Month: April 2023

Truth may be stranger than fiction, but it’s not often that a bizarre rumor winds up getting confirmed. One exception involves Dana Carvey. On 9/11, after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, did the legendary comic and top shelf impersonator really take part in a “moment of silence” while dressed in a ridiculous turtle costume while on the set of a movie? Yes. Yes, he did.

“It’s kind of a sensitive topic, but after 9/11 I was shooting a movie called Master of Disguise,” Carvey said on a recent episode of Fly on the Wall, the podcast he co-hosts with fellow SNL alum David Spade. “We took an appropriate time off and went back to shooting and I was playing — if you’ve seen the movie, kids — the Turtle Man, with a bald cap and a weird thing on my lip and a big green shell outfit.”

Spade then asked if the rumor of how he recognized the tragic attacks — saying a prayer while dressed as a man-turtle, with bald cap and funny glasses — was true.

“I was in [the costume] all that day and then they said, ‘We’re going to have a group prayer about 9/11,’” Carvey recalled. “And I couldn’t get the thing — I would’ve held everyone for a half hour getting all that prosthetic makeup off — so, as I remember it, everyone else was [wearing] civilian clothes, I’m dressed as the Turtle Man, with a bald head, and I’m holding hands and I’m lowering my head and praying and I just thought at the moment: ‘This is very strange.’”

Spade then asked the obvious next question: Did he manage to at least get the giant shell attached to his back off.

“They might’ve gotten the shell off, but they didn’t get the turtle head or the turtle lip off,” Carvey remembered. “They couldn’t get it all off.”

Tragedy and comedy are often intertwined, but rarely in such a bizarre fashion. Heck, it might be the funniest thing about Master of Disguise, not one of Carvey’s better filmic efforts and certainly a far cry from the original Wayne’s World.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Spoiled Love, the 2021 debut album by Buzzy Lee (the moniker of songwriter Sasha Spielberg), was a breakup album. But after finding love and even getting married last year, her latest effort Internal Affairs is anything but.

Imbued with healing, self-discovery, and lots of love, Internal Affairs offers diaristic insight into the past five years of the singer’s life. Songs like the indie pop numbers “When Can I” and “Cinderblock” show off the playful side of her songwriting, mixing buoyant synths with her arresting vocals. Others like “Can I Have Your Autograph” and “The Last Time” instead display her tender, confessional prose .

To celebrate the release of Internal Affairs, Buzzy Lee sat down with Uproxx to talk Steely Dan, regretting bangs, and sleeping in a sex toy room in our latest Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Reflective, ethereal, intimate, haunting

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

I want to be remembered for authenticity and in the same way my nostalgia eats away at me when I listen to songs from pivotal moments in my life, I want that same feeling in my music’s memory. Hopefully though in the year 2050, at 60 years old, I will be playing three hour long concerts and wearing detachable trains on stage.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

Nashville, Oakland, and Sydney, Australia. Sorry I picked three!

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

Judee Sill, my relationships, Kate Bush, and Taryn Simon, the artist.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

Odeon in New York City because that was the night I met my husband.

What album do you know every word to?

Fun fact, I never actually know the lyrics to anything, or at least full songs. I definitely know beginning of song lyrics. Truly, the last time I knew every word to an entire album was when I looked up Nelly lyrics on AZLyrics.com in 2001.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

Bruce Springsteen, Joanna Newsom, Haim, JPEGMAFIA.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

This MAGICAL green suit with a train attached designed by Seth Pratt, Turner, and Abrielle Stedman. My favorite detail is that the bodysuit underneath has rhinestones that go all the way up to the fingertips.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Greta Morgan, she is incredibly inspiring.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

Such a good question and it really depends on who I’m touring with. If I’m with just Ben my guitarist we listen to this podcast, Uhh Yeah Dude. If I’m with my full band, it’s the rule of whoever is driving gets to choose, so it’s a pretty eclectic mix. For me though, it’s always “Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac.

What’s the last thing you Googled?

“What to take before drinking alcohol.”

What album makes for the perfect gift?

1996 by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

I’m close with Zoe Ligon, aka Thongria, a brilliant sex educator who owns Spectrum Boutique, a sex toy shop. When playing Detroit, I crashed at her place in the sex toy room, so I fell asleep among dildos, and woke among butt plugs.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

I have no tattoos!!

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

TLC on 90’s on 9, Steely Dan on 70’s on 7, anything on Deep Tracks, and Alex G on SiriusXMU.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Married me.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Relax on the eyeliner and bangs, write a song from start to finish, this is what you want to do, so just DO IT!

What’s the last show you went to?

JPEGMAFIA in Australia.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Something Borrowed, lol.

What’s one of your hidden talents?

I can speak with my mouth closed, like there’s a tiny person inside.

Internal Affairs is out now via Future Classic. Find more information here.

Jack Harlow landed another movie role before his debut movie, White Men Can’t Jump, has even been released. According to Deadline, the Louisville rapper turned actor will be appearing in the Apple Original Film ‘The Instigators’ alongside Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. The film, written by Affleck with Chuck MacLean and directed by Doug Liman, will also feature a murderer’s row of film talent including Alfred Molina, Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ron Perlman, and Ving Rhames. The plot will follow a pair of thieves on the run after a botched robbery (those Afflecks love their heist films, eh?).

Harlow may be a relative novice to acting, but he’s gotten some great looks so far. He’s also shown an ability to turn on the charm in smaller doses; he’s acted ads for Doritos and New Balance, as well as taking on a few funny spots during his stint as a Saturday Night Live host. Jack and Bowen Yang drew great reviews in their unhinged “Bartenders” sketch, so provided his upcoming roles don’t demand a lot of heavy acting, the screen rookie should do okay.

We’ll find out just how talented he is — at acting and at basketball — when White Men Can’t Jump comes to Hulu on May 19.

A lot of shows are too pure for this cruel world, and so the end has come for Ziwe, the late-night talk show hosted by creator Ziwe Fumudoh. As per Deadline, there’s a bit of a shake-up going on at Showtime, which has added the Mandy Patinkin comedy series Seasoned but chosen not to renew Ziwe for a third season. And fans are pissed.

Over its two seasons, Ziwe stood out as a gleefully confrontational interviewer who could land unexpected gets, often resulting in unusual interviews. Her first episode had no less than Fran Lebowitz and Gloria Steinem. Last year she got Drew Barrymore to twerk on an episode where she and Julia Fox talked guys. Among her most attention-nabbing chats was with Chet Hanks, whose discussion of cultural appropriation went as disastrously for him as one would imagine.

The ending of Ziwe means that Showtime is no longer in the late-night chat show game. Last year they ended Desus & Mero, which once counted Fumudoh as a member of their writing staff.

Ziwe was definitely an acquired taste, but like many of its ilk, its fanbase was passionate. Upon learning that the show, whose final season wrapped only late last year, its base was rabid.

Ziwe was so big that Fumudoh wound up playing herself on Succession, in which she roasted Jeremy Strong’s Kendall Roy. Some joked that it was the ever-troubled scion who secretly did it in.

Just because Ziwe is done at Showtime doesn’t mean it won’t wind up somewhere else, as One Day at a Time did, at least for a spell.

So stay strong, fans of the Ziwe. You may hear from it again, and we don’t mean a postcard.

(Via Deadline)

One can only imagine how relieved Melania Trump was when Donald Trump left the White House. Yes, this is gossipy stuff, and I’m totally reading into everything (especially while posting a photo ^^ of a rare Melania smile), but she looked so happy while heading out of D.C. on Biden’s Inauguration Day. And once the official Trump plane descended upon Mar-a-Lago, she brushed right past Donald while he attempted to snag a photo op with his wife.

The vibe there was that Melania was “clocking out” of duty (to be less diplomatic, it seemed like she gave no f*cks), and since that time, she’s rarely been seen or heard. Reportedly, Mrs. Trump lives a largely Donald-free life while only appearing for the occasional social obligation.

Ahead of Donald’s arrest (for an indictment that related to his Stormy Daniel dealings), reports indicated that Ivanka had snuck into Mar-a-Lago to visit her dad, but Melania stayed pretty quiet. She did not travel with her husband to New York City, and the Palm Beach Post now reports that she did not appear during his “disgusting” evening speech, and reportedly, Trump didn’t mention Melania at all while praising “my family.” Awkward:

[Melania] was not mentioned in a minute-long segment of the speech in which Trump spoke poignantly and lovingly about his family. Here is what he said to alternating loud cheers and moved silence:

“I built a great business with my family. Built a fantastic business. I have a son here who’s done a great job. And I have another son here who’s done a great job. And Tiffany. And Ivanka. And Barron will be great some day. He’s tall, he is tall and he’s smart, but I have a great family and they’ve done a fantastic job and we appreciated it very much.”

Although considering that Trump led into his Barron discussion with “he’s tall, he is tall,” perhaps Melania should count her blessings that she wasn’t mentioned here. Hopefully, she was off getting a spa treatment and living some form of a best life. She’s probably been through a lot.

(Via Palm Beach Post)

(WARNING: Spoilers for The Super Mario Bros. Movie below.)

True to Chris Pratt’s word, The Super Mario Bros. Movie does indeed have a post-credits scene that hints at a potential sequel. Actually, the film has a mid-credits scene too, but it’s the final one that hints at a fan-favorite character joining the fun: Yoshi.

According to Variety, the final post-credits scene shows a “green-and-white-speckled egg” getting ready to crack, a clear nod to Mario’s dinosaur pal. However, before Yoshi can fully crack, the scene cuts to black. The green guy was left out of the first film, but there were nods that his species is running about the Mushroom Kingdom:

While there is currently no information on a “Mario” sequel, the post-credits scene nods to the film’s glaring absence of one of the most iconic Super Mario Bros. characters. (One short scene in the film shows a herd of multi-colored Yoshies running wild, but Yoshi is not a character in the movie.)

The Yoshi scene jibes with what Pratt told CBR last month. Although, the Mario voice actor is hoping to see another side of the Nintendo series happen.

“At the end of the film, there’s a post-credit sequence that gives you a taste of what the sequel could be about,” Pratt said. “And that gets me very, very excited. But there’s been talk of Luigi’s Mansion. That was a Gamecube game. I think that would be great.”

A Luigi’s Mansion movie starring Charlie Day’s Luigi?! Sign us the heck up.

(Via Variety)

Kelly Clarkson is everyone’s (if not most people’s) favorite American Idol winner. Paying homage to her music reality competition show roots, on her Emmy Award-winning self-titled talk show, the musician dedicated a full segment to performing song covers of other popular tracks. Since its inception, Kellyoke has been a hit, and TikTok star Gayle completely agrees.

Gayle has no problem singing the praises of other musicians, in some cases even being moved to tears during those moments. Although Kelly Clarkson’s cover of her viral song “abcdefu” didn’t get the waterworks going, she was overjoyed that it happened. Late last month, Clarkson covered the song during Kellyoke but made a minor adjustment to the breakout line in the chorus.

“Forget you, and your dad, and the fact that you got half / And my broken heart, turn that s–t into art,” sang Clarkson. The original line is, “F*ck you and your mom and your sister and your job/ And your broke ass car and that sh*t you call art.” But pulling from her rocky divorce from Brandon Blackstock in 2021. It’s rumored that Clarkson was required to pay Blackston a settlement of $1.3 million in addition to monthly child support for their children River and Remington.

In her response video to Clarkson’s cover, Gayle fangirled out with the caption, “A queen be queening.”

Watch Kelly Clarkson’s cover of Gayle’s song “abcdefu” above.

GAYLE is a Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

More weekends of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour are coming up, and later this month, Swift is headed to Houston, for shows on April 21, 22, and 23. The tour is such a big deal that it’s significantly disrupting people’s lives; When it was announced last year, there were plenty of brides-to-be who were considering rescheduling their weddings to avoid a scheduling conflict with The Eras Tour. Looking at Swift’s younger fans, school is also getting in the way of the tour, but one mother wrote the perfect note excusing their child from classes.

Yesterday (April 4), Karen Vladeck, wife of law professor and CNN contributor Steve Vladeck, shared an email she sent to her daughter Maddie’s teacher, explaining that she wouldn’t be in school on April 24 due to The Eras Tour. The note was filled with delightful Swift references and it reads:

“Dear Reader [Ms. Parks],

I’m writing to let you know that Maddie won’t be in school on 4/24 because she is going to the Taylor Swift concert in Houston. I hope missing school doesn’t ruin her otherwise stellar Reputation, but she begged me to go and maybe I Should Have Said No but I didn’t want to be Mean. So It Goes…

Anyway, I hope this doesn’t leave any Bad Blood between you and Maddie and that things for the rest of the year are not Treacherous. I know I Did Something Bad and I promise this will be The Last Time she has an unexcused absence before the Cruel Summer starts.

Forever & Always,
-Karen Vladeck.”

Ms. Parks totally got it, by the way: Vladeck later shared the teacher’s reply, which said, “THIS MADE MY ENTIRE DAY.” That post also revealed the original email’s subject line read, “It’s Me, Hi, I’m the Problem, It’s Me.”

Find the original tweets below.

Jack Harlow has been ordered to give a deposition about a 2021 murder in a Louisville nightclub involving his former DJ, Ronnie O’Bannon, according to Rolling Stone. O’Bannon was charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence after allegedly shooting a bartender at the Vibes Restaurant and Ultra Lounge, Kasmira Nash, during a pre-Kentucky Derby party on May 1, 2021. O’Bannon pled not guilty, claiming Nash attacked him with a champagne bottle.

O’Bannon, known professionally as Ronnie Luciano, is currently on house arrest as he awaits trial; Harlow must give a video deposition in Louisville in August. Harlow and his crew were allegedly allowed to bypass the club’s metal detectors at security check-in, allowing O’Bannon to bring in his gun. The club, Harlow, and his security have been named in three separate liability lawsuits, which the Courier Journal notes will be merged into a single case to go before a circuit court judge.

In the wake of the shooting, Harlow issued a statement saying, “My heart is broken by the events that occurred over Derby weekend. My heart breaks for Kasmira, her children, and everyone else touched by this tragic death. Nothing can reverse what happened. Too many lives have been changed forever. My life will remain committed to making Louisville a better place.”

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

After getting indicted on Tuesday (only in New York, baby!), Donald Trump returned to his MAGA-Lago compound in Florida and listened to his favorite musical artist: himself.

The former president was filmed getting all patriotic while listening to “Justice for All,” the (technically) chart-topping collaboration with the J6 Prison Choir that made Trump “feel like Elvis.” You can watch it here, if you insist.

The video obtained by TMZ was “recorded not too long after DT’s diatribe from the podium — where he condemned Manhattan’s district attorney Alvin Bragg and others involved in his criminal case.” Trump can also be seen putting his hand over the heart “with the rest of the room as they blast ‘Justice for All’ over the speakers — a song released by a handful of men currently in prison for their participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots… now known as the J6 Choir.”

The song is basically them singing the “Star Spangled Banner” interlaced with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance… which created the awkward sight of Trump standing at attention as he listens to himself.

Between Trump juicing his 2023 Spotify Wrapped numbers and the “disgusting” speech that he gave to attendees, it sounds like quite the party.

(Via TMZ)