Month: May 2021

Ever he was kicked off most of social media — including Twitter, his favorite, for all eternity — Donald Trump has threatened to start his own online platform. It seemed far-fetched, if not impossible. To run one requires a lot of bandwidth, which he probably can’t get, or at least a lot of money, which he probably doesn’t have. But lo and behold, on Tuesday, he debuted his great idea. And it was just a blog. That only he could access.

It appears to be called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” and all it is is a place to dump the press releases he’s been releasing over the last couple months — the ones that are clearly just what would have been tweets, typos and random all-caps and all, placed below formal-looking letterhead. That quickie diss of Mitt Romney in which he calls him a “stone cold loser” that he would have fired off at 3am? It’s here instead.

You can repost Trump’s posts on Twitter or Facebook, but there’s no way to interact with them on his special social media site. It’s a pretty elegant reflection of his own isolation, down in Mar-a-Lago, ranting to strangers about the election he lost half a year back.

When news broke of the platform, a lot of people, including us, compared it to a blog. But others had another, even older comparison: He’d just reinvented LiveJournal, the diary site that took off in the early days of the internet after it took off with the public. Founded in 1999, it came well before the term “blog” was born, and it allowed users to blather about their thoughts and dreams and grievances. It even allowed you to list you general mood, like “angry” or “feeling excited.”

Trump’s site doesn’t have those, but it does have lots of grievances. Still, when it launched, everyone made the same LiveJournal joke.

Does Donald J. Trump even know what LiveJournal is? Did he have an account that we haven’t discovered yet? He seems to have only discovered the Internet when Twitter came around, allowing succinct, rapid-fire posts. But perhaps he’ll expand the capabilities of his newfangled sosical media site, and we’ll really learn about his dreams and his feelings.

It took three years, but in March frustrated (and persistent) DC heads finally got their precious “Snyder Cut.” The new edition gave something approximating the insane ambitions director Zack Snyder’s had for Justice League, which was supposed to be the comic line’s version of Marvel’s Avengers. But it almost didn’t happen, and in a new interview the filmmaker explains he spent a while afraid to support the fans calling for the cut lest his old bosses get mad.

“I was more worried the studio would sue me. Do something to silence me,” Snyder told The Sunday Times, in a bit teased out by IGN. So he stayed quiet, just as he had ever since leaving the project in early 2017. He kept his trap shut as replacement director Joss Whedon did extensive reshoots and as the studio took what was supposed to be a serious, complex study of superherodom and tried to retcon it into a bubbly (and relatively short!) entertainment, complete with catchphrases and “boo-yahs.” And he kept it up as it got lackluster reviews and underwhelming box office returns.

Not that the online fans who helped resuscitate it have been portrayed as heroes. Far from it. They’ve been called out for their online bullying, with some worrying that by pestering a studio into doing its bidding, they’ve set a terrible precedent. But Snyder defended them, saying, “Here’s the reality. That fandom raised $750,000 for suicide prevention and mental health awareness.”

Still, now they’re trying to get Warner Bros. to let him do his whole “SnyderVerse.”

(Via The Sunday Times and IGN)

YFN Lucci is once again in trouble with the law. The Atlanta rapper, born Rayshawn Bennett, was indicted on racketeering charges connected to a murder that occurred in his hometown of Atlanta. The announcement was shared through the city’s local news station, WSB-TV, which also revealed that Bennett was one of 12 individuals indicted in relation to the incident. The rapper is also accused of tampering with evidence at the crime scene, strangulation, encouraging the assault of a person for playing a rival gang’s music, and other offenses.

After news of the indictment arrived, Bennett’s lawyer Drew Fielding denied the accusations in a statement to WSB-TV. “He’s not a gang member,” Fielding said. “What he is is an internationally recognized musical artist that is a triple platinum winner, that has performed all over the United States and all over the world.”

The racketeering charges are not connected to the felony murder charges Bennett received at the top of the year. In this case, the rapper was charged in connection with the December 10 shooting death of 28-year-old James Adams. He was also accused of aggravated assault, participating in criminal street gang activity, and more in relation to Adams’ death. He surrendered to police in mid-January and was released nearly a month later on $500,000 bond.

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

Over the course of his career, Rostam Batmanglij has worked with a plethora of big names in pop, indie, and hip-hop, meaning his rolodex when it comes time to request guest features is quite extensive. From super recognizable collaborators like Haim and Charli XCX, to more obscure indie royalty like Hunx And His Punx leader Seth Bogart, Ariel Rechtshaid, and Remi Wolf, the rotating crew of people in the back of the cab helps drive home the song’s sweet message.

This is one of severals track Rostam has released off his upcoming second solo album, Changephobia, including “4Runner” and “These Kids We Knew,” “Unfold You,” and “Under Control.” Though he’s been working on the record for quite some time, it’s slated for release in early June.

Of course, part of why his own solo work was on the back burner over the last three years was probably due to his work producing Clairo’s Immunity and Haim’s excellent Women In Music Pt. 2. Rostam co-directed the video with Jason Lester, and a full list of all the celebrity guests is included below:

Demi Adejuyigbe, Seth Bogart, Matt DiMona, Kaia Gerber, HAIM: (Alana Haim, Danielle Haim, Este Haim), Ghazal Hashemi, Carter Howe, Huck Kwong, Julian McClanahan, Chris Paloma, Ariel Rechtshaid, Nick Robinson, Bryce Willard Smithe, Samantha Urbani, Wallows: (Braeden Lemasters, Dylan Minnette, Cole Preston), Remi Wolf, Charli XCX

Shiloh Barrientos, Dwight Boyce, Shaneel Chand, Sadie Chen, Paola Cruz, Kaydence De Mare, Alisha Erozer, Ron Gilbert, Richard Kray, Stacy Leland, Odell Mack, David Manning, Yoko Misawa, Paul Olguin, Rhoda Pell, Payton Poissant, Jessica Salazar, Nolan Sanyeh, Ayva Severy, Chok Suwanavisootr, Mark Winn.

Watch the video above and look for Rostam’s album out on 6/4 via Matsor Projects. Pre-order it here.

The 2021 Oscars were generally seen as a noble semi-failure, though even that descriptor seems harsh. For everything that didn’t work (the weirdly rushed In Memoriam segment, for one), there were two, maybe even three experiments that did (the cool opening long take, arguably the longer speeches). There was one failure that trumped them all: the ending. The award for Best Actor was moved to the end, knocking Best Picture — the capper for eons — down a few pegs. But it didn’t go to the perceived favorite, the late Chadwick Boseman. It went to Anthony Hopkins, who wasn’t there. Then the show abruptly ended.

In what was essentially an exit interview with Vanity Fair, Steven Soderbergh — one of three producers for the rejigged pandemic-era show — stopped just shy of admitting something most people assumed was true: That Best Actor came last because Boseman was expected to win, for the August Wilson adaptation Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which would have been quite a closer. Soderbergh — an Oscar-winner himself — didn’t say that outright. But he basically said that.

Soderbergh said that that acceptance speech, which would have been given by the acclaimed actor’s widow, Simone Ledward Boseman, “would have been such a shattering moment” that “to come back after that would have been just impossible.” And so Best Picture was bumped to two awards back. “I said if there was even the sliver of a chance that he would win and that his widow would speak, then we were operating under the fact that was the end of the show.”

Whether he was right, we’ll never know. It was a big gamble, and the producers lost. What’s worse, it had dismal ratings (though, mind you, so have all pandemic-era awards shows). But that’s okay, Soderbergh argued, because this year was about experiments, and experiments often fail.

“You have to understand this show was very much viewed by us and by the Academy as an opportunity to try some really different stuff,” Soderbergh said. “There are going to be some things that work and some things that don’t, things that people like, things that people don’t.” He added, “That’s the point.”

Soderbergh even defended another controversial move: not allowing Anthony Hopkins, who won what would have been Boseman’s award, for his work in the Alzheimer’s drama The Father, to give his acceptance speech over Zoom. Instead, when Hopkin’s name was called, he was fast asleep in his home in Wales. When asked if he regretted not bending the rules, even for Sir Anthony Hopkins, Soderbergh’s answer was short: “No.”

(Via Vanity Fair)

At long last, the world finally received a release date for J. Cole’s next album: The Off-Season, which the rapper has been teasing since late last year, will arrive next week, on May 14. Cole shared the news on his social media accounts, and he also revealed the album’s artwork: an image of him standing in front of a burning basketball hoop. While everyone else has to wait, the rapper’s labelmates are already letting people know what to expect before it arrives.

Hours after J. Cole made the announcement, Cozz, who’s also signed to Dreamville Records, took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the forthcoming release. “From what I’ve heard so far this cole best sh*t to date,” he wrote. His comments come after labelmate Bas hinted at the album’s impending arrival in a now-deleted Instagram post, writing, “pack your bags. [rocket emoji] in two weeks.”

The road to The Off-Season dates back to Cole’s 2018 album, KOD, which is when he revealed that he already had a name for his subsequent effort. It was originally teased for a 2020 release, but the year came and went without its arrival. In December, he shared a to-do list that featured The Off-Season as something he wants to complete before releasing its follow-up, The Fall Off.

On Monday night, the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 6-3, but the game caused buzz for an altercation around the net that saw Caps forward Tom Wilson slam the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin to the ground, causing a lower leg injury that will end his season.

The incident took place after a scrum at the net when Wilson hit Pavel Buchnevich in the head while on the ground and Panarin skated in to pull Wilson off of him. Wilson then slammed Panarin to the ground twice and was given a 10-minute penalty for game misconduct and a four-minute penalty for roughing.

After the game the two coaches had very different views of what took place, via ESPN.

“We all saw it. There are lines that can’t be crossed in this game. There’s just zero respect for the game in general. You got one of the star players in this league now that could have gotten seriously, seriously hurt in that incident,” said Quinn following the Rangers’ 6-3 loss to the Capitals. “You all saw what happened, and it happens time and time again with him. Totally unnecessary.
…
Capitals coach Peter Laviolette didn’t think there was anything out of the ordinary during the second-period incident. “I thought it was just a scrum. Physical play. There was something going on originally with the goalie and jamming at the goalie. We had a bunch of players jump in there. It happens a lot,” he said.

Some broke the video down in slow-motion to show just how dangerous Wilson’s takedown of Panarin was, but the league determined that the only punishment was a fine for what he did to Buchnevich.

As such, the Rangers were furious with the decision, calling the NHL’s head of player safety “unfit” to continue in his current role if all he is going to do in such an instance is dole out a $5,000 fine.

It’s as scorched earth as you’ll ever see an official team statement go, calling out the league and, by name, the head of player safety. On the other side, the Capitals were much more celebratory about Wilson’s actions, initially tweeting “Capitals Choose Violence” and Wilson was living “rent free” in people’s heads in a since-deleted tweet, but still had a photo of Wilson being taken to the box afterwards in their post-victory celebratory tweet.

The two teams meet again on Wednesday in New York and there will surely be some bad blood that spills over between the two sides.

Manchester City became the first side to punch its ticket to the 2021 Champions League final on Tuesday, as the English champions-elect toppled French giants Paris Saint-Germain, 2-0, to win the tie on aggregate, 4-1. It was an impressive display by the Mancunians, but one moment that occurred in the second half of the match has drawn scorn from the football watching world.

PSG’s Ángel Di María, in a moment of frustration, stomped on the foot of Manchester City’s Fernandinho after the ball had rolled out of play and Fernandinho tried to keep him from taking a quick throw in. It was an obvious red card — Di María was promptly sent off — and in the aftermath, CBS commentator Jim Beglin repeated a racist trope that South American players have shorter tempers than other players to explain why the Argentine did this.

Several minutes of ultra-chippy play occurred before Beglin addressed his comment, apologizing to anyone who “has taken offense.”

There are plenty of reasons why this is a completely ridiculous comment from Beglin, chief among them being that all of English football did a social media blackout over the weekend to raise awareness of the lack of attention that companies have paid to addressing racism on their platforms. Beglin himself participated in the blackout, but it is evident that he, much like the sport itself, have plenty of work to still do. Whether CBS will address Beglin’s commentary publicly or not remains to be seen, but plenty of fans were understandably upset.

It’s been a little over a year now that we’ve all been (mostly) at home. But as things begin to open up, we’re all starting to get itchy feet. Flights are up and destinations are gradually re-opening. People who travel for a living are slowly returning to their (dope ass) jobs.

So it goes for travel influencer and avid surfer Nathan Fluellen. “Worldwide Nate” just spent his birthday in the Maldives (Soneva Jani, to be exact) where he got to disconnect from the outside world and connect with his inner self while sliding down a waterslide into the Indian Ocean from the top of a two-story villa.

As of right now, the Maldives are accepting all travelers who arrive with a negative Covid-19 PCR test result taken within 96 hours of their arrival to the islands. But testing requirements are a small price to pay in order to 1) not get people sick, and 2) get to cruise down that aforementioned waterslide.

“To be able to get on a plane to go to the Maldives, you have to take a PCR test and get a negative test result,” Nathan tells us over the phone. “Then when I got to the property the doctor came, administered another PCR test, and I quarantined in my villa while I was waiting for my results. After that though, you get to walk around maskless. It felt so foreign. It was refreshing to have a taste of the pre-covid experience in that way.”

While it’s crucial that every traveler makes their own decisions about Covid travel and many destinations are still under full lockdown, it’s never the wrong time for a little travel inspiration. So we asked Nate to share his guide to the Maldives, below.

What’s your favorite surf spot in the Maldives?

Everywhere

The best surf breaks are probably at a property called the Soneva Fushi. I stayed at a sister property called Soneva Jani and went to a surf break that was about a 20-minute boat ride from the island. I surfed a left reef break, the way the islands are set up is the resorts occupy an entire atoll, my atoll was in what’s considered the North Atoll.

What I like about surfing the Soneva Jani though, is that they have an eco-friendly surf program and all of their boards are made from recycled material.

What is your favorite beach in the Maldives?

The North Side of Medhufaru Island

My favorite beach is on the North Side of Medhufaru Island. That’s where we had a bbq dinner for my birthday. They cook right on the beach, there is no pollution out there so you just see entire constellations sparkling against the sky. It’s pretty amazing to experience eating a three-course dinner on the beach with nothing but some lanterns surrounding you.

At the resort I stayed at, it was much more about the over-water experience. Staying at an over-water villa was great, I could just walk out onto my deck and walk down a ladder into the water. During low tide, the water would come as high as my calf, so I could just walk about 100 yards out from in front of my villa and walk to these different sandbanks. Then during high tide, you can use the water slide. You just walk to the second floor and slide into the ocean.

Describe the perfect day in the Maldives

Morning — Yoga

Biking on the island was awesome. I would ride the bike to a morning yoga session, it would only be me and three other people, so you have the instructor directly adjusting your posture, it was definitely one of the best yoga practices I’ve ever had.

Late Afternoon — Cinema Paradiso

After my morning yoga session, I would bike to an overwater cinema, Cinema Paradiso. It has a Japanese restaurant with a big movie theater screen that sits over the water, and you get to watch the movie with blue tooth headphones. They do that so the speaker system doesn’t disturb the wildlife on the island.

All those eco-conscious details, I really appreciated.

Dinner — The Crab Shack

After, jump on your bike and hit The Crab Shack. They have these different Maldivian-style dishes with different crab options. I had a curry style crab, a spicy crab, and they had some broccoli that accompanied it that had all these flavors. You’re sitting there and the ground is the beach, you can walk 10 yards from your table and put your feet in the water, and then walk back and eat.

What would you consider the hidden gem of the Maldives?

Island leisure life

There is a soccer field in the middle of Medhufaru Island that the Soneva Jani staff uses at night after their shifts. It’s not advertised, not really for the guests, but it was cool to see the staff just having an after-work soccer match. It was equivalent to watching a good park basketball game, for that part of the world soccer is huge. It was refreshing to see, you’re always getting the smiles and five-star service, which is bar none, but then you see them cutting loose and being real.

It’s a cool vibe. I keep telling people that the island is like my happy place.

How should someone best prepare for a trip to the Maldives?

Break Up The Trip

Fly through the Middle East to get there. I would suggest people stopover in Dubai or if they’re flying Emirates, Qatar, or Abu Dhabi. Spend two or three nights there to break up the trip and get acclimated to the jet lag. Then you get to see the Middle East and the Maldives, you get a two-for-one experience.

I spent three nights in Dubai and four nights in the Maldives, but I was able to enjoy my time because I wasn’t spending getting acclimated to the jet lag. If you flew through Europe you could break up the trip that way, but my suggestion is the Middle East because it’s the same time zone.

From Dubai to the Maldivian capital Malé it’s just a four-hour flight.

What’s the first thing people should do when they land?

Indulge Yourself

Well, with the quarantine you’re gonna spend the first night completely in the resort. I’d say, really enjoy that first night, let yourself be a little kid. Run around, enjoy those amenities, unpack, unwind. And then when you go out and about, enjoy everything you can about the island, don’t worry about how little time you’re spending in your nice luxury villa.

Take the earliest flight you can, I took the 4:30 am flight, we landed in Mali at 9:35, we got to Soneva at about 11, then got our Covid results around 8:00 pm.

What’s the best way to witness the beauty of the island?

Get Lost

If you’re visiting Soneva Jani there are a bunch of pathways that you can take to get from one side of Medhufaru Island to the other. What you do is transition from overwater villas to white sand beaches into this jungle area. You can ride your bike, or you could walk to the other side of the island. Just get lost and adventure through, it’s almost like being in two different environments on a single island.

Then they have a huge crab population, they don’t eat those crabs but there is a lot of natural wildlife on the island. They come out at night, it’s really interesting to see. Just go have a jungle adventure.

What kind of food should people expect to find?

Anything and Everything

It’s a universal menu. For breakfast, you get all the stuff you’re used to, plus a Maldivian take on breakfast. But I was just having pancakes, eggs, sausages, all the different meats, and pastries. They have a 24hr ice cream and chocolate room. All these different flavors of ice cream to partake in, so the menu isn’t limited.

The sort of resorts you see in the Maldives, which aren’t cheap, are set up to cater to a wide range of diets.

What is one thing someone visiting the Maldives has to experience?

So Starstruck

So Starstruck has this elevated dining room, it’s about two stories in the sky. They have dinner at night, in between your meals they have an astronomer who leads you through a presentation about the constellations. He shows you Orion’s belt, the brightest start, different planets. They have this telescope that rises from a tower in the ground and then you can look at the stars up close and he points out all the different sites.

What was your favorite thing about visiting the Maldives?

Being Off Grid

The resort I stayed at’s motto was “No shoes, no news.” When you arrive they take your shoes and put them in a shoe bag and encourage you to walk around barefoot and not pay attention to the news. Fully immerse yourself in the experience of being on the island. They have TVs, but it’s all movies, no CNN or BBC or local news, they really want you to forget about the world you came from and focus on being here in this special space. I love that

A leaked quarterly business report from Epic games reveals the studio might have quite a bit in store for Fortnite fans in the coming years. According to the report, Epic is planning to add an arcade basketball mode to the game with an accompanying “Downtown Dunk” event that will feature NBA stars LeBron James and Zion Williamson front-and-center. In addition, Epic is also bringing some of the most iconic celebrities and characters from across numerous properties to the popular battle royale game. Among those revealed are:

• LeBron James
• The Rock
• Ariana Grande
• Lady Gaga
• Samus Aran (Metroid)
• Naruto (Naruto)
• Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)
• The Bride/Beatrix Kiddo (Kill Bill)
• Snake Plissken (Escape From New York)
• John McClane (Die Hard)

While the document was never intended to be made public — and therefore could be inaccurate or perhaps overly ambitious — several of the ideas mentioned have already come to life. These ideas include the popular Marvel crossover event as well as the game’s skin partnership with Brazilian soccer star Neymar and streamer LazarBeam.

The leak comes as a result of the ongoing Epic v. Apple lawsuit, which started last year when Epic “declared war on Apple” following a dispute over in-app purchases. This accusation resulted in Fortnite being taken off the app store indefinitely and led to further escalation from both sides. As of yesterday, the Epic vs. Apple trial has officially started, with sessions being held daily Monday-Thursday for the next three weeks until a decision is eventually reached.