Month: March 2021

New England Patriots offensive lineman Justin Herron was enjoying a walk and a light workout at Kiwanis Park in Tempe Arizona on Saturday, March 20.

However, his beautiful day was thrown into chaos when he heard the screams of a 71-year-old woman. The retired school teacher was being accosted by a 30-year-old man who attempted to sexually assault her.

Herron was shocked to see such a horrifying act happening in an open field in broad daylight. Without thinking, the athlete jumped into action, by running over to the victim and screaming for help.

“I’m a football player, so I’m kind of a big,” he said according to CBS News. “I try not to be too aggressive knowing that I could hurt somebody. I do have a loud voice. I yelled, told him to get off of her, and then yanked him off and I told him to sit down and I told him to wait until the cops come.”

“All I could do was thrust myself over there and help the victim, make sure that I could comfort her and be the best person I could be to her around her,” he said.

Herron was assisted by Murry Rogers who was scouting locations at the park for his 15-year-old daughter’s birthday. He helped to detain the suspect, Kevin Caballero, while Herron got the victim to safety.

The two men forced Caballero to wait at the scene of the crime until police arrived. It’s safe to assume that Caballero didn’t try anything funny or attempt to run away. Who would mess with a 6’5″ 300-pound NFL lineman?

Herron moved the victim away from the scene of the crime so she could collect herself and begin to heal.

On Wednesday, the two men were presented with Outstanding Service Awards by the Tempe Police Department. “You see it in movies and TV all the time, but you never think it’s going to happen in real life until it does. In that moment, I was in shock,” Herron said at a press conference.

“It was terrifying to witness,” Rogers added.

“If not for the swift actions of Mr. Justin Herron and Mr. Murry Rogers, this vicious attack could’ve been much worse,” Tempe Police Detective Natalie Barela said.

The two Good Samaritans were briefly reunited with the victim before the press conference.

“It was heartwarming to see her, but also gut-wrenching to see how she responded to the trauma and how she’s dealing with it,” Herron said according to CNN. “No one should go through that.”

“She thanked us. She called us her angels,” said Rogers. “I’m a little bit of a crier, so it was very emotional.”

Caballero was charged with kidnapping and attempt to commit sexual assault, police said.

Herron played 12 games for the Patriots last season after being sidelined with an ankle injury. He was a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft out of Wake Forest College.

Since Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” ended its eight-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart a few weeks ago, the top spot has been more of a revolving door. Following Rodrigo, Drake and Cardi B have had No. 1 songs, and now Justin Bieber is adding his name to that list: On the Hot 100 chart dated April 3, his Giveon- and Daniel Caesar-featuring single “Peaches” is No. 1.

While this is the first chart-topper for Giveon and Caesar, this is Bieber’s seventh No. 1 song. This latest placement moves Bieber up some rankings of all-time chart prosperity. “Peaches” is his 23rd top-10 hit, which ties him with Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, and Whitney Houston for the 13th-most ever. This is also his fourth song to debut at No. 1, which ties him with Drake for second place on that list and puts him one behind Ariana Grande’s five. Since Justice also debuted at No. 1, Bieber is now just the third artist (and first male solo artist) to have a song and album debut at No. 1 in the same week, after Taylor Swift (who has done it twice) and BTS.

Naturally, Giveon is thrilled with his new achievement, as he tweeted, “Wow my first number 1! [trophy emoji] shout to my brother JB for letting me be apart of this moment. It feels even better cause I caught one with the bros.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Add Russell Crowe to the ever expanding list of cameos for Thor: Love and Thunder. The Gladiator star has reportedly joined the film and has been spotted partying with the cast and crew in Australia. Crowe was seen as recently as Friday, March 26 with both director Taika Waititi and star Chris Hemsworth at a rugby match along with Natalie Portman, Isla Fisher, and Hemsworth’s wife Elsa Pataky. Via Deadline:

Crowe’s role is being kept under wraps and the hope was to surprise fans with this fun cameo when the film was released, but following recent photos of Crowe hanging out with the cast all over Australia, Deadline has confirmed he is in the movie. Insiders say Crowe is one of many surprises to come out of the film, with Matt Damon also confirmed to reprise his cameo from Thor: Ragnarok.

Taking place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder will focus on Tessa Thompson’s character Valkyrie and her search for a queen as she takes the throne as King of Asgard. After sitting out Ragnarok, Portman will reprise her role of Jane Foster, but this time with a very significant twist as Foster follows in her comic book counterpart’s footsteps and becomes The Mighty Thor. In a major casting coup (besides Crowe, of course), Christian Bale will make the leap from DC Comics to Marvel as he takes on the role of Gorr the God Butcher, a character from writer Jason Aaron’s epic comic book run who does exactly what his name implies: Murders gods across all space and time.

(Via Deadline)

Things have been going great for upcoming R&B artist Fousheé lately. Last week, her breakout hit “Deep End” made history by being the first single by a Black woman to hit the top 10 of the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart in over 30 years. Now, she has a new collaboration with one of the biggest names in hip-hop history, as she and Lil Wayne have shared a video for the uplifting “Gold Fronts.”

Fousheé spoke about the track with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and explained how she and Wayne came to collaborate:

“I was like, ‘How did you find me?’ And he was like, ‘Well, I’m not really on social media. I don’t search for artists. I have two TVs in my skate room. One is on ESPN, one is on Revolt, and the TV just plays music videos back to back. It’s like, if you end up on that screen and I like you, then I know it’s meant to be.’ And then he was like, he was skating and he saw the video, the ‘Deep End’ video. And it stood out to him because he thought it was like a movie. […] Then he saw me pull out a guitar and he was like, ‘No, stop. Stop the music,’ because I guess he was playing music. […] And he stopped and he listened to it. He was like… he really liked what he heard. The guitar stood out. It’s crazy.”

Check out the “Gold Fronts” video above.

The Internet has been so very excited about the massive ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal (yeah, this is totally gonna be a movie someday) for a week. The thing got pried loose on Sunday night and stuck again and set free again, and no one really knows how this all happened, other than weather (blame everything on the weather). With all of the fuss (including a very interesting Kirstie Alley tweet) ongoing, Netflix tweeted about one of the biggest ‘ships known to its streaming service, and that would be Lucifer‘s will-they-or-won’t-they relationship between Chloe and the Devil himself.

“Love it when a massive ship gets back on its course,” reads a Netflix tweet.

Fans will recall that the detective and the fallen angel actually did hook up in the first half of Season 5 (the second half hasn’t been released yet), after Chloe got over being justifiably angry about being created as a miracle who’s intended for Lucifer. However, their official coupling-it-up moves actually messed sh*t up for Lucifer because Chloe gained Lucifer’s mojo ability (and could use it on him). Also, there was a faux-Lucifer running around at some point, and things got even messier than that after the hook-up, so long story short, it didn’t work out. Yet fans are still holding out hope (as they do), and with Season 6 being announced as the final run, fans started wondering when Season 5B would show up. After a flurry of replies and the rumor mill beginning, the official Netflix and Lucifer Twitter accounts made it official: May 28.

Co-showrunner Joe Henderson has weighed in, too, while thanking fans for the marvelous Twitter sentiment as the cast and crew wraps shooting on Season 6.

Hand modeling seems like a good gig. Just imagine having hands so beautiful that someone else is willing to pay you so that millions can see your paws in high def. But being a hand model probably isn’t all trashing hotel rooms, hanging out with actual famous people, and putting on velvet-lined gloves in slow motion.

It’s probably a lonely existence, as well. Each day you have to live in fear that something might happen to your moneymakers — ’til you end up carefully wrapping your meat hooks in oven mitts just to keep them safe.

If all that doesn’t sound too bad to you, well, we’ve got an opportunity to get you hyped on. It comes courtesy of the Spaghetti Western-referencing whiskey brand Fistful of Bourbon. The expression is a blend of five straight bourbon whiskeys with a name and marketing that offers a nod to the 1964 classic Fistful of Dollars, starring Clint Eastwood.

Playing to their rough and tumble, dusty, western aesthetic, Fistful of Bourbon is in search of what they’re calling a “SpokesFist.” To track the right mitt down, the brand is holding an open casting call. If you meet their criteria of having a badass fist with great grip-ability, a very steady hand, and maximum clenching skills, you can grab yourself a $100,000 contract to star in a new media campaign.

If somehow you think your fist is worthy of this acclaim, you can apply beginning on April 13 here or by responding to the Fistful job posting on Indeed.com.

The Brooklyn Nets have positioned themselves as the presumptive favorites in the East and, for many, have surpassed the reigning champion Lakers as the favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy this summer. With Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving all on the roster and, in the brief spell they played together, bludgeoning opponents on offense, they are simply a difficult team to pick against in a seven-game series.

The Nets also have been the biggest winners on the buyout market this season, landing Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge to bolster their frontcourt rotation, which was their biggest question mark. Now, the efficacy of Griffin and Aldridge, particularly in aiding the Nets below average defense, remains to be seen, but if nothing else they have built a roster capable of deploying a tremendous amount of lineup options, depending on what their opponent does in a playoff series. They can go small or big and maintain their elite level on offense with the moves they’ve made, and while defense may still be the lingering question, it may not matter.

Some have seen Brooklyn’s acquisition of Griffin and Aldridge, former All-Stars who have maybe lost a step or two from their peak, as “unfair.” For Griffin in particular, he’s found that criticism amusing because, as he told reporters on Monday morning, he spent the last year plus hearing about how bad he was while in Detroit.

There’s something to both sides here, as Griffin has a point that he’d been effectively left for dead in terms of being considered a positive player, but suddenly by joining the Nets he’s tabbed as an All-Star talent again and makes them unfair. On the other hand, Griffin isn’t a superstar capable of carrying a team as a first option anymore, as his knee injury suffered the last time he dragged Detroit to the playoffs has taken some of his burst away, but when asked to be a fourth option, he’s incredibly overqualified for that role.

Griffin does have a very good point about how quickly perception flips of a player the moment they join a contender, as we’ve seen with Blake and his old running mate in Detroit, Andre Drummond, now that he’s joined the Lakers. This is in part because fans of those teams will overhype their new acquisition, but it’s also because the buyout world is, really, an overcorrection in terms of reassessing a player’s value. On a max deal, an older star on the decline is a negative asset, but to go from that to being on a veteran minimum contract makes them an overwhelmingly positive one, especially since they are almost always coming in willing to take a much lesser role just to be part of a winner. Griffin certainly falls into that category, and at least he can find the humor in how quickly he’s gone from being called washed with the Pistons to an unfair advantage for the Nets.

Mark Wahlberg claims that his “typical daily schedule” involves waking up at 2:30 a.m., multiple workouts, and going to bed at 7:30 p.m. So where he does find the time to make movies, run a burger emporium, and hang out with his entourage? We’ll find out in Wahl Street, an HBO Max series that offers viewers “a glimpse into global star Mark Wahlberg’s life as he juggles the demands of a rigorous film schedule coupled with an ever-growing network of diverse businesses including his clothing line, Municipal; his gym studio, F45; restaurant chain Wahlburgers; and his production company, Unrealistic Ideas.” I am exhausted reading that — and I didn’t even wake up at 2:30 a.m.

Along the way, viewers will learn powerful business and life lessons as he navigates the numerous challenges of a global pandemic, all while trying to maintain and expand his vast portfolio. Wahl Street will also introduce the cast of colorful characters that make up Wahlberg’s real-life entourage.

The trailer above for the six-episode series includes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams (that’s strong HBO synergy right there), or as I will call her from now on, the Direwolf of Wahl Street. (Sorry… but also not sorry.)

Wahl Street premieres on April 15.

Lil Nas X is very, very good at trolling his critics on the internet. Whether through direct responses to his detractors like Joyner Lucas and Dave East or more subtly calling out the hypocrisy behind negative commentary against him, Nas X has shown himself to be one of music’s most creative clap-back connoisseurs.

In the wake of his new song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” those critics are giving him plenty of ammunition. On the day of the song’s release, he gave a measured response to the complaints against the video, joking, “Y’all love saying we going to hell but get upset when I actually go there.” After five days of escalating attacks though, he’s going on the offensive.

“OMG if you roll down your window at Chic Fil A playing ‘Call Me By Your Name’ they give u a free sandwich and a lemonade,” he tweeted, slyly pointing out how the restaurant chain had reportedly spent millions supporting anti-LGBTQ groups such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Paul Anderson Youth Home. Nas, who is gay and pointed out how the “Montero” video was a commentary on anti-gay messaging in pop culture, warned his haters: “I had 9 months to plan this rollout. Y’all are not gonna win bro.”

Some fans are already taking his advice to heart, tweeting their own joking — and polar opposite — results after trying out his tip.

Nas also continued his campaign of mockery against the Satanic Panic by sharing an extended version of “Montero.” You can check that out here.

Over the weekend, it was the one-year anniversary of Waxahatchee’s excellent 2020 album Saint Cloud, so now, Katie Crutchfield has decided to celebrate. She did so today by releasing Saint Cloud +3, an expanded version of the album that adds to its tracklist a trio of covers: “Fruits Of My Labor” by Lucinda Williams, “Light Of A Clear Blue Morning” by Dolly Parton, and “Streets Of Philadelphia” by Bruce Springsteen.

Crutchfield explained on Instagram, “3 covers released today to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of saint cloud. we tracked @lucinda_williams ‘fruits of my labor’ while in the studio making SC, & tracked the other 2 (@dollyparton’s ´light of a clear blue morning’ + @springsteen’s ‘streets of philadelphia) a few months back just for fun with @bradleywcook.”

Crutchfield previously said of Saint Cloud, “I think all of my records are turbulent and emotional, but this one feels like it has a little dose of enlightenment. It feels a little more calm and less reckless.” She also told Uproxx in an interview from around this time last year, “I got sober and really focused on that for a year. I think in the past I’ve leaned into making music as a way to help myself heal from things. I tried to not do that with this record. I tried to do the work outside of music and have an identity outside of music. As time went on, what the album was going to be came more and more into view. […] I would definitely say that the mood of the album came first, and then the songs swiftly followed.”

Check out all three covers below.