Month: July 2022

Forget Mjölnir and Stormbreaker, Faux Thor knows that the real weapon is a pair of good smelling armpits.

That’s right, Thor, the “Award-Winning Asgardian Actor,” is back for an Old Spice commercial, which was timed for the upcoming release of Thor: Love And Thunder. You can thank Taika Waititi for all of this, given that he introduced Luke-Thor in Thor: Ragnarok, who appeared in a production-inside-of-a-production alongside Sam Neill’s Faux Odin and Matt Damon’s Faux Loki.

(Note: Is Damon actually the Ultimate Loki? That crypto ad might tell a trickster tale.)

Luke and Matt will both return in cameo mode for Thor: Love and Thunder, and everyone knows that smelling fresh is part of being a good moviegoer. So whatever deodorant you choose, please simply use it, and you’ll “Smell Like A God,” too. But as this commercial advises, “never let a crowd see you sweat.” And make sure that when you reach for that hammer, you won’t spark the multiverse with pheromones or something.

There’s no official word yet on what Faux Thor does in Love and Thunder, but we do know that Legit Thor (not Lebowski Thor) attempts to retire, and Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher ruins that plan. This leads Thor to recruit King Valkyrie and Jane Foster (Mighty Thor) to take down Gorr. And when all of that is said and done, maybe they can say screw New Asgard and head to Aruba.

Thor: Love And Thunder storms into theaters (you got that right) on July 8.

The Lakers will bring a familiar face back to Los Angeles as they look to revamp their roster for this coming season, as Thomas Bryant, who was drafted by the Lakers as a second rounder in 2017, will join the squad on a one-year deal, per Chris Haynes.

Bryant averaged 7.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in his limited 27 appearances with the Wizards last season, returning late in the year from an ACL injury. In his three prior seasons in Washington, Bryant had established himself as a solid offensive big man when on the floor, knocking down threes at a 37.4 percent clip prior to his injury and averaging 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds. For a Lakers team that will be looking for ways to space the floor, Bryant provides them with a five-man that can step out into the corners and give LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook more room to operate.

Whether Bryant can meet Darvin Ham’s demands for strong defense will likely determine whether he can land the starting job, as Haynes notes he’ll have the opportunity to play for. Bryant joins Damian Jones on the roster as the two true centers alongside Davis, who we will surely once again hear about plans to play more at the five given the roster limitations if he doesn’t — although it wouldn’t be a surprise if Dwight Howard also returns, pending roster openings.

Over the Fourth Of July weekend, Travis Barker informed his fans that he was “currently much better” after he was rushed to the hospital for what was initially an unknown health issue. It was later revealed that the hospitalization was for pancreatitis which came after Travis had an endoscopy procedure. Thankfully, it’s clear that Travis is indeed doing better as he was spotted in the studio on Tuesday according to People. The publication reports that he was seen outside of his Calabasas, California studio moments before he gave a fist bump to one of the studio workers and walked in.

Over the weekend, in addition to telling fans he was doing better, Travis also went into detail to explain what led to his hospitalization. “I went in for an endoscopy Monday feeling great,” he wrote in on tweet, adding, “But After dinner, I developed excruciating pain and have been hospitalized ever since.” In a second post, he added, “During the endoscopy, I had a very small polyp removed right in a very sensitive area, usually handled by specialists, which unfortunately damaged a critical pancreatic drainage tube. This resulted in severe life-threatening pancreatitis.”

More recently, Travis shared a couple of tweets that expressed his gratitude for a full recovery. “7 days in the hospital,” he wrote. “Grateful for so much [prayer hands emoji]”.

It’s not infrequently that Britney Spears takes to Instagram and shows off some skin. Well, Spears has done it again, this time taking a few moments out of her honeymoon to craft a new topless post, a video of her striking various poses on the beach.

Spears wrote, “Part 2 of the Honeymoon here in this unbelievable tropical piece of paradise … No this is not a girls gone wild campaign … It’s simply me living my life !!! this is what happens when you do a two week yacht island vacation … jumping from island to island is literally insane !!! Girls if you want to lose weight, fly in a helicopter and you lose all your fluid from being nervous … I MEAN I think I dropped 4 pounds in a day … enough shallow talk right ladies ??? That’s too offensive … oh well.”

This comes about a week after Sam Asghari sat down with Good Morning America in promotion of his upcoming movie Hot Seat and said, “The husband thing hasn’t hit me yet. It was way overdue for us. We imagined this thing being a fairytale, and it was. And we wanted to celebrate with, you know, our loved ones, our close people. We wanted to just celebrate, and that’s what we did.”

Check out some of Spears’ other recent honeymoon/travel posts below.

Carlos Santana was playing a show at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan tonight when the famous guitarist passed out on stage. Luckily, he recovered quickly and waved to fans as he walked off the stage. Fans cheered supportively as he left, and some took footage.

He’s currently on the Miraculous Supernatural 2022 tour with Earth, Wind & Fire. Last year, Santana had to cancel his month’s residency in Las Vegas because of a heart procedure that his management called “unscheduled.”

Also last year, Santana and Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas, who made the iconic 1999 hit “Smooth” together, reunited for a new song, “Move.” Santana said of the song, “‘Move’ came about was very much like how ‘Smooth’ happened. It was like divine intelligence behind the scenes, and I just knew I had to record it with Rob. The song is about awakening your molecules. Ignite and activate yourself — you know, move. When Rob and I work together, we have a sound that’s splendiferous.” The track was described in press materials as, “Santana’s vibrant opening guitar licks set things ablaze, and then we’re off on a grinding, grooving, swaggering, swaying, and altogether breathtaking mix of pop and Latin rock with sure-fire hooks for days.

It’s been nearly two weeks since the right-leaning Supreme Court eradicated Roe v. Wade (as well as other radical decisions), thus ending safe and legal abortion in much of the United States. It’s a calamity for women, and even Republicans are amazed at how little Democratic leaders have done to fix it. Indeed, so far a random guy who wrote a letter-to-the-editor has done more to make the case for restoring reproductive rights.

The Advocate ran a letter from a retired computer programmer named Tom Barton, who describes himself as “an old man who’s probably already had his last sex,” though, he adds, “that doesn’t mean I’ve turned against it.” He calls outlawing abortion a “bad idea,” and sex, well, pretty much the opposite:

In my mind, sex is the best it gets. It’s fun, good exercise and free! Most importantly, it’s life’s most spectacular form of intimacy. Think of music, think of poetry.

People are going to have sex. We humans love to make love. Of course, sometime procreation is what it’s all about, but that’s only “sometimes.”

Barton points out wanted pregnancies are a “wondrous miracle.” Unwanted pregnancies, not so much. “Raising a kid is a 21-year project that’s going to take up all of the parent(s)’ resources,” he says. “Even then, it might never be finished. Pushing people into parenthood is bad business.”

He also points out that when anti-abortion advocates describe abortions as “killing babies,” they’re really — unintentionally, or maybe intentionally — using the wrong terminology:

All my life I’ve known the difference between a fetus and a baby. Now I’m being told there is no difference. That’s a distortion of words, and an error. The foundation of a house is not a “beloved home.” A three-month-old fetus is not a baby.

“Sex is beautiful,” Barton concludes. “God did give it to us. We should not be asking every man and woman, every time they enjoy this gift, to be wagering on a lifelong obligation to raise a child.”

You can read the full letter at The Advocate.

After an appetizer in San Francisco over the holiday weekend, NBA Summer League continued on Tuesday with the scene shifting to Salt Lake City. For many, the main event of Summer League season doesn’t arrive until the entire league descends on Las Vegas but, for the diehards tuning into Tuesday’s matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Utah Jazz, fireworks were evident. Most of the attention was rightly paid to No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren, who put on an individual show in leading Oklahoma City to a 98-77 victory.

Holmgren, who was making his professional debut, finished the first half with 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting and 4-for-5 from three-point range. For a player who is not necessarily known for his scoring prowess, it was a reminder of his all-court talent, and Holmgren also stuffed the stat sheet with two rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and a steal before halftime.

To open his evening, Holmgren got started with a breezy dunk.

That set the stage for the shooting exhibition that was to come. Holmgren showed off easy NBA three-point range, and also busted out a Dirk Nowitzki-like one-legged fadeaway that turned heads.

Holmgren’s defense also showed up in Salt Lake City and, in many ways, his versatility and dominance on that end remain his calling cards at this point. He rejected shots in bunches, including a prominent instance in which he turned a blocked shot into a fast break opportunity with the help of his own ball-handling chops.

On a night when he showcased virtually every tool in the box, Holmgren finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, and six (!) blocked shots in less than 24 minutes of action. Of course, it would be unwise to take too much from a single Summer League game from any prospect, but Holmgren did flash the unique defensive feel and acumen that was billed with him as a prospect, and his shooting range (and confidence) leaped off the screen.

Up next for Holmgren and the Thunder will be a tilt against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday in Salt Lake City. It will be quite interesting to see what he has in store for the follow-up, but there will be plenty of attention paid to Holmgren after the performance he put together on Tuesday.

Guapdad 4000 may be in trouble. The Oakland-native rapper has been sent a cease and desist by Gap, who are accusing Guap of copying their logo for his merch. He reacted by taking the matter to Instagram to smile with the physical letter and ask what his fans thought with side-by-side pictures of his merch and Gap products.

He captioned it: “HOW SIMILAR IS TOO SIMILAR? PRAY FOR ME. GOING LIVE LATER TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED. UNTIL THEN COP AS MUCH ‘ILLEGAL’ MERCH WHILE IT’S STILL AVAILABLE on GUAPDAD4000.com.” In the video, he said: “This don’t even look like their hoodie, it’s a whole different hoodie! I’m not ceasing sh*t.” The comments mostly consist of laughing emojis and people calling it iconic.

A couple of months ago, Guap dropped “Cheap,” a track that reminisced on his days using fake IDs and cracked credit cards to go on shopping sprees. It followed the release of “Ruthless,” which was a collaboration with one of his favorite producers, James Delgado. It came after 2021’s 1176, a !llmind collaborative album that featured none other than P-Lo and Rick Ross.

Guapdad 4000 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ray J loves his sister Brandy. I mean, he really loves his sister Brandy. Last year, he got a large tattoo of Brandy’s name inked on his arm in the same font as the cover of her debut self-titled album. But that wasn’t enough, because Ray-J just got another tattoo of his sister on his body. This time it’s of her face and it’s on his right leg. But it’s not as straightforward as that may sound.

Ray J posted an Instagram Video (set to Brandy’s song “Best Friend”) to showcase the new ink, done by tattoo artist Mashkow, who has a very distinct style. It’s a portrait of Brandy, but with “Best Friend” written on her forehead, “4 Ever” on her cheeks (“4” on one and “Ever” on the other) and Mashkow’s signtaure over her right eyelid. It makes Brandy almost look like a Post Malone-style face-tatted caricature. But this is what Mashkow is known for and Ray J was pumped. “New Brandy tattoo by one of the greatest!! Mashkow,” he posted. Adding that, “I’m getting my whole leg tatted with – music- love – scriptures – the vocal bible – family -ghosts -positive words and themes – real gothic like — ‘The Holy Leg!! – Gonna take a minute!! But I got the best doing it!! Stay Tuned!! Full leg tatt — I had to start with my best friend!!”

It’s quite the homage to his sister. And perhaps now, it will finally register with people (ahem… Jack Harlow) that not only are Ray J and Brandy siblings, but they have been their whole lives.

Blackpink have been teasing their return for quite a bit this year, telling interviewers that they were preparing for their return and planning a tour. Today, YG Entertainment has finally announced the group’s return, which will happen this summer. New music will come in August; they’re currently in the final stages of recording an album.

“A lot of BLACKPINK-esque music has been prepared over a long period of time,” YG Entertainment said in a statement. “On top of new music and large-scale projects, BLACKPINK will also go on the largest world tour in the history of a K-pop girl group by the end of the year to expand their rapport with fans worldwide.”

The group’s last studio album was the eclectic 2020 LP The Album, whose video for “How You Like That” set the record for the biggest video premiere ever on the platform after 1.65 million people tuned in to the clip’s YouTube premiere. Shortly after, they broke another record: They became the most subscribed artist on YouTube, surpassing Justin Bieber with a total of 65.2 million subscribers, only five years and three months after they launched their official channel. Their long-awaited comeback is sure to be met with waves of excitement and enthusiasm.