Month: April 2022

The No. 3 seed Milwaukee Bucks take on the No. 6 seed Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2022 Eastern Conference Playoffs beginning with Game 1 on Sunday. While the reigning champion Bucks did not earn a top-two seed in the East, many project a relatively breezy outlook for Milwaukee in the opening round, particularly when noting Chicago’s 20-26 record over the final 46 games.

Still, the Bucks must take care of business in the opening round to set up a potential repeat bid, and Milwaukee is still rounding into form. Injuries kept the Bucks from deploying their best possible lineups for the majority of the season, and Milwaukee’s regular-season profile does not necessarily match the expectations for what Mike Budenholzer’s team can be at full strength.

On the Chicago side, the Bulls were off to a storybook start after making big splashes in the offseason, only to encounter considerable injury challenges in their own right. Lonzo Ball is unavailable for the Bulls, leaving a gaping hole as a defender and perimeter shooting threat, and Chicago is searching for answers defensively even as the postseason arrives. Still, there are the bones of a team that started the season at 26-10 and as the No. 1 team in the East, and we’ll explore a trio of questions as to how this series might proceed.

Can the Bulls even pretend to slow Giannis Antetokounmpo?

With all due respect to DeMar DeRozan, Zach Lavine and a couple of his own teammates from Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player in this series. As such, one can expect Antetokounmpo to put up big-time numbers, and he is in the mix for a third MVP award for a reason. However, there are some teams that match up better with Antetokounmpo than others, and the Bulls are not on that list.

Chicago does have a big, athletic forward in Patrick Williams, and there is buzz that the Bulls may use him as a primary defender against Antetokounmpo. That isn’t the craziest idea when examining the roster for the Bulls, but Williams is 20 years old and has appeared in only 17 games this season. After that, Chicago might try to use a pure big like Tristan Thompson against him, but to make it clear, the Bulls don’t appear to have anyone that can really stand in Antetokounmpo’s way.

That isn’t to say that Antetokounmpo can’t get lost in the sauce for a game or two, especially if his shooting stroke abandons him, but the Bucks have Giannis and the Bulls don’t.

Can DeMar DeRozan go nuclear to keep Chicago in the mix?

Speaking of DeRozan, he was at least a fringe MVP candidate for a while after one of the crazier clutch shooting runs in recent memory. That cooled down as Chicago lost steam on the whole, but DeRozan still shot 50.4 percent from the floor on the way to 27.9 points per game over the full season. On offense, he is fully capable of matching Antetokounmpo stride-for-stride at times, and Chicago’s best path to success might be to keep things close and let DeRozan work his magic in crunch time.

Unlike the Antetokounmpo matchup for Chicago, Milwaukee does have an ace in the hole with Jrue Holiday, but Holiday might be focused on LaVine, depending on how Milwaukee chooses to line up on defense. The Bucks don’t have another “shutdown” guy on the wing, but they do have options, ranging from Wes Matthews to Khris Middleton or even Giannis in a switch. One thing is certain, though, and that is the Bulls don’t seem to stand a chance without a top-tier performance from DeRozan.

Who wins the center matchup between Brook Lopez and Nikola Vucevic?

It’s not as if Vucevic was flat-out bad this season by any means. He averaged a double-double and had plenty of impressive moments, but his first full campaign in Chicago was marked by less than stellar efficiency and some defensive foibles, particularly once Chicago’s point-of-attack defense deteriorated due to injury. One of the broader questions of the series is how Chicago holds up defensively with Vucevic on the floor, as they will probably need him on offense to keep this interesting.

With that out of the way, the Vucevic question is, at least in part, a pathway to discussing Brook Lopez. The veteran big man missed most of the season, appearing in only 13 games, and the Bucks were hardly ever at full strength as a result. It would be fair to say that Lopez is, at least potentially, the fourth-best player for Milwaukee, and they will need him to be his old self in order to make the kind of repeat run that they desire.

On Chicago’s side, Vucevic likely needs to win this matchup decisively to pave the way for an upset. Given the massive gap in series projections, both in the betting market and elsewhere, the more intriguing story might simply be how Lopez looks and what the Bucks can count on from the center position in moments when Antetokounmpo isn’t occupying it as a part of a small-ball look.

It’s officially been more than two months since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and unleashed a strain of Middle Ages-esque barbarism not seen on the planet in quite some time and Donald Trump still just cannot find anything bad to say about the murderous Russian tyrant. Yet he has had plenty of time to wax poetic on just about every other topic because, at least the way Jimmy Kimmel sees it, “Donald Trump is bored.” How else would one explain his habit of randomly calling into Fox News shows to chat about everything and nothing all at the same time?

But the former president’s call into Sean Hannity earlier this week was something else altogether, as yet again the Fox News host tried to get his ol’ pal to just acknowledge that Putin is just a little bit terrible, yet Trump refused to take the bait. Again.

After listing all of the problems America is facing right now (inflation, etc.) which wouldn’t have been a problem “had we won the election, which we did,” the topic turned to Russia and Trump’s undeniable man-crush on Putin. As Kimmel explained:

“Even though we now know that without a doubt that Putin is a murderer and a war criminal and is as bad a human being as they come—even though we’re on the precipice of nuclear war with this monster—Trump cannot stop bragging about how well he knows the guy.”

That bragging, which came in the form of Trump telling Hannity that he “knew Putin very well, almost as well as I know you Sean” while a series of images of dead bodies filled the screen. Kimmel gave some credit to Hannity who, “for his part, keeps trying to get Trump to say the right thing… Sean tossed him the softest of balls and once again, [Trump] whiffed bigly.”

Hannity’s question was simple: “I asked you the last time you were on whether you think this is evil in our time. Do you believe this is evil in our time.”

After evading the question completely and making it clear that he doesn’t understand what NATO is, Trump decided to partially answer Hannity’s query by telling him what real evil looks like: Windmills! “They’re killing eagles,” Trump proclaimed. “They’re killing the bald eagle! And other eagles, and other birds. And we have these windmills all over the place.”

You can watch the full clip above, beginning around the 3:25 mark.

This week on Top Chef, well, it wasn’t a big surprise if you saw the teaser for it last week — it was the Jurassic Park challenge. Am I crazy for thinking that Top Chef should be above shilling for the latest Jurassic Park movie? It’s a little sad watching chefs try to feign excitement for a sixth Jurassic Park movie, where they all do interviews “confessing” that “I’m a massive fan of the Jurassic Park franchise!”

Oh shut up, you are not.

Listen, I saw the first Jurassic Park three times in the theater when I was kid. It blew my mind. I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever seen. They tried to recapture that magic two more times in the late 90s and it was all fucked out before the towers even fell. Those of us who had our minds blown by Jurassic Park as kids are in our late 30s and early 40s now. Let it go. Can we not have one single fucking pop-culture idea that is allowed to run its course without someone trying to build us a shiny treehouse made of memories? Writing about food is supposed to be my escape! leave me alone with this horseshit!

Poor Joe Flamm.

Dude scores an incredible come-from-behind Top Chef victory cooking humble pastas and this is his reward? Having to read dogshit ad copy for Big Dino? FOR SHAME. Also, since I had a little fun with Padma’s wardrobe last week, I should emphasize here how much the disco look was absolutely working for her this week. Love the white boots. I refuse to believe that this woman is 51. That cannot be real.

Phew, I got so worked up about Jurassic Park that I almost forgot to mention the quickfire. It was a Nigerian-themed challenge, introduced by local chef Ope Amosu and former Top Chef contestant Kwame Onwuachi. The chefs were challenged to pair dishes with a series of traditional Nigerian “swallows” — basically a ball of doughy starch used to dunk in soups and stews, named for what your mom likes to do on dates. (I may have made that last part up).

Anyway… cool challenge! Why couldn’t this have been the Elimination Challenge and the Jurassic Park infomercial challenge been the Quickfire? Also, if we’re going bring back something from 1993, couldn’t it at least be Demolition Man?

Once the Swallow Challenge was over, Joe Flamm trudged in in his monkey suit to announce the Elimination Challenge. There was even a video from Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt. A video! They couldn’t even get these assholes to show up for an entire show dedicated to their stupid movie!

The chefs were then tasked with producing a team three-course meal, in which each course would reflect a different “dish inspired by these jaw-dropping dinosaurs.”

I hesitated before I typed “reflect” there because the verb was the ambiguous part. Were the dishes supposed to be inspired by the dinosaur? By what the dinosaur eats? By their general dino…. vibe? No one seemed to know. It was like the Top Chef producers didn’t get to vet the press blasts and just had to just roll with whatever crap the copywriters came up with.

I used to be a copywriter. It sucked. And I could’ve told you guys, movie promo copy is some of the most vaporous nonsense you will ever read, even compared to every other kind of promo copy. Joe Flamm had to tell us that velociraptors live in China (should the raptor contestants make Chinese food then??) and Padma grinned “I can’t wait to see how you bring these dinosaurs to life!”

Bring them to life? With… food? Should the dish make me think “dinosaur” or should it make me feel like a dinosaur? WHAT THE HELL DOES ANY OF THIS MEAN?!?

The dinosaurs in question, by the way, were the Mosasaurus (SEA), Quetzalcoatlus (AIR), and the Velociraptor (LAND). I think they threw the Quetzalcoatlus in there just for the added sadism. Not only are you going to make these people read your bad ad copy, they’re going to have to pronounce “Quetzalcoatlus” seven times? Amazing. The wildest part was that they didn’t use the “Giga,” a new dinosaur that, I shit you not, was meant to be like The Joker.

“I wanted something that felt like the Joker,” director Colin Trevorrow told Empire. “It just wants to watch the world burn.”

Yeah bruv, I think I do too now.

RESULTS:

• Quickfire Bottom: Nick, Evelyn.
• Quickfire Top: Buddha*, Damarr, Jackson.

• Elimination Winners: Nick, Evelyn, Jackson.
• Elimination Bottom: Jo**, Jae.

*Winner
**Eliminated

9. (-1) ((Eliminated)) Jo Chan

AKA: Sarge. Smiles.

I’m a little surprised to see Jo going home this early, but not exactly disappointed either. It feels like there are five chefs left who are in contention and four who were just trying last one more week, with Jo being firmly in the latter camp.

Jo drew the flying Quetzalcoatlus this episode, and as she described her inspiration: “Quetzalcoatlus eat everything, so I decided to make a quail and stuff it with everything.”

Uh… sure? The Q-dinos (I refuse to type the full name again) fly and start with Q, quails fly and start with Q… Why not! Sadly Jo’s quail came out dry and she inexplicably served it with two sad carrots. She ended up going home. I’m trying to muster the requisite sadness about it, but Jo comes off self-serious enough that she’s not super likeable, yet remains just likeable enough that she can’t really be considered a villain either. Which is relatable enough (this is probably how I would seem on a reality show) but doesn’t really add up to great entertainment value.

Anyway, uh… good luck, Sarge.

8. (-2) Jae Jung

AKA: Noodles. Jae West. Hilaria.

Last week we got a little taste of it, when Jae couldn’t bullshit well enough to explain why a gumbo was meant to represent Ann Richards. This week really cemented it: metaphors are Jae’s kryptonite.

Jae couldn’t explain her gumbo-Ann Richards connection, but at least she seemed to have an idea in her head. This week Jae drew the velociraptor, and openly struggled with how the hell food was supposed to be like a dinosaur. Can’t really blame her for that, I suppose? Do Koreans not have liberal arts courses to teach them to bullshit?

Jae ended up deciding on lamb two ways, which, as anyone who watches this show would know, is practically begging to get sent home. Doing anything two ways is a terrible idea! It gives the judges double the dishes to find fault with!

It’s a testament to just how bad Jo’s quail must’ve been that even an anti-strategic dish with a virtually non-existent metaphor — “It’s a very aggressive dinosaur, so I wanted to give a bold flavor to it” — still didn’t get Jae sent home. Much to Tom’s chagrin, who seemed to have an irrational hatred for everything about it. Calm down, man, it’s just a meatball.

In any case, Jae squeaked through. I really hope we get a less conceptual challenge next week so she can go back to doing what she does best: being weirdly horny for cheese.

7. (+2) Ashleigh Shanti

AKA: Moonjuice. Sugar Hillcountry.

Ashleigh seems like a naturally sunny person and I feel like this show is grinding her down to a little nub. Once again she put out what looked, sounded, and she clearly believed was good food, and once again the judges had almost universally negative things to say about it. Ashleigh drew the flying QuentinTarantinosaurus, and decided to cook a wing (makes sense!) with shito spice and a watermelon salad on top. Looked tasty!

Unfortunately, the judges thought Ashleigh’s shito wing was more like a shithouse wing — too flabby, underseasoned, not enough shito, and too mild. It just needed… something, you know? And such small portions! They are crushing this poor woman’s soul and it makes me sad.

6. (+2) Luke Kolpin

AKA: Liddell. Die Hard. Meekus. Eurotrip. The Danish Zombie. Noma… Noma… Noma gonna be in this competition much longer, anyway.

Speaking of crushed souls, there’s Luke, who has looked like he was about to go home basically from the first episode but is miraculously still here. I’m re-nicknaming this guy “The Danish Zombie,” because he just keeps coming back to life. And because MMA nicknames seem especially fitting for this guy.

Luke actually…. did kind of okay this episode? He drew the velociraptor and decided on a Mongolian theme, serving broccoli and beef (don’t tell Eddie Huang!) in the shape of claw, sort of. The judges liked it alright, and Padma thought the “dark, swampy” sauce fit the velociraptor theme. What, velociraptors live in your mom’s panties now?

Anyway, I hope Luke comes in second-to-last in every challenge from here on out and somehow makes it all the way to the finale.

5. (even) Nick Wallace

AKA: Domingo. Chocolate Mormon. The Count.

Nick is clearly one of the five favorites in this competition but he also seems to be cementing himself as the lowest-ranking favorite. He made an okra stew with crab in the quickfire, which looked pretty amazing, but apparently, he used too much tamarind paste and it came out too sweet and landed him in the bottom two. Sad!

But Nick seemed to bounce back from tamarind-blasting his stew, serving a croquette in the Elimination Challenge that was meant to evoke the red insides of a Mosasaurus’ throat. It ended up splitting the judges, with some thinking it was clever and just what the doctor ordered, but others (Tom) thinking it felt a little paltry without a sauce. But that’s Tom for you, such a sauce queen.

4. (-3) Evelyn Garcia

AKA: Cuddles.

Evelyn and Nick seem to be running neck and neck for worst of the best. Evelyn was coming off back-to-back victories in the last two ‘sodes, but opened this one on the bottom of the quickfire with Nick. She bounced back in the elimination challenge, drawing the Questlove dinosaur (AIR) and choosing to make… pork, that famous flying animal.

It was a pork tenderloin with some nuts and leafy vegetables, served with an AERated sweet potato puree. Which, Evelyn took pains to remind the judges, was meant to represent AIR. That shit must’ve been really good because not a single judge questioned the validity of representing air with aerated potatoes (which grow underground!).

Anyway, Evelyn seems nice and her food looks good and I hope she does well. (Pretend I managed to squeeze a “your mom” joke in here somehow)

3. (+1) Buddha Lo

AKA: Mr. International. Big Pun. Asian Ben Mendelsohn.

I had Buddha pegged as the chef to beat in the first few episodes, and he had me worried for a few episodes, but now it seems like he’s back. He served an African-inspired satay in the quickfire that was so good he had Ope Amosu giving him nicknames. Damn, is Buddha already invited to the cookout?

He won that challenge, earning himself immunity, which he ended up not needing since his smoked alligator in a cream sauce with beets and salmon roe felt like one of the judges’ favorites of the entire evening. This dude chose to cook alligator! And succeeded with it!

The only reason Buddha didn’t win this challenge was that he was paired with Jae and Jo, the judges’ two least favorites. And all he really missed out by not “winning” was a trip to the premiere of Jurassic World: Dominion. Oh, so instead of having to feign excitement about a sixth Jurassic Park movie (Oh my gosh, did they bring back the actors from the first one?? Has this ever been tried before???) he can just chillax on the couch watching Real Housewives or whatever?

Seems like Buddha got the best of that deal.

2. (+1) Jackson Kalb

AKA: Magoo. Andrew Lunk. Leghorn. Lurch. Bateman. Big Bird. Big Nerd. Napholeon Dynamite. Drew Magoober.

This challenge seemed right up Jackson’s alley on account of he’s a huge dork. Sure enough, Jackson rose to the occasion. *(Napoleon Dynamite Voice*) Do the velothiraptors have large talons?

Jackson really went for it this episode, using his own hand to create a bloody velociraptor footprint out of raspberry syrup. Velociraptor footprints don’t look like that! But hey, at least he tried. Jackson tried so hard, in fact, that he even introduced his dish by doing a bit. “First of all I’d like to apologize, the velociraptors came through and took one of our chefs, so that’s his blood there on the plate.”

Jackson looked so pleased with himself after that bit you almost have to respect it.

You could practically hear him excitedly sucking saliva through his retainer after that one. (*puffs inhaler*)

Padma looked a little confused at first, on account of she’s a famous supermodel so she doesn’t speak nerd, but then she realized Jackson was just doing exactly what the producers wanted these chefs to do: embarrass themselves for the sponsor.

I’ve been giving Jackson a pretty hard time in these recaps, but I owe him a debt of gratitude. He’s one of the only people in this competition GIVING ME GODDAMN ANYTHING TO WORK WITH. He’s crushing this and being a giant goofball while doing it. Frankly, this show needs more Jacksons.

1. (+1) Damarr Brown

AKA: Catchphrase. James Beard. Screech.

Then again… maybe you don’t need more Jacksons? At the other end of the spectrum is Damarr, quite possibly the most low-key human ever to appear on a reality show. This man seems physiologically incapable of artifice. Weirdly, this only seems to make him more watchable. You can give this guy the most dogshit ad copy imaginable and he will actually bring something genuine to it. It’s almost scary.

Anyway, Damarr made some kind of fried oyster on top of Fresno chow-chow (as a Fresnan I was pleased) over a cream sauce with caviar in it. Like Buddha, the only thing holding him back was being on a team with Luke and Ashleigh, who the judges weren’t so hot on. I’m going to end this recap here. I have a lot of thoughts about Damarr’s chances in this competition, but I don’t want to write them down for fear of jinxing him.

—

Read the rest of our Top Chef Power Rankings here. Vince Mancini is on Twitter.

The 2022 NBA Playoffs open on Saturday afternoon, and the first matchup of the slate pits the No. 4 seed Dallas Mavericks against the No. 5 seed Utah Jazz in front of a national audience. After a slow start, Dallas enjoyed an excellent season, winning 52 games to earn homecourt advantage in the first round, and the team’s defensive improvement was notable and impressive. Utah regressed from its lofty regular season heights in 2020-21, winning 49 games after a 52-20 mark a year ago, but the Jazz remain dangerous and actually enter as the betting favorite in the series.

Luka Doncic’s calf issue, as noted below, is perhaps the top story in advance of the series, but the Mavericks will be aiming to advance beyond the first round for the first time since they won the NBA title in 2011. The Jazz are also looking to make a postseason dent for the first time in quite a while, as Utah has come up short of the conference finals in every season since 2007.

Storylines abound in advance of what should be a highly entertaining and competitive series, and there are many questions to answer in determining what will transpire. In this space, we’ll tackle three prominent questions, starting with the health status of the best player on the floor.

When will Luka Doncic be able to play and how effective can he be?

It goes without saying, but the Mavericks would not be a top-four seed in the West without Doncic. As such, the No. 1 question (by a wide margin) is what he might look like and when he’ll return from the calf injury he suffered during the last weekend of the regular season. All signs point to a Game 1 absence but, with a soft-tissue injury, there is inherent uncertainty.

Though Doncic and the Mavericks are 0-2 in playoff series during his tenure, it isn’t as if Doncic was the issue. He is averaging 33.5 points, 9.5 assists and 8.8 rebounds per game in 13 postseason contests, and those numbers came in an especially difficult matchup against the switch-heavy Clippers. Utah doesn’t pose those same issues defensively (more on this later), but if Doncic can’t play for a few games, Dallas might fall into a hole that would be impossible to overcome.

If you are looking for a point of optimism from the Mavs’ perspective, though, Dallas maintains a positive net rating with Doncic off the court this season, mucking it up with a 104.9 defensive rating. That might not work in the long term against a talented Jazz team but, at home for the first two games, it is possible to see Dallas pull off a split without Doncic, giving him more rest in the process.

Can the Jazz effectively score against a stingy defense?

The Jazz led the entire NBA in offensive rating in 2021-22, scoring more than 1.16 points per possession. At times, Utah was two or three full points ahead of the field in efficiency, and it seems ludicrous to question whether the Jazz have enough juice in this series. However, Dallas was No. 4 in the NBA in defensive efficiency from Jan. 1 through the end of the regular season, and Utah’s “beautiful game” approach doesn’t always translate well to the postseason.

On one hand, Utah should be able to get Dallas in rotation, creating the open threes that they thrive on to boost overall efficiency. Donovan Mitchell is a legitimate star, and Mike Conley is an incredibly capable secondary creator. Rudy Gobert remains an underrated offensive player when accounting for his gravity as a roll man, finishing prowess, and screening ability, and Utah has enough firepower on the wings to make things interesting.

On the other, Dallas can deploy lineups without glaring weak points if they so choose, and the Mavericks could flummox Utah if they are able to switch with regularity. On paper, the Mavericks don’t have uber-elite defensive talent, but they are well-schooled on that end, and the uptick in defensive effectiveness wasn’t a fluke. Utah still has the advantage when it comes to its offense against the Mavs’ defense, but we’ve also seen what it looks like when the Jazz bog down in big moments.

Is this any different for Utah?

Doncic’s injury has to be in the top spot, simply because he’s a top-10 player in the world and his presence might directly swing the series. If not for that, though, the overarching question would be whether the Jazz can turn the narrative.

Utah hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory in recent playoff appearances, including a defensive catastrophe last season. Rudy Gobert is often blamed for those mishaps and, while he isn’t quite as dominant when forced to defend on the perimeter, Utah’s perimeter resistance completely collapsed in the postseason a year ago. This year, the Jazz have better health at the guard spots, but Joe Ingles isn’t walking through that door and, aside from Royce O’Neale, the defensive talent is not tremendous.

If Doncic is limited or out, the Jazz should win this series, even without homecourt advantage (sportsbooks place them as a healthy -320 favorite coming in). That isn’t a jab at the Mavericks, but rather an acknowledgement of just how important Doncic is. If things get tight and Doncic is Doncic, though, Utah will have the opportunity to chip away at the skepticism that is baked in at this point, and it will be interesting to see how the Jazz respond. If things go poorly, a major overhaul could be in the offing this summer.

Later today, Idles is set to take the stage at Coachella (right after Arcade Fire, who was just added to the festival lineup last-minute yesterday). They generated some buzz for their set last night, though, with a performance on The Late Show.

They brought “Crawl” to the Colbert stage… or rather, to a different stage somewhere else, as their performance was pre-taped. Still, they brought their signature intensity to the rocking tune.

The band’s Joe Talbot previously said of the song, “This is the turning point, after you’ve crashed. It’s a good anthem for me to discuss with people who aren’t on the other side or who aren’t sober. You’re not the best version of you and you need to hold yourself accountable for your addictions and who you’re letting down. But it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. ‘Crawl’ the title is like, keep going. You’ll get there. ‘Crawler’ is like the character of me in the dark warmth of my addiction — a crawler, a night crawler, someone on their knees, someone praying, someone surviving. The grit of it. The weight of the world on you. All of those things is a ‘crawler.’”

Watch Idles perform “Crawl” on Colbert above.

Ms. Lauryn Hill took to Instagram last night to share a statement in support of the FAIR act, a California bill that would repeal an amendment to the state’s “Seven-Year Statute” that allows record labels to sue artists for damages if they leave after seven years before fulfilling the required number of albums in their contract.

“Artists can easily fall prey to the internal politics of business, someone inside simply not liking them, or bullying and intimidation and the attacks that come when someone resists that coercion,” Hill writes. “Music is a most powerful medium. Often people want to influence the influencers and will stop at nothing less than treachery to accomplish their goal. Greed often perverts the creative intentions of young dreamers who don’t realize they’re up against a system with a history of using and crushing people who don’t comply with their agenda.”

Hill continues, “No institution should be allowed the opportunity to control the market by controlling the output of a creative being for some ridiculous, indefinite period of time. This is not only unjust, it’s dangerous, and at its core a violation of the principles of free expression. Artists’ expressions are their voices, and an extension of their free speech and should not be contained, caught-up or controlled beyond a reasonable amount of time by an institution with the money and power to obstruct and deny someone’s output indefinitely.”

It’s no secret that record labels have been treating artists unfairly for a while — just look at Megan Thee Stallion’s situation or Rowdy Rebel’s. Hopefully more artists will follow in Hill’s steps and share their support.

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

Some Hollywood comebacks are joyously welcomed. John Travolta, Robert Downey Jr. and Britney Spears, who is currently on a tear and making up for years of time lost under her conservatorship, are just three examples that immediately come to mind. Then there are the people who were banished from our thoughts and screens for very good reason (read: sexual misconduct allegations), but for some reason seem to believe they owe it to their “fans” to keep working—even though no one has asked for it or missed them.

Kevin Spacey has famously attempted to regain the public’s interest with a series of bizarre YouTube videos; and rumors swirled in 2018 that Matt “I Can Lock My Door With the Push Of a Button” Lauer was eyeing his own return to the spotlight in 2018. Now we can add Charlie Rose to that list of one-time celebrities who cannot read the room.

As Page Six reports, Rose—who, in addition to being a 60 Minutes correspondent, chatted up some of the world’s most famous celebrities, authors, politicians, business scions, and other notable names as the host of his own PBS talk show for nearly 30 years—has decided to take his rebirth into his own hands by posting a 75-minute interview with Warren Buffet on CharlieRose.com.

Rose introduced the video by writing: “I’m proud to share this recent conversation with Warren Buffett. It is his first interview on camera in almost a year and the first I’ve done in more than four years. It is a step in a journey to engage the most interesting people and explore the most compelling ideas in the world.” In other words: It’s just the first in what Rose clearly hopes will be more interviews conducted apparently under his own steam.

In late 2017, eight women came forward and accused Rose of “unwanted sexual advances,” with very similar stories of being forcibly groped by the old man or subjected to him disrobing in their presence. In the months that followed, dozens more women came forward with similar accusations, bringing the grand total of victims to at least 35.

While Rose has maintained some high-powered friends in his corner, including Gayle King, who bizarrely suggested to The Hollywood Reporter that, “surely there must be room for some redemption somewhere.” If Louis C.K.’s recent Grammy win is any indication, maybe it’s with the Recording Academy.

Naturally, people did not hold back on their opinions about Rose’s self-orchestrated rebirth:

And Ellen Barkin had one even more fascinating tidbit:

(Via Page Six)

It’s been about seven months since Cardi B gave birth to her and Offset’s second child, a boy. They’ve been secretive about their latest bundle of joy, though, not sharing any photos of the baby or even his name. Now, though, they’ve made the big reveal, offering the first pictures of the boy and revealing his name is Wave Set Cephus.

Cardi and Offset both shared photos of the adorable kid last night, in which he’s decked out in chains. Offset made the name reveal, captioning his post, “WAVE SET CEPHUS.”

Furthermore, the family is the subject of a new Essence profile. In it, Cardi explains why she and Offset waited so long to share info about their son, saying, “We went through a lot of sad things when it comes to Kulture — terrible behavior that not even the older kids have ever been through. So many people will post mean, disgusting things, just to get a reaction from us. We want to protect our feelings, because we get very, very angry and upset.”

Offset also described the tone of his and Cardi’s relationship, saying, “It might sound weird, but we don’t always put love first — because sometimes you can put love before work and mess up your career, because you’re not focused. Love is important, but if you’ve got that foundation, we should respect each other and what we have going on. I had never experienced a woman that was working like me and doing what I’m doing. It turns me on. She does her own thing. She likes the hustle, so that ain’t never getting in between our love.”

Read the full profile here.

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

Despite his prolific releases, Kurt Vile has oftentimes been pinned with a slacker reputation. Maybe it’s his “chill dude” persona or his wandering ballads, but on Vile’s latest album (Watch My Moves), the former War On Drugs guitarist proves his music has evolved over the last few years. On the latest episode of Indiecast, hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen share their thoughts about (Watch My Moves), Vile’s latest effort since 2018.

This week in indie music also saw some great new releases and some Twitter faux pas. The Conor Oberst/Phoebe Bridgers supergroup Better Oblivion Community Center sent a very snarky tweet at musician Kississippi, calling her music “boring” in response to a very mild joke about Oberst’s shoes. Steven and Ian discuss the blowback and reminisce on times they learned the hard way that everything on the internet is permanent. Indiecast also delves into Built To Spill’s latest album When The Wind Forgets Your Name, the return of 100 Gecs, and wonder if the hyperpop duo sound a little too 2019 at this point.

In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Ian shows love to Prince Daddy & The Hyena, whose self-titled album is out today. Meanwhile, Steven spotlights Wet Tuna’s third studio album Warping All By Yourself, which veers into ’70s funk and jazz fusion territory.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 85 on Spotify below, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

After dropping three projects last year, Ice Daddy, So Icy Boyz, and So Icy Christmas, Gucci Mane has been off to a great start so far in 2022. He kicked things off by teaming up with Lil Durk for “Rumors,” and a short time later, he followed that up with “Publicity Stunt.” Now, Gucci is back with his latest drop, “Serial Killers,” and it arrives with a stern message.

In the new song, Gucci takes a moment to address those who are faking the lifestyle that he actually lived. He uses the track’s haunting production to detail his experiences and uses them as proof of how he can tell that the opposition is lying. Gucci released the track with a video that finds him rapping in a room that’s covered in plastic from wall to wall. He also sports a pair of hoodies that calls for the release of Pooh Shiesty and Foogiano, who are both signed to his 1017 imprint, from prison.

“Serial Killers” is Gucci’s second track in three weeks after he previously teamed up with Key Glock and the late Young Dolph for “Blood All On It” earlier this month.

You can watch the video for “Serial Killers” above.

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