Month: September 2021

Chaos erupted on the set of The View on Friday morning as co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro received positive COVID test results live on their and were forced to immediately leave the studio. Vice President Kamala Harris was just moments away from appearing on the daytime talk show for an in-person interview, which only added to the urgency and confusion.

In the clip below, you can see the grave expression on Hostin and Navarro’s faces as they receive the news that they both tested positive and instantly walk off set as Joy Behar and Sara Haines try to discern what’s happening from producers. After Hostin and Navarro leave, an understandably confused Behar tries to keep the show going by bringing out the vice president, but receives the “no” from off-camera.

After cutting to commercial, Behar addresses the elephant in the room by accurately noting that the show is about to become a major news story. She reveals that Hostin and Navarro received positive test results, but they will be fine because they’re both vaccinated “up the wazoo.” Obviously, it was a very serious and potentially dangerous situation, which could have infected the vice president. But, of course, that didn’t stop conservative commentator Tomi Lahren from taking a cheap shot at The View.

“Well, apparently the super health cautious ladies of @TheView may be the super spreaders they lecture you about!” Lahren tweeted.

As is often the case, Lahren was quickly dragged in the replies by users noting that the pandemic would be contained if conservatives like her would stop spreading misinformation and encouraging vaccine hesitancy. Also, it was a pretty low blow even for Lahren.

Few updates have emerged in 21 Savage’s ICE immigration case after he was arrested in 2019 and held for nearly a month while he battled against the agency’s attempts to have him deported under questionable circumstances. However, today, Buzzfeed reported that the rapper recently found out about a warrant stemming from that arrest that was only issued earlier this month. He surrendered to Atlanta police Thursday and was released on bond the same evening.

According to Buzzfeed, the warrant, issued by a local magistrate after being filed on September 7, alleges felony drug possession and weapons possession during the ICE arrest in January of 2019, saying that he threw out a bottle of codeine when he was stopped and also had a handgun in the car. Savage’s attorney, Charles Kuck, told Buzzfeed he believes that the warrant was requested by ICE, which has refused to drop the rapper’s deportation case, to cover its own mistakes.

In a statement, Kuck said, “The warrant appears to have been sought at the behest of ICE, as the warrant was issued in the eve of an Immigration Court hearing in Mr. Joseph’s deportation proceeding, and is based upon events that transpired on the evening that ICE arrested Mr. Joseph over 2 and one-half years ago. There can be no doubt that ICE is seeking to cover its own errors in detaining Mr. Jospeh by pushing trumped-up charges against him and seeks to stop him from obtaining lawful permanent residence in the United States.”

ICE’s deportation case was initially based on felony drug charges which were vacated, on the grounds that 21 overstayed his visa as a child. The Atlanta-based rapper originally immigrated to the US at seven years old with his mother, with the visa expiring when he was 12 or 13. He has since pursued a U visa for his cooperation in a shooting involving a relative and in more recent months, applied for a green card. He has three children who are US citizens.

Adding insult to injury, Savage is scheduled to join J. Cole on his Off-Season tour tonight in Miami, but would have remained close at hand for a hearing over his immigration status on November 1.

Last night, Camila Cabello kicked off the 2021 Billboard Latin Music Awards with a high-energy performance of her latest single, “Don’t Go Yet.” Rocking a sparkly black costume and a high ponytail, Cabello created a spirited atmosphere, complete with an old-school array of dancers, bongo players, guitarists and horns. “It’s giving… Brazilian music inspired dance break for don’t go yet with the familia, by the familia, for la familia,” the singer wrote on social media.

The night’s Billboard Latin Music Awards performers also included sets from Karol G, Marc Anthony, Christian Nodal, Juanes, Natti Natasha, Prince Royce, and more. Rancheras great Paquita la del Barrio likewise received the Lifetime Achievement Award, while other special honors were handed out to Mexican rock act Maná, who got the Icon Award, and reggaeton master Daddy Yankee, who got a Hall of Fame award.

Cabello, of course, also performed “Don’t Go Yet” at the 2021 MTV VMAs. “#DontGoYet is the first song from my next album, Familia,” she wrote of the song in Instagram. “The album’s journey started with @scottharris123 and our makeshift studio in my bedroom in Miami about a year ago. We just had a mic, some MIDI keyboards and guitars! Then we brought it to LA where I met and worked with @mikesabath for the first time. That first day of working together, we wrote this song after listening to old Cuban songs and playing with my dog Tarzan.”

Watch Camila Cabello’s “Don’t Go Yet” performance above.

The mean-girling of Steve Bannon by Roger Stone has been an interesting instance of infighting among the inner MAGA circle, and exactly why that’s happening is becoming more clear. Stone got pissed off when Trump pardoned Bannon for defrauding Trump supporters, and it seems like Stone is all kinds-of worked up at the idea of Bannon skating on punishment, shortly before Stone came under investigation for his alleged role in plotting the insurrection. Well, Bannon kind-of admitted that he did, as many suspected, have a hand in strategizing the failed coup. And now, Bannon has been subpoenaed over Jan. 6 by the House select committee in charge of the investigation.

This should make Roger Stone happy, sure. And it’s also no real surprise that the guy who called for Fauci’s head on a pike would have been all-up in this insurrection business. Well, the new book (Peril) from veteran journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa claims to bring the receipts on what Bannon said to Trump in the lead-up to January 6. Here are some excerpts via CNN:

“‘You’ve got to call Pence off the [expletive] ski slopes and get him back here today. This is a crisis.’ Bannon said, referring to the vice president who was vacationing in Vail, Colorado.

“Bannon told Trump to focus on January 6. That was the moment for a reckoning.

“‘People are going to go ‘What the [expletive] is going on here?’ Bannon believed. ‘We’re going to bury Biden on January 6th, [expletive] bury him.’”

Pence did vacation in Vail over the holidays, so that part checks out, as well as his public declaration that he remains “proud” of his own January 6 actions, which would be the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win in Congress. Meanwhile, the CNN piece reveals how Bannon and Trump complained to each other about Pence. The pair was not happy, with Trump calling Pence “arrogant” and remarking how he had changed on Trump, and Bannon “agreed.”

All in all, it’s not looking wonderful for Steve Bannon concerning January 6, and Biden has signaled that Trump might be out of luck on the executive-privilege issue, too.

(Via CNN)

A year after being the No. 3 seed and making the Conference Finals, the 2020-21 Celtics took a step back, finishing as the seventh seed before being dominated by the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. Last season promoted several changes in the front office, on the coaching staff and on the roster for the Celtics. The hope has to be that 2020-21 was just an off year in one of the weirdest years in league history.

Roster:

Jayson Tatum
Jaylen Brown
Al Horford
Marcus Smart
Robert Williams
Dennis Schroder
Josh Richardson
Juancho Hernangomez
Grant Williams
Romeo Langford
Enes Kanter
Aaron Nesmith
Payton Pritchard
Jabari Parker
Sam Hauser

Projected Vegas Win Total: 45.5

Biggest Addition: Ime Udoka

There are a few ways to answer this question for Boston. Al Horford could be an answer as he returns to Boston. Dennis Schroder is another considering he is functionally replacing Kemba Walker. But the right answer feels like Ime Udoka, who replaced Brad Stevens (now the Celtics’ general manager) as head coach.

Udoka has a strong pedigree coming from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree and should bring a new voice to a team that might need to take a step forward in the Eastern Conference. He’s also coming into a a situation with All-Star players and an expectation to win right now. Among first-year head coaches, Udoka may be the most interesting to follow over the course of the season considering all that will be thrown at him.

Biggest Loss: Kemba Walker

Walker wasn’t ever really at his Hornets-era peak with the Celtics, largely due to injury issues. But he was still a key piece the last few years and it’s unclear how moving on from him to a point guard rotation of Schroder and Payton Pritchard will impact this team.

Without Walker, it’ll be worth watching to see how Udoka organizes the offense. It seems possible that he leans more on Tatum and Brown to lead the offense and create for others. Schroder is also a good pick-and-roll player, so maybe a Schroder-Horford pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop can be a staple of whatever Boston runs on offense.

It’s also worth noting that replacing Walker goes beyond this year. Schroder is on a one-year deal, so he isn’t locked in for the future like Tatum and Brown are. It seems possible that the offense is built not just for right now, but to succeed if/when Schroder is playing somewhere else in 2022.

Biggest Question: Can Jayson Tatum make another leap?

Depending on who you ask, Jayson Tatum is top-10 to top-20 player in the NBA. Last season, he was heavily impacted by contracting COVID-19 and it feels fair to assume that wasn’t the best version of Tatum. He’s also only 23 years old still and is in the age range where he could take another leap and hit an entire new level as a player. If he ascends right now and puts himself in the MVP race, a top-four (or better) seed could be in play for the Celtics.

What Makes This Season A Success: A deep playoff run

The Celtics have done the hard work — they have two All-Stars and have a fairly deep roster around it. There’s some new pieces coming in and it’s not exactly clear what Horford brings in his return at age 35. Udoka also has to hit for this season to reach its full potential. But a deep playoff run that seems Tatum and Brown lead the team to the Eastern Conference Finals would undoubtedly feel like a success.

What Makes This Season A Failure: An early exit from the playoffs

The Eastern Conference is, at least on paper, better this year. Even so, because they have Tatum and Brown, anything like last season would be a failure for Boston. This team should be, at minimum, in the top-six of the East and have a better shot than last year of getting to the second round at least. If they slip into the play-in tournament again or are bounced early, that’s a problem.

Chvrches have shared a cover of Avril Lavigne‘s 2002 pop-punk power ballad “I’m With You” as part of their Apple Music Home Session recordings, which also came with a new version of “California” from their latest album, Screen Violence. Singer Lauren Mayberry called “I’m With You” a “classic banger-ballad of our times,” in a statement. Check it out below.

Speaking to Apple Music about creating Screen Violence, Mayberry added, “It helped put a lot of things into perspective. The band is normally an amazing but quite chaotic part of our lives. Working on Screen Violence became a really comforting and grounding thing to do because the band was one of the only things that provided us with some sense of normalcy.”

She added: “‘California’ feels like a good illustration of what Screen Violence is about, sonically and lyrically, and we thought it would be fun to reinterpret it in an acoustic format.”

Likewise, the Scottish synth-pop trio recently spoke to Uproxx about making Screen Violence. Mayberry revealed:

“It’s not about horror movies, but it was more like we can build a backdrop and a landscape that you can tell personal stories through. Once we’ve written a few songs and I had a few things under our belt and especially with the aesthetics and the visuals, it was more about the role of women in those stories and the role of women in horror. How can you take those tropes and ideas and use those to tell your stories? And what about being a woman feels horrific? What about it feels violent? How do you live in and around that violence, how can you live through it? What do you do with it when you live in this space? I think that’s been really fun to play with, especially like with the imagery on the record and the imagery in terms of the album artwork and the videos and the visuals. How can you take that genre and bend it to tell your stories?”

Chvrches’ Screen Violence is out now via Glassnote. Stream it here.

Among the hilarious bars dispensed on Remble’s new single “Rocc Climbing” with Lil Yachty, the two rappers issue side-splitting witticisms such as, “I’m a known home wrecker, like Jerry Springer” and “A lot these Instagram hoes look just like aunties.” Look, none of this stuff is very PC, but it is undoubtedly funny, if only for its audacity and not the eye-popping contrast between the two artists’ unusual deliveries.

On one side, Lil Yachty is in full Michigan Boy Boat mode, deploying the marble-mouthed, overstuffed rhyme schemes of his collaborators on that mixtape with his usual, un-enunciated, lethargically mellow flow. On the other, Remble pronounces every phoneme of every word in every bar, which sounds a little like if one of the guys from Big Bang Theory grew up in South Central gangbanging. Drakeo The Ruler‘s influence hovers over the whole thing — and if you’ve never noticed the affinity between the off-kilter cadences of both LA’s emerging underground and Michigan’s, you will never un-hear the similarities now.

“Rocc Climbing” is Remble’s first new single since releasing his debut mixtape It’s Remble this summer. The release considerably raised the San Pedro rapper’s profile, and his association with the never-not-working Drakeo’s Stinc Team more or less ensures that more music is on the way.

Watch Remble’s “Rocc Climbing” video featuring Lil Yachty above.

If you have spent even two minutes of the past five years reading J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy, or watching Ron Howard’s adaptation it, you’re probably going to want to find the nearest blunt object and get ready to tear your eyeballs out. As Daily Beast is reporting, Vance—the author/venture capitalist-turned-Ohio Senate candidate—has some pretty revolting ideas about rape. Namely, that it’s really just “inconvenient.” As is incest. We’ll say!

Vance uttered the abominable adjective during an interview with Columbus, Ohio’s Spectrum News 1, which was published on Wednesday. When asked to share his thoughts on Texas’ abhorrent new near-total abortion ban, and specifically whether he thought victims of rape or incest should be forced to carry their babies to term, Vance—who is one of a dozen Republican senatorial candidates currently hoping to be on the official ballot—didn’t hold back. After noting that “the question betrays a certain presumption that’s wrong,” Vance went on to explain his totally f*#%ed-up argument:

“It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term; it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society. The question to me is really about the baby. We want women to have opportunities, we want women to have choices, but, above all, we want women and young boys in the womb to have a right to life.”

“Inconvenient.” Let’s not forget that this man is a bestselling author, so is very familiar with knowing which words to use and where to put them. And we have a few ideas as to where Vance can shove the word “inconvenient.” (He also noted that “two wrongs don’t make a right.”) In case you’re wondering: Yes, Vance is a father—to two sons.

Vance’s press secretary Taylor Van Kirk issued a statement decrying Daily Beast’s story, which states:

“Nowhere in the interview cited does JD actually say what the Daily Beast is dishonestly claiming he said. The transcript of the interview bears this out as that phrase is never uttered and JD even rejects the entire premise of the question he was asked by the interviewer. The Daily Beast’s pathetic attempt to put words in his mouth show that they’ve traded in any semblance of journalistic integrity to be full on leftwing political activists.”

For their part, Daily Beast reminded its readers that a recording of the interview is available—right here, and below! (The abortion conversation begins around the 9:25 mark, with the “inconvenient” comment being made 12 minutes in.)

(Via Daily Beast)

Doc Rivers has made clear that he’d like to get Ben Simmons back on the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite Simmons’ efforts to continue his career elsewhere, which includes informing the team he will not report to training camp next week, Rivers has said that his hope is they can get Simmons to change his mind and continue his career in the City of Brotherly Love.

Rivers expressed this belief in an interview with Stephen A. Smith earlier this week, and on Friday, he made a cameo on MSNBC’s Morning Joe where he was once against asked about his All-Star guard. Co-host Willie Geist ended a segment on Rivers’ new podcast series, It Was Said: Sports, with a question about whether or not he’ll be able to convince Simmons to stick around. Rivers responded by pandering to MSNBC’s left-of-center audience with an analogy that probably wasn’t the best course of action.

“Well, I’m gonna try,” Rivers said, per Mediaite. “There’s times that I think we’re getting through, and then there’s times that I think that I’m talking to people who still believe Trump won the election. So, I’m not sure, but I’m gonna keep trying, let me say that.”

He is, of course, referencing the fact that now-former president Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden last November and has since been yammering on and on about how, actually, he didn’t, which is a lie. Whether or not comparing Simmons — who endorsed Biden and Kamala Harris last year — and his camp to MAGA folks was a good idea remains to be seen, but even if this was Rivers getting a channel-appropriate joke off, I, personally, will be putting money on “it was not.”

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings came out in early September, and promptly broke the record for the largest Labor Day weekend opening ever. (It’s thanks to Morris and his adorable butt of a face that we get Venom: Let There Be Carnage two weeks early.) The Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is now up to $183.4 million at the domestic box office, which makes it the highest grossing movie to be released during the 2020-21 pandemic to date. The previous title-holder: another MCU flick, Black Widow.

Shang-Chi accomplished this feat on a pure theatrical window, versus the controversial day-and-date Disney+ Premier strategy of Black Widow; the studio recently announcing that the Marvel Asian American superhero feature will be available free to Disney+ subscribers on November 12, Disney+ Day. The success of Shang-Chi at the domestic box office encouraged Disney to stick with a theatrical window release pattern for its remaining titles on its 2021 slate rather than push them to Disney+.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2021, the only films I could see maybe topping Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘s box office gross are No Time to Die or two other MCU movies, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Unless I see Licorice Pizza 34,000 times, then that could be number one. Honestly, I might. Meanwhile, Shang-Chi is number six at the international box office for 2021, behind Hi Mom (a staggering $841 million), F9, Detective Chinatown 3, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Black Widow.

(Via Deadline)