Month: February 2023

We are entering the post-sitcom landscape, where former half-hour comedy stars are moving over to the dark side and joining dramatic hour-long projects with sometimes heartbreaking conclusions. It’s not a new phenomenon, but lately, the stars of Parks and Rec have been vying for your attention trying to show off on those big-budget streaming shows. We saw Adam Scott in Severance and Aubrey Plaza play her same self in White Lotus. But the most unlikely cast member to tug at your heartstrings is having his big moment, and that is Nick Offerman.

Offerman, known for his deadpan delivery, is not known for playing vulnerable characters, but recently starred in an episode of The Last Of Us as Bill, the isolated survivalist who falls in love with a straggler named Frank in the zombie-infested future. The two play out their years together in quarantine before they ultimately pass. The episode has been acclaimed by fans and critics alike, despite the haters, but Offerman revealed that he originally passed on the series because he “didn’t have time” to read the script. Listen, the man has benches to make.

While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Offerman said that he had been a fan of series co-creator Craig Mazin’s work, but he didn’t think he would be able to board The Last Of Us. “I didn’t have time to go do it, so it was this immediate dilemma. I didn’t even want to read it.” Fortunately, Offerman’s wife Megan Mullally did all the work for him while he was off sanding down a rocking chair, probably.

Offerman said his “incredible goddess wife” read the script and convinced him to take the part. He explained, “She said, ‘You’re going to Calgary, buddy. Have fun! You have to do this.” It’s a good thing he did, as the actor received a fair share of praise for his heartbreaking dramatic performance, a side that audiences aren’t used to from the comedian/woodworking pro.

When asked about the reaction, Offerman said it’s been overwhelming. “It’s a tsunami of wonderful, generous plaudits,” he began. “The episode began airing on Sunday. We had 6.4 million viewers, and HBO… they are so not f***ing around that they send me on the Jimmy Kimmel show on Wednesday to cull the stragglers. They’re like, ‘The 17 of you who haven’t seen it yet, you’re in for a treat.’” By “treat” he means “devastating blow to the heart.”

You can watch Offerman’s interview above, and for the 13 of you who haven’t seen it yet, The Last Of Us is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes airing Sundays.

(Via EW)

Does it seem to anyone else that all the streamers are investing pretty heavily in concert films? I mean, it makes sense; they’re relatively cheap to produce, they come with a built-in audience, and they tend to have pretty long streaming tails. It’s the rare recent streaming strategy that is a win-win for both the platforms and their viewers — as well as the artists who license their concert footage out.

The latest act to take advantage of this lucrative trend is The Weeknd, whose new concert special for HBO Max, The Weeknd: Live At SoFi Stadium, has a premiere date of February 25.

If ever there was a case of turning lemons into lemonade, this would have to be it. During his After Hours Til Dawn Tour, The Weeknd’s voice gave out during the second Los Angeles show, prompting him to promise a refund to the 70,000 fans in attendance. At the time, he promised to “make it up to you with a new date” after confirming that his voice was “safe.”

It looks like many more fans will get to see the show thanks to the upcoming concert special, which is a pretty cool way to make up for the fumble.

On the poster for her new movie, Somebody I Used to Know, Alison Brie can be seen running naked on a golf course. It’s a case of art imitating life, as the Community actress enjoyed [extremely Will Ferrell voice] going streaking. Still does, in fact.

“I certainly had a penchant for it in my college years,” Brie told People. “At CalArts I was a big streaker. And even in my adult life, I find it to be quite hilarious. I’m a very comfortable naked person. I love streaking. It’s so fun. It really makes me laugh. I always think it makes other people laugh. It’s just one of my favorite things.”

Brie, who co-wrote the movie with her husband Dave Franco, previously told Men’s Health that clothing was required only in the cafeteria at CalArts, so “I would exercise my right to be naked — taking a jog through school naked, or making my roommate laugh by hanging naked from the tree outside our dorm. It was funny to me. Kind of still is.” It’s like the Beastie Boys once said, you’ve gotta fight for your right to go party naked.

Here’s more on Somebody I Used to Know, which also stars Danny Pudi’s mustache:

On a trip to her hometown, workaholic Ally reminisces with her ex Sean and starts to question everything about the person she’s become. Things only get more confusing when she meets Cassidy, who reminds her of the person she used to be.

Somebody I Used to Know comes to Amazon Prime Video on February 10th.

(Via People)

Vladimir Putin’s list of dwindling allies has been said to be at civil war while they watch his disastrous war further unfold. Perhaps in an effort to smooth things over, Putin did hand out so-called “rings of power” to Commonwealth of Independent States leaders, but as far as allies with real firepower goes, Putin’s options are numbered. Yes, I’m greatly oversimplifying international relations here, but Putin isn’t a guy who makes many friends (because he tends to allegedly make “jolly” threats to pulverize them with missiles). He does have Iran on his side, and North Korea seemingly pledged to have his back in the war.

Well, North Korea is starting to pull out of sight, as The Daily Beast relays. Kim Jong-Un is having second thoughts, given that Putin’s bravado isn’t bringing him results. That’s led Pyongyang to backtrack on their previous pledge to “always stand in the same trench” with Russia in war and assist Putin with laborers to help with reassembling “bombed out parts of occupied eastern Ukraine,” an offer that’s no longer on the table:

“This is because they were going to rush the workers over if Russia quickly ended the war and expanded its liberated zones, but the war isn’t going as well as they thought,” a source in North Korea was quoted telling the newspaper. “I think even our country [North Korea] can’t make its people run around a danger zone to earn money, no matter how important the cash is,” the source added, noting that the situation “isn’t good enough now” to invest human capital.

All of this on top of a Russian prosecutor stepped up to tell Putin that his drafts might be highly illegal. Not that this will prompt a change of heart from Putin himself. He’s still falsely claiming to be on a sure path to victory, despite evidence to the country.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Out of all of George Santos’ shady dealings so far, the most damaging story involves a particularly despicable allegation that he ran off with the money from a GoFundMe account that was supposed to go to a veteran’s sick dog. While Santos has denied the allegation, that has not stopped the FBI from getting involved.

According to Richard Osthoff, the former service member who Santos allegedly defrauded leading to the death of his dog, federal agents in the Eastern District of New York are reportedly investigating the incident. In a move that should concern Santos, Osthoff has already provided the feds with evidence. Via Politico:

Osthoff gave the agents text messages from 2016 with Santos, who he says used his plight to raise $3,000 for life-saving surgery for the pit bull mix, Sapphire — then ghosted with the funds, as first reported by Patch.

“I’m glad to get the ball rolling with the big-wigs,” Osthoff said in an interview Wednesday. “I was worried that what happened to me was too long ago to be prosecuted.”

In addition to allegedly stealing from a dying dog, Santos’ campaign finances are also facing intense scrutiny thanks to several questionable transactions. The newly elected congressman has struggled to find a new treasurer who’s willing to sign off on his Federal Election Commission disclosures, and that’s because his records are full of all kinds of strange items like dropping $26,000 at an Italian restaurant in Queens. But that’s not all. According to Insider, Santos’ campaign reportedly still owes the establishment an additional $18,773.54 for an election night event.

For the math challenged, that’s nearly $50,000 at the same restaurant that Santos oddly kept frequenting. Could it be nothing? Possibly. But with Santos, the benefit of the doubt went out the window several lies ago.

(Via Politico)

In terms of public opinion, Ticketmaster is perhaps at an all-time low right now. Zach Bryan recently released an album called All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster. Taylor Swift was infuriated after her The Eras Tour onsale through Ticketmaster went remarkably poorly. They just botched a John Mayer ticket sale, too. On top of all that, Congress is currently looking into them.

All this has Beyoncé fans worried: She just announced her long-awaited Renaissance tour and tickets are being sold through Ticketmaster. Apparently, though, the company is changing some things in an effort to avoid a repeat of the Swift fiasco.

As KTLA notes, the steps Ticketmaster is taking with the Renaissance tour includes staggering the on-sale dates for various venues and using membership systems like Verified Fan.

Ticketmaster shared a blog post with more detailed information about how to get Renaissance tickets. It explains in part, “Demand for this tour is expected to be high. If there is more demand than there are tickets available, a lottery-style selection process will determine which registered Verified Fans get a unique access code and which are placed on the waitlist. A Verified Fan access code does not guarantee tickets, it just gives you access to join the sale. All tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis. If tickets remain, the lottery-style process will be used to invite more Verified Fans from the waitlist to join the sale.”

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

Three men included in the RICO indictment against YSL have been charged with stabbing an unidentified fellow inmate of the Fulton County Jail, according to WSB-TV. Although the victim has not been identified, the three alleged attackers were.

Damone “Bali” Blalock, Christian “Brhis” Eppinger, and Rodalius “Lil Rod” Ryan are facing undisclosed charges as a result of the stabbing in addition to their previous charges as part of the racketeering case against YSL.

Blalock and Ryan are both already serving life in prison for six separate murder charges, while Eppinger is accused of shooting an Atlanta police officer in February 2022 as the officer attempted to arrest him on previous warrants for robbery and aggravated assault.

YSL — which stands either for Young Slime Life, which authorities call a hybrid street gang, or Young Stoner Life, the official acronym for the label started by Young Thug — was accused of violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, resulting in the arrests of 28 members, including Young Thug, Gunna, and other rappers signed to the label in June 2022.

Since then, several members have taken so-called Alford pleas, maintaining their innocence while pleading guilty to lesser charges in exchange for reduced sentences. Gunna, Unfoonk, and YSL co-founder Walter Murphy have all accepted these plea deals, leading to criticism from members of the hip-hop community.

Incidentally, another rapper, YFN Lucci — an alleged rival of Thug — was charged with a similar indictment a year before, and has been awaiting trial ever since, with his case getting bumped for Thug’s. Lucci has petitioned for an emergency bond due to the long delay for his case, as well as, of all things, getting stabbed while being held in protective custody.

The trial for YSL is currently undergoing jury selection, and is expected to last until June.

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

You don’t have to follow the news to know that gun violence is a problem in America — or that Republicans are constantly making dumb excuses to do nothing about it. As of January 31, 2023 — just one month into the new year — there have been more than 50 mass shootings in the United States, which have resulted in 87 deaths and more than 100 injuries. These mass executions have become such a common occurrence in the U.S. that, unless they happened locally, you’ll likely never hear about them.

Worldwide, America ranks No. 1 (by far) in the number of homicides by firearm than any other major country, with an estimated 4.12 deaths per 100,000 people. (Chile, which is right behind us, averages less than half that with 1.82 deaths per 100,000 people.) Yet somehow we have gun nut lawmakers like Lauren Boebert who have a national platform on which to voice their displeasure that only 46 percent of all the guns in the world belong to Americans.

As Mediaite reports, the Colorado congresswoman gave a floor speech on Wednesday in which she was downright annoyed that American civilians are responsible for owning just under half of ALL the guns in the world. She thinks we can and should be doing better.

“Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms,” Boebert said in her attempted takedown of the ATF. “In western Colorado, we call that a fun weekend. But D.C. bureaucrats have used this agency to infringe on the rights of the American people.”

Boebert’s issue is the ATF’s recent announcement that it will require any gun owner whose weapon has a pistol brace — a doohickey that allows the shooter a more accurate aim, and only one hand to do it with — to register that firearm. Boebert thinks that’s a violation of gun owners’ rights.

To further illustrate her ignorance and lack of concern about the number of Americans who are killed every day by guns, she noted that “The Second Amendment is absolute and it’s here to stay. A recent report states that Americans own 46 percent of the world’s guns. I think we need to get our numbers up, boys and girls.”

You can watch Boebert’s speech (if you really want to) here on Mediate.

(Via Mediaite)

Saweetie has had a quiet year so far, but the Bay Area rapper is set to make a splash as she confirms her first big performance of the year will be at the Super Bowl — although, rather than playing at the big game itself (that’s Rihanna), her concert will be a virtual one within the popular Roblox platform.

According to Billboard, the Saweetie Super Bowl Concert will be a free show on Roblox presented by Intuit premiering on February 10 at 7:00 ET. It will re-air every hour on the hour until February 12. The set will be fully motion-captured and “family-friendly” according to Warner Music Group, which recently launched its Rhythm City partnership with Roblox. A screenshot provided by WMG shows what Saweetie’s in-game avatar will look like as she performs in a virtual “Intuit Stadium” (IRL, the Intuit Arena is currently under construction in Inglewood, California, and will be the home of the Los Angeles Clippers).

Meanwhile, Saweetie, who debut album Pretty Bitch Music has been one of hip-hop’s most anticipated through a string of delays, will continue to branch out in 2023. She’s billed to appear as herself in an upcoming episode of Peacock’s Bel-Air, and has been teasing new music as a follow-up to her six-song EP The Single Life.

Considering all of the Ticketmaster messes lately — from Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny to Death Grips and John Mayers — concertgoers deserve a break. Luckily, it looks like Slowthai fans in the UK are getting just that.

The artist has announced the aptly titled Best Night Of Your Life Tour, a UK run in small pubs where tickets will only be £1 (about $1.23). It’ll kick off at the end of February in Sunderland and end at the beginning of March in Northampton. It’s a short leg, but it’s sure to be a good one.

“I make music for myself but I wouldn’t be where I am without my fans,” Slowthai said in a statement. “It’s important to me that people can have access to me and my music so I wanted to go to some new places and play this album first. Times are tough for a lot of people and working with Jägermeister has helped me keep tickets to only a quid.”

Check out the full dates below.

02/23 — Sunderland, UK @ Independent
02/24 — Blackpool, UK @ Bootleg Social
02/25 — Milton Keynes, UK @ Craufurd Arms
03/01 — London, UK @ The George Tavern
03/02 — Bath, UK @ Moles Club
03/03 — Northampton, UK @ The Black Prince

Pre-sale begins at 10 a.m. on February 13. General sale follows at 10 a.m. on February 15. Find ticket information here.