie Jones
Tony Hawk
Rob Riggle
Joe Tessitore
Jeannie Mai
Rachael Leigh Cook
Kevin Nealon
Sherri Shepherd
Chandra Wilson
Maria Menounos
Constance Zimmer
Yvette Nicole Brown
Patton Oswalt
Jennie Garth
Chrissy Metz
Teri Hatcher
Karamo Brown
Drew Carey
Alfonso Ribiero
Robert Herjavec
Chris Harrison
Joel McHale
Paul Reubens
Nicole Byer

We’ll keep you posted if there are any hilarious gaffes or impressive solves when they air on ABC on January 7.

Florida star Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the court on Saturday as he walked to the bench during a timeout and was taken off the floor on a stretcher in a scary scene during the Gators’ game against rival Florida State in Tallahassee.

Johnson was taken to a local hospital where he was in “critical but stable condition,” in the official update given by Florida on Saturday afternoon, but since then there have been no official updates on his status. That changed on Monday when Johnson’s grandfather, Larry DeJarnett, spoke with USA Today’s Josh Peter and Tom Schad and said Johnson had been transported from Tallahassee to Gainesville and placed in a medically induced coma, with the hope of bringing him out of that on Monday afternoon.

“They’re just not sure,” DeJarnett told USA TODAY Sports. “He may have had activity in the brain, so they induced the coma. They put him on medication to keep him sedated.”

There have been reports that Johnson was among the Florida players who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the year, as the Gators paused activities back in November due to positive tests, but DeJarnett told USA Today he was unsure if Johnson had previously had the virus or if his current condition was related to complications.

Given there have been some cases of myocarditis and other heart conditions detected in those who have had the virus, some wondered aloud if that could’ve been the case with Johnson, but to this point there has been nothing official stated about that possibility. For now, the hope is that Johnson is brought off of sedation and out of the coma soon, and will be able to make a full recovery. We will provide further updates when they are made available.

UPDATE: Florida offered a new update on Monday afternoon indicating Johnson had been transferred to Gainesville and was able to follow simple commands but remains in critical but stable condition.