Month: April 2022

Charli XCX is fresh off releasing Crash, which has proven to be the biggest album of her career so far: It was her first No. 1 album in the UK and first top-10 in the US. She’s not done with it yet, as she returned today with a new video for “Used To Know Me.”

Charli previously told Apple Music of the song:

“I was trying to emulate myself on ‘Fancy’ — or get back into that headspace. I really remember searching for the chorus melody to ‘Fancy’ in a way that I hadn’t really searched for a melody before. Normally I’m very instinctual and spontaneous when it comes to melodies, but with ‘Fancy,’ I had to really maneuver my brain around different corners to figure it out — to understand the formation of the notes. I wrote this on my own at Stargate’s studios, which probably made me feel like I had to write a really big pop song, and then when I was listening to it on repeat in my car, I just started singing the synth line to ‘Show Me Love’ by Robin S. So I called a few people and was like, ‘Is this possible?’ And everyone said, ‘Yes, but do you care about publishing?’ And I was like, ‘I guess not.’ It feels to me like a big song — it’s about re-shaping who you are after a breakup.”

Watch the “Used To Know Me” video above.

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

Bad people doing bad things has always been a trusty recipe for good television but lately, a new crop of villains has been holding us hostage. Gone are the meth-cooking science teachers and New Jersey mob bosses. In their place are the swindlers, the con artists, the tech gurus intent on changing the world and, also, owning it. TV is in its scammer culture era and the success of shows like The Dropout, WeCrashed, Super Pumped, and Inventing Anna proves it.

But, as fun as it might be to watch morally corrupt modern-day robber barons squeeze the most from their meteoric rise to power before crashing spectacularly thanks to their own terrible behavior, do we now have too much of a good (or bad, depending on who you ask) thing?

Uproxx writers Jason Tabrys and Jessica Toomer debate whether the recent glut of Silicon Valley scammers on TV is something we should be celebrating or not.

Jason: Toxic tech and scammer culture shows like Super Pumped, WeCrashed, The Dropout, Inventing Ana… I worry that these are instructive. Convince me I’m wrong.

Jess: You’re not? There is something really aspirational about seeing people scam their way to the top because isn’t that what we all want to do?

Jason: No. That’s the thing.

Jess: That’s what I want to do. Maybe that’s why these shows are hitting — because we want to avoid having to trudge through life. We all want to be like Anna Delvey, secretly.

Jason: I think I’m realizing now that I come at this, maybe, from too moralistic of a standpoint.

Jess: Your fear is that watching these shows is going to make people want to replicate that behavior. I think the argument is that behavior has been happening for a very long time. TV’s just now reflecting it.

Jason: Yeah, I think we didn’t use to have as much of a view on the corporate culture with some of these companies and the misdeeds that some of these people get away with. It’s just been Caligula for the financial set, really, people just getting over and breaking rules. I get surprised that people watch shows about people getting away with stuff like this considering the wealth gap and its broad societal impact… that they don’t get more pissed off. It’s become our popcorn entertainment. That’s weird to me. Is that not weird to you?

Jess: I think there are consequences. I think that is an interesting point though: who suffers consequences and who doesn’t, but I don’t know. These are worlds we’re never going to live in, so it doesn’t bother me to see people rise and fall in them. I think even for someone like the Uber guy, yes, he still has a ton of money, but for someone like that, ego is an even bigger driving factor in your life. So having everyone know you failed at something probably sucks worse than going to prison for normal people. You have to put yourself in their mindset.

Jason: You make a good point about the difference between an Inventing Anna and a Travis Kalanick and Super Pumped. Inventing Anna was largely really taking advantage of banks and rich people. We had talked before about Hustlers being in this general realm, but that becomes a Robin Hood story almost because of who’s getting rolled. The appeal of stories like that, I understand that more. Inventing Anna, to an extent, I understand more, but people who watch these stories of financial largess where people are losing savings, 401ks, and stuff like that, or about people playing the market, it’s just odd how these characters get humanized or are made to be cheer-worthy. Odd that it works so well, I mean.

Jess: I don’t watch TV to hold a mirror up to my morality so I’m not having the problem you are having.

Jason: There are too many of these though, right? The way it is, it just dilutes the pool, doesn’t it?

Jess: It’s a good point. Too many shows have come out at the same time, so it’s almost like they’re drowning each other out. I think you can have too much of a good thing. I don’t know if you think these shows are a good thing. I do, though.

Jason: I mean, again, it’s dependent on the individual show. I did not get into WeCrashed. Jared Leto, whenever he is making choices, I need to steer way clear of him.

Jess: He’s always making choices.

Jason: I’m not familiar with the backstory of WeWork. I’ve been in a WeWork once in my life, I don’t really understand what happened there.

Jess: WeWork was like a cult, so I think the show had that going for it, too.

Jason: They’re all like cults.

Jess: I guess that’s true. I love a good cult story.

Jason: When I interviewed Kyle Chandler for Super Pumped, he didn’t seem to buy into that theory, and he had a good point about the drive for financial gain being the strongest thing within a corporate culture, as opposed to in a cult (where it’s more about following someone no matter your personal reward). But I feel like those two lines blur, and maybe you go in trying to enrich yourself financially but at a certain point in time, I think you grow to like being part of that thing. The tribe mentality is really off-putting when viewed through the lens of how far these businesses are willing to go. But it also comes down to the question of choices. They’re not making bad decisions because those things advance that business per se. They’re making bad choices because they’re rich and powerful and able to get away with it. And they lack a moral compass — I don’t know if it fell out of their pocket while they were taking the roller coaster up or if it just wasn’t there to begin with.

Jess: I think the whole greed machine beats out the best in anyone. So if you started out with morals, you’re going to lose them by the time you get to the top. That’s how it is in politics. I think that’s how it is in Silicon Valley. I think Kyle Chandler is just too pure to really understand that. He’s on his ranch with his dogs, just trying to do the best he can for the world.

Jason: Yeah, I never expected Kyle Chandler to be pulled into this world. But I will tell you, he comes out of it okay.

Jess: Of course he does. Coach Taylor will always triumph.

Jason: Now we’ve crashed… so please bring us back to the point.

Jess: Are these shows actually good?

Jason: Are we asking if they’re good in terms of quality or are they good for the sake of entertainment? Any sub-sect of entertainment that starts to feel a little samey is eventually, not going to be good for entertainment. There just seems to be so many of these now.

Jess: With more on the way thanks to the docuseries pipeline.

Jason: Right, and I am really curious about what there is that’s still new to say with these kinds of shows. Even when based on a true story. How many different ways are there to tell these stories? What will the eventual Elon Musk Twitter takeover series really unearth for us? How can they offer much from an entertainment standpoint?

Jess: Well, if you look at superhero franchises …

Jason: Exactly, and I find myself super exhausted by those.

Jess: You don’t think TV could have its own scammerverse?

Jason: Now I’m envisioning the scene from Avengers where they all ride up, crash through the universe, Jeff Bezos on a spaceship, Elon pulling up in a Tesla. All of them coming together to fight… I don’t know what they would be fighting. Us? I think I would watch that. I think I am… Okay, a serious question to wrap up. Are these sad stories?

Jess: I see them as sad stories, which is probably why I enjoy them … because I like watching sad people. I think I understand the idea of idolizing a Steve Jobs or a Bill Gates (as many of these characters seem to). But I would argue that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates actually invented things, whereas, to me, none of these people really invented anything.

Jason: I think of them, Uber was the most influential. I feel like Uber is the one that flies closest to being an actual innovation.

Jess: Yes, I think so too. But these weren’t genius. I don’t think any of these people were geniuses.

Jason: You see them as sad. I see them as oftentimes cautionary tales that maybe sometimes spend a little too much time lingering in the, ‘how cool is this shit?’ phase before they show the downfall of these people. I worry that people are missing the cautionary part. It’s like watching Citizen Kane, and at the end, he’s dying and he says, ‘Rosebud,’ and people are like, ‘Yeah, but look how big that fucking house is! Damn! That dude got fucking rich.’

Jess: I would like to say that I think that is a very good read, but I would like to argue that some TV can just be escapism, and sometimes we can just enjoy watching bad people do bad things and it does not have to be a commentary on anything. Don’t we deserve to escape real life, Jason?

Jason: We do. Yes, you’re right. But why is it that… I don’t really have a good rebuttal.

Jess: You have a moral compass and I don’t, and I’m fine with that.

Jason: I’m fine with that too.

We learned last month that Jack Harlow has already been confirmed to star in a remake of the 1992 hoops hustler classic White Men Can’t Jump. While Harlow is a lock to play Woody Harrelson’s Billy Hoyle role, Quavo had thrust his name into the ring to play Wesley Snipes’ Sidney Deane character. In a seemingly random encounter with a TMZ paparazzo, Quavo said, “I think they need to call me so me and Jack Harlow can do it. I need to play Wesley Snipes’ role. Huncho and Harlow, let’s do it.” While the above-average basketball skills that Quavo flashed at last year’s NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity helped notch him a role as a playable character on the NBA 2K22 video game, he doesn’t really have much of an acting resume to speak of.

To be fair, neither did Harlow, who apparently wowed enough in his audition for the “First Class” rapper to claim the starring role in producer Kenya Barris’ (Blackish) reboot. But Quavo officially won’t be joining Harlow in the film as 37-year old Sinqua Walls — who you may know from Teen Wolf, The Breaks, and Friday Night Lights — has been cast in Wesley Snipes’ Sidney Deane role, according to Deadline. While the pipe dream of a Huncho and Harlow silver screen pairing was appealing, having an established actor as a co-star is probably a better way for the film to be taken seriously.

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

Celebrities are just like us! Even they have to decide between the person they’re dating or having a pool!

Natasha Lyonne apparently refused to settle for someone who opted to live in Los Angeles without a pool. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lyonne talked about the second season of her Netflix series Russian Doll, which drops on April 20, and her life as a child actress in the 90s. She also explained the truly hilarious and understandable reason why she broke up with Fred Armisen, the Saturday Night Live alum she dated since 2014 and was quarantined with in Los Angeles during the lockdown stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Lyonne has since called it quits because she wanted a pool and Armisen did not.

I honestly think we broke up because I wanted a swimming pool. We love each other just about as much as two people can love each other and we’re still talking all the time, but Freddy doesn’t like a swimming pool. It might seem like a mundane reason for a breakup, but during that pandemic, you’ve got to get your laps — I’m like Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer. So, I got myself a house with a pool out in Los Angeles. So that’s the real scandal.

In the meantime, I’ll be wondering what Fred Armisen has against pools that would make him lose Natasha Lyonne over one.

The most highly-anticipated first round series this year is undoubtedly the 2-7 matchup in the East that will pit the Boston Celtics against the Brooklyn Nets, who beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Tuesday’s play-in to lock in their playoff position.

It’s a fascinating matchup for a number of reasons, including the familiarity of the Celtics with their former teammate turned rival, Kyrie Irving. What makes the series exciting is the known commodities. Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum are two of the best wing scorers in the world, and watching them go head-to-head is an absolute treat. Jaylen Brown and Kyrie Irving are as good as it gets as second stars, and Marcus Smart will be looking to wreak havoc on the defensive end.

Beyond that, both teams have some questions to answer and here we’ll explore the three questions that will determine the outcome of a series most sportsbooks have as close to a coin flip, with a lack of consensus on which team should be favored.

How will Boston protect the paint without Robert Williams?

Bruce Brown put this question front and center after Brooklyn’s win against Cleveland, saying matter of factly that Williams’ absence will allow the Nets to attack Boston’s other centers and get to the rim — a statement that displeased Kevin Durant.

While Durant knows there’s no reason to provide additional bulletin board material for Boston, Brown is right that the time to get the Celtics is now in the first round when Williams will be out following knee surgery, leaving Boston without its best interior defender. Williams didn’t just anchor one of the NBA’s best defensive units at the rim — his ability to switch and move on the perimeter gave the Celtics a variety of looks they could throw at opponents to keep them on their toes. With Al Horford and Daniel Theis, Boston will likely need to play more drop coverage, which is a dangerous game against the pull-up maestros of Kyrie and KD. If the Celtics do try blitzing or switching with those slower bigs, there will be opportunities to attack them off the dribble with little in the way of rim protection on the back end.

Where Boston can paper over Williams’ absence is less with the players replacing him in the center rotation and more with their terrific wing and perimeter defensive options. Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Grant Williams are all going to need to expend a touch more energy on the defensive end to fight over and through screens, on and off the ball, to stay attached with Irving, Durant, Seth Curry, and Patty Mills. They must prevent their bigs from ending up on islands with some of the best isolation players in the world. The good news is they certainly have the ability to do that, but for Tatum and Brown in particular, how they keep their stamina up to be offensive engines when they have to be constantly engaged on the defensive end will be something to watch, particularly if the series wears on into a Game 6 or Game 7.

Will Ben Simmons return (and what does he look like if he does)?

The Nets reportedly hope to have Ben Simmons make his debut at some point during the first round, with the latest reports pointing to Games 4-6 as the target date for him to be on the court.

How that works in a playoff setting is going to be nothing short of fascinating. The Nets could absolutely use someone with Simmons’ size and speed in this series on the defensive end, because without him, Durant will have to spend a lot of time on Tatum. Brown is arguably the only other Net you could feel comfortable spelling him in that assignment. Simmons would, if physically up to speed, give Brooklyn the chance to matchup much better with Boston’s wings on the defensive end, and also allow the Nets to be less reliant on Brown to be the glue holding their defense together.

On paper, all of this is an improvement for the Nets, but there is still the issue of having Simmons play his first minutes since last June with a brand new team in a playoff setting. That’s not going from 0-60 but more 0-whatever the top speed is on a given vehicle, and for a Brooklyn team already a tad disjointed, adding another piece to figure out how to work with has the potential to gum up the works even more.

Still, for a team that runs as short a rotation as Brooklyn does, having another high-caliber player could be crucial, and if Simmons can simply embrace the role of Brown — just at 6’9 with more juice as a facilitator — then some of that awkwardness can be mitigated. The Nets stars are used to playing with someone lurking in the dunker’s spot and cutting off the ball, and that certainly seems like a great way to ease Simmons into game action, as much as you can do that in playoff basketball. For as unique a player as Simmons is, the Nets usage of Brown gives them a blueprint for the most basic way Simmons can operate as a small-ball big for them.

Where is Kyrie Irving’s stamina level at?

The pacing of this series sets up extremely well for the Nets out of the gates, because the teams will get two days off between Game 1 and Game 2, as well as Game 2 and Game 3. For Irving, who had a lot of stops and starts this season because he couldn’t play home games, he’s still maybe getting his sea legs under him for playing every other day. Having the two-day breaks early should help with his continued conditioning, but it also means the rest of the series from Game 4 on will be played every other night. We saw games this season where Irving was tired on back-to-backs and didn’t have the same lift on his jumper, coming up short over and over, and while there are no back-to-backs in the playoffs, he’s going to be asked to play 40 minutes a night given the Nets short rotation (he played 42 in a sensational effort in the play-in) and how he responds physically if this series goes into deep waters will be something to watch for.

A lot has happened since February 24, 2022, which is the day Vladimir Putin decided to officially wage war with Ukraine. In the weeks since, things haven’t been going so well for the tyrannical Russian president, who is also apparently a victim of his own propaganda machine.

In an attempt to place the blame for his military’s failure on someone—anyone—else’s doorstep, Putin has basically fired everyone even remotely associated with the failed attack. While the Kremlin’s state-run media has reportedly kept its cool and painted a pretty rosy picture of how it’s going for the country, even veteran state TV anchors couldn’t keep their sh*t together when reporting on the sinking of the Moskov, the most prominent warship of their Black Sea fleet.

As The Daily Beast’s Julia Davis tweeted, the fact that the ship was named for the city of Moscow made it particularly difficult for Russians “to swallow” the news, as it literally meant that Kyiv destroyed Moscow.

Russians are so incensed about the loss of their flagship war vessel that some are proposing the only appropriate response is “bombing Kyiv, destroying Ukraine’s railways, and making it impossible for any world leaders to visit in the future.”

Or they could, you know, just admit defeat and go home and let Ukrainians rebuild the parts of their country that you destroyed in an unprovoked attack and let them live in peace?

Rihanna is famously pregnant with her first child, and it’s with her current partner ASAP Rocky. Though the couple seems to be thriving and happy — so happy that in a recent interview the “Umbrella” singer detailed a road trip that the couple took near the start of their relationship in 2020 that involved tie-dye T-shirts and a “little janky grill I bought from Walmart” — there have been rumors circulating that the pair broke up. This mostly comes from a Twitter thread by influencer Louis Pisano, claiming that Rihanna caught ASAP cheating with shoe designer Amina Muaddi.

Since then, reports have come out debunking this unfounded gossip. A source told Page Six: “They’re fine. It’s not true.” The publication also acquired footage of the couple holding hands as they left a restaurant last week.

Then, Muaddi refuted the accusations herself, writing in an Instagram Story this afternoon: “I’ve always believed that an unfounded lie spread on social media doesn’t deserve any response or clarification, especially one that is so vile. I initially assumed that this fake gossip — fabricated with such malicious intent — would not be taken seriously. […] While Rih is continuing to live her serene, best dressed pregnancy life and I go back to my business — I wish everyone a beautiful Easter weekend!”

When Rihanna announced her pregnancy at the end of January, her father expressed excitement for the baby a few days later. He said, “When I got the news, I was so excited and ecstatic. And I’m just hoping it will have ten fingers and ten toes.” He added: “I’m looking for a girl. I already have two grandsons, so I’m looking for a daughter now.”

In times of turmoil, sometimes the best thing to do is watch rich people be rich and forget about your own problems for a bit, and Netflix knows that. Season two of your favorite California socialite reality show Bling Empire will premiere on May 13th, with two new cast members.

Rich Kids of Beverly Hills alum Dorothy Wang will join the season, along with influencer and philanthropist Mimi Morris. Season two will consist of eight 40-minute episodes filled with the best can’t-look-away drama that can only involve the richest models, doctors, and heiresses, naturally.

Wang and Morris will join the cast from season one, which includes model Kevin Taejin Kreider, real estate agent Kane Lim, Dancing With The Stars alum Christine Chiu and her husband Gabirel Chiu, film producer Kelly Mi Li, socialite Anna Shay, denim heiress Cherie Chan, and fashion blogger Jamie Xie.

The official season two synopsis from Netflix:

Los Angeles’s beloved uber-rich Asians are back with even more luxury, glamor and crazy. This season, a romance between Kevin and Kim percolates, Cherie and Jessey’s relationship is questioned, and as Kane and Kevin’s best bud friendship is tested, Beverly Hills’s rivaling queens, Christine and Anna, put a new twist on the art of social warfare. But through it all, the one thing these friends hold dearest to their hearts is their love for each other … and of course, impeccable style.

Trina really deserves more. The Miami icon has been so good for so long, that it seems as though her consistency gets her overlooked. She’s also well-known for extending her platform to younger female rappers, blessing them with both her encouragement and her cosign. Rappers whose careers she’s helped include City Girls, Kamaiyah, Latto, LightSkinKeisha, Nicki Minaj, Saweetie, and Tokyo Jetz. Fortunately, it seems at least some of the popular ladies she’s assisted remember her help and are willing to return the favor.

On her latest single, “Clap,” Trina reunites with Latto for a frenzied strip club anthem that finds the two rappers playing femme fatale, stressing both their beauty and their danger. I guess you could say that the song’s a warning that looks kill. In her verse, Latto goes from demanding a check for her attention to threatening, “If I reach inside this Birkin, bitch, you better duck.” On the energetic hook, the two encourage their strip club counterparts to make their backsides clap to make that money.

Perhaps having Latto return the cosign can spark a resurgence for Trina, who recently participated in a Verzuz with fellow millennial-era queen Eve. After all, since the pair last worked together, Latto has increased a bunch in standing, including dropping her second album, 777, which debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 led by “Big Energy,” her biggest single to date (No. 3 on the Hot 100).

The Flight Attendant star Kaley Cuoco was so convinced she would be in Knives Out 2 that she packed her bags. In an interview with Glamour, Cuoco admitted that she was so convinced that she would be cast in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 2 that she had already started packing her bags to head to Greece for the shoot. Unfortunately, Cuoco lost the role to Kate Hudson.

“I was convinced [the part was mine]. I was so convinced that my bags were packed for Greece. And then I didn’t get it. I was so devastated. And I’m not [normally] devastated over roles. I had done chemistry reads, I had done Zooms. And I didn’t get it. I cried and I cried all night long,” Cuoco said. “I mean, I was gutted over that. And that’s when I thought I was on fire, like, I’m for sure getting that. And they were like, ‘No, we’re going to go with Kate.’”

In addition to Hudson, Knives Out 2 stars Daniel Craig, Ethan Hawke, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, and Leslie Odom Jr. It will come to Netflix in late 2022. The day after receiving the bad news about Knives Out 2, Cuoco got good news: she was cast in the romantic comedy Meet Cute opposite Saturday Night Live star Pete Davison. “They were like, ‘We have an interesting script.’ And I said, ‘I don’t want to read anything. I suck. No one wants me,’” Cuoco said.

“I was thinking I was hot sh*t: I’m going to be with Daniel Craig. This is amazing,” Cuoco added. “But I couldn’t be happier with how things turned out. That’s what it was supposed to be, and Knives is going to be great and Kate’s great. She was supposed to do it and I was supposed to do this. And maybe I’ll get to audition for the third one.”

If you’re reading this, Rian Johnson, please save a spot for Kaley Cuoco in Knives Out 3, which we already know is happening.