Month: June 2022

Ted Cruz just revealed more about his bathroom habits than literally, anyone on the face of this Earth would want to know.

The Texas Republican — who’s been busy recently attending NRA conventions and posting clips on Twitter of his “ridiculously fun” charity poker matches as the funerals for the 19 children gunned down in the Uvalde Elementary School massacre were set to begin — recently made time to record an episode of his show, Verdict with Ted Cruz. During the broadcast, Cruz harped on about the acquittal of Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman, skewering the guy for billing the 2016 Presidential nominee for time spent cooperating with the FBI during their investigation. Now, Cruz’s obsession with Hillary Clinton isn’t really headline-worthy at this point but what might be is the antidote Cruz told about his own legal operation.

Cruz told co-host, Michael Knowles, that back when he was a practicing attorney, he also squeezed his clients for their hard-earned money, even going so far as to bill them for his trips to the bathroom.

“When I was practicing law,” Cruz said, “I would literally take a legal brief or a case with me when I went to the restroom ’cause I’d stand at the urinal and be reading ’cause I wanted to bill for the time.”

Cruz also laughed about the fact that plenty of other lawyers were in the urinals next to him doing the same thing because “none of us wanted to miss billing the time.” And look, we’re all for getting paid for the work you do but for someone who was outraged when everyone got stimulus checks during the pandemic, it’s pretty rich that Cruz thinks he should get paid for doing nothing while on the clock.

King Princess has always been open about being queer and has never hesitated to bring that into her music. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the rising pop star pointed out the problematic aspect of apps like Spotify grouping together LGBTQIA+ folk in playlists, even if their music is not similar.

“White Male Pop, as a playlist. Could you imagine?” she said. “It would essentially be the same thing, to do that. ‘Look at all these people grouped together. Oh my god, aren’t they amazing? Here’s their playlist!’”

She stated that being queer in the music industry is “still not the norm.” She added: “We’re still the minority. We’ve got to unify. That’s my biggest thing — the unification of queer people. We’ve got each other.”

She has also just revealed new information about her next album, Hold On Baby. She wrote on social media: “I’m not sure I like myself, but I’m figuring it out. Hold On Baby is a search for a new heartbreak. It’s a love letter to my girlfriend. It’s a firm read of myself. And it’s a reminder of the totems in my life that give me hope; my dog who is my fiercest companion and the owl that represents my grandparents.”

The recent rash of mass shootings hasn’t presented a good look for gun-loving (and gun-lobby-loving) lawmakers. That includes Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who seems to believe that post-9/11 restrictions don’t exist, so mass shootings shouldn’t mean that the U.S. needs some gun control. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has shoved his head into the sand while tweeting poker videos as Texas school shooting funerals (after the Uvalde gunman killed 19 children) happened. And Ken Buck (R-CO), who previously argued that Google’s algorithm somehow caused Trump’s election loss, has another wild claim for all.

The chickens must be saved in the face of mass shootings, Buck seriously argued before his fellow lawmakers on Thursday. Here he is telling the world how he needs a semi-automatic weapon in order to defeat raccoons. “An AR-15 is a gun of choice for killing raccoons before they get to our chickens,” Buck declared.

Well, that’s a new one, and as the saying goes, you cannot possibly make this stuff up. Yet even if chickens’ survival as a species actually depended upon their owners having access to AR-15-style rifles (used by both the Uvalde shooter and the suspect who opened fire at a Tulsa hospital on Thursday), that still doesn’t explain why there are barely any restrictions on buying these guns. In fact, both shooters purchased these semi-automatic weapons shortly before deploying them upon victims.

But you know… chickens.

Darvin Ham is the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. The team opted to fire Frank Vogel on the heels of a disappointing 2021-22 campaign, and after a lengthy search, Los Angeles decided that the longtime Mike Budenholzer assistant would be the best option to take over for a team with perpetual title-or-bust expectations.

Ham, who spent more than a decade playing professionally, was one of the more highly-respected assistant coaches in the league and has long been viewed as someone who paid his dues and deserved to get a head coaching gig for the first time. That sentiment was shared by Charles Barkley during a recent appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, but despite that, he’s not exactly optimistic that he’ll lead L.A. to glory during the 2022-23 campaign.

“Well, I’m glad Darvin got an opportunity, cause he’s paid his dues, he’s a nice guy, we’ll have to see what kind of coach he is,” Barkley said around the 5:16 mark of the above video. “But listen, if one of your coaches is close to the same age as your players, your team’s not gonna be any good, anyway. The Lakers, they got a serious dilemma on their hands. Their best player’s gonna be 40, Anthony Davis has never been healthy. Obviously, Russ is gonna be there one more year. So, what’s really bad about the situation — next year is gonna be the same as this year, and then LeBron’s just gonna be a year older, and then they’ll have Russ off the books.”

Barkley then returned to Davis, noting that he said before last season that he (and, more specifically, his ability to take some of the load off of James’ shoulders) is the key to the team succeeding and that “if he’s one of the top-5 players in the NBA, the Lakers can compete.”

Last season, Los Angeles finished 33-49 and missed the play-in tournament. It marked the seventh time in the last nine seasons that the team failed to make the postseason.

Whether it’s a Snapchat filter, a drawing from a caricature artist, or a customized video game avatar, it’s always fun to see a rendering of yourself that presents you in a different light. Cardi B got a taste of that earlier this week when she shared a photo of dolls that look a great deal like herself and Offset.

In the three photos, the Offset doll lovingly embraces the Cardi figure from behind. Both are decked out in teeny-tiny jewelry, while Cardi wears a pink bikini and Offset has a sleeveless, all-white look. Cardi captioned the post, “Okay then ….MOOD [crying-laughing emoji].”

Speaking of dolls, Cardi B actually once had some big plans of her own on that front. Back in March 2021, she visited Today to announce she was working on a doll that looked like her and hoped to expand the project to include other artists, too, with the end goal being better representation in the doll space for people with different looks. By the end of the year, though, it was reported that the entire line had been canceled due to manufacturing and shipping delays caused by COVID-19, as well as quality concerns.

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

New Jersey will honor one of its most iconic residents.

Legendary actor Ray Liotta of Something Wild, Goodfellas, not one but two Muppets movies, and Marriage Story passed away suddenly in his sleep last week in the Dominican Republic at age 67. Manuel Figueiredo, the mayor of Union Township, New Jersey has confirmed to TMZ that the town will hold some sort of memorial in honor of the actor who grew up there. Figueiredo did not provide any further details on the planned service in Liotta’s honor. Union Township is “looking at a variety of options to honor Ray, but also giving the family time to grieve before making a final decision.” The town also told TMZ of plans to name a baseball field after Liotta, a nod to his role in Field of Dreams.

Since his death last week, Liotta’s meaningful influence on the film industry and on people has been felt everywhere. On top of the entire state of New Jersey paying tribute to him, many former colleagues in Hollywood paid tribute to him upon hearing of his death. Director Martin Scorsese, who directed Liotta in Goodfellas (one of his most iconic roles) said, “He was so uniquely gifted, so adventurous, so courageous as an actor. Playing Henry Hill in Goodfellas was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot. He absolutely amazed me, and I’ll always be proud of the work we did together on that picture.”

Goodfellas co-star Lorraine Braco said, “I can be anywhere in the world & people will come up & tell me their favorite movie is Goodfellas. Then they always ask what was the best part of making that movie. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta.”

(Via TMZ)

Madison Cawthorn has got problems. As if losing his bid for re-election weren’t humiliating enough, the North Carolina congressman (for now—tick tock, tick tock) is now facing some serious questions from the House Ethics Committee about his purchase, promotion, and sale—in that order—of the idiotically-named Let’s Go Brandon cryptocurrency (at a time when the Feds seem to be trying to crack down on crypto insider trading).

Like so many other possibly shady dealings, Cawthorn’s involvement in the crypto investment goes back to Donald Trump. According to Fortune, it was reportedly at a Christmas party hosted by the former president in Naples, Florida that the 26-year-old was told about the coin by James Koutoulas, a hedge fund manager and Let’s Go Brandon backer. A few weeks later, Cawthorn sent Koutoulas a check for approximately $150,000 to invest in the coin, and his transaction posted on December 21—then sh*t got real.

As Danny Nelson writes:

Cawthorn later predicted LGB’s price would the next day “go to the moon” in a Dec. 29 Instagram comment. When the LGB team announced a sponsorship of NASCAR driver Brandon Brown on Dec. 30, the coin indeed rallied mightily. The next day, Cawthorn sold off roughly a third of his LGB for a considerably more liquid cryptocurrency, ether (ETH), fetching a 94% return in dollar terms (though it’s unclear if he moved that ETH to cash).

It was a sequence of events that would come to haunt the first-term representative. Six months later—after a sea of scandals sunk his reelection bid—Cawthorn’s LGB trades are under investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee.

While Cawthorn happily promoted the coin and how “well” it had worked out for him, the truth is a bit more complicated. Because cryptocurrency is not closely regulated, it’s difficult to determine how much the political newbie might have benefited from his purported attempt at insider trading. But according to several financial experts, it’s likely that he went to all that trouble—and now put himself in the crosshairs of the Ethics Committee—for nothing. “He’s at best close to even,” according to Fortune. “At worst he’s down bad from a mix of taxable capital gains and the bear market slump.”

Still, there’s a chance Cawthorn will go down in the history books: At the moment, he’s both the youngest Republican ever elected to congress (he was 25 at the time) as well as the youngest-ever Republican congressperson to lose their re-election bid. Let’s go Madison!

(Via Fortune)

Millennials may soon see a familiar favorite on television. Those of us who remember Apple’s silhouette campaigns that accompanied the iPod in the early aughts will be elated to see Harry Styles in a new spot for AirPods.

In the commercial, Styles and a group of people are seen grooving to “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” from his latest album, Harry’s House. Apple users of the past will immediately recognize the color-changing backgrounds as silhouettes of Styles spread across the screen. These are similar to the early iPod commercials in which white silhouettes of figures would dance to some of the top iTunes songs, through their wired headphones and with an iPod in hand.

Technology has evolved quite a bit since those days, so the modern commercial sees Styles wearing AirPods. There is not an iPhone or any other Apple device in hand, likely because the AirPods’ Bluetooth technology allows for the listener to move freely and keep the device in their pockets.

Styles reportedly did not accept money for the ad, but rather, asked that the fee be donated to the International Rescue Committee. “From all of us at the IRC: Thank you to @HarryStyles and @Apple for your generous donation to the IRC,” the organization said in a tweet. “Working in more than 40 countries, your support will help us reach even more refugees and people in need in the world’s toughest places. Honored to have your support!”

Check out the commercial above.

Shortly after a jury found Amber Heard guilty of defamation against her allegedly abusive ex-husband Johnny Depp, both parties released statements about the verdict. “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband,” Heard wrote. Depp, meanwhile, hopes “that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up. I also hope that the position will now return to innocent until proven guilty, both within the courts and in the media.”

The statements appeared on Heard and Depp’s Instagram pages, respectively, and BuzzFeed has been compiling a list of who other celebrities are “siding” with (it’s worth noting that a like does not necessarily equal an endorsement). Jennifer Aniston, Taika Waititi, and Ryan Adams, who was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women (including Phoebe Bridgers), all liked Depp’s post, while Heard received support from Selma Blair and her Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom co-star Jason Momoa… who was also among the 16.7 million-plus people who clicked the heart for Depp, too.

Here’s a partial list for both (a longer list can be found here):

Depp:

Ryan Adams

Jennifer Aniston

Ashley Benson

Hailey Bieber

Gemma Chan

Zoey Deutch

Bella Hadid

Paris Hilton

Vanessa Hudgens

Riley Keough

Juliette Lewis

Jason Momoa

Jason Priestley

Norman Reedus

Emma Roberts

Zoe Saldaña

Molly Shannon

LaKeith Stanfield

Taika Waititi

Heard:

Selma Blair

Jason Momoa

Sarah Steele

The Daily Beast also notes that “some stars opted not to ‘like’ Depp’s post but did lend a little red heart to a separate post from Greg Williams Photography, a portrait photo of Depp,” including Florence Pugh and both Fannings, Dakota and Elle.

The post’s caption: #youcantkeepagoodmandown.

(Via BuzzFeed)

When Archbishop Desmond Tutu passed away, I wrote a bit about the unique friendship he shared with the Dalai Lama. Though they came from very different worlds—different nationalities, different faiths, different backgrounds—they shared a kinship based on compassion and joy.

And when I saw them together in “Mission: JOY”—a documentary on five days the two leaders spent together—I saw how beautiful that kinship truly was.

“Mission: JOY” is as much a reminder of what connects us as human beings as it is a celebration of these two iconic spiritual leaders. I laughed at how they teased one another like schoolboys. (It’s also just impossible not to laugh along with Desmond Tutu’s infectious laughter.) I teared up as they described how they responded to their own sufferings and showed so much care for one another. I smiled each time one of them lovingly reached out to take the other’s hand as they shared stories, wisdom and jokes together.

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But mostly, I walked away with a sense of calm hope for what is possible. If a Christian theologian from South Africa and a Buddhist monk from Tibet can form a strong bond of friendship like this with one another, then anyone can. This is a film the whole world needs to see. I think it’s safe to say that every person would take something valuable away from it.

MISSION: JOY • Official Trailer • Documentary About the Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu’s Friendship

www.youtube.com

Filmmaker Peggy Callahan shared some of the extraordinary experience of making “Mission: JOY” with Upworthy. Our Q&A with her provides some personal insight into the film and what it felt like to spend five days with two of the most influential spiritual leaders of our time.

How and why did you get involved in making this film?

“It was Thanksgiving Day almost seven years ago when I got a call from my ‘brother from another mother,’ Doug Abrams. He said, ‘Do you want to come to Dharamsala and film a conversation between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu?’

“Of course, there is only one answer to a once-in-a-lifetime invitation like that. And that is how I got to spend five days with two of the people on the planet that I admired most.

“His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu shared deeply about how they managed to create joy for themselves, even during their darkest days. Doug and the two holy men used the transcripts from that days-long conversation to co-author ‘The Book of Joy,’ which became an international bestseller. And the footage from that conversation was the basis for our film, ‘Mission: JOY – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times.’

“It seems to me that documentaries—and most meaningful things in life—require an unreasonable love. The kind of love that propels you. Compels you. Sustains and inspires you to get off the ground and keep going. It’s been a seven-year journey to create this film with a great team of artists. But I suspect the film recreated us all in some way. Unreasonable. Beautiful.”

Why was it important to you personally that you create this film?

“I grew up in South Carolina at a time when racism was even thicker than the humidity. My mom is from Canada and didn’t buy into it one bit. You can imagine the salty words she’d whisper in my ear about systemic racism, as if systemic and racism were four-letter words.

“I remember parents of my white friends not allowing their kids to play at my house because my African American friends were there. The prejudice was so stark and so ugly that it never made sense on a primal level, leaving me out of step with the world I walked in. I think there is value in feeling like an outsider who sees the world differently. It’s easier to question. Examine. Appreciate or not. It’s perfect for a journalist or storyteller. Fighting injustice can be a great motivator in your career, and tricky in your personal life.

“Archbishop Tutu and His Holiness, along with people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mary Robinson were beacons for me because not only did they get up and do something about injustice, their actions were effective at changing power relationships. Their actions made a measurable difference in the daily lives of people who most of the world had forgotten.

“Also, many years ago Archbishop Tutu joined the International Advisory Board of an anti-slavery organization I co-founded called Voices4Freedom, so we had that personal connection as well. It’s the honor of a lifetime to help share Arch’s and His Holiness’s messages with the world, especially now when so many are hurting so much.”

What words would you use to describe the relationship between these two global icons?

“These two are FUN, as is obvious within just the first few minutes of the film. They joke and tease each other with abandon. Having lunch with them in the Dalai Lama’s compound was an absolute riot. It had the feeling of getting together with your long-time friends where you knew going in that your stomach was going to hurt from laughing so hard.

“And they are congruent within themselves. There are lots of impressive, powerful leaders in the world that garner respect. Admiration, even. But few of those are so beloved. Why?

“I think it’s because with these two, what is real for them on the inside is what we see on the outside. They lived/live out their values in ways big and small every day, in every interaction, with everyone they encounter. What you see is what is actually real within them. It’s utterly compelling. As evidenced by the fact that, even though they are/were leaders of their respective faith traditions, people from ALL faith traditions and no faith tradition are inspired by them.”

What were some things that surprised you as you were making this film?

“Can you believe that we had not one technical glitch during the filming in Dharamsala? We had the team members from four countries and needed to truck in equipment from Delhi, which is 12 hours away. If any equipment broke we had no way to get replacements in fast enough. But not one thing went wrong. Which is all the proof I need that holy men were in the house.

“Another surprise was that despite the complications of COVID, we were able to complete the film on time and within budget. Hollywood has technical terms for such occurrences: A miracle. Once in a blue moon. When pigs fly. You get the picture. That’s a huge tribute to the phenomenal team that came together to make this film, including four Academy Award winners.”

Why do you think this story is important right now?

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if no one was hurting and a film like this wasn’t needed? And everyone on the planet already knew about the latest neuroscience and psychology research-based actions to help ourselves feel better? That, incidentally, look astonishingly like what spiritual traditions have been telling us for millennia?

“Even before the pandemic, there was a dramatic uptick in anxiety and depression, especially among young people. Now, one in four people report they are experiencing anxiety and depression. We see this even in our own families and circles of friends, right? People are hurting.

“That’s why we took the messages of the film one step further and operationalized what the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu shared. We partnered with researchers at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good In Action, UC San Francisco, Harvard and a consortium of other universities to create The BIG JOY Project. Anyone can sign up for free, and spend seven minutes a day for seven days trying out a different micro action that science shows boosts moods. At the end of seven days, you’ll get a cool BIG JOY Report that will show you which micro-act of joy works best for you!

“Already people from 108 countries have participated and have completed 38,572 micro-acts of joy! The BIG JOY Project is now the largest ever citizen-science project on joy. You’ve got to see the map of these people from all over the world. It’s a tidal wave of joy! We get excited about each and every additional dot on the map that appears, because we know that means that one more person is getting the quick start owner’s manual of how to be human and create more joy for themselves!”

If there were one lesson you hope people will take from this film, what would it be?

“Arch and His Holiness wanted everyone to know that, no matter their circumstances and no matter how broken they may feel, they are worthy of joy, and they are capable of creating it for themselves. If after seeing the film, people walk away with only that message, we have done our job.

“Archbishop Tutu and His Holiness joined forces one last time before the Archbishop passed away for a final shared mission: to help us create more joy for ourselves. They saw joy as that critical. To me, joy is the ultimate ‘clean fuel’ that powers everything we want to do in life. These great teachers put their hard-earned wisdom about the how-to of joy into movie form, as their final gift to each of us. It is yours to enjoy.”

The Dalai Lama’s team has organized a global watch event for the film via Facebook on June 2. You can learn more about the film and how to host a screening at missionjoy.org