Month: May 2022

Elon Musk is yet again the subject of a documentary series, but this time around, the team behind the recent deep dive into infamous British TV personality Jimmy Saville will probe Musk’s rise to power for the BBC. Titled The Elon Musk Show, the docuseries has reportedly made adjustments to include Musk’s recent purchase of Twitter before it airs later this year. The filmmakers will also make use of an “extensive and unseen archive” charting Musk’s early years in Silicon Valley where he made a name for himself through the formation of Paypal before finding success with Space X and Tesla.

Via Deadline:

“There is no getting away from Elon Musk,” said the directors. “It’s always exciting to be documenting the biggest stories of the day, and our series will go inside Elon’s inner circle, examining the billionaire’s incredible rise and the truth behind this modern icon.”

BBC Commissioning Editor Simon Young described Musk as “one of the most enigmatic and intriguing people in the world.”

The documentary announcement follows news that Musk’s purchase of Twitter is raising concerns across the pond. According to Deadline, Musk has been summoned to appear in front of the UK parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee to discuss his plans for Twitter. While Musk has no obligation to attend, the committee hopes to have his participation so it can hear how Musk will “balance his clear commitment to free speech with new obligations to protect Twitter’s users from online harms.” So far, the new owner of the social media platform hasn’t been forthcoming on those details besides repeatedly saying he’s a “free speech absolutist,” whatever that means.

(Via Deadline)

Donald Trump is “so great looking,” raves Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is a “true Stable Genius,” according to Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is the owner of a “gorgeous chest,” reports Donald Trump.

If the former-president ever writes a sequel to The Art of the Deal, it could be called The Art of the Boast. For his latest instance of self-aggrandizement, Trump claimed (not for the first time) that “nobody has done more for Christianity, nobody has done more for religion of all types than me.” This came during an interview with CBN “News,” where he also declared, “Everything I said was right.” Modest as always.

“I’m not just talking about energy or on the border. I’m talking about religion. I said these people are against evangelicals. I said they’re against Israel. I said they’re against organized religion, frankly. They’re against all of the things that you and I, and most of your viewers, stand for. And when I said that during debates and elsewhere, people sort of weren’t sure. I turned out to be right. And I’ve had many people say, as good as I think we were, they said, you were the best at it. You were the best, and they want me back.”

Many people are saying this… but no one is Truth Social-ing it.

Anyway, you could replace “religion” in the earlier quote with literally any other word, and still imagine Trump saying it. “Nobody has done more for Home Alone sequels of all types than me.” “Nobody has done more for Coke products of all types than me.” “Nobody has done more for clogged toilets of all types than me.” It’s a fun game. Try it.

Chicago indie favorites Beach Bunny have a sophomore album, Emotional Creature, on the way in July after announcing it in March. Now they’re back with a new single from the project, “Karaoke,” the visual for which features a cameo appearance from Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk.

Most of the video is low-key, as it features the band, dressed in Star Wars-esque outfits in what looks like a spaceship’s living room, huddled around TV. Odenkirk (in the role of Star Captain) pops up at the end, after the song is over. He addresses the band (“Star Team,” as they’re apparently called), sharing info about an enemy ship and giving them an urgent and majorly important mission.

The Odenkirk cameo isn’t as random as it may seem, as he’s actually been a fan of the band for a while: In July 2019, he shared a selfie of himself with the group and wrote, “Just saw my fave new Chicago band Beach Bunny at the supercool Meow Wolf in Santa Fe! Fun! Me lucky.”

The band’s Lili Trifilio previously said of the upcoming album, “We are always changing, growing, and adapting — it’s a deeply ingrained part of the human experience. We strive to be stronger, trust we’ll grow smarter, and spend most of our lives reaching for comfort and happiness. Sometimes, life is stagnant, sometimes, life is difficult — but the wonderful part of being human is that we evolve and make the bleak moments beautiful — we find new ways to survive. Humans are emotional creatures and I wanted to capture that with this album in order to show how complex, sometimes tragic, and mostly wonderful the human experience can be.”

Watch the “Karaoke” video above.

Emotional Creature is out 7/22 via Mom+Pop Music. Pre-order it here.

A few months ago, fans of Los Angeles rap on Twitter were left agape by a post by a local blogger, who shared his thoughts on the city’s current crop of talent via a “rap report card” featuring grades for the likes of newcomers such as Blxst, Kalan.FrFr, Roddy Ricch, and more. The post sparked a days-long debate that quickly became more than contentious thanks to the near-universally mediocre numbers the blogger handed out, which many took as an overt diss to their hard work, talents, and successes to date. Considering some of the names mentioned are just beginning to receive mainstream attention or release music professionally, that feeling is fair.

One of the rappers who took issue with his assessment is Carson native Jayson Cash, who at the time had only released a handful of tracks. Despite his relative obscurity, his performance on “Priority,” “All I Know,” and an impressive showing on LA Leakers had already secured him a deal with Asylum Records, and since then, he’s only become more of a priority, moving up to Atlantic Records and prepping the release of his debut project with singles “Top Down” and “Him” featuring Dom Kennedy. But rather than lash out at the purveyor of the rap report card, Cash did something much more productive, hitting the studio to record the fiery “D+ Freestyle” aimed at refuting the claims against him. It was so impressive, West Coast hitmaker Mustard hit him up to get in the studio the same day.

Now, with Read The Room, his Atlantic debut, coming on May 27, and his new single “Him” out today, Jayson Cash re-introduces himself to the world. In a recent Zoom call with Uproxx, the Carson native explains why he deserved much better than a D+ and what fans can expect from him in the future.

For the world, Jayson Cash is a rapper from Carson, California. What are you most notable for so far?

First and foremost, just recently there was this magazine in LA that they were grading different new artists in LA, and they gave me a D+ grade. That’s crazy. I went in the studio and I recorded a response to it. And I didn’t disrespect the magazine or disrespect the person, the writer or anything of the sort, I just talked about a lot of the things that I did this past year. And after I did that, DJ Mustard heard my response and called me to the studio, “Yo, we got to get you in the studio today,” actually that same day. I just had the city just talking, talking, talking and that was just the most recent thing.

But before that, I dropped three singles and got signed. I’m one of a few people that got signed without having a bunch of music out — just a series of different freestyles and different things I was doing throughout the city, just building my name the organic, grassroots way.

I always think is mad funny when artists from Carson are, “No, we are from Carson.” [TDE rapper] Reason will be like, “No, I’m from Del Amo, bro.” Why is it so important for artists from Carson to really be out here screaming Carson, rather than LA?

If you went to New York tomorrow, met somebody that you never met before and they ask you where you from, you say you from Compton.

Yep. I’m saying Compton.

But they know what that is.

When I go out of town and they ask me where I’m from, and I say, “I’m from Carson,” then I got to say, “It’s a city in between Compton and Long Beach. It’s where TDE started.” I have to explain where I’m from to so many people so I figure while I’m on my run and I’m doing everything that I’m supposed to do and I’m yelling and stamping my city the same way that Dr. Dre and all them and Quik and all them put the stamp on Compton, the same way Snoop did on Long Beach, I can do that for Carson. Now when somebody go out of town they ain’t got to explain geographically where Carson is. We haven’t been stamped yet. I’m trying to make sure we get stamped.

Going back to that freestyle because the face that I made on that last line was just so… I used to want to make people make that face when I used to rap. You know, when your whole face sucks in.

“If the n**** with the fit and the shades / Got a 69 scoring a D+ grade / Because I’m ‘lazy, inconsistent and my catalog the same’ / Why the f*ck do y’all even think about mentioning my name?” That’s how I felt.

To be honest with you, the only thing I thought — because everybody’s entitled to an opinion… The only reason why I even responded was that not only was I on his freshman cover, but he came to the studio and he heard my project and he knew why it wasn’t out. I never even had a meeting with Atlantic, I got signed off emails. As far as putting records out, it’s not like I had a whole bunch of people just lined up like, ‘Okay, let’s make the Jayson Cash project happen.’ The consistency in my catalog, that was out of my control. I didn’t like the narrative that was being pushed, like, ‘That catalog is this, because they lazy.’

I’m not lazy at all. That’s what prompted me to respond, not to him, but to anybody that might have heard the conversation and looked at my score, which was all my scores is high except for consistency in catalog. Since this has a million impressions and everybody is seeing this, I don’t want nobody to have the wrong idea about me. Let me tell you who I actually am. I’m the one that wrote for Dr. Dre, I’m the one that did the freestyle with Snoop Dogg. I got Easty Boyz a check for [Blxst’s 2020 single] “Chosen.” I’m going to tell you everything that I’ve done on this run to where you can’t say my impact score is a six. I’m doing all this off three songs.

What are your plans? How much of your plans can you reveal? How much of that is in your control?

The project’s already turned in, singles, turned in. I’m still working on what’s coming after that. I don’t ever want to fall behind and feel like I’m trying to play catch-up. So I always want to be creating.

It’s a similar sound like me and Blxst was in the incubator together, working every day. It’s just my take on what I’m influenced by. When you listen to it, you’re going to hear everything I’m influenced by from Suga Free to Quik, to even like my peers, like Blxst. My era, the people before me, and et cetera. But you’re going to hear all that. Not only are you going to hear, you going to feel it because it’s in the music. I heard Blxst on his project say he a new Nate Dogg. So it’s like, if Blxst the new Nate Dogg, my mind is like, “Well, who am I?” That’s another void for me to fill because we haven’t had that run in LA as a rapper in a long time. So I wanted to present a sound, present a perspective and take this opportunity to really do some shit with the music.

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

Singer/songwriter Winona Oak has announced a release date for her much-anticipated debut album. Island Of The Sun will arrive this June, and contain songs like “Baby Blue,” “Piano In The Sky,” and “Break My Broken Heart.”

Ahead of the album’s release, Oak has released the latest cut, called “Jojo.” Oak, whose real name is Johanna Ekmark, named the song after a childhood nickname she was given growing up in Sollerön, Sweden. She chose to give the song that title since “Jojo” is lyrically a letter to herself.

In a statement, Oak says of the song:

“Sometimes I feel helpless, frustrated, and completely overwhelmed inside the frames of society. Specifically, I don’t know how to navigate inside this parallel universe of the internet and all that comes with it. It’s a world that’s getting more and more shallow and gives us endless access to everything. Polished images of ‘perfect’ people living their ‘perfect’ lives online. I will never look like them, but the thing is that they don’t even look like themselves. On the internet we can be whoever we want to be. We can pick apart and choose the best parts of our personality, showcase our best moments, our most flattering images and even manipulate them to look less human. It’s a toxic part of social media that pushes people into doing things that ruin them. How do we know what’s real? How do we find real love and honest connections when you judge someone based on their internet persona? If money controls everything how can people without it control a change?”

Check out “Jojo” above and our new interview with Oak here.

Island Of The Sun is out 6/10 via Atlantic. Pre-save it here.

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

Despite the average NBA ref not knowing who he is (they must not have watched Narnia), Jack Harlow has been flying high recently. After the success of his potentially controversial collaboration with Lil Nas X in 2021, more rap fans than ever know Harlow’s name — enough to lift his upcoming album’s second single, “First Class” to No. 1 on the Hot 100. His new album, Come Home The Kids Miss You, stands to also debut at the top of the Billboard 200 chart next week as a result.

So, naturally, fans on Twitter are putting his career trajectory in perspective as only fans on Twitter can. Comparing Harlow to another hotly tipped white rapper whose music career unfolded in a much different way, a commenter wrote, “jack harlow havin the career lil dicky thought he was gonna have.” The tweet has sparked a bit of a debate since some fans took it as a diss toward Dicky (who is still a much better-known factor at this point owing to several years’ head start).

One fan responded, “Let’s be clear tho lil dicky would wash jack harlow,” while another implored fellow fans, “Y’all better stop comparing Jack Harlow to Lil Dicky. Dave would rap circles around him, with all due respect.” However, others agreed with the original premise that Jack’s career had a much more positive trajectory compared to a similar point in Dicky’s.

Of course, Dicky has found a new outlet for his creativity in the form his FX show Dave, which allows him to put his comedy raps into the proper context to be fully appreciated. Meanwhile, Jack’s on his second album and still turning down pop collabs to keep it hip-hop, something we still have yet to see from Dicky, so if anything, the two rapper’s careers are more divergent than they are at odds. Dicky doesn’t even like performing, so obviously both had different goals to begin with.

Meanwhile, for those truly in the know, the real victim is Asher Roth, who managed to eke out one mainstream hit before being banished forever to the backrap circuit (where he is, for all appearances, perfectly comfortable and happy).

When Turena Johnson Lane took a jackhammer to the kitchen floor in the summer of 2021, she had no idea that her house would soon become a metaphor for her life.

Johnson Lane, a stay-at-home mom of four elementary-aged children, is a keen do-it-yourselfer with a feisty spirit. A former elite marathoner (she was a two-time Olympic trials qualifier), she parlayed that talent into motherhood after her first child was born. After all, running takes endurance and grit; motherhood does, too.

That grit served her family very well. She managed the household solo for long stretches while her husband was traveling for work, juggling everyone’s needs as well as working on the house. She also wasn’t afraid to do things like rip out the old kitchen cabinets simply because she was sick of looking at them, and wasn’t afraid of doing the necessary upgrades. She was, in every way, a Home Maker—except that, if you type the word “homemaker” into a search engine, you know what you’ll see?

Images that look like this:

Free photo Wife Cooking Family Woman Housewife Retro Kitchen – Max …

www.maxpixel.net

Yikes. Most will agree that this concept is as outdated as orange shag carpeting and is due for a major facelift. Why should there be this one idea of what a “homemaker” looks like when we have unlimited ideas today to define what a home is and who it is for? These days, the role that moms play in their families has evolved almost beyond recognition, alongside the evolution of society. This Mother’s Day, Lowe’s is renovating the term “homemaker,” reflecting on all of the unique ways moms ‘make’ their house a home and what it means (and looks like) to be a Home Maker. Lowes is launching its #HomeMaker series for and about women just like Johnson Lane.

To pick up on Johnson Lane’s story, shortly after her house became a construction zone, her marriage did, too. Her husband of 24 years abruptly filed for divorce, throwing her into several entirely new roles, including that of breadwinner and general contractor. She scrambled to secure two jobs to make ends meet while juggling childcare and fielding calls and emails from the divorce attorney. The inside of her house was coated in drywall dust, the dog continually escaped from the backyard, things were breaking faster than she could fix them—including the dryer and two of the toilets — nevertheless, she persisted.

Turena Johnson Lane with her four children

Via Turena Johnson Lane

“Adjusting to the unexpected, persisting through a tough patch, [and] staying focused on the bigger picture are all lessons that apply to both marathoning and motherhood. Neither one is for the faint of heart,” said Johnson Lane. “One minute you are cruising along holding your own and the next minute everything changes.”

As Johnson Lane struggled to find her own footing, she was patently aware that her kids needed her to help navigate their new normal. At night they all piled into her bed, needing reassurance and love that only a mom can give, and in the morning she worked hard to put one foot in front of the other, even though she was exhausted and terrified. Her days looked drastically different as a single parent, but she was determined to show up for herself and her kids. Keeping things moving helped her figure it all out.

“A sudden detour into single motherhood was a long way from the journey I thought I was on,” said Johnson Lane. “I have had to wear more hats than I did before, but I’ve learned that it is just an opportunity to learn new things and to be an example to my kids in a way I hadn’t planned on. We may not have control over what life throws at us, but we always have control over how we handle it. I know they are proud of me.”

Johnson Lane’s situation is far from unique. In 2020, there were approximately 15.49 million families in the United States with a female head of the household and no spouse present. Although for moms like her, the day-to-day can be a slog, and the days turn into weeks and turn into months and years, reflecting back provides an opportunity to celebrate the incredible achievements and own them. This Mother’s Day, Lowe’s invites you to check out their new #HomeMaker series, which highlights all the incredible moms who bring a world of possibilities and joy to their homes every day, just like Johnson Lane. The amazing thing about these moms is that they just keep going and doing, assuring a safe environment and giving their love unconditionally, even when they feel like they have nothing more to give. It’s the truly magical gift of motherhood that we believe is worth championing and celebrating.

We invite you to join the conversation and post your own #HomeMaker photo to your social media and help redefine the definition of a “homemaker.”

In late spring, when warm weather is finally here to stay throughout the US, beer drinkers have literally tons of choices. While hot, sunny days are well-suited for IPAs, pale ales, and pilsners, we like to change it up sometimes and throw down a few shandies and radlers. Zesty, tart, refreshing, these light beers have everything we crave on a hot day (unless what we crave is high ABVs).

For the uninitiated, a shandy or radler is technically a beer (usually a lighter beer) traditionally mixed with lemonade, lemon flavoring, or a lemon-lime soda. These days, grapefruit soda seems just as common as lemon as the mix-in, with blood orange and other citrus featured as well. Typically the brews are extremely crushable and often very tasty (good beer mixed with quality citrus is a winning duo), so we decided to rank our eight favorites as party season begins!

8) Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen

ABV: 2.5%

Average Price: $9 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This orange, almost pink-hued, crushable warm weather beer is made by mixing a 50/50 blend of hefeweizen and carbonated grapefruit juice. The result is an atomic bomb of citrus, tart, and wheat beer. It’s only 2.5 percent ABV so it’s a highly sessionable pick.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is all citrus with grapefruit dominating. There’s also a sugary, syrupy sweetness on the nose. Tasting it reveals more tart, tangy grapefruit, sweet wheat, and… really not much else. There’s no denying this beer is easy to drink, it’s just that it tastes more like grapefruit soda than beer.

Bottom Line:

If you don’t really like the taste of beer but you enjoy grapefruit soda, this is the beer for you. Otherwise, go with a shandy or radler that at least vaguely resembles beer.

7) Jack’s Abby Blood Orange Wheat

ABV: 4%

Average Price: $9 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Jack’s Abby is most known for its craft lagers. But, if you’re a shandy fan, you should definitely try its Blood Orange Wheat. This German-style radler starts with the brand’s wheat lager which is then infused with blood orange. This creates a sweet, tart, citrusy beer perfect for spring and summer.

Tasting Notes:

Right away, after one whiff of this beer, you know what you’re getting into. There’s a nice aroma of blood orange that smells both sweet and tart that definitely draws you on. The palate is heavy on the blood orange as well as some biscuit-like malts, wheat, and slightly floral hops. It’s easy to drink but definitely waterier than we’d like.

Bottom Line:

If you’re looking for an easy-drinking beer with a nice citrus backbone, this is a great choice. Otherwise, look for something with a little more substance.

6) Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy

ABV: 4.2%

Average Price: $10 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Available from March until August, this beer transports you to the summer lake house on the label. This award-winning shandy is 4.2 percent ABV and is a mix of the brand’s traditional weiss beer and natural lemonade.

Tasting Notes:

Heavy notes of citrus zest, lemon essence, malts, and slight floral hops meet your nostrils when nosing this beer. Drinking it brings forth lemon curd, lemon zest, and overall lemon/lime flavor. Sure, there’s some wheat beer flavor in there, but it’s largely dominated by sweet, tart lemon.

Bottom Line:

Like with many shandies and radlers, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy tastes like sparkling lemonade more than beer. But it has enough malt and wheat presence that you’ll realize you’re drinking a 4.2% ABV beer and not a soda.

5) UFO Big Squeeze

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $10 for a six-pack

The Beer:

UFO means unfiltered offering. It’s a reference to the hazy, cloud wheat beer style that the brand uses as the base for its beers. UFO Big Squeeze, a mix of wheat beer and grapefruit juice was first launched in 2014 only to be retired in 2016 and eventually brought back after fans started a Facebook campaign.

Tasting Notes:

Orange cream, grapefruit juice, and light wheat are prevalent on the nose. The flavor is a mixture of tart, slightly sour, sweet grapefruit, lemon, and orange flavors as well as slight cracker malts and light hops. Overall, it’s a classic shandy that leans heavily on citrus.

Bottom Line:

While we’re headed in the right direction, Big Squeeze is still a little too heavy on the grapefruit juice flavor. It would be better if the wheat beer component was more noticeable, but maybe it’s just not for us.

4) Samuel Adams Porch Rocker

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $12 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Brewed with Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble Hops as well as Samuel Adams’s proprietary two-row pale malt blend, this seasonal beer is the iconic brand’s take on the classic German-style radler. This crushable, 4.5 percent ABV brew is a mix of golden helles and real lemons.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is fairly light with hints of lemon zest, lime, and slight floral spice. Luckily, the palate is much more pronounced than the nose. There are notes of lemon, lime, tangerine, grapefruit, pale malts, and gentle, slightly bitter Noble hops to tie everything together nicely.

Bottom Line:

As radlers and shandies go, this is a pretty decent, easy-drinking option. While it’s still heavy on the citrus flavor, you do actually know you’re drinking a beer when you take a sip.

3) Stiegl Grapefruit Radler

ABV: 2.5%

Average Price: $10 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

There aren’t many radlers more well-known than Stiegl Radler. Ask a handful of brewers and beer fans to tell you their favorite and there’s a good chance you’ll hear the word “Stiegl” a lot. This cloudy, thirst-quenching, low-ABV beer is made with a mix of beer and grapefruit juice.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is dominated by the aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, and other citrus fruits. While there isn’t much else, that feels like it’s enough in this case. The exciting thing about Stiegl Radler is that it isn’t just a sweet, citrus bomb. It’s a nice mix of tart and sweet with loads of citrus. It’s refreshing and thirst-quenching and leaves you wanting more.

Bottom Line:

Even though this beer is really low in alcohol (2.5 percent), it still has enough background beer flavor along with the zippy citrus to appeal to beer drinkers. It’s a nice, fruity, crushable beer for hot days.

2) Narragansett Del’s Shandy

ABV: 4.7%

Average Price: $10 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This 4.7 percent lemon shandy tastes like summer in a can. It’s a collaboration between Narragansett and Rhode Island’s well-known Del’s Frozen Lemonade stand. It starts with the brand’s classic lager that’s infused with lemon concentrate and sugar to create the beer equivalent of a frosty lemonade.

Tasting Notes:

Aromas of lemon zest, sweet malts, and light grains are highlighted on the nose. It smells like a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade that you poured a beer into. The taste follows suit with a nice mix of sweetness and tart flavor from the lemon juice. It pairs well with the crisp, malty flavor of the lager.

Bottom Line:

Many shandies and radlers opt for a base of a wheat beer, Narragansett chose lager. The result is a nice mix of crisp, easy-drinking lager and slightly tart, sweet lemonade. Highly refreshing on a warm, sunny day.

1) Great Divide Roadie

ABV: 4.2%

Average Price: $11 for a six-pack

The Story:

Roadie is Great Divide’s tribute to the popularity of cycling in Colorado. This 4.2% ABV, easy-drinking beer is brewed with natural grapefruit puree. The result is a semi-sweet, tart, slightly bitter beer that’s designed to quench your thirst after a long bike ride.

Tasting Notes:

A complex nose of bright grapefruit, tart lemon, biscuit-like malts, and light hops greet you before your first sip. The palate, while grapefruit-centric, is well-balanced with more malt flavor, light hay, sweet yeast, and a gentle bitterness at the very end that leaves you craving more.

Bottom Line:

This is possibly the most well-balanced radler or shandy we’ve ever tried. While it has the bright citrus flavor we look for in a shandy, it also has enough of a malty, yeasty backbone to appeal to most beer drinkers.

The rise of Che Diaz, horror villain extraordinaire, arguably led more people to tune into And Just Like That… than otherwise would have. Whatever the cause, the Sex And The City reboot proved to be popular enough to warrant a second season, but don’t ever hold out hope that Kim Cattrall will return as Samantha. And although her character is sorely missed, Cattrall does not yearn to return to the franchise.

That’s no secret, but while speaking with Variety for the new Power of Women New York issue, Cattrall revisited the rather horrible storyline that a third movie would have in store for Sam. The vampy PR maven would have had to endure unsolicited “dick pics” from an underage boy, who also happened to be Miranda’s 14-year-old son, Brady. Yikes. While Cattrall actually hasn’t spent time watching And Just Like that…, she believes that “[t]he series is basically the third movie. That’s how creative it was.” From there, Cattrall believes that this arc would have been “heartbreaking” because she’d like to see Sam tackling a real storyline or “conflict [rather than] an underage boy’s…”

Still, Cattrall would like it to be known that she’s definitely not interested in revisiting the Samantha role, but she does wonder why the series didn’t stay “smart” by sticking to its original ending. Via Variety:

“I haven’t deserted anybody. Can you imagine going back to a job you did 25 years ago? And the job didn’t get easier; it got more complicated in the sense of how are you going to progress with these characters? Everything has to grow, or it dies. I felt that when the series ended, I thought that’s smart. We’re not repeating ourselves. And then the movie to end all the loose ends. And then there’s another movie. And then there’s another movie?”

And that’s also why we’ve been able to see Cattrall go other places with her career, including Queer As Folk and How I Met Your Father, rather than to keep playing a character that she felt wasn’t being developed or, frankly, respected. As Cattrall summarized, she knew she was “done” after the second movie, and that was that. Fair enough.

(Via Variety)

Microsoft purchasing Activision Blizzard is one of the biggest news stories in the history of video games. The reported $68.7 billion price tag was a record purchase, and unsurprisingly, it made waves in the world of business — ever since the deal was announced, it has been getting analyzed and, in some cases, scrutinized.

Of the many questions that surround the deal, one major one is about the status of Activision Blizzard at the time of the purchase. Months before Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard was announced, it was revealed that Activision was being sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing for creating a “frat boy culture” within the Blizzard umbrella of the company. Not long after, it was alleged that CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, was aware of the allegations and faced misconduct allegations of his own.

These allegations have led to New York City suing Activision, stating that Kotick was unfit to properly negotiate a deal. New York City alleges that Kotick rushed through a deal to escape the situation and in turn hurt the company’s value. Via Axios:

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick rushed to secure a takeover bid from Microsoft in order to escape liability for misconduct at the company, a new lawsuit from New York City officials alleges.

…

“Given Kotick’s personal responsibility and liability for Activision’s broken workplace, it should have been clear to the Board that he was unfit to negotiate a sale of the Company,” the suit says. “But it wasn’t.”

Microsoft’s announcement of the deal back in January did not mean the deal was completed. Not only is it under review by the Federal Trade Commission, but it has to jump through multiple hoops, and the purchase is not expected to close until 2023.

As for Kotick’s future with the company, while nothing is official, the expectation right now is that he will step down from his role once the purchase has gone through.