Month: February 2022

HomeState, the LA-area TexMex joint known for their popular “Band Taco” benefit partnerships with Southern California groups like Chicano Batman and Tijuana Panthers, just launched a new creation with the pride of Fort Worth, Texas, Leon Bridges. It makes sense, considering owner Briana Valdez grew up in Texas and launched her Los Angeles taco, queso, and margarita emporiums to share the flavors of the lone star state with Angeleños.

Known as “The Ft. Worth,” Bridges’ taco is made with spicy achiote chicken, Beeler’s bacon, lettuce, pico de gallo, tomatillo ranch, and pickled jalapeños, on a flour tortilla. $1.25 of each taco sold goes directly to two organizations: CASA LA, which advocates for children and families in LA County’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and The Big Good, a North Texas-based organization started by Bridges, that supports educational and professional opportunities for the community.

“I was super excited to create a taco that reminds me of my hometown Fort Worth, and be able to raise funds for The Big Good to boot,” Bridges said in a statement. “I hope people pull up with my taco, queso, and margs and just vibe.”

“The Ft. Worth” is available at all four HomeState locations in the Los Angeles area now until the end of April.

When Spotify employees clock into work on Monday morning, they’re going to have a bold letter to digest from CEO Daniel Ek. In a message sent to the entire “Spotify Team” on Sunday, Ek addressed the mounting controversy surrounding The Joe Rogan Experience. This began when Neil Young decided to pull his music from the platform on January 24th, citing the COVID vaccine misinformation that Rogan regularly purveys on his show. Other artists soon followed suit, including India.Arie, who cited Rogan’s problematic language surrounding race and posted a damning clip on her Instagram Story three days ago, of multiple instances where Rogan used a racial slur on his show.

“I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer,” Ek said in his letter, which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope. Looking at the issue more broadly, it’s critical thinking and open debate that powers real and necessary progress.”

Ek also tried to illustrate that Spotify is not the publisher of The Joe Rogan Experience, but are merely the exclusive license holders — a license that Spotify acquired for that $100 million figure that keeps popping up. He referred to the notion that people assume that the streaming platform is the publisher of the show as merely the “perception” of it, which gave his lengthy letter an odd public relations feel, as if he’s being open with a divided staff about a damage control situation. “…I’ve been wrestling with how this perception squares with our values,” he said.

To that point, the most impactful portion of the letter was Ek pledging $100 million to elevate creators from historically marginalized groups. “If we believe in having an open platform as a core value of the company, then we must also believe in elevating all types of creators, including those from underrepresented communities and a diversity of backgrounds,” he said. “I am committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups.”

Rogan has apologized for using a racial slur and is in a damage control situation of sorts himself. Especially considering Spotify has already pulled 70 of his episodes, presumably for containing inappropriate language. Ek also addressed this and more in his letter, which you can read in full below.

“Spotify Team,

There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you. Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful — I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company. I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard.

I think it’s important you’re aware that we’ve had conversations with Joe and his team about some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language. Following these discussions and his own reflections, he chose to remove a number of episodes from Spotify. He also issued his own apology over the weekend.

While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more. And I want to make one point very clear — I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope. Looking at the issue more broadly, it’s critical thinking and open debate that powers real and necessary progress.

Another criticism that I continue to hear from many of you is that it’s not just about The Joe Rogan Experience on Spotify; it comes down to our direct relationship with him. In last week’s Town Hall, I outlined to you that we are not the publisher of JRE. But perception due to our exclusive license implies otherwise. So I’ve been wrestling with how this perception squares with our values.

If we believe in having an open platform as a core value of the company, then we must also believe in elevating all types of creators, including those from underrepresented communities and a diversity of backgrounds. We’ve been doing a great deal of work in this area already but I think we can do even more. So I am committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups. This will dramatically increase our efforts in these areas. While some might want us to pursue a different path, I believe that more speech on more issues can be highly effective in improving the status quo and enhancing the conversation altogether.

I deeply regret that you are carrying so much of this burden. I also want to be transparent in setting the expectation that in order to achieve our goal of becoming the global audio platform, these kinds of disputes will be inevitable. For me, I come back to centering on our mission of unlocking the potential of human creativity and enabling more than a billion people to enjoy the work of what we think will be more than 50 million creators. That mission makes these clashes worth the effort.

I’ve told you several times over the last week, but I think it’s critical we listen carefully to one another and consider how we can and should do better. I’ve spent this time having lots of conversations with people inside and outside of Spotify — some have been supportive while others have been incredibly hard, but all of them have made me think.

One of the things I am thinking about is what additional steps we can take to further balance creator expression with user safety. I’ve asked our teams to expand the number of outside experts we consult with on these efforts and look forward to sharing more details.

Your passion for this company and our mission has made a difference in the lives of so many listeners and creators around the world. I hope you won’t lose sight of that. It’s that ability to focus and improve Spotify even on some of our toughest days that has helped us build the platform we have. We have a clear opportunity to learn and grow together from this challenge and I am ready to meet it head on.

I know it is difficult to have these conversations play out so publicly, and I continue to encourage you to reach out to your leaders, your HR partners or me directly if you need support or resources for yourself or your team.

Daniel.”

Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Like a nice doughnut. We guess. Maybe?

Okay, perhaps doughnuts aren’t the first pastry that comes to mind when you think about February 14th, but that didn’t stop Krispy Kreme from unloading a whole line of heart-shaped Valentine’s Day themed doughnuts in celebration of the day, and you know what? We’re not mad at it. We’ve never needed a reason to eat a doughnut before. Heart-shaped, star-shaped, a giant doughnut in the shape of a turkey for Thanksgiving — whatever, fuck it, we’re always down for fried dough.

Obviously, we’re not alone:

For a limited time, Krispy Kreme is offering the four adorable heart-shaped doughnuts that you can purchase alone or as a dozen, sold in a valentine card-themed box. But before you drop down the big bucks on a box and send them to your valentine, you’re probably going to want to know if they’re any good. So we tried all four of them to see whether grabbing the dozen is the move, or you’re better off just sticking with the best of the bunch.

Here are our thoughts on each doughnut, from worst to best. Let’s dunk!

Bee Mine

Is it possible for a doughnut to be too sweet? Had I been asked this question before I tried Krispy Kreme’s Bee Mine doughnut, I would’ve confidently said ‘no,’ but after tasting this… I’m not so sure. I think this might be too sweet, fam.

I know you don’t want to hear that because I mean look at this doughnut, it’s fucking adorable. I get that, but it’s too much. The Bee Mine is filled with strawberry cream filling and topped with thick candy-like red icing. Artificial strawberry on its own is sweet enough as it is, but when mixed with Krispy Kreme’s ultra-sweet ‘Kreme’ filling it becomes way too overwhelming.

Of the whole lineup, this was my least favorite — as adorable as it is. It’s sickly sweet.

The Bottom Line:

Love bombing in food form. It’s just too much.

My Batter Half

As the name would suggest, this doughnut has a birthday cake-like quality to it courtesy of a healthy injection of cake batter filling. However, unlike the Bee Mine, the My Batter Half’s simpler flavors are more complimentary.

The pink-icing-cake-batter-filling combo does bring a lot of sweetness to the palate, but the texture of the red, pink, and white heart sprinkles does a lot to keep the experience from tasting too overwhelming like the Bee Mine. Yes, the sprinkles are sweetened too, obviously, but the added texture kind of mutes the intensity of the cream filling’s sugariness.

The Bottom Line:

A step up from the Bee Mine, but a little too sweet for this Goldilocks’s palate.

Cookies To My Kreme

Goddamn, this is good. This doughnut single-handedly makes the whole concept of these themed-doughnuts work. Featuring a white icing glaze with a chocolate drizzle and cookies and cream filling, this doughnut takes everything good from the previous two doughnuts and actually makes it work.

It’s got texture, thanks to a mix of soft and hard sugar sprinkles as well as the tiny granules of Oreo-like cookies in the house-made cream filling, which also helps to deliver the sweetness offered in the other two cream-filled doughnuts.

The Bottom Line:

If you (or your Valentine) are all about the cream-filled doughnuts this one is going to offer you the best experience. It has a great texture and a nice balance of sweet flavors that take you through notes of cream, cookie, and chocolate.

Beary Best Valentine

Here we are at the top. Now, I might be a bit biased on this one because I prefer non-cream-filled doughnuts to their cream-filled counterparts but hear me out, this is the ideal way to experience the best of both worlds.

Instead of injecting this heart-shaped, bear-faced doughnut with sweet cream, Krispy Kreme opted to place dollops on the face of the doughnut. This allows you to perfectly distribute how much cream you want in every bite, or, you know just remove the cream entirely.

I’m not sure why throughout this line of new flavors Krispy Kreme felt like going light on the chocolate (and the sprinkles) but I think that was a major misstep. Valentine’s Day and chocolate are synonymous, so why is this the only doughnut that delivers on the flavor?

The Bottom Line:

Skip the dozen, just buy one of these. It is by far the best Valentine’s Day doughnut that Krispy Kreme stocks.

Find your nearest Krispy Kreme here.

While the west coast is patiently waiting for the end of Billie Eilish’s new tour behind Happier Than Ever, since that’s when she’ll finally make it to The Forum for a three-night stint, at least there’s photos and videos on the internet to hold us over. Earlier this weekend, Billie actually halted her show completely to check on a fan who needed an inhaler, and seemingly shaded Travis Scott and the gruesome aftermath of Astroworld in the process.

But, for the most part, Billie shows look like they’re packed to the brim with fans who have been waiting all pandemic long to see their favorite — and she looks happier and healthier on stage than she ever has, too. This tour features a monster setlist that combines some of her earliest hits with songs from her When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go? era, and of course, rounds it all out with her latest Happier Than Ever.

Kicking off the tour in New Orleans, Billie was sporting her signature matching baggy tops and shorts for a comfy stage look that lets her jump around and be free while performing. Check out some photos from her first show of the tour below, and keep an eye out for more happenings as the dates unfold.

The NFL world (outside of the Rams and Bengals) have spent the week in Las Vegas for Pro Bowl festivities this week, culminating in the game that took place Sunday afternoon.

In the NFC’s 41-35 loss to the AFC, Saints running back Alvin Kamara had four catches for 23 yards, but found himself in the news on Sunday night for off-field reasons. Kamara was arrested and booked on Sunday night for “battery resulting in substantial bodily harm” stemming from an incident that took place over the weekend after police were called to the hospital to speak with a person reported being battered at a Vegas nightclub. The investigation led to Kamara being identified as the suspect and he was booked on Sunday, with the investigation still ongoing per Las Vegas Metropolitan police.

The 3500 block of Las Vegas Boulevard is Caesar’s Palace, but for now there are no other details regarding the incident and what occurred beyond what is in the police statement. One would expect a statement of some kind to come from Kamara or his representation in the next day or so, but until then (or we get a more detailed police account of the incident at the nightclub) we will have to wait.

(SPOILERS for this week’s Euphoria will be found below.)

The latest episode of Euphoria zones in on Rue Bennett’s drug addiction and the aftermath of an intervention sparked by Jules, Elliot, and Rue’s mother and sister. They also disposed of the suitcase filled with drugs that Rue had in her room causing her to enter a brutal stage of withdrawal. For the remainder of the episode, we see Rue run away from her mom to avoid a trip back to rehab. We also see Rue go to great lengths to get money, or things worth a lot of money, in order to end her withdrawal symptoms.

What Drug Is Rue Addicted To On ‘Euphoria?’

While Rue has experimented with a number of drugs, it’s opiates that she regularly struggles with. For example and for much of season two, we see Rue regularly consume opiates and cocaine by herself and with Elliot. After she received the luggage of drugs from Laurie, who is quite the unorthodox drug dealer, Rue’s palette of drugs expands to include fentanyl, which she took in the form of a patch at the end of last week’s episode. This week, Rue’s withdrawal is seemingly cured the moment after she makes a visit to Laurie. There, Rue receives intravenous morphine which sparks a very vivid flashback of her with her late father.

HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.

(SPOILERS for this week’s Euphoria will be found below.)

Rue Bennett’s relapse and drug addiction are the focus of this week’s episode on Euphoria. After orchestrating a deal that grants her a suitcase filled with drugs to sell, her drug use takes a huge spike. However, all of it comes to a screeching halt when Rue’s mom finds out about the suitcase and disposes of it, causing Rue to go a painful bout with withdrawal. The latest episode of Euphoria also expands on the love triangle between Nate, Maddy, and Cassie.

Just like last week’s episode, which featured songs by Sinead O’Conner, Baby Keem, Montell Jordan, Faith Evans, and more, this week on of Euphoria also featured a great selection of songs. The aforementioned events in this week’s episode are soundtracked by carefully curated songs that help to accentuate the emotions behind each scene.

What Songs Were In ‘Euphoria’ S2E5?

The standout songs on this week’s episode were Labrinth’s “Understand Me” and Sharon Cash’s “Fever.” The former was used during a pair of scenes where someone was in pursuit of Rue. The first is when Rue jumps out of her mom’s car and runs across traffic in order to avoid a trip back to rehab. The second time came in the second half of the episode when Rue is running away from a crew of police officers after she robbed a house for jewelry and cash. The robbery itself was soundtracked by Sharon Cash’s “Fever.”

The soundtrack for this week’s episode also includes Labrinth’s “We All Knew” and Albert Hammond’s “It Never Rains In Southern California.” This week’s episode also comes with the great news that Euphoria has been renewed for a third season.

HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.

(SPOILERS for this week’s Euphoria will be found below.)

In Euphoria’s latest episode, “Stand Still Like The Humming Bird,” Rue Bennett (Zendaya) finally hits rock bottom. No like, for real this time guys.

The teenage addict has somehow been successful in hiding her relapse from her closest friends and family for most of season two but a confession from Elliot leads to a poorly-staged intervention that sets Rue down a dark path in episode five. She’s overdosed, almost died, and dipped her toe in the drug dealing business but this week’s episode pushes Rue to the breaking point, asking her to hurt the people she loves, steal from complete strangers, and shut out everyone trying to help her get clean. It’s as if Euphoria is finally affirming that no, drugs aren’t cool (even on shows filled with beautiful people and stylized melodrama).

Here are some of the biggest questions we had after season two’s fifth episode.

Did Rue Make It Home?

The last we saw Rue, she was escaping Laurie’s apartment after shooting up morphine for the first time. She spent most of the episode spiraling, suffering through multiple interventions, burning bridges with friends, and trying to score a fix. After breaking into a stranger’s house, stealing thousands of dollars in jewelry and cash, and running from the police, Rue’s last resort is to seek sanctuary with Laurie, the eerily calm former-school-teacher-turned-drug-lord who previously lent Rue a suitcase full of narcotics. Rue was supposed to sell them but those plans were flushed down the drain when Jules told Rue’s mom about her relapse, so now, Rue is forced to gravel at Laurie’s feet while going through some pretty gnarly withdrawals. She begs Laurie for drugs who ends up dosing her with morphine intravenously before putting her to bed but Rue has enough sense to get the hell out of dodge before Laurie wakes up and starts demanding payback. She books it down an alley and the next scene we see is the shot that ends the episode — a glimpse of Rue’s mom waiting at the kitchen table as the front door opens. It would make sense for Rue to return home now that she has nowhere else to go, but it could easily be one of Rue’s friends or enemies paying her family a visit. Maybe it’s Fez, who has come to check on her after their blow-out at his place? Or it could be one of Laurie’s thugs looking for her money.

Is Fez Going To Die?

It feels fairly safe to say that Rue has officially gotten on Laurie’s bad side. She hasn’t paid her back, she’s lost her drugs, and she just snuck out of the woman’s home after she bathed her, drugged her, and tucked her in for the night. Laurie puts off this mellow facade but she’s a business woman and, judging by the company she keeps, probably a pretty ruthless one. Laurie knows of Fez’s relationship with Rue from their encounter earlier in the season when Fez had to explain why he murdered one of the men she worked with, Mouse. Fez vouched for Rue to Laurie and her crew in order to get both them and Ashtray out of a sticky situation. If Laurie can’t get what she’s due from a strung-out Rue, will she go knocking on Fez’s door? If she does, that can’t be a good thing, right?

What Happened With Maddy And Cassie?

Witnessing Cassie’s tumultuous love affair with Nate and her attempts to keep their relationship a secret from her best friend Maddy felt like watching a trainwreck happen in slow-motion — you knew it end in flames and maybe even someone’s death, but you never knew when exactly it would veer off the rails. Well, it did this episode and, even more shocking, Rue was the catalyst. In order to distract her mom and friends from staging yet another intervention, Rue targets Cassie, questioning how long she’s been sleeping with Nate in front of Maddy, Kat, Lexi, and their moms. Maddy, predictably, loses her sh*t, threatening to get violent with her friend and chasing her up the stairs as Cassie cries hysterically and Rue makes her escape. We don’t get to see what exactly Maddy does to Cassie after the reveal but it’s likely going to be worse than anything Cassie imagined. As long as Nate gets his too, we’re fine with it.

What’s Behind The Locked Door?

While Rue is going through withdrawals at Laurie’s house, the camera focuses on a padlocked door at the end of the hallway. Rue’s only half-listening to Laurie talk about opioid use and brain death as she stares at the door and we try to figure out what the scratching sound coming from behind it really is. Laurie’s into some bad things, so sure, it could just be a bigger stash of drugs, guns, and cash but could it also be a human? Another exotic pet? Who knows?

How Is Rue Going To Pay Laurie Back?

Again, we cannot overstate how stupid Rue was to go to Laurie of all people during her weakest moment. Was she forced into a corner? Sure, but seeking help from the woman who you conned an entire suitcase filled with drugs out of with absolutely no plan to pay her back — not our girl’s smartest moment. Laurie has already threatened to traffic Rue if she doesn’t get the money back and she doubles down on that threat during this latest episode, hinting that Rue, as a woman, has something of value and ominously telling her she knew she’d be a part of her life for a long time from the moment she first saw her. Laurie has plans for Rue, the scary kind, and honestly, we don’t know how she’s going to get out of this mess.

HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.

(SPOILERS for this week’s Euphoria will be found below.)

This week’s episode of Euphoria focused heavily on Rue Bennett’s drug addiction as we watch her battle through withdrawal symptoms after Jules, Elliot, and Rue’s mother and sister conducted an intervention. That resulted in them disposing of her drug collection which led to her painful withdrawal. However, this week’s episode also touches on other things in the world of Euphoria. There’s a new breakdown in the love triangle between Nate, Cassie, and Maddy, and we spend more time with Laurie, Rue’s unorthodox drug dealer. Furthermore, we take a trip back in time to see how Rue grieved shortly after her father died.

How Did Rue’s Dad Die On ‘Euphoria’?

During season one of Euphoria, it was revealed that Rue’s father passed away from cancer before the main events of the show. His death affected Rue greatly and one of the ways she remembers her dad is through that purple hoodie that she wears often in both seasons of the show. We find out towards the end of season one that the hoodie previously belong to her father, which is why she wears it so often. At the end of last week’s episode, we see Rue and her dad share an emotional moment, but it turns out to be a fictional moment she experiences in her had as a result of her drug high.

In this week’s episode, we watch Rue deliver a speech about her father during a memorial service for him. During a flashback, we also see Rue’s youthful experiences with her dad, including being at the hospital shortly after Gia is born.

HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.

The Houston Texans are one of two teams still without a head coach for the 2022 season, as the Miami Dolphins hired 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel on Sunday to fill the seventh of nine openings this offseason.

For weeks, the frontrunner in Houston has been considered to be former quarterback Josh McCown, who the Texans interviewed a year ago before hiring David Culley, who was fired after one season. However, on Sunday night word emerged from Adam Schefter and other reporters that the team had shifted focus to associate head coach and defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, who is “in talks” with the team to become the next head coach and the team is moving on from McCown.

Smith isn’t the lone candidate remaining, as Ian Rapoport reports McCown and Brian Flores remain candidates for the job and no decision has been made just yet.

Still, it’s a fairly big shift in the expectation around Houston in the past few week since Flores’ discrimination lawsuit against the NFL was announced, and one can’t help but wonder whether the reconsideration of McCown’s candidacy stems from the dreadful optics of hiring a white coach with no NFL coaching experience over Black candidates like Flores and Smith with head coaching experience and a much more substantial resume.

In any case, we’ll see where the Texans end up landing in the coming days, as it seems they are narrowing in on making a hire relatively soon, and Smith, who most recently was the head coach at Illinois and most famously is the former head coach of the Chicago Bears, appears to be the new frontrunner.