Yesterday was day two of Donald Trump’s impeachment trail, but Ted Cruz was preoccupied with a more important matter: breast milk. In response to a tweet from conservative-leaning publication Washington Examiner about a hospital in England replacing the term “beast milk” with “human milk” to be more inclusive, Cruz wrote, “Orwellian: The words ‘breast milk’ are now forbidden. Because science.” (Take a shot of “human milk” every time a conservative calls something “Orwellian.” You won’t make it.) This extremely bad, Gina Carano-esque tweet set off CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
“Orwellian? Sir, you are at a trial that you’re not even paying attention to, where you are saying that what happened didn’t really happen, because you don’t want to have to deal with the reality. That, my brother, is Orwellian” he said. Cuomo then wondered why breast milk was on Cruz’s mind. “Focus, Ted. If you got off Trump’s teat a little bit, maybe you wouldn’t be thinking about breast milk so much. Do your damn job!” he fumed.
While it was all but a foregone conclusion that Cruz would not vote to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, impeachment managers attempted to sway Republicans to their side by playing video showing just how close the insurrectionists actually came to members of Congress that day. Whether Cruz was paying attention during that video or not, Cuomo reminded him just how much worse that day could have been, at least for some.
“If Trump had his way, maybe you, but certainly not all of you, would have made it out of there. Think about that,” Cuomo added. “Trump waited for hours. Why?” He’s right. Things have could gone worse: Cruz could have been liking porn tweets again.
“There can be no good faith disagreement,” says @ChrisCuomo, as Democrats presented more devastating evidence in today’s impeachment trial. “The facts all point to Trump and his actions. There can only be bad faith…” pic.twitter.com/7AuCkdedIi
As HBO continues to aggressively ramp up its content game, the premium cable channel is actively exploring new writers to get a fourth season of True Detective off the ground. While the series was a breakout success when it aired in 2014 thanks to commanding performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, True Detective‘s second season starring Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn did not fare as well. Series creator Nic Pizzolatto was able to turn things around with Season 3 starring Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff, but he parted ways with HBO and signed a first-look deal with FX after talks for a fourth season deteriorated.
However, since HBO owns True Detective, it’s free to continue the crime series with a new creative team, which is exactly what it’s doing according to Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys. Via Deadline:
“It’s safe to say we’re working with a couple of writers to find the right tone and take. It’s definitely an area that could be very interesting and I think it would be interesting with a new voice. Quality is what’s going to guide us so if we end up with scripts that we don’t feel are representative or are not at a high enough quality, we’re not going to do something just to do it,” he said.
Deadline reports that the new season will “likely” be without Pizzolato’s involvement, but that could change. Back in January, Pizzolato began negotiating an exit deal from FX after McConaughey left the drama series Redeemer, which would’ve re-teamed Pizzolato with the True Detective star. With his schedule now open, Pizzolato could come back to consult on a fourth season of True Detective, but that all depends on if HBO decides that he should be back in the franchise.
Post Malone wants to be the very best like no one ever was.
Okay, so I don’t actually know this for a fact, but I couldn’t not quote the Pokémon theme song here right? Billboard reports the corporate-favorite, chart-dominating pop-rap star is helping ring in this year’s annual Pokemon Day celebration with a virtual concert on Saturday, February 27.
As it turns out, the pong enthusiast is also pretty excited about Pikachu; Billboard notes he still owns his Game Boy Color just so he can play the OG iterations of the game, which are now 25 years old. Incidentally, Post himself just turned 25 last July and pointed out the coincidence in a statement about the partnership. “I’ve been a fan for such a long time, kind of grew up with it,” he says. “Celebrating 25 years is a big deal, so we decided to do it together.”
Post is only the first artist to team up with Pokémon as part of this year’s ‘P25 Music” initiative, with further details to be shared at the end of his concert. The Pokémon Company International will host a “Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto” event the Saturday before Post’s concert distributing a special password on February 25 for a special Pikachu that can do the move “Sing” in their Sword and Shield games. Longtime fans know this is pretty unusual; the “electric mouse” generally learns only electric-type moves. Yes, I’m a nerd but you clicked, so you are too.
We’re just a little over eight months removed from summer 2020’s Black Lives Movement protests. After the latest in an unfortunate cycle of Black lives senselessly ended by law enforcement, the protests called for an appropriate punishment for the brutal murders. Amid this latest round of protests, hip-hop artists stepped forward to use their talents to deliver contributions for the soundtrack to the movement or had older music repurposed to suit the moment.
Throughout the summer of 2020, numerous rappers offered records that delivered their own perspective on the tumultuous months of the pain and agony that the Black community was forced to endure. Other, older records reflecting similar sentiments resurfaced, giving protesters a voice that mirrored their own thoughts and feelings as they marched for justice. They became a megaphone for the message those on the ground were chanting and had done so for decades and decades. Songs by the likes of Kendrick Lamar, YG, and Lil Baby stood as bright and exigent conclusions for the Black Lives Matter movement, even if they all weren’t necessarily new. While they each aimed to help the movement, they all accomplished their goals in different ways.
Kendrick Lamar released To Pimp A Butterfly in 2015, and while the Compton rapper touched on many disheartening and frustrating points with the current state of race in America, he found moments of optimism such as the standout single, “Alright.” It allowed protesters to pause in their rightful fit of rage to remember or re-emphasize their reason for fighting while staying optimistic of a future in which Black people can truly be “alright” in this country. Five years later, as Black bodies continued to fall at the hands of police, “Alright” gave many a beat to chant along to, a rhythm to march to, and one extra voice to join the assembly of Black lives in fear that they may soon be the reason their community marches again.
Then news of Breonna Taylor’s and George Floyd’s murders reached social media, as well as Rayshard Brooks and the countless other lives. With that being said, of course, this community took to the streets with contempt for anyone who wasn’t a clear ally — the police and our ex-president included. As a result, the track that YG and the late Nipsey Hussle unveiled moments before that ex-president took office made one of its frequent returns to the public eye.
“FDT” welcomed the anger towards oppression and systemic racism that America continues to allow as the song’s target encouraged worse. YG’s Still Brazy track wasn’t necessarily directed solely at the president. It was for, to paraphrase Lil Wayne, the ex-president “and anybody that love him.” Contrary to the calm and level-headedness that many songs and just people in the world expected Black people to have in the midst of chaos, “FDT” welcomed a returned slap to the cheek. It also saw the rappers present an accurate forecast of predictions for 45’s upcoming presidency. “He can’t make decisions for this country, he gon’ crash us;” sounds about right. “It’s pressure built up and it’s probably gon’ blow;” correct. “We will be seen and we will be heard;” the most important fact of them all.
Lil Baby was among those voices that were heard in 2020. At the time of 2020’s social justice protests, the Atlanta rapper was enjoying the best year of his career. His My Turn album was well on its way to becoming the best selling album of the year while social media professed its love for the project and its highlight track, “We Paid.” Many times before we’ve seen someone at Lil Baby’s height stay out of social issues to avoid screwing “up their money,” but the rapper did the complete opposite at his 2020 peak.
Out came “The Bigger Picture.” The June single saw Lil Baby extend an olive branch of understanding to his people. He didn’t dive into a rabbit hole of racism and oppression in the song nor did he look to untie the many knots and deconstruct the concept to its basic element. He kept it on its surface level and addressed the situation as he both knew and experienced it. Lil Baby captured the fears of Black America (“I see blue lights, I get scared and start runnin’ / That shit be crazy, they ‘posed to protect us”) and acknowledged his fame is something he should use for good (“I got power, now I gotta say somethin’’).
“The Bigger Picture” stated the obvious about the current state of America. In times of need, like last summer, the government did little to heal and protect an infuriated and endangered community. It was and still is time for a change. Lastly, the racial tensions in this country aren’t “black and white.” There isn’t just one simple solution to it all; the issues are woven into the thin threads that make up the flag that flies high above the ground and falsely proclaims the land it looks over “united.” With the world watching him, from teenagers to the most grown adults, Lil Baby echoed the same sentiments that those on the streets, people he eventually joined to protest, had professed for decades.
It’s easy to see how some may label the hope of a truly equal world as nothing more than a dream that reality will never allow them to experience, especially for those who have spent decades watching this never-ending cycle continue. However, when some of music’s biggest names, who have profited from the culture that continues to be slain, step up to use their talents to uplift, stand for, and be a megaphone for their brothers and sisters, it solidifies the unity needed for the fight and, in some cases, it brings the needed push to fight another day.
Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has repeatedly teased that he might run for president. (A WWE Hall of Fame inductee becoming president? What could go wrong!) “I’m not ruling it out,” he said in 2019. “I’m not ruling out the idea if I could make a bigger impact somehow, or potentially surround myself with good people.” He “lack[s] the experience” now — not an issue for at least 74 million Americans — but he’ll be ready by 2032.
NBC’s new sitcom, Young Rock, takes place during “three points of my life that were defining times,” the actor told Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday’s The Tonight Show. “When I was 10 years old living here in Hawaii; when I was 15 years old, after multiple arrests and doing a lot of things I shouldn’t have been doing; and then when I was 18 years old, when I started to get my life a little bit back on track.” But creator Nahnatchka Khan (Fresh Off the Boat) accurately noted that the audience will want to see Johnson, not just young actors playing Johnson, so she came up with a “creative way” to include the real-life Rock into the show. “What if we set in 2032 and you’re running for president?” she pitched. Johnson was initially hesitant (“I don’t know, it feels a little political”), but Khan won him over by saying, “Well, there might be a few people who might want to see you run for president, so think about it.” And that’s how we got The Rock 2032.
Watch the clip above. Young Rock premieres on February 16.
Gina Carano tweeted herself out of a sweet gig playing Cara Dune on Disney+’s The Mandalorian this week with her latest offensive social media post. There have been a handful of such instances along the way, but her retweeting of a post that compared Republicans to Jews during the Holocaust ended up being enough for Lucasfilm to pull her plug while outlawing her from the Star Wars universe for good. “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm statement to Deadline read. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
In the light of day after Carano’s firing, the Hollywood Reporter has a piece on the fallout and the build-up to Lucasfilm’s position on the former MMA fighter-turned-actress, who’s also been dumped by her talent agency, UTA. The report asserts that Carano’s troublesome social media posts had been on the radar for awhile (at least “two months”), and they’d essentially been waiting for her to mess up enough to justify a firing. In addition, the report claims that Carano’s character had been set to get her own spinoff (which would have been announced during Disney’s Investor Day months ago), but those plans were scrapped while Lucasfilm monitored the situation. Oh boy:
“They have been looking for a reason to fire her for two months, and today was the final straw,” a source with knowledge of Lucasfilm’s thinking tells THR.
According to sources, Lucasfilm planned to unveil Carano as the star of her own Disney+ series during a December investor’s day presentation but scrapped those plans following her November tweets. Multiple Mandalorian spinoffs are in the works from executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, including Rangers of the New Republic, which could have potentially starred Carano. But after the latest round of social media posts, the decision to cut ties with the actor came swiftly
Disney+ fans previously called for Carano to be fired following her anti-mask tweets last November. She also previously “made light of people including their preferred pronouns on social media by adding ‘beep/bop/boop’ to her Twitter bio,” a move that some viewed as transphobic. As of this writing, Carano has not publicly responded to her firing, but given that there’s a far-right backlash over her dismissal, it might only be a matter of time before she tweets… or appears on a certain conservative news network.
We’re only a few hours into the day and it’s already a huge one for Taylor Swift fans. This morning, she took to Good Morning America to reveal that she has finished re-recording her album Fearless and that the new edition will be called Fearless (Taylor’s Version). On top of that, “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” will be here in a matter of hours, as it’s dropping at midnight tonight. Swift was vague when she said that the new Fearless is arriving “soon,” but it looks like she hid a more specific release date for fans to find.
I’m thrilled to tell you that my new version of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is done and will be with you soon. It has 26 songs including 6 never before released songs from the vault. Love Story (Taylor’s Version) will be out tonight. Pre-order now at https://t.co/NqBDS6cGFlpic.twitter.com/Vjyy2gA72O
It’s not the most sneakily hidden Easter egg of her career, but following Swift’s GMA appearance, she shared a note about the album on social media. The note is written mostly in lowercase except for a handful of capitalized letters that seem out of place. Fans quickly picked up on this and it turns out that if those capital letters are extracted from the note and put together, they spell out “APRIL NINTH,” which strongly suggests an April 9 release date for the album. Shortly after Swift’s announcement, a lot of Twitter’s trending topics were related to the news and as of this post, “APRIL NINTH” is second on the list, so it’s something fans have noticed en masse.
Other Twitter trends of the moment include #TaylorsVersion and 26 SONGS (in reference to the “songs from the vault” that Swift recorded for the expanded album), as well as some song titles.
Taylor Swift fans got a preview of her re-recorded albums back in December when a snippet of “Love Story” popped up in a Ryan Reynolds-helmed Match ad. Now she’s ready to release the song, as she revealed this morning that she is dropping it at midnight tonight.
In a video she shared with Good Morning America today, Swift also noted that she finished re-recording all of Fearless and that it will be released soon: “Good morning, America, it’s Taylor. I’m so excited to share with you that tonight at midnight, I’ll be putting out my version of my song ‘Love Story,’ which was originally on my album Fearless. I’ve now finished re-recording all of Fearless, which will be coming out soon. My version of Fearless will have 26 songs on it because I’ve decided to add songs from the vault, which are songs that almost made the original Fearless album, but I’ve now gone back and recorded those so that everyone will be able to hear not only the songs that made the album, but the songs that almost made it. The full picture.”
She also shared a note on social media, in which she revealed that the new edition of the album is called Fearless (Taylor’s Version):
“when i think bAck on the fearless album and all that you turned it into, a completely involuntary smile creeps across my face. this was the musical era in which so many inside jokes were created between us, so many hugs exchanged and hands touched, so many unbreakable bonds formed. so before i say anything else, let me just say that it was a real honor to get to be a teenager alongside you. and for those of you i’ve come to know more recently than 2008, i am ecstatic that i’ll get to exPerience a bit of that feeling with you in the very near future. now that i can fully appreciate it in its whimsical, effervescent, chaotic entirety.
fearless was an album full of magic and curiosity, the bliss and devastation of youth. it was the diaRy of the adventures and explorations of a teenage girl who was learning tiny lessons with every new crack in the facade of the faIrytale ending she’d been shown in the movies. i’m thrilled to tell you that my new version of fearless is done and will be with you soon. it’s called fearless (taylor’s version) and it includes 26 songs.
i’ve spoken a lot about why i’m remaking my first six albums, but the way i’ve chosen to do this will hopefuLy help illuminate where i’m coming from. artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really *knows* that body of work. for example, only i know which songs i wrote that almost made the fearless album. songs i absolutely adored, but were held back for different reasons (don’t want too many breakup songs, don’t want too maNy down tempo songs, can’t fit that many songs on a physical cd).
those reasons seem unnecessary now. i’ve decIded i want you to have the whole story, see the entire vivid picture, and let you into the entire dreamscape that is my fearless album. that’s why i’ve chosen to include 6 never before released songs on my version of this album. written when i was betweeN the ages of 16 and 18, these were the ones it killed me to leave behind.
this process has been more fulfilling and emoTional than i could’ve imagined and has made me even more determined to re-record all of my music. i Hope you’ll like this first outing as much as i liked traveling back in time to recreate it. love story (taylor’s version) will be out tonight.
sincerely and fearlessly, taylor.”
Fans quickly noticed that Swift’s message includes a lot of oddly capitalized letters and pointed out that those spell out “APRIL NINTH,” which strongly suggests the release date of Fearless (Taylor’s Version). It’s also worth pointing out that the digits of April 9 (4 and 9) add up to 13, a number that has popped up a lot over the course of Swift’s career.
Check out Swift’s note below, which also reveals the Fearless (Taylor’s Version) cover art.
I’m thrilled to tell you that my new version of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is done and will be with you soon. It has 26 songs including 6 never before released songs from the vault. Love Story (Taylor’s Version) will be out tonight. Pre-order now at https://t.co/NqBDS6cGFlpic.twitter.com/Vjyy2gA72O
The Phoenix Suns picked up one of their biggest wins of the season on Wednesday night when they took down the Milwaukee Bucks in a 125-124 thriller. Devin Booker and Chris Paul finally had big nights at the same time for the first time this season, as Booker had 30 and Paul had 28 to out-duel a monster night from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The reigning two-time MVP went off for 47 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists, but wasn’t able to lift the Bucks to a win when he got the ball with 2.8 seconds to go. Antetokounmpo caught the ball about 30 feet from the basket and pulled up from 18 feet, missing the game-winning jumper long.
After the game, Booker was asked about how he felt watching Giannis go for the game-winner, and said that once Giannis rose for a jumper, he felt the Suns were “in good shape.”
The full question and answer from Book with the followup question and answer for the ~context~ pic.twitter.com/8gSUAAzOef
Now, this wasn’t Booker taking a big shot at Giannis, but simply noting that when it comes to the Bucks at the end of the game, seeing Giannis pull-up from the deep midrange is just about the best case scenario after he was getting to the rim at will most of the night.
The Suns were helped by the clock, as with 2.8 seconds to go it was going to be difficult for him to get from 30-plus feet out to the basket so long as the Suns played decent defense. By denying Khris Middleton the ball, the Bucks best jumpshot creator, they forced it to Giannis well away from the basket, and from outside 10 feet this season, he’s shooting under 30 percent from the field. It’s, objectively, a best case scenario for anyone facing the Bucks, but at the same time, it is a pretty funny quote when you consider he’s saying that about the league MVP taking a decently open shot for the win.
On Wednesday afternoon, reports emerged that Karl-Anthony Towns might return to the lineup against the Clippers after missing the last 13 games with COVID-19. Towns’ diagnoses was a particularly scary turn of events after the Timberwolves center had lost his mother, along with six other family members, to the disease in the past year.
Following some uncertainty about whether he would actually suit up, Towns did just that and logged 18 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists, as his team ultimately fell to the Clippers, 119-112. Given the circumstances, it was an inspiring performance so soon after suffering an ordeal with a deadly virus that has decimated his family.
After the game, Towns told reporters about his experience with the disease over the past few weeks since his diagnosis, explaining that because he was in the high-risk category, it had a particularly severe effect on him and led to some terrifying experiences as he worked his way through recovery.
Karl-Anthony Towns: “Getting COVID stopped everything…I am a high-risk case. COVID did not treat me well whatsoever. A lot of scary nights.” He told his sister he got a bad version of COVID and had “a lot of it in me..A lot of long nights and the vitals weren’t good (at times)”
KAT: “Everyone is different. My underlying conditions did not play in my favor with COVID… I am the most genetically close to my mother…nothing was playing in my favor.. mental health is very real. I have dealt with it my whole life and my mother always knew how to heal me.”
KAT: “I feel very guilty about the treatment I got [that] I [wish was] more widely available to anyone in the world. I feel very guilty… there is such mental strain through all this time. A feeling of guilt because of the resources I have. I wish I could (share) the resources.”
Towns went on to describe the feeling of triumph he felt just being able to return to action after so much uncertainty surrounding his health and the unimaginable toll it’s taken on his family this past year.
Karl-Anthony Towns on overcoming COVID with all he and his family have endured: “I was just smiling on the court. I am so proud of myself just getting to this point… things got very serious. You get to a point where you just don’t feel like you will ever see that court again”
The outcome of the game was almost incidental. It was mostly just heartening to see KAT healthy and back doing what he loves, but his story of how difficult his battle with this virus was is a reminder of the need for continued vigilance in following safety protocols to try and protect as many people from this as possible.
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