Month: April 2022

The Dallas Mavericks will not have the services of their best player when they wrap up their season on Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs. At the end of the first quarter of Dallas’ game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, Luka Doncic brought the ball up the floor and attempted a heave from mid-court as the clock hit zero.

Doncic decided to let it fly while Elijah Hughes hit him on the shoulder, and understandably, the All-NBA guard thought that there should have been a foul called as a result. Doncic didn’t heat a whistle, so he decided to ask for an explanation from a referee. He didn’t get one, and instead, Tony Brothers hit him with a technical foul, Doncic’s 16th on the season.

After it happened, Doncic still wasn’t sure exactly what happened and tried to get an explanation for how he’s the one who got hit with a foul of any sort on this one.

Doncic has a point that Hughes got him on the shoulder, but instead of letting it go, he’ll now sit out the team’s last regular season game of the year. The good news for Dallas is they aren’t entering that game in any sort of danger to fall out of the top-4 of the Western Conference, so Doncic will get a nice night off.

In an era of fake news, social media gossip, and rumors galore, sometimes going straight to the source is the way to do it. After Dead and Company released the news of their latest tour in late March, fans were thrilled the band would be getting back together. A hodgepodge of Grateful Dead members and new musicians carrying on the legacy of the late Jerry Garcia, Dead & Company includes Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, and Bob Weir, with Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti. Their 2022 set is slated to quick off on June 11 in LA at Dodger Stadium and runs through July, with a two-night stand at in New York on July 15 and July 16.

And for all the excitement that news of the band’s band’s seventh tour since forming in 2015 caused, even more hullaballoo broke out over a report that this would, in fact, be their last tour together. But as band member Bob Weir tweeted earlier today, that’s news to him! After Rolling Stone published a tweet confirming the band would stop touring after this year, he pretty much put the rumor to rest:

The body of the story doesn’t quite assert what the tweet does, relying on rumors that this might be the last tour, and not really asserting that. So perhaps something got lost in translation along the way. Anyway, it comes back to good news for Dead & Company fans in the end.

The long-awaited return of James Corden’s bonafide hit segment, Carpool Karaoke, is finally here — and Nicki Minaj brought the show back with a bang. Finally getting around to returning the favor for Adele’s epic impression of her “Monster” verse from years ago, Nicki did a spot on Adele impression too, and the show even managed to splice them both rapping the verse side by side. This is as full circle as it gets with internet memes, people.

But because it’s Nicki and James, don’t worry, the hilarious moments didn’t stop there. While rapping along to her new collaboration with Coi Leray, “Blick Blick,” Nicki suddenly realized that James had no idea what “opps” meant. “James, if you’re going to hang out with me, you have to at least understand the lingo,” Nicki asserted, when James offered “opportunities?” as a weak guess for the slang phrase around the 5:30 minute mark. She followed up by getting him to name an opposition in his life (his neighbor’s dog ended up being the example), and explaining how they would roll up on Graeme and Brenda to let them know when it’s time to put that dog inside.

It’s a pretty hilarious moment, and a great example of how applying rap lingo to IRL, mundane situations is… never not funny. Watch up top starting around 5:30.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is out in theaters, and so far, the reception to it among fans has been pretty positive. Fans have really enjoyed all the nods to the games and Idris Elba’s interpretation of Knuckles has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews, even if his voice isn’t sexy like everyone hoped.

When Elba was first cast as Knuckles, he was really excited about the different directions he could take the character. One direction that he considered was not approved by the director for the movie, Jeff Fowler, and was quickly shut down: Squeaky Knuckles. In an interview with the New York Times, Elba elaborated on what he meant.

We did try out some voices to figure out what he might sound like. He looks sort of menacing — [exaggeratedly flexes arms] rarrrr. I actually wanted to try to play him with a squeaky voice. I thought that might be funny. But they didn’t think that was funny and that idea got nixed immediately. [Laughs] But we did try different voices, cadences, accents. Knuckles isn’t a big talker, but when he does speak, he’s very blunt.

Yeah, anyone that’s played a Sonic game before knows that Knuckle does not give off the vibe of someone that would have a squeaky voice. Knuckles started off the franchise as an antagonist before he became a member of Sonic’s entourage in later games. In every game he’s been in, he’s had a tough and at times gruff personality, one that wouldn’t match a squeaky voice.

Maybe one day we’ll get lucky enough to see Elba’s interpretation of a squeaky Knuckles.

Looking for some lighthearted pop to listen to this weekend? Look no farther than Achoo!, the debut EP (and sneeze) from Nashville-based artist Corinne Savage, aka Corook, that dropped earlier this month. This unabashedly queer, young singer-songwriter stood out to us early on for the catchy pop hooks that her lead single, “Sims,” a tongue-in-cheek meditation on how much easier life is within the confines of a digital framework like the titular game, than, you know, the IRL complications of being human. Following that debut track up with “Bad Friend,” a reflection on the sometimes complicated dynamics of maintaining relationships long-term, complete with Corook’s own heartbreaking experience with homophobia from her former friend, Savage’s songwriting chops become more evident.

“Achoo! is the first batch of songs from the world of Corook,” the artist said of her first release. “It’s a weird world that includes speaking simlish, roleplaying my father, my phobia of snakessssssss, and a song written by ADHD itself. In every case though, the humor is simply the white bread slices to the gooey condiments of vulnerability we call peanut butter and jelly. So grab your butter knife, add banana if you’re feeling spicy, and dig into my trauma. Achoo! Bless me.”

Rounding out her initial EP release with the more standouts like the existential, searching “IDK God,” and a song on the potential pitfalls of college education “Degree,” Corook’s first song collection is at turns funny, clever, self-deprecating, and so hooky these melodies will be stuck in our head long after the first listen. The songs are lighthearted, but just deep enough that mulling them over for a few days is a good thing. And some of them, like “Snakes” are really just funny. Stream the EP below and look for more from this emerging artist, likely coming very soon.

As the Sandy Hook defamation case against Alex Jones continues, the InfoWars host is once, again, allegedly, engaged in what appears to be some very shady behavior. According to accusations in a new motion, Jones is using a shell company to hide InfoWars’ assets by continuing highly suspicious financial transactions that conveniently occur around the same he faces a legal setback in court. The legal team representing the Sandy Hook families filed the motion and called the alleged financial shenanigans “jaw-dropping” in their brazenness.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s happening via The Daily Beast, and don’t feel bad if you start to go cross-eyed halfway through, because the whole point is to obfuscate InfoWars’ net worth:

On paper, InfoWars parent company Free Speech Systems seems to lose money every year. Yet Jones has allegedly transferred significant amounts out of the company—financial transactions that often coincide with legal setbacks Jones has faced in the Sandy Hook cases. After the families sued him in 2018, for example, Jones allegedly started personally withdrawing a total of $18 million from the Free Speech Systems bank account over three years, along with drawing an annual $600,000 salary.

Many of the suspicious transfers center on a mysterious company called PQPR, which the plaintiffs claim is controlled by Jones and his family members. Shortly after Jones lost his last appeal to block the defamation cases in Texas, PQPR claimed that Free Speech Systems owed it $54 million—almost all of InfoWars’ assets.

And in a surprising move, here’s a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families putting the whole thing in layman’s terms: “They’re transfers designed to siphon off [Jones’] assets to make them judgment-proof.”

If the allegations are true, and Jones is conducting suspicious financial transactions to hide InfoWars’ assets, that can be seen as a sign that he doesn’t expect to win the defamation suit. Then again, he tried to claim that the Sandy Hook children didn’t exist and their families were crisis actors, so he was already facing an uphill battle from the jump because that kind of talk is morally repugnant on top of downright crazy.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Perhaps you’re having trouble securing one of Taylor Swift’s coveted Evermore vinyl records? Never fear, for the T-Swift fan who has everything, now you have a shot at purchasing Swift’s childhood home! That’s right, according to Time Out, the Reading, Pennsylvania property just went on the market and it’s currently being listed for $1 million by real estate firm Redfin (well, $990,900 to be exact.)

Rumor has it that a young Taylor Swift penned early songs like “Love Story” and “Teardrops On My Guitar” here when she was young. The Swift family lived in the five-bedroom, four bathroom house for a few years and it’s now up for sale for less than what a 1 bedroom loft in Downtown Los Angeles, or a studio in San Francisco goes for.

There’s a private deck in the back of the Wyomissing Georgian Colonial-style home, which seems like where a budding pop star might pen their early heartbreak songs. The only downside to the 3,560 square foot space property, is that droves of Swifties come by to take pictures and try to feel the magic of those early recordings, because why wouldn’t they? Although spoiler alert: It looks like the seller has very recently accepted an offer on the home, here’s hoping they chose a buyer who appreciates the pop music history within those walls.

Check out the Redfin listing here to see photos of every inch of the home.

Jason Segel has just begun portraying Lakers coach Paul Westhead on HBO’s Winning Time, but the How I Met Your Mother actor admits he is a “life-long” fan of the Lakers, particularly Kobe Bryant. Segel stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to tell a heartwarming story about how Bryant helped the young actor land a movie role in 2008.

“I hadn’t done that much stuff yet, ” Segel admits, “and the head of a studio didn’t want to hire me. So, the agency gave him a ticket to the Laker game and without telling him they gave me the other ticket to the Laker game, so when he shows up, we are sitting next to each other,” the actor explains.

“[The studio head] has no idea who I am really…and all of a sudden Kobe saw me out of the corner of his eye,” Segel continues, saying that Bryant stopped in the middle of his warm-up to greet the actor. “He ran over and gave me a hug, and he said, ‘You’re a funny motherf*****.’” Segel got the gig the next day, though he won’t admit what the movie was since, allegedly, it wasn’t good. Considering the timeline, it must have been Get Him To The Greek.

Segel admitted that he later found out Bryant mistook him for fellow comedian Seth Rogen. Still, who else can say they have been hugged by a sweaty Kobe Bryant while being called a funny motherf*****?!

Last Ones Left, the joint project from CMG signees EST Gee and 42 Dugg, is out today, and the two Midwestern street rappers keep their momentum going with a new video for “Thump Sh*t.” Directed by Diesel Filmz, the video captures the frenetic, relentless energy of the track, which itself is a microcosm of the propulsive vibe on the album. The two rappers display their signature chemistry trading boasts and jabs as they warn foes not to push their luck, lest they get, well, thumped.

Dugg and Gee’s partnership has proven to be particularly prolific ever since they first paired up on EST Gee’s “5500 Degrees” along with Lil Baby and Rylo Rodriguez. Since then, they’ve repeatedly reunited to match wits on tracks like Dugg’s “Rose Gold” and CMG captain Yo Gotti’s “Cold Gangsta” before they were officially matched up to bang out their joint project.

After announcing the project at CMG’s press conference in February, they actually pushed it back to provide a longer runway for singles “Free The Shiners” and “Everybody Shooters Too” to gain traction. Now that the album’s out, don’t expect them to slow down anytime soon.

Watch the “Thump Sh*t” video above.

Last Ones Left is out now via CMG/Interscope Records. Get it here.

The Los Angeles Lakers season, by just about any way you slice it, was a gigantic disappointment. L.A. entered this year with championship aspirations, and instead, the team won’t even make the Western Conference play-in tournament. A new piece by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN dives into some of the ways things went wrong for the Lakers this season, and unsurprisingly, it turns out the decision to trade for Russell Westbrook had quite the domino effect on the franchise.

The biggest question from the moment the Lakers acquired Westbrook — something that Shelburne reports happened because “[LeBron] James and [Anthony] Davis’ enthusiasm for Westbrook were what moved the process in that direction” — was how he would fit on the court alongside Los Angeles’ other stars. The answer ended up being not particularly well, but beyond that, Shelburne reports that Westbrook found himself in a situation where he didn’t always have people publicly defending him, with some folks thinking this was a necessary thing.

There were those in the organization who felt only humiliation would spur Westbrook to change his style of play to fit better within the team structure. Vogel, for his part, believed they should stand by him and give him the space to figure it out, just as he had in other situations over the years, team sources said. While Vogel did eventually bench Westbrook at the end of games when he was not effective, he continued to start him, give him chances and praise him when he played well.

While there was apparently a belief that Westbrook was not receptive to feedback from efforts to reach out to him, someone close to him was quoted as saying, “Why is he going to listen if he feels like you’ve been letting him get crucified all year?”

Westbrook’s name popped up in trade conversations midseason, but ultimately, he stuck around past the deadline. He has a player option for 2022-23 worth approximately $47 million before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.