Month: January 2022

Last summer, Jay-Z filed a lawsuit against photographer Jonathan Mannion and his company Jonathan Mannion Photographer LLC for using Jay-Z’s name and image without his consent. Mannion shot the cover for Jay-Z’s classic 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt and the rapper claims that he’s been using the photos to make “thousands of dollars” selling prints and merchandise over the years. When Jay asked Mannion to stop, the photographer requested “tens of millions of dollars,” prompting the lawsuit. The two attempted to reach a settlement, but neither party was able to reach an agreement. Now the lawsuit will go to trial.

“Plaintiff Shawn Carter and Defendants Jonathan Mannion and Jonathan Mannion Photography LLC participated in a mediation before the Honorable Terry Friedman (Ret.) on January 5, 2022,” court documents obtained in the lawsuit read, according to HipHop-N-More (via AllHipHop). “The parties were unable to reach an agreement to resolve this case.” As a result, a trial date for July 22, 2022 has been set in order to bring the matter to court.

This comes after he, Big Sean, Fat Joe, Killer Mike, Meek Mill, Yo Gotti, and more rallied in support of a proposed New York State bill that would prohibit rap lyrics from being used in criminal trials. Bill S.7527/A.8681 — “Rap Music on Trial” — was proposed in November and it passed through the Senate earlier this week.

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

While things have not been great for current president Joe Biden, they’re not so hot for former president Donald J. Trump either. To the surprise of no one, the probe by the New York State attorney general’s office into the Trump Organization uncovered “significant evidence” of fraud. That doesn’t only jeopardize the big dog himself but also some of his children, namely Ivanka and Don Jr. Now people are wondering whether Trump will throw his kids under the bus. One of his former allies not only knows the answer but he even knows which one he’d pick to serve time over the other.

As per Insider, Michael Cohen — Trump’s former lawyer, who even went to jail for him — went on MSNBC and lent his expertise to the question on many minds: Would Trump cooperate with authorities to save his children from prison? Cohen’s answer (with a chuckle): “Not a chance.” He added, “Donald cares only about Donald, more than he would care about his children.”

Cohen also told a story he told last summer, which shed some more light on Trump’s paternal instincts. “You may recall that there was the district attorney’s case here for Trump Soho where it was either Don or Ivanka was in very big trouble as a result of lying about the number of units that had been sold,” Cohen recalled. “And Donald said it to me – I mean I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t said directly to me – he goes ‘if one or the other has to go to prison, make sure that it’s Don because Don would be able to handle it.’”

Trump is infamous for demanding absolute loyalty in others while refusing to do the same, and if what Cohen alleges is true, then that includes his own flesh and blood as well, even the one for whom he was gross and pervy thoughts.

You can watch Cohen’s MSNBC appearance in the video above.

(Via Insider)

It took over a decade, but Will Forte’s MacGruber — the MacGyver send-up he debuted as a recurring SNL sketch, and which he turned into a movie in 2010 — is back, this time as a Peacock show. So when Forte returned to the program that made his name, it was inevitable he’d bust out the character again. It was classic MacGruber, which is to say the bite-sized sketches that always end with the easily distracted special ops agent failing to defuse a bomb, but somehow not killing himself and his unlucky companions.

But this time there was a twist: MacGruber got really into internet misinformation. In the first sketch, he outs himself to his teammates (Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe) as an anti-mask anti-vaxxer, complete with a fake vaccine card that’s actually a Sizzler napkin. The next time we see them, he’s caught COVID, which he’s treating with Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine, and other nonsense treatments. By the end, he’s gone full alt-right, donning QAnon Shaman attire and refusing to believe that the ticking time bomb represents real time.

Over his eight seasons on SNL, Forte played — and “killed” — MacGruber some 27 times, joined by the likes of Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Betty White, even the real MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson, himself. Luckily when he left the show, he took MacGruber with him, though it’s nice to see him back in his native habitat.

You can watch the sketches in the video above.

For the first time in 2022, James Austin Johnson busted out his celebrated Trump impersonation, which helped make him a name online and eventually land him his SNL gig. It’s a very different take on the former president than the one Alec Baldwin busted out for years, nailing his stream-of-consciousness rants and gravelly voice. And when he brought it back for the new year, he made sure to do it while tipping a hat to the word game that’s taken the world by storm.

That would be Wordle, the daily online contest in which users try — and hopefully not fail — to guess the day’s five-letter word. In SNL’s cold open for their Will Forte-hosted episode, Johnson’s Trump appears on The Ingraham Angle, hosted by Fox News’ Jan. 6 texter Laura Ingraham (Kate McKinnon). And he uses Wordle as a guide as he runs through one of his serpentine monologues. He starts talking about boosters, somehow connects that to John Mayer and Jason Momoa and then magically brings it back to his favorite subject: himself.

The sketch also features Aidy Bryant’s Ted Cruz, who advises his Texan constituents to book their tickets for their February Cancún trips no; Pete Davidon as Novak Djokovic, the unvaxxed Serbian tennis player who was booted from Australia (McKinnon’s Ingraham: “I never thought I’d use ‘deported’ in a bad way”); Ego Nwodim’s Candace Owens. “To quote the only words that Martin Luther King Jr. ever said: ‘I have a dream.’ That’s it. End of quote,” she said. “It’s my greatest honor to fight for African Americans, no matter how many times they ask me to stop.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Francis Ngannou (17-3) earned a unanimous decision victory over Ciryl Gane (10-1) to retain the UFC heavyweight crown Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California at UFC 270. Despite being seriously hampered, fighting on a torn MCL and an injured ACL, Ngannou battled valiantly and managed to outlast Gane in a statement championship title defense.

Gane was quick on his feet early, moving around the Octagon before rushing in to push Ngannou against the cage. The champ was patient, landing a flurry of shots, then following Gane as he escaped out. Gane continued to strike and move, connecting on a few kicks to the midsection while moving out of the champ’s range.

Gane continued to chip away with slight kicks to the leg and midsection early in the second. Ngannou, with two knee wraps, looked a little stuck in the mud as the quicker Gane refused to be a stationary target. Gane continued to frustrate Ngannou, and the crowd, with his movement, but he kept scoring points on the judges’ scorecards.

In the third, Ngannou jumped in much more aggressively, attacking with pace and eventually catching a kick from Gane, picking him up and bodyslamming him to the mat. From side control, Ngannou moved into mount then took Gane’s back. Gane moved out and back to his feet before Ngannou earned another takedown, but Gane was right back to his feet again. At the end of the round, Ngannou earned yet another takedown in a true statement round for the champ.

The fourth saw Ngannou’s pace slow significantly, while Gane continued to chip away with slight leg kicks and a few body shots. The champ earned another big takedown, moving to take Gane’s back. Gane found his way back to his feet before Ngannou took him down again, thwarting any transition attempts from the challenger and taking control of the bout.

With the margin of error razor thin headed into round five, Gane shifted his gameplan slightly and opened with sitting down on his punches. Gane caught a leg kick early in the round and put the champ on his back. From this back, Ngannou earned a gigantic reversal and found his way on top, but the challenger attempted to put him in a leg lock. Ngannou survived and took Gane’s back before moving into half guard, where he held the position through the final buzzer.

Ngannou, whose UFC contract has now expired, won the heavyweight belt after knocking out Stipe Miocic in March 2021 and may not ever fight in the Octagon again. Gane’s rise to the championship fight came on the back of an unbeaten UFC record and three consecutive wins in 2021, with decision victories over Jairzhino Rozenstruik and Alexander Volkov, before knocking out Derrick Lewis in the interim title fight in August.

Two fights couldn’t seal one of the UFC’s best rivalries in recent years and Dana White was eager to sign off on the trilogy bout between Brandon Moreno (19-6-2) and Deiveson Figueiredo (21-2-1) at UFC 270. Their third fight in just three years, Figueiredo retained the flyweight belt in their bout fight thanks to a majority draw, Moreno claimed the title with a submission victory in their second, and on Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Figueiredo earned his championship back thanks to a 48-47 decision victory.

A slimmer Figueiredo opened the bout the more aggressive of the two, walking down Moreno and chopping the champ down with counter leg kicks, sending him to the mat twice in the first round. Figueiredo earned a takedown and took Moreno’s back, but the champ easily found his way back to his feet. Confident in his approach, Moreno put his power on full display in the second round, stuffing takedowns and exchanging bombs from his feet. Figueiredo appeared to stun Moreno momentarily, only for the champ to come back with a big right of his own just before the end of the round.

In the third, Figueiredo earned a takedown again in the third, but couldn’t capitalize on the ground. Figueiredo sent Moreno stumbling backwards, but it was Moreno again hurting the former champion with a heavy-handed shot. A short left hook stopped Figueiredo in his tracks, hurting the challenger again. Figueiredo continued to chop Moreno with outside leg kicks and the champ appeared to Figueiredo yet again with a big right hand. Toward the end of the third, Figueiredo sent Moreno fast first into the mat with a quick, counter right overhand, then locked in a front choke as time in the round expired.

Figueiredo found his rhythm with short outside leg kicks over and again throughout the round as Moreno was clearly compromised by the pain of his leg. Moreno appeared to take control back over the fight toward the end of the round, walking down Figueiredo before the challenger clinched him against the Octagon. Moreno fought his way from the cage, continuing to stand in and toss big shots.

To open the fifth, Moreno locked in a body lock and pressured Figueiredo to the ground. The challenger quickly found his way back to his feet and midway through the round sent the champion stumbling backwards with a big right hand. Moreno moved even further into counterstriking in the final two minutes, patiently waiting for Figueiredo to toss something before moving forward with a flurry. The final 30 seconds of the fight saw Moreno and Figueiredo throw everything they had remaining to give the judges any further incentive to sway the card one way or another.

With another fight going to decision, it’s hard to imagine White going another direction than Moreno-Figueiredo IV, but at some point, you’ve got to give other challengers a shot at the belt. We’ll see where the UFC goes in the months to come.

Despite getting the 1-seed in the NFC, having home field advantage until they’d reach the Super Bowl, and a pretty subpar game by the San Francisco 49ers’ offense, the Green Bay Packers were one-and-done in the 2022 NFL playoffs. San Francisco went up to Lambeau Field and picked up a 13-10 win on a blocked punt for a touchdown and a pair of field goals by Robbie Gould, including one that went through the uprights as time expired.

The loss marks the end of a weird season for Green Bay. Despite their brilliance on the field, that did not receive a ton of focus for a stretch of their season. That’s because star quarterback Aaron Rodgers made headlines for a number of comments about COVID-19, its vaccine, cancel culture, and a whole lot of other stuff.

Rodgers did not play well in the loss. The Niners defense deserves a ton of credit, but his numbers were subpar — 20-for-25, 225 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions — and down the stretch, Green Bay’s offense totally stalled out.

As a result of his performance in the loss and the controversy he stirred up earlier this year, football fans hopped onto Twitter and got off a ton of jokes at his expense. Unsurprisingly, basically all of them were callbacks to his COVID comments earlier this year

Despite an underwhelming game by Jimmy Garoppolo, the San Francisco 49ers will play for the chance to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The Niners made the trip to a freezing cold Lambeau Field on Saturday night to take on the top-seeded Green Bay Packers, and thanks to a monster performance by the team’s defense and special teams, San Francisco came out on top, 13-10.

It was a gross, nasty game, with San Francisco’s defense doing everything it could to keep them in the game. Their offense did not always reciprocate that — the Niners ran for 3.7 yards per carry, while Garoppolo went 11-for-19 for 131 yards with no touchdowns and a pick. Still, the door was cracked open, and with the team down by a touchdown with just under five minutes remaining, it looked like San Francisco’s offense was going to get the ball back in good field position as the Packers punted from their own 12.

That didn’t happen, because the Niners’ special teams blocked Corey Bojorquez’s attempted kick. Talanoa Hufanga recovered it, and just like that, the game was tied at 10.

San Francisco’s defense came right back onto the field and forced a three-and-out, giving the ball back to Garoppolo with 3:20 left. The team managed to move the ball down the field and get into range for Robbie Gould, who has never missed a kick in his playoff career. That continues to be the case, as he banged in a 45-yard boot — his second of the evening — to punch his team’s ticket to the NFC Championship Game.

The Niners will once again go on the road for the title game, playing the winner of Sunday’s matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

(Plentiful spoilers from Netflix’s Ozark will be found below.)

If you’re already caught up with Ozark Season 3 (and the big deaths that go down), then you’re probably already headed into Season 4 territory. You’ll want to know what’s up with this unusually structured season, however, so let’s get to that lowdown.

Yes, this season is the final mop-up of the Byrde family’s money-laundering messes. The good news, though, is that this is a supersized season with 14 episodes split into two batches. The first half of those episodes hit Netflix on Friday, January 21. The season’s a hit here on Uproxx (Julia Garner steals the whole joint) with overall critical reception being very strong (92% fresh rating) on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s consistent with the show’s reputation as a critical darling, but how does the viewership stack up?

The verdict’s still out on how Season 4 premiere weekend will go, but Ozark is a crowd favorite show and has been a strong draw for Netflix since its July 2017 first-season premiere. Ratings have stayed strong with the Hollywood Reporter noting that Season 3 (and rewatches) “logg[ed] 30.46 billion minutes of viewing” in 2020, which (in Nielsen terms) made it the top original streaming show of the year.

As far as when Season 4, Part 2 will surface, there’s no concrete answer to that question, but we can make some guesses based upon other two-part seasons from Netflix. For example, Masters of the Universe: Revelation released its first part on July 23, 2021 and its second part on November 23, 2021. And Unsolved Mysteries premiered a first half-season on July 1, 2021 and its second half on October 19, 2021.

If there’s a pattern here, then we can hope for Ozark‘s final batch of episodes to arrive within four to six months and almost certainly within one year, but only Netflix knows the answer to that question for sure. Fingers crossed that we’ll see how Ruth handles the fallout of her Season 4, Episode 7 rage session before too long.

‘Ozark’ is currently streaming (Season 4, Part 1) on Netflix.

The Cincinnati Bengals are headed to the AFC Championship Game. Despite starting signal caller Joe Burrow getting sacked nine times, Cincinnati was able to take down the 1-seed Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Saturday evening, 19-16, to secure the first road playoff win in franchise history.

It looked like Cincinnati was going to face quite the uphill battle. Beyond the fact that their offensive line struggled mightily against the Titans front, the Bengals were forced to punt with 2:43 left in a tied game, meaning Tennessee could make its way down the field and pick up a win in regulation.

Tennessee opted to be ultra-conservative as a result, mixing runs and short passes together and finding itself facing third-and-5 from its own 40. Ryan Tannehill dropped back and looked to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, but the pass was tipped and fell into the arms of Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.

With 20 seconds left and two timeouts on the board, the Bengals had some time to get the ball down the field if Burrow could stay upright. It took them exactly one play to do that, as Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for a 19-yard gain to get the team deep enough into Titan territory. After getting the ball where standout rookie kicker Evan McPhearson wanted it, the former Florida standout lined up for his fourth field goal attempt of the game, and his 52-yard attempt was dang near perfect.

Now, the Bengals will sit back and wait to see where they’re headed next week — the team will travel to either Buffalo or Kansas City for the AFC Championship Game as the lower-seeded team. Before then, the Bills will travel to play the Chiefs on Sunday evening.