Month: May 2023

After a dismal showing in the first round, losing in five games to the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after five seasons with the organization.

Budenholzer led the Bucks to a championship and their best stretch of regular season success the franchise has seen, but aside from that title run, the Bucks had not often lived up to expectations in the postseason. As such, they wanted to find a new voice that could provide a different message to the team, particularly on offense where they have had a tendency to get bogged down in the halfcourt in the playoffs.

On Saturday, word broke that the team was down to its final two after Nick Nurse bowed out of the process, with the decision looming between Nurse’s lead assistant in Toronto, Adrian Griffin, and Warriors assistant (and former Nets head coach) Kenny Atkinson. Ultimately, the Bucks decided on Griffin as the man to lead them forward, hoping he will be able to reinvigorate the team going into the 2023-24 season.

Griffin began his coaching career in Milwaukee as an assistant under Scott Skiles for two years before bouncing around with stints in Chicago, Orlando, and Oklahoma City before joining the Raptors staff in 2018. This will be Griffin’s first head coaching job, but he’s been a leading candidate to make the leap to the first chair on the bench for a few years. With Griffin in place, Milwaukee can now move forward with making their decisions on key players like Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton, as they both could enter free agency this summer.

The Bucks making their hire also could set off a domino effect, with Phoenix and Philadelphia in similar positions as contenders seeking new head coaches and now have one fewer team they are competing with for top candidates.

This month marked the second anniversary of Olivia Rodrigo‘s debut album, Sour. The album made Rodrigo an instant star and household name, boasting hits like “Deja Vu,” “Good 4 U,” “Traitor,” “Brutal,” and of course, her breakthrough single, “Driver’s License.”

It goes without saying that fans are anxious for new music, and it looks like a new era may just be imminent.

On the album’s proper anniversary (May 21), Rodrigo shared a note via her fan newsletter, which read, “I’m taking today to reflect on all the amazing things that have happened since Sour and looking fORward 2 all the things to come.”

In the note, fans immediately notice that the letter “O” and “R” and the number 2 were bolder than the rest of the writing.

Today (May 27), Rodrigo may have shared another hint. On Instagram, Rodrigo posted a mirror selfie of in what appears to be a dressing room.

In the background is a calendar, which, oddly appeared to be turned to June. On the last day of June is a purple heart, which has sent fans into a frenzy, sharing theories as to when Rodrigo plans to kick off the OR2 era.

You can see some of the fan reactions above.

Donald Trump may be frontrunner for the Republican presidential ticket in 2024, but he’s also up to his ears in legal trouble. Last month he became the first POTUS in American history to be indicted on criminal charges. A few weeks back he was found guilty of defamation and sexual misconduct. He has even more woes en route. Superfan Sean Hannity has assured MAGA types that he could still run for president from the slammer. Now one of his critics is taking that idea even further.

As per Mediaite, noted conservative Trump critic and Lincoln Project honcho Rick Wilson went on SiriusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show, where he and his host talked about what on earth it could take for Republican voters to finally ditch the guy who inspired a failed insurrection. Wilson was not optimistic, especially considering his accident-prone main challenger is trailing behind him in the polls.

“I have to plan for the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is that Donald Trump will be the nominee in the Republican Party once again,” Wilsons aid. “There is very there are very few paths to get a Ron DeSantis or any other of these jokers in the in the field over the finish line in the primary.”

He was frank about what it could take to stop him. “I mean, Trump has to be dead or in jail,” he said, adding, “And even in those cases, he still might win the primaries.”

Wilson wasn’t entirely doom and gloom. He said the DeSantis-Trump beef “presents a great Lincoln Project opportunity messaging moment.” He argued that “if I can keep them fighting as long as humanly possible, if I can make it as bloody and painful and loud and noisy as possible, there is a way to split off more of those voters than we were split than we got off in 2020.”

Then again, if DeSantis clinches the ticket, that wouldn’t be great either, since he, as Wilson puts it, is an “insane authoritarian.” Anyway, buckle up for yet another migraine of an election season.

(Via Mediaite)

Diddy, Fabolous, and City Girls are living the life of luxury on their new single, “Act Bad.” It appears that Diddy and Yung Miami of City Girls celebrated their collaboration in style.

In a clip Miami shared to Twitter, she is seen shopping at various stores, purchasing items like clothes and handbags, handing the cashiers credit cards and stacks of money. The video clip is synced with a portion of “Act Bad” — Miami’s verse, on which she raps. “He wanna sponsor my act bad / Double R, black bag, Tom Ford, black tags / Walkin’ out Chanel with a black bag / Yeah, it’s givin’ body bag, listen up, scallywags”

Though Diddy was reportedly declared a billionaire back in October of last year, he appeared to be worn out by all the shopping. It appears he covered the bill for the day, as Miami said “Thank you papiiiii” in her tweet.

But by the end of the day, it seemed like Diddy was just happy it was all over. He doubled down on his visibly frustrated reaction by sharing a screenshot of the video clip, in which he looked tired, but relieved to get out of the store.

You can check out the clip and Diddy’s hilarious reaction above.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were once the most successful teammates in the NBA, winning six championships together with the Chicago Bulls in the 90s. However, in recent years, the relationship between the two has soured, in large part due to Pippen’s frustration with The Last Dance and how he was portrayed in the documentary.

With that as a backdrop, Pippen made a recent appearance on Stacey King’s “Gimme The Hot Sauce” podcast and ripped into Jordan during a discussion of LeBron James and all the things he does for his teammates. Pippen called Jordan a “horrible player” prior to Scottie’s arrival with the Bulls.

“I’ve seen Michael Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls. You seen him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all one-on-one. He was shooting bad shots. And, all of a sudden, we become a team and we start winning. Everybody forgot who he was.”

There’s certainly some truth to Jordan having to grow as a leader and teammate to become a winning player, needing to learn to have the necessary trust in the rest of his team to win championships. That said, to call him a “horrible player” is rather ridiculous.

It’s mostly sad to see Pippen and Jordan reach this point, but it’s also not particularly surprising. Jordan has never been particularly good at managing his friendships in his post-playing career (see: Barkley, Charles) and Pippen has long felt he doesn’t get his just due for what he brought to those Bulls title teams. You can tell this comes from a place of hurt just by going back five years to Pippen talking about the LeBron-Jordan debate, where he said you can’t compare them because it’s unfair since Jordan was utilized differently on the Bulls. Now, he’s no longer in the business of keeping up the Jordan mystique and seems determined to instead chip away at it.

We are less than a week away from Foo Fighters highly-anticipated 11th studio album, But Here We Are. The album marks the first Foo Fighters album since the death of the band’s drummer, Taylor Hawkins, last year. During this new era of Foo Fighters, the band’s members are committed to carrying on his legacy.

During Foo Fighters’ set at Boston’s Calling last night (May 26), Taylor Hawkins’ son, Shane, stepped in and played the drums as the band performed their 1995 hit, “I’ll Stick Around.”

The set was a full-fledged family affair as lead vocalist Dave Grohl’s daughter, Violet, also performed a few songs with the band. Violet is featured on But Here We Are on a song called “Show Me How.”

Over the course of the summer, Foo Fighters fans can look forward to many more live performances from the band. Last week, it was revealed that drummer Josh Freese will be joining the band on the road as Foo Fighters’ new live drummer.

Foo Fighters kicked off their North American tour this past Wednesday at the Bank Of New Hampshire Pavilion At Meadowbrook in Gilford, New Hampshire. The tour is expected to continue through October.

You can see clips of the Boston’s Calling performances above.

But Here We Are is out 6/2 via Roswell Records. Find more information here.

Donald Trump has a history of scamming his own supporters, begging them for money for causes then pocketing the cash for himself. Hell, he even got into the NFT game. Inevitably others have tried to do the same. NBC News has unearthed a new swindle: It’s called “Trump Bucks,” and it’s a new currency that, its peddlers claim, will net them big profits over time. In reality, though, they’re utterly worthless.

NBC News spoke to one John Amann, a Trump supporter who bought $2,200 worth of the currency, which comes festooned with images of the former president. Trump Bucks are hocked in ads on far right crevices like Telegram. The fine print says they’re mere memorabilia. But that’s the fine print. Most of the dozens of people who invested in Trump Bucks may not have seen that. Instead, they believed something else, as per NBC News:

Those who buy these items, the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots suggest, will be rewarded when Trump unveils a new monetary system that will turn these products into legal tender worth far more than the purchase price.

Invest in a TRB membership card “issued by Donald Trump,” the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots claim, and the purchaser who spent, say, $99.99 on a “$10,000 Diamond Trump Bucks” bill will be able to cash it in for $10,000 at major banks and retailers like Walmart, Costco and Home Depot.

That, purchasers of Trump Bucks have found, is not the case. Instead, when people like Amann went to a bank to exchange their Trump Bucks for American dollars, they were met with bewildered stares: The Trump Bucks are worth didley-squat.

To make matters even more chilling, ads feature AI-generated sound and image, in which it appears Trump himself is endorsing the scam. In one, Trump can be heard saying, “Let’s make America wealthy again.” That was created by AI.

So watch out, Trump supporters. The former (and possibly future) president you love may be a possible criminal was found guilty of defamation and sexual misconduct. But even he wouldn’t create a fake currency.

(Via NBC News)

Billie Eilish may not always be active on social media, but you better believe she sees everything. Early this morning (May 27), the “Happier Than Ever” hitmaker took to her Instagram story to offer a response to some of the comments she’s recently received.

In her stories, Eilish made it clear that she’s had it with people trying to decide her wardrobe and aesthetic for her.

“i spent the first 5 years of my career getting absolutely OBLITERATED by you fools for being boy ish and dressing how I did & constantly being told i’d be hotter if I acted like a woman,” Eilish wrote. “and now when i feel comfortable enough to wear anything remotely feminine or fitting, i CHANGED and am a sellout..”

She continued, reiterating that she’s tired of hearing comments like “oMg iT’s nOt thE sAmE bILlie,” and simply wants to exist as a multifaceted woman.

These comments also prompted Eilish to remind her followers that “femininity does not equal weakness,” nor does switching up her style equate to selling out.

But for those who still didn’t get the message, Eilish offered a warm sentiment.

“suck my absolute c*ck and balls you women hating ass weirdos,” she said.

So whether she’s wearing a “big t-shirt,” as Armani White puts it, or something more feminine presenting, she’s still the same Billie we all know and love.

The White Lotus was never supposed to be more than a one-off. It was a limited series, with characters who would likely never meet again. How would tourists from all over, most of whom never had meaningful interactions, ever run into each other again? Creator Mike White stuck by that when he deigned to do a Season 2, bringing back only two characters: Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya and her husband Jon Gries’ Greg. Now he’s toying with a season that gives fans what they want.

In a new profile of the show by The Hollywood Reporter, White says he’s open to — at some point, a ways down the line — of bringing more than a couple characters back for a big group hang-out.

“It would be easy to just be full-on anthology, but I think it’s more fun to have little threads through the show,” White said. “If the show goes on for a couple of seasons, it would be fun to have an all-star season.”

Mind you, that probably doesn’t mean a bunch of characters from Season 1 suddenly find themselves coincidentally vacationing at the same far-flung, exotic spot. What White likely means is that, after four or five seasons, he’ll do one that’s a mix of characters from the show’s many years. That makes sense. Perhaps it can even be a prequel season, which will make it easier to bring back Tanya, who’s definitely not magically returning for Season 3.

(Via THR)

Ice Spice is reaping the rewards of good karma. On top of landing a guest feature on the remix of “Karma” from Taylor Swift’s Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition), Ice made a special appearance last night (May 26) at the New Jersey stop of Swift’s Eras Tour.

During Swift’s performance at MetLife Stadium, Swift brought out Ice, who performed her verse of the song. After her verse, Swift and Ice joined hands, as they sang the song’s chorus.

Earlier in the night, the video received its premiere at the concert, before its global premiere at midnight.

Over the past few days, both Swift and Ice have been raving over each other’s craft. In an interview with Spotify, Swift shared that she was been enjoying getting to spend time with Ice.

“Getting to know her has been so special because I am blown away by her,” said Swift. “In my opinion, she’s the one to watch. Watching her work ethic and how thoughtfully she approaches her career, she’s like my new favorite artist and I’m so honored that she’s on the song.”

You can see clips of the performance above.

Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition) is out now via Republic. Find more information here.