Month: September 2021

Mike Lindell is in trouble. The CEO of MyPillow, the pricey bedwear company, is reportedly digging himself into a financial hole, having spent the last ten months spreading the “Big Lie” about the 2020 being stolen from his good friend Donald Trump (it wasn’t) and repeatedly changing the date of when he’ll get his old job back (he won’t — at least, not until at least 2024). And yet he still somehow finds time — and money — to launch attacks against his many enemies. His latest is a journalist, who had the gall to write a couple articles that didn’t make him look good.

Salon reporter Zachary Petrizzo posted a video on Twitter that showed Lindell, on his own show on his own website FreeSpeech.com, vowing revenge against him. What did Petrizzo write? Raw Story pointed out that he’s written only two: one about him selling a MyPillow plane to pay for his fight against Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit; the other about him paying millions to “cyber experts.”

Lindell, known for his ever-unhinged public statements, gets a lot of negative press from all over the media. Usually they just report on things he did or said. But he decided to single out Petrizzo.

“I going to spend a lot more money, Zachary, contrary to your little thing here,” Lindell said on The Lindell Report. “We are going after that kid.” He added, “He’s an enemy of our country.”

Lindell’s threat was vague, made even more cryptic by his financial troubles. But unlike false claims about Trump winning an election he didn’t, at least there’s proof of his money woes.

(Via Raw Story)

Legendary singer Anita Baker spent the majority of 2021 fighting to gain control of the masters for her first five albums, which were released between 1983 and 1994. In March she announced she was making the big move. “Miraculously… i have out-lived *ALL, of my Artists Contracts,” she wrote. “They no longer ‘Own’, My Name & Likeness. And, by Law…30 yr old, Mstrs are 2B Returned, 2 Me. Unfortunately, They’re gonna make me Fight 4 it. I’m Prepared, 2 do that. Please Dont advertise/buy them ABXO.” Thankfully, nearly six months later, she’s successful. And she took to Twitter to celebrate.

“All My Children Are Coming Home,” she announced with a picture that displayed vinyl records of her first five albums. “Catalog. Impossible Things Happen… Every. Single. Day. Gratefully.”

After catching wind of the news, Taylor Swift, who previously voiced her support for Baker during her battle, cheered her on. “What a beautiful moment, CONGRATULATIONS ANITA!!” Swift wrote with two happy-crying and clapping emojis. Baker replied to her, writing, “Thank You, for Your *Fire & Support!! It Inspires us all, to move Mountains.”

After Baker shared the news that her masters had been returned, a fan asked if it was okay to stream her music again. “Yes. Chil’ren….” she replied. “STREAM ON [music note and ballon emojis] ABXO.”

Late night television used to be a lot more chaotic. Today’s chat shows are safe, overplanned. Nathan Fielder famously used a Jimmy Fallon appearance to satirize the trend towards overly wacky, possibly even questionable anecdotes. But once upon a time things got real. Every now and then someone resurfaces an old Tonight Show episode from 1994, where Burt Reynolds and Marc Summers seemed like they were about to beat the crap out of each other.

Reynolds was there to promote his memoir My Life. He wasn’t in the best place: Evening Shade, the show that had netted him two Emmy wins (and three more nominations) had recently come to an end. Loni Anderson and he had just divorced. Marc Summers, meanwhile, was still hosting Double Dare, the messy children’s game show. It was an odd pairing, and on The Tonight Show guests would hang together instead of swapping spots in the Green Room.

Things quickly escalate between them. Reynolds was already clearly peeved that host Jay Leno had made a joke about his divorce. When Summers — whom Reynolds had been giving a hard time over his claims to be a “neatness freak” (despite his Double Dare gig) — made a similar joke, Reynolds’ smirk violently turned into a sneer.

Suddenly Reynolds dumped a mug of water on Summer’s lap. Summers eventually responded in kind. When Summers tries to placate his opponent by reminding him that they got along when he did the Reynolds-co-created game show Win, Lose or Draw, Reynolds replied, “Funny, I don’t remember.” Reynolds also calls Summers Fabio and makes fun of him for being on Nickelodeon.

Eventually Leno decides to settle things with a pie fight.

By the end, the two guests seem to have reached an impasse. You can even see Reynolds signing his memoir for Summers. But there are moments when the rivalry does not appear to be a joke, where the normally unflappable Summers goes flappable and Reynolds, usually able to contain his rage, can’t contain it. It’s one of late night’s great too-real spats, up there with the Andy Kaufman-Jerry Lawler duel on Letterman (which Lawler later revealed was staged) or Letterman almost getting kicked in the head by Crispin Glover. And it’s a reminder that Burt Reynolds, whose last stretch found him suffering hard times, was a god.

You can watch the fight in the video above.

Last week, Texas began enacting their draconian abortion law, which bans the procedure after a mere six weeks and even puts anyone who performs or assists it in legal jeopardy. The announcement led to widespread condemnation, as well as creative forms of dissent. It was also only made possible thanks to the current, conservative-leaning Supreme Court line-up, three of whose members were installed by former president Donald J. Trump. And don’t think he’s not taking credit for the state’s new rules.

As per Raw Story, Trump did an as-yet-to-air interview with Sinclair television stations, a portion of which has already been made public. It finds host Sharyl Attkisson pointed out that many are blaming the ruling on the two virulently anti-abortion judges, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, he appointed, the latter shortly before he lost re-election.

“We do have a Supreme Court that’s a lot different than it was,” Trump said boastfully. “Before it was acting very strangely and I think probably not in the interest of our country.”

He did, however, admit that the law may not stay on the books permanently. “The ruling was very complex and also probably temporary,” he said. “I think other things will happen and that will be the big deal and the big picture. So we’ll see what will happen. But we’re studying the ruling and we’re studying also what they’ve done in Texas.”

He also teased that he and his team will “be announcing something over the next week or two weeks.” Perhaps it will involve the re-election campaign his wife reportedly does not want.

You can watch the interview snippet below.

(Via Raw Story)

Now that Drake and Kanye West have released their respective new albums, it can be argued that Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming fifth project is rap’s most anticipated of 2021. Excitement in the upcoming project spiked after he announced last month that the full-length effort would be his last with TDE, a label he’s called home since 2005. Anticipation increased again after he and his team seemed to register multiple songs with ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), an organization that protects artist’s musical copyrights.

The titles for some of the new uploads go as followed: “Before The Hangman’s Noose,” “Director,” “Believe,” “Blow Ya Mind,” Feel For You,” “End of the Line,” “Erika Kane,” “Driving Down The Darkness,” “Lesson Learned,” “Living My Life,” and “Hood Love.” It’s unknown when the tracks were uploaded.

In the statement about his departure from TDE, Kendrick gave us a glimpse into his headspace as he puts the finishing touches on his fifth album. “I spend most of my days with fleeting thoughts,” he wrote. “Writing. Listening. And collecting old Beach cruisers. The morning rides keep me on a hill of silence. I go months without a phone. Love, loss, and grief have disturbed my comfort zone, but the glimmers of God speak through my music and family.”

He added, “While the world around me evolves, I reflect on what matters the most. The life in which my words will land next.”

You can view screenshots of the songs that were uploaded to ASCAP above and read some reactions to them from fans below.

Few First Ladies in United States history have been as private and absent as Melania Trump. She usually dealt with her husband’s constant controversies by doing and saying nothing, occasionally letting her curious wardrobe speak for itself. And though she hasn’t split with him since he left office, as some predicted, she’s reportedly not particularly excited that her spouse may want to be president again.

“Being first lady again is not what she wants,” a source told CNN. “For her, it was a chapter — and it’s over, and that’s that.”

Another source says she at least won’t be on the trail. “You’re not going to see her at rallies or campaign events, even if he ‘officially’ says he’s running again,” they said. “Instead it’s going to be Lara [Trump, the wife of Trump’s son, Eric] or [Kimberly] Guilfoyle [the girlfriend of Trump’s eldest son, Don]. They have that same urge Trump has to [run] again; Melania absolutely does not.”

Since Donald Trump left the office in disgrace, Melania has barely been seen. This summer she’s only been caught in public once, leaving Trump Tower in New York City, accompanied by her son Barron. She’s popped up a couple times in pictures posted on Instagram, but she’s made little effort to be seen by the public eye. Friends say she will soon take up full-time residence at Mar-A-Lago, where her husband has spent most of his post-White House time, ranting to strangers about the election win he falsely says was taken from him.

Donald has yet to formally announce his candidacy in the 2024 election, which would be grossly premature anyway, considering he only left office less than nine months ago. But it’s believed he’ll do that anyway. Meanwhile criminal investigations into him and his company by various authorities are still ongoing.

(Via CNN)

Perhaps the most hotly contested rivalry in international soccer was supposed to have its latest chapter on Sunday in a World Cup Qualifier between Argentina and Brazil in São Paolo. After 10 minutes of action, however, the game was abruptly suspended as Brazilian authorities stormed onto the pitch to detain and deport four members of Argentina’s side who play their club football in England.

According to multiple reports, the authorities came out to accost Emiliano Martínez, Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso, and Emiliano Buendía. The quartet are all based out of England, and because they went from their club teams to their national team for these qualifiers, the players were not able to quarantine for 14 days before entering Brazil, putting them in violation of the country’s COVID-19 rules.

Per The Athletic, the official accusation against the players is “providing false information on immigration forms and breaking COVID-19 laws.”

Amid all the chaos, Argentina star Lionel Messi asked the question that is on everyone’s mind: Why, exactly, did they wait until after the game started to do this instead of addressing it during the three days in the lead-up to the game that the Argentinian national team was in Brazil?

Ultimately, the game was suspended, with Messi making a pretty straightforward declaration about the entire situation.

There is no word yet as to when the game will resume. Both sides should qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar pretty comfortably, but emotions always run ultra high when they face off. Adding the potential detainment and deportation of players, though, is a new level for this rivalry.

This past weekend was set to be another positive moment for Bobby Shmurda as he slowly yet surely finds his footing again in the music world. The rapper was released from prison in February after serving almost seven years for conspiracy to commit murder and weapons charges. Since gaining his freedom, Bobby has made several public appearances but few of them have come with new music or performances. All of that changed this weekend as he released his “No Time For Sleep” freestyle on Friday ahead of his set at the Made In America festival on Sunday.

Just a day before the rapper took the stage, however, a video shared by TMZ captured him nearly coming to blows with a fan at the festival. According to the publication, attendees at the showcase said someone in the crowd threw a water bottle at the rapper which caused him to try and seek out the individual. Shmurda tried to climb a barricade that separated him from fans, but thankfully, a member of the rapper’s crew was able to restrain him before he could get over it. He was then pulled away by his team and taken elsewhere before the situation got worse.

It should be noted that Shmurda’s release from prison came with strict conditions. It includes not being able to drink alcohol, attend any bars, or associate with gangs, abiding by an 8 p.m. curfew unless allowed otherwise. The rapper also must submit to drug testing, and receive aggression and anger counseling and seek, obtain, and maintain employment. All in all, moments like these are ones that Shmurda can’t afford to deal with.

You can watch a video of the incident on TMZ here.

To some, Michael Keaton is best known as the second big-screen Batman, after Adam West — the role to which he’ll soon return. To others, his greatest triumph is Beetlejuice, the previous movie he made with Tim Burton. But it almost didn’t happen. In an older interview unearthed by The Hollywood Reporter on his 70th birthday Sunday, the Oscar-nominated actor said it took some doing for Keaton to say yes to playing the devious poltergeist.

In a 2014 interview, Keaton talked about his first semi-disastrous meetings with the eccentric filmmaker. “I had no idea what he was talking about, but I liked him,” Keaton said. “I said, ‘I wish I could do it. You seem like a really nice guy and I know you’re creative, but I don’t get it.’

“When you see [the movie], you understand probably why it was hard for him to explain,” he added.

It took three meetings for Keaton to click with the part, but there was one more thing he had to do: help come up with his look. “I said, ‘Give me the night or two days’ and I called the wardrobe department at the studio and said, ‘Send me a bunch of wardrobes from different time periods, randomly. Just pick a rack,’” he said. “And then I thought of an idea of teeth and an idea of a walk.”

But he kept his costume ideas away from his director. “Here’s the amazing part about it: He never saw any of it. We discussed it. I said ‘I want hair that looks like I stuck my finger in an electrical socket.’ And I said ‘I want mold because Tim said he lives under rocks,’” Keaton said. “So I showed up for work and I walked on the stage and said, ‘This is either going to be way off the mark, or he’s going to — I don’t know what he’s going to do.”

Luckily, Keaton said, “He got it immediately.”

You can watch the full video below.

(Via THR)

Musicians have historically made plenty of interesting and expensive purchases, but few top Lil Uzi Vert’s $24 million pink diamond which the rapper embedded into his forehead at the beginning of the year. The diamond earned plenty of reactions from fans and while some deemed it as unnecessary, Lil Uzi was no doubt happy with his purchase. After keeping it implanted in his head for about four months, the rapper removed it in June before re-embedding it almost two months later. That’s because it turns out that fans ripped out the diamond while he performed.

He made the reveal while speaking to TMZ on his way into the 18th-anniversary party for Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club at the end of last month. “I had a show at Rolling Loud and I jumped into the crowd and they kind of ripped it out,” he said to the publication. “I’m feeling good. I still have the diamond so I feel good.”

Shortly after he had the diamond implanted, Eliantte, the jeweler responsible for it, addressed concerns about its safety and called it “as safe as any other piercing.” He added, “As long as you maintain it well and have good upkeep, it’s perfectly fine. We made sure that prior to getting anything done that Uzi brought someone in to consult on everything. We didn’t just do this randomly.”

You can watch Lil Uzi speak about the Rolling Loud incident in the video above.

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