Month: June 2023

The inter-generational war of words between rockers Matty Healy and Noel Gallagher continued during the 1975’s show in Dublin today as Healy opened for his own band after Caroline Polachek lost her voice and canceled her set. Healy specifically responded to Gallagher calling him a “slack-jawed f*ckwit,” showing the elder star some love before getting in a slick dig of his own.

“Noel Gallagher called me a ‘slack-jawed fuckwit,’” he told the crowd before mentioning another artist Noel’s carried a long-standing feud with — his brother, Liam Gallagher. “I love Noel Gallagher. We asked Liam to open up and he said he would have done it but he was busy. But I love Noel Gallagher, give it up for Noel Gallagher.”

Healy then delivered the gut punch. “The difference between me and Noel is that I do a series of interviews to promote an album,” he joked, “Whereas he does an album to promote a series of interviews. But we love you, Noel, get Oasis back together!” Ahead of that, though, Healy graciously accepted praise from other older rock legends like Chris Martin and Bono, who he said “sent us the most beautiful messages, packages, [and] good wishes.” You can check out the video below.

The feud between Matty and Noel seems to stem from comments the 1975 frontman made during an interview promoting the group’s latest album/tour. In February, Matty complained about the friction between the Gallagher brothers and expressed hope for an Oasis reunion. And while Liam took his complaints in stride, Noel instead made the aforementioned “f*ckwit” comment in a May interview with Spin, calling The 1975 “sh*t” in the process. However, he also took things a step further the next month, deriding The 1975 as “not f*cking rock.”

There are a number of teams that could make significant moves this summer after disappointing ends to their 2022-23 season, but the focal point in the weeks leading up to the NBA Draft on June 22 is Portland.

The Trail Blazers hold the No. 3 overall pick and have made it clear their goal is to trade it in order to bring in some veteran help, but there are a number of potential pitfalls in that plan and skepticism around the league they’ll be able to make it happen. For one, they need to find a team willing to trade a quality veteran for a draft pick, which is not always easy because most teams with that caliber of player are not looking at hitting the reset button on a youth movement. Another issue is the fact that, up until Charlotte makes its selection at No. 2, its not a guarantee who will be the best prospect available for a team trading into the third pick. The expectation is Scoot Henderson will be there, with Charlotte apparently leaning towards Brandon Miller, but that’s not set in stone.

Failing to find the kind of trade they’re looking for, as happened to the Golden State Warriors in 2021 in a similar position, would mean they would have to seriously consider shifting their focus to the long-term and embracing that youth movement themselves. That is something Damian Lillard has been clear he isn’t interested in, and it would then raise the possibility of the Blazers looking at moving him. That’s something he has not (and likely will not) ask for himself, but having a star who isn’t thrilled with his situation and works opposite the long-term goals of a team-building plan is not ideal and it wouldn’t require him to ask out.

This all is still a couple weeks away from even taking shape, but it hasn’t stopped it from being a topic of conversation given the caliber of player Lillard is. His friend and former teammate, CJ McCollum, also happens to moonlight as an ESPN analyst in the offseason, and somehow allowed himself to get lured into being on First Take this morning to discuss all of this.

McCollum notes he had “wine and sushi” with Dame last week but is “setting that aside” and insists anything he says in this segment is not coming from Dame directly but is just what he’s thinking — how much you choose to believe that is up to you. Eventually, he says the words Stephen A. Smith was dying to hear, which is “if I was a betting man, I would say this is the last we’ve seen of him there.”

He quickly hedges by noting “I’m not a betting man,” which is a very funny thing to say after making that initial statement. I think he’s right that Portland is going to spend the next two weeks exploring the options available to them on both pathways, but as he notes, the Blazers are a ways away from being a contender. They would need a considerable splash to build a team with a “puncher’s chance,” as he says, and as of now it’s not clear that trade is out there.

Lillard, for his part, thinks he’ll be back in Portland next season — but again, that’s in this current world where an upgraded roster is still a possibility.

Comedy actor Jay Johnston, who voiced Jimmy Pesto on Bob’s Burgers for several seasons, has been arrested in connection to the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol building following Donald Trump’s “Stop The Steal” rally.

According to NBC News, the Department of Justice has charged Johnston with “felony obstruction of officers during civil disorder as well as several misdemeanor offenses.” The charges paint a picture of Johnston’s alleged activities during the riot, and the actor reportedly did more than just enter the Capitol building:

Court documents say that Johnston entered the upper west tunnel, where some of the most violent attacks of the Jan. 6 attack took place and “assisted at least three other rioters by pouring water on the rioters’ faces.” He then used a stolen U.S. Capitol Police shield as rioters battled with police, the documents say.

The arrest also marks the closest thing to a confirmation that Johnston was present for January 6, which has always been speculated but never officially corroborated. However, Johnston was reportedly banned from Bob’s Burgers after his involvement became more and more likely.

(Case in point: This tweet from the FBI that shows a suspect who looks jarringly similar to Johnston.)

“One of the sources described it as a ‘ban,’” The Daily Beast reported in December 2021. “The other individual familiar with the matter described the situation similarly, adding that the Bob’s Burgers cast and crew, as well as Fox, were not looking to make ‘a big deal’ about the current blacklisting of the apparent insurrection-attendee.”

(Via NBC News)

In Los Angeles, summer hasn’t quite arrived yet. For those not too familiar, we’re currently deep into “June gloom,” which was ushered in by “grey May,” and follows some of the rainiest months in California history. Still, as people take to IG to lament the lack of warm weather, we born-and-raised folks are well aware that the heat is coming and will be here until Thanksgiving. Enjoy not needing air conditioning while you can.

And with the warm weather comes one of the best aspects of the summer months across the country: the outdoor summer concert. Sure, we already had plenty of heat at Coachella (and heated reactions to that Frank Ocean mess… Yes, I’m still upset), but the season gets properly ushered in around Memorial Day. LA’s big outdoor venues like the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theatre are back to nightly events after going dark for the winter. Giant outdoor (and semi-outdoor if it is at SoFi stadium) shows are about to arrive in the form of Taylor Swift, Metallica, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Twice, and Beyoncé. And then there are the festivals, which will include events like 88rising’s Head In The Clouds, though last year’s Primavera LA, This Ain’t No Picnic, and Palamino all appear to be off the schedule.

Still, coming out of the COVID closures, it’s not hard to remember how much the concert atmosphere has shifted. From FYF to the Santa Monica pier to July mega-bills at the Bowl, the concert industry is not as healthy as it once was (yet somehow promoters are flaunting record earnings, but I digress). Enter Re:SET, a traveling concert series that occupies a bit of an ambiguous space between festival and summer concert. It’s a concept that feels both like a throwback to the kind of summer concerts that were more frequent about a decade past, and an indicator of something new and fresh. Even the talent, which featured artists that appealed to both millennial (LCD Soundsystem, Toro y Moi) and Gen Z (Boygenius, Steve Lacy) demographics, reflected this kind of old-is-new-again feeling.

The concept is both simple and inspired: three concerts on three consecutive days in a city, each weekend taking place in a region where the bands can essentially rotate which night they are playing, with bills built around the headliner. In LA, that meant a Friday night with Lacy and Toro joined by James Blake and Fousheé, Saturday with Boygenius accompanied by Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange, and LCD supported by Jamie xx, Idles, and Big Freedia on Sunday. The same weekend in San Diego, they received Boygenius on Friday, LCD on Saturday, and finally Steve Lacy on Sunday. The Bay Area also saw Re:SET come through in a shuffled order, and the next weekend, the bands would move to the South.

With only four daily artists and a single stage, it hardly fits the festival delineation, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t offer some of the festival perks. Los Angeles’ Re:SET had a host of local food vendors to go beyond the typical concert fare, plus utilizing a smaller footprint at the Brookside at Rose Bowl location, the home of many festivals, gave it some of the festival infrastructure that assured its success. Attendees also had the option of purchasing single-day passes or attendance for all three days.

But on Saturday, it still didn’t feeeeeel like a festival. While surely there were some three-day attendees, it was clear that this was a Boygenius concert, with fans decked out in cosplay representing the band and Phoebe Bridgers alike. All the openers were enjoyed and respected to varying degrees — Clairo was clearly the closest bullseye to the fans’ tastes — but there was no doubt who the vast majority of the attendees were there to see.

And Boygenius delivered their end of the bargain with a spirited and mighty set that featured just about every song they have recorded together, and even a few songs from Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker’s solo oeuvre. Even from the back, the fans screaming every word was loud enough for the mics to pick up, creating a chorus effect that only added to the enthusiasm of the audience. Clairo received similar treatment for her closing “Bags,” letting the audience take portions of the song for themselves.

It remains to be seen whether Re:SET becomes a sustainable model, or if it is a one-and-done concept. But it would be fascinating to see who else could be down for building these kinds of touring events. For Los Angeles, the event might have felt a little redundant because so many of the artists had already appeared at last year’s This Ain’t No Picnic and Primavera Sound. But that, of course, is not the case for many of the tour’s other cities. Regardless, the hope is that more and more summer concerts return to a healthier touring economy that makes sense for the artists and the fans, and not just for the massive promoters putting them on.

Dijon

Clairo

Boygenius

Bartees Strange

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

The 2023 Governors Ball festival is currently set to go down this weekend, at New York City’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park from June 9 to 11. That sounds like a fun time, but at the moment, there’s a major problem: Smoke from an ongoing Canadian wildfire has made its way down to NYC, creating an eerie and dangerous environment. The skies are currently a hazy orange color and the city’s air quality has officially been deemed “hazardous.”

So, with that in mind: Has Gov Ball been canceled due to the wildfire smoke from Canada?

As of this afternoon (June 7), the festival has not been canceled or postponed and is set to proceed as scheduled. In a statement shared today, festival organizers said, “We’re closely monitoring the air quality with weather experts and are in close contact with city officials. As always, the health and safety of New Yorkers is our top priority. At this time, the festival is continuing as planned. We are hopeful that conditions will improve in the coming days and are looking forward to a great weekend!”

As the festival approaches, interested parties should keep an eye on the Governors Ball social media pages for the latest status updates (here’s their Twitter and Instagram).

Assuming Gov Ball does go on this weekend, find the set times here.

Jenna Ortega’s life as the star of a slam-dunk Netflix franchise with more roles popping up every day may not be relatable. However, it’s perfectly easy to understand why she feels uneasy about social media. And she didn’t even mention her mom shading her daughter’s smoking with memes, but that probably didn’t help matters.

Ortega experienced quite a bit of backlash earlier this year, and that included pushback from producer Steven DeKnight, for her “entitled” and “toxic” remarks regarding issues she had with the Wednesday scripts. DeKnight later clarified that his remarks “were about breaking the trust that we all have on set and during the production process that our creative differences will stay in the family.” Still, this was one of a few incidents that has made social media difficult for Ortega to endure, and the actress — who doesn’t even blink on Wednesday while maintaining stoicism — began crying while describing (to Elle Fanning for Variety) how “nervous” she is to post anything anymore.

“Because I naturally tend to be sarcastic or dry, it’s very easy for me to find myself in trouble. I want people to be able to get to know the people behind the camera and realize that people should never be put on a pedestal. And the more I’ve been exposed to the world, people prey on that and take advantage of that. They see your vulnerability and twist it in a way that you don’t always expect. [Starts to cry] It’s so strange. Sorry, I didn’t mean to do this.”

Ortega then added, “It’s such a hard thing to balance. Because how do you be honest without jeopardizing your own health and safety? It’s very easy to feel almost out of control.” Yeah, it’s time to step away from Twitter and Instagram because those platforms appear to grow more uncivilized all the time. Might I suggest some meditation instead? Or yoga. Yoga is good.

(Via Variety)

Nicki Minaj is being sued for $26,000 over rented jewelry which the jewelry store says she returned late and damaged. According to TMZ, Roseark jewelry store in West Hollywood claims that Nicki’s stylist Brett Alan Nelson rented 66 pieces of jewelry for a public appearance, agreeing to return it all a week later. However, Roseark’s suit says the jewelry was returned late and that a pair of earrings and a ring were “noticeably damaged.”

However, a source TMZ calls “close” to the rapper told the outlet everything was not only returned on time and in the same condition it was borrowed but that the lawsuit wasn’t filed for some time. Meanwhile, the store asserts it sent invoices to Brett for the damage, which totals $26,239.50 plus interest, but that it has not been paid despite multiple attempts to collect. Nicki’s named in the lawsuit despite apparently having no direct contact with the store at all.

Nicki’s lawyer Jordan Siev responded to the lawsuit, saying, “We have not been presented with any evidence that any of the jewelry at issue was damaged by Nicki. This lawsuit appears to be nothing more than an ordinary insurance claim by the jeweler designed to generate publicity for itself and extract a payment to which it is not entitled. We will defend the lawsuit vigorously.”

Lately, Nicki’s been on the issuing end of legal suits; in February, Nicki petitioned the court for a default judgment in her $75,000 defamation lawsuit against social media personality Marley Green aka “Nosey Heaux” after Green failed to respond in a timely manner. However, at the same time, Nicki is also combatting suits from a YouTuber who says she encouraged her fans’ harassment campaign following the YouTuber’s criticism of Nicki and that looming harassment lawsuit from the Jennifer Hough, the woman Nicki’s husband Kenneth Petty, was convicted of sexually assaulting in 1995.

Shannon Sharpe is leaving Fox Sports, and Stephen A. Smith is interested in the longtime NFL tight end bringing his television talents to First Take … if it’s under the right circumstances. In a clip from Smith’s podcast last week, the ESPN personality expressed that he’d love for Sharpe to join him on the desk once his time debating Skip Bayless on FS1’s Undisputed comes to an end.

Despite this, Smith once again addressed Sharpe’s situation on the most recent episode of his pod. While he made clear that he wants to have Sharpe as a member of the First Take family, he made it a point to say that he wouldn’t want him to come on as a full-time co-host at the expense of the number of the other personalities on the show.

“Let me revisit a conversation that I had last week or a discussion that I had last week about Shannon Sharpe, real quick,” Smith said. “I meant what I said, I respect the brother. If he wants to come on First Take, I’m here for it. I support him. He wants to go elsewhere, that’s fine. He wants to get his own show and he’s got his own aspirations, I’m fine with that, too. Got a lot of respect, again, for Shannon Sharpe.”

Smith went on to say that, despite this, he loves the list of contributors that appear on First Take and spar with him on a daily basis, shouting out Ryan Clark, Keyshawn Johnson, Marcus Spears, Bart Scott, Dan Orlovsky, Jeff Saturday (if he returns to television), Mina Kimes, Kimberly Martin, and Michael Irvin.

“I welcome Shannon Sharpe to First Take, but it would be in the mix of being a part of the family,” Smith said. “I like the potpourri of contributors. I like the action and the action and the fun on the show. Adding people into the mix is one thing, changing the complete makeup and formula of the show is entirely different, and that ain’t happening for anyone.”

It’s been almost ten years since Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and the rest of the Expendables brought some old-school action to theaters, but now, the team is back and Megan Fox is along for the ride. The Transformers star is front and center in the new trailer for Expend4bles, the fourth installment in the action franchise that adds a slew of new faces to the mix including 50 Cent, whose character is particularly worried about not getting his face shot off by an aged and glasses-wearing Dolph Lundgren. (Hey, it’s an understandable concern.)

Also, look for Tony Jaa throwing down in the new trailer as well as Statham and Stallone getting their hands dirty in this throwback to the old school action films of the ’80s and ’90s.

Here’s the official synopsis:

A new generation of stars join the world’s top action stars for an adrenaline-fueled adventure in Expend4bles. Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Sylvester Stallone are joined for the first time by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.

Expend4bles slams into theaters on September 22.

New Yorkers and most of the Northeast are facing some seriously orange skies today as smoke from some Canadian fires filters down the coast. While most have been encouraged to stay inside and the city’s mayor calling it a “very unhealthy” air quality, it seems one NYC music festival is still hoping to run as scheduled this weekend.

The annual Governors Ball Music Festival is currently set for June 9 to 11 and have confirmed that they’re still hoping to welcome a bunch of fans to the festival grounds to see their favorite artists.

“We’re closely monitoring the air quality with weather experts and are in close contact with city officials,” a Governors Ball representative told Pitchfork. “As always, the health and safety of New Yorkers is our top priority. At this time, the festival is continuing as planned. We are hopeful that conditions will improve in the coming days and are looking forward to a great weekend!”

For reference, here’s a video taken in NYC today (June 7):

This is part of the festival’s pretty rough track record with battling the city’s weather throughout the years. In 2019, the festival had to be evacuated on the final day due to flooding from a storm. Three years prior in 2016, the fest’s Sunday run was outright canceled for a similar storm issue.

While they haven’t encountered poor weather in a few years, here’s hoping the smoke can clear up by then.