Month: December 2021

The year is 1922. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed; the British Broadcasting Company is established; and in Oak Park, Illinois, Christine Tess and Horace Logan White give birth to Betty White. The Hollywood legend turns 100 next month, and she’s ready to celebrate (with a hopefully socially distanced party).

“I’m so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age. It’s amazing,” she told People about turning 100. White was also asked about the secret to out-living the USSR. She credited it to being “born a cockeyed optimist,” which she “I got [from] my mom, and that never changed. I always find the positive.”

As for her diet, White jokes: “I try to avoid anything green. I think it’s working.”

White has been on this chunk of rock we call Earth for 100 years, but she’s never enjoyed a Mountain Dew? That ain’t living, if you ask me.

People also spoke to Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, who only had nice things to say about their The Proposal co-star. “Betty pivots like I have never seen, making it look seamless,” Bullock said, while Reynolds “heard that scripts for Golden Girls were only 35 pages, which makes sense because so many of the laughs come from Betty simply looking at her castmates.” Alex Trebek was right: she should have hosted Jeopardy!.

Fore more on Betty White: 100 Years Young — A Birthday Celebration, click here.

(Via People)

Musicians dominate social media: Four of the ten most-followed Instagram accounts are those of musicians, and that number jumps to five (including three of the top four) when you look at Twitter’s top accounts. BTS tends to have a massive presence on Twitter, as they had virtually all of 2020’s most-liked tweets. Well, this year, it turns out they did even better on the platform: Of 2021’s ten most-liked tweets (according to Wikipedia, with data accurate as of December 15 and updated by Uproxx on December 28 for this post), BTS had eight of them.

The year’s top tweet comes from Joe Biden, who tweeted on January 20 (the day he officially became president), “It’s a new day in America,” a tweet that has 4 million likes and is the third most-liked tweet ever. The second most-liked tweet came from Twitter themselves, who tweeted, “hello literally everyone,” as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp experienced outages on October 4. That one has 3.3 million likes.

After that, the rest of the year’s top tweets are literally all from BTS. Their most-liked tweet is a Jungkook selfie captioned with a kissy face emoji, which has 3.2 million likes. That was also the most retweeted tweet of 2021 site-wide, not just for BTS. Most of their other tweets in the top ten are selfies from various group members, but one standout among those is a video of BTS enjoying Harry Styles performing “Falling” at a concert.

Even outside of the top ten, all of the rest of the year’s top tweets (up to No. 19, where Wikipedia’s data ends for 2021 tweets) are from BTS. Making an appearance in that range is a tweet of photos featuring J-Hope, Jimin, Jungkook, and V meeting Lizzo.

Check out the list of 2021’s top ten tweets below.

1. Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) — “It’s a new day in America.” (4 million likes; January 20)
2. Twitter (@Twitter) — “hello literally everyone” (3.3 million likes; October 4)
3. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “[kissy face emoji]” (3.2 million likes; January 24)
4. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “아미 보고 싶다 ㅜ” (3.1 million likes; April 11)
5. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “[heart with arrow through it emoji] @Harry_Styles [heart with ribbon emoji]” (3 million likes; November 20)
6. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “셀프 염색 🙂 #JJK” (3 million likes; February 24)
7. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “연습 연습 연습!!! #JK” (3 million likes; May 29)
8. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “Love U [purple heart emoji]” (2.9 million likes; November 24)
9. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “focus on army [purple heart emoji]” (2.9 million likes; November 22)
10. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “[thumbs up emoji]” (2.9 million likes; September 20)

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

Adele’s 30 has, by many metrics (like this one or this one), been the biggest album of 2021. Now, it’s starting 2022 on the right foot, too: On the Billboard 200 chart dated January 1, 2022, 30 is No. 1 for the fifth straight/total week. This was thanks to a big week, as the album earned 212,000 equivalent album units in the US during the week ending December 23, which is good for a 16-percent increase from the week before.

30 is now the fourth album released in 2021 to spend at least five total weeks at No. 1, after Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (10 weeks), Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (five weeks each). Speaking of Drake, 30 is also the first album to notch three weeks of at least 200,000 album units in over three years, since Drake’s Scorpion did so in each of its three charting weeks in 2018.

Elsewhere on the chart, Roddy Ricch’s new album Live Life Fast debuts at No. 4, while Vince Guaraldi Trio’s 1965 album A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack achieved a new high at No. 6. Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) also managed to return to the top 10 this week at No. 10, following its release on CD and vinyl on December 17.

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

The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Monday night’s game against the Celtics without four starters as they are dealing with a COVID outbreak that’s put Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, and Jarred Vanderbilt, among others, on the sideline (as well as some assistant coaches).

The Celtics were likewise shorthanded, with Jayson Tatum going into protocols on Monday, but did have Jaylen Brown and Al Horford, and seemed like they would simply outclass the Wolves’ cobbled together roster when they went up 11 after a gutsy start from Minnesota to keep things close. However, the Wolves’ reserves and replacement players refused to roll over and stormed back to a 108-103 win that was among the more stunning of the season.

Leading the way for the Wolves was Jaylen Nowell with a career-high 29 points, as well as 20 points from Nathan Knight (also a career-high) and 11 points, nine rebounds, and six assists from Greg Monroe, playing in his first NBA game in two years. After the game, Monroe reflected on the general insanity of just how thrown together the roster was on Monday by saying he had never even heard of Jaylen Nowell before the game.

It’s a pretty funny quote from Monroe, who also had a very McConaughey perspective on returning to the league two years later, “the game stays the same, just the players change.” Now, Nowell isn’t some first-timer in the NBA, he’s played three seasons in Minnesota and is averaging 6.3 points in 19 games this season, but he has certainly never taken a starring role like he had to on Monday and Monroe has been busy playing in the G League with the Capital City Go-Go before getting the call to return to the NBA and give Minnesota a needed boost on the inside. It was quite the introduction from Nowell, and seeing guys like him take advantage of opportunity and make an impression has, undoubtedly, been the biggest positive of what has been a dreadful month in the NBA with so many absences.

For almost two years, the rules have been the same: You test positive for COVID, you isolate for at least 10 days. Then came Omicron, new, far more transmissible variant (though, it appears, not as dangerous). Omicron has already led to cancelled or greatly modified events. (And, of course, Fox News was quick to spread misinformation about it, too.) Now the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made a big change, but it’s not one you’d expect: They’ve cut the recommended isolation time in half.

As per CNN, the CDC has lowered the time an infected person must hide away from the rest of humanity from 10 days to a mere five. There’s a couple caveats. One can flee back to the world only if they no longer have symptoms. If you still have a fever, give it some more time. A mask is also recommended for at least five days. (Though you probably want to wear one anyway, because you’re not a snowflake who gets mad about wearing a little protective covering over one’s mouth. Think of all the other diseases you may be avoid!)

And what if you’ve been exposed to someone you learn has testing positive for COVID? Well, you isolate for the same period of time: five measly days.

“Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to five days, if asymptomatic, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others,” the organization said in a statement.

What prompted the change? Partly that SARS-CoV-2 transmission tends to occur early on in one’s illness, usually one to two days before symptoms kick in and then for 2 or three days after. That adds up to a charitable five days of removing one’s self from society, so as not to infect others.

The CDC loosened some of their other recommendations, too. If five days of quarantining are not possible, wearing a mask whenever one’s around others should do. However, if you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID and you’re vaccinated and boosted, you don’t need to quarantine at all. But you should still wear a mask. After all, you should probably get used to them for a while still.

(Via CNN)

One of the appealing things about “courtside” seats in the NBA is the simple proximity to the court. Fans are right on top of the action, and there is really nothing that compares to the experience of seeing a high-level professional basketball game with that vantage point. One of the potential hiccups of sitting close to the floor, though, is that fans often have to be wary of being part of the action if a player tumbles into the stands or the basketball is fired in an errant direction. While fans beyond the first row usually don’t have to worry that, there was an exception involving Houston Rockets big man Christian Wood and a local fan in Charlotte on Monday.

Late in the first half and with the Rockets trailing the Hornets, Wood gathered a defensive rebound and looked to make something happen with an aggressive outlet pass. That might have been a good idea if executed properly but, instead, Wood uncorked a pass that was nowhere close to its intended direction, and a fan was struck by the ball at a high speed, even as they were walking behind the second row.

The first hope here is that the fan is okay, and that seems to be the case, at least on the initial television replay. Granting that, this is about as rough of a pass as you’ll see during an NBA game, and it was also extremely unlucky for the fan that the ball was heading in that particular direction. Wood was clearly not thrilled with himself, but perhaps this is also a reminder that everyone within 10 feet of the floor has to keep his or her head on a swivel at all times during live action.

Last week, Madison Cawthorn — the Trumpist lawmaker who thinks women are “earthen vessels” — surprised his conservative base by announcing he was getting divorced after about a year. But there was far, far more to the story. On Monday, people dug up an interview the North Carolina representative did with The Daily Caller in which he described how he and his soon-to-be-ex met cute. And it’s the kind of meet-cute you would see on an episode of The Americans.

As per Daily Kos, the interview hails from June, about six months after Cawthorn wed Cristina Bayardelle, so the lucky couple were likely still enjoying the salad days of their union. How did they meet? Well, the story, as told by Cawthorn, begins with the words “It all starts in a Russian casino,” and, well, it kind of gets weirder from there.

The story actually begins earlier than that, when Cawthorn and some friends went on a European trip before he underwent some intense reconstructive back surgery. They wound up in Sweden and Norway, and eventually Russia. There, they went to a St. Petersburg casino, where Cawthorn met “Todd,” an Army captain from Miami whom he quickly befriended.

The two later reconnected when Cawthorn was down in Miami. Todd texted the future politician, asking if he wanted to take part in a CrossFit competition. That’s where things get fishy.

“And so I laughed and said, ‘Well, Todd, I’m in a wheelchair. I obviously can’t do CrossFit.’ And he said, ‘Well, just do the pull-up section.’ And I was like, ‘OK, sounds good. And so I show up, but anyways it all was a sham. It was a fake CrossFit competition and he just wanted to put me in the same room with the girl who was eventually gonna become my fiancée. … And so we did and her and I hit it off and it’s been a magical relationship ever since.”

Few seemed to notice Cawthorn’s story when it aired over the summer, but when it belatedly made its way into the public consciousness, people found it pretty sketchy.

Others poked holes in his story.

To make things even more suspect, Cawthorn went on Fox News over the Christmas weekend, where he sang the praises of Russian military might.

His compliments did not go unnoticed by Russian forces, who aired them on national television.

What’s the truth? Will it ever come out? Whatever happens, Cawthorn is still out there, spreading lies and violent rhetoric on the taxpayers’ dime.

(Via Daily Kos)

There are few teams as revered as the Showtime Lakers, as the Magic Johnson-led squad won five titles in the 80s and were known for the fun they had on and off the court.

Next year, HBO will release a limited series about those Lakers called Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty — after changing the name from “Showtime” after realizing that might cause confusion with their premium cable competitor of the same name. With Adam McKay at the helm and John C. Reilly on board as Dr. Jerry Buss (which is the apparent reason for McKay and Will Ferrell splitting as creative partners), it figures to be highly entertaining, but not everyone is excited about the impending March 2022 release of the series.

A portrayal of Magic Johnson will feature heavily in the series, but the man himself isn’t particularly pleased about it, as Magic himself was asked for his thoughts on the upcoming series by TMZ and, after discussing Jeanie Buss’ series (on Showtime) and his own series in production, said, “I’m not looking forward to it. I’m going to leave it at that.”

If I were to guess at the reason Magic’s not exactly thrilled about the new series is that it will certainly take a look at the off-court exploits of Johnson and the Lakers, who had quite the time in L.A. in the 1980s, which Johnson has understandably tried his best not to glamorize for much of his post-playing career.

Despite heavy scrutiny on him as the case against him for shooting Megan Thee Stallion looms, Canadian rapper Tory Lanez has continued with business as usual, releasing his sixth studio album Alone At Prom under his One Umbrella Records imprint earlier this month. However, it now looks like he might be in hot water with another female music star as a result, with his song “Pluto’s Last Comet” coming under scrutiny by Madonna for illegally sampling her 1985 Desperately Seeking Susan soundtrack cut, “Into The Groove.”

As noted by Pop Crave, Madonna commented on Tory’s recent Instagram post, warning him to check his DMs. “Read your messages for illegal usage of my song get into the groove,” she wrote.

“Into The Groove,” which was written and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray for the film Desperately Seeking Susan, appeared on the 1985 worldwide re-issue of Madonna’s second studio album, Like a Virgin. Meanwhile, “Pluto’s Last Comet,” which was produced by Chaz Jackson and Orlando Tha Great, interpolates the intro and instrumental loop from the upbeat dance song for Tory to deliver his take on a track you might find in The Weeknd’s sessions for After Party. Lanez hasn’t responded to Madonna’s comment, and Madonna herself has yet to release any official statement on whether or not she’s taking legal action. Historically, Madonna has been amenable to hip-hop samples of her hits, but usually artists and their producers have the good sense to clear the samples first.

Fresh off his performance on The Late Show as part of Stephen Colbert’s hip-hop ode to the Lord Of The Rings, Killer Mike shared some sobering news on Instagram: His downtown Atlanta barbershop, Swag Shop, was vandalized with spraypaint across its storefront. While he said he is “angry and beyond upset” about the graffiti, rather than demanding revenge, he’s instead asking fans to help get the culprit treatment for a mental illness.

“A mentally disturbed White Man who Calls himself “Druce Wayne” did this to our Shop downtown,” he wrote. “He lives in the delusion he is Kurt Cobain and somehow I am involved in a conspiracy to keep him silenced. I am angry and beyond upset. With that said, I know I can fix this physical damage BUT this man’s mind is terribly broken. If u are from OKC and know his family or friends please DM so u can get him some help. I will for sure make sure we get this fixed and I encourage all to check on your mentally ill loved ones because the world may not be as understanding as me. Love and Respect.”

It’s the second time this year one of Mike’s shops has suffered damage. In February, he delayed reopening the downtown shop — which had been closed due to COVID — due to the windows being shot out. Here’s us hoping that he can avoid future damage and have a successful and safe 2022.