Month: March 2022

For the nearly 47 years it’s been on air, SNL has managed to keep things relatively clean, despite being a live show. Honcho Lorne Michaels banned Elvis Costello for years and years, all because he played a song he hadn’t planned to, thus mucking up the show’s air-tight schedule. Charles Rocket was fired from the show when he dropped an f-bomb. Champion swearer Samuel L. Jackson did that, too, but while he’s not officially banned, he thinks he is. And he blames it all on Kenan Thompson.

On Friday, the same day he was awarded an honorary Oscar, Jackson appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which was guest hosted by SNL vet Leslie Jones. The two got around to talking about the longtime sketch show, which he’s only hosted once, in 1998, though he did a guest appearance in 2012, on an episode hosted by alum Martin Short. It was during another spin of Thompson’s beloved recurring sketch “What’s Up With That?”, in which he’s talk show host who keeps interrupting guests by bursting into song, that he let slip the f-word (as well as “bulls*it”).

“Kenan got me banned from Saturday Night Live,” Jackson told Jones. “He didn’t cut me off soon enough and I said the forbidden word on television. He was supposed to cut me off!”

You can watch the clip below, and though the moment, which arrives around the 6:20 mark, is censored, you can see Thompson never had the chance to cut him off. (His response, though, is hilarious.) What’s more, Entertainment Weekly confirmed with SNL that even though Jackson has never been on the show since, he’s not banned. So bring him back, Lorne Michaels! After all, he managed to not curse during Sesame Street.

(Via EW)

Late Friday night, the music world was hit with the news that Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had passed away at the age of 50. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever,” the band wrote in the statement. “Our hearts go out to his wife, children, and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.” A cause of death for Taylor Hawkins has yet to be revealed, but according to the The New York Post, he was found unresponsive in a hotel room in Colombia.

As expected, a number of performers and acts from all corners of the music world took a moment to remember Hawkins through social media posts. Ozzy Osbourne called him “a great person and an amazing musician.” He added, “My heart, my love and my condolences go out to his wife, his children, his family, his band and his fans. See you on the other side.” KISS co-founder Paul Stanley said, “Speechless and Gutted. Taylor was a great guy, a dad and a husband. My heart goes out to them, Dave and the band. What awful news.” Coldplay even took a moment during a tour stop in Mexico to play “Everglow” from Foo Fighters’ 1997 album The Colour And The Shape.

You can view some more reactions from the music world below.

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

Every now and then the Razzies and the more sincere awards bodies cross paths. The majority of the nominees at this year’s Golden Raspberry Awards were, shall we say, not considered good. But there was one performer who managed to straddle the good and the bad: Jared Leto, whose dementedly over-the-top turn in House of Gucci earned him both a Golden Globe nomination and a Razzie.

On Friday, two days before the chaotic Oscars go down, the Razzies handed out their winners, and despite being singled out for having a more accurate Italian accent than the likes of Lady Gaga and Al Pacino, Jared Leto still beat out such competitors as Mel Gibson, Nick Cannon, and (somehow) Ben Affleck, whose work in The Last Duel was considered by others to be one of his best. Leto played the scheming son of Pacino’s fashion god, whose wild gesticulations became an instant camp classic.

But the Razzies’ biggest winner wasn’t even really a movie. It was a filmed version of the Broadway show Diana, yet another piece about the late Princess of Wales. The show was reviled by theater critics, and so was the filmed version, which scooped up five Razzies, including Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay.

Elsewhere, LeBron James nabbed Worst Actor for Space Jam: A New Legacy, as well as Worst Screen Couple, which he shared with “Any Warner Cartoon Character.” (The film also won Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel.) Finally, Bruce Willis won for Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie, a category dedicated exclusively to the copious direct-to-streaming schlock he made in the last calendar year. Which of the eight did he win for? It’s called Cosmic Sin, a sci-fi thriller starring Frank Grillo that sounds a touch like one of his biggest hits, Armageddon.

You can see the full list of nominees and winners over at The Hollywood Reporter.

Amy Schumer is known for her funny yet relatable quips that sometimes go a little too far. But while gearing up for her Oscar hosting duties, the comedian opened up about a very real disorder that she deals with called trichotillomania, which her Life & Beth character also struggles with.

In her profile with The Hollywood Reporter, Schumer admits she wanted to make the character more real, even the less-admirable parts. There is a shot of clumps of hair on the ground, which leads to Schumer’s character explaining what trichotillomania is. “I think everybody has a big secret and that’s mine,” she told the mag. “And I’m proud that my big secret only hurts me, but it’s been what I’ve carried so much shame about for so long.”

Trichotillomania is a common disorder that involves the irresistible impulse to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows, or other parts of your body. The disorder can be attributed to stress and anxiety, and a few stars, including Olivia Munn and Colin Farrell, have opened up about their struggles in the past.

“It’s not that I used to have this problem and now I don’t,” Schumer continued. “It’s still something that I struggle with.” The comedian also expressed concern that she would pass it on to her son, who is two. “Every time he touches his head, I’m having a heart attack.”

The disorder, which is common among women, is rarely seen in media, which is why she wanted to add it to her Hulu series. “I thought putting it in there would be good for me to alleviate some of my shame and maybe, hopefully, help others alleviate some of theirs, too.”

At the end of the penultimate Life & Beth episode, the show adds a disclaimer: “If you or someone you know experiences Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors offers support and resources” in order for others to learn more about the disorder.

Tragedy struck one of indie rock’s stalwart bands today when Foo Fighters announced that their drummer, Taylor Hawkins, has died at age 50. This news is completely unexpected, as the band are currently on tour in South America, and were slated to perform in Bogota, Colombia tonight, with their 2022 summer spent touring North America. Foo Fighters are also slated to headline Lollapalooza Brazil on Sunday night, though it seems unlikely that show is a priority at the moment.

The story broke earlier tonight when the band shared a statement on social media about his sudden passing, asking for Hawkins’ family to be treated with “the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.” Here’s the statement in full: “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins. His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”

There’s no further information at this time about the cause of death. Prior to joining Foo Fighters, Hawkins was the the touring drummer for Alanis Morissette. He joined Foo Fighters in 1997 when their original drummer, William Goldsmith, quit the band. Rest in peace.

NBA teams need ways to kill time during media timeouts. As such, in-arena entertainment is a familiar part of the experience of going to a game. Sometimes, it’s as simple as sending folks out there with the mascot and launching a ton of t-shirts into the crowd, other times, cameras will go around and find fans in attendance who look vaguely like celebrities or something.

But the real good stuff comes when fans are brought down onto the floor and participate in some sort of competition. There are the ones that get you a gift card or something relatively inexpensive — i.e.: make more free throws than someone else in 30 seconds — and then there are the ones that are for a ton of money but are extremely difficult. On Friday, one of those happened in Portland, but there was a twist: the person who was picked to play the game won.

The Trail Blazers played host to the Houston Rockets, and during a stoppage in play, a dude named David had to put a golf ball from one end of the court to the other. If the ball went into an itty bitty little window, David would win $50,000 that he could put towards a house. It looked pretty good off of the putter, and 94 feet later, he earned himself a whole heck of a lot of money.

This season hasn’t been kind to the Blazers, but hey, at least this was cool. Shout out to David.

A small Jesuit school in New Jersey with fewer than 3,000 students is officially making NCAA Tournament history. Saint Peter’s, which won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and made it out of the first weekend of the tournament by beating Kentucky and Murray State, became the first 15-seed to ever punch its ticket the Elite 8 with a shocking 67-64 win over Purdue on Friday night.

The Peacocks’ vaunted defense absolutely stifled the Boilermakers, which boasted the No. 1 offense in the country per KenPom. Purdue shot 42.6 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from three, while standout guard and potential 2022 NBA Draft pick Jaden Ivey just could not get going. Ivey had nine points on 4-for-12 shooting with eight rebounds, two assists, and six turnovers. While the Boilermakers attempted to use their size advantage with big men Zach Edey and Trevion Williams serving as the focal points of their offense for much of the game, they just could not provide enough of a lift while the Peacocks swarmed the team’s backcourt.

On the other end of the floor, guard Daryl Banks III scored a team-high 14 points, while forward Clarence Rupert came up huge in the first half, scoring all 11 of his points before the break to keep the team in the game. High-scoring bench option Doug Edert gave them 10 points off the bench, and while he struggled from the field, he hit seven of his eight free throws.

It was a legitimately spectacular basketball game — any time one team started to create a little separation, the other seemed to have an answer to get right back in it. In all, the game had 15 lead changes. Purdue got a chance right at the end to force overtime, but Ivey’s three from the logo was just short.

As a result, Saint Peter’s will sit back and wait to see if it will play North Carolina or UCLA with a spot in the Final Four on the line.

We tapped Tate McRae as a rising pop star to watch back in 2021, and since then she has not disappointed. Also an extremely talented teenage dancer, Tate has shifted gears lately to focus on her music career, and the transition has been a seamless one. Following up her initial 2020 EP, All The Things I Never Said, she came out of the gate in early 2021 with the follow-up, Too Young To Be Sad, which spawned hit singles like “You Broke Me First” and “Rubberband.”

Now, she’s finally ready to put out a full-length project, and her debut album is slated to drop sometime later this year. Early singles for the project include “Feel Like Sh*t” and the insanely catchy anthem “She’s All I Wanna Be,” which might still technically be sad, lyrics-wise, but is a much more upbeat tune from Tate. Today, she’s back to the vulnerable, slower ballads with “Chaotic,” the third single for the forthcoming album. This song is a bluesy reflection on how hard it can be to change, to grow up, and leave behind old habits and old relationships. It sits comfortably within the sad-streaked palette Tate has already established for getting her emotions out in song form. Check it out up top and keep an ear out for more information about her forthcoming debut record.

A brand new Tyler The Creator freestyle was thrust into the spotlight today when a fan misinterpreted the song’s credits and tried to imply Tyler doesn’t write his own music. Though the rapper has been abundantly clear throughout his career just how involved he is in the entire process, from verses, to production, to orchestration and feature selection, one fan was upset by the list of names that preceded Tyler on the freestyle.

The “Lost And Found Freestyle 2019” features both Tyler and ASAP Rocky laying down bars alongside Nigo on a track off the hip-hop legends first album in close to 20 years, I Know Nigo! Since the song samples both “3 Kings” and “Like a Boss” by Slim Thug, along with production from The Neptunes, those names are added to the song’s credits, and then lists Tyler and Rocky after them. But all those names in front of Tyler led a fan to claim “everyone in the industry is a robot.”

“You big f*cking dummy,” Tyler wrote. “first beat is 3KINGS by slim thug which the produces had to credit the writers of the song they sampled, second half is LIKE A BOSS by slim and they credited the producers for that as well, then u have the two credits of the rappers u bozo, think first.”

Tyler has since deleted his tweet, but Complex preserved his pristine dunk, which, honestly? Seems pretty justified given the circumstances. Check out the “Lost And Found Freestyle 2019” up top, and give credit where credit is due.

Mental health has been in the news a lot lately, especially as it pertains to high-performing athletes. We’ve seen several athletic stars share their struggles with anxiety and depression and their need to take breaks for their mental health. Ohio State offensive lineman Harry Miller has taken this one step further and announced he’s retiring from football altogether after revealing his mental health struggles.

Miller is a junior studying engineering at Ohio State. He reported to his coach last year that he had been having suicidal thoughts. Throughout his struggles with mental health, he felt supported by his teammates and coach, who got him set up with counseling at the university. He wrote about his experiences on March 10, when he announced he would be medically retiring from football. The lineman said that he “would not normally share such information.” And continued, “However, because I have played football, I am no longer afforded the privilege of privacy.”

Miller wrote in his letter announcing his retirement that he returned to football weeks after informing his coach of his mental health struggles. But he returned with scars on his wrists and neck. Miller said, “Maybe the scars were hard to see with my wrists taped up,” and went on to say that “there was a dead man on the television set, but nobody knew it.”

The athlete reported while being interviewed on the Today Show that he has struggled with anxiety and depression from an early age, but that the pressure of playing college football for Ohio State exacerbated his anxiety and stress. Miller described some of the messages he would receive after a hard game, including some saying “transfer, you suck.” He said, “Some people get death threats that I know on the team, and I’m trying to text my mom, that’s the first thing I see, and then you can’t worry about it too much because you have an exam the next day. And then you have that for weeks and then months and by the end of the semester and you’re like ‘What is happening right now?’”

Harry Miller is choosing his mental health.

pic.twitter.com/z9ksfIiSIv

— Harry Miller (@Harry Miller)
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The pressure placed on elite athletes starts well before college. There have been reports of high school kids struggling with the pressure placed on them to perform at an exceptional level. Adults hurling insults at teens and young adults who are only trying to do a sport they love, while trying to balance academics, family and friends, doesn’t help. These are things that need to be looked at more closely. As a society, the weight we place on athletes to just suck up whatever is thrown at them and perform at a level that most of the country could not perform at is breaking their spirits and causing irreparable harm to them as human beings.

What weight are we asking elite athletes to carry?

u201cThen out spake brave Horatius,nThe Captain of the Gate:nTo every man upon this earthnDeath cometh soon or late.nAnd how can man die betternThan facing fearful odds,nFor the ashes of his fathers,nAnd the temples of his gods.u201dpic.twitter.com/K5pXZNy2DW

— Harry Miller (@Harry Miller)
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Harry Miller made a decision to choose himself, his life and his mental health over continuing to play a sport at a level that demands nothing short of perfection. Here’s to hoping other athletes follow his lead, and choose their mental health, and society takes note of how we treat them to evoke societal change.

If you are having thoughts about taking your own life, or know of anyone who is in need of help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (273-8255) or text “HOME” to the Crisis Text Line: 741741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.