Month: June 2023

Doja Cat has been having fun leaking parts of her forthcoming album with fans online. But she couldn’t have been prepared for paparazzi exposing her supposed relationship with J.Cyrus (real name Jeffrey Cyrus) online. Welp, it’s too late for that now that the cat is out of the bag. Images of the “Vegas” rapper and Cyrus enjoying a lover’s dip on vacation inadvertently dug up things from her rumored boo’s past.

So, who is J.Cyrus, exactly? The New Orleans, Louisiana native first found success on the now-defunct social media app Vine. Occasionally, he will upload different comedic skits on his official YouTube channel and across his Instagram page.

Since then, he’s dappled in several different sectors of the entertainment business, including music. His most popular songs are the 2018 track “Slowly Falling” and the 2015 single “Sank Ship” featuring The Classmatez. After battling addiction, Cyrus sought treatment and used his music to encourage others to do the same.

As a creative person with a unique sense of humor, it seems that Doja Cat has found the perfect partner. However, J.Cyrus’ past racially insensitive tweets resurfaced. Now fans of the rapper are urging her to call things off before things get too serious. View his past tweets and fans’ reactions to their alleged coupling below.

In addition to recommending a 13-year prison sentence for Tory Lanez after he was convicted of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020, Los Angeles prosecutors have also accused the Toronto rapper of attempting to crash his victim’s 2021 Rolling Loud Miami set with the help of DaBaby.

While that festival remains infamous for DaBaby’s onstage comments that cost him numerous other festival slots and corporate endorsements, it was also notable that the Charlotte rapper brought Tory Lanez onstage to perform their new collaboration, drawing the ire of Megan Thee Stallion fans who saw it as an act of disloyalty after Meg had collaborated multiple times with DaBaby.

Now, according to the memo filed LA District Attorneys requesting a 13-year sentence for Lanez due to his lack of remorse for his actions, it appears that DaBaby and Tory’s original plan was even worse. While it was previously reported that Tory and DaBaby had entered the green room, violating Meg’s restraining order against Tory, the memo asserts that they “attempted to rush the stage during her performance.”

Whatever they planned to do after that remains unclear because they were prevented from disrupting her performance. Instead, DaBaby introduced Tory during his own set, where they performed “Skat.” After this, Megan Thee Stallion fell out with DaBaby, whose own popularity took a nosedive due to his antics over the next several months — including his own juvenile attempt to use their prior relationship for clout on his song “Boogeyman.” On the song, he alleges that he also had a sexual relationship with Meg, which could explain his partnership with Tory, even after Tory was accused of shooting her.

Tory’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 13.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Meghan McCain is something of an enigma when it comes to Donald Trump. She’s one of the few prominent conservatives willing to criticize the former president as she’s done many times over the years thanks in no small part to Trump’s penchant for hurling insults at her father, the late Senator John McCain. However, McCain is also a lifelong Republican, which has often placed in her awkward positions as her party continues to rally around Trump.

Anytime the former president seems to face consequences for his actions, McCain predicts that it will boost his chances in the next election, and she hasn’t changed her tune even with the considerably more serious indictment over Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.

In her latest column for the Daily Mail, McCain rips both Joe Biden and the Department of Justice for putting the entire country on “shaky” ground. “It goes without saying that Biden’s DOJ has undermined – intentionally or not – the public’s rights to choose its own leader,” McCain wrote. “There’s no denying that they’ve put their thumbs on the scale.”

As McCain argues, the charges against Trump must be spectacular or America will never recover as a country:

Never before in my lifetime has the ground under our feet seemed so shaky. I feel it in the pit of my stomach.

If this reported seven count federal indictment against Trump does not reveal a crime so shocking that it unites Americans in universal condemnation of him, then I fear there may be no coming back.

American’s fundamental faith in their country will be crippled.

While acknowledging that the DOJ may have “unearthed” serious evidence, McCain towed the party line by condemning the indictment of a former president as a bridge too far.

“At seemingly every step, America lurches away from the country that I recognize,” McCain wrote. “This is the view from across the Rubicon. It’s terrifying.”

(Via Daily Mail)

No one was happier to hear about Donald Trump’s impending federal indictment than his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. There are a couple of reasons for that. First, while we’ve all had terrible bosses, few of us have ever been used as the fall guy for a sexual abuser hoping to pay off his an adult film star so that he could keep an affair under wraps during an election year. And of those who have, practically none have lied to both the Senate Intelligence Committee and House Intelligence Committee in order to cover up a president’s business dealings with a rival world power.

Sure, Cohen did sh*tty things for a not-great guy, but he’s still allowed to celebrate when his ex-employer may also find himself in handcuffs for his crimes. And celebrate he did.

Cohen reportedly heard rumors of Trump’s indictment while celebrating his wife’s birthday with their family. He told Raw Story that the news that his corrupt boss was finally facing serious jail time only added to the joyful day:

Once again, Donald has created a first as he is now not only the first former president indicted on state charges, but he additionally holds the title of former president indicted on federal charges. Mazel!

Trump is set to be booked next week though whether he’ll be granted bail or put on house arrest until his trial still remains to be seen. He’s facing dozens of state charges in New York and seven federal charges as well, plus he has the resources to qualify as a flight risk. Cohen hopes he’s treated just like any other accused criminal. “He should be treated no different than any other individual indicted, identically to any other individual under indictment by the federal government,” he said. “No exceptions.”

(Via RawStory)

Fifteen years ago, Taylor Sheridan‘s biggest move towards being a household name sourced from his run as Deputy Hale (RIP) in Sons of Anarchy. Now, Sheridan has blown past “instantly recognizable” to practically running the overall Paramount+ show, it seems. Bucketfuls of Sheridan content continue to arrive (and will do so in the future). Several of these shows, including an upcoming Matthew McConaughey vehicle, are directly related to Yellowstone (and Sheridan is further cashing in while renting his ranches out for filming purposes), yet a handful sit outside of that cowboy universe.

Mayor of Kingstown takes Jeremy Renner back to his grittier, pre-Marvel intensity. Tulsa King gives Sylvester Stallone a new chapter in his wizened stardom. Land Man will put Billy Bob Thornton in wheeling-and-dealing mode. And Bass Reeves will star David Oyelowo, Barry Pepper, Dennis Quaid, Forrest Goodluck, and Donald Sutherland while tracing the history of the first Black Deputy U.S. Marshall of the West. Coming up very soon, however, is Special Ops: Lioness, formerly known as Lioness but more on-its-face descriptive now.

This upcoming series will star Zoe Saldaña as a frontrunner within the CIA’s Lioness Program (the show’s version is based upon the real-life entity). As a key operative named Joe, she will mentor and mold recruits to follow in her footsteps, and Joe will also be balancing her own tenuous personal life while these women grow to be fearsome assassins. Layers of moral complexity are to be expected when a terrorist’s daughter enters the picture, and the series largely filmed in Maryland.

Release Date

Special Ops: Lioness will debut on July 23 via Paramount+.

Cast

Saldaña will be back in ass-kicking mode, over a decade after Colombiana proved how riveting she can be as an action star. Nicole Kidman also headlines, and the cast is rounded out by Morgan Freeman, Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, Hannah Love Lanier, James Jordan, Jonah Wharton, and Stephanie Nur.

Plot

As the series synopsis indicates, the story “follows the life of Joe (Zoe Saldaña) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA’s spear in the war on terror… The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) and Donald Westfield (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of State terrorism in the CIA’s efforts to thwart the next 9/11.”

Trailer

As of now, no full trailer has materialized for this spinoff, but here’s a rather substantial teaser trailer. Kidman looks to be demanding attention in a role unlike we’ve seen her portray before now, and Saldaña clearly relishes this meaty project after getting lost in franchises for over a decade.

Taylor Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness will premiere on July 23.

Paul Pierce is no stranger to live television, as he spent years as an analyst for ESPN. He’s also no stranger to livestreams getting him in trouble, as he got fired from ESPN after going on Instagram Live from a party.

That is the background for what transpired on Wednesday night, when Kevin Garnett invited him to be part of his KG Certified livestream for Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Showtime. Pierce rolled up clearly having already enjoyed some beverages, and brought with him his “girlfriend for the day,” whom he proudly proclaimed to KG and the entire livestream audience he had gotten from a website. I promise you that I did not make up a single thing in that sentence.

Pierce apparently did not believe KG about the whole livestream part, leading to an absolutely bonkers performance from Pierce before someone texted him saying that, yes, you are in fact live right now. This has gone viral, with a very funny TikTok breaking down some of the wildest moments from the Truth.

Over on Reddit, a r/NBA user uploaded an even longer clip of Pierce just going off the rails while KG tried desperately not to lose his Showtime deal.

Having been on both sides of this scenario as both the drunk friend embarrassing sober friends and the sober friend trying and failing to keep drunk friends from acting the fool, this is a truly delightful watch. Pierce’s moment of realization is so incredibly funny and gives Garnett so much life, because after like an hour-plus of telling him “we’re live,” that message finally gets through thanks to someone watching at home. Kudos to KG for keeping things on the tracks as much as he did, but if they do this again, he might need to put in big bold letters on the invite that this is for work and not just hanging out in the casino watching the game as friends.

For the past few years, K-pop has increasingly grown in popularity in the US. This week, one of the genre’s fastest-rising girl groups got the chance to demonstrate K-pop’s stateside growth by participating in America’s pastime. On Thursday night (June 8), Uproxx cover band aespa‘s WINTER threw out the first pitch at game two of a doubleheader between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium while flanked by her bandmates GISELLE and KARINA (the band’s fourth member doesn’t appear in the video provided by the MLB).

Although she had to take a few steps off the mound to get her pitch over the plate, WINTER’s throw is pretty serviceable in the video and she certainly seems delighted by the result. Meanwhile, another angle that fans pulled from the group’s official Instagram shows that it was a bit high and wide, with the Yankees’ catcher having to take a step to his left to collect the errant baseball. Still, we’ve seen worse — way worse.

Plenty of music stars have been throwing out pitches lately; Japanese Breakfast, Megan Thee Stallion, Pharrell, and Saweetie have all had the opportunity recently and WINTER’s pitch is on the higher end of that spectrum — figuratively and literally. Still, the fact that aespa was selected for the honor bodes well for their future in the North American market, where they are due to begin touring this summer, in addition to playing Governor’s Ball in New York this weekend.

What do you get when you combine a beautiful gentle parenting interaction, a whole school singing along with a 7-year-old performing “Peaches” in a Bowser costume and a flying squirrel pretending to be attacked by a broom?

You get this week’s 10 things that made us smile, of course.

We hope you get as much joy and delight from these fabulous finds as we did. Enjoy!

1. 7-year-old performs ‘Peaches’ from ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ and the crowd went wild

See on Instagram

The song was originally performed by Jack Black, and it shot up the charts. Love how the kid played off the audience’s enthusiasm.

2. Mom shares her autistic son’s joy at attending a ‘sensory friendly’ showing of “The Little Mermaid”

See on Instagram

Sometimes inclusivity means welcoming everyone into a space and sometimes it means creating spaces where everyone can feel welcome. Find out more about sensory-friendly film showings from major theater chains here.

3. Story of a troubled kid transformed by kindness and art holds important lessons for us all

See on Instagram

Swipe through to read the whole story. A good reminder that hurt people hurt people, and that sometimes “bad” kids need people to see the good in them and to help them see it themselves.

4. Man reunites with firefighter who saved his life when he was 2 years old and introduces him to his own 2-year-old son

See on Instagram

A beautiful full-circle moment. Read the full story here.

5. Flying squirrel repeatedly fakes its own death by broom handle

u201cThis flying squirrel faked his own death, and created a whole crime sceneu2026for attention. I think Iu2019m in love. u201d

— Sarah Beeud83dudc1d (@Sarah Beeud83dudc1d)
1685808791

Not a headline you see every day, but that’s the only way to describe it. Absolutely an Oscar-worthy performance. Read the full story here.

6. Someone captured a dad creating a core childhood memory for his daughter at a concert

See on Instagram

Here’s to the dedicated dads who delight in dancing with their daughters.

7. This owl’s legs. That is all.

u201cMarilyn Monrowl.. ud83dude05u201d

— Buitengebieden (@Buitengebieden)
1686252998

Owls look so dignified and regal until you see the silly pantalooned legs they’re hiding under their feathers.

8. Woman has the best response to people telling her she was too old for outfits she was trying on

@jessicabuwick

Thank you for coming #graudation #graduationdresses #formaldresses

Jessica Buwick’s initial video was a comical showing of outfits that didn’t work either because they were too short or tight or the style was too confusing to wear, and some people decided to be critical of her choices…of the things she didn’t wear. Both videos are hilarious. See the full story here.

9. Mom shares a beautiful example of ‘connection then correction’ with her 4-year-old who was acting out

See on Instagram

Gentle, conscious parenting for the win.

10. Kitten-on-a-guitar needs to be a whole new musical genre

@xiagopluscami

Practicando con thiaguin. #thiago #xiagopluscami #gatitobebe #algocontigo #cover #acustico #algocontigoritapayes #guitarra #naranjito #

I don’t know about you, but I would pay good money to see this concert.

That’s it for this week! If you don’t want to go searching for these posts each week and would like them delivered right to you instead, sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.

BTS is back. Last month, they announced their “Take Two” single. “To celebrate their 10th anniversary, BTS will release the digital single ‘Take Two’ this coming June,” Big Hit Music wrote on Twitter. “All seven members participated in ‘Take Two.’ The song conveys their appreciation toward ARMY for all the love you shower them with and their desire to always be together with you.”

The song is finally out today, ahead of their 10-year anniversary festival in Seoul. All seven members have their own chance to sing, which is exciting for fans after they heard that a BTS comeback was not confirmed for 2025. “We said we ‘hope’ the members can resume in 2025, not ‘will’,” Bang Si-Hyuk’s (CEO of the band’s agency HYBE) said. “BTS and the firm will both work for it, but it doesn’t mean we can target [the date of 2025].”

However, a BTS memoir is coming next month, titled Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record Of BTS. It’s written by journalist Myeongseok Kang and members of the group, and it’ll be 544 pages long. Because it was first announced as a mystery book, pop fans assumed it was Taylor Swift, since 5+4+4 equals 13 and the audiobook is 13 hours long. Poor Swifties, but great news for fans of the K-pop group.

Listen to “Take Two” above.

There may not be a team that is more fascinating to watch this summer than the Golden State Warriors. While Steph Curry is under contract through 2026, top executive Bob Myers already announced he will step down from his role as president and general manager, Draymond Green is all but guaranteed to become an unrestricted free agent, and both Klay Thompson and Steve Kerr are going into the final year of their contracts.

All of this is happening on the heels of a rather disappointing season, as the two timelines strategy did not work and the team was eliminated from the postseason in the Western Conference Semifinals. Now, the Warriors have to figure out how they’re going to navigate all of this without Myers leading the way, and apparently, the strongest voice in the organization prefers for them to run it back with the core that has led them to four championships in the last decade.

“I think the most likely scenario is that the Warriors keep most of this together for at least one more season,” Tim Kawakami of The Athletic wrote in a mailbag this week. “That’s what Curry wants. His opinion sort of matters.”

There have been hints dropped that the preference among the team’s most prominent individuals is to run things back, with Green saying he wants to remain a Warrior for the rest of his life and Kerr stressing that the team isn’t going to be a championship contender if Green doesn’t come back. The difficult part for the Warriors’ front office is balancing that with the reality of how much money this would cost, especially if there are questions about whether this core is capable of winning a championship. But of course, if Curry wants something, the easiest option is to just do that.