A lot about Madison Cawthorn’s personal life has leaked to the public since he claimed to a podcaster that D.C. is filled with coke-fueled orgies. A lot of it, disconcertingly, has involved questioning his sexuality. A photo of him in drag was recently made public, as was a video of his aide/cousin touching his crotch. Now there’s a very risqué video.
The footage, made public by the PAC entitled Fire Madison, is NSFW and you can watch it here if you dare, but warning: It’s a blurry video of what appears to be the North Carolina representative naked in what looks like a hotel room, in bed with another man. Cawthorn then starts dry humping his companion, making high-pitched moaning sounds. It appears to be a joke. And, in a tweet effectively verifying its veracity, that’s what Cawthorn himself claimed was happening.
A new hit against me just dropped.
Years ago, in this video, I was being crass with a friend, trying to be funny.
“A new hit against me just dropped,” Cawthorn wrote. “Years ago, in this video, I was being crass with a friend, trying to be funny. We were acting foolish, and joking. That’s it. I’m NOT backing down. I told you there would be a drip drip campaign. Blackmail won’t win. We will.”
The video dropped soon after Cawthorn himself dropped a defensive video of his own, in which he addressed the “drag queen” photo and crotch video. He vowed to his constituents that he has “only just begun to fight for you.”
I’m ready to keep fighting for you.
I wanted you to know the truth, straight from me. Don’t lose hope, don’t listen to the fake news.
Don’t let the swamp of Washington dissuade or distract you from sending a warrior back to Washington.
Though some of the Cawthorn-releated leaks have had gay themes — and have been criticized by some on social media for preying on Republican homophobia — at least one has involved a former aide claiming he’s simply a “bad person.”
Rapper Jack Harlow’s appearance at Game 1 between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks was one of the game’s oddest subplots. Harlow was courtside for the game and the game’s referees apparently had no idea who he was. (Which, considering the two referees heard saying they don’t know who he is are two older white guys, fair.) And then Jack Harlow had his own fun with them not recognizing him.
One of the referees, Scott Foster, then attempted to have his own fun with it, resulting in…this.
To someone’s credit, there was some effort put into the video. It’s somewhat a homage of sorts to a scene Harlow’s video for ‘Nail Tech’ with Foster playing the row of Harlow and the song playing over the scene.
And then it gets a little bit weird. It cuts to Foster in the car with three other referees, where Foster attempts to lip sync part of ‘Nail Tech’. Attempt is the key word here because he’s a bit off trying to rap just a few lines of the song and notably fumbles his way through the line “she down low three-point stance/I’m back there doing Jack dance.’ Which, again, makes sense as Foster is an older guy who almost certainly never had heard ‘Nail Tech’ before deciding to be a part of this social media stunt.
Really, this whole video is the Steve Buscemi ‘How do you do, fellow kinds?’ meme come to life. Credit to Foster for trying to have fun with it, but boy this feels forced. May I suggest, if Foster wants another crack at this, recreating the made jump shot scene from the song ‘Tyler Herro’ with Tyler Herro next time he’s assigned to a Miami Heat game? That feels more his speed.
Buddy had a spotlight moment in 2018 with the release of his debut album Harlon & Alondra. It was yet another example of an excellent debut album from new artists in the 2010s that documented their experiences growing up in the West (see: Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D. City, YG’s My Krazy Life, and Ty Dolla Sign’s Free TC). However, after Harlon & Alondra arrived, Buddy would go almost four years without a project before dropping his sophomore effort Superghetto earlier this year. It was a brief effort with just ten songs to its name, but in the spirit of keeping the album alive, Buddy returns with a new video for it.
Just a month after Superghetto was made available to the world, Buddy shares a new visual for “Bad News.” It’s a claymation effort that begins with a fight between a police officer and what appears to be Buddy’s love interest. Soon enough, Buddy himself is fighting a cop, but that’s not all the tussling he does for a video. The visual concludes with an unsuccessful fight between the rapper and his evil twin.
The new video arrives after Buddy announced the tour dates for Superghetto. His string of shows will begin on June 15 in Oakland, California and continue for a couple of a weeks before concluding on June 30 in Chicago, IL.
You can watch the video for “Bad News” above.
Superghetto is out now via RCA Records. You can stream it here.
Stories of people tossing a message in a bottle into the ocean and having it found by some stranger on a distant shore have always intrigued us. The questions of chance vs. providence in who receives the message and the possible perils that could impede it from reaching anyone at all make the whole idea intriguing. A simple story beginning—throwing a message haphazardly out to the big, wide world—can have so many endings.
When 10-year-old Reid Habbart from Manhattan, Kansas attached a note to a bunch of helium-filled balloons and sent them off into the sky, he had no idea where it would end up. He certainly didn’t expect them to travel more than 1,800 miles north, to traditional First Nations lands in Quebec, where a Cree hunter would find them while out hunting geese.
“I found them on the water … about a kilometer from my camp,” 51-year-old David Bertie Longchap told CBC. “I thought ‘Oh what is this?'”
Longchap tied the balloons to his red pickup, and after they dried out he was able to make out the note attached to them: “Hi, my name is Reid. I’m 10-years-old and I live in Manhattan, Kansas …These are my sister’s balloons. If you find these, please write me.”
Longchap’s sister Hattie posted about the find on her Facebook page on April 26, with photos of her brother with the balloons and the note and maps showing how far they had traveled.
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Hattie connected with Reid’s family through Facebook, and they were amazed at where his balloons had ended up.
“The wind was out of the north that day blowing hard,” Reid’s father told Hattie, according to CBC. “I figured they would end up in Texas. Not north.”
Others in the Quebec Cree community have been delighted by the story, sharing comments on Hattie’s Facebook posts and extending an invitation for Reid to come visit.
“That is so cool,” Amanda Miansum wrote. “Tell him all of us Crees said ‘Hi’ back too!”
“This little guy just made so many friends in CREE NATION, hope you get a chance to visit CN and where your balloon journey ended,” wrote Delana Gunner-Blackned.
“Hey there Reid, you touched the Cree Nation,” wrote Harriet Petawabano. “You are really popular here now, hugs and love to you .”
According to CBC, the Longchaps are planning to send Reid a beaded rainbow keychain in honor of their mother, Emma Trapper Longchap, who was the first of the Quebec Cree to die of COVID-19 in 2020. They will also send a photo and some information about Eeyou Istchee, the traditional Cree lands in the Quebec area.
Reid’s parents shared the video of the balloon release in Kansas. You can hear his father saying, “Off to Nebraska,” which is hilarious considering how much farther they went.
And in an additional bit of serendipitous coincidence, check out the truck in the video. Reid’s balloons began their journey with a red pickup and ended their journey with a red pickup over 1,800 miles away.
No storyteller could have scripted it more perfectly.
Madison Cawthorn wasn’t always grabbing as many headlines as fellow newbie MAGA lawmakers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. But lately that’s changed. The North Carolina representative seems to have enraged his own party members, partly by claiming that Congress is full of orgy-loving cokeheads, partly because he keeps getting busted bringing loaded handguns through airports. (And acquiring traffic violations.)
Then there’s some of the more colorful stories of his personal life. Recently Politico published a leaked photo of Cawthorn, no fan of the LGBTQIA+ community, in drag, which he later explained was him goofing around on a trip with friends. Fair enough. Soon thereafter came a video of him hanging with a guy putting his hand on the politician’s crotch. Now, as per The Independent, the embattled lawmaker decided to address them both in a new video address.
Madison Cawthorn: “The media is pushing a narrative that I’m some kind of drag queen on the side .. This is just poor journalism. But, I’m not surprised. It is Politico after all – not exactly the same journalistic standards as Fox or Newsmax.” pic.twitter.com/rGWiTHHfG3
“The media is pushing a narrative that I’m some kind of drag queen on the side, aside from being a congressman,” Cawthorn said. “This is just poor journalism, and I’m not surprised. It is Politico after all — not exactly the same journalistic standards as Fox or Newsmax. And, really, with about five minutes of investigation they could have found that this was taken well before I was in Congress, and even before I was running for Congress.
“Ask yourself this,” he told viewers. “Have you ever taken a dumb photo on vacation?”
Cawthorn also addressed the homoerotic video, which was actually of himself and a relative. “Now, this video is just stupid locker room talk between two cousins, that grew up like brothers taken long before I served in Congress,” he said.
He also pointed out that Smith is his aide on Capitol Hill, which he probably shouldn’t have admitted: Federal law prohibits public officials from hiring relatives. As per Newsweek, the PAC called Fire Madison Cawthorn has accused him of ethical violations, among other things claiming Cawthorn has given him thousands of dollars in gifts, loans, and other benefits. Much like Matt Gaetz, Cawthorn has done this over Venmo, and The Independent claims they like to give the transactions jokey, blue names, like “Nudes,” “The quickie at the airport,” and “getting naked for me in Sweden.”
Ben Simmons was one of the most talked about players in the NBA this past season despite never stepping foot on the court for either the Philadelphia 76ers or the Brooklyn Nets.
The former All-Star sat out initially over a trade request but also complained of back pain that ultimately kept him out for the entire second half of the season after being dealt to Brooklyn, despite initially planning on making his season debut in Game 4 of their first round sweep at the hands of the Celtics. The constant updates on Simmons’ status, which never actionably changed throughout the year, were a point of frustration for many, as seemingly every step of the way there were leaks and conflicting reports about his health, status, and plans for the season.
With the Nets season over, Simmons will address his back injury once and for all with surgery, as the team announced on Wednesday night just before tip between the Sixers and Heat.
While there won’t be an official timetable offered until later, Woj reports the expectation is a 3-4 month rehab that should put him back at full strength by training camp.
Brooklyn Nets’ Ben Simmons is expected to need 3-to-4 months to make a full recovery on back surgery, sources tell ESPN. The expectation is that he’ll be ready to return well ahead of training camp.
Hopefully surgery can clear up Simmons’ back issues and get him back on the court, where he figures to be a very helpful complement to the Nets’ two stars — and one they desperately need given there aren’t a lot of avenues to improve the roster without him. Beyond that, hopefully the surgery can alleviate any of the final mental hurdles he faces in getting back to playing on an NBA court, as lingering doubts about his health could only compound the mental struggles he dealt with this year.
Earlier this week, people all over the country were sent into absolute shock when a draft opinion of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe V. Wade leaked to the public. In this draft, it was revealed that the Supreme Court would overturn the famous 1973 decision which protected womens’ right to have a safe and legal abortion across the country. The news sparked reactions from all corners of the world, including those in the music world like Halsey who called the decision “one of the most significant events we will witness in our lifetimes” that will “spiral into lethal situations for our entire country.”
Now, recent Grammy-winner Questlove has commented on the matter, but his thoughts arrived in a form of a call to action. In a post he shared on Instagram, Questlove asked his followers to “channel your rage into action” before sharing his thoughts on how men specifically should react to Roe V. Wade possibly being overturned.
“Men we of all people need to rally behind this,” he wrote. This isn’t a ‘ahh man that’s a woman’s thing.’ Someone in our life be it your mother, your daughter, your sister, your cousin, your aunt, your next door neighbor, your girlfriend, your other girlfriend, your side jawn, your co-worker, a bff of one the aforementioned and ESPECIALLY you. If this effects them? It effects us.”
He continued, “Trust me I just wanna wake up, look at my social media, eat a grilled cheese, watch soul train, and figure out how to stump wordle. But we are in a state of emergency right now.”
Later on in the post, Questlove asked that people protest and fight for others if they won’t do so for themselves.
You can view Questlove’s post above and his full message below.
“Men we of all people need to rally behind this. This isn’t a ‘ahh man that’s a woman’s thing.’ Someone in our life be it your mother, your daughter, your sister, your cousin, your aunt, your next door neighbor, your girlfriend, your other girlfriend, your side jawn, your co-worker, a bff of one the aforementioned and ESPECIALLY you. If this effects them? It effects us. Trust me I just wanna wake up, look at my social media, eat a grilled cheese, watch soul train, and figure out how to stump wordle.
But we are in a state of emergency right now.
And this subliminal retaliation should not come as a surprise to anyone (best believe this is payback for voting a black woman in the Supreme Court. No one is saying this so I’ll say it) yes….it’s a burden. And it’s easy to give up (especially my age in which if you’re optimistic you’re like “I got less than 40 years left, I’m out of here”—-thing is I got people I love born 10 years ago that have to be here til 2080—-it’s a novel idea: thinking of someone else. If you don’t participate cool, at least rp/add to your stories.”
Kevin McCarthy should be in deep doo-doo. Audio recordings keeps getting made public featuring the House minority leader saying frank and unflattering things after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, about not only Donald Trump but MAGA lawmakers like Matt Gaetz and Mo Brooks, too. Now there’s more, this one revealing that he sounded like he was in an awful hurry to get the former president out of office STAT.
New audio shows Kevin McCarthy calling Trump atrocious and wrong, and later discusses the 25th Amendment, but rules it out because it would take too long. pic.twitter.com/jJrioxdhIf
The new recording, obtained by CNN, finds McCarthy on yet another call with GOP leadership in the days after the violent attack. Previous audio clips revealed him talking about asking Trump to resign. In this one, he straight-up says, “What the President did is atrocious and totally wrong.” He also talks about reaching out to the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden, in hopes of enacting a “smooth transition,” which didn’t quite happen.
At one point, an aide discusses some Democratic lawmaker’s idea of invoking the 25th amendment (also reportedly briefly embraced by Lindsey Graham), which would remove Trump from power, though the aide claimed it was”not exactly an elegant solution here.”
“That takes too long, too,” McCarthy interjected. “It could go back to the House, right?”
“Correct,” the aide responded. “If the President were to submit a letter overruling the Cabinet and the vice president, two-thirds vote in the House and the Senate to overrule the President. So it’s kind of an armful.”
When it was first reported that McCarthy floated the idea of getting Trump to resign, which he admitted wasn’t likely, he denied the allegations. Then The New York Times produced audio, proving him a liar. Trump, however, seems to have forgiven McCarthy, claiming that he effectively changed his mind not long after. Others, however, don’t see it more like McCarthy briefly flirting with doing the right thing, only to abruptly change his mind.
Devouring traditional Mexican food and gathering with friends is a fine way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but we think you can do better. By booking a ticket and planning a trip to Mexico for the coming months. After all, Mexico offers endless beaches, dense jungles, and one of the most diverse (AND tasty) foodways on earth. It’s a country where you’ll find beachside oases, remote deserts, bustling metropolises, and mountain towns all offering their own unique cultural and culinary practices. Plus, traveling to Mexico from the U.S. is much easier and generally more cost-effective than jet-setting halfway around the world.
If you really want to embrace Cinco de Mayo and all that Mexico has to offer, read on for our top five Mexican destinations to visit, as well as the best corresponding travel deals running right now.
If you’re looking to experience Mexico beyond the overcrowded tourist scene in Cancún, consider heading just a few miles off the coast to Isla Mujeres. The Mexican Caribbean island is best known for its pristine white sand beaches and crystal clear water, offering a prime location for snorkeling and wading in the waves. In addition to idyllic beaches, you’ll also find remains of a Mayan temple and a natural reserve (look out for sea turtles!) at Punta Sur, the southernmost tip of the island.
For affordable accommodations off the beaten path, book a bed at Selina Isla Mujeres. This glamping-style hostel experience is just steps from Playa Norte, one of the island’s most popular beaches. Your stay includes access to a cocktail bar, seafood restaurant, library zone, cinema room, on-site IDC Scuba Instructor Certification Center, and an outdoor pool. Overall, Isla Mujeres offers a laidback island atmosphere, warm temperatures, and gorgeous Caribbean views that make for the ultimate relaxation getaway.
Southwest Airlines is now offering “low fare” flights to Cancún (where you’ll need to hop on the ferry to Isla Mujeres) for as low as $112 — accepting reservations through November 5, 2022. The upside of booking with Southwest is that you also get two free checked bags, making for budget-friendly travel days to and from the must-visit tropical destination.
Search for the best flight deals at your home airport on the Southwest Low Fare Calendar here.
We can’t talk about visiting Mexico without highlighting its capital, Mexico City (Often called “DF” for Distrito Federal). This is where all the action happens! With more than 150 museums, there’s endless history, art, and culture to soak in. Not to mention, the city’s architecture is worth a tour in and of itself. Featuring an impressive fusion of gothic cathedrals, historical buildings, modern structures, and even ruins of the ancient Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, you can spend pretty much your entire trip checking out the city’s iconic infrastructure.
As a central hub for Mexican politics and city life, you’re sure to find an abundant supply of traditional cuisine (this is one of the best food cities on earth, full stop), delicious mezcal-infused cocktails, immersive cultural sites, and a lively nightlife.
BEST DEAL RIGHT NOW:
To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, AeroMexico is offering major flight deals to and from Mexico City for selected U.S. cities — including Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Chicago, and Miami. Check prices and availability here.
Sayulita, located along the Nayarit coastline and surrounded by lush tropical jungle, is a surfer’s paradise and vibrant party hotspot just an hour outside of Puerto Vallarta. Between the long stretch of public beaches, whale-watching tours, downtown shopping, live music, fresh seafood, and festive nightlife, you’ll never get bored on a visit to Sayulita. You can spend a whole day lounging with a margarita under a beach umbrella or seek adventure out at sea.
Sayulita truly has something for everyone (but particularly young, adventure and party-loving travelers), and that goes beyond just the best things to do and see in town. What’s great about Sayulita is that it also offers diverse accommodations to both luxury and budget travelers. Whether you want to stay in an affordable hostel in the heart of town or a secluded waterfront resort, you can easily find options to your liking.
BEST DEAL:
United Airlines has tons of affordable flights going to Puerto Vallarta, where you’ll first arrive to get to Sayulita. There are flights as low as $242, and you can even sign up for a monthly payment plan for your flight ticket. Check United’s most popular flights to Puerto Vallarta here.
Tulum is a Mexican epicenter for local music festivals and outdoor adventure, and it definitely deserves a spot on your 2022 travel itinerary. This hidden beachside town is an off-the-grid eco-paradise, where you can get in touch with nature at the beach and in the jungle. The ancient Mayan ruins, underground cenotes, environmentally-conscious hotels, and locally-made cuisine make it impossible not to appreciate the longstanding traditions, vibrant people, and relaxed atmosphere found in Tulum.
BEST DEAL:
If you’re flying all the way to Cancún to visit Isla Mujeres, you might as well take a few extra days to go to Tulum. It’s about 80 miles outside of the city, but Cancún is still the best airport to fly into. So you can snag all the same Southwest Airlines travel deals for both destinations.
Browse the best low-fare flight options from your home city here.
Attention, foodies! Oaxaca is calling your name. A center for gastronomic tourism, Oaxaca is best known for its tantalizing varieties of mole sauce. Oaxaca is also the capital of mezcal, so when you’re full of mole there’ll be plenty to wash it down with. You can get a taste of the local flavor and learn about the process behind the cherished Mexican spirit by taking a local Mezcal Educational Tour.
You’ll find your fair share of significant history in Oaxaca, too. You can even visit various archaeological sites, including that of the indigenous Zapotec and Mixtec populations. Whether you’re inclined to learn more about Mexico’s history, traditional recipes, or mezcal varieties (or all three), Oaxaca is well worth a visit.
BEST DEAL:
Your best bet for getting to Oaxaca on a budget is by first flying to Mexico City for a layover and hopping on a VivaAerobús flight (you might as well make it an overnight layover so you can explore Mexico City on your way!). The airline is offering flights for as low as $55 dollars. Find the best flight options for you here.
In a report about the rest of the fest’s night, which took place at the Hollywood Bowl, the publication deemed it “tonally strange — an incongruous event that at times felt more like a rally than a comedy show.” There were lots of comedians, including Michelle Wolf, Jimmy Carr, and Chris Rock, who slipped in a decent off-the-cuff joke about his own on-stage attack at this year’s Oscars.
But not all of the comics decided to only be funny. Jon Stewart, Vanity Fair reported, seemed “evidently less concerned with telling jokes on Tuesday and and more concerned with railing against the government, continually returning to recent news regarding the leaked SCOTUS draft that would overturn Roe v. Wade.” Though there were jokes about the Russian invasion, there was an “emotional tirade” about crumbling American democracy and some material that seemed “pff-the cuff and not fully formed,” and also “didn’t seem to land with the pro-Chappelle audience.”
There was also dancing. And music. When it seemed like Chappelle’s set may finally start, the crowd got something else:
They were in for another surprise when dance group The Jabbawockeez flooded the stage and performed choreographed dances to six different songs. The night got increasingly absurd, when they were followed not by Chappelle, but a rap group called Coast Contra that performed a few unintelligible and unknown songs for the crowd. By this point, it felt like the powers that be were stalling, and the audience, cell phone-less, seemed to be growing impatient.
All in all, seems like a pretty chaotic night, not even counting the fact that someone was attacked and then roughed-up. You can read the full report over at Vanity Fair.
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hope you get a chance to visit CN and where your balloon journey ended,” wrote Delana Gunner-Blackned. 
(@RonFilipkowski) 
