Month: May 2022

Regardless of political affiliation, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who wouldn’t agree that Rudy Giuliani is a very odd man. But Seth Meyers has now thrown down the gauntlet and declared the former New York City mayor “the weirdest man in the history of politics” and, well, you’d probably have a difficult time finding anyone to dispute the claim, too.

On Monday night, Meyers reported on Rudy’s most recent shenanigans, which surprisingly involved neither a bottle of scotch nor Giuliani just “tucking his shirt in.” No, in this case Giuliani reneged on an already scheduled appearance to be interviewed by the January 6th committee about the Capitol insurrection. According to one report, a spokesperson for the panel said that Giuliani is now refusing to sit down with the panel unless he can record the interview himself, which has Meyers utterly confused.

Why does he want to record the interview? Is he worried they’re going to cut it together to make it sound bad? That’s what his brain already does to his mouth.

Why do guys like Rudy always have some weird angle, like, thinking they’re a genius chess master calling their bluff by asking to record the meeting. But any time Rudy has ever been recorded it’s always been bad for him. He was recorded calling a senator on the day of the insurrection to get him to overturn the results. He was recorded butt-dialing a reporter and talking about he needs cash as part of some mysterious plan, and he was recorded by a world-renowned investigative reporter, better known as Borat.

Rudy records himself saying incriminating things all the time. Before he talks to anyone, he should pat himself down to make sure he’s not wearing a wire.

Giuliani went on Steve Bannon’s podcast to discuss his decision to pull out of his interview. When Bannon asked whether Rudy was afraid that the committee might doctor a tape of him being questioned, the former right-hand man to Donald Trump just laughed. “You’ve got a bunch of people on that committee who tried to frame a sitting President of the United States, and I’m going to trust them?,” Giuliani asked. “Do I look like a fool?”

While the latter question was meant rhetorically, Meyers had a definitive answer for it anyway: Yes, you most definitely do. To further entice Giuliani that cooperating with the January 6 panel would be in the former mayor’s best interest, Meyers reminded him that they “don’t have jumpsuits in your size, because that’s not a size.”

You can watch the full clip above.

Charles Barkley has never shied away from the fact that his time spent at Auburn was far less about furthering his education and more about getting himself to the NBA, which has always been to the delight of Shaquille O’Neal.

On Monday night, this once again came up and Ernie Johnson decided he actually didn’t know what Chuck’s “major” was when he was at Auburn, which prompted an incredible response from Barkley in which he described the rigorous coursework of his music appreciation class.

As it turns out, Barkley didn’t actually have a major, choosing to be “undeclared” while he saw if the basketball thing would work out. That certainly was the right choice, but it won’t stop Shaq and the fellas from having some fun with Chuck’s Auburn education on air, which led to a rather hilarious exchange later in the postgame show in which Barkley called Tuesday’s Game 5’s “monumental.” Shaq was in disbelief at Chuck breaking out the SAT words, so he challenged him to spell it right then and there on air, which predictably led to hilarity on set.

Barkley eventually got to the right spelling as he wrote it down, but it was quite the journey to get there, with a lot of n’s being inserted into random places before reaching his destination. Shaq and Kenny were in hysterics, but Ernie’s reaction was the best, as he could only put his head in his hands watching his longtime colleague working out the phonetics on air.

Game 4 between the Warriors and Grizzlies was not exactly what you’d call beautiful basketball, as the two teams failed to crack the 25 percent mark from three-point range on 71 combined attempts.

The Warriors missed their first 15 three-pointers, as they came out flat against a Memphis team playing without Ja Morant, looking to prove their 20-5 record during the regular season without their All-Star guard was no fluke. They certainly proved their mettle on the defensive end with an incredible effort (and some help from the Warriors lackluster shooting), holding Golden State to 40 percent shooting (24.3 percent from deep), and forcing 16 turnovers which fueled their early run to the lead.

Jaren Jackson Jr. led the charge on both ends of the floor, with 21 points and five blocked shots, as he had the Warriors shook in the paint with his help at the rim.

Despite Memphis’ swarming defensive start, they couldn’t ever pull away from Golden State, who played a terrific defensive game themselves. The Grizzlies shot 41.1 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three, as only Steven Adams (5-of-9 for 10 points) and Kyle Anderson (7-of-8 for 17 points) were able to cross 50 percent shooting. A big reason for Memphis’ offensive woes was Dillon Brooks, who was making his return from a Game 3 suspension and seemed overly desperate to make an impact on the Morant-less offense, scoring just 12 points on 5-of-19 shooting (1-of-8 from three), including some woeful shot choices down the stretch.

The best run of the night for Memphis came in the fourth quarter, when Jackson and Tyus Jones, who had 19 points as he took over the starting point guard role, led them to a double-digit advantage and, briefly, it seemed they had taken control of the game.

However, from that point, the Memphis offense went cold and the Warriors started to finally find some life from three-point range, with Otto Porter doing the job in the third to keep them intact and then Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson hit timely shots in the fourth to cut the lead to one.

The Memphis lead would stay in the one possession range for the final few minutes until, finally, the Warriors broke through to take a one-point advantage on a pair of Stephen Curry free throws with 45 seconds to play. From there, Jackson Jr. missed a pretty good look at a floater and Curry sold some contact from Desmond Bane on the putback to earn two more free throws to put Golden State up three. After a quick two from Brooks, Curry hit two more free throws to go back up three and the Grizzlies chose not to call their timeout to draw up a game-tying play. The result was rather disastrous, as Jackson Jr. rushed a three in traffic and got blocked by Draymond Green.

From there, it was more Curry free throws and, rather hilariously, a banked in Brooks three at the buzzer to make the final score 101-98. Curry finished with 32 points but needed 25 shots to get there, going just 4-of-14 from three. Klay Thompson likewise struggled from deep, going 0-for-7, as he had 14 points on 20 shots, but the lift off the bench from Otto Porter Jr. (12 points) and Andrew Wiggins putting up 17 points proved big for the Warriors on what Curry called a “historically bad shooting night.”

The Grizzlies will have to feel deflated having lost this game given the tremendous defensive effort they put forth to control the game for 47 minutes, but their inability to create good looks on offense proved too costly, headlined by Brooks’ awful night. They’ll now head back to Memphis for a must-win Game 5, with Morant’s status still in the air, and the Warriors feeling like they dodged a bullet (and likely getting jolted awake in the process).

Kendrick Lamar shook the rap world on Sunday night with the release of “The Heart Part 5.” The track stood as the rapper’s first release as a lead artist in four years and it’s one that arrives as he prepares to release his long-awaited fifth album, Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers. He released a music video with the track, and in it, Kendrick uses deep fake technology to morph into several faces that included OJ Simpson, Kanye West, Jussie Smollet, Will Smith, Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey Hussle. Kendrick also raps from Nipsey Hussle’s perspective on the song’s final verse.

In the song’s final bars, Kendrick addresses Blacc Sam, Nipsey’s older brother, directly in a string of bars. “And Sam, I be watchin’ over you / Make sure my kids watch all my interviews / Make sure you live out our dreams we produced,” Kendrick raps. “Keep that genius in your brain on the move / And to my neighborhood, let the good prevail / Make sure them babies and the leaders outta jail / Look for salvation when troubles get real / ‘Cause you can’t help the world until you help yourself.” The verse has been approved and supported by many, including Lauren London who was Nipsey’s longtime partner prior to his death.

London posted a clip of Kendrick’s “The Heart Part 5” video with the message, “Powerful art,” attached to it.

You can view London’s message in the screenshot above.

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

Warning: This post, about the TV show Jack Ryan, contains a spoiler for the movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Last weekend, a whole mess of moviegoers got to see John Krasinski make one of the many Easter Eggy cameos in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The erstwhile Jim Halpert, who’s rebranded as both a Michael Bay tough guy and a blockbuster franchise director, made a brief — and not entirely happy — appearance as Reed Richards, aka the Fantastic Four’s Mister Fantastic, or at least the version in an alternate universe where our titular hero is actually dead. Good for him! But now there’s some slightly bad Krasinski-related news.

As per Deadline, Jack Ryan, the latest screen version take on Tom Clancy’s CIA do-gooder and the first to be a TV series, will end after its fourth season. Now you might be asking yourself something: Was there even a third season? The answer: not yet! Or rather, it’s in the can, it just hasn’t been released onto Amazon Prime’s coffers just yet. Indeed, it doesn’t even have a release date. And yet the fourth season is in the midst of being filmed, and when they wrap, that’ll be it.

When Jack Ryan bowed all the way back in 2018, Krasinski became the fifth actor to assume the role. His predecessor, Chris Pine, had a one-and-done affair with the gig not that long before, in an underperforming failed franchise-starter in 2014. Meanwhile, the book version of Ryan lives on, even if his creator died in 2013. In fact, after seven novels, he actually became president of the United States, even winning re-election. Alas, it doesn’t sound like Krasinski will ever get to perch in the Oval Office.

So, just to sum things up: Jack Ryan viewers will get not one but two more seasons with the guy, though that won’t be the end of this iteration of the Ryanverse. A spin-off, starring Michael Peña as a character who hasn’t even been seen yet, and won’t be seen until he bows in the currently-shooting Season 4, is reportedly in the offing. Till then, you’ll have to keep waiting to hear when the third season premieres…and then watch an entire season after that, at some point in the deep future.

(Via Deadline)

Young Thug’s Young Stoner Life (YSL) record label has been doing well over the past couple of years. The label reached new heights at the end of 2019 when Young Thug released his debut album So Much Fun and earned his and the label’s first No. 1 album. Their success continued in the years that followed as the label secured four more chart-topping releases: Gunna’s Wunna and DS4EVER, the label’s 2021 compilation album Slime Language 2, and Thug’s Punk. With all of this being said, it seems like all of it is about to come crashing down as Thug, Gunna, and 28 other members of YSL were hit with several federal charges.

The news was first broken by Michael Seiden from Atlanta’s WSBTV (via Complex). Thug and Gunna were among 28 YSL members charged in a 56-count indictment in Fulton County, Georgia. Thug was arrested and booked into Fulton County Jail and it’s unknown if Gunna or any other YSL members were taken into custody. The charges against YSL, which is characterized as a “criminal street gang,” include conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, murder, armed robbery, and participation in criminal street gang activity. Gunna is reportedly facing one count of conspiracy to violate (RICO), while Thug’s charges are much more serious.

According to Seiden, who looked over an 88-page indictment letter, Young Thug is accused of commissioning the use of a 2014 Infiniti sedan that he rented from Hertz used in the 2015 murder of Donovan Thomas Jr. Additionally, two YSL associates, Christian Eppinger and Antonio Sumlin, are accused of seeking Thug’s permission to make a second murder attempt on YFN Lucci during his imprisonment in Fulton County Jail.

You can view more information on Thug, Gunna, and the other YSL members’ arrests in the posts above.

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

After a memorable Game 3 that resulted in a narrow in for the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics entered Game 4 with significant urgency on Monday. Though the Celtics were on the road, they needed a win to avoid a dreaded 3-1 deficit and, just before tip-off, word broke that Boston would be without starting center Robert Williams. However, Al Horford turned in a memorable effort and, with the help of a fantastic close from Jayson Tatum, the Celtics earned a 116-108 victory to even the series at 2-2.

The Bucks took control at the outset with the help of a slow start from the Celtics. Boston scored only two points in more than four minutes, opening 1-of-7 from the floor, and Milwaukee took an 8-2 lead.

Shortly after, Tatum injected some life into the Celtics with a massive dunk to stop the early drought.

Still, the Bucks led by as many as 10 points in the opening period and led 25-18 after 12 minutes. Milwaukee shot only 36 percent, but the Bucks had six offensive rebounds to zero for the Celtics. Boston also shot just 36 percent with five turnovers and a scuffling overall offense.

The Celtics did find their footing in the second quarter, using a 16-6 run to take their first lead. That uptick coincided with improved play on both ends, and strong shot-making.

By the halftime break, the Bucks led by one point, and it was a slugfest. In fitting fashion to the series, neither team exceeded ten assists, 40 percent shooting from the floor, or 30 percent from three-point range in the first half. Individually, Giannis Antetokounmpo shot just 6-of-17 from the floor, and Boston’s star duo of Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined to shoot 6-of-18 from the floor.

To begin the third quarter, there were some fireworks. First, Antetokounmpo threw down a monstrous dunk, drawing a controversial technical foul for taunting in the process. Moments later, Horford continued his torrid play with a triple to keep Boston engaged.

The Bucks threw a haymaker midway through the third quarter, though, and it largely came from Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee used a 13-4 run to take an 11-point lead, and the reigning NBA Finals MVP was relentless in taking it to Boston’s defenders.

Boston impressively withstood the onslaught and responded in kind. The Celtics scored 10 straight points between the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, erasing the deficit and tying the game at 80-80 when Horford dunked over Antetokounmpo in head-turning style.

The fourth quarter was an exercise in back-and-forth fireworks. For every Antetokounmpo bucket, there was a response from Horford, including a memorable three-point play to give the Celtics a four-point lead.

https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1523842654974492679

From there, Tatum scored on two straight possessions and, in conjunction with a pair of empty trips from Milwaukee, Boston seized control. The Celtics led 106-96 with less than four minutes remaining, putting Milwaukee on its heels.

The Bucks did climb within six on a couple of occasions, but that flurry from Tatum proved to be decisive. The Celtics closed things out with effective offense down the stretch, and that was the theme of the closing period. Boston’s fourth quarter offense was utterly remarkable given the opponent and the stakes, shooting 16-of-19 from the floor, 4-of-5 from three-point range, and 7-of-7 at the free throw line. That included 11-of-12 shooting from Tatum and Horford combined, with that pairing scoring 28 points in the fourth quarter alone.

For Milwaukee, Antetokounmpo and Holiday combined for 50 points on 54 field goal attempts, capping the team’s offensive ceiling. The Bucks also shot just 33 percent from three-point range, but a failure to generate consistent stops in the fourth quarter was perhaps the largest difference.

Horford set a new career playoff high with 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. In addition to eight rebounds in his 42 minutes of on-court action, Horford became the oldest Celtics player to score at least 30 points in a postseason game since 1977, and he turned back the clock at an optimal moment. He was flanked by 30 points and 13 rebounds from Tatum, and the Celtics ended the night shooting 50 percent from the floor and 38 percent from three-point range.

The series will shift back to Boston with sky-high stakes for Game 5 on Wednesday evening. The Celtics will aim to capitalize on what was a fantastic road win in Game 4, while the Bucks will seek a bounce-back victory and a return to defensive dominance.

For the last two weeks, self-professed rich guy Donald Trump has been amounting some serious debt. Well, not that serious. By not fully cooperating with the New York Attorney General’s office’s investigation into his company’s business, he’s been fined $10,000 a day. As of this writing, that’s $140,000 he owes — chump change, surely, to a guy caught pocketing donations from his cash-strapped supporters. But on Friday, he finally provided an excuse for why he hasn’t turned over all the evidence they’ve requested: He lost it.

As per CNN, Trump issued an affidavit on Friday, in which he addressed some evidence he’s yet to turn over, namely four cellphones associated with the Trump Organization. But he claims he has no idea where they are. Of one of those phones, a Samsung, he swears it “was taken from me at some point while I was president.”

But maybe they’ll turn up: He says he’s attorneys to search his home in Bedminster, New Jersey, Mar-a-Lago in Florida, and his personal residence in Trump Tower.

Despite his famous ability to simply blow off legal requests — or tie them up in frivolous lawsuits — Trump has played ball with the investigation before. He previously turned in one of his current cellphones to be imaged not once but twice, the second time “out of an abundance of caution.” He also says he only use two cellphones now, the second exclusively on his flailing, rinky-dink Twitter clone.

Trump’s previous attempt to shut off the fines from the New York Attorney General’s office did not work. But perhaps doing a variation on “the dog ate my homework” will.

(Via CNN)

There are many things you expect to happen at a music concert. You expect a good show from the artist on stage, you expect to capture a few videos and pictures from the show, and you might even expect to make a friend or have a special moment with a stranger. What you might not expect to happen is to give birth to a baby, but that was the case for a woman who attended a Metallica concert in Brazil over the weekend.

Tattoo artist Joice M. Figueiró was 39 weeks pregnant when she went to the concert on Saturday night. According to Consequence, Figueiró, who watched the show from the accessible seating section, said she felt fine as the opening acts, Ego Kill Talent and Greta Van Fleet, performed. However, shortly after Metallica took the stage, Figueiró began having contractions and her water broke as she made her way to the venue’s outpatient clinic. Unfortunately, there was no time for her to make it to the hospital.

In a post that Figueiró shared later that night, she revealed that Luan Figueiró was born, “shaking all the metal structures,” at 11:15 pm. She claims that Metallica was playing “Enter Sandman” when Luan was born, and there couldn’t be a more appropriate song. “At every show I go to, something has to happen, but this time I think I’ve outdone myself,” she said in the Instagram post. “I bought this ticket three years ago and I never imagined something like this would happen.”

You can view Figueiró’s post about her newborn above.

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado gained notoriety during his rookie season for intense defense and energy that gave his team a significant lift. Beyond that, Alvarado quickly became known for his “sneak attacks” in the backcourt, in which he would intentionally blend into the sideline, only to pounce on an unsuspecting ball-handler to create havoc. On Monday evening, Alvarado took his show on the road to Atlanta to visit TNT’s Inside The NBA set, and his television appearance came in on-brand fashion.

This is a great bit from all parties involved, as Alvarado “ruins” Kenny Smith’s trademark run to the monitor wall with a steal in the process. Alvarado, who played collegiately just down the street from the Turner studios at Georgia Tech, played his part well, and that lent a bit of additional levity to the halftime analysis during Game 4 of Bucks-Celtics on Monday.

As for Alvarado, the 24-year-old really left a mark for the Pelicans this season, joining forces with fellow rookie Herb Jones to boost New Orleans on the defensive end. It will be interesting to see what he can do next season in follow-up, but the undrafted guard is already garnering prime time attention on the most prominent studio show in sports.