Month: March 2021

Dua Lipa is used to performing her upbeat music in settings like sold-out arenas and late-night talk show stages. But its rare that the singer gets to showcase her powerful vocals by themselves. Lipa changed that Tuesday after appearing in a commercial for the bottled water company Evian.

The brief advertisement, a part of company’s Drink True campaign, depicts the singer gearing up for a show at a regal opera house. Soundchecking the set, Lipa busts out a stripped-down rendition of the opening lines of her Future Nostalgia song “Levitating.”

About the project, Dua Lipa said she doesn’t get the chance to sing her music a capella too often. “Stripping everything back to a beautiful and calm flow felt refreshingly different. It’s not often I get the chance to pause and sing my music a cappella, so I hope the fans enjoy it,” she said. “I have always found that being true to myself is extremely empowering, and I love that it is important to Evian as well.” Lipa went on to note that the campaign is meant to honor “authenticity, transparency and honesty,” and she notes, “Being part of this campaign means a lot to me; I have always found that being true to myself is extremely empowering. And I love that it is important to Evian as well.”

Watch Lipa’s Evian commercial above.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Daily Show has been a late-night staple since 1996 (or maybe 1999, when Jon Stewart took it over). But for the first time, the comedy show will air during the daytime. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Remotely Educational will feature Noah and his correspondents and contributors, including Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic, Dulcé Sloan, Roy Wood Jr., Jordan Klepper, and Lewis Black, teaching “the lessons that students will actually need in life.” The special premieres on March 10 at 8:30 a.m. EST and will re-air that night during The Daily Show‘s normal time slot.

Topics covered include commerce, “the parts of the government you’ll meet in real life” like the TSA (“Here’s a tip, kids: Always drink your booze before you get on the flight”), sex education, mice poop, geography, and math. Students will also get a reading lesson from K-pop mega-stars NCT 127. “In order to better understand and communicate with us, NCT 127, it’s very important to know how to read,” the group says. “Yes, it’s very important, so make sure you read a lot and keep studying. And if you do so, you’ll be able to better understand us through these subtitles.”

Watch the trailer for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Remotely Educational above.

With her new EP dropping this week, Chika stopped by Spotify Sessions to offer up a soulful performance of her song “U Should,” along with a poetic cover of Billie Eilish‘s “My Future.” In a funny twist, Chika is up for the Grammy Award Eilish won at last year’s ceremony, Best New Artist. She noted as much in a statement accompanying the performance, saying:

I picked “My Future” by Billie Eilish as my [Best New Artist] cover for Spotify because the song is beautiful and presents an interesting opportunity to talk about where I am as an artist, especially on the heels of this nomination. My present is moving so fast that each passing moment is practically the future already. And I’m in love with the ride I’m on.

Chika’s ride started in an unconventional way, with a viral freestyle she called an “open letter to Kanye West” that wound up being shared by such hip-hop luminaries as Sean “Diddy” Combs. That exposure led to a Calvin Klein ad, a Warner Records deal, an electrifying television debut, a role in a film, a XXL Freshman placement, and her debut EP Industry Games — all before her debut album was even announced. With a new EP dropping just days before she could possibly win a Grammy Award, Chika will be a winner either way this weekend, earning that Best New Artist moniker through sheer force of will even without a trophy.

Listen to Chika’s cover of Billie’s “My Future” above.

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

We’ve got a “scandal” brewing at the White House. According to reports, President Joe Biden’s German Shepherds, Champ and Major, have been moved back to the Biden family home in Delaware following a “biting incident” involving Major and a member of the White House security team. This news arrives with word that Major has reportedly been having some issues adapting to his new home due, a few years after the Bidens adopted him from a rescue shelter in late 2018. Via CNN:

Major, who is 3 years old, is the younger of the two Biden dogs, and has been known to display agitated behavior on multiple occasions, including jumping, barking, and “charging” at staff and security, according to the people CNN spoke with about the dog’s demeanor at the White House. The older of Biden’s German Shepherds, Champ, is approximately 13 and has slowed down physically due to his advanced age.

While most reports seem to confirm the biting incident, there appears to be conflicting information on the dogs’ current living arrangements. While CNN didn’t receive a comment on how long the dogs would remain in Delaware, NBC News White House Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell reports that Champ and Major will be returning shortly and were not sent to the Biden’s residence. According to O’Donnell, the dogs were simply staying with family friends while the Bidens are traveling.

The dog “scandal” proved to be a big enough bone for conservative commentators to bite on as the Biden Administration has been noticeably drama free so far, particularly in comparison to its predecessor. With not much else to go on, Republican politicians and pundits latched on to the dog incident in a move that echoed Newsmax’s previous coverage on how Champ sometimes looks “rough.”

Clearly, this is bigger than Watergate.

(Via CNN, Kelly O’Donnell on Twitter)

We all know the limits of our collective pop-culture attention span. But sometimes things are so weird and epic that they stick with you. Perhaps to an obsessive degree. This is the story of one of those things for me: a 20-foot recreation of Eddie Murphy’s head that sparked broad interest when it went on a cross country road trip in 2008 to Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Times Square in New York as a rolling publicity stunt to promote the film Meet Dave.

Why am I writing about this thing that most people have no recollection of? For one, it’s a product of a time when social media was less ubiquitous, meaning studios had to try a little harder and think a little bigger to go “viral.” Meaning there was an art to it that should be celebrated. Especially in this case. Also, this coming out when Murphy is back in the news with the success of Coming 2 America, his first big comedic swing since… well, the release of Meet Dave, is not accidental. But really, I just want to tell you about this amazing thing and all the wild things that happened (and could have happened) to it. First, though, let’s talk about the film that sparked all of this.

Meet Dave is a mostly forgettable attempt at a sci-fi comedy with Murphy leading a crew of miniature aliens through mid-aughts New York in an Eddie Murphy sized space ship. It’s like Honey I Shrunk The Kids and Men In Black combined, only not. To me, it’s simply fine. Not laugh-loud-hilarious and not unwatchable dreck. But critics hated it (the film sits at 20% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), it made a loud thud during its opening weekend, and Murphy even took a shot at it in a recent New York Times interview when discussing his pre-pandemic plans to return to stand-up.

The plan was for all of us to be doing standup. When I got up off the couch and did this little patch of work, it was, let’s do “Dolemite.” Let’s do “Saturday Night Live.” Let’s do “Coming 2 America.” Because I want to go do standup again, but I don’t want to just pop up out there when people hadn’t seen me be really funny in a while. I didn’t want to do standup after the last movie you’ve seen me do is “Meet Dave.” [Laughter] Let me remind them that I’m funny.

Yikes. Before Meet Dave‘s failure was assured, though, the studio behind it, 20th Century Fox, made a concerted effort to see if they could spark big interest in the film. Which is why they turned to Ultra Productions and its CEO, Maximillian, a single-monikered former child actor who had come up working with Madonna’s Maverick Records promoting events for acts like Nine Inch Nails and U2 before creating several noteworthy spectacles tied to TV and film. Ultra’s portfolio includes a pop-up White Castle in Hollywood for Harold And Kumar (before such things were commonplace), a stunt tied to The Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer where skydivers jumped out of a plane to form a giant “4,” and a meticulous recreation of The Black Pearl from Pirates Of The Caribean. There have also been stunts tied to Lord Of The Rings, Heroes, and several other projects with San Diego Comic-Con often serving as the backdrop.

When I reached out, almost a year ago, to Maximillian (who is presently working to build on the success of two 2019 art shows to create a similar fan experience with movie props and set pieces called “I Like Scary Movies”), I had one main question in mind: is this pop-culture relic still out there and could I actually get a look at it? And while I found out that, no, the Eddie Murphy head got destroyed long ago for insurance reasons, multiple conversations with Maximillian have revealed that the head’s end is far less interesting than its journey (and its near second life), which was born from a want to do something big and cool and unlike anything that had been done before. So, here’s the life story of a traveling head made from 3,000 pounds worth of steel, 100 gallons of Polyurea, 5 gallons of glue, a bunch of foam, and a little bit of vision and luck.

How did this all come to be?

So, Fox came to me because I come up with outlandish, crazy things to do to get new attention for movies, and I wanted to sort of sink my teeth into something cool. I was in a meeting with them one day and they just kind of plopped this Eddie Murphy Meet Dave film on me and put me on the spot. [They] told me a little bit about what the movie was about and I immediately was like, “Well, why don’t we create a giant version of Eddie Murphy’s head and just tour it around the country and have people be able to get into it and interact inside Eddie’s head?” And the executive at Fox’s eyes just got massive and they got all excited immediately. He was like, “Can we do that?” I was like, “Why not? Let’s figure it out.”

It stood fully about 20 feet tall. We hydraulic-ed him up into place and put a little staircase out the back of his head with a whole deck system and everything so that people could literally climb up inside of Eddie Murphy’s head. It was so much fun because the movie’s poster was literally Eddie Murphy popping out of his own ear. So we recreated that and literally did it in real life so people could pop out of Eddie Murphy’s head and take a great shot. The thing that was incredible about this tour was it was long before social media existed [in its current state]. Yet, somehow it blew up and we were getting news crews and people that were taking photos of their own and putting them on the internet

I’m very interested in the road trip aspect of this.

One of the things that I was really adamant about that I wanted to figure out was… everybody that I went to try to fabricate the Eddie head all wanted to disassemble him and put him together on-site. And I was really adamant about the fact that the draw is… If I was just a normal dude, driving down the street and I saw a massive version of Eddie Murphy’s head going down the 101, I would freak out. I wanted people to see Eddie Murphy going down the freeway. I wanted that reaction. And so we figured it out. We figured out a way to have it clear bridges and that kind of stuff.

Going back, I wish to God we would’ve shot this, because there are so many things that happened during the course of the tour. This one time, the guys who were driving it had the bright idea of stopping for lunch at Hooters. One of the guys actually snapped a picture of Eddie Murphy parked in the parking lot with the Hooters sign behind him, and they thought it was funny. And it was. It was hilarious, but I was like, “Guys, we can’t have Eddie Murphy’s head in a Hooter’s parking lot. Can we please move?” So it was weird stuff like that. They stopped to get gas at one point and they didn’t look at the clearance and they smashed his forehead into a low overhang at a gas station. So I got a phone call at that point that Eddie had a nice dent in his forehead. So we had to find a local fabrication shop to kind of give him a little bit of first aid.

These stories are amazing. Anything else come to mind that happened during the tour?

I wasn’t witness to this, but God, I wish I had seen it. Fox did not get Eddie’s permission to have me do this. Apparently, they have something in his contract where they don’t have to necessarily go to him, even when it comes to likeness. Cut to his junket and Eddie Murphy is doing interviews and the press are coming in and asking all of these different questions about the giant head. So he thought they were referring to the giant head in the film. But in fact, they were talking about this giant head going across the country. Well, the way they kept phrasing it made him realize that something else was going on. So he turned to his publicist after a handful of interviews and he said, “Why do they keep asking me about a giant head, my giant head?” Because he was just playing it off like he knew what was going on, but he didn’t know. So finally the PR person said, “Well, Fox went ahead and greenlit a promotional tour of you as a giant version of your head going across the country.” And he was immediately somewhat annoyed that he didn’t know about it, but then his annoyance turned into intrigue and he immediately was like, “What? I’ve got to see what this is.” So they showed him some pictures and he loved it. It was really funny.

My favorite part of this story is what almost happened after the tour.

At the end of the tour, there was some talk about actually getting Eddie’s head delivered to his house because his kids wanted it as part of their pool in the backyard. His family was really taken by the visuals of the giant head. They wanted to be able to jump off of dad’s head into the pool and have it as a permanent fixture there. But it was going to have to be craned in and everything else. It just became like such a big thing. So we weren’t able to do it after all. But the idea that it would be a permanent fixture at Eddie Murphy’s household in his family’s backyard, I thought was such a great visual.

We sort of just kept it in storage for a while at the end of the tour because they wanted to maybe do something again for the home entertainment release, and we had all kinds of different, crazy things to do with the Eddie head because it got so much attention. One of the main things I came up with, that I would love to have seen, would have been Eddie Murphy going down Niagara Falls. I thought that would’ve just been such a great visual to see Eddie Murphy going down Niagara Falls in a barrel. So that didn’t happen. I thought it might have a little bit of a negative connotation or something like we’re trashing it, but it did get some traction for a little bit and that would have been so much fun to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEEAeBdaPnQ

Piers Morgan never shies away from holding strong and controversial opinions, but his ride-or-die attitude toward the British monarchy has led to more backlash against the Good Morning Britain co-host than usual. Following Piers’ attack on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry (over their Oprah interview), he got thrashed by a Black Good Morning Britain colleague for defending the Royal Family despite some racist remarks (about the color of Archie’s skin) by unidentified members. Piers also stormed off set when a co-host came for him over the seemingly personal beef he feels for Meghan, and all of this chaos is reminding people of the time that someone smugly referred to him as a “honey-glazed gammon” on live morning TV.

To recap a bit, Piers started jousting with Parliament member Ross Greer in early 2019 over the MP’s characterization of Winston Churchill as “a white supremacist mass murderer.” To that notion, the morning show host tweeted, “And you’re a thick ginger turd who’d be spewing this filth in German if it wasn’t for Churchill.”

Greer responded, “Honey-glazed gammon speaks.”

And that led Piers to push back: “I’d like to apologise to any other gingers, thick people or turds offended by association with @Ross_Greer.”

Naturally, Piers decided to speak with Ross Greer on air, where the former declared offense at the latter’s use of clapping emoji. And the subject matter that they discussed is obviously not cut and dry. On one hand, Churchill has been accused by many of being a white supremacist, but on the other hand, Churchill declared war in 1939 against, you know, Adolf Hitler. So, the joy people are feeling about this video really isn’t as much about the substance of the discussion as Greer acknowledging, out loud, “You look like honey-glazed gammon.”

Greer persisted in explaining why his description of Piers was not a racist remark before going on to declare, “It wasn’t Churchill who won the war, it was the soldiers, sailors and airmen, and they voted him out when they came home.” It’s definitely worth nothing that, within one day, the tweet reminding people of this clip has amassed over 10,000 retweets and over 55,000 likes.

Piers kept on digging his hole, by the way (in the below clip), with his vigorous defense of Churchill, who he said “almost single-handedly dragged this country from the abyss in World War 2.” As for Greer, he declared, “We’re unable to talk about this without folk like yourself Piers having a tantrum. That’s very snowflake of you.”

Watch the full segment below.

Over the past few years, “Thumbs” has become a fan-favorite Lucy Dacus song. She started playing it live in 2018 and fans quickly latched on to the then-unreleased track, so much so that a Twitter account devoted to the song popped up. Recently, Dacus started mailing fans VHS tapes featuring the song, and now, finally, “Thumbs” has officially been released.

Dacus says the smoldering, emotional, and understated song was written during a 15-minute car ride to dinner in Nashville and further explains:

“Like most songs I write, I wasn’t expecting it and it made me feel weird, almost sick. It tells the story of a day I had with a friend during our freshman year of college, a significant day, but not one that I had thought of for years. I started playing it live a month or so later during the Boygenius tour after Phoebe [Bridgers] and Julien [Baker] encouraged me to. I knew I wanted a long time to get used to playing it since it made me feel shaky, so I ended sets with it for about half the shows I played in 2019. Before I played it, I would ask the audience to please not record it, a request that seems to have been respected, which I’m grateful for.”

Listen to “Thumbs” above.

The Brooklyn Nets picked up the biggest name that is likely to hit the buyout market this season in Blake Griffin after he agreed to part ways with the Detroit Pistons. Griffin went through three seasons in Detroit that saw him play the best basketball of his career briefly before persistent injuries derailed his and the Pistons’ trajectories.

Griffin’s presence on the loaded Nets caused plenty of gawking as they add yet another former All-Star to the roster, but the question remains exactly how much Griffin can provide in his current state. In 2018-19, Griffin was one of the best players in the NBA, averaging 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game on strong efficiency, transforming his game and embracing a lead creator role. That season he also played through knee issues to drag the Pistons to the 8-seed, where they were unceremoniously ousted by the Bucks in the first round. For his efforts, Griffin needed multiple knee procedures and has played just 38 games since.

In those 38 games, he hasn’t been the same scoring force he was in that ’18-19 campaign, lacking the same burst to create separation and losing some lift on his jumper that has seen his three-point shooting dip significantly. Even so, at a vet minimum contract on the buyout market, he was more than worthy of a flyer from the Nets, even if he doesn’t fit their exact needs. The biggest critique of the Nets is that they simply don’t have the defensive personnel to be even an average defensive team — they currently sit 26th in defensive rating at 113.6. Griffin won’t address that issue in a significant way, particularly given how injuries have limited his mobility some, which was his best attribute as a defender.

But the truth is, there isn’t an easy answer for the Nets that will fix their defense. This is a team whose best lineups will feature Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kevin Durant, one of Joe Harris or Bruce Brown (depending on if they want a little more defense or the best shooter in the NBA), and someone at center. That someone at center doesn’t exist at their price point to suddenly make them a good defense, so why not steer into the skid and say, “we are going to be better than you on offense for 48 minutes”? That is evidently the plan with the Griffin signing, a player who wasn’t able to carry an offense anymore, but who can fit snugly into what the Nets want to do and will almost always be sharing the floor with a premiere ball-handler, even with the second unit.

In Detroit, Griffin was asked to create the vast majority of his shot attempts, as just 28.6 percent of his two-point field goals in 20 games this season were assisted. That is a stark contrast to the player he was in Los Angeles, where Chris Paul controlled the offense and Griffin always had 60-plus percent of his two-pointers come via assist. In Brooklyn, that presumably will be the case once again, as Griffin moves back off the ball and can attack the basket as a cutter and roll man, rather than having to do so off the dribble. With all of the attention defenses have to pay to the Nets’ stars, Griffin should benefit from better looks and opportunities to create space for himself off the ball while defenders try to provide help on Brooklyn’s trio of elite ball-handlers and shot-creators.

Griffin isn’t the generational high-flyer he once was (he didn’t have a single dunk this season and had just five last season), but DeAndre Jordan isn’t as explosive as his Clipper days, either, and he enjoys a number of open lob finishes each night because of the attention Harden and Irving attract and their willingness to make that pass when help leaves someone else open near the basket. Griffin may not be putting people on posters anymore, but for someone that is still a quality finisher at the rim (65.6 percent inside three feet this season). He hasn’t been getting nearly the volume of looks there because he has had to create for himself (just 14.4 percent of attempts inside three feet), and playing with the Nets figures to be a tremendous boost for his interior scoring.

On top of what should be a better role for him on offense as a finisher, his improvement as a facilitator and passer will fit well with the Nets. While he may not be as explosive in creating his own looks, his feel as a passer has always been an underrated aspect of his game and he really built on that skill while in Detroit.

The biggest swing skill for Griffin is going to be his shooting. Prior to the injury, Griffin had established himself as a solid three-point shooter, with a career-best 36.2 three-point percentage during the ’18-19 season. In the 38 games since, he’s shot just 28.1 percent from deep (66-for-235), but showed some meager improvement (31.5 percent) this season. If he can be a spot-up and pick-and-pop threat as well as a roller and cutter, his value to the Nets increases significantly. In any case, being asked to do less and play less should allow him to play better, and the Nets have a coaching staff that is exceptionally good at tasking role players with things they can excel at. As odd as it sounds to say about Brooklyn’s historically great offense, if they’re to go all-in on this offense first/defense maybe model, they needed more punch in the frontcourt for the second unit. Griffin, if nothing else, should provide that for them.

There’s a reason the Griffin signing barely caused a ripple in the NBA title odds in Vegas, as the player he was in Detroit isn’t a needle-mover at that level. However, it’s very possible that the version of Griffin the Nets get is better than the one we saw with the Pistons over the past two seasons. It’d be stunning if he returns to pre-injury form, but simply by being placed in lineups as, at most, a secondary creator is going to allow him to find the things he does well and focus on those, rather than trying to carry an offense. Defensively, he’s not going to change much, but for a Nets team that needs more frontcourt depth they’re comfortable playing in the postseason, Griffin is a low-risk pickup that could bring a higher reward than many expect.

Space Jam, a mediocre basketball movie and worse Looney Tunes movie, is a cultural touchstone for millennials because the real Michael’s Secret Stuff was nostalgia all along. It’s a commercial-length advertisement for Nike stretched into a 88-minute feature; it’s more Cavemen than Ted Lasso. But while I recognize Space Jam‘s many faults (legendary Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones called it “terrible”), I don’t entirely dislike it. I was the right age — and a huge Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny fan — when it came out. I have fond memories of watching Space Jam at sleepovers and listening to the soundtrack, including all six minutes of “Basketball Jones,” on my Discman on the school bus. I even got a kick out of the behind-the-scenes footage in The Last Dance.

But am I excited for Space Jam: A New Legacy, the long-in-the-works sequel with LeBron James replacing Jordan as the human member of the Tune Squad? That’s complicated. Let’s say I’m “curious” more than “excited,” especially considering how good the new Looney Tunes Cartoons on HBO Max are. I’m also bewildered that A New Legacy has become the most controversial movie of the year. We should be talking about the wild premise instead of a cartoon rabbit’s breasts, but nope. We did this to ourselves. Let’s break down five of the biggest Space Jam: A New Legacy controversies.

1. It’s a controversy that’s caused “peak upset” in the entertainment industry.

Along with Dune, The Many Saints of Newark, and The Matrix 4, Space Jam: A New Legacy is one of 17 Warner Bros. movies that will be released into theaters and premiere on HBO Max on the same day (July 16). This is a previously unthinkable strategy that was made both thinkable and necessary due to the pandemic. It makes sense, but Christopher Nolan called the plan “very, very, very, very messy” and a “real bait-and-switch,” and according to the New York Times, “WarnerMedia kept the major agencies and talent management companies in the dark until roughly 90 minutes before issuing a news release. Even some Warner Bros. executives had little warning.”

A major studio’s biggest films being released straight to streaming (for 30 days) impacts not only those who made the movie, but also theater owners, as well as “publicists, managers, agents, lawyers, and financiers” (won’t somebody please think of the financiers?). Will things go back to normal, post-pandemic? It’s too early to say. All I know is, wearing a Tune Squad jersey while watching Space Jam: A New Legacy at home sounds way more depressing than dressing up for a sold-out theater screening.

2. The only new Looney Tune in Space Jam was Lola Bunny. Don’t call her “doll.” The original plan was for Bugs Bunny’s romantic interest to be Honey Bunny, who debuted in a comic book in 1966, but she was replaced by a new character who initially looked too much like Bugs (one artist asked, “Is it just Bugs in drag?”). Eventually, the animators settled on the vivacious design for Lola, who “made problems for Warner Bros. because of her visual appearance resembling that of a teenager,” according to the surprisingly informative Space Jam wiki.

Not only that, but Lola was, as Space Jam 2 director Malcolm D. Lee put it, “very sexualized” in the original movie. She wears a midriff-baring jersey, and after she schools Bugs on the court, he becomes stiff (as a board). For A New Legacy, Lee wanted to make Lola (who will be re-introduced living with the Amazons from Wonder Woman) more “politically correct…. This is a kids’ movie, why is she in a crop top? It just felt unnecessary, but at the same time there’s a long history of that in cartoons.”

He continued:

“This is 2021. It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters,” says Lee. “She probably has the most human characteristics of the Tunes; she doesn’t have a thing like a carrot or a lisp or a stutter. So we reworked a lot of things, not only her look, like making sure she had an appropriate length on her shorts and was feminine without being objectified, but gave her a real voice. For us, it was, let’s ground her athletic prowess, her leadership skills, and make her as full a character as the others.”

A cartoon rabbit not being defined by her sexuality has, ahem, triggered a lot of people, mainly conservatives and horny Redditors. This isn’t real, but it could be.

The alt-right sharing “pornographic fan art” is real, however.

3. One classic Looney Tunes character who won’t be in Space Jam: A New Legacy is Pepé Le Pew. Black cats everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief. A scene was filmed with the randy French skunk, who “normalized rape culture,” by the movie’s original director, Terence Nance. But when Lee took over, “Pepé Le Pew was eliminated [and] never animated for the live-action footage which was shot,” Deadline reports.

The filmed scene sounds wild:

Pepe was set to appear in a black-and-white Casablanca-like Rick’s Cafe sequence. Pepe, playing a bartender, starts hitting on a woman at the bar played by Santo. He begins kissing her arm, which she pulls back, then slamming Pepe into the chair next to hers. She then pours her drink on Pepe, and slaps him hard, sending him spinning in a stool, which is then stopped by LeBron James’ hand. James and Bugs Bunny are looking for Lola, and Pepe knows her whereabouts. Pepe then tells the guys that Penelope cat has filed a restraining order against him. James makes a remark in the script that Pepe can’t grab other Tunes without their consent.

I can’t believe we missed out on a scene in the sequel to Space Jam where LeBron James teaches an animated skunk about consent in the bar from Casablanca. I’m outraged about Pepé being “canceled,” but for different reasons than, say, Donald Trump Jr.

Fox News has come to Pepé’s defense, too. Please immediately block anyone who’s serious about the Looney Tunes being “canceled.” That fake-outrage is not good for your mental health. The use of the term “cancel culture” is also inaccurate.

4. “IS LEBRON JAMES BETTER MICHAEL JORDAN?”

This is one controversy even I, someone who recently wrote the words “randy French skunk,” won’t get into.

5. In response to a New York Times op-ed that claimed Speedy Gonzales “helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans,” comedian Gabriel Iglesias, who voices Speedy in Space Jam 2, tweeted, “I am the voice of Speedy Gonzales in the new Space Jam. Does this mean they are gonna try to cancel Fluffy too? U can’t catch me cancel culture. I’m the fastest mouse in all of Mexico.”

Space Jam: A New Legacy is being wrapped up into the same discourse (*shudder*) as Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head, on top of the Warner Bros/HBO Max stuff and the millennial debate about whether Space Jam is a good movie. But you know the worst thing about all this controversy? The movie’s not out for another four months. I’m going to listen to “Space Jam” by Quad City DJ’s (but NOT “I Believe I Can Fly”) on a repeat until then.

McDonald’s Shamrock Shake is one of the most sought-after seasonal menu items in the entire fast-food universe. It might not be quite as revered as the McRib, but it’s close. It’s also a refreshing springtime change-up — a minty vanilla shake that’s just green enough for McDonald’s to call it “Irish.”

Since St. Patrick’s Day is next week, select McDonald’s around the country have brought the Shamrock Shake back. We kind of wish it never went away — the mix of mint and vanilla is a winning combo — so we’re making our own today. The recipe is essentially the same as what McD’s does, maybe a little more upmarket with some better ingredients.

We’re going to make our own mint syrup, which will be easy for anyone who knows how to make bar syrups. Other than that, it’s just a matter of throwing some stuff in a blender and you’re good to go.

Shamrock Shake

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1-oz. mint syrup (see recipe below)
• Whipped cream
• Maraschino cherry

I’m using Häagen-Dazs Vanilla because that’s the good ice cream my corner grocery store carries. You can use any good-quality ice cream you have on hand. As for the half-and-half, you can also use just whole fat milk if you want. For me, the half-and-half hits just the right level of rich creaminess for a shake without getting too dense.

As for the whipped cream, my whipped cream dispenser is broken and I haven’t gotten a new one yet (they’re weirdly expensive). So, I’m using a standard store-bought spray can whipped cream. It’s not the best but it gets the job done.

What You’ll Need:

• Blender
• Pint glass or milkshake glass (pre-chilled)
• Large spoon
• Small pot with a lid
• Muddler
• Jar or small bottle

Method for the mint syrup:

• Add one cup of water and one cup of white sugar to a small pot.
• Bring to a boil and stir as the sugar completely dissolves.
• While boiling, add in a handful of mint leaves.
• REMOVE pot from heat immediately (if you boil the mint, it’ll turn bitter).
• Quickly use a muddler to gently release the mint oils into the simple syrup.
• Cover and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, remove mint leaves and stems and pour the mint syrup into a waiting jar or small bottle.
• Add two teaspoons of green food coloring. Stir.
• Chill and use for up to two weeks.

Method for the shake:

• Add the ice cream, half-and-half, and mint syrup to a blender.
• Blend for about 20 seconds to 30 seconds, until the milkshake is smooth and completely blended.
• Pour the shake into a waiting pre-chilled pint glass.
• Top with whipped cream and a Maraschino cherry.
• Drop in a straw.
• Serve.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you want a thicker shake but don’t have a blender that can handle more ice cream with less milk, blend your shake and then toss it in the freezer, stirring it every 20 minutes or so until it hits your desired thickness.

As you can see, the color wasn’t quite as mellow mint green as I wanted. It was a little more olive green. So, I added another teaspoon of green food coloring and stirred it in with a spoon. It gave the milkshake that nice, mellow green look I was craving.

Other than that, this worked!

Bottom Line:

This was tasty. That should be obvious. It’s a goddamn milkshake, after all. I didn’t add the Jameson in the photo, but that would have worked well with the mint and cream. My editor tried this recipe too and added Italian Branca-Menta by Fernet for double the mintiness. He still hasn’t stopped raving about it.

As for the un-boozy version of the recipe, the mint was subtle and a little sweet but added a clear brightness to the deep vanilla creaminess. Even after finishing the shake, there was still a lingering sense of fresh mint on my tongue for a good ten minutes.

The body of the milkshake had just the right balance of thick but drinkable. You could easily pull it through a straw, but it still had a certain heft when it hit your mouth.

Was this better than a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake from the Golden Arches? Yes. It didn’t have that plastic bag note that Mickey D’s shakes tend to have. The mint was much brighter and fresher and, of course, the base ice cream was significantly better in quality. (Plus, you don’t have to worry about all those fast-food ice cream machine horror stories.)

Was it worth making at home instead of buying at your nearest McDonald’s? Also yes. This is just better in every way — mintier, creamier, more vanilla flavor. It wasn’t that expensive at the end so of the day (the ice cream was about $5). It was also really simple. Once you have the mint syrup made, it takes less than a minute — so unless you literally live at a McDonald’s, you’re saving time.

This was a winner, folks!