Month: November 2022

Adidas may have officially ended its partnership with Kanye West, but apparently, that won’t stop the sportwear giant from using the designs spawned by the Yeezy line, according to Complex. During its Q3 2022 earnings call, Adidas CFO Harm Ohlmeyer said the company intends to continue using those designs as early as next year, while figuring out what to do with its current inventory of Yeezy products, which were recalled after Kanye made antisemitic remarks on social media and in interviews.

As Ohlmeyer said, “I want to repeat very clearly that we are the sole owner of the intellectual property rights to the current and future colorways and we have a lot of things in the archive so there are plans that we are vetting right now.” Meanwhile, Ohlmeyer predicted a short-term impact on Adidas’ income due to the end of the Yeezy deal but said that the company would save €300 million in royalty payments to Kanye as well as marketing for the products. The company could lose $250 million.

Of course, the brand still owns the Yeezy designs so it makes sense that it’d use them after paying for all the research and development upfront. Besides, depending on who you ask, signature atheletes and entertainers rarely have as much input as Kanye seems to want people to believe that he did. If anything, the designs that remain may just be rebranded without the Yeezy name, which Kanye owns and which no one seems to want to associate with at the moment anyway.

It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Brooklyn Nets were going to hire Ime Udoka as the team’s head coach in the aftermath of Steve Nash’s departure. And then, the days went on, and Brooklyn did not bring the embattled Boston Celtics coach on board to fill their vacant position.

Instead, Jacque Vaughn, who has been the team’s interim head coach over the last four games, had the interim label removed from his title on Wednesday, while Udoka continues to be suspended from the Celtics following an improper relationship with a female staff member. Reports indicated that Boston was willing to let Udoka, who was an assistant coach under Nash in Brooklyn, leave for another head coaching position.

Both Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic bring word of what happened to lead to Brooklyn’s change of heart. Unsurprisingly, the circumstances that led to Udoka’s suspension in Boston played a role, as did the ongoing Kyrie Irving antisemitism controversy in Brooklyn, which has led to the former All-NBA guard receiving a suspension from the team in recent days.

Via ESPN:

The Nets backed off an initial plan to hire Udoka based on several factors, including a prolonged antisemitism controversy with Kyrie Irving coupled with the impending disruption that would’ve come with the hiring of Udoka in the aftermath of his suspension in Boston for an improper relationship with a female subordinate, sources told Wojnarowski.

Charania, meanwhile, cited “an investigation and due diligence process by the Nets into the suspended coach taking longer than initially expected, the outcry after word of their plan became known to people outside and inside the organization and the short- and long-term question marks around the team’s ability to contend in the Eastern Conference as a result of the indefinite suspension of Irving.”

Earlier this week, Marc Stein reported that Nets owner Joe Tsai received advice from “strong voices” to reconsider hiring Udoka, and ultimately the team moved in a different direction. The convergence of a number of factors seemed to result in this change, but it does raise questions about how the team initially handled looking into Udoka’s suspension and whether the longer they looked the more they found that made them have a change of heart.

The White Lotus Misery Index is a weekly accounting of who and/or what is having the worst time in paradise in season two of the HBO series. The rankings are based on a number of factors, none of which can or will be quantified in any way. We are doing art here, not science.

UNRANKED: Lucia and Mia (going on a spending spree, singing beautiful songs at the piano bar, getting to shove it all in Valentina the Manager’s face, really very little to complain about); Cameron and Daphne (we’re going to find out something awful about them eventually but right now they’re just a pair of happy beautiful airheads, which is not the worst thing to be in life); Guiseppe the Piano Man (zero drinks whipped in his face this week, which represent a marked improvement); eating a big bowl of pasta with clams (slurp it up); Rocco the White Lotus staffer (I can’t decide if I want an entire episode just about Rocco or if I just want to see him get yelled at for 10 seconds every episode)

10. Ethan (Last week: Unranked)

Let’s check in on Ethan:

• Waking up super early to go run through Sicily by himself
• Cranking away on himself while his wife is at brunch and then showing no interest in finishing with her when she walks in on him mid-crank
• Said “I’m just pointing out a personality quick. You do it all the time” to his wife, which is something you only do if you are a sweet oblivious dope or boiling with secret white-hot rage

Nothing would surprise me about Ethan at this point. Next episode could open with him just like staring at a spoon for five straight minutes and I’d be like “Yeah, that makes enough sense.” Or he could kill a dog. That’s possible, too. I have zero read on this guy. He fascinates me.

9. Greg (Last week: Unranked)

Let’s see if I have this correct…

Greg wanted to give Tanya her beautiful Sicilian dream day — Vespas and pasta and all of it — before he ran back home to continue his secret relationship with whoever was on the phone at the end, and he made a big deal out of how he only needs to take these “work trips” because she made him sign a prenup, which raises the very real possibility that he is just trying to sweet-talk and guilt trip her into ripping it up so he can leave with half of her fortune and go back to this other woman, but he hates doing anything with Tanya so much that he can’t even hide his displeasure for 10 minutes while they’re cruising around the beautiful Italian countryside together.

Greg has a lot going on. He’s a grifter and a scumbag and a scam artist but he’s not that good at any of it. I hope he gets so fed up with everything by the end of this trip that he just tries to steal a sculpture out of the lobby.

8. Dominic (Last week: 2)

His wife hates him. His daughter hates him. His son mostly hates him but is too much of a sweetheart to say it to his big dumb face. Two teenage Sicilian prostitutes are charging thousands of dollars worth of food and designer outfits to his room. His dad won’t stop talking to him about his failing marriage and how to properly conduct an affair without making your wife furious. The aforementioned teenage prostitutes showed up drunk on cocktails he paid for and nudged him into a hot tub threesome he had been kind of trying to avoid in a half-hearted attempt at being a better man. He’s not sleeping great.

Could be better. Could be worse. I can’t wait to see his face when he gets the bill from the hotel.

7. Valentina the Manager (Last week: 5)

The bad news here is that she has to be nice-ish to Lucia and Mia now that they’re officially signed in as guests of Dom, which has to be tearing her up inside. And she didn’t seem too happy that the staff let Tanya rent a Vespa given… you know, everything about Tanya. I still maintain that she is the most interesting character on this show. I could watch her berate the staff and shoot suspicious eyeballs at hookers all day.

I kind of want to see her apply for a job to run one of the assassin hotels from John Wick. There’s still an opening at the Italian one after the second movie. I was joking when I started typing this paragraph but I’m getting more serious as I go. This happens to me sometimes.

6. Morning people, generally (Last week: Unranked)

I have never been a morning person nor have I ever understood them. I always showed up for high school right as the first bell rang, if not a little late. I’m usually awake past midnight and just hitting my creative groove. I am basically a zombie until I have enough coffee flowing through my system that you can see my pulse through my skin. People who wake up with a natural supply of energy terrify me. What are they up to? What’s so great about waking up that they bounce out of bed at sunrise and start doing activities? It’s suspicious to me. Someone should investigate this. Not me, though. I’ll still be asleep.

In conclusion, morning people are not to be trusted.

5. Tanya (Last week: 8)

ON ONE HAND: Massively insecure. Had a meltdown in public at a restaurant after (correctly) accusing her husband of being a loser and a scumbag. Swallowed a bug.

ON THE OTHER HAND: Got to ride a Vespa and slurp some pasta before it all went sideways.

I love her very much. I do not think I would enjoy knowing her in person. Both of these can things can be true.

4. Portia the Assistant (Last week: 1)

Spent a lovely-ish day touring Italian ruins with Albie and his weird family that was capped off with a romantic dinner where she told him how she just wants a little fun and adventure and a big dumb caveman who doesn’t even know what the word “discourse” means and then that poor sweet boy asked if he could kiss her and said thank you and turned around and retreated to his hotel room because he hates the philandering male authority figures in his life so much that it has cooked his entire brain into a soup of attempted chivalry.

Poor Portia.

3. Bert (Last week: Unranked)

Just wants his whole family together for a nice trip to Sicily to discover their roots. Which will never happen. In part, because of the poison he filled his son’s head with for the last 50 years. Which is… not great, in a lot of ways. I had him all over the top ten in the drafts of this post as I put it together. I settled on three because, while he seems really bummed out about it all and couldn’t even enjoy The Godfather in peace because he could hear his son’s pathetic jacuzzi threesome through the walls of their expensive hotel, he does seem to have a terrific collection of scarves, which has to count for something.

2. Harper (Last week: 3)

Hmm…

• Her husband seems to have no interest in her romantically
• She hates Cameron and Daphne so much and is spending a lot of time with them in part because of the first item on this list
• Can’t even swim in peace without Cameron grabbing her ankle underwater like a shark

The takeaways here are that Harper is not having fun and that Aubrey Plaza was perfectly cast in this role, which I say as a compliment of the highest order.

1. Albie (Last week: 6)

It is generally not great when your first date with a cute girl gets sidetracked by your perpetually horny grandfather talking about ancient gods sexually assaulting humans in hell and how whatever your mopey dad did to ruin your parents’ marriage couldn’t have been quite as bad as that.

This poor, sweet boy. I want this show to do a crossover with Succession just so he and my beloved Cousin Greg can, like, go to the zoo together. I think they would enjoy it.

Multi-genre recording artist Chiiild took fans on a trip back to his hometown on his new experimental single, “Bon Voyage.” If you’re a fan of his previously released tracks, “Eventually” and “Gone” featuring Jensen McRae, you are in for a treat with this self-produced number.

Co-written by long-time collaborator Mic Coogan, “Bon Voyage” is a sensory experience as it pulls together elements of R&B, alternative, and electronic music. The song’s title, which translates to ‘good journey,’ lets listeners know they are in for a sonic adventure. With lyrics like, “if you let me take you ’round / show you things you never found / hold your breath so you won’t drown / Synesthesia, feel the sound,” and, “Meet me on a mountain in a daydream / everybody out here on the same thing / but baby we’re just out here levitating,” listeners are transported into a masterfully conducted journey by the singer.

Always one for the theatrics, in the official video directed by Trey Lyons, Chiiild explores every nook and cranny of his hometown Montreal, Canada. Throughout the video, there are several disorienting shots in which Chiiild at times appears almost larger than life. This artistic touch drives home the point that Chiiild has outgrown his neighborhood and needs to leave the nest in order to fully develop himself not only as a person and as an artist as well.

When asked about the significance behind the track, Chiiild replied, “[‘Bon Voyage’] marks the beginning of this new chapter.” He then went onto Twitter to further expand on his point, writing, “I spent the past year trying to relive the feeling I had when working in my old basement on Brossard. This track was my theme song through that process.”

Chiiild acknowledged this theme would be explored further on his forthcoming album as he answered, “my aim with [Better Luck In The Next Life] is to give you a look inside my mind. Into the doubts, fears, ambitions, and a few connections along the way. It was a form of healing, putting these real situations into songs. When everybody is out here on the same thing, we’re just out here levitating.”

Chiiild has not yet shared the official release date for Better Luck In The Next Life, only promising to deliver it sometime next year. For now, we will accept “Bon Voyage” as a sweet taste of what to expect from the album.

Watch the video for “Bon Voyage” above.

The GOP’s prediction of a “red wave” sweeping the 2022 midterms turned out to be less of a tsunami and more of a disappointing ripple, one that signals Republicans might be more out-of-touch than they thought when it comes to the issues everyday Americans care about.

Of course, instead of questioning whether gutting abortion rights and platforming candidates with a track record of killing innocent puppies was the right move for the future of their party, right-wing pundits are looking for an easy scapegoat and the obvious choice is Donald Trump. After plenty of Trump-backed candidates underperformed in their respective races, even the Mar-a-Lago retiree’s staunchest supporters are now jumping ship. One such turncoat is Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany who suggested that the MAGA mascot should “put it on pause” when asked about Trump’s plan to run again in 2024.

When asked if she thought Trump should delay any presidential announcements he was planning for after the 2022 Midterms, McEnany replied, “I think he needs to put it on pause. Absolutely.”

When asked whether Trump should head to Georgia to boost support for his favored Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, McEnany responded with an ominous, “I think we’ve got to make strategic calculations.”

But, when it came to cheerleading Trump’s emerging Republican rival Governor Ron DeSantis, who easily won his reflection in Florida this week, McEnany was surprisingly candid.

“Gov. DeSantis, I think he should be welcomed to the state,” she said. “After what happened last night, you’ve got to look at the realities on the ground, and Herschel Walker, we’ve got to win the Senate.”

It sounds like the GOP may have a new golden boy. We can’t wait to see how Trump handles the news.

(Via RawStory)

Anitta opened about the reason why she twerked on Spanish politician Isabel Díaz Ayuso during a performance last week. In an interview that was released last night (November 8), the Brazilian superstar said didn’t know who Ayuso was at first.

Anitta went viral over the weekend thanks to her performance at the Los40 Music Awards on Friday night. While performing her global hit “Envolver,” she went out into the audience to dance with a few people in the front row. Anitta later twerked on Ayuso, the president of the Community of Madrid. The move was first seen as a possible queer statement by Anitta, who is openly bisexual. Ayuso is a conservative politician who previously said that she would repeal parts of Madrid’s LGBT law if she could.

In an interview on the Spanish program La Resistencia, Anitta explained what really went down with her performance. She said that her publicist suggested to her to dance with the people in that part of the audience where Ayuso was sitting. Anitta also revealed that she confused about Ayuso’s title as president of the Community of Madrid, thinking that she was the president of a Facebook community.

“I liked her very much, but I’m afraid I didn’t fully understand who she was until they showed me the madness that had unfolded [afterward],” Anitta said.

Anitta followed Ayuso on Instagram and the politician returned the favor. Next up, Anitta will host the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards on November 17 alongside Luis Fonsi, Thalia, and Laura Pausini.

Self-proclaimed “Emo-Afrobeat star” CKay has shared the video for his sensual new song, “Mmadu.” The track has been lauded as a fan-favorite from CKay‘s album, Sad Romance, which was released this past November, and on the song, he sings of a building urge to get intimate with his flame.

“I want you, I need you, whoa-whoa / I see through your see-through, whoa-whoa / You drive me crazy like a chauffeur / When I see you, I want to do you,” he sings on the track.

In the song’s accompanying video, CKay is seen in a resort eating dinner with a beautiful woman. The two are later seen enjoying intimate moments in the city of Lagos in bed, imagining they are the only two around.

“The inspiration, simply put, was sexual tension,” said CKay in a statement. “It’s more sensual than my previous videos. It makes me feel a mixture of sensuality, love, and sadness. An exciting mix of emotions. Very few songs make me feel like that.”

The video was directed by Ahmed Mosh, who Ckay said can capture emotion well.

“He also brings the beauty out of African aesthetics in a way very few can,” said CKay.

Check out the video for “Mmadu” above.

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

American single malt whiskey has officially arrived. Up until recently, the style still felt niche and very craft-driven, but that’s no longer the case. Jack Daniel’s just dropped their 2022 Special Release and it’s a Twice Barreled American Single Malt. Yes, the company best known for fruity/sweet Tennessee whiskey (bourbon and ryes) has gone all-in on America’s love of single malt whiskey.

While this sounds like a one-off to jump on a bandwagon, Jack Daniel’s team is truly all-in on the American single malt market. Earlier this year, they released their TripleMash, which was blended with their American single malt. Now, we have this year’s Special Release of American single malt whiskey at cask strength. Next year, Jack will release another American single malt with the exact same single malt whiskey proofed down to 45%/90 proof and at a price closer to $30 for everyday drinking/mixing.

Below, I’ll be taking a deep dive into what’s actually in the bottle. This is all about figuring out how good this stuff actually tastes and, in turn, whether it’s worth seeking out to add to your November bar cart. Let’s dive right in!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

• We Put A Whole Bunch Of Bourbons To A Giant Blind Test And Discovered Some Absolute Gems
• The Affordable Vs Expensive Blind Bourbon Bottle Battle
• We Blind Tasted Classic Bourbons And Were Shocked By The Winner
• The Best-Known Basic Bottles Of Bourbon, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States

Jack Daniel’s Twice Barreled 2022 Special Release American Single Malt

ABV: 52.85%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

This brand-new whiskey from Jack Daniel’s is made with a 100% malted barley mash bill. Those grains are milled and mashed with Jack’s famed cave spring water right in Lynchburg, Tennessee. That mash is then fermented with Jack’s own yeast and then distilled before the long process of charcoal mellowing/filtration. The hot juice is run through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal and is then filled into new American white oak barrels for a several-year rest. Finally, those barrels were vatted and re-barreled in Olorosso sherry casks for a final maturation before bottling as-is at cask strength.

Tasting Notes:

Light milk chocolate powder malts greet you on the nose with soft leather, a hint of cedar, fresh gingerbread, a hint of fresh wicker canes, oatmeal cookie dough, a whisper of spearmint, and some sweet ice tea powder. The palate opens up with a sense of sour red fruit with a rich vanilla foundation that leads to woody spices with a mild essence of pine sap and saddle soap before a vanilla white cake sweetness and soft mouthfeel kick in. The mid-palate expands toward higher ABV buzziness with a note of almond shell and coconut shell next to Mounds bars and fresh leather on the finish with a fleeting sense of cream soda just kissed with orange-chocolate syrup.

The Bottle:

This special release is in Jack’s classic limited edition bottle. It’s a nice decanter with a blue label that really stands out from the usual Jack Daniel’s subtle labeling. Overall, this is an eye-catching bottle of something very new.

Bottom Line:

This was very much a bourbon drinker’s American single malt. The maltiness came through on the nose mostly with the palate presenting a deep and very American whiskey flavor profile. I can see drinking this is an easy sipper without question. I also see it as a solid cocktail base for a single malt old-fashioned or even a snappy Sazerac.

Ranking:

89/100 — In the grand scheme of things, this is very good whiskey. While I wanted a little more maltiness, this was still well-flavored, balanced, and had great depth.

The pandemic ruined a lot of things, like Uber Pools and the general feeling of safety in a crowd, but it also took away the one thing Steven Spielberg really cares about (besides aliens that look like raisins): the movie-going experience.

Sure, Tom Cruise resurrected movie theaters this summer, and Nicole Kidman created her own cult out of every AMC Theater location, but that wasn’t enough for Spielberg, who says that outlets like HBO Max and Disney+ ruined movies by having them go straight to streaming, even when movies theaters were not open.

The director spoke with The New York Times about how the movie industry could survive the next wave of streaming. “The pandemic created an opportunity for streaming platforms to raise their subscriptions to record-breaking levels and also throw some of my best filmmaker friends under the bus as their movies were unceremoniously not given theatrical releases,” Spielberg explained.

This was prevalent in the summer of 2020, when big-budget movies like Tenet and Black Widdow weren’t given that theatrical release window they were promised due to …everything. This caused a very upset Christopher Nolan to stop making movies with his longtime collaborators at Warner Bros. His next film, Oppenheimer, will be his first movie not to be released with WB in over 20 years.

Spielberg continued to explain the issue with streamers who began to overcharge for their services when there was, quite literally, nothing else to do. “They were paid off and the films were suddenly relegated to, in this case, HBO Max. The case I’m talking about. And then everything started to change.”

The director’s latest film The Fablemans hits theaters this weekend, and even though Spielberg wants you to see it in a dark room with a hundred other strangers, he won’t force you to. But he will judge you. “When you’re first starting out, and a streaming service gives you a chance to direct your first movie, of course, the streaming service is going to call the shot, but I don’t know anybody that wouldn’t like their movies to be shown on a big screen,” Spielberg explained. “I don’t know anyone that would say, no, I’d rather it be shown on an iPad or in a living room.”

The Fablemans will triumphantly hit theaters on November 11th. Or you can watch it on your iPad at a later date, eventually.

(Via The AV Club)

Charli XCX is executive producing and supplying the tunes for comedian Benito Skinner’s newly-announced Amazon show, Overcompensating. The series will also be produced by A24 and feature Skinner as the star.

Compensating‘s premise centers around an Idaho football player who “struggles to accept his sexuality in college, finding himself overcompensating as he tries to convince himself of something he’s not,” per The Hollywood Reporter.

“AH!!!!!!!!!! Been waiting to share this for the past 2 years…” Skinner captioned the news on Instagram. “I am so proud of this project and can’t believe all the incredible people I get to make it with. It’s hard to describe what a dream this is but I just want to say thank you for supporting me!!! I LOVE YOU and I know you are going to love this show it’s my baby and my favorite thing I’ve ever written @a24 @strongbabyproductions @amazonstudios @charli_xcx.”

While the series is still in development and doesn’t have a release date, Charli and Skinner previously collaborated when he appeared in her “New Shapes” music video. She has also had a significant business partnership with A24, as her song “Hot Girl” appeared on the soundtrack for the studio’s 2022 movie, Bodies Bodies Bodies.

Charli and Skinner are also executive producing the series alongside Jonah Hill, Scott King, Serrano and Searle, Scooter Braun, James Shin, Scott Manson, and Kyle Vinuya.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.