Month: January 2022

Kahleah Copper broke out in a big way in 2021, becoming a first-time All-Star with the Chicago Sky before going on to win a championship and earn Finals MVP honors.

The 27-year-old became a household name for WNBA fans in her second season as a starter for the Sky, averaging 14.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in the regular season before upping that production to 17.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in the playoffs. Copper enters 2022 as one of the MVP frontrunners at 10-1 as she has grown confident and comfortable in her role with a Sky team that is full of talent.

2022 also marks the 10-year anniversary of Copper’s appearance in the McDonald’s All-American Game, an experience she credits with showing her how much incredible basketball talent there is out there — and how hard she was going to have to work to stay at an elite level. A decade later, Copper spoke with Dime on behalf of the McDonald’s All-American Game about her memories of the game, what this year’s selections to the All-American team can learn from the experience as they go forward in their basketball journey, the Sky’s championship run, and what she’s setting as her goals for the future.

You’re 10 years removed now from from playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game. When you look back on that 2012 game, what are your memories of being a part of that group and playing in that game?

Wow, 10 years. I’m starting to feel like I’m getting older [laughs]. But I think, just going back to when I I got the call, just the emotions and just the gratefulness that I felt in being recognized as one of the top players in the country. So for me then to travel to Chicago and be able to be with the best players in my class and be able to compete with them, and also get to know them off the court, was just a great experience. And it’s, wow, I just can’t — I’m stuck on the 10 years. I just think that it was such a great experience being able to compete against the other best players in the country.

What advice would you give this year’s crop of All Americans who will find out Tuesday that they’re part of this team? What would you tell them about what comes next in the basketball journey, what they can expect from here, and what it means to be a McDonald’s All-American?

You know, I think it’s — you go through this phase of your career where you go from playing in high school and you’re probably the best player on your team, the best player in your your city or wherever you are, and then you go to McDonald’s All-American and everybody’s just as good. So, I appreciate just what McDonald’s All-American Games did for me. It just showed me that, okay, it’s not just you. Like there are other great players out here, and it just fired up my competitiveness. And I think that this sets the tone for where your career goes from here, because you then go from high school, you know, playing the McDonald’s All-American game, seeing the other better players, and then go on to college and it’s like, okay, like they’re just as good if not better. And then you go from college and you get drafted and you go to WNBA, and it’s totally different worlds. So I think that the McDonald’s All American Game, it sets the tone for where your career is going and just how it’s going to be.

You had a fantastic season this past year in Chicago, and it seemed like it was building off of what you did down in Bradenton and the bubble when you got a chance to finally be a starter. How much confidence did that experience down in Florida give you coming into this season and being on a starter on the team that obviously had championship hopes and ended up fulfilling them?

I think that that season was very important for me, but what people don’t really understand is that you have to be prepared for opportunity. People always are like, you know, I want to play more or I deserve to play more. But when you get the opportunity, like what are you doing? Are you maximizing every single thing that you can do in order to be better, not only for yourself, but for your team. So I think that me being prepared and me being ready to be a starter was very important. And then for me to continue the next year and be consistent with playing with other great players — like I’m playing with Candace Parker, I’m playing with Courtney Vandersloot, playing with Allie Quigley, like they are great players. So for me to be able to consistently do what I do and what I do for the team and then win at the highest level is amazing.

And going back to what you said about playing in the All-American game kind of shows you that level and shows you that how many players are on that level. What do you have to do as a player to make sure that you’re elevating your game but also staying true to who you are as a player? Because like you said, I think that’s so important to being prepared when you step on the floor is to be comfortable with who you are as a player, not trying to be somebody else.

You know, I think that’s something great to cover because, if you just think about my team in Chicago, teams have roles and every single person is very different in what you bring, the next person might not bring. So when you go to the All American Game, you know, just do what you do and do it well. I think that if you look at our team in Chicago, Allie Quigley is a shooter. I’m a slasher. Courtney is a facilitator. Candace is pretty much everything [laughs]. But you know, like we all bring different things. So it’s important for Allie to consistently be the shooter for us. You don’t have to try to do what I do. You don’t have to try to slash to the basket, because, nah. Our team is like a puzzle. Teams are like puzzles, and if you understand your role and you consistently bring what you do well, that’ll make the team run like a well oiled machine.

Last year, you guys were 16-16 coming into the playoffs, had some ups, had some downs. Was there a point where y’all realized like, we can be that that title team? Was there a moment either in the regular season or early in that playoff run where you guys really started to feel that confidence that we can do this?

Yeah, I think that once the playoffs came we just completely forgot about the regular season, which was very important. Like we literally just was like, ‘we never played those games.’ Like, ‘that never happened.’ We hit so much adversity early in the season with injuries and just everything and it happens, it’s basketball, but I think it was very important for us to really treat the playoffs like it was just a completely new season and we stepped into it 0-0. And it was like, OK, we’re treating every game like a single elimination game. We didn’t care that we had to play those those two games, and I think that those games actually prepared us more than ever. It heightened our sense of urgency, and it really put a fire under us and we were just ready to bring it every single night. I think that when we went to Connecticut and we fought game one, we won. And then game two we fought and we were tired. We were tired and we ended up losing, and then when we went back home, we were like, we’re not going back to Connecticut. It’s not happening. So for us to come home and win those two, we had all the confidence we needed in going into the Finals. And we knew how important it was to take game ones in general. So for us going into Phoenix and taking game one, it was just setting the tone for our confidence, and then we had been so confident from the Connecticut series. So once we got that confidence and we got that swag we were like, yeah, like we got it.

You mentioned setting the tone. You had the moment with Sophie Cunningham that fans latched on to and what was it like seeing fans gravitate that? Like people have shirts with that photo on it and it became people’s Twitter avatars and all of that. what was it like getting that kind of support and seeing fans really take hold of that moment?

Yeah, I think it was it was cool, you know — and I think it was just a moment that women’s basketball needed. You know, they expect us to be so like [proper]. Like, we’re very competitive. We’re the best at what we do. And like we’re not allowed to have that emotion and have these moments but you know, it’s basketball. We’re out there competing, we’re fighting for a championship. So you know, things happen in the heat of the moment, whatever. But I think the moment was great. It happened, people were going crazy, but I think that you know what, that happens and it just shows that we also are very passionate and we have those moments.

And now coming off of a season where you’re a champion, you’re a Finals MVP. What’s the focus for you as you get ready for this coming season and how do you try to continue to build and grow as a player?

I just take so much pride in getting better every year and there’s just so many things that I can just continue to tap into as far as my game. But of course I want to win. I want to win as many championships as I can, but just focusing on me, I think that my game has so much room for improvement. I think there’s really no ceiling for me as far as how much better that I can continue to get. So I’m just taking pride in just getting better and bringing something new every season. You know, I was a first time All-Star won a championship so it’s like, what’s left? Like I want to be on All-Defensive team. You know, I’m very capable. So I have just goals that I just want to continue to smash and just continue to get better.

Sydney Sweeney is best known for her roles in two HBO series, Euphoria and The White Lotus, but she’s been in way more shows and movies than you might realize. She’s one of the Manson girls in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She’s Amy Adams’ psychiatric hospital roommate in Sharp Objects. She’s Eden on The Handmaid’s Tale. She was also in Netflix’s canceled-too-soon Everything Sucks!, and the instant cult classic Under the Silver Lake, and the voyeuristic thriller The Voyeurs, and…

The point is, Sweeney is one of the most talented 20-something actresses working today, but in an interview with the Independent, she expressed concern that she doesn’t get the recognization she deserves because she’s appeared nude on screen.

“With The White Lotus, I felt like people were finally recognizing the hard work I’ve been doing. This is something that has bothered me for a while. I’m very proud of my work in Euphoria. I thought it was a great performance. But no one talks about it because I got naked,” she said. Sweeney added that there’s a “stigma against actresses who get naked on screen… When a guy has a sex scene or shows his body, he still wins awards and gets praise. But the moment a girl does it, it’s completely different.”

Sweeney has spoken to Euphoria creator Sam Levinson about her character’s disproportionate number of topless scenes, and asked to remove the ones that weren’t necessary to the plot. “There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here.’ He was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it’. I’ve never felt like Sam has pushed it on me or was trying to get a nude scene into an HBO show,” she said. “When I didn’t want to do it, he didn’t make me.”

(Via the Independent)

In a recent Los Angeles Times interview, Gorillaz leader Damon Albarn said of Taylor Swift, “She doesn’t write her own songs.” He continued, “[Co-writing] doesn’t count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes.”

Those statements prompted significant backlash online, including from Swift herself, who responded, “@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really f*cked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.” Albarn later apologized, replying on Twitter, “I totally agree with you. i had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand.”

Does Taylor Swift write her own songs?

Yes, Swift is credited as a writer on every song that appears on her nine studio albums. While most Swift songs in recent years have been penned with co-writers, more than half of the tracks on 2008’s Fearless and 2012’s Red were written by Swift alone, while Swift is the only credited writer on her 2010 album Speak Now.

Even when it comes to songs that Swift wrote with others, two her most prominent co-writers insist that Swift is the driving force behind the tracks. Following Albarn’s statements, Jack Antonoff tweeted, “i’ve never met damon albarn and he’s never been to my studio but apparently he knows more than the rest of us about all those songs taylor writes and brings in. herb.” Aaron Dessner also wrote, “Not sure why you @Damonalbarn would try to discredit Taylor’s brilliant songwriting but as someone who has gotten to press record around her …your statements couldn’t be further from the truth…you’re obviously completely clueless as to her actual writing and work process.”

In terms of chart performance, Swift has actually been one of the most successful solo songwriters of recent years. Billboard notes that over the past decade, only 25 songs with just one credited songwriter have reached the top ten of the Hot 100 chart, and of those, three of them are by Swift: “Begin Again,” “Red,” and “Lover.” That’s second to only J. Cole, who has five such songs, and tied with Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots.

On top of all that, last summer, the National Music Publishers Association honored Swift with the Songwriter Icon Award.

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

When Tomberlin last released music in 2020, it was via the charming Alex G-produced Projections EP. Tomberlin was set to perform at last September’s Basilica Soundscape Festival in upstate New York, which was unfortunately canceled as COVID-19 concerns continued to mount across the country. So its been a slow burn for Sarah Beth Tomberlin to arrive at her first new music in nearly two years, but today she has shared the a charming new track in “idkwntht.”

The song opens with a somber saxophone nestled alongside gentle strings and piano. Tomberlin sings the song in a lovely duet with Felix Walworth of the band Todd Slant and it’s a balmy number that hits all the right spots like a salve. Tomberlin shared a statement on the meaning of the track.

“‘idkwntht’ is a sonic altar of sorts. It’s about taking a moment for remembrance, clarity, and setting an intention for what is to come. Kind of like a song version of writing out your intentions on a full moon. holding onto feelings, words, and past versions of ourselves and our behavior only helps when we can examine experiences once we are outside of them. then we have to let it out, let it go, and try again.”

Listen to “idkwntht” above.

The NBA has spent the past few years trying to figure out how to improve its All-Star festivities, and has seemingly found a pretty great formula for the All-Star Game itself. The player draft has brought some intrigue to the selection process, while the Elam Ending format has delivered far more competitive fourth quarters since its institution.

For the 2022 edition of All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, the NBA is looking into ways to spruce up its Friday night event, as the Rising Stars Game has not been the most exciting in recent years — particularly since going to the USA vs. World format. This year, though, the league is getting rid of those designations and will invite 28 players to participate, breaking them into four teams of seven that will play a bracket style format.

The teams will be drafted from a pool of 12 rookies, 12 sophomores, and 4 members of the G League Ignite (one for each team), and the semifinal games will be a race to 50, with the final game being a sprint to 25.

There will also be a “Clutch Challenge” between the second semifinal and the final in which teams of two will try to recreate legendary shots, which sounds a lot like a NBA 2K minigame being brought to real life.

The Rising Stars Game can produce some fun moments, but usually drags on for too long with a lopsided score. The new format will make for quicker, hopefully more entertaining games, and adding fresh faces from the Ignite might boost the competitive juices, as they’ll surely be looking to make a name for themselves and the current NBA players will be trying not to be on the wrong end of a viral clip from a 17- or 18-year-old.

We’ll find out how well the new format works on February 18 at 9:00 p.m. ET on TNT.

Ari Lennox has had enough. She made her feelings abundantly clear this week that she wants out of her Dreamville/Interscope Records deal following the backlash she received online following an interview with Johannesburg-based Podcast And Chill podcast. “I want to be dropped from the labels. I’m done and tired,” Lennox said in a since deleted tweet.

From where I’m standing, an interviewer asking a female artist “Is someone f*cking you good right now?” is not something that constitutes healthy music media practices — regardless of whether or not it’s a reference to one of the artist’s songs. Come on, dawg. So Lennox’s annoyance with the internet peanut gallery (in another since-deleted tweet) seems warranted. “For Christ sakes,” she wrote. “I realize I have no hits. I realize you all can live without hearing my music. I realize my complaining is so aggravating to y’all. I don’t ask blogs to post me when I’m at my worst. You judgmental self-hating parasites wouldn’t last a day as a signed artist.”

Hardly a peacemaker, Rick Ross decided to join the peanut gallery with his thoughts on what might make Lennox feel better about her displeasure with the label. “She needs @wingstop,” he commented on an Instagram post from hip-hop gossip account The Shade Room. Never mind that Ross owns over 25 Wingstop franchises himself, including one that he recently bought for his son’s 16th birthday.

And while Ross’ was the top comment on that Instagram post for a while, it’s now the second most liked comment to one from user @n.askey, who said “I think all her songs are hits to me !!! I love her.” Looks like today, love prevails over snark and self-promotion. Holler.

Mississippi rapper Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd was arrested for battery in Miami this morning according to TMZ, which reports that Jxmmi is accused of attacking his girlfriend, with whom he has a child, and pulling out her hair extensions. The altercation began when the woman confronted the rapper about a woman he was following on Instagram.

After the argument, the report says, Jxmmi and a friend left the residence, and when he returned, he was apparently drunk. According to police, the alleged victim tried to move their child from a playpen to a bed, Jxmmi yanked one of the braids out of her scalp when he pulled her hair. When she pulled out her phone to record him, he took it and threw it over a balcony after a chase through the home in which he allegedly kicked down a door. Police say they recovered the phone from the street.

However, Jxmmi’s girlfriend later denied the report according to TMZ, writing, “Oh wow. This is cap. Dade County y’all are wrong for this. I told you guys he did not hit me. Every officer you guys had in my face are wrong for this. No hands were put on anybody, I stated it more than once. It was a loud argument and the police were called. You guys turn nothing into something. It’s our son’s first birthday tomorrow, what’s wrong with y’all?”

While Rae Sremmurd hasn’t been as active as a duo as they were when they first exploded into stardom with “No Flex Zone,” they had teased a comeback with Sremmlife 4 in late 2020, and guest-starred on Lil Dicky’s FX show Dave. Meanwhile, the duo’s other member, Jxmmi’s brother Swae Lee, has been active as a solo artist, featuring on projects from Alicia Keys, the Madden NFL video game franchise, and the soundtrack to Marvel’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings alongside Jhene Aiko.

Despite being heavily involved in the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that turned into an insurrectionist assault on the U.S. Capitol building, Alex Jones wants everyone to know that he now feels the entire day was a “horrible historic fiasco.” The conspiracy peddling podcast host was recently hauled in front of the January 6 committee that’s been investigating the attack, and Jones, surprisingly, had nothing but kind words about the process.

“They were polite, but they were dogged,” Jones said during the latest episode of InfoWars where he also revealing that he plead the fifth “almost 100 times” per his legal team’s instruction. But the most notable change in demeanor came when Jones started throwing the MAGA rioters under the bus and denying that he wants nothing to do with a civil war in case anyone asks. Via Mediaite:

“We learned there were a bunch of people inside the Capitol,” Jones said. “And that was so stupid and so dumb. I didn’t support it that day and I don’t support it now.”

“We got the hell out of there once we couldn’t stop it,” Jones added, saying the events of Jan. 6 were a “horrible historic fiasco.”

“Let’s get something clear for the committee and my audience and everybody else: I don’t want a civil war in this country and that’s a terrible idea,” Jones explained.

Of course, Jones’ odd change of tune might have something to do with his recent public breakup with Donald Trump. The anti-vaxxer host vowed in December that he’s ready to “dish all the dirt” after the former president came out in favor of COVID vaccine boosters. With that in mind, there’s no telling what Jones told the January 6 committee about his former BFF.

(Via Mediaite)

As the authors of some of the most popular tweets by far, K-pop group BTS seem to make waves across Twitter whenever they do something of note. This time, BTS even caught the attention of chain restaurant Chipotle. A video circulated of a BTS member mispronouncing Chipotle’s name, and the brand totally ran with it.

A behind-the-scenes video of BTS’ The Late Late Show With James Corden performance shows the group being delivered Chipotle for lunch. After opening the box of food, BTS’ Jungkook pronounced it “Chicotle,” with fellow member with J-Hope adding he thought they were being served chocolate. Chipotle then took it upon themselves to change their official Twitter name to “Chicotle,” and BTS fans were very much on board.

It looks like the name change is also a way to tease an upcoming partnership between BTS and Chipotle. After updating their Twitter, the corporation sent out a tweet meant for BTS stans. “gm tannies,” they wrote, which is a word used to affectionately refer to BTS fans.

One fan replied to Chipotle’s tweet, asking the brand to have a discount code exclusively for BTS fans. Chipotle replied, teasing that a BTS collaboration might actually be in the works. “Tomorrow?” they wrote with a purple heart emoji.

The next day, Chipotle re-tweeted a tweet from one of the largest BTS stan accounts, which said they were partnering with the chain for “something big tonight.”

The brand hasn’t revealed the exact nature of the partnership, but it definitely wouldn’t be the first time Chipotle teamed up with a musical group. Last spring, Chipotle and Twenty One Pilots created a menu item based on one of the band members’ favorite meals. More recently, Chipotle tapped none other than Kacey Musgraves to lend her vocals on a heart-tugging cover of Coldplay’s hit track “Fix You,” which appeared in a short film created by the chain.

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

File this one under: Movies That Could Have Looked a Lot Different. On Monday night, Kristen Stewart dropped a seriously obscure piece of movie trivia on Stephen Colbert’s audience when she told a story about Nicole Kidman. (No, that’s not the shocking part.)

Stewart shared that she and Kidman have known each other for years because they worked together on a movie, which Kidman ultimately had to drop out of. That movie? David Fincher’s claustrophobic 2002 thriller Panic Room.

Colbert seemed as surprised as the rest of us when he asked, “She was going to be the Jodie Foster role in Panic Room?” Stewart confirmed that she was indeed—and, in fact, that “we rehearsed for weeks.” Stewart admitted that it was a long time ago, and that she was 10 years old when they began filming the movie, but turned 11 during production. She remembers that birthday vividly because “Jodie Foster got me a mariachi band for my eleventh birthday.” (We assume not to keep?)

Stewart, who is now 31, who was on the show to promote her new film Spencer, in which she portrays the late Diana, Princess of Wales and the hell she endures over the course of a single Christmas holiday with the royal family. Stewart is receiving lots of awards buzz for the role.

You can watch the full clip below: