Month: April 2021

Fans of Ariana Grande and The Weeknd who appreciated the duo’s first collaboration, 2014’s “Love Me Harder,” had to wait a little over seven years to get a second song from them. That second track would wind up being “Off The Table” from Grande’s sixth album, Positions. Luckily for the singers’ supporters, they didn’t have to wait nearly as long for a third track between Grande and The Weeknd. The pair reunited for a remix of “Save Your Tears,” a track from The Weeknd’s After Hours album.

The new version arrives with an animated visual that sees The Weeknd building the ideal woman for himself thanks to an assembly line of body parts. The “Save Your Tears” remix comes weeks after The Weeknd hinted that the After Hours era, one that began with the album’s release in March 2020, was not over yet. “P.s. this chapter isn’t quite done yet …” he said on Twitter, adding, “still tying some loose ends.” Afterward, he dropped a video for “Try Me” from his 2018 EP, My Dear Melancholy, and sold an unreleased song through an NFT auction.

On Grande’s side of things, she recently connected with Demi Lovato for their “Met Him Last Night” track and shared a behind-the-scenes clip of her meticulously singing during a Positions studio session.

Press play on the “Save Your Tears” remix in the video above.

There are a lot of weird things you might see at a baseball game, but Thursday brought something new when the Giants broadcast turned their attention to a couple of fans in the stands who had…a rabbit?

It is as the commentators note, “a big fella,” and he is just taking in some baseball and maybe having some snacks. The broadcast team had some fun trying to figure out what exactly was happening, while also making sure to point out that you gotta be careful with too many snacks for the rabbit or you’ll have “smart pills” on your leg [poop, he’s talking about rabbit poop]. Now, if you’re wondering how the hell you get a rabbit into the game, this wasn’t a situation where they snuck it in, but rather the couple’s “therapy bunny,” which we learned thanks to some tremendous investigative work from Janie McCauley of the Associated Press who hustled down there from the press box for some hard hitting journalism.

Alex is an incredibly chill rabbit, as evidenced by him just hanging out, getting pets during this interview. He even has his own Instagram page, which chronicles the many things he does with his people.

As someone who had a rabbit as a child, I would not think you could get them to just hang out like this for hours on end at a baseball game, but salute to Alex, the world’s chillest bunny who has gone on more adventures than most people over the last few months.

How To Make It In America has been off the air for nearly a decade now, but a marketing campaign for a streetwear brand got some fans excited that a revival might actually be on the horizon. And, well, maybe if fans make enough noise about it that revival could happen after all.

The Bryan Greenberg show ran two seasons on HBO and featured Victor Rasuk and Greenberg’s characters trying to make it big in the New York fashion scene. The show was a bit of a cult hit, drawing mixed reviews and ratings through two seasons but finding an audience large enough to make minor waves on social media a decade later when a video of Rasuk and Greenberg meeting in a booth of a New York restaurant drew speculation that a Season 3 could be on the way. It didn’t help that Greenberg posted the video with little explanation on Thursday.

The video, which you can see above, doesn’t exactly announce much of anything. But the key to its purpose is seen on the back of Rasuk’s sweatshirt: the logo for Hidden NY, a streetwear company that was using the video to announce its latest campaign.

Still, those who didn’t pick up on the ad were mostly disappointed the show isn’t coming back just yet.

One fan did get a response from HBO Max, though, so perhaps hope isn’t lost just yet.

Whether that help account will get things started here or not is yet to be determined, but we’ve seen online campaigns make things possible on HBO Max, so who knows what can happen if it draws enough attention.

Former Kentucky guard and NBA Draft hopeful Terrence Clarke has reportedly passed away due to an automobile accident. Clarke, who was a freshman at Kentucky during the 2020-21 season, was only 19 years old.

WKYT in Lexington first reported the news, reporting that Clarke and Kentucky teammate BJ Boston were in Los Angeles for a workout, with Boston in a car behind Clarke when the tragic accident took place. Clarke reportedly passed away en route to a local hospital. The news was confirmed by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who released a statement from Rich Paul of Klutch Sports who had recently signed Clarke.

Clarke’s one season in Lexington was marred by injury, as he appeared in only eight games. Still, Clarke showed reverence for his time at Kentucky in a mid-March announcement that he would be foregoing his remaining collegiate eligibility to enter the 2021 NBA Draft.

“As an adolescent, having the privilege to put on the Kentucky uniform and play in front of the BBN was always a lifelong goal of mine,” said Clarke. “Although it was hindered due to things out of my own control, the experience is something I will keep with me forever. I have grown a lot with this experience and I will never take it for granted. After discussing it with my family, I have decided to renounce my eligibility and declare for the NBA Draft. I had high expectations coming into this season and, of course, didn’t expect to be injured, which I understand is part of the game. Thank you to Coach Cal, the coaching staff and my teammates! BBN, I hope to make you all proud as a I pursue my dreams.”

Just one day ago, Clarke announced that he would be signing with Klutch Sports Group as he looked to start his professional career.

After Clarke announced his decision to enter the NBA Draft, Kentucky head coach John Calipari complemented his character.

“This was not an easy decision for Terrence, who I admire for how he handled adversity, stuck with it and battled back to be there for his teammates in the SEC Tournament game,” Calipari said. “Terrence has unbelievable ability and upside, and my only disappointment for him is that he didn’t have a chance to build on what he started because of the leg injury…. Terrence showed me a lot this year in how he handled the hand he was dealt and became a great teammate. Like Jarred Vanderbilt, who had a similar challenge, I really believe Terrence’s best days are ahead of him. I will be rooting like crazy for him and I know our fans will be as well.”

A former McDonald’s All-American and consensus five-star prospect, Clarke had considerable promise on the basketball court. Still, this is a devastating loss that goes far beyond the hardwood, and our thoughts are with his family and friends during this impossibly difficult time.

Brad Stevens learned of the loss of the Boston native after the Celtics game and cut his press conference short, noting the heartbreaking news of Clarke’s tragic death, and other Celtics were asked about Clarke as many had formed relationships with the young man.

A number of NBA players learned of the news on social media and expressed the devastation of the basketball community at his loss and offered their condolences to his family and friends.

As the hip-hop community continues to grieve the recent deaths of DMX and Black Rob, they’re unfortunately forced to say goodbye to another well-respected name. Digital Underground rapper Shock G has reportedly passed away at the age of 57. The news was delivered by fellow Digital Underground member Chopmaster J through a post he shared on Instagram.

“34 years ago almost to the day we had a wild idea we can be a hip hop band and take on the world through it all the dream became a reality and the reality became a nightmare for some,” he wrote. “And now he’s awaken from the fame long live shock G Aka Humpty Hump and Rest In Peace my Brotha Greg Jacobs!!! #digitalunderground.”

A cause of death has yet to be revealed by anyone close to Shock G. The rapper discovered hip-hop after settling down in Queens, New York following a string of relocations around the East Coast with his family. Years later, he would move to Oakland, California and start the Digital Underground collective with Chopmaster J and the late Kenneth Waters, aka Kenny-K. In 1989, they would sign to Tommy Boy Records, and the year after, they released their highest charting record with “The Humpty Dance.” The group would go on to release six albums together between 1990 and 2008.

Shock G had success as a solo act and producer. In 1993 he produced and guest appeared on Tupac’s breakout single, “I Get Around,” and eventually produced his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now.

You can view the post from Chopmaster J above.

Young Thug’s YSL Records collective finally came through with their long-awaited Slime Language 2 compilation last week. It boasted a number of contributions from some of music’s biggest names like Drake, Travis Scott, Future, Kid Cudi and Meek Mill while seeing some of the YSL acts like Lil Keed, Gunna, Unfoonk shine as well. One of the most popular tracks from the album is “Solid,” a song that features Drake, Gunna, and Young Thug.

In a recent sit-down with Billboard that debuted hours after The Call Of Duty: Warzone season three trailer premiered, which Gunna and Thug appear in, the former explained how the Slime Language 2 collaboration came together and shared his thoughts on the Ski Challenge.

“Drake had originally sent me the song for his album and I did it and we was vibing with it for a minute,” Gunna said in the interview about “Solid.” “But then his album didn’t come out and I was still vibing with it, and I’m like ‘Sh*t bro, I wanna put it on Slime Language 2. Let’s put slime (Thug) on it.’ And he was like extra with it and we did, and that’s how that came together.”

As for the Ski Challenge, which sees celebrities and fans alike make skiing motions as Thug and Gunna’s “Ski” collaboration plays in the background, Gunna sees the song reaching great heights because of the challenge. “I feel like [‘Ski’] is like an everybody song so I feel like it’s going to reach everybody,” he said. “You know how many people in the world? I feel like it’s going to keep getting bigger over the years.”

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

My favorite random thing to make fun of Portland for is how much everyone talks up Voodoo Donuts. Then I went there and there was a big line halfway down the block, just for donuts with Fruit Loops and shit on the top. Ever since then, “just put some Fruit Loops on it” has been my brain’s shorthand for describing Portland’s food and aesthetic culture.

Incredibly, this week’s Top Chef taught us that Fruit Loops isn’t just a state of mind, it’s also a place: The Fruit Loop, a region in Oregon where they grow delicious fruits. Inspired by this historic fruit region, the chefs’ challenge was to create a savory dish highlighting Oregon’s fruit. Not only did they have to do it themselves, past competitors and current judges Melissa King and Carrie Baird soon showed up to add a TWIST: there would be no veggies in the pantry.

That’s right: No onions, no garlic, no carrots (unclear whether tomatoes count) — ie, no mirepoix, no trinity, no sofrito! All fruit all the time! More fruit faster!

This actually led to some interesting dishes, and also some shitty ones. Which is to say, all in all, a pretty solid challenge. And the risotto curse is back!

Of course, this challenge followed closely on the heels of a quickfire challenge sponsored by CAMPBELL’S SOUP, in which the cheftestants had to “evoke a food memory, but elevate it” while also incorporating one of Campbell’s line of delicious soups. Top Chef’s editors would have us believe that these chefs were all THRILLED to be incorporating pre-made sodium bombs into their cheffed-up food memories.

“These soups can be a great kitchen hack,” said Jamie, while Byron smiled broadly.

Your smiles are a lie! Anyway, the winner got ten grand, the brand got a blow job, and the chefs put soup on some stuff. Everyone’s happy! Now then, to the rankings!

—

RESULTS

Quickfire Top: Gabe, Sara, Chris*. (*winner)

Quickfire Bottom: Nelson, Shota, Kiki.

Elimination Top: Gabriel, Chris, Gabe*.

Elimination Bottom: Nelson, Avishar, Kiki**. (**Eliminated).

POWER RANKINGS

12. (-1) ((Eliminated)) Kiki Louya

AKA: Aunt Sassy. Peppers.

Noooo, not Kiki! First, they sent home Roscoe, now Kiki. If Avishar goes home next episode my favorite personalities are all going to be gone before we even get down to the top 10 (at least we still have Shota, knock on wood). Still, after Kiki landed in the bottom for both challenges last episode and again in this episode, it was hard to argue this decision.

First, she gave the judges undercooked Swiss chard (which was a substitute for the kale she actually wanted) in the quickfire challenge, and then in the elimination challenge, she served up an apple-glazed fried chicken dish that sounded great and was… except for the chicken was raw inside. Sucks that you can do everything right and then one little boo boo ends up killing a famous supermodel in a freak salmonella accident. C’est la vie I suppose.

Between challenges, Kiki explained how this competition has been especially difficult for her on account of most of her dishes come out of rigorous planning and a lengthy R & D process — which made a lot of sense to me. Seems like it definitely takes skills to improvise some kooky dish in 30 minutes to satisfy some cockamamie challenge requirements, but also a lot of luck. Winners do their homework (said the guy who idiotically chose to do homework for a living).

Yet when Kiki explained to the camera “I took the chicken out of the fryer a little below temp so that it would keep rising for a few minutes and be perfect for the judges” there might as well have been a “THIS IS NOT GOING TO WORK” chyron flashing across the bottom of the screen.

Folks, it did not work. Honestly, raw chicken notwithstanding, Kiki’s dish still looked better — better planned, better composed, better in concept — than Avishar’s baby puke-looking ass risotto. But I can understand that raw chicken is a pretty big flaw to overcome. Not killing your guests is always job one.

11. (-5) Avishar Barua

AKA: Milhouse. Chillhouse. Thrillhouse. American Pie. The Carbonator. Portmanteau. Ohio Guy.

Has anyone ever tried to make portmanteaus happen harder than Avishar? STOP HIM BEFORE HE COMBINES WORDS AGAIN! After his medium-successful “chicken toast masala” in the quickfire challenge, a combination of chicken tikka masala and shrimp toast made with Campbell’s tomato soup, Avishar ran headlong into Top Chef‘s infamous risotto curse.

Of course, he had no one to blame but himself for this, for attempting to make “Ohiotto.” This was his Ohio take on risotto, which had nothing to do with Ohio other than that Avishar was making it and Avishar is from Ohio. And which combined apples, rice, and bacon. I dunno about that one, Milhouse. It’s always a bad sign when the editors include subtitles to explain your shitty puns. I mean, I wish I had pop-up annotations to explain my shitty jokes in life, but still.

I tend to think Avishar probably should’ve gone home this week on account of every single component of his dish was both poorly conceived and executed this week, whereas Kiki had a good dish with undercooked chicken in the middle. But since Avishar is one of the most likeable chefs left in this competition, I’m glad he’s still around.

Notable Critique: “This is both too al dente and mushy at the same time.”

10. (even) Nelson German

AKA: Papa Bear. Cardio.

Papa Bear was huffing and puffing this week, and seemed to choose which fruits to highlight in his elimination challenge dish based on how far he’d have to run to collect them. Gotta work on that cardio, hoss! Skipping cardio day is even worse than skipping leg day. He ended up with too-sweet fruit that he tried to fix by adding hella herbs. This did not work out well for him. Sometimes the mistakes just snowball like that. When Padma asked “is that rosemary I taste in these scallops?” you knew it wasn’t because she wanted the recipe. (Rosemary. In scallops. Nope).

Still, Nelson couldn’t blame cardio for hammering his cod (heh) in the quickfire, leaving him with two bottom-three finishes this episode. “I just need to cook my food,” the ghost of Nelson said to himself like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Notable Critique: “I just get herbs on herbs on herbs.”

9. (-2) Jamie Tran

Aka: Splat. Police Academy.

Any time Jamie manages to get through an entire episode without accidentally poking herself with sharp things seems like a relative win. She also complained less than Nelson about having to run around collecting fruit, so it seems her cardio has improved from a few episodes ago. Anyway, Jamie slid through the soft middle in both challenges, but with all the bitchy disses about how her grilled pork and polenta was dated and boring it seemed like it was probably a low middle (it did sound good to me, so I dunno).

Jamie not making it to the judge’s table at the end robs us of so many flustered sound effects. I can’t decide whether this is a curse or a blessing.

Notable Critique: “This is a little bit dated, and a little bit boring.”

8. (+1) Byron Gomez

AKA: Manolo. Burger King. Great Job.

Byron felt like he was making strides in this episode and yet, once again, come deliberation time he vanished almost completely. He made something called “Every day is Thanksgiving” with mushroom soup in the quickfire, and followed it up with filled pasta in the elimination challenge. Both were reasonably well-received, but seemingly more for the fact that he’d made them than because they were particularly good.

Notable Critique: “He managed to make filled pasta in a forest, so kudos to him.”

7. (+2) Maria Mazon

AKA: Gas Can. Backdraft. B+.

This week, Maria revealed that her quickfire dish was something that she’d served to… MAH WAHFE on their first date.

That’s right, Maria is a Wife Guy now. That was a sweet montage, but alas, Maria’s wife was not among the judges and Maria once again failed to make the top or the bottom three in either challenge. Though they did say her albondigas (which, to be fair, looked al-bomb-digas) were “soulful and savory.”

Incidentally, much was made of Maria not having her usual chili peppers to work with in the elimination challenge because of the “fruits-only” rule. But hey, wait a second: aren’t chili peppers technically a fruit? They have seeds in them, like fruit, and they’re not part of the plant body, like vegetables. Ergo, chili peppers are fruit and Maria should’ve been allowed to use them.

You morons, you absolute fools…

6. (+6) Chris Viaud

AKA: Stretch. Butter. Kelso.

Everyone’s favorite himbo, Chris, claimed to be turning over a new leaf in this episode, not overthinking things and just going with his gut. Turned out he had some big brains in that gut and he won immunity in the quickfire for his grilled-cheese-and-tomato-soup-inspired grilled cheese panzanella. See how clever you can be when you just admit what a dumbass you are?

That’s always been my policy. Waiter, I will have your most lowest-hanging fruit, please.

Chris’s seared scallop with peach butter led the judges to declare “I think he showed up on the plate.” Which I always find to be a strange way of describing things, but we get it. That made two top-three finishes for Stretch this week, after looking like he was about to go home in basically every previous episode. I don’t know if I’m quite a Chris believer yet, but his performance was enough to fly six spots up the rankings.

5. (-2) Dawn Burrell

AKA: Hothead. ‘Sheed. Legs. Breaking Dawn. Milk Carton. Coco Chanel.

On the surface, it was a fairly quiet episode for Dawn, who has now gone two full episodes without a forgotten component. Does this mean I’m going to have to change her nicknames? Of course not, precocious blunders live forever in nicknames, that’s half the point. Didn’t you ever see the Susie Underpants episode of Friends?

Anyway, on the surface it was a quiet episode for Dawn, landing in the middle on both challenges, but keeping in mind that she attempted basically the same apple risotto dish that Avishar did, and in her case the judges all loved it, I’d say things are still looking pretty good for Dawn. She defied the risotto curse!

Notable Critique: “This is so luscious.”

4. (-1) Gabriel Pascuzzi

AKA: Patriarchy. Evil Gabe. Chad. Bluto. Mr. Mackie. The Noodge. Yogi.

Evil Gabe feels like he’s been trying hard not to become this season’s villain after he fell into it so easily in the first couple of episodes. But he still has the badly-trimmed beard of every dumb white guy (see also: Derek Carr, Donald Trump Jr.) which screams “VILLAIN!” even when Evil Gabe is technically being nice.

Evil Gabe got stung by a bee this episode, which didn’t stop him from landing in the top three for his chilled oysters with apple, peaches, and plum. It looked good, but how the hell are you going to call three raw oysters an entree? I’ve eaten 18 of those as an appetizer before a steak. Nonetheless, Gabriel joins a storied tradition of Top Chef contestants landing in the top three of challenges with raw dishes. That we’ve only had this and Avishar and Shota’s sunomono from a few episodes ago actually seems below average for this point in the season.

Turns out, the best way to cook something is not to.

Notable Critique: “This is very enchanting to me.”

3. (-1) Sara Hauman

AKA: Tails. Yogurt. Trapper Keeper. Manic Pixie Cream Sauce. Fiddlesticks.

Sara remained an obnoxiously strong competitor again this week through the quickfire challenge, in which she smoked her mushrooms to give them a meatier flavor (dammit, that was actually a really good idea) and landed in the top three, conspicuously not swearing and laughing self-deprecatingly after everything she said.

Then in the elimination round, it seemed like the judges finally got fed up with Sara’s Portland bullshit. After last week’s “matcha-dusted cream puff,” this week she made grilled shrimp with quinoa and more yogurt sauce. Christ, what’s she going to make next week, kombucha granola?

Notable Quote: “Mine is so dull and so heavy.”

2. (-1) Shota Nakajima

AKA: Beavis.

Shota is so eminently likable that I could even tolerate him describing a dish as “me on a plate” in the first five minutes. That’s a chug-your-drink moment in the Top Chef drinking game. Also, for the love of God, stop saying that. It’s a dumb cliché and it’s gross.

Shota suffered a rare misstep in the quickfire challenge, a failed chawanmushi that didn’t set in time. Stop making custards! It never works!

“I like it pretty loose,” he told Padma, unconvincingly. “Oh, well then you’ll love Tom’s mom,” responded Padma, in my fantasy. Really whiffed on that opportunity. So far this season has had a disappointing lack of the usual Padma sex entendres in general. Where have you gone, Padma?? This was a whole episode full of plums and peaches with a too loose custard! Get that woman some champagne, stat.

Then in the elimination challenge, the judges called Shota’s fish dry. It was definitely a down episode for him, but not many chefs could get away with serving dry salmon and not land in the bottom three. This is almost entirely a gut call, but Shota is still a favorite in my mind (oh God, he’s going to go home next episode, isn’t he).

1. (+3) Gabe Erales

AKA: Good Gabe. Canelo. Fozzy. The Foz. Masa Father.

Good Gabe made a cabbage-braised cod in the quickfire and some slow-smoked plums in the elimination challenge and landed in the top three in the first and the top spot in the second. The man is on fire! Fruit in gravy, who knew?

Gabe’s mole-inspired slow-smoked plums covered in sauce (no protein!) was so good it had Amar Santana licking his plate. And again, not a single god damn sex joke about any of this. What do I have to do, guys? You’re going to have Amar Santana slurp Gabe’s plum juice off a plate and not a single person is going to make a crack? Disappointing.

Not Gabe’s food though. Gabe’s food looks bomb.

Notable Critique: “This is the best thing I ate so far.”

Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

When news arrived nearly two weeks ago that DMX had passed away, a rain of condolences arrived in honor of the hip-hop legend. Most used social media to share their thoughts like Ruff Ryders members Swizz Beatz, Sheek Louch and Styles P as well as the group’s co-founder Joaquin “Waah” Dean. A noticeable name missing from that list was Jadakiss, who instead decided to honor DMX by giving back to his Yonkers hometown, the city where the late rapper was also born.

In a video he posted on Instagram, Jadakiss invited his followers to come to Palisades Towers, where he would give out fresh boxes of produce to folks in the city. Its caption also explained the giveaway’s purpose as the rapper wrote, “Food Giveaway in Honor of DMX.”

The move from Jadakiss comes after DMX’s family announced the official memorial services to honor the rapper. The first, a “Celebration Of Life Memorial,” will occur on April 24 at 4 p.m. EST and air on YouTube while a second service, a “Home-going Celebration,” will be held on April 25 at 2:30 p.m. EST and air on BET. Per an announcement from DMX’s manager Steve Rifkind last week, it appears the former will take place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and the latter will be at a church in the New York City area.

You can check out Jadakiss’ post above.

The battle between millennials and older generations isn’t exactly a generational war—it’s more a case of mistaken generational identity. A decade ago, whining about millennials being young adults unprepared to make their way in the world at least made sense mathematically. But when people bag on millennials now they end up looking rather foolish.

A marketing researcher with a doctorate in social psychology wrote an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune titled “Post-pandemic, some millennials finally decide to start #adulting.” And when the Tribune shared it to Twitter, their since-deleted tweet read, “Writer Jennifer Rosner predicts COVID-10 lockdowns will force easy-breezy millennials to grow up.”

Hoo boy.

Interestingly, the writer of the op-ed is a millennial herself, but she repeats generalizations about her entire generation that seem like they mainly apply to her own social circle. Read it yourself to decide, but regardless, the tweet of the op-ed itself set off a firestorm of responses from millennials who are tired of being painted as irresponsible young people who don’t know how to “adult” instead of what they actually are.

First of all, the oldest millennials are turning 40 this year The youngest are 25—either well out of college or well into grad school. And yet, they’ve been thought of as the youngest adults for the past 10-15 years, even as they’ve aged into full-on adulthood.

The struggle of millennials is not that they don’t know how to be adults. It’s that the financial reality of the world in which they came of age made it much harder to get established than previous generations, with two recessions, stagnant wages, rising costs of living, and crippling debt from skyrocketing tuition costs.

Nonetheless, most millennials are 30-somethings who are in the midst of careers, paying mortgages, raising kids, and other extremely adult things. And they’re doing it with less security and stability on a basic level than previous generations experienced. They are resilient because they have to be. They are resourceful because they have no choice.

What they, as a generation, are not? Easy breezy.

A good chunk of the parents who have had to figure out childcare for their young kids during a pandemic or learn on the fly how to help their children with virtual school while also managing their own careers from home? Millennials.

Seriously, the oldest millennials were early in their career years when the 2008 recession hit, and the youngest millennials are at that stage now, during this pandemic recession. Those lucky middle-millennials may have had an easier time finding a job—maybe—but they’re still dealing with wages that haven’t kept up with costs of living increases while trying to getting their families started.

Oh yeah, and they’re inheriting a crescendoing global climate crisis to boot. Easy breezy!

The responses were swift and fierce.

And some of them were simply, wryly hilarious.

Every generation has its share of struggles and every generation thinks the generation before and after it is somehow flawed, but it’s those generalizations themselves that are the biggest problem. Sure, there are generational differences born of changes in the world, social pendulum swings, and reactions to our own upbringings, but to blame a generation for circumstances they can’t control is pretty crappy and to lump them all together as lazy or entitled or “easy breezy” is as inaccurate as it is rude.

I’m not a millennial—solidly Gen X here—but the millennials I know are great people. Leave them alone unless you’ve got a solution to the challenges they’re facing beyond “stop buying avocado toast” and “save up money from your underpaid job for a house you can’t afford.” And for the love of all that is good and holy, stop talking about them like they’re doe-eyed college students. Time to give them the full respect we give all “real” adults. They’ve definitely earned it.

There has been a tide of anti-trans paranoia washing over America’s red states during the past year. Thirty-five bills have been introduced by state legislators to limit or prohibit transgender women from competing in women’s athletics. There were only two in 2019.

However, this week has seen some significant pushback in multiple states.

Republican North Dakota governor Doug Burgum surprised a lot of people by vetoing a bill that would prohibit transgender girls from participating in women’s sports.

The bill, known as H.B. 1298, passed in the state Senate 27-20 last Thursday and 69-25 in the House on Wednesday.

However, Burgum vetoed it because in North Dakota, there isn’t an issue with trans girls playing sports.

“There is no evidence to suggest this is true,” he wrote. “To date, there has not been a single recorded incident of a transgender girl attempting to play on a North Dakota girls’ team. This bill’s blanket prohibitions do not extend to students attending tribal or privately funded schools, thereby creating the potential for an unlevel playing field.”

He also added that the North Dakota High School Activities Association already has a law on the books that requires trans girls to undergo testosterone suppression treatment for a full year before joining a girls’ sports team.

The state Senate will only attempt to override the veto if the House does as well. If the votes remain the same as the initial vote, the attempt will fail.

By vetoing the bill, Burgum illustrates the fact that there was no real reason for the legislation but for conservative legislators to gain political capital off the tide of trans paranoia sweeping through America’s red states. It was a brave move for him to stand up against his own party.

Watermark on Twitter

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The paranoia surrounding trans girls in sports looks a lot like the right-wing campaign against allowing trans people to use the bathroom of their gender from a few years ago.

Conservatives claimed that men were dressing as women under the guise of being transgender to assault them. But, the facts showed that there were no assaults of that nature in any states that passed laws allowing trans people to use the bathroom of their gender.

The news from North Dakota comes as three other states are rejecting anti-trans legislation as well.

In Kansas, Democratic Governor Laura Kelly said she will veto a bill passed by House Republicans that aims to prohibit trans girls from playing sports in school.

Louisiana Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards recently announced he’s against any new legislation that would prohibit sports participation for trans youth or limit gender-affirming healthcare.

Bills targeting trans people in North Carolina, Florida, Montana, Missouri, and Florida have all recently been set aside.

Chase Strangio, staff attorney for the ACLU and transgender rights activist, believes the recent string of legal victories should be attributed to trans rights activists. “Though this session has been brutal. Three Republican governors have vetoed (in one way or another) anti-trans laws,” he tweeted. “That is a testament to incredible organizing. Forever in awe of trans organizers.”