After falling out of the headlines following an unprecedented surge coordinated by Reddit traders, GameStop stocks came roaring back on Monday as the price hit its highest point since February 1. However, this time around, there’s actually an easier explanation that doesn’t involve diving into the intricacies of short selling, and so far, there are no signs of another Congressional hearing. While the attention of Reddit traders continues to be a factor even a month later, the video game retailer is handing over the reins of its e-commerce business to Chewy Inc. founder and activist investor Ryan Cohen, which apparently caused Monday’s stock price to rocket.
GameStop’s market value jumped to $13.6 billion as retail investors praised Cohen’s move on social media sites like Twitter and Reddit. The swing in the retailer’s size is still a far cry from the $33.7 billion value it hit on on Jan. 28 when it briefly became the largest company in the Russell 2000 Index.
GameStop’s rally marked a fourth day of gains, which has resulted in a 65% climb for the retailer compared to the broader market’s roughly 1.3% decline. Monday’s jump came as trading volume roared back. With more than 62 million shares changing hands, volume was almost double what had been seen in the past week.
While this latest development might not be as exciting as the initial surge that’s currently spawned nine film projects and counting, watching GameStop stocks continue to subvert expectations will never get old on social media where people are always ready to bust out a meme or just straight marvel at the fact that the seemingly doomed for extinction retailer is still the talk of the financial world.
GAMESTOP CLOSES UP 41% AT $194.50, HIGHEST SINCE FEB. 1
It looks like we’ve seen the last of Pepé Le Pew. Following news that the cartoon skunk was cut from the Space Jam sequel, the controversial character appears to be shelved for the time being. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pepé is not featured in any current Warner Bros. TV projects, like the recent Looney Tunes revival, and there are no plans for him to return. However, much like his removal from Space Jam: A New Legacy, the decision was made well before Pepé was the subject of an op-ed in the New York Times that argued the character “added to rape culture.” THR reports that the call to leave Pepé out of future cartoons was made “more than a year ago.”
Of course, it should be noted that classic Looney Tunes shorts featuring Pepé Le Pew are still available on HBO Max. But while there isn’t a concerted effort to actually cancel Mr. Le Pew, it does seem like he is being retired. Naturally, this has turned the grabby French cartoon character into yet another political football for the type of people who have been on a recent tear about “cancel culture” run amok after incidences involving The Muppets, Mr. Potato Head, Dr. Seuss, and Star Wars.
However, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, who actually was “canceled” (albeit brielfy), has come out in defense of those who think having a discussion about Pepé Le Pew and rape culture is worth having. He even went so far as to agree that Pepé is “offensive because of the way he treats that cat.”
“Stop calling everything ‘cancel culture’ because you’re too dim to have a nuanced opinion,” Gunn tweeted. “People can be offended by something, or think something sucks, and that’s not ‘cancel culture’ – it’s free speech.”
Just after the release of her debut solo album Petal For Armor, Hayley Williams was stuck in quarantine and unable to play any of her new songs live. To suffice, Williams began periodically sharing acoustic covers of songs to social media, some of which landed on her Petal For Armor: Self-Serenades EP. Now, following the release of yet another solo album, Williams continues her Self-Serenades sessions.
While Williams has played renditions of songs by Björk, Radiohead, and Massive Attack in the past, the singer threw it back to the late ’90s for her latest cover. This time, she took on Failure’s track “The Nurse Who Loved Me,” which originally arrived on their 1996 effort Fantastic Planet. “the sun is out, the laundry is drying so… one of my favorite songs of all time on one of my favorite albums of ever,” she wrote alongside the cover.
Williams chose to keep things casual with her “The Nurse Who Loved Me” cover. She was accompanied by just her acoustic guitar, turning the crashing, muddy track into a lighter anthem. Her version is also slightly abbreviated, clocking in at under two minutes while the original one is well over four.
There are thousands of Star Wars memes, but there’s only one that makes Mark Hamill want to crawl into a sarlacc pit every time he sees it.
It’s a photo from A New Hope, shortly after Luke Skywalker is handed his father’s lightsaber by Obi-Wan Kenobi. “Handed the most dangerous weapon in the galaxy — Immediately points at face,” the text reads. It’s funny for the same reason that “I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home” and Tosche Station are funny — it’s peak whiny and naive Luke. After a Twitter follower wrote that Luke nearly pulling a Christmas Story “makes me laugh every time I see it,” Hamill shared his thoughts on the meme.
“This makes me cringe every time I see it,” he tweeted. “I don’t remember doing this in the movie. I think it’s just an on-set production still, otherwise Obi-Wan wouldn’t look so remarkably unconcerned.” Hamill probably doesn’t remember doing it, because it’s not in the movie. You can see for yourself… as can Luke, because he didn’t lightsaber his eye out.
This makes me cringe every time I see it.
I don’t remember doing this in the movie. I think it’s just an on-set production still, otherwise Obi-Wan wouldn’t look so remarkably unconcerned. https://t.co/WXH4Ng0OzX
Hamill also recently recalled the behind-the-story of this birthday cake photo. “While shooting on location for the original #StarWars in Tunisia-North Africa, [producer] Gary Kurtz, [writer and director] George Lucas & I raised a styrofoam cup half-filled with warm champagne to toast Alec Guinness on his 62nd birthday. That was on Friday, April 2nd 1976. (I Googled it),” he wrote. No wonder Guinness did not enjoying making Star Wars. I wouldn’t want to drink warm champagne in the desert, either.
On this week’s episode of People’s Party, Talib Kweli and his co-host-with-the-most Jasmin Leigh sat down with legendary DJ, producer, designer, and sneaker extraordinaire Clark Kent for a lengthy discussion that covers Kent’s Superman DJ Crew, hip-hop’s greatest emcees, and, of course, sneakers. If you haven’t caught the episode, it’s definitely worth a full watch and offers some deep insight into hip-hop’s earliest moments as a culture-dominating force.
Prior to the interview, we linked up with “God’s favorite DJ” for a chat about the famous trendsetter’s favorite sneakers of all time. It shouldn’t surprise anybody that the AF-1 ranks at the top — Nike famously commissioned Kent for an iteration of the shoe for 2010’s “Five Boroughs” project. In fact, of the eight sneakers designed by DJ Clark Kent currently available on StockX, half of them are AF-1s, each doper than the next. The dude knows shoes, so let’s jump in and find out DJ Clark Kent’s four other favorites, his all-time favorite sneaker drop, and who he thinks is killing it in the sneaker game right now.
Watch the full DJ Clark Kent interview on People’s Party above.
What is your favorite sneaker silhouette or pair of shoes, ever?
Well, my favorite silhouette is Air Force 1s because they are the cleanest, simplest, most easy-to-wear silhouette. I think they look perfect, and my favorite pair of sneakers of all time is white on white, Air Force 1s.
What are the craziest lengths you’ve ever gone to get a pair of shoes?
I found out that there were these linen Air Force 1s. Clean linen color with pink swooshes, coming out on a weekend only in Japan, but I wouldn’t be until Japan the week after, because I had to DJ there. I had the promoter change my flight to go a week early, actually a week and two days early. The first thing he said was “I’m not paying for a hotel.” I said, “It’s all good, I’ll pay for the hotel.” I need to be there like a day or two before the shoes come out. He doesn’t understand why I want to come. I don’t explain it that way, but that’s my mentality. The shoes come out on Saturday. I got to be there early just to prepare. So he switched the flight. I got the hotel, the same hotel that I was supposed to stay in.
I was staying at The Civilian. I’ve always stayed at the Civilian. That saturday morning I went to 11 sneaker stores and bought every pair of size 11 and a half of AF-1 linen that I could find. I brought back home 11 pairs to the United States after I did my show the week after. So basically, I went and sat in Japan for a week with a bunch of shoes, just to make sure I had them.
When I came back to New York, everybody made jokes about the fact that I was wearing sneakers with pink swooshes. Then, a couple of stores imported them, and all of a sudden it was a thing — “Oh my God, the pink Air Force 1’s, linen Air Force 1s!” and I’m looking at everybody like, three months ago, y’all thought I was funny!
It was just crazy.
GOAT
Japan always has the best colorways!
Japan and London! They’ve come close in London or in Europe with JP sports. They always had incredible colorways, but in Japan, they do get some really incredible colorways.
Could you walk us through your five favorite sneaker collaborations? They could all be AF-1s if you want them to be, or shoes you own or wish you owned.
It’s really hard to say what my five favorites are. I think it might be easier to just say, what are my five favorite silhouettes. I would really have to sit here and jog my memory of all of the craziness that I’ve come across or stuff I went looking for that I missed. That would, seriously, probably take about a month — because I’ve been doing this since I was nine. I’d have to go back to 1975, and those were great shoes I was getting when I was a kid.
But favorite Silhouette is Air Force 1. The second favorite is the Air Max 1. Third… there’s a tie between Jordan III and a Jordan XI
The fourth would probably be the Adidas Grand Prix, and then the fifth would be — I like so many sneakers, man. I think it might be the Valley Competition.
Is there a pair that you’ve always wanted, but never have been able to get your hands on?
Yeah, there is plenty of shoes I wanted but couldn’t get my hands on, but the reason I missed them was that they didn’t make my size or something. It’s not because I don’t know how to find them, or I don’t know how to make the call to get it.
Now, there are shoes that are made that might only come up to a size 12, and I’m just like, “Come on guys,” “Well, this colorway is made for women, so the biggest size would be a men’s 11 and a half.” My God! There’s plenty I haven’t gotten.
I would be going crazy if I had to give you a full list but there are enough that have come out that I couldn’t get, and contrary to what most people think — I don’t get everything. But what I do get is what I want. Do you know what I mean?
But like I said, if I want it and don’t have it, the shoes probably just didn’t come in my size. So even though I might have wanted them, I didn’t get them, but you know, I don’t trip off of that. Always remember one thing to be very, very true. There is always next Saturday.
Who, in your opinion right now, is killing it in the sneaker game? Brand, designer, a celebrity with great taste —
Salehe Bembury is doing very well. Joe Fresh Goods, he’s doing great collabs, I’m still doing great collabs! It’s so many, so many brands that can get it right. Do you know what I’m saying? Like, Bodega, when they do their New Balance Collide, always amazing concepts, there are just way too many to say who’s the one.
I don’t miss on Air Force One’s and Conflict doesn’t miss on New Balance. Joe Bodega doesn’t miss on New Balance. Right now, Virgil isn’t missing on Off-White. Supreme doesn’t miss. Do you know what I’m saying? Even when you think they miss, it’s not a miss. They could sell you a brick —
That’s when you know you are not missing. They sold you a brick, you’re not missing if you can do that.
Sneakersnstuff. The things that they do, they don’t miss. I think we need to give these outside collaborators the ability to do something with a big brand. When that happens, special things can happen. When you work at a plant and you are confined to this season, or this color is what’s happening this season, or this is the materials we’re trying to use this season that has to do with this initiative we’re pushing this season. When you are confined to those rules, the people who work in the brand are stifled. So with that stifling, the guys from outside look like they’re killing it. But they have guys who are sitting in those brands that are amazing. And they just aren’t getting to be as amazing as they could.
Travis is kind of killing me too. Who’s going to say that Kanye West wasn’t killing it on sneakers? There are honestly too many people out there.
WandaVision has come and gone but the quiet star of he show would like you to know that, if she had her way, there would have been more meme-worthy moments from her character if she had her way.
Kathryn Hahn, who as we already have established does not miss, really loved “hamboning it” up as the neighbor pulling the puppet strings of some important creatures in WandaVision. In a delightful interview with the New York Times, Hahn described just how much she enjoyed breaking the fourth wall and messing around despite her character, for much of the show, needing to play a straight-laced housewife who is very much not in on the bit. That kind of work as a nosy neighbor was, for her, the highlight of filming in a Marvel Cinematic Universe that’s often extremely self-serious.
My husband put it perfectly. He was like, seeing you in the sitcom portion of the show, I saw the you that I saw in college. I haven’t seen that part of you in so long — just you, hamboning it. It was so fun to be able to let go in those ways. At the end of every episode, we would try to shoot a little extra portion of it for the theme song [the “Agatha All Along” sequence]. So I could play directly to the camera and that would always make us laugh so hard.
It was also very interesting because [in the sitcom homages] we were all putting these roles on, on top of who we really were. It was so interesting to get to the last couple of episodes, where you see our true selves, who were actually very done-up and very big. And it felt very vulnerable to be at that scale. Those scenes between Lizzie and I, before Wanda embraced herself as the Scarlet Witch and she was still in her sweatpants, I think Agatha and Kathryn were very jealous.
The rest of the interview talks about her odd hobby of doing trapeze, what entering the MCU does for her indie cred, and how much she loved that she got to sing her own theme song. She’s also very appreciative that WandaVision ultimately told the story of some very strong women, and went into detail about something we don’t often see in comic book movies.
I was so turned on by the ambition and had mad respect for the fact that it is a superhero story that is ultimately about grief. And that there are so many women involved. And I love a witch, I really do.
There was also some other important news revealed on Monday, too.
Kathryn Hahn is currently fostering a kitten named Grogu this is not a drill.
9-1-1 (FOX, 8:00pm) — A flight attendant has had absolutely enough in midair, which sounds like a recipe for tossed drinks. I totally made that last detail up, but you could see it happening, right? Meanwhile a quarantine couple is slowly reaching the breaking point. Surely, we can all identify with how the part year has gone.
9-1-1: Lone Star (FOX, 9:00pm) — The Rob Lowe-starring spinoff has even more chaos for us, including a bank robbery, a massive fire, and a parking garage that’s seemingly a maze to some upset patron. Are these all unconnected calls or not?
Snowpiercer (TNT, 9:00pm) — This week, Layton and Till are back in procedural mode while investigating the murders, and Wilford is up to no good with Miss Audrey. This season’s introduction of Bean caused the series to gain momentum, so the time is still right to catch this ride.
Beartown (HBO, 9:00pm) — This Swedish crime drama based upon Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel, and it follows the domination of a junior ice-hockey team upon a small community after a retired pro hockey player, Peter, relocates to Beartown for a fresh start. This week, Peter’s pushing everyone (especially his coaching staff) to the limits while Maya’s working through her trauma, and Kevin’s trying to forget.
The Investigation (HBO, 10:00pm) — This Scandinavian limited drama series follows the real-life investigation into the 2017 murder of a Swedish journalist (Kim Wall) in what became one of Danish history’s most notorious criminal cases (aptly dubbed the “Submarine Case”). Chief Prosecutor Jepsen is now making it quite clear that the accused may go free unless his team can tie together firm evidence.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Seth Rogen, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Daddy Yankee
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Nicolle Wallace, Michaela Coel, Kings Of Leon
The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Amy Poehler, Courtney B. Vance, Willie Jones
The Late Late Show With James Corden — Andra Day, SG Lewis Feat. Nile Rodgers
Late Night With Seth Meyers — Eddie Murphy, Guy Fieri, Josh Herndon
In case you missed these picks from the weekend:
Coming 2 America (Amazon Prime film) — The much-anticipated sequel is (according to our own Vince Mancini) a rare example of a comedy that lives up to the original with a bang-up job in the costume department to boot. The followup also, naturally, celebrates the much-heralded return of Eddie Murphy as King Akeem, who’s definitely got Arsenio Hall around as confidante while they travel from Zaumda to Queens, New York, to take things back to basics. More good news: James Earl Jones is back, and the film co-stars Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Louis Anderson, Jermaine Fowler, Bella Murphy, Rotimi, KiKi Layne, Nomzamo Mbatha, and Teyana Taylor.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (Paramount+ movie) — Look for Keanu Reeves’ cameo in this irreverent animated adventure, which follows SpongeBob and Patrick, his starfish pal, looking to vindicate Mr. Krabs after he’s been framed for heisting King Neptune’s crown. In doing so, they must leave their Bikini Bottom refuge and make their way to Shell City in a journey that illuminates the power of friendship. In addition to the actual movie goodness, check out our “Rapid Fire” video with rapper 2KBaby as he looks to beat the buzzer in a quiz.
Monday is International Women’s Day and Megan Thee Stallion is celebrating in a big way. The rapper is partnering with Fashion Nova, a brand she previously designed a clothing line for, to give away a huge sum of money to women entrepreneurs.
Announcing the initiative on social media, Megan said she’s granting $1 million total to women entrepreneurs, female students, women-owned businesses, and women-focused charities:
“Today is International Women’s Day. I’m so excited to announce that Fashion Nova and I are coming together on a women’s empowerment initiative called Women On Top. We’re giving away $1 million in grants and scholarships all month to all the women. The first organization that I wanna give a big shout out to, and the first $25,000 to is the YWCA in Houston.”
In honor of International Women’s Day fashion nova and I will be giving away 1 MILLION DOLLARS IN GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS ALL MONTH to women entrepreneurs, female students, women owned businesses, and women focused charities pic.twitter.com/ZumaFy8HCt
This new project isn’t the only charitable initiative Megan has been working on lately. Earlier this week, the rapper announced her Hotties Helping Houston fundraiser, which aims to raise money to help build back the city following the devastating storm. “It is always very important for me to help give back to the city that made me,” she said announcing the benefit drive. “I just want to say thank you to everyone who came together with me to help rebuild my hometown of Houston Texas.”
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Rappers are always promising joint albums — or just feeding existing rumors about them based on fan speculation — but Lil Baby and Lil Durk’s proposed collaborative tape appears to be more real than ever after both principals spent the weekend hyping its eventual release on social media. While Lil Durk tweeted about the album and posted on Instagram, Lil Baby was busy avoiding Twitter, so he instead shared his thoughts via Instagram Story.
Aye y’all tell @lilbaby4PF let’s drop that tape streets need this OTF x 4PF
“Aye y’all tell @lilbaby4PF let’s drop that tape,” Durk tweeted. “Streets need this.” He followed up with a post on Instagram promising fans that the two rappers would drop the tape provided the post received 100,000 comments.
Meanwhile, Lil Baby first shared a screenshot of a fan account’s post to his Story, adding the text, “Aye y’all, tell @LilDurk let’s drop the tape.” Then, after Durk posted about it on Instagram, Baby shared the post to his Story, wondering, “Bra, why the hell you playing?”
The clamor for their crossover has reached a fever pitch mainly because the duo’s last collaboration, “Finesse Out The Gang Way,” was well-received by fans of both artists. The newly resurgent Durk has been on a roll for the past two years, just as Lil Baby emerged as a force himself. As both rappers climb into the upper tier of rap stardom, it’s only natural that fans would want to see them work together — especially considering their chemistry on tracks like “Finesse” and “3 Headed Goat.” Plus, Baby has proven he can bring the best out of a collaborator on 2018’s Drip Harder with Gunna, so giving Durk the same foil may result in some spectacular contemporary rap.
Will they actually drop a full project? Who knows, but maybe Durk can give Baby some pointers on his jump shot after Saturday’s disastrous showing at the B/R Open Run two-on-two game with Jack Harlow and Quavo.
Brittany Howard’s latest album, Jaime, came out in late 2019. That’s a good while ago, but Howard is such a captivating live performer that she doesn’t need a fresh new album to find her way into some sort of lauded performance slot. Over the past few months, she’s popped up on The Tonight Show, The Late Late Show, The Late Show, a virtual holiday benefit, and a Super Bowl after party concert. Now she’s back again and this time, it’s for a cover of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher,” which is out today as an Amazon Original.
The song seems to be a favorite for Howard. She has performed it multiple times over the years, like when she sang it on Jools’ Annual Hootenanny in late 2019. It’s also a staple of her listening diet, as she indicated in a 2019 interview.
In other Howard news, she is up for a ton of Grammy Awards this weekend thanks to Jaime. She’s one of this year’s most-nominated artists as she and her work are nominated for Best Rock Performance; Best Rock Song; Best Alternative Music Album; Best R&B Performance; Best American Roots Performance; and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Listen to Howard’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher” cover below.
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(@APompliano) March 8, 2021
(@jowrotethis) 
OTF x 4PF
