Month: September 2021

On her quest to re-record her back catalog, Taylor Swift has earned plenty of supporters along the way. Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl is on board, and in fact, he actually once tried to do something similar.

A new Rolling Stone feature on Grohl and Foo Fighters includes an anecdote about Grohl at a party, speaking with a musician who plays with Swift. The artist told Grohl about Swift’s current mission to re-record her albums and the reasons behind it. A “deeply impressed” Grohl said of Swift’s re-recording process, “Like, f*ck yeah, girl. Hell hath no fury. Now I’m scared of her! I would be so nerdy and into it. I think it’s so much fun.”

He also noted that he once tried to do something similar and enlist the current iteration of Foo Fighters re-record the band’s 1995 self-titled album, which Grohl had recorded by himself over the course of a few days. However, the band’s wasn’t feeling the idea: “I was really into it. I was like, ‘It would sound like Styx, you know, instead of like a f*cking garage recording.’ Everyone was like, ‘No f*cking way, dude. People will wipe their asses with that.’”

Check out the full feature here.

Patton Oswalt stopped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote the new season of A.P. Bio, but while he was there, the stand-up comedian took a moment to hilariously address his recent headline-making decision to cancel tour dates in states that won’t allow venues to have COVID restrictions.

When Oswalt announced that he was pulling shows in Florida and Utah from his upcoming tour, he bluntly stated at the time, “I have an ego but my ego is not big enough to think that people should die to hear my stupid comedy.” While sitting down with Fallon on Monday night (after returning fire on Ted Cruz), Oswalt expanded on that premise, which left Fallon both laughing and exasperatingly telling people at home “please don’t die.” It was pure late night gold from Oswalt:

When did everyone become Thanos? Where it’s just like, “Whoever dies, dies. You just go out there.” And by the way, if that’s your philosophy, don’t die for a– go die seeing Lizzo. Like, that’s a good last concert to see.

By the way, you shouldn’t die for any entertainer. But if you are make it count. Don’t be in the hospital going, “I’m so glad I got to see that fat nerd whine about The Mandalorian.” That’s a terrible final [moment]. That shouldn’t be your last thing.

Of course, the big question is whether or not Oswalt’s bit was in response to Jim Breuer, or The Tonight show simply zeroing in on a viral moment from earlier in the month. On Sunday, news broke that Breuer is doing the opposite of Oswalt by canceling comedy shows at venues that do have a vaccine requirement, which he literally called “segregation.” Once the story started to spread, the former SNL star got roasted on social media on Monday where he was trending by mid-day. There’s no telling whether Oswalt (who’s an avid Twitter user) put a little extra pepper in his bit just for Breuer, but it’s amusing to imagine, at least.

If ever there was a time for Rudy Giuliani to regain even an ounce of the respect that he has lost around the world for being a bona fide nutter, the 20th anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001—his response to which earned him the nickname of “America’s Mayor.” It was a solemn occasion to be sure… unless you were at Rudy’s annual 9/11 memorial dinner, which a seemingly inebriated Giuliani appeared to have mistaken for open mic night at the Chuckle Hut, complete with a terrible impression Queen Elizabeth II.

While Giuliani is swearing he was not totally sloshed when he gave that speech, Seth Meyers isn’t buying it. On Monday night, Meyers dedicated half of his “A Closer Look” segment to Rudy’s bizarre 9/11 behavior, and his terrible knack for impersonations. More importantly, Meyers wanted to make it clear that Giuliani has absolutely denied that he was plastered during that terrible piece of performance art—and that the Late Night host wasn’t buying it:

Rudy gave an interview over the weekend and I’m going to read it to you, the actual transcript, like a guy trying to get his keys from the bartender:

‘Yes I had a scotch. But I was not drunk. There is a deliberate attempt [by] the left wing to paint me that way. I am not a drunk. I don’t think I’ve ever [been] publicly drunk in my whole life. The last time I was—was probably in college. I like to drink scotch and have cigars. That’s where it probably comes from. I drink moderate amounts of scotch. I mostly drink scotch because I like to have it with cigars.

I didn’t have a cigar last night. And this is a caricature that the left is trying to put on me… I can’t remember the last time I was drunk. Yes, of course, I had a scotch at the beginning of dinner. Beyond that, I didn’t have — it was watered down. Not even sure I drank the whole thing. It hurts my reputation for someone to say I’m drunk.’

The good news for Rudy is that it’s not his slurred speeches or other seemingly inebriated antics that have lost him the respect of pretty much everyone, including former BFF Donald Trump. “But sure, that’s what’s hurting your reputation,” Meyers said. “Not the fact that you helped incite a riot at the Capitol, lied about the election, had your law license suspended, forgot to swing your balls forward before you sat down for an interview, accidentally gave a press conference outside a landscaping company, had hair dye leaking out of the side of your head like the juice leaking out of a Hefty bag, and got caught shaving at a table in an airport.”

You can watch the full clip, which begins around the 5:30 mark, above.

Over the years, Dave Grohl has spent some time considering Kurt Cobain, whether his late bandmate is brought up in interviews or he looks back on his own. The deceased Nirvana leader even finds his way into Grohl’s “anxiety dreams,” as he tells Rolling Stone in a new feature.

Grohl describes how these dreams tend to go, saying:

“I’ve always had these live-performance anxiety dreams. They’re usually Nirvana-related. Like, Kurt’s still alive and we’re doing a show, and I’m so excited that people get to see this once again. And I walk onstage and my drumsticks are the size of telephone poles. And then the audience just kind of begins to scatter.”

He also spoke about performing “Heart-Shaped Box” with his daughter Violet at an event, describing it as a particularly emotional moment: “One of the greatest parts about it was that I think that she most represented the original aesthetic of Nirvana in that she’s a kid going through those difficult years of discovering identity. I’m used to playing that song with Kurt standing in front of me. And looking out and seeing Violet was… I beat the f*cking sh*t out of my drums. The drums weren’t big enough for what I was doing. It was f*cking amazing.”

Read the full interview here.

Tucker Carlson is suddenly Nicki Minaj’s biggest fan—and all, appropriately, because of a pair of swollen testicles. On Monday, the “Bang Bang” singer posted a rather personal, and somewhat revolting, detail about her cousin’s friend who, if he exists at all, presumably was not consulted about having the status of his inflated and inoperable junk tweeted to nearly 23 million people:

“My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied.”

Before reading that tweet aloud (which, trust us, is worth losing a piece of your soul to watch a Fox News clip), Carlson—who is definitely the kind of guy who has used the words “my Black friend” on occasion—had to explain who Minaj was to his audience, which is sort of like a twenty-something trying to explain TikTok to their grandparents.

“So Nicki Minaj is a huge rap artist. Not sure there’s much overlap between her audience and this one, but our producers assure us she’s one of the biggest in the world,” Carlson said, in what might be the understatement of the century.

While there’s nothing funny about COVID, the hilarity of the words “impotent” and “testicles became swollen” coming out of Carlson’s mouth was not lost on anyone, particularly given the graveness with which he read them. And the chyron certainly didn’t make it any less funny.

But the real kicker came in Carlson’s three-word response to the tweet, as reported by Mediaite: “Which seems sensible.”

Carlson promised to report more on the “big reaction” to Minaj’s tweet on Tuesday’s show. Which, we’re sort of looking forward to watching.

Meanwhile, who do you trust?

(Via Mediaite)

The Met Gala is usually the biggest fashion event of the year, and this event was no exception (although yep, it’s another weird year). This year’s theme happened to be “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” which got ignored by plenty of attendees (well, AOC definitely did not ignore it), and then several of the guys decided to play it safe with the basic black suit. Those guys included Channing Tatum, Brooklyn Beckham, and Justin Bieber, although definitely not Dan Levy. As for Elliot Page, he wore a classic Balenciaga suit adorned with a green flower (an homage to Oscar Wilde). On anyone else, this black, oversized suit may have been a non-event, but Elliot rocked these duds.

The good vibes are contagious. The Umbrella Academy star and Oscar winner’s team revealed (earlier this year) that his career offers were pouring in since coming out as trans in December 2020, and over the summer, Page posted his first swim-trunks photo since having top surgery (a process to remove breast tissue), which he discussed with Oprah Winfrey. Elliot had detailed how “freeing” the procedure made him feel, which was probably how Elliot felt while hearing photographers yell his name in the below video.

As for the suit? Twitter users are quite good with this “basic” and “boring” suit at the Met Gala, but only because Elliot freaking wanted to wear it.

The lesson here? Elliot Page can pull off whatever the heck he wants, and people dig it.

Jimmy Kimmel is used to hearing Donald Trump’s lies (we all are), but they’re usually not about him. “I did [Kimmel’s] show many times before I was doing this,” the former-president told Greg Gutfeld during a recent Fox News interview. “He used to greet me on the sidewalk. He used to wait for me, nobody else. This was before I was a politician.” Trump also claimed that Kimmel would “wait for me outside his studio in Los Angeles, very crowded street, he kissed my ass all the way in and then what happens? I run and then all of a sudden I’m like this horrible guy.” Finally some self-awareness from Donald.

Kimmel reflected on Trump’s comments during Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. “He genuinely believes this happened,” he said. “I mean, not only is this a fairy tale from beginning to end, he says he was on our show many times before he was a politician. But before he ran for president, he was on the show one time in 2007 with Carrot Top, by the way. I think we picked the wrong guy.” Kimmel was deeply bewildered about Trump’s “strange” lies, joking, “If you’re going to make stuff up, why not make it interesting? Why not say he gave me a piggyback ride? I rubbed his feet or something.

You can watch the Jimmy Kimmel Live monologue above.

Las Vegas Raiders big play threat Henry Ruggs III is celebrating the start of his sophomore campaign in the NFL with a special release through adidas. On the heels of the Raiders’ thrilling season-opening overtime win on Monday Night Football, Ruggs, a former standout at the University of Alabama and the No. 12 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, will follow Portland Trail Blazers standout Damian Lillard in getting a sneaker as part of a partnership with the apparel company and Foot Locker.

Ruggs’ kicks are a pair of blue suede adidas Superstars that include a few unique touches, like Ruggs’ initials replacing the “superstar” logo on the outside of the sneaker and the phrase “Do Something Great,” which Ruggs has tattooed on him, on the heel in gold.

“My adidas Superstar is inspired by my mentality on-and-off the field,” Ruggs told Uproxx Sports. “I don’t like ordinary. I dare to be different. That has always fueled my success. So, we went with the blue suede upper and hints of gold, which make the sneakers pop, and we debuted it in primetime for Monday Night Football. On the heel of the sneakers are the words, ‘Do Something Great.’ It’s my hope that when people buy this collaboration at Foot Locker, Champs Sports, and Footaction, they are reminded to never settle, and to always strive for greatness.”

Ruggs and the Raiders will next take the field on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Three days later, Ruggs’ adidas Superstar will be available online and in stores.

As often happens in Las Vegas, the Raiders and Ravens got loose late on Monday Night Football. Baltimore led 14-0 early, but Vegas clawed their way back, eventually tying the game at 24-24. From there, Justin Tucker drilled a go-ahead field goal in the closing minutes, but Derek Carr was able to move Vegas into field goal range himself, setting up a Daniel Carlson game-tying field goal just before time expired.

In overtime, the Raiders looked like they had won the game on an incredible catch and run from Bryan Edwards down the sideline that led to handshakes and hugs.

However, Edwards was ruled down inside the 1 after a review, and the Raiders then managed to flail miserably from there. Carr got stuffed on a sneak, then rookie Alex Leatherwood false started as Carr hard counted for some reason, and after being backed up to the five, Carr tried to throw the ball as hard as he could to a wide open receiver, who missed the ball and saw it hit a defender in the head, bounce up, and get intercepted.

That let Baltimore take over only needing to get into field goal range for Tucker, but their offense also sputtered. On 3rd down, the Raiders got home with some pressure as Carl Nassib not only brought Lamar Jackson down but forced a fumble on the sack, setting Vegas up in plus territory for another shot at the win.

After a first down run and then botching time management and taking an unnecessary delay of game while trying to get their field goal unit on the field, the Raiders came back out with the offense for second down and ended up with a game-winning touchdown thanks to a bust in the secondary that left Zay Jones wide open as Carr just hucked one up to the end zone.

It was an absolutely absurd finish to a game that was filled with plays that left both teams’ fans scratching their heads, but in the end, Vegas pulled off the upset at home and sent Baltimore on a long, sad plane ride back to Maryland wondering how that got away.

On Monday night, the Manning brothers debuted their Monday Night Football megacast debut on ESPN2 for the first of 10 episodes this season. The first half was, as one would expect, a bit choppy without a traditional host in place to help them hit their marks and get in and out of commercial breaks, often leading to either Peyton, Eli, or their guests getting cut off by the hard commercial out, but it also had some wildly entertaining moments.

The hope is that as they get more reps the show will become a touch more polished — the delay of everyone being remote also created some pitfalls — but part of the charm of the show is the laid back, not overly professional nature of the two brothers watching a game on the couch together (from separate studios). Eli had plenty of jokes about Peyton’s giant head, while Peyton gleefully brought up Eli’s worst game as a pro against Baltimore when Ray Lewis joined them, and in between jokes there was a lot of genuinely great football knowledge being offered up.

There were clearly some scripted elements, but it was at its best when stories were being swapped and the Mannings (and Lewis) were geeking out over coverages and playcalls organically. Things got off the rails a few times, though, with poor Kyle Boller catching strays and, as the first half came to a close, one of the studios had a fire alarm go off, which Peyton naturally blamed on Eli.

They tried their best to just get through it and get to the half, but you could tell both weren’t totally sure how to proceed. In fairness, I don’t think “fire alarm goes off” was something anyone prepped them for going in. There were other technical difficulties, including both of their mics going out at different points, with Eli holding a handheld mic for much of the second quarter like a standup comedian, but overall it was a fun change of pace with plenty of details that need to get ironed out.