Month: April 2022

Some nations aren’t as tolerant of homosexuality as the United States, where a number of states, like Florida, have introduced anti- LGTBQIA+ legislation. For its China release, the third Fantastic Beasts movie had all of its gay dialogue, some of it pertaining to Jude Law’s now out-and-proud Dumbledore, removed. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is out-and-out banning a film, reportedly because it, too, has a gay character.

That film is Doctor Strange in the Multitude of Madness. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the second solo go with Benedict Cumberbatch’s medical practitioner-turned-sorcerer has vanished from the release schedules in the Middle Eastern nation, as well as Kuwait and Qatar. (It will still drop in the United Arab Emirates.)

Though there is no official explanation for the ban, it’s said to be due to the character America Chavez (played by Xochitl Gomez), who was introduced in 2011 as Marvel’s first Latinx LGBTQIA+ character.

Last year, Eternals ran into similar trouble, being banned across most of the Gulf because it featured both the first openly gay superhero (Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos) and the first same-gender couple. While Warner Bros. capitulated to other nation’s homophobic demands, Disney — which is currently embroiled in a fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose moves may impact the state’s taxpayers — clearly won’t do the same.

(Via THR)

Harry Styles’ stardom has been on full display at Coachella this year. During the festival’s first weekend, the former One Direction singer performed his chart-topping single “As It Was” for the first time and also debuted two new songs, “Boyfriends” and “Late Night Talking.” These tracks are set to appear on his upcoming third album Harry’s House. He also brought out Shania Twain to perform “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” during his set. For the second weekend of Coachella’s festival, Harry brought out another awesome guest during his headlining set to close out the night.

At the end of Friday night, Harry brought out Lizzo for a pair of performances. The singers, who have been friends for years, took the stage together to perform Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.” Lizzo teased her appearance at Coachella earlier in the day in a TikTok, writing, “I’m bored otw to Coachella.” Afterward, she took a moment to show gratitude to Harry in an Instagram post. “Proud of you @harrystyles,” she wrote. “Thank u for having me.”

Lizzo and Harry’s performance together comes as they prepare to release new albums to the world. Harry’s third album Harry’s House will arrive on May 20 while Lizzo’s next body of work Special will drop on July 15.

You can watch videos from Harry and Lizzo’s performance above.

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

Madison Cawthorn is not the loudest newish member of Congress. He’s no Marjorie Taylor Greene or Lauren Boebert. But he tries. News stories involving him tend to be outside-the-box: tickets for driving infractions; claims of cocaine and orgies in D.C.; former staffers calling him a “bad person.” Speaking of, on Friday Politico published photos given to them by “a person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign.” What do they show? Why, they show the hyper-masculine, anti-LGBTQIA+ representative in women’s lingerie.

The two photos, Cawthorn later revealed (while effectively confirming their veracity), were taken years ago, “waaay before I ran for Congress.” He claimed they were “goofy vacation photos” taken during a cruise, though he did not say when. He also attacked “the left,” who, he said, are “running out of things to throw at me.”

The images inevitably turned a lot of heads. Some argued that they revealed a double standard at play — that a prominent rightwinger who preaches hypermasculinity and denounces gay and trans people is also not above dressing in women’s clothing.

Others dwelled on his suggestion that they were leaked by the left, not by yet another person who was once close to him and no longer is.

Some took his suggestion and shared “embarrassing vacay pics,” though not of themselves.

There were lots of jokes, including one involving Tucker Carlson’s wackadoodle forthcoming documentary The End of Men.

But some actually liked the pics.

(Via Politico)

Kendrick Lamar has been stepping out a bit more as of late and it comes after he said his fifth album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is finally on the way. The public appearances for the typically-secluded rapper began earlier this year when he joined Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and more to perform at the Super bowl LVI Halftime Show. More recently, Lamar was spotted at a Los Angeles Dodgers game against the Atlanta Braves earlier this week casually sitting with fellow fans in right-field rather than in a press box. For his next act, Kendrick brought his talents to the second weekend of Coachella’s 2022 Festival.

On Friday night, Kendrick made a surprise appearance at Coachella by joining Baby Keem to perform “Family Ties” and “Vent,” both of which are from Keem’s 2021 debut album The Melodic Blue. The latter track also became Keem’s first and Kendrick’s 14th Grammy Award after it won in the Best Rap Performance category earlier this month. During their Coachella set, Baby Keem performed the first half of “Family Ties” before he welcomed Kendrick to perform his verse in front of a large video screen that displayed fire and water. Kendrick’s surprise appearance concluded with their first-ever performance of “Vent.”

Kendrick’s Coachella appearance comes after he confirmed his fifth album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers would arrive on May 13. It’s one of this year’s most highly-anticipated projects as it’s the rapper’s first album since 2017’s DAMN.

You can view some fan-captured videos of Kendrick’s performance in the videos

For the second time in the three games he’s played against the New Orleans Pelicans this postseason, Chris Paul came up huge down the stretch of the fourth quarter to carry the Phoenix Suns to a win. Paul had 19 of his 28 points on the night in the game’s final frame, and despite the feisty Pelicans repeatedly responding to an electric hometown crowd, Phoenix was able to take a 2-1 series lead by way of a 114-111 win.

The story of the first half was the play of Suns big man Deandre Ayton, who helped the team take a 59-48 lead into halftime. The former No. 1 overall pick was immense through the game’s opening 24 minutes, leading all scorers with 21 points on 10-for-14 shooting. While the Pelicans hammered Phoenix on the glass — they held a 28-16 rebounding advantage heading into the locker room — Ayton’s seven boards led all players.

He wasn’t the only Suns big man to have a huge first half, as the team’s second-leading scorer was JaVale McGee, who pitched in nine off the bench. Paul nearly had a double-double at halftime — seven points, eight assists — while Landry Shamet showed off his hops on a few occasions.

After their hot shooting won the Pelicans Game 2, both Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum fell back to earth a little bit to start Game 3. Ingram had 13 and McCollum had 12 at halftime, but the pair combined to shoot 8-for-22 from the field and 2-for-9 from three. And outside of 11 first half points from Devonte’ Graham, no one else on New Orleans scored more than four.

The Pelicans also found themselves shorthanded for the second half, as Jaxson Hayes was tossed from the game for a Flagrant 2 foul on Jae Crowder. But in the third quarter, they were able to inch closer and closer to the Suns thanks in part to a 12-0 run, take the lead for brief spells, and find themselves down by only two as the frame came to a close.

Unsurprisingly, both Ingram and McCollum were able to start cooking — the former had 10 points in the quarter while the latter had nine.

Rookie wing Herbert Jones, whose defensive tenacity and versatility have turned him into an important member of the team’s core, gave them seven points in the quarter, including a dunk that came off of his ability to force a turnover.

The early part of the fourth featured Jose Alvarado, the 6-foot undrafted rookie guard, ripping off seven straight points for New Orleans, including several buckets that gave the Pelicans the lead.

And then, the Chris Paul Midrange Jumpers started coming in waves. Paul, much like he did at the end of Game 1, started getting to his spots seemingly at will and buried jumper after jumper, landing the kinds of body blows that hurt just a little bit more in the late rounds of a prize fight. The metronomic quality that has made Paul the greatest point guard of his generation was once again on display — with Devin Booker sidelined due to a hamstring injury, Paul grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and settled things down when the Pelicans were giving the Suns all they could hand.

Paul and Ayton both scored 28 points en route to a double-double — the former had 14 assists, the latter had 17 rebounds. Mikal Bridges added 17 points and made all nine of his attempts from the free throw line, while McGee had 15 off the bench. Ingram’s 34 points and seven rebounds were tops for the Pelicans, with McCollum having 30, seven assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Graham and Jones both scored 12.

Game 4 between the Suns and Pelicans tips off at 9:30 p.m. ET on Sunday night, with the game being broadcast on TNT.

The New Orleans Pelicans suffered a big blow halfway through the second quarter of Friday night’s Game 3 between themselves and the Phoenix Suns. After a jumper from the free throw line by C.J. McCollum went in, third-year center Jaxson Hayes busted out the hit stick and flattened Suns forward Jae Crowder.

After some jawing and Crowder getting held back by some of his teammates, the referees went to the video monitor and determined that Hayes committed a Flagrant 2 foul, thereby ending his night after 10 minutes of work with four points and six rebounds.

It was not the first time Hayes got a little chippy with a member of the Suns during Game 3, as he unsuccessfully tried to challenge a dunk by Landry Shamet. In the aftermath, Hayes and Mikal Bridges jawed with one another for a moment.

Hayes has started all three games of the series against Phoenix, and while he has not put up gaudy box scores, his length and athleticism have provided problems for the Suns. He entered Friday night’s game with 13 points, four rebounds, and two blocks combined in the first two games of the series, which double as the first time that the former lottery pick has played in the playoffs.

The Atlanta Hawks are back in their series with the Miami Heat. Despite being on the wrong end of a 21-0 run in the third quarter and falling behind by double-digits, a productive fourth quarter and a game-winning floater by Trae Young with 5.5 seconds remaining gave the Hawks a 111-110 win. As a result, the Heat’s series lead has been cut in half, as they now find themselves up on Atlanta, 2-1.

While Jimmy Butler had a rollicking start and Young struggled to score in the opening 12 minutes, Miami only led by two points at the end of the first quarter. Butler, to his credit, was magnificent to start the game, going for 11 points, five rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Thanks to a 10-0 run in the second quarter, Atlanta was able to take a lead into a locker room. The team played with the swagger that it put on display during their magical run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, making Miami face its biggest deficit of the series as Young found a rhythm and both Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic started to impose themselves on the game.

While Tyler Herro took 15 points into the locker room, Atlanta led, 61-54, thanks to 11 points from Gallinari; Young going for 10 points, five assists, and four rebounds; and Bogdanovic stuffing the stat sheet with nine pints, six assists, three rebounds, two steals, and a block.

And then, the avalanche came from Miami. Halfway through the third frame, the Heat were able to tie things up at 68 thanks to a triple by Kyle Lowry.

They just poured it on from there, looking like they were going to blow the doors off of the Hawks and take a 3-0 series lead in the process. Miami ripped off 21 unanswered points to open up a 16-point lead, with both Herro and Max Strus having 17 at the end of the quarter.

But as it turned out, the Hawks were able to settle things down and go on a 9-1 run to end the quarter and get the deficit down to eight, making the hill they had to climb in the fourth far more manageable.

Atlanta kept chipping away to start the fourth quarter, and slowly but surely, they made Miami’s lead evaporate, with Young tying things up at the free throw line.

Strus canned a three on the ensuing possession, only for Young to come back down, launch one from the logo, and have it go in.

The two teams kept trading baskets, and with less than a minute left, Butler found Tucker in the corner for three that briefly took the air out of the building.

Kevin Huerter couldn’t make a go-ahead basket on Atlanta’s next possession, while Butler missed a pull-up that could have put the game out of reach. Young got the ball off of a Bogdanovic rebound, pushed it up the court, and darted to the rim instead of taking a timeout. That decision ended up winning the Hawks the game, as Young busted out one of his patented floaters.

Young led the way for Atlanta with 24 points and eight assists, while Bogdanovic had 18 with eight rebounds and six assists off the bench and De’Andre Hunter pitched in 17. For Miami, Herro’s 24 points, seven rebounds, and four assists led the way off the bench, while Strus scored 20 and Butler had 20 with 10 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and a block.

Game 4 between the Hawks and the Heat will take place in Atlanta on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.

The 2022 NBA playoffs don’t feature either team from the city of Los Angeles. While the Clippers were able to make it to the play-in tournament before injuries and a COVID-19 absence by Paul George caught up to them, the Lakers were stuck in a season-long malaise and missed out on making the postseason altogether.

For LeBron James, this marked the second time during his four-year stint in the City of Angels where he had to watch the playoffs from his living room — his first season saw L.A. miss out entirely before the offseason overhaul that led to them acquiring Anthony Davis. James, who is among the league’s most prolific posters, has spent these playoffs watching games and tweeting out his thoughts, and they’re usually a celebration of the players in the game he is watching.

That was once again the case on Friday night, when James watched Game 3 between the Atlanta Hawks and one of his old teams, the Miami Heat. After praising ESPN’s J.J. Redick in the booth, James mentioned that he’s not exactly having a good time watching the postseason play out and swore that this is the last time he’ll sit at home until he calls it a career.

The Lakers were the first team in the Western Conference to miss out on the play-in tournament, as they were one game behind the 10-seed San Antonio Spurs. As for an automatic berth in the playoffs, Los Angeles finished 15 games behind the 6-seed Denver Nuggets. Between COVID absences and injuries, James only played in 56 games on the year, while Davis appeared in 40.

Game 3 in Atlanta between the Hawks and the Miami Heat tipped off more than half an hour later than originally planned. A “suspicious package” was identified outside of State Farm Arena in Atlanta shortly before the game’s scheduled tip time of 7:15 p.m. ET, which led to fans not being allowed inside the arena while the authorities investigated.

In a statement released by the team, “the police department, K-9 units and Arena security worked to clear the arena and investigate the contents of the package,” and ultimately, it was determined that the contents were not explosive, leading to it being cleared away by the Atlanta Bomb Squad.

As a result, the game between the Hawks and the Heat got moved back to 7:55 p.m. It was not the only game impacted by the need to clear the suspicious package out of the area — the game is taking place on ESPN as part of a double-header with Game 3 between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns. While things were in the midst of being sorted out in Atlanta, the Pelicans announced that their game won’t tip off until 10 p.m. ET, which is half an hour later than the original start time.

The Heat lead their series against the Hawks, 2-0, while the Pelicans and Suns are tied up at one game each.

We’ve seen some moving [Fill in the country]’s Got Talent stories before, but a recent viral audition absolutely requires a tissue warning. I tried to steel myself in preparation when I saw the “Admit it, we were *all* in tears after this” caption on the Facebook share of it, but I failed.

In a video that’s been shared more than 95,000 times, the “Britain’s Got Talent” audition shows two tiny little girls onstage with their grandmother. They introduce themselves as “Cally” (age 4) and “Savannah” (age 3) and “Nanny” (their “daddy’s mummy”) then the girls share that they are there to surprise their dad.

Dad—also known as Nick Edwards—is sitting in the audience. He thought the family was there to watch the audition on a fun outing; he had no idea that they had arranged a surprise audition for him, so when his girls and mom showed up on stage, he wondered what was going on.

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A “Britain’s Got Talent” spokesperson explained to the Daily Mail how they got Edwards mic’d up without giving away the surprise.

“When Nick entered the Palladium auditorium during ‘BGT’ auditions, he was approached to be part of our ‘gogglebox’ audience and told he would be mic’d up so we could capture his reactions throughout the day as he sat in the audience,” they said. “He was totally unsuspecting. We did this so we could mic him up without him suspecting a thing.”

As Edwards tried to figure out what his mom and daughters were doing on stage, Edwards’ mother explained to the judges and the audience that he sings a special song to his girls. She said they wanted him to come up and sing it. Naturally, not being prepared for an audition, Edwards was stunned. But the judges sent him backstage to “grab a glass of water” so he could compose himself and get ready.

“They gave me some time to warm up—about 45 minutes in total,” Edwards told This Morning. “They gave me my guitar my family brought down on the day, they [producers] said this is the song we want you to sing because we’d seen it on your Instagram.”

The song is an emotional doozy, especially if you’re a parent. “It’s a song I’ve felt quite attached to so I sing it a lot around the house,” Edwards told the judges before he started to sing. Once you hear it, you’ll see why he joked about trying to keep from crying while he sang it.

Lovely voice. Beautiful song. Adorable little girls. Not a dry eye in the house.

Tissue, seriously. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The fact that Edwards was able to pull off that audition with less than an hour of preparation was quite impressive. He told This Morning what he was thinking during that prep time.

“If I go out I’ve got two options here, I either go out and try to own it or I come out and it all crumbles…” he said. “The whole thing just went so quickly. I do remember playing and in a way my fingers started to get a bit jelly, I remember thinking ‘this is going to be a big moment for you.’ I don’t want to stuff it up.”

Stuff it up he did not. What a lovely performance, and what lucky little girls to have a daddy who shares his love for them in such a beautiful and creative way.