Month: December 2021

A new report from Input Magazine alleges that a former reporter at The New York Times exploited a number of artists for personal gain. Ian Urbina is accused of seeking out artists to give him music that he would put on a soundtrack to accompany the release of his book The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across The Last Untamed Frontier, which arrived in August of 2019. Urbina described it as a “passion project” and said that a company, Synesthesia Media, would handle the distribution of the music through streaming services. He also claimed that $50,000 was earmarked for the project and that Spotify, Netflix, and book publishing house Knopf were all building content around the soundtrack.

The deal Urbina worked out with the artists that submitted music to him involved him receiving 50% of the revenue they made from the song(s). In exchange, he promised to use his platform and the interest generated behind the project to promote the artists and their work. He claimed that the artists would receive a bigger boost in their careers through working with him.

But many of the artists claim that the promotion behind the songs was extremely minimal. One, Benn Jordan, who performs under the name The Flashbulb, made a video about Urbina’s project, which he called a “scam,” and shared it on YouTube.

In the end, at least 462 artists partnered with Urbina and more than 2,100 songs in total were submitted to him. Brian Trifon, who works under the alias Trifonic, says he signed on to work with Urbina, but after suspecting something was off with the project, he ended up submitting a single song rather than the EP that was part of their agreement. “I saw that there was a good chance the scope was expanding to more than just a handful of artists,” he said. “97 percent was my materials and sounds and I was no longer thrilled to be giving up 50 percent of it.”

He added, “But there was no Netflix, Spotify, Knopf or NYT special support. It was all 100 percent about his book and even that, not many people seemed to care. I’ve worked in music long enough that I know that sh*t happens and I just moved on, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.”

Urbina declined to comment about the matter and directed Input to a statement published by Synesthesia. “The video is inaccurate,” it read, adding that the project’s goal was to amplify journalism, highlight issues covered by the reporting, “and if possible, to develop additional funding to support more reporting.” It continues, “We deeply value our artist relationships. We have always wanted our partners to share our vision.” The statement also says that artists no longer interested in signing off a portion of their revenue to Urbina can release themselves from the agreement and that Synesthesia will “direct 100 percent of all such revenues to the artist.”

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for NYT, says the publication is aware of Jordan’s video. “The allegations are troubling,” she says. “We are currently looking into the matter.” Urbina departed the New York Times on May 30, 2019.

You can read the full report from Input Magazine here and view the video from Jordan above.

Since losing to South Carolina in the Bahamas in a thrilling 1 vs. 2 showdown, the UConn women’s basketball team has gotten back on track with a pair of dominant wins over Seton Hall and, on Sunday, No. 24 Notre Dame.

The Huskies are led by sophomore star Paige Bueckers, who led the way with 22 points, four rebounds, and four assists in the win over the Irish, but disaster struck in the final minute when Bueckers injured her knee bringing the ball up the floor, as her front leg slid out in front of her awkwardly. Bueckers would continue to bring the ball up the floor to get it across the halfcourt line but would then fall to the floor and need to be helped off after being attended to.

After the game, UConn coach Geno Auriemma told reporters they believed Bueckers suffered a hyperextension of her knee, but that since it hadn’t gotten twisted during the injury the hope was she avoided something more severe.

Bueckers will have an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the injury, but hopefully it will not be something that will end her season and she can return sooner than later as the Huskies seek out another national title run.

Poor Dr. Anthony Fauci. Not only has he done his best to help Americans battle a once-in-a-century public health crisis; he’s also had to put up with relentless nonsense from conservatives. Last week, the perpetually embattled immunologist had to deal with Ted Cruz saying he should be prosecuted (for…?). Then there was Fox Nation host Lara Logan, who bizarrely compared him to Dr. Joseph Mengele. And on Sunday, he had to take the time to clap back at yet another trash-talking Republican.

Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson — already well-known for calling the Jan. 6 Capitol siege a “peaceful protest” — recently dragged Dr. Fauci over what he saw was an embellishment of the severity of a virus that has killed more Americans the Civil War.

“By the way, Fauci did the same exact thing with AIDS,” Johnson told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade. “He overhyped it. He created all kinds of fear, saying it could infect the entire population when it couldn’t, and he’s doing, he’s using the exact same playbook with COVID: ignoring therapy, pushing a vaccine.”

On Sunday during an appearance on CNN, host Jake Tapper asked him about Johnson’s “bizarre and false assertion.”

“You know, Jake, how do you respond to something as preposterous as that?!” an exasperated Fauci replied. “Overhyping AIDS? It killed over 750,000 Americans and 36 million people worldwide. How do you overhype that? Overhyping COVID? It’s already killed 780,000 Americans and over 5 million people worldwide, so I don’t have any clue what he’s talking about.”

Tapper added, “I don’t think he does either.”

Of course, it would be better if Dr. Fauci didn’t have to respond to ridiculous statements from a party whose members don’t even seem to know that cancer, unlike COVID, isn’t contagious.

(Via The Daily Beast)

After LSU won the 2019 national championship, offensive coordinator Joe Brady was one of the hottest names in coaching, getting buzz as a potential future head coach at both the college and NFL levels. When Matt Rhule left Baylor for the Carolina Panthers that summer, he brought Brady with him to be his offensive coordinator in hopes of creating a high-powered offense in Charlotte.

Through a season-plus, that hasn’t come to fruition, and while there’s plenty of reason to think that’s in part due to personnel and a less than stellar quarterback room in his two seasons, the wunderkind hasn’t schemed it up to the level of success Carolina hoped for. On Sunday, the Panthers, who are on their bye week, decided right after kickoff in the 1 p.m. window was a great time to make an announcement that they had fired Brady and would be making an OC change during their bye.

“I met with Joe this morning and informed him that I have decided to make a change,” said Matt Rhule in a statement. “I’m very grateful to him for his time and effort in helping us get established over this past year and a half.”

The timing is fascinating, but it might’ve been at the request of Brady that, if a change was going to get made no matter what, they do so now so he can get his name in the mix for some of the high profile positions open at the college level currently. A return to Baton Rouge is certainly in play, as Brian Kelly was unable to get Tommy Rees to join him in leaving Notre Dame and needs a coordinator, while other major OC jobs could be in play like Oklahoma — which is expected to hire Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as head coach.

White supremacy is a bigger problem than ever, but at least a recent gathering ended with some of its adherents getting humiliated. As per The Daily Beast, a white nationalist group known as Patriot Front marched on Washington D.C. Alas, not only did they do little but prove a nuisance, but the night ended with them getting stranded in the December cold.

The march, whose numbers swelled to over 100, founds its participants stomping through the city, chanting about how they wanted to “reclaim America.” They all wore the same uniform, including white gaiters, blue jackets, khaki pants, and brown boots. Their presence sparked fear among the populace and the police, no less because it was the same group, under a different name, involved in the deadly Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in 2017, which ended with someone associated with them killing a counterprotester.

Luckily, there was no such grim end at this march. Instead, the night ended in rank embarrassment. When the march was over, it turned out they forgot to plan on how to get home:

Members of the group had waited in a one-way roundabout to depart in one of the U-Hauls they had used to transport themselves for the rally. But the large rented moving van could not fit them all, so many of them were forced to wait in 45-degree darkness as the bulky orange vehicle made multiple trips over the course of nearly three hours.

Then again, if waiting around in the cold before being crammed into a U-Haul truck is the worst thing that happened to bigots, then they got off easy. Sadly, Donald Trump didn’t call them “very fine people,” as he was too busy accidentally telling the truth about the 2020 election.

(Via The Daily Beast)

One dad who decided to go clubbing with his daughter is making our day while having the night out of his life.

Talia Schulhof (aka @taliasc) had to know she had all the makings of a viral-worthy TikTok when she posted:

“My dad wanted to go to a club so here’s how it went.”

If she didn’t know before, the now 10 million views are a sure indicator. People are loving this adorably wholesome video.

@taliasc flash warning!!! @taliascdad iconic to say the least #madrid #espana #spain #clubbing #nightlife #dadsoftiktok ♬ Low (feat. T-Pain) – Flo Rida

Dad’s ultra cool club attire consists of square rim glasses, a button-up top, and, of course, a gilet (because as we all know, the club is a notoriously chilly place).

The ensemble was, undoubtedly, a hit.

“You let him go with a vest on? Let some of the other guys have a chance,” one person wrote.

After doing the “classic dad overview of the scene” and snapping a quick selfie for the family group chat, he’s ready to party. And by party, I mean he’s ready to sip Diet Coke while the rest of the group downs tequila shots.

Flo Rida’s club classic “Apple Bottom Jeans” plays in the background, to which dad knows every lyric. He’s even seen fist pumping while checking work emails. That’s about as “dad lit” as it gets.

The last thing we see is him dancing out of the exit, which Talia explains is to “remind everyone that he’s the main character.” TikTok seems to agree. One user joked: “He is the main character and we are just living in his world.”

Finding the video oddly … relatable? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many people in the comments had the same epiphany.

“The work emails LMAO that’s me writing discussion posts at like 11:40 while I’m out partying.”

“But that’s literally me at the club… am I? Am I? A dad??”

Talia wrote in the comments that her dad was so excited his video outperformed her mom’s (yes, she was at the club too), because apparently whenever Talia posts family videos, mom wins.

Lizzo loves to flirt. The singer took the stage at the Art Basel festival in Miami on Saturday where she delivered a cover of Erykah Badu’s “Tyrone.” The track comes from Badu’s 1997 album Live, and for her performance, Lizzo decided to put her own spin on the track. During her cover, she altered some of the lyrics so she could name-drop both Chris Evans and Drake.

During her cover, Lizzo sang, “Maybe I should call Chis Evans / Maybe Captain America could put another bun up in my.” She followed that up by singing, “Or maybe I should call Drake?”

It’s not the first time that Lizzo has mentioned Chris Evans or Drake in public. In her most recent single, “Rumors” with Cardi B, Lizzo sings, “Readin’ sh*t on the internet / My smoothie cleanse and my diet / No, I ain’t f*ck Drake — yet.” She later explained that mentioning Drake in the song was her way of flipping the script.

As for Evans, Lizzo joked earlier this year that she was pregnant with his child. “This is something that I’ve been really trying to keep personal and private between me and the father of my child,” she said in a TikTok video. “But since we’re airing out all the rumors today, I’ve been sucking in. We’re gonna have a little America!” Evans played along with the joke and later DM’ed Lizzo about their “little bundle of joy.”

You can watch a clip of her performance above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After a wild 2021 college football regular season, Sunday’s College Football Playoff selection show arrived with little in the way of drama after the way conference championship weekend shook out. With Alabama thumping Georgia in the SEC title game, they locked themselves into a spot and the Dawgs, the lone undefeated Power 5 team entering the weekend, were a lock win or lose, meaning there would be a pair of SEC squads making the field.

From there, Cincinnati took care of business in the AAC title game against Houston to polish off a 13-0 season, the only undefeated season in FBS football this year, and punch their ticket — helped by No. 5 Oklahoma State getting beaten by Baylor in the Big 12 title game. The last chance for chaos was in the Big Ten, but Michigan mowed down Iowa in a 42-3 win in Indianapolis to lock themselves in and make a strong case for the No. 1 overall seed.

The only question for the Committee on Sunday was what order they would put those four teams in, and whether they’ll set up the SEC Championship rematch for the semifinals or split them up.

1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Georgia
4. Cincinnati

That means the two semifinal matchups will be Alabama-Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl and Michigan-Georgia in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Eve, as the committee chose not to set up the rematch of the SEC title game immediately and instead leave it as a possible national title game matchup.

The University of Miami doesn’t have an official coaching vacancy at the moment, as Manny Diaz remains at the helm of the Hurricanes for now, but for the last week there has been considerable buzz growing that they were hot in pursuit of Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal to take over the program.

This all was happening as Cristobal’s Ducks were getting ready for a Pac-12 title game in which they got destroyed for a second time by the Utah Utes, and it was hard to see how Cristobal’s shaky future in Oregon wasn’t at least a bit of a factor in a lackluster effort from Oregon. After the Pac-12 title game, Cristobal was still on the recruiting trail for the Ducks, but as we learned with Brian Kelly, that means little in terms of assuring fans of a coach staying.

On Sunday morning, Mike Ryan of The Dan LeBatard Show reported a deal was indeed done to bring Cristobal back home to Miami — he played for the Hurricanes from 1989-92 and got his first head coaching job down the road at FIU. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald confirmed the report, bringing word that the deal would be for $8 million a year and north of five years, with Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich taking over the athletic department.

However, Dennis Dodd of CBS reports a deal isn’t done yet, as Cristobal has a large extension offer from Oregon on the table he is mulling as well.

If Cristobal does indeed go to Miami, this would be the third huge poaching move in college football this season, and a rather fascinating one. Cristobal has gone 35-13 in his four seasons with the Ducks, peaking with a 12-2 season and a Rose Bowl win in 2019, but hasn’t been able to get over the hump in terms of bringing the Ducks back into the Playoff discussion. To leave Oregon, a program with nearly unlimited resources, for Miami, one that has not always been willing or able to spend like the top programs, is quite interesting, and Jackson reports Cristobal has been given assurances that will change with a new regime.

There is no doubt that Cristobal will be a better recruiter than what Miami has had in recent years, as that has long been his best quality, both as a head coach and an assistant. That’s critical for a program that has not been able to lock up the top players in the area, but getting the most out of that talent is the question for a Cristobal team and will determine just how successful he can be with the Hurricanes.

As for Oregon, the word seems to be that they’ll start their search by trying to pull an old friend and current rival back to Eugene in the form of UCLA head coach Chip Kelly.

If they can’t nab Kelly, their search becomes rather fascinating because, as mentioned, the Ducks have as unique an athletics budget as any program in the country thanks to their connection to Nike and Phil Knight, and it wouldn’t be hard for a lot of coaches to see themselves as the guy who could bring the Ducks back into the Playoff picture.

It’s been a rough week for Chris Cuomo. It started with documents being made public that revealed he was a lot more involved in his brother Andrew’s defense against sexual misconduct allegations, which led to him resigning in disgrace. The CNN anchor was first suspended and then, on Saturday, fired “effective immediately.” While he was diplomatic after his job was put on hold, he’s reportedly less so now that he’s out of work.

As per The Daily Beast, sources say Cuomo is “livid” about the termination. He was a bit more reined-in after the news of his firing first broke. “This is not how I want my time at CNN to end,” he said in a statement. “But I have already told you why and how I helped my brother.”

CNN has not revealed exactly what caused the termination, but The New York Times reports that on Wednesday, the day after Cuomo was suspended, a lawyer informed the network that he had been accused of sexual harassment by a junior colleague at another network. Cuomo has denied the allegation.

When asked if the new claim had an impact on their decision to let Cuomo go, CNN played coy. “Based on the report we received regarding Chris’s conduct with his brother’s defense, we had cause to terminate,” they told NYT. “When new allegations came to us this week, we took them seriously, and saw no reason to delay taking immediate action.”

After multiple women came forward accusing Andrew Cuomo, the now-former governor of New York, of sexual misconduct, Chris publicly admitted he had played a small role in his defense. He claimed he’d been a mere sounding board. Last week, newly unveiled documents showed that he’d gone as far as to phone into meetings about his brother’s defense, even used his connections to try and dig up dirt about his accusers.

(Via The Daily Beast and NYT)