Month: June 2021

Harassing people is gross, no matter who they are. Harassing people who are flying rainbow flags expressing support for LGBTQIA+ people is particularly gross, considering the fact they are advocating for basic civil rights and human dignity. And evidently, harassing people who are flying Pride flags while boating is egregiously gross enough to piss off Poseidon and bring the heavy hammer of karma down upon your heads.

Or maybe it’s just a coincidence. Either way, this story shows that bigotry is no match for being the bigger person and that even if it ends up being a one-way street, caring about the well-being of our fellow humans is always the right thing to do.

While boating in Moses Lake, Washington last weekend, a group of boaters flying Pride flags found themselves confronted by three people in another boat. At first, they thought perhaps the boaters were coming up to express support for their rainbow flags, but it soon became apparent that wasn’t the case. As the boat circled around them, one of the passengers gave the Pride-flag flyers the middle finger, and the boaters allegedly shouted gay slurs as well.

Then the bigots’ boat caught fire and the people they were harassing ended up rescuing them after they jumped ship.

---

The story was told by Robbie on Twitter, who shared photos and video of the incident as well as issuing a statement to The Washington Post.

Robbie, a queer trans man who has withheld his name for fear of retaliation, told The Post that his family had spent the day swimming and tubing on the lake and stopped their boat around 7:00pm. A small vessel sped toward them, then circled around them at least six times, with the woman on the boat flipping them off and yelling something about “gays” and “flags.”

When the boat driver noticed that Robbie’s brother had started filming them, he tried to hide his face and drove away. Moments later, a loud bang came from the boat, and a plume of black smoke rose into the air.

“Holy crap!” said Robbie’s brother. “They blew up!” Then he drove toward the boaters who were swimming away from their burning boat and brought them aboard.

These people harassed my family because we were flying gay pride flags in Moses Lake Washington, by racing around u… https://t.co/0QLYqGNmdx

— 🏳️‍⚧️ℂ𝕠𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕔 ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕖⭐ (@retro_ushi_)
1622435495.0

Of course, having your boat catch on fire in the middle of a lake is a terrible thing to have happen. Some might say it’s as terrible as having people going out of their way to harass you in the middle of a lake. Karma works in interesting ways.

It would be lovely to be able to share that the harassers had a wake-up call and apologized for their horrible behavior, but alas, they did not.

Here’s part 2 everyone!!! https://t.co/papG8wGULL

— 🏳️‍⚧️ℂ𝕠𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕔 ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕖⭐ (@retro_ushi_)
1622583825.0

“The passengers were quite rude, shouting over us, ignoring my [inquiries] about their well-being when on the 911 call and smoking a Vape pen on our boat without even so much as asking if they could; several passengers of our boat have asthma,” Robbie told The Post.

Police came to put out the fire, and the bigoted boaters’ friends came to pick them up. When they left, they didn’t even say ‘Thank you” for the rescue.

But there was this little karmic detail to balance out the bad behavior.

@retro_ushi_ Rescuing them must have felt great!

Like, welcome to the queer boat, we at least know how to pilot this thing….

— Cascadian Bureau of Propaganda – PDX (@CascadianSocial)
1622570215.0

Some people have said they just wouldn’t have even helped them, while others have pointed out that boaters are required to help boaters in distress as long as it doesn’t put their own vessel or passengers in danger. (Which of course begs the question—was it safe for Robbie and family to bring blatantly anti-gay bigots onto their boat?) Regardless, Robbie wrote on Twitter that the boaters were truly hurt and they felt bad for them. Helping them was simply the right thing to do, no matter how they acted before or responded after.

@Tabernak No. My brother was like “FUCK THEM!” But they were legitimately hurt/burned so we felt bad for them. Then… https://t.co/rE5LDN7pwx

— 🏳️‍⚧️ℂ𝕠𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕔 ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕖⭐ (@retro_ushi_)
1622498607.0

Robbie shared another Tweet two days later showing that they were not going to let the haters get them down.

“Happy Pride Wrath Month!”

And we’re back at it again! We will not hide our #pride https://t.co/Fp9rbCNVmy

— 🏳️‍⚧️ℂ𝕠𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕔 ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕖⭐ (@retro_ushi_)
1622554715.0

After taking over early 2020 with his breakout Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial single “The Box” and contributing a verse to DaBaby’s Grammy-nominated, No. 1 hit single “Rockstar,” Compton rapper Roddy Ricch spent much of the past year lying low as he worked on the follow-up to his debut album. Aside from popping up in a few interviews to call the upcoming release a “masterpiece” and say it was coming “soon as f*ck” (a relative qualifier if ever there was one), there hasn’t been much information about the new project.

That changed today with Roddy’s return to social media. Posting a brand new photo to his recently-cleared Instagram, Roddy finally offered the first indication that his sophomore album may well be on the way. Scrolling through a couple of slides, you’ll see what is presumably the single cover for a new song titled “Late At Night,” while the caption reads “6/4 freaky friday.” While there still isn’t much other information about the upcoming release, it’s certainly nice to know that the Compton native has new music on the way. To hear some of his guest features over the past few months, check out 42 Dugg’s “4 Da Gang” video, DJ Khaled’s “Body In Motion” video, and Birdman’s “Stunnaman,” on which the Cash Money CEO also reunites with Lil Wayne.

Roddy Ricch is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood book is as real as a donut.

Quentin Tarantino is turning his fantastic 2019 revisionist film into a novel that will “chart the lives of two protagonists – TV actor Rick Dalton and his stunt double Cliff Booth – both forward and backward in time.” It’s not available until the end of the month, but in an interview with the Pure Cinema Podcast, the director discussed what people can expect.

“I think if you’re a fan of the movie, I think you will get a kick out of reading the book, and exploring the characters further and deeper, and learning secrets that you didn’t know, and were not in the movie,” Tarantino said. “It’s not just me taking the screenplay and then breaking it down in a novelistic form. I retold the story as a novel… It was a complete rethinking of the entire story and not just a rethinking as far as throwing some scenes that were left out of the editing room.”

The book will also explore Cliff Booth’s (potentially murderous) past.

“In the movie, Cliff is a real enigma, you’re kind of like, what’s this guy’s deal? And one of the things in the book is, there’s these isolated chapters that tell you, like, this whole chapter will be about Cliff’s past. It goes back in time to tell you about Cliff at this point in time. And then you go further on with the normal run of the story and there’s another chapter that goes back in time and tells you about Cliff’s past. And every isolated chapter that’s just about Cliff’s past is like a weird little pulp novel unto itself starring Cliff.”

Hopefully the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood book will answer my number one question after watching the movie: did Cliff Booth ever fight Jack Nicholson? There’s a 85 percent chance it happened (my money’s on Jack).

(Via EW)

Netflix just dropped the first official trailer for We the People, an animated music video series created by Chris Nee and produced through a joint collaboration between Kenya Barris and Barack and Michelle Obama. Featuring a powerhouse set list of musical stars like H.E.R. and Janelle Monáe, the 10 episodes series will feature a collection of music videos that will hopefully inspire viewers to rethink their civic engagement. A “Civics Remix,” as the trailer calls it.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Combining music and animation to educate a new generation of young Americans about the power of the people, We the People is a series of 10 animated music videos that covers a range of basic U.S. civics lessons in not-so-basic ways. Set to original songs performed by artists such as H.E.R., Janelle Monáe, Brandi Carlile, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Lambert, Cordae, Bebe Rexha, KYLE, Andra Day, and poet Amanda Gorman, with a groundbreaking mix of animated styles — each episode of We the People is an exuberant call to action for everyone to rethink civics as a living, breathing thing and to reframe their understanding of what government and citizenship mean in a modern world.

We the People starts streaming July 4 on Netflix

(Via Netflix)

Crime Scene Kitchen (FOX, 9:00pm) — Joel McHale’s the host of this bizarro cooking-focused reality-competition show, which sees chef teams attempt to figure out what was baked after a dessert disappears, leaving only ingredients in the aftermath. Seriously, give this show a whirl because it is oddly meditative to watch the clues come together. Also, McHale is one of the best famous-types at the art of the interview, and I’ll stand by that claim no matter what.

Kung Fu (CW, 8:00pm) — Althea’s getting ready for her bachelorette party (what a strange twist on this revival story) while a family secret’s exposure leads to plenty of fallout for Nancy and the Shens.

Carnival (Netflix film) — A digital influencer is devastated when her boyfriend not only cheats, but video evidence of the betrayal goes viral. In the aftermath, she uses her connections to snag an all-inclusive trip for her best-friends group to take a Salvador trip to Carnival.

Nancy Drew (CW, 9:00pm) — Following Nick receiving upsetting news, Nancy gathers Carson and Ryan to help out the Drew Crew.

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Rachel Weisz, Rob Riggle, Willie Jones

In case you missed these picks from last Wednesday:

High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America (Netflix series) — Food writer Stephen Satterfield takes a powerful voyage to discover the resourcefulness and straight-up artistry of the African American people. Satterfield draws upon knowledge from chefs, historians, and activists to do so, and the results are mouthwatering.

Ghost Lab (Netflix film) — Two medical doctor BFFs witness a “ghost” while conducting a research experiment about life after death. This leads them down a rabbit hole of attempting to find a scientific explanation for what they’re seeing, and this obsession could have far-reaching implications for their friendship and beyond.

In 2013, the NFL settled a lawsuit with former players for nearly $1 billion to pay former players who have dealt with brain injuries and the long-term effects of head trauma from playing football. It was a landmark settlement and one many hoped would help former players who have had their lives irrevocably impacted by brain injuries from football, but in the years since, many Black players have been turned away due to the practice of “race-norming.”

Race-norming assumes that Black people start with a lower cognitive function than others, and when used to determine whether they have dementia or other issues of a decline in cognitive function, the lower starting baseline causes more Black people to be denied a diagnosis — and in this case, a settlement claim. The NFL announced a new panel to create replacement norms that will be used to reassess all previous claims that were denied to determine who should qualify using a non-racist practice, via the Associated Press.

According to the NFL, a panel of neuropsychologists formed recently to propose a new testing regime to the court includes two female and three Black doctors.

“The replacement norms will be applied prospectively and retrospectively for those players who otherwise would have qualified for an award but for the application of race-based norms,” the NFL said in a statement issued Wednesday by spokesman Brian McCarthy.

It is a positive step, but one that should’ve never needed to have been taken. The NFL’s decision comes after a civil rights lawsuit was filed by two former players against the practice that was thrown out by the judge overseeing the settlement, but drew ample attention and a massive petition against the league.

John Oliver can’t resist shaking things up, and on Sunday night, he decided that the cereal world could use some controversy. So, he ranted about the boring nature of cereal brands and dared Cheerios to drop an F-bomb on Twitter in exchange for the Last Week Tonight host donating $25,000 to their choice of charity. Well, he sweetened the pot by offering $50,000 if the brand got profane with a “random, non-famous user,” and with that, the ball was duly placed in Cheerios’ court.

In response, Cheerios attempted to be entirely wholesome by donating $50,000 to No Kid Hungry and then offering to double the donation if Last Week Tonight account tweeted out a Cheerios motto: “Families make good go round.”

As one might imagine, the challenge has been duly accepted, and Oliver found a way to bypass the wholesome vibe by adding some (serious) deviance to the mix. Yes, “Families make good go round” did appear in Last Week Tonight‘s response tweets, but so did the Manson family and the Menendez brothers. For good measure, Oliver tweeted a reference to the Sackler family, which is currently under fire for (allegedly) profiting from the opioid crisis before claiming that a “smear campaign” is afoot.

Oh, but there’s more. Last Week Tonight also decided to do what Cheerios wouldn’t do: tell a random, non-famous account to f*ck off. Challenge complete?

Which stage of grief includes laughing uncontrollably at a twice-impeached former president, who thought “blogging” meant trash-dumping incoherent press releases on a web page that he’s shut down because no one cared to read them? Because that’s where we’re at when it comes to the short life of “From The Desk of Donald J. Trump.”

The “communications platform” was launched a month ago as a response to Trump’s social media exile. The TV personality was banned from sites like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook after he used his accounts to incite violence and spread misinformation that led to the Jan. 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill. Trump, still desperate to share his disjointed stream of consciousness with his followers, launched the blogging site a few weeks ago as a feed to house various press releases responding to world events. But surprisingly — or not so surprisingly if you heard the news on Twitter — CNN reported earlier today that Trump had shut down the site, shifting the press releases to a different section of outdated-looking “Save America” platform.

Now, plenty of people had jokes as to why Trump may have decided to close up shop, digitally speaking, but according to sources close to the ex-president who spoke with The Washington Post today, the deciding factor was fairly straightforward: the site was performing so poorly, it started to bruise the man’s already fragile ego.

The Post is reporting that Trump told aides to shut down the site after it was heavily mocked on social media. According to the article, Trump’s blog posts were shared just 1,500 times on its final day before his team terminated it — an embarrassingly small number compared to the millions of shares and likes his Twitter feed used to get. Sources who spoke to The Post said Trump’s team was worried his blog would also compete with the social media platform he still plans to launch sometime in the future, although with that dismal turnout, we can’t imagine why anyone would see the site as a traffic threat. Still, we’ll mourn the good times Trump’s version of LiveJournal gave us, like when he whined about not getting credit for the COVID-19 vaccine, and when he called the horse that won the Kentucky Derby a “junky.”

R.I.P. “From The Desk Of Donald J. Trump.” You truly were(n’t) ahead of your time.

In a bit of unexpected casting news, Helen Mirren is coming to ABC in a new unscripted comedy series that will feature the British actress narrating improvisational scenes voiced by comedians and starring real animals.

“I am excited by the opportunity to reveal the ‘true inner lives’ of the noble creatures with whom we share the planet,” Mirren said in a statement to Variety:

“When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren” stars Helen Mirren as the voice of Helen Mirren, who narrates a cheeky look at animals and the wild. The show is based on a BBC Studios format that “features comedians putting words into the mouths of beautiful beasts, teeny-tiny frogs, beatboxing badgers and more in captivating footage from all over the world,” the network said.

The ABC series marks a busy June for Dame Helen. The day after her new comedy show airs, she can be seen in F9 where, at long last, the muscle car series puts one of the world’s most distinguished actresses behind the wheel as Vin Diesel is forced to ride shotgun. Mirren is also playing the villain in the new Shazam! sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which began production last week. Between that production and however Universal is handling the F9 premiere, Mirren is going to have her dance card full this month.

When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren premieres Thursday, June 24 on ABC.

(Via Variety)

Breakout star Olivia Rodrigo released her highly-anticipated debut album Sour last month and is still riding high. The album debuted at No. 1 and had the biggest opening week of 2021. Seeing as Rodrigo is gaining recognition for her music, it’s only fitting that she’s now showing love to another artists who’s had a big year: Phoebe Bridgers.

Rodrigo has made it no secret that she has consistently idolized Taylor Swift since a young age. But now, Rodrigo has cosigned another singer who’s making waves in the music industry. Rodrigo shared a clip of her sitting her the car with her friend and former Bizaardvark costar Madison Hu. The opening chords to Bridgers’ hit Punisher track “Kyoto” can be heard on the stereo and the two act like they had never heard the song before scream-singing its hook.

While Bridgers’ album did not break charting records like Rodrigo’s, it still earned her critical acclaim. The LP led to her being nominated for four Grammy Awards this year, including Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album. Bridgers also turned heads several months ago with her buzzworthy performance on SNL. The set saw her smashing a guitar on stage, which ended up outraging some (mostly male) rock fans and delighting others.