Naomi Osaka has become one of the biggest stars in all of tennis, but the current No. 2 player in the world in the WTA rankings will not be playing any further in the second major championship of the year.
On Monday, Osaka announced she would be withdrawing from the French Open after winning her first match in straight sets, the result of a weekend of debate surrounding her initial announcement that she would not be doing any press availability during the championships. Osaka had cited protecting her mental health as the reason she did not want to participate in press conferences, particularly post-match, during the tournament and went into further detail about the anxiety she deals with in those situations in her announcement that she would be withdrawing.
It is an unfortunate end to a controversy that never should’ve been as big as it got. Osaka takes responsibility for announcing her plan to not do press in the wrong manner, and notes that she’s had private conversations with tournament officials about it and hopes to have more moving forward after this year’s event ends. That she felt the only way to end it was to withdraw completely is a shame, not just for Osaka as she looked to make a deep run at one of the major’s she’s yet to reach the quarters in, but for fans who won’t be able to watch one of tennis’ great talents because her request not to do press became such a story she felt she couldn’t perform without being a distraction.
There are absolutely conversations to be had, as she notes at the end of her statement, on how to make the press-player relationship work better for all parties, and hopefully this can be a starting point for that even if it begins with an unfortunate situation that seemed avoidable had her initial statement been handled and taken differently.
South Park‘s Eric Cartman has a distinct way of speaking, and ever since the show debuted back in 1997, his voice has been a commonly impersonated one. It’s easy to do a Cartman impression, but it’s hard to do it well. It turns out musician Fernando Ufret has a strong impersonation, though, which he shows off in a video of himself covering Linkin Park’s “In The End” as Cartman. The clip has gained traction on TikTok and has led to Linkin Park becoming a trending topic on Twitter today.
He reacted to the immediate attention his cover has brought him, tweeting this morning, “I just started a TikTok 2 days ago, and some of the posts are going insanely viral! Thank you, guys!”
I just started a TikTok 2 days ago, and some of the posts are going insanely viral! Thank you, guys!https://t.co/R1t4NNIE0S
— Fernando M. Ufret (@Fernando_Ufret) May 31, 2021
Ufret just uploaded his first TikTok video a few days ago and his account already has over 33,o00 followers. Other Cartman impression highlights from his page include covers of “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory and Green Day’s “Good Riddance.”
For the record, Ufret can do more than just a Cartman impression. He’s a talented vocalist with a natural rasp to his voice (in which you can actually hear a bit of his Cartman). For example, here’s a video from earlier this year in which he covers Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
While Miles Teller and his wife, Keleigh Sperry Teller, have been sharing posts of the seemingly paradisical Hawaiian vacation the two recently took with Shailene Woodley (Miles’s frequent co-star) and her fiancé/Super Bowl MVP/Jeopardy! host extraordinaire Aaron Rodgers, the getaway wasn’t 100 percent fun-filled.
On Friday morning, TMZ reported that the Top Gun: Maverick star had gotten into a physical altercation with someone while in the bathroom of Maui’s Monkeypod Kitchen restaurant, where Miles was dining with his wife. Keleigh posted about the incident on her Instagram stories that evening, which prompted People to track down the official police report. That report indicated that the “police responded to a report of an assault that occurred at a West Maui restaurant involving a male victim and one responsible party. The incident is currently under investigation; no further information is available at this time.”
Though Teller — who was just announced as Armie Hammer’s replacement in The Offer, a series documenting the making of The Godfather — initially remained silent on the event, a joke made at the actor’s expense by Sirius XM host Pat McAfee finally elicited a reaction, along some small details about what happened:
I got jumped by two guys in a bathroom. Never met them before in my life but ya cool wrestling segue bud
The story, however, didn’t end there. Early Saturday morning, TMZ posted yet another story, this one claiming that while Teller may not have known the men who attacked him, there could be a connection between them. According to the site, “One of the men who allegedly put hands on Miles is married to a wedding planner, and the wedding planner seems to have history with Miles and his wife, Keleigh. Keleigh mentioned in a Vogue article she worked with the company to plan the nuptials.”
According to TMZ’s article, the Tellers still owe the wedding planner in question $60,000 from their 2019 wedding—a statement that Keleigh vehemently denied, stating:
“The story reported about Miles being punched in the face by @TMZ over ‘MONEY’ is completely false. Miles was jumped by 2 men we have never met after they trapped him in a bathroom… It seems these same men have done this to many people and we appreciate your support Maui. This is now a criminal investigation.”
The incident sparked further discussion of the fan-player dynamic in stadiums, one that has been on display across the various incidents this postseason amid the backdrop of arenas being opened to near-full capacity again. Kevin Durant called out the fan in his postgame press conference, as did Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA following the game. While the fans in Philly, New York, and Utah were given bans from those three arenas for their actions, the fan who threw the bottle at Irving faces something far more severe, as ESPN reported that he has been arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
According to Boston Police, a witness says the suspect — 21-year-old Cole Buckley of Braintree, Massachusetts — threw a Dasani water bottle at Irving. Buckley is charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and will be arraigned Tuesday in Boston Municipal Court.
That this incident came after Irving publicly noted his concerns about how he’ll be received in Boston, noting that he hopes there won’t be any racist comments directed at he or his teammates, only serves to validate his worries entering this weekend’s set of games. That the fan is facing legal consequences beyond being banned from the arena will hopefully create a greater deterrent for others in recognizing that throwing things at players is not just crossing the line but is grounds for charges to possibly be pressed against you.
It was around this time last year that Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox publicly declared that they were dating. Since then, the twists and turns of their relationship have formed quite the story, with the occasional headlines showing observers that their romance isn’t like most others.
Now, the story continues: Over the weekend, Fox joined Kelly on stage at a concert. Kelly was performing at a Barstool Sports Indy 500 party at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana on Friday. As E! notes, the crowd chanted for Fox, and eventually, she took the stage. Standing with Kelly, the musician puffed on “what appeared to be a cigarette,” then he passed it to Fox, who also took a puff. Then, Kelly performed “I Think I’m Okay,” with Fox hanging out towards the back of the stage during the song. Later, the pair was apparently seen cuddling backstage.
Before this, the couple’s most recent public appearance of note came at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards a week ago. For the occasion, Kelly decided to paint his tongue black, and ahead of the ceremony, he showed off his oral modification by engaging in some PDA with Fox on the red carpet. Kelly also left the show with two awards: Top Rock Artist and Top Rock Album (for Tickets To My Downfall).
The Los Angeles Lakers saw the Phoenix Suns reclaim homecourt advantage on Sunday afternoon, as the Suns ran away from L.A. in the third quarter of Game 4 in L.A. before fending off one last LeBron James-led surge late to earn a comfortable win to even the series at 2-2. A significant reason for the Suns being able to put distance between themselves and the Lakers in the third quarter was the absence of Anthony Davis, who left Game 4 in the second quarter with a groin injury and would not return.
Without Davis, the Lakers’ offense struggled in the non-LeBron minutes (and especially during a stretch without James or Dennis Schröder) and their lack of rim protection was noticeable in Phoenix’s run. On Monday, we learned a bit more about the severity of Davis’ groin injury from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, who reports that the superstar big man is “unlikely” to play Game 5 in Phoenix but the hope is that he is able to return later in the series.
Lakers star Anthony Davis is unlikely to play in Game 5 vs. Suns on Tuesday due to strained groin, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium. There’s optimism about Davis‘ status as series continues and as he is evaluated day-to-day.
Davis’ expected absence opens the door for the Suns to reclaim the lead in this series as they are currently 5-point favorites in Game 5 due to a combination of being back home, AD’s injury issues, and the continued improvement of Chris Paul’s shoulder. There is no replacing Davis for the Lakers, although they certainly have ample experience this season in playing without him as he missed significant time with an Achilles issue. Frank Vogel has tried just about everything in Davis’ stead in terms of a frontcourt rotation, from Andre Drummond to Marc Gasol to Montrezl Harrell, all of whom give L.A. something different but also have a unique weakness as well.
Gasol performed the best of that trio in Game 4, and it would stand to reason that he will see the biggest minutes increase of anyone in Davis’ absence. Hopefully a few days of rest can have AD ready to go for an elimination game on either side in Game 6, but groin injuries can be a bit fickle and that remains to be seen.
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Eminem tap some young guns for a new remix and DMX and Juice WRLD pad out their posthumous legacies. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
Eminem — “Killer (Remix)” Feat. Jack Harlow and Cordae
One way Eminem has adapted to the times is by dropping new material with no advance warning. He’s done that with increasing frequency over the past few years and did so again last week by dropping a new version of “Killer,” which contributions from two leaders of rap’s new generation: Jack Harlow and Cordae.
DMX — “Hood Blues” Feat. Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, and Conway The Machine
Exodus, DMX’s first album since 2012, comes via morose circumstances, as it’s his first posthumous release. It’s a fitting celebration of the rapper’s life, though, and the tracklist reads like a guest list with all the features (including Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, and Conway The Machine on “Hood Blues“). Fans of the project may also have something else to look forward to, as a second posthumous DMX album appears to be completely possible.
Juice WRLD — “Lucid Dreams (Remix)” Feat. Lil Uzi Vert
Speaking of posthumous releases, since his death, Juice WRLD has had more material drop than many rappers who are still with us. His latest is a rework of “Lucid Dreams,” which now features Lil Uzi Vert and arrived with a slick 3D animated video.
Modest Mouse — “Leave A Light On”
A new Modest Mouse album is an event these days, considering they’ve released just two of them since 2007, counting that year’s We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. At last, they have a new full-length on the way and early looks at it have been promising. Last week brought “Leave A Light On,” a lightly psychedelic mid-tempo rocker.
Earthgang, Wale, and Coi Leray — “Options (Remix)”
Between their 2019 major label debut album Mirrorland and their 2020 Spillage Village album, the duo behind Earthgang have been busy. They’re not resting in 2021, either: They have a project called Ghetto Gods on the way. Ahead of that, though, they revisited “Options” with a new remix, adding Coi Leray to a track that already featured Wale.
Bachelor — “Back Of My Hand”
Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner took some time away from their main projects to team up for an album as Bachelor. Highlights like “Back Of My Hand” sound like two friends having a blast, and that’s apparently because that’s how making the project went. Duterte recently told Uproxx, “We really love each other, truly and genuinely. The hardest part of making this record was just laughing so much that sometimes we couldn’t get stuff done.”
Future and Hotboii — “Nobody Special”
It’s been a busy past few days in terms of Future addressing his relationships through song. Over the weekend, he had some words for and/or about Lori Harvey and Michael B. Jordan on a leaked “Maybach” verse. In terms of officially released material, though, he linked up with Hotboii on “Nobody Special,” on which both rappers decide exclusivity isn’t for them.
RMR — “Vibes” Feat. Tyla Yaweh
Locking down a sweet setting for a video is important, and RMR nailed that task with his “Vibes” visual. In the video, he is tasked with house-sitting for Jamie Foxx, an opportunity RMR seizes as a chance to throw a party. Foxx himself makes an appearance in the clip and all in all, it’s good fun.
Erica Banks — “Toot That” Feat. DreamDoll and Beat King
“Buss It” was a huge, career-defining moment for the Texas rapper, which also made it a tough act to follow. She’s done a fine job at that herculean task, though, like with her latest output: a remix of “Toot That,” originally from her self-titled mixtape. This time, she brought DreamDoll on board, who contributed a confident new verse.
Koreless — “Joy Squad”
Koreless (Welsh producer Lewis Roberts) has been making a name for himself over the past decade; For example, he re-worked a track for Perfume Genius’ remix album from earlier this year. Now he’s got his own album on the way, which he teased last week with “Joy Squad,” a glitchy, dark, and at times unsettling piece of electronica.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Owing to Memorial Day, HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver had the week off, but Oliver obviously had something he really wanted to get off his chest. In a video posted exclusively to YouTube, Oliver used the holiday to take a break from the news and instead spend nearly seven minutes ranting about a problem in America that not enough people are talking about—but should be: The lack of innovation in the breakfast cereal game. Specifically of concern to the host is the fact that “there aren’t enough new cereals anymore.” As Oliver explained:
“We haven’t had an exciting new cereal in what feels like 100 years. Remember how thrilling cereal news used to be? Remember when Trix tried to unite a divided country by introducing Wildberry Blue? A new fruit shape that wasn’t just red or blue, but both? Of course you do! It was as controversial as it was delicious, and it represented what a cereal could be at its best.”
Oliver’s thoughts on your boring bowl of breakfast didn’t stop there, though. He talked about some of the food’s innovations past—like when Reese’s Puffs were first introduced and how, according to Oliver, “No one even knew if that was legal. It was candy! For breakfast!”
That the most exciting thing to come out of the cereal industry is this terrible Frosted Flakes commercial starring Tony the Tiger and Shaquille O’Neal—and that “trash cereal” Frosted Flakes are like “human scabs that have been non-consensually dredged through powdered sugar.”
You can watch the full clip — including Oliver’s hilarious ideas on how to make cereal exciting again (“Make f*cking Gushers a cereal—I don’t care”) and why Cheerios is the “worst, toothless impulses that dominate positivity Twitter” — above.
(Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for HBO’s ‘Mare of Easttown.’ Consider yourself warned if you have not finished watching the series (Duh!.)
After seven weeks of red herrings, wild fan theories, Jean Smart being amazing, and lots of Wawa coffee, HBO’s Mare of Easttown offered up its final twists and turns on Sunday night when the identity of Erin McMenamin’s killer was finally revealed. Was Kate Winslet, a.k.a. Mare, surprised? Absolutely. And while all the credit for solving the murder goes to Mare, she might have been able to figure it out if she had just thought to ask the Master of Horror himself, Stephen King.
Late Sunday afternoon, the best-selling horror author tweeted out his prediction for how it would all end, noting: “My guess as to who killed Erin in MARE OF EASTTOWN: The boy, Ryan Ross.”
My guess as to who killed Erin in MARE OF EASTTOWN: The boy, Ryan Ross.
Though it turned out that King was right on the money, some followers questioned the logic of King’s prognostication:
True, but that’s a kid with a lot of rage inside. Case in point, beating the bully with a lunch tray when the bully was mean to the girl with Down Syndrome, aka trisomy 21. https://t.co/SvRC5nKume
While King made it clear that he had no insider knowledge—that he, like the rest of viewers, was just a fan making a prediction for where our seven hours of TV-watching would all lead—he did seem pretty confident in his guess:
Just theories. I could be wrong. I was once, I think it was in 1973. https://t.co/jK4AYgAncf
All of which just goes to show you: Never question the opinion of one of the bestselling authors in the history of literature—especially one who has made his living keeping readers guessing.
Typically, when you check a book or another piece of media out of a library, you’re supposed to return the item relatively soon. That’s how it goes most of the time. Then, there’s Howard Simon. He recently returned a vinyl copy of Bob Dylan’sSelf Portrait to the University Heights branch of Cleveland’s Heights Libraries, which is all good and well. The problem, though, is that he originally checked the album out in June 1973, which was 48 years ago.
The library shared a post about the situation, with Sara Philips, manager of the University Heights branch of Heights Libraries, saying, “I got a package in the mail from San Francisco that was record-shaped and — lo and behold! — it contained a record from our collection that was due back in June 1973!”
They also included an excerpt of a letter Simon wrote the library, which reads in part, “As a recent retiree, I am taking the opportunity to turn my attention to some of the many vignettes of life that by dint of career and family have been neglected these many years. In that context, I am returning with this letter an overdue item (by my count, approximately 17,480 days overdue as of this writing)… it’s quite late, and I’m quite sorry!”
The library doesn’t charge late fees, but if they charged 17 cents per day the record was late (the average late fee for books in 2019, according to the Wall Street Journal), Simon would owe the library $2,971.60.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
