Month: July 2022

A Drake impersonator who apparently had the real Drake’s approval was banned from Instagram, despite having the star’s co-sign for his activities. “Izzy Drake” recently gained attention for his resemblance to the Canadian rapper/singer and capitalized by making public appearances. He’s even gone as far as cutting Drake’s signature heart-shaped design into his hairline while Drake bore the look to promote his 2021 album Certified Lover Boy. Most recently, Izzy Drake gained more notoriety after challenging the real one to a boxing match with a $1 million prize.

It looks like the impersonator’s antics violated Instagram’s terms of service, which forbid impersonating public figures — apparently even if said impersonators have the originals’ blessings.

If there were a star whose life you’d want to live lately, it’s Drake. Despite taking some flak from fans about his recent work including fellow rapper Denzel Curry, Drake appears to be living the dream. Although he’s known for making sadboy anthems for the clubs, he’s was all smiles as he crashed Backstreet Boys recent Toronto show and met Haim at a “random restaurant” in his hometown (of course Drake’s a big fan of both boy bands and girl groups). He also has lots of other reasons to grin; his new album, Honestly, Nevermind, recently became his 11th Billboard No.1 with every song charting on the Hot 100. Oh, and he just made a lot of money selling one of his houses and betting on UFC.

Who wouldn’t want to be Drake?

The Boys‘ very first scene began with a great trauma — Hughie stood outside with his lady love, Robin; A-Train zoomed by and pulverized her; Hughie was left holding her detached and bloodied hands, ain’t that romance? — and charged straight into amplified mayhem and raunchiness galore. Amid that chaos, the show’s digging deep into great characterization, and two backstories are finally coming to the forefront in Season 3. All of this is making me reflect back upon what Slipknot’s Corey Taylor (speaking about the band’s “Solway Firth” making a first-season video tie-in) told us about Season 1:

“[W]ith Butcher’s character in there, the catastrophe that happens with him, the catastrophe that happens with Hughie, the fact that there is a real hatred that develops for the abusers, towards the abusers. And that’s reflected in that song. It is your moment to spit back in the face of the people who have taken advantage of you and abused you and harmed you and controlled you.”

Three seasons into this show, and I’m chuckling about how, prior to The Boys launch, the comic book-movie-loving TV audience endured a more innocent time. There was definitely something lacking, given that fans couldn’t forever make do with jokes about Captain America being the Language Police of the MCU while Zack Snyder attempted the “dark and gritty” thing with DC/Warner Bros. Yet The Boys (as those rarely successful satires tend to do) blew all of that out of the water. After one season, the show went weekly, which made some people very angry, but the episode-by-episode “digestion” phase also brought some stunning character rollouts. And those developments are much more impactful (and insightful) when absorbed weekly.

One major example of this: Antony Starr’s raunchy rooftop solo act landed as much more than a jerk-off session, and Starr has subsequently veered further into a terrifyingly layered performance. The show’s weekly pacing has allowed for the incremental reveal of exactly how flailingly desperate he is for true connection (even if he arguably isn’t capable of it), and as the show still follows Hughie, he’s obviously not handling his traumatic sh*t well by putting as much Compound V into his veins as possible.

Yet there are two more profound backstories now rising in Season 3. These stories provide the perfect opportunity to talk about how this show piles on the comically disgusting moments like no one else’s business, but showrunner Eric Kripke does not forget that the whole project is rooted in catastrophe and trauma. One story, in particular, resonates with me as an anxious person. I’m talking about Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), who differs from the comics (where he literally got Supe powers in utero from his mother) and whose backstory (on the show) remained murky until this season. He’s also (and this has been alluded to plenty before now) nursing some hefty anxiety that manifests itself in obsessive-compulsive disorder, and this season, we find out why that’s the case.

Now, I’m not going to go into DSM-5 depths of OCD here, but let’s just say that the show worked out how to have (appropriate) fun with this affliction, too, and it does so in a way that’s consistent with the spirit of the show. Poor Mother’s Milk is not only obsessed with keeping things orderly, but he’s also the guy who got attacked by Love Sausage last season, and — this had to happen to someone — he had the worst time during the “Herogasm” episode. Not only did the Ant-Man-sex guy ruin MM’s jacket, but then another hero really ruined it. This Twitter reaction says it all.

Not only is there an unspoken “Father’s Milk” joke in there, but this horror would be more horrific to an OCD sufferer (who’s prone feeling immense anxiety about disorder and/or having germaphobia in the mix) than anyone else. And the miraculous thing is that The Boys is roasting this affliction, something that can really affect one’s quality of life, and it actually works. It’s funny (and I can say that, having experienced with the disorder), but the origins of MM’s OCD are much more serious. In fact, he’s arguably got the most tragic backstory in all of The Boys (the show and the group).

As this season informs us, MM feels pure hatred toward Soldier Boy while Butcher and Hughie are keen to recruit him to take down Homelander. That hatred is perfectly justified, given that Soldier Boy killed members of MM’s family. And that’s what sparked the OCD, as MM described while speaking of his compulsion to check the stove burners over and over again, out of fear that Soldier Boy will come back and keep killing his family. As MM phrases things, “I gotta get this motherf*cker out of my head,” but as we see leading up to the finale, Butcher shuts down the realization of that vengeance. Yet all scenarios are on the table for the season’s ending.

In addition to MM’s story, this season’s also been filling us in on Black Noir. He is, of course, the completely silent, never-unmasked ninja who received the backstory that we never knew we needed. Imaginary friends!

My goodness, the show’s leaping to such creative heights this season, after putting Kimiko and Frenchie into a musical scene, and now, we’re meeting Black Noir’s imaginary cadre of animated best friends. It’s a little bit Snow White (with some Roger Rabbit), and these creatures (who have apparently been keeping him company for the entire show) told the audience why Black Noir cut and ran from The Seven after hearing of Soldier Boys’ unfrozen-hero arrival. That realization upset Black Noir enough that he ripped the tracker out of his arm and left the tower. There’s a deep fear and trauma there that no one realized existed, and the way that The Boys introduced this was stunning and perhaps the only believable way that Noir’s backstory could be told.

Those cartoon characters told Noir’s backstory in a way that stayed consistent with the character, but Noir did not passively sit by and listen. Instead, Nathan Mitchell acted the hell out of these scenes without showing us a facial expression or uttering a word. Sure, there was a sigh here and there, but the heavy lifting came from Mitchell’s body language. And we learned why he feared Soldier Boy, given that Noir was once part of Payback, which worked together to put Soldier Boy down, given that he’s an awful, jingoistic, loathsome Supe. And we don’t know precisely why Noir’s mind is inhabited by these animated creatures, but there are clearly some serious layers at work.

Where those layers go, we may soon find out in the season finale. Soldier Boy’s arrival stirred up much of what we learned about both MM and Noir this season, and there’s surely more to come this week, given the emotional heft of both their backstories. Yet what I’m very much appreciating is how The Boys is not only committed to giving us all of the unbelievable scenarios when it comes to the show’s outrageousness, but the essences and motivations of these characters always feel believable through the show’s writing. Like I said earlier, The Boys was born from trauma, and it never let up. There’s no reason to believe that the show’s traumatized characters will ease their pain, but at least we know that the show will do their stories justice. The season finale’s a satisfying one, too, so gather ’round to see how everyone will deal with the Soldier Boy problem.

Amazon’s ‘The Boys’ releases new episodes on Fridays.

(Spoilers for Season 3 of The Boys will be found below.)

People have strong feelings after The Boys (er, Vought International) posted a Fourth Of July tribute to Homelander. And some of those feelings are difficult to parse, after far-right fans of the show actually did have a raging meltdown after finally realizing that Homelander’s a villain. That kind of confusion and back-and-forth to be expected when the show manages to be a rarely successful satire that skewers superhero culture. Homelander has always been a dirty dog and pure evil; he sent an entire plane full of people to their deaths. Now that he’s facing off with Soldier Boy (that time-capsuled MAGA prototype) about who’s the “upgrade,” laughter has ensued after the far-right’s dismay that a rapist and a murderer would dare to be publicly homicidal and do something bad like make a woman commit suicide because it’s his birthday.

Homelander ain’t the good guy, obviously. Most of the show’s viewers get this, and on Twitter, people are having quite the reaction to a tweet from a The Boys‘ sub-account, Vought International, which made a Fourth of July declaration. During a year when the Supreme Court has made it difficult for a lot of people to feel patriotic, this tweet feels like an intentionally pointed barb:

“It’s our patriotic duty to trust those who can get the job done. And there’s no one better at defending American values than Homelander. Don’t listen to anarchists and the lamestream media, this country is PROSPERING! Happy Independence Day, and thank you, Homelander!”

People who watch the show decided, “Heck, why not?” and joined in on the joke while pretending to be on Homelander’s side after his breakup with Starlight. As fans know, however, Annie January is the one who torched Homelander while quitting The Seven and exposing their leader’s real nature to citizens of The Boys universe.

Not everyone was onboard for the holiday spirit, and here’s an enormously valid point (note: not an actual response to Vought) from Joanna Robinson of The Ringer.

And there were people who pushed back at the Vought tweet, too.

For the moment, Vought seems to have the last (officially timelined) word. In a tweet, they accused Annie January of being “a glory hound who became hysterical after Homelander ended their relationship.” They also declared that she had headed “into insurrectionist territory and made a reconciliation impossible.” Man, the season finale can’t come soon enough this week.

The Boys is currently releasing weekly Season 3 episodes on Amazon.

Olivia Rodrigo completed the North American section of her Sour Tour at the end of May, and after a brief break, she journeyed across the pond to pick things up for the European section of the tour. So far, she’s performed at Glastonbury while also doing shows in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and more. After her Glastonbury set, Rodrigo stayed put in the United Kingdom, as she is set to perform four shows across five days. On July 3, she was scheduled to perform in Manchester, but prior to taking the stage, she decided to stop by a dive bar in this city to deliver a surprise performance with her band.

“I’m dead sober,” Rodrigo said before launching into a cover of Natalie Imbruglia‘s 1977 pop record “Torn” at Bunny Jackson’s, a dive bar in Manchester. The record proved to be a hit for Imbruglia, but it was also one for Rodrigo at dive bar as folks in attendance absolutely loved her performance. Unsurprisingly enough, they also shared videos and posts about her performance on social media.

“Why yes Olivia Rodrigo, of course you can turn up at Bunny Jacksons on a bloody Sunday evening and play a song for a laugh before our 3rd set,” one person wrote. According to Billboard, they later added, “Mate, it was wild. They just showed up after playing the arena and her TM asked to jump on between our sets! They were all very lovely.”

You can watch Rodrigo’s dive bar performance in the video above.

The hit Harry Styles single “As It Was” has spent a lot of time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this year, but it hasn’t had a ton of consecutive weeks on top. It spent its first week (the chart dated April 16) on top; got knocked out by Jack Harlow’s “First Class;” spent two more weeks at No. 1; got dethroned by Future, Drake, and Tems’ “Wait For U,” later enjoyed another four frames atop the chart; and last week got ousted by Drake and 21 Savage’s “Jimmy Cooks.”

Well, it turns out “As It Was” is one of the most resilient songs in chart history: On the new Hot 100 chart dated July 9, the Styles single is one again back at No. 1 for an eighth total week.

This is the fourth total stint at No. 1 for “As It Was,” which actually ties the all-time record for most separate trips to the top. In that regard, it now stands alongside Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” (from 2019 to 2022), 24kGoldn and Iann Dior’s “Mood” (in 2020 and 2021), and Drake’s “Nice For What” (2018).

Meanwhile, new to the top 10 is Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul,” which debuted at No. 15 last week and now, in its first full week of tracking, has risen to No. 7. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” is also sticking around, as it rises from No. 9 last week to No. 6 this week.

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

July 4, 2022 will be remembered as a day of sorrow. Throughout the country, many Americans woke up to the news that at least six people had been killed and dozens more injured when, shortly after 10:15 a.m. ET, a gunman began shooting into the crowd of families and revelers who had gathered for what should have been a celebratory Fourth of July parade in the picturesque Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois.

Approximately 45 minutes earlier, at 9:30 a.m., The NRA had sent out a tweet reminding its followers (and anyone else who unfortunately stumbled across it) that the reason Americans have an Independence Day to celebrate at all is because of men with guns.

They then followed that tweet up with this:

Approximately 12 hours later, Philadelphia’s Parkway Fireworks were interrupted by yet another active shooter situation:

Yet through it all—and yes, even right now—The NRA’s tweets remain posted. While it’s very likely that the posts had been previously scheduled, that they opted to leave them up while the country mourned yet another deadly mass shooting speaks volumes about the gun-lovin’ organization’s frequently indecorous manner, which almost seems to have become part of their mission statement.

The only other statement The NRA has made sense the deadly attack is a woe-is-us retweet:

Which indicates that someone was behind the Twitter controls at some point and could have easily either deleted the earlier sentiments, given the violence that erupted shortly after they were sent, or issued a statement lamenting the loss of life. That they chose neither should hardly be surprising.

In 1999, just over a week after the massacre at Columbine High School, The NRA chose to forge ahead with a previously planned event in Denver, less than 15 miles from where the violence had occurred. In May, the group held its annual “meeting of the mindless” over Memorial Day weekend in Houston, Texas just days after a teenager killed 21 people—including 19 children—a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, with both Ted Cruz (who got heckled after his speech) and Donald Trump (who danced his way offstage) in attendance.

As of July 5, 2022—just a little over halfway into the year—there have been a total of 351 mass shootings in America, which have claimed the lives of more than 400 people and injured more than 1,300 individuals. But The NRA, with its only tweet since the tasteless early morning messages from July 4, seems to be suggesting that they are victims, too.

Miley Cyrus has often shared her mixed feelings toward her breakout television series, Hannah Montana. While the series took its toll on her, it was also rough on her younger sister, Noah.

Ahead of her upcoming debut album, The Hardest Part, Noah Cyrus spoke with Rolling Stone about her anxiety, which spawned into an addiction to Xanax. In the interview, she mentioned that her anxiety stemmed partly from growing up in a family that was constantly under the spotlight — especially when Miley was on Hannah Montana.

“I had a really hard time being a part of a public family, and I struggled a bit with that, because it wasn’t exactly my first choice,” said Noah. “I had a hard time with people coming up to me and saying, ‘Are you Miley Cyrus’ little sister,’ or, ‘Are you Hannah Montana’s little sister?’ I did not like that, and it stripped me of my own identity for a long time.”

Noah revealed that there were times she’d reply “no” when asked if she was related to Miley.

As a child, Cyrus enjoyed riding horses at Far West Farms in Los Angeles. Training under acclaimed rider Nick Karazissis allowed her a reprieve from unwanted attention.

“Obviously, I had a family that was split up a lot,” Noah said. “Here I had something so permanent. […] They would always make sure that when I came here I was Noah. I wasn’t a Cyrus, I was just Noah.”

The Hardest Part is out 9/16 via Columbia Records. Pre-save it here.

TJ Warren has played in just four games over the last two seasons, including missing all of last year, with stress fractures in his left foot, which derailed what was a breakout 2020 campaign in Indiana.

As Warren has been sidelined, the Pacers have launched a rebuild and when Warren hit free agency this summer, there was plenty of mystery about his medicals and what his market might be. On Tuesday, word emerged that Warren had agreed to a one-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets, as he’ll hope to get healthy and prove himself next season before hitting free agency again in 2023.

Warren was terrific in 2020, particularly in the Bubble, but never got a chance to back that up. His health will dictate a lot about what comes next in his career, but he’ll also be beholden to what happens on the Nets roster between now and camp, as Brooklyn looks to figure out trades for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Aside from the disaster happening on the star front, the Nets have actually had a decent start to free agency, inking Patty Mills and Nic Claxton to two-year deals that provide solid value and now adding a buy-low candidate in Warren who could be a real contributor if he can get healthy.

Alex Jones is off his f**king rocker. This is, of course, nothing new for Jones. But in the Fourth of July speech he gave on Infowars, Jones made it clear that he believes there are evil aliens among us—or that someone spiked his holiday punch with some sort of hallucinogen.

As Raw Story reports, Jones seemed to be channeling Bill Pullman’s fictional President Thomas Whitmore from Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day movie when he warned Infowars viewers about the dangers we’re currently facing:

I declare this July 4, 2022 to be a Declaration of Independence against the alien force on this planet today waging war against humans and our biology and our very future. [It] is attempting to exterminate the majority of us and force the minority that’s left to merge with AI computers and become cyborg sex slaves of Satan.

While not quite as rousing as Pullman’s “We will not go quietly into the night!” address—which, oddly, was recently played for Marjorie Taylor Greene during the hearing to determine whether she could lawfully seek reelection, and Donald Trump once stole, much to Pullman’s annoyance—Jones does deserve some credit for finding a way to shove aliens, technology, and Satan into one conspiracy theory. Way to go, Alex.

As Sarah K. Burris wrote for Raw Story, “It’s unclear where Jones got this information as it hasn’t appeared on the QAnon message boards yet nor has anyone posted photos online of UFOs or alien invasions.” There’s also the possibility, of course, that he thought Independence Day was a news report. According to Burris:

An actual documentary done by CNN on Alex Jones cited some of those he grew up with. One of his childhood friends recalled Jones being obsessed with Satan, and at times, he claimed, seemed like he was possessed.

“He would talk in tongues a lot and get into these trances,” said Bo Durham, who grew up with Jones outside of Dallas, Texas. Jones was later forced to move from the city after he nearly killed another student, the documentary said.

Randy Talley, a teacher and football coach at the school, was also interviewed for the same documentary. While he claimed he does not believe in “witchcraft,” he did note that Jones “could turn his tongue black and mouth black and he would stick his tongue out and shake his head as though he were possessed.”

(Via Raw Story)

Keanu Reeves being a lovely, wholesome dude is the stuff of legends, so it’s no surprise that folks are lining up in droves for his latest act of kindness. While arriving in New York City on July 4th, the actor was approached by an exciting young fan who couldn’t help but pepper Reeves with questions. According to TV producer Andrew Kimmel, who snapped a photo of the sweet moment, Reeves was nothing but pure class as he answered every single question, and even fired back some of his own.

Kimmel provided a play-by-play of the wholesome moment, and he wasn’t kidding around when he said Keanu handled a barrage of questions, and couldn’t have been nicer about it:

Kid: Why were you in London?

KR: Filming a documentary.

Kid: I saw online you were at the Grand Prix (pronouncing the x)

KR: Yes, the Grand Prix (in a French accent, without correcting him). F1! Race cars!

Kid: Do you drive?

KR: Not F1, but I like riding motorcycles.

Kid: Do you live in NY?

KR: I live in LA.

Kid: How long are you gonna be in New York?

KR: Four days! No… five. Five days!

Kid: Why are you in NY?

KR: Gonna see a broadway show!

Kid: What broadway show?
KR: American Buffalo! Mamet!

Kid: Where are you staying in NY?
KR: Midtown!

By this time the kid was running out of questions, so Keanu started grilling him Why were you in Europe? What galleries did you go to in Paris? What was your favorite?

Reeves even stopped to take a photo with Kimmel who, like any human being with a soul, couldn’t pass up a chance to snag a selfie with Keanu:

After Kimmel posted the sweet Keanu moment on Twitter, people went absolutely nuts as the interaction went instantly viral. Keanu’s kindness was just the salve folks needed during some, let’s be honest, pretty dark times:

(Via Andrew Kimmel on Twitter)