Month: May 2021

Matt Gaetz has spent a good chunk of 2021 in hot water, and for a good reason: He’s the subject of a federal investigation into his ties to an alleged sex ring. But it looks like bad news continues to plague him. As per The New York Post, the embattled Florida representative claims he got swindled out of a ton of money while trying to buy a boat named “Thirsty.”

Gaetz told WLFA in Florida he and his fiancée, whose name is Ginger Luckey, were trying to buy a 41-foot vessel in St. Petersburg. The price was $155,000 but after wiring the money, they said the boat “went missing.” Gaetz alleged that he and Luckey were targeted by “malicious actors, first domestic and now foreign,” but that “federal law enforcement is both aware of and actively pursuing.”

The boat initially bore the folksy name Ol’ Pappy but that in late April, when the deal was nearing a close, it was renamed Thirsty. It’s not clear if Gaetz and/or Lucky were the ones who renamed it.

If it’s true that Gaetz was grifted via a wiring snafu, it wouldn’t be his first such dalliance. He’s alleged to have used Venmo to send $900 to accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, who is currently cooperating with the feds in a plea deal.

In the meantime, Gaetz has been attempting to carry on as if he wasn’t engulfed in a sex scandal involving minors. He’s claimed he’ll run for president in 2024 if Trump doesn’t, around the same time he graced supporters with what sound pretty clearly like insurrectionary language. All the while he’s tried to appear like a friend of the common man, and what common hasn’t been swindled out of over a hundred thousand dollars while trying to buy a big boat?

(Via NY Post and WFLA)

On Friday, Juice WRLD’s estate shared an anniversary edition of the late rapper’s debut album, Goodbye & Good Riddance, which came with an updated version of “Lucid Dreams” with Lil Uzi Vert and a new track titled “734.” But its arrival came with new trouble for the rapper’s estate. A producer who goes by Ghost Loft sued them, claiming the Juice WRLD’s 2018 song “Scared Of Love” features 16 stolen bars from Loft’s 2013 song “So High.” He pointed out that Juice WRLD and another producer, Mitch Mula, are the only credited names on “Scared Of Love.”

Loft also claims that during a later conversation, Mula told him that “Scared Of Love” features a sample from “So High.” As a result, Loft filed the lawsuit against Mula, Juice WRLD’s mother, the executioner of his estate Carmella Wallace, and Juice WRLD’s labels, Universal Music Group and Interscope. He’s seeking compensation for damages, a writing credit, and an injunction that stops the estate from making money off “Scared Of Love.”

Fans of Juice WRLD will soon receive more music from the late rapper in the form of Maroon 5’s “Can’t Leave You Alone,” a track from the band’s upcoming album Jordi which arrives on June 11. It will serve as his latest posthumous track of the year, the last one being with Post Malone and Clever on “Life’s A Mess II.”

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Goodbye & Good Riddance (Anniversary Edition) is out now via Grade A Productions/Interscope Records. Get it here.

Competition in hip-hop has always been a major factor in hip-hop. It’s something Jay-Z knows all too well, having had spats with acts like Nas and Drake. But sometimes rappers need to put aside their differences for the greater good. During a recent appearance with Bad Bunny on LeBron James’ HBO show The Shop, the legendary musician spoke about once siding with the late DMX after the Grammys failed to nominate him at their 1999 show.

“The first time I boycotted the Grammys was for him,” he said. “We both came out that year. He didn’t get nominated. He dropped two No. 1 albums in the same year and they didn’t even nominate him.” The two albums Jay-Z is referring to are 1998’s It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot and Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood. The 1999 award show is also where Jay-Z earned his first Grammy, winning in the Best Rap Album category for Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life. He added, “I wasn’t even in the building because I boycotted it for him. There was a competitive thing, but it was big love.”

Jay-Z then dove into the pugilistic nature of his relationship with DMX, recalling a time when the late rapper called him out at a show. “He got on stage: ‘JAY-Z, where you at!?’ I was like, ‘This guy is nuts!’ He was just all passion,” he said. During the episode of The Shop, Jay also explained why DMX was an impossible act to follow at live shows.

Friday was a pretty good day for Kawhi Leonard. On the court, the two-time NBA Finals MVP came up big in the Los Angeles Clippers’ Game 3 win over the Dallas Mavericks, scoring 36 points and reeling in eight rebounds to propel his side to a crucial 118-108 victory. With the win, L.A. cut its series deficit against Dallas in half, making things 2-1 ahead of a gigantic Game 4 in Dallas on Monday evening that could lead to the Clippers re-gaining home-court advantage with the win.

His big day wasn’t just limited to what he did in the world of basketball. A gigantic music fan, Leonard, along with Warner Records Senior Vice President of A&R Eesean Bolden, is the driving force behind Culture Jam, an upcoming compilation album that is slated to drop sometime this summer. While Leonard does not rap on the album, he did tease that a video was coming for the track “Everything Different” featuring NBA YoungBoy and Rod Wave.

The video, which also features top high school basketball recruit Mikey Williams, dropped on Friday, and you can watch it at the top of this post. Beyond just the album, the broader Culture Jam project will be used as a way to raise money for youth sports and arts initiatives, with a portion of Leonard’s earnings heading to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.

“Culture Jam will always be a platform where creators’ ideas and talents come to life and serve our families and communities,” Leonard said in a statement. “As an athlete that loves family, music, culture, and community, it was extremely important for me to build a space where all these elements thrive. Culture Jam’s significance is not only timely but it is also necessary. Equally, it is extremely important to support youth. My donation to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation is just the beginning of that support and connection.”

The new year seemed like it would be a good one for Armie Hammer. He had multiple big projects on the burner, including a likely sequel to Call Me by Your Name, and he was optimistic that 2021 would be exponentially better than 2020. But it was not to be. In mid-January, bizarre and disturbing allegations emerged about his personal life, causing him to either drop out or be booted from all future gigs. Now months later, one of those jobs — the Godfather making-of show for Paramount+ — finally has a new lead.

Miles Teller is taking over as the protagonist of The Offer, which tells of the behind-the-scenes squabbles that led to one of the most beloved movies in Hollywood history. The actor will play Al Ruddy, who co-created Hogan’s Heroes and went on to a colorful and diverse career, producing everything from Burt Reynolds vehicles (including the Cannonball Run cycle), the Rodney Dangerfield soccer comedy Ladybugs, Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and his forthcoming new film Cry Macho, as well as one of the movies that helped save Paramount in the early ’70s.

The show will show the making through Ruddy’s eyes, and he presumably had a great view of the fights between director Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount head Robert Evans, as well as Marlon Brando’s more eccentric outbursts. In the meantime, you’ll be seeing Teller much sooner in another Paramount product: the belated sequel Top Gun: Maverick, in which he’ll get schooled by Tom Cruise’s 50-something Pete Mitchell. As for Hammer, he’s going to have to watch as his Call Me by Your Name director and co-star make a cannibal movie without him.

(Via THR)

Rick Ross has some new legal troubles to deal with. The rapper was sued by St. Louis concert promoters after he missed a show back in January 2021. Antoine Meeks and Orland Watson filed a lawsuit earlier this month that seeks $74,000 in damages from Ross. According to the St. Louis Business Journal, Meeks, whose company is Black Luxury Entertainment LLC, and Watson, who’s connected to Rockhouse Entertainment, claimed Ross was contracted to appear at the Pagent in St. Louis, but the show was eventually canceled after he didn’t appear for the concert.

Prior to the cancellation, Meeks, Watson, and their respective companies said Ross was set to receive $60,000 in two payments through their contract. The first $30,000 was paid on October 21, 2019, while the second half would be given at the time show. The promoters also paid $6,000 for the venue, $3,300 to accommodate Ross’ travel expenses, $4,100 on marketing and promotions, and $25,000 on “production costs.”

As he awaits further details in this lawsuit, Ross will most likely continue work on his upcoming album, Richer Than Ever. Back in September, he said the project was 95% complete. He and Drake are also reportedly working on a joint album, which former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson revealed in a tweet. “The joint album they’re doing together [will] unseat all projects they’ve done to date,” he wrote.

On Friday DMX’s posthumous album, Exodus was released. Fans of the late rapper can rest assure knowing that the final body of work was completed before DMX tragically passed. Swizz Beatz, who executive produced Exdous, also revealed that a bulk of the project was completed after DMX and Snoop Dogg’s Verzuz battle last summer. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Swizz spoke about the energy DMX had while he recorded the album — or lack thereof.

“We’d been talking about this record for a long time, but after we did Verzuz [in July 2020], he was ready,” Swizz said during the interview. “He saw that the people were showing him love and the fans were ready.” He added, “X was tired. The whole time we were doing the album, he was excited, but he was like, ‘I think this is going to be my last album.’ I was just like, ‘Let’s get through this and then let’s see; let’s judge it later, let’s not judge it now.’”

Swizz concluded, “I just tried keeping him in the now spirit, instead of thinking about what he’s not gonna do. But obviously, he knew something we didn’t.”

The famed hip-hop producer also shared his own feelings about the album now that it’s out. “I can at least listen to a song now without breaking down,” Swizz said. “I’m making it look strong, but I’m crushed, I’m destroyed, I’m hurt. But I had to pull this through for him and his family and for his legacy.”

You can read the full Rolling Stone interview here.

Exodus is out now via Def Jam. Get it here.

Maybe the most terrifying idea ever introduced on Black Mirror, that grim sci-fi anthology show about evil tech that’s almost certainly right around the corner, is the “cookie,” a digital clone shown in their pitch black holiday special entitled “White Christmas.” They’re copies of people who are 100% sure they’re the real person, not a clone. And they’re invariably tortured by non-clones. At one point a cookie made from a to-be-convicted murderer is trapped in a small cabin and forced to experience time at 1,000 years per minute, for days on end.

Anyway, good news, everybody! A slim variation on the Black Mirror “cookie” might become real. In a new piece in Aeon magazine (as caught by Insider), a philosopher, Dr. Rebecca Roache, speaks about overseeing a team examining ways technology could transform punishment. One idea they’ve come up with is using biotechnology to trick the mind into thinking they’re serving a 1,000-year sentence in an afternoon.

“There are a number of psychoactive drugs that distort people’s sense of time, so you could imagine developing a pill or a liquid that made someone feel like they were serving a 1,000-year sentence,” Dr. Roache tells the publication.

That seems…not humane? Surely no therapist on earth would be equipped to deal with someone convinced they’ve just spent over 12 times an average lifespan in what sounds like a form of solitary confinement. (Incidentally, the title of the Aeon article is “Hell on Earth.”)

But there’s more! The team has another idea involving uploading minds to computers, which is even more Black Mirroresque. Dr. Roache writes on her blog:

“If the speed-up were a factor of a million, a millennium of thinking would be accomplished in eight and a half hours… Uploading the mind of a convicted criminal and running it a million times faster than normal would enable the uploaded criminal to serve a 1,000 year sentence in eight-and-a-half hours. This would, obviously, be much cheaper for the taxpayer than extending criminals’ lifespans to enable them to serve 1,000 years in real time.”

Cruel and thrifty! Dr. Roache tried to spin it as a positive by asking tough questions about our current system of punishment, which is also barbarous and also not very effective:

“To me, these questions about technology are interesting because they force us to rethink the truisms we currently hold about punishment. When we ask ourselves whether it’s inhumane to inflict a certain technology on someone, we have to make sure it’s not just the unfamiliarity that spooks us,” Dr Roache said.

“Is it really OK to lock someone up for the best part of the only life they will ever have, or might it be more humane to tinker with their brains and set them free? When we ask that question, the goal isn’t simply to imagine a bunch of futuristic punishments – the goal is to look at today’s punishments through the lens of the future.”

These are interesting ideas, well worth discussing. But people couldn’t get past how Black Mirror-y it was.

And just to stress this point, if people are comparing your idea to Black Mirror, it’s probably one worth ditching.

(Via Aeon and Insider)

Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema has become one of the most controversial figures in Congress, and that’s saying something. She has long touted herself as someone who can reach across the aisle, but in an age when almost all Republicans colleagues are intransigent Trumpists, that’s become a quality does more harm than good. She refuses to kill the filibuster, and she got heat for the flamboyant and bizarre way she voted down a bill to increase the minimum wage.

Sinema also, along with West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, made a big show of trying to “implore” their GOP colleagues to vote to launch the Jan 6. commission, which would examine what led to the failed MAGA coup that kicked off 2021 and which she herself had called “ciritical.” That didn’t work, to the surprise of no one aside from perhaps Sinema and Manchin. But even Sinema herself may not have been convinced: As per azcentral, she was a no-show for the vote on Friday.

No reason was given, so perhaps she did have a good excuse — although if she did, she also maybe would have provided that when asked by the press. Her spokesperson, when pressed, merely said “she will be entering into the Congressional record that she would’ve voted ‘yes.’” So consider it a kind of phantom vote for a bill that died 54-35, failing to get enough Republican support.

When news broke that Sinema wasn’t even there to vote, people were pissed.

Some invoked her viral “f*ck off” ring.

Some called her the Democratic Susan Collins, the GOP’s excuse for an “across the aisle” Republican who also rarely does the right thing.

(Via azcentral)

For decades, the greatest film of all time was Citizen Kane. Then it lost its perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes due to a bad review — not even a new bad review, but an old one, from when it was released in 1941. So cinema’s finest accomplishment was now obviously Paddington 2. Why? Because, unlike Orson Welles’ ceaselessly inventive masterpiece, it had was 100% fresh on an internet review aggregation site. And because people really liked this nice movie about a kind talking bear who’s a fount of decency in a cruel and uncaring world.

But no more. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a new negative review has been filed to Rotten Tomatoes. The pan comes from Film Academy’s Eddie Harrison, and for the record it’s not a mere piece of trolling, and it’s even thoughtful and well-written. His argument is that the movies betray the original Michael Bond creation. He talks about it being a “beloved fixture of my childhood,” but he also contextualizes it in history. Being the misadventures of an immigrant from Peru, they were, he says, initially “part of a wave of stories designed to help kids understand the multi-cultural make-up of society.”

They were also intentionally very modest. “Paddington’s adventures are traditionally small scale; putting up some wallpaper or fixing a tap,” Harrison writes. “The Paddington movies see him going to jail, organising a prison break or running along the roofs of moving trains like Indiana Jones; that ain’t my Paddington Bear to be sure.”

He goes on to call the Ben Whishaw-voiced Paddington “over-confident, snide and sullen,” as well as “manky-looking.” He concludes that he’s a “sinister, malevolent imposter who should be shot into space, or nuked from space at the first opportunity.”

Fair enough! The world would be a very boring place if we all agreed on everything, including movies with an excellent villainous Hugh Grant. Paddington 2’s reign as the greatest film of all time — an honor it only achieved semi-jokingly anyway — was brief, but even with “only” 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s still in august company. In fact, it’s right up there with Citizen Kane.

(Via THR)