Month: February 2022

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Wednesday night’s episode of The Masked Singer.

If you ever find yourself working directly for a disgraced leader who’s been accused of corruption and fascism and are worried about your future, fret not! You can always find a second life on some trash game show. Sean Spicer, who bullied and lied to journalists as Donald Trump’s first White House press secretary, improbably wound up on Dancing with the Stars. Sarah Palin, recently seen jeopardizing the health of New Yorkers by dining out after testing positive for COVID, was among the unmasked (in more ways than one) on The Masked Singer.

Speaking of, as per Deadline, on Wednesday’s episode of the singing-themed reality show, the big reveal was so shocking it reportedly prompted two of the judges to storm off in protest. Who could be that polarizing? Why, it’s Trump’s cash-strapped, legally doomed, accident-prone personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

When one of the masked singers was revealed to be one of the key players in Trump’s failed attempts to overturn democracy, judges Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke furiously fled the scene. The other two judges, Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy, who was anti-vaxx before everyone else, remained and engaged in some banter with the guy responsible for such classics as “Four Seasons Total Landscaping” and “Mystery Black Goo Pouring Down Head.” Jeong and Thicke eventually returned.

In any case, it’s probably a bit too early to be normalizing alleged crooks who have yet to have been punished. But then, Rudy probably needs the dough.

(Via Deadline)

You may never know what it’s like to enrage a growing number of living legends, but then you’re probably not Joe Rogan. Over the last week, the former host of a show in which people ate bugs has been called out for his lack of medical expertise, particularly when it comes to all the COVID misinformation he’s spread on his absurdly popular podcast. It started with Neil Young, who had untold hours of music yanked from Spotify, home to Rogan’s show. Joni Mitchell followed suit, as did Young’s old bandmates, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash.

Sharon Stone isn’t on Spotify, nor is she a musician, but that doesn’t mean that the Oscar-nominated actress is not enraged that Rogan has a very large platform on which he spews dangerous nonsense concerning a once-in-a-century public health crisis. So instead of yanking music from a streamer, she settled for canceling her subscription. And telling him where to go.

“I just want to say COVID is not an opinion-based situation and Mr. Rogan thinking that his opinion or a disclaimer for the lives that he personally has affected and caused losses of, it’s not an opinion,” the star, whose humanitarian work includes helping people with HIV/AIDS, told TMZ. “Mr. Rogan is risking people’s lives with his idiocy and his professing that his thoughts about COVID are opinions, they aren’t opinions.”

Amidst mounting pressure in the wake of an escalating exodus from their coffers, Spotify announced they were putting disclaimers on podcast episodes concerning COVID. But that wasn’t enough for Stone.

“He should put a disclaimer that he’s an asshole and that his behavior is dangerous,” she said.

Though Rogan could have played hardball, he did release a kind of apology on Sunday, promising to do better to balance misinformation with actual information. (He then proceeded to share a debunked article.) While his mea culpa was good enough for Dwayne Johnson, clearly the iconic star of Basic Instinct thought otherwise.

(Via TMZ)

Jim Harbaugh is staying in Ann Arbor where he will continue to coach the Michigan Wolverines in 2022. After leading Michigan to a Big Ten championship, a berth in the College Football Playoff, and the program’s first win over Ohio State since 2011, reports indicated that Harbaugh was actively interested in a return to the NFL, interviewing with the Minnesota Vikings on National Signing Day.

While it had been reported for several weeks that Harbaugh was speaking to NFL teams about their job vacancies, Chris Balas of The Wolverine reported on Tuesday night that the expectation was Harbaugh would ink a deal with Minnesota. However, as Wednesday wore on, there was nothing indicating a deal was imminent, and in a rather stunning turn of events, Adam Schefter reported that Harbaugh was sticking with Michigan for the 2022 season and beyond, so long as the Wolverines want him.

Prior to becoming the head coach of his alma mater’s football program in Dec. 2014, Harbaugh spent four seasons as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. He accrued a 44-19-1 record in that time and made the postseason during his first three seasons with the franchise, including a Super Bowl berth during the 2012 campaign where the Niners lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31.

The general tone around Harbaugh’s future seemed to be the expectation that he was headed back to the NFL, but for whatever reason, he couldn’t part with Michigan and the Vikings coaching search will continue to other candidates. Whether Harbaugh’s long-term commitment to Michigan is genuine or just getting caught up in the moment will be something we’ll have to wait and find out about because his name has been in NFL rumors ever since he arrived in Ann Arbor.

Nicki Minaj is gearing up to release her fifth album at some point this year. While her fas will have to wait for a title and a release date, they’ll be able to listen to the album’s first single, “Do We Have A Problem?” with Lil Baby, on February 4. It remains to be seen what other collaborations will appear on it, but one possibility is City Girls, now that the rap stars seem to have resolved their differences.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Nicki Minaj wrote, “Just had a great convo with @ThegirlJT & @YungMiami305. Let’s move on & make new memories y’all [unicorn emoji].” The hope is that the “new memories” will be new music between Nicki and City Girls, who have yet to ever collaborate. Nicki’s comments come shortly after she initially shut down the idea of working with the rap duo. “It’s let go,” she said during an interview on The Morning Hustle, “But why would I work with someone who doesn’t like me?”

On top of this, there’s also the chance that Nicki and City Girls’ first song together could appear on the latter’s upcoming fourth album. That project, which may feature the duo’s viral 2021 track, “Twerkulator,” would be the City Girls’ first full-length release since their 2020 effort, City On Lock.

Tom Brady announced his retirement on Tuesday, and he’s already in high demand among those who want to keep him around the game of football. According to a new report by Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, a trio of giants in the world of broadcasting are kicking the tires on potentially bringing Brady into their booths on a weekly basis.

McCarthy reports that Amazon, ESPN, and Fox Sports have all inquired about having Brady be a part of their NFL coverage — Fox has an open spot in its No. 1 broadcast booth alongside Joe Buck with Troy Aikman moving to Amazon, while the Worldwide Leader has worked with Brady in the past on his Man in the Arena docuseries. And apparently, the bidding for Brady would lead to these networks forking over a considerable chunk of change, even more than the amount of cash that CBS forked over to keep Tony Romo from jumping to ESPN.

“Brady would be worth his weight in gold. The opening bid would be $20 million a year — and it could go as high as $25 million,” a source told McCarthy. “That would be for either games or the studio. There’s no way in hell Brady would make less than Romo.”

It is worth mentioning that there’s no indication that Brady wants to retire and immediately go into television. In fact, there’s no indication he ever wants to broadcast games, and this report merely indicates that there’s a ton of interest in bringing Brady on board. What’s worth mentioning, though, is that Brady said prior to his retirement that his wife, Gisele Bündchen, “deserves what she needs from me as a husband, and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.”

Johnny Knoxville is about to turn 51. He was born during the Nixon administration. He and the Jackass team already retired from their deadly Jackass duties once before, with Jackass 3-D, back in 2010. Obama was still in his first term then — that’s how long ago it was. And yet they all agreed to come back for another punishing entry in the perhaps improbably acclaimed franchise, which got some of them, Knoxville included, injured pretty much right away. And not only is he swearing this one’s their swan song, he’s making sure his son doesn’t follow in dad’s footsteps.

In a new interview with People, Knoxville discussed how one of his three kids, Rocko, who’s 12, is not going to keep the family business going, no matter how much he’d like to.

“My son, he’s got the same gene that my father had and I think that I have, so I definitely want to keep him out of it,” Knoxville said. “I made it very clear to him he won’t be going into the family business.”

Knoxville also sounded pretty sure he, at least, is done doing stunts that have broken just about every bone in his body and left him with something like a dozen-and-a-half concussions.

“My doctor said I can’t take another shot to the head, I’ve had so many concussions,” he said. “I put my family through enough, quite honestly. I don’t think I have anything else to prove.”

It’s true, Knoxville and team have gone above and beyond, destroying their bodies à la Jackie Chan, who has also broken every bone in his body just to entertain us.

Jackass Forever opens on Feb. 4. You can watch Knoxville break down every single injury for Vanity Fair below.

(Via People)

How often do you let your loved ones know you love them? How often do you verbalize it?

Some people have no problem telling people they love that they love them. Friends, family, romantic partners—everyone gets an “I love you!” on the regular. Others have a much harder time saying the words, even when they feel them. Perhaps they didn’t grow up hearing love being spoken out loud much or at all. Maybe they’ve been hurt by those who were supposed to love them, so the word feels complicated.

Plenty of us neglect to tell people how we feel out of fear, embarrassment, busyness or the assumption that our feelings are already understood. But expressing love to our loved ones is a beautiful thing. Who doesn’t appreciate being told that they are loved? Even if it’s uncomfortable to say or hear sometimes, giving and receiving love is a vital part of the human experience—one that we should never take for granted.

So what would happen if you were to incentivize people to tell someone they loved them? That’s exactly the experiment TikTok user @toachieveyou conducted, standing on a street corner with a sign that said, “Call someone and tell them you love them for $5.”

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They credited the idea to Are You Kidding TV, and the deal was you had to call someone on speaker and tell them you love them in exchange for $5. That’s it. Super simple.

What happened was so much better.

The phone calls themselves were sweet. The first guy’s loved one seemed to be worried that something was wrong. Unfortunately, some people calling simply to say “I love you” could be a red flag that they aren’t doing well and are considering doing something drastic. The video creators said they’ve seen that kind of reaction a lot with these calls. But after being reassured that the guy was fine and truly just calling to say “I love you,” the man on the other end reciprocated and that was that.

But the guy returning the $5 was the sweetest part. And when the oh-so-very-tall guy called his mom and then did the same thing? That’s when the point really hit home.

The call itself was the reward.

It’s not necessarily that calling their person to say “I love you” was hard for these guys—they may have just thought it would be an easy way to make $5. But taking money for something that had such enormous intrinsic reward probably didn’t feel right in the end. Or perhaps the call itself felt so good they wanted to pass along that positive mojo to someone else. Either way, the reaction was so pure and wholesome.

It might seem obvious to people who express love easily, but for those who don’t, there are good reasons to try. According to Florida International University psychologist Lisa Arango, words of love are like oxygen in a relationship. “Telling somebody you love them feeds the relationship, keeps it alive,” she says.

There are lots of ways to say “I love you” without words, and showing our love through our actions is important too. But there truly is something wonderful about saying and hearing it.

As one commenter wrote, “Sometimes we just need a reminder that we don’t need materialistic things but just a simple I love you.”

“When you make that call and realize it meant more than $5 ever could, gotta love it,” wrote another.

Some people lamented that their parent or friend was no longer here to call, which only drives the point further home. Call your people and tell them you love them. Don’t hesitate or overthink or put it off. Don’t make it more complicated than it is. The more we normalize telling people we love that we love them, the more we strengthen our bonds with others and create a more connected world.

Disclaimer: While all of the products recommended here were chosen independently by our editorial staff, Uproxx may receive payment to direct readers to certain retail vendors who are offering these products for purchase.

Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. We’ve finally entered the month of February and as suspected, things are finally heating up in the world of sneakers. Next week brings a new Adidas collab from Bad Bunny (who is 3-0 with dope sneaker drops) and the week following that will give us our Valentine’s Day sneaker specials, as well as a few new Jordan 5 colorways.

The snow on this bland sneaker year is finally starting to melt!

That brings us to this week. It’s not nearly as bad as anything from January, but it’s sadly another light week. That all looks like it’s finally starting to change though, let’s get into this week’s best sneaker drops.

Adidas Yeezy 700 MNVN Resin

A new Yeezy dropped to little fanfare this week and for the first time in a while, it has yet to sell out. Is that a sign Yeezy is falling off? We don’t think so, but the 700 MNVN Resin does lack some of the flash of the more recent Yeezy drops so we’ll take that as a sign that the sneaker community is getting a little bored with Ye’s reliance on muted color palettes.

We feel that too. But the 700 MNVN is still a great sneaker with a dope silhouette, so pick up this week’s release as a beat-up pair. Wear it at the park games, on your skateboard, anytime you’re doing some exploration in your immediate area. You’ll be the most styling person bumming it.

The Adidas Yeezy 700 MNVN Resin is out now for a retail price of $220. Pick up a pair at the Adidas website, via Yeezy Supply, or at aftermarket sites like Flight Club.

Jordan 6 Low Lunar New Year

Every year Nike drops some Lunar New Year-inspired kicks and this year they’re giving us this ultra-clean low-cut Jordan 6. Dubbed simply, Lunar New Year, this new colorway features a porcelain white upper with cracked leather and metallic gold accent work.

A small icy sole adds another visual point of interest to the design and a satin collar lining and a gold embroidered Jumpman logo keep the sneaker looking regal and celebratory.

The Jordan 6 Low Lunar New Year is set to drop on February 4th for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.

Nike Air Force 1 Mid Flax

It’s been a minute since we’ve seen a triple brown colorway, so Nike’s new Air Force 1 Mid colorway, Flax, comes at us like a breath of fresh air. The sneaker features a tonal-brown upper inspired by construction work boots and features metal grommets and other durability-enhancing alternations, like intricate heel layering and thick rope laces.

The workwear-inspired design pairs perfectly with the AF-1’s bulky utilitarian silhouette.

The Air Force 1 Md Flax is set to drop on February 4th for a retail price of $140. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT or Flight Club.

Adidas Stan Smith WMNS

The Stan Smith is a top-five sneaker silhouette, it’s always going to look great no matter the colorway but Adidas really did something special this week with this new mixed-up design. Featuring a Cloud White base, an Ambient Sky heel tab, and True Pink branding, this women’s exclusive Stan Smith colorway is one of the sneaker’s best in a while. It’s weird to describe a Stan Smith as colorful, but this is about as colorful as the sneaker gets so it’s a pretty notable design change.

The Adidas Stan Smith WMNS in Cloud White, Ambient Sky, and True Pink is set to drop on February 4th for a retail price of $100. Pick up a pair via the Adidas webstore.

XLARGE x Adidas Campus 80 XLARGE

Adidas is linking up with Los Anglers streetwear label XLARGE for a special iteration of the Campus 80 silhouette in celebration of the brand’s 30th anniversary. This special colorway features a suede upper with textile lining and a mix of Mesa, Solar Red, and Gum colors.

Rounding out the design is some XLARGE branding at the tongue as well as a zebra print liner, contrasting red accents, and three lace alternatives.

The Adidas Campus 80 XLARGE is set to drop on February 4th for a retail price of $101.85. Pick up a pair via the Adidas Confirmed app.

JJJJound x BAPE BAPE STA

JJJJound is a label that has become iconic for its commitment to clean minimalist design, so when we first heard that the brand had linked up with BAPE — which is known for the opposite — we were curious how the two styles would mesh. Now that we’ve seen the two brand’s collaborative BAPE STA sneaker, we’re surprised to see that BAPE seems to have taken their cues from JJJJound. We definitely don’t have a problem with that.

This is one of the simplest BAPE STAs we’ve ever seen and features a smooth white upper with a light grey star logo and JJJJound branding at the heel. It might be contrary to BAPE’s usual bombast, but it’s a damn fine pair of sneakers, and easily one of this year’s best so far.

The JJJJound x BAPE BAPE STA is set to drop on February 5th for an unannounced retail price. Pick up a pair at the BAPE webstore or JJJJound.

size? X The Godfather x PUMA Palermo Collection

Movie tie-ins in the world of sneakers aren’t always a good thing. For every Nike MAG, there are about 5 cringe-inducing Star Wars-themed sneakers. So we were surprised when this The Godfather-themed PUMA collection came across our radar looking this dope.

The Palermo comes straight out of the PUMA archives and we’re happy to see it revived, so the collection already has that going for it but the obvious highlight is the fantastic color range offered. From Bone White with primary colors to a forest green and white pair, and an aquamarine, pink accented iteration with a dark brown gum sole, each colorway in the collection is capable of being someone’s favorite.

What does any of it have to do with The Godfather? More than meets the eye, actually. Retailer size? took a refined and nuanced approach to working in the movie into the design — which is the collection’s strongest attribute. The colorways are each tied to a specific scene and feature gold foil dialogue hidden under a flap on the outer midfoot. It’s really one of the best movie-tie-in sneakers we’ve ever seen.

The size? X PUMA x The Godfather Palermo will be released via raffle on February 2nd. Enter the raffle via the size? app.

Time was that Guy Fieri simply wasn’t cool. He still isn’t, but in the last few years his reputation has still taken a massive turn for the good. That nightmare of a Times Square restaurant that once earned him mockery (and mucho tourist bucks) is long gone. Now he’s recognized as a champion of the common man. In the early days of the pandemic, he was the big-time restauranteur helping out struggling food service workers. His show, “Triple D,” has long pointed eaters toward small businesses. Even his dorky Twitter feed is more affable than annoying.

Anyway, now Fieri is starring in Bud Light’s new Super Bowl commercial, and that’s fine, too.

The beer company, which has already gotten into the hard seltzer business, is now getting into the hard soda business. How is it? Well, the so-called “Mayor of Flavortown” likes it. That’s the role Fieri makes literal in a new ad, with minions bringing some cans of the new alcoholic soda into the alternate world of Flavortown, over which Fieri lords. And when he tastes the new brew, he goes gaga — or accepts a sweet paycheck. Same difference.

Things are on the up-and-up for Fieri, from the massive deal he made with the Food Network last spring to being Kristen Stewart’s choice to officiate her upcoming wedding. People don’t even seem to hate that he wears his sunglasses backward anymore.

The Godfather is a 1970s classic that’s due for a comeback. No, I’m not talking about the movie. Though, this cocktail was actually invented to celebrate Francis Ford Coppola’s Italian-American epic.

That history aside (maybe it gets a shoutout in the forthcoming miniseries?), the cocktail is one of the easiest you can make. It’s a very simple mix of lightly peated blended scotch and Amaretto that’s diluted with a little water and poured over some rocks in a lowball glass. Very easy.

But don’t let “easiness” trick you. There’s a real refinement to this drink. The subtly peated blended whisky mixed with the nutty and fruity Amaretto really does become its own thing when stirred with some ice. It’s lush and nourishing and feels just right as winter trudges along.

Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of 2021

• The Long Island Iced Tea Is Our Official Cocktail Of Summer 2021 — Here’s A Classic Recipe
• The Whiskey Smash Is A Summertime Dream — Here’s How To Make It
• It’s Time You Learn To Make A Real Old Fashioned — Here’s Our Recipe
• Here’s The Iconic Sazerac Recipe From Mads Mikkelsen’s Oscar-Winning ‘Another Round’
• The Black Manhattan Is Our 2021 Thanksgiving Cocktail, Here’s The Recipe

Godfather

Ingredients:

• 2.5 oz. blended scotch (smoky)
• 0.5 oz. Amaretto
• Ice

This is a three-ingredient cocktail so make sure those ingredients are top-notch. I’m using a nice blended peaty scotch from Compass Box. It’s spot on, deeply flavored, and really good for mixing cocktails. Since I still have plenty of Amaretto left from last week’s recipe, I’m just using that again.

That’s all there is, folks. See, I told you it’d be easy.

What You’ll Need:

• Rocks glass
• Cocktail mixing jug
• Cocktail strainer
• Jigger
• Barspoon

Method:

• Fill the rocks glass with ice.
• Add the scotch and Amaretto to the mixing jug and fill halfway with ice.
• Stir until the cocktail jug is ice-cold to touch, about 30 seconds.
• Strain the cocktail into the waiting rocks glass and serve.

Bottom Line:

I know, this seems like it’s barely a cocktail. Still, this is a classic for a reason. The mild smokiness plays very well with the subtle nuttiness and bitter fruitiness of the Amaretto. There’s a nice soft honey and floral note at play that’s really enticing, especially if you can get past that peat. It’s super easy-drinking and somehow refreshing even though there’s a fair amount of ashy peat in the mix.

While this isn’t my favorite cocktail (by a long shot), I do dig this in the winter. I generally order (or make) one a year and then I’m set until next winter. This time around, I still feel the same about this cocktail. It’s not without its charm but I’m not dying to drink another one. It’s a classic for someone who is into nutty and smoky cocktails. It’s simple yet refined, like Don Vito himself.