Month: June 2023

Early this year, pop music icon Madonna announced that she would be commemorating the 40th anniversary of the beginning of her music career with the Celebration Tour. Announcing the tour with a video featuring stars like Diplo, Lil Wayne, and more, she said in a statement, “I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for.” Unfortunately, it turned out that at least some of those fans will have to wait a bit longer, as Madonna’s longtime manager Guy Oseary announced the postponement of the tour on Instagram.

So, why was Madonna’s Celebration Tour postponed?

Well, it looks like Madonna will need a little recovery time after she was hospitalized earlier this week. After being reportedly found unresponsive, she was rushed to the ICU, where she was intubated for at least one night and watched over by her daughter, Lourdes Leon. And although Oseary reports that her health is improving and she’s expected to make a full recovery, it looks like no chances are being taken with the 64-year-old singer.

“At this time, we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour,” wrote Oseary on Instagram. “We will share more details with you as soon as we have them, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows.”

Ghislaine Maxwell has earned the nickname “Prison Karen” after filing over 400 complaints while serving time on her 20-year sentence.

The right-hand woman to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell was found guilty of child sex trafficking and sentenced in June of 2022. She’s since been doing her time at a low-security women’s prison in Florida. But, according to insiders, even the cushiest of lock-ups just doesn’t meet the London socialite’s high standards. The Daily Mail reports that Maxwell has lodged complaints over practically every element of prison life — from the food to the treatment by her guards to the lack of haircare products. In fact, her biggest gripe recently stems from the facility’s refusal to provide black hair dye so that Maxwell can cover up her grays.

“She complains about the food, the bedding, when they cancel temple because of bad weather or are late setting up her legal calls,” a source revealed. “The latest battle is over hair dye. Maxwell hates her gray showing through and she’s filed a grievance because they don’t sell it anymore. When she did her video interview with British TV she paid another inmate $200 for the dye.”

Epstein’s partner in crime is also peeved with the lack of vegan meal options and a “rude” laundry lady she apparently has beef with. According to the source, Maxwell’s Big “Speak To The Manager” Energy is all part of her plan to get reassigned. Despite having it easy in the Florida facility, Maxwell hopes that by constantly complaining to prison officials, she’ll cause such a headache that they’ll have no choice but to move her elsewhere.

Let’s hope it’s somewhere even less accommodating.

(Via RawStory)

Taurean Prince will join the list of wing free agents looking for a new deal this summer after the Minnesota Timberwolves officially waived his non-guaranteed deal for next year.

Minnesota had to make a decision on Prince’s $7.4 million contract and chose to let him go to free up their mid-level this summer to try and make a roster upgrade, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Prince tweeted that he, like the rest of us, learned about this via Wojnarowski.

Prince averaged 9.1 points per game for Minnesota last year, with his primary value being as a catch-and-shoot threat on the perimeter. Prince knocked down 38.1 percent of his threes last season for the Wolves on nearly 4 attempts per game. While not the defensive presence some of the other wings on the market are, Prince figures to Garner interest at the taxpayer mid-level for contenders looking to add some shooting to their bench rotation.

Prince may have to wait out what happens with players like Josh Hart, Bruce Brown, Donte DiVincenzo, and others on the wing market before finding his next home. As for the Wolves, they have to figure out how to upgrade their roster with little in the way of space. Waiving Prince opens up the full $12.4 million non-taxpayer mid-level, putting them in the running for some of the better mid-tier free agents to try and improve on last year’s squad that got the 8-seed.

Earlier today, it was reported that Madonna had been hospitalized in New York City. According to Page Six, the singer had been rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive. Although she had to be intubated for one night, it was revealed that she’s currently recovering and alert, and she’s expected to make a full recovery.

According to Madonna’s longtime manager, Guy Oseary, the cause of all this was a bacterial infection. As he wrote on Instagram, “On Saturday, June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which led to a several-day stay in the ICU. Her health is improving, however, she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected.”

Unfortunately, due to her hospitalization, the kickoff of her upcoming Celebration Tour for the 40th anniversary of her career has been postponed. Oseary writes, “At this time, we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour. We will share more details with you as soon as we have them, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows.”

The tour, which was to feature Bob The Drag Queen as an opener in protest of a slate of Republican-led anti-drag/anti-trans laws, was originally scheduled to begin on July 15 in Vancouver and run through December 1 in Amsterdam.

Anxiety is weird. Not weird in a funny way but more like weird in a terrifying ‘am I dying or am I just having an anxiety attack‘ kind of way. Our brains are powerful things and can make our bodies have physiological responses to stress, anxiety and depression. One of those annoyingly terrifying symptoms are heart palpitations which can feel like your heart is beating too fast, skipping a beat or rolling around in your chest.

When our hearts do something funky that make us acutely aware of its existence, the immediate thought is usually you’re having a heart attack. Which can lead to more anxiety, thus more heart flip flops. It becomes a vicious cycle until you either get it checked out or it stops on its own because your brain decides to do you a solid and let you forget your heart was being weird five minutes ago.

It is really very interesting to know your brain has that much power over what your body does when you’re just sitting there existing. But for those that experience the unwelcome excitement of anxiety related heart palpitations, there’s a neat trick to get your heart back to feeling normal.

Jesse Katches posted a video to TikTok revealing a unique way in controlling heart palpitations brought on by anxiety. In the video Katches plays someone having heart palpitations and the person who supposedly called an ambulance due to his own palpitations which resulted in a paramedic teaching him the neat trick.

Katches tells the other person to clasp their hands together but leave out their thumbs and blow, before explaining how the trick works. He says there’s a nerve running down the middle of your body that helps control your heartbeat, stimulating the nerve can sort of tell your heart to chill out. It’s fascinating and a trick to keep in your pocket if you experience this symptom.

Watch the full video below:

@jessekatches1

Anxiety heart palpitations 😬🫀 #mentalhealth #anxietyrelief

Pregnant workers should have an easier time getting a drink of water, wearing a uniform that fits, and being allowed to work from home thanks to a new law. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) ensures that pregnant workers get reasonable accommodations in the workplace without fear of being fired or retaliation.

The PWFA was passed as part of the $1.7 trillion government funding bill.

“At long last, pregnant workers can no longer be forced off the job for needing light-duty work or a stool to sit on to maintain a healthy pregnancy,” said Dina Bakst, co-founder and co-president of A Better Balance. “Working moms no longer have to fear job loss for needing time off to recover from childbirth safely. No longer will women nationwide face the impossible choice between maintaining a healthy pregnancy and affording food for their families.”

The law is a landmark case for women’s rights because 72% of all working women will become pregnant at some point in their careers. Further, 8 in 10 first-time pregnant women will work until their final month of pregnancy. To offer “reasonable accommodations” for women 8 months pregnant is the least employers can do.

— (@)

Under the new law, a pregnant worker can go to their employer and ask for a “reasonable” accommodation, and they discuss whether it can be granted. If the employer doesn’t approve the request, the pregnant employee can file a challenge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Currently, the law doesn’t provide any hard-set rules for accommodations. But by the end of the year, the EEOC will announce a list of accommodations subject to public comment.

Examples of “reasonable accommodations” include:

• Light duty, or help with manual labor and lifting
• Changing food or drink policies to allow a worker to have a water bottle or food
• Changing a uniform or dress code, like allowing wearing maternity pants
• Changing a work schedule, like having shorter work hours or a later start time to accommodate morning sickness
• Flexible scheduling for prenatal or postnatal appointments
• Remote work or telework
• Time off for bed rest, recovery from childbirth, postpartum depression, and mastitis

— (@)

The law is essential for women’s rights, but it also clarifies the 2015 Young vs. UPS Supreme Court decision. Peggy Young was a pregnant UPS worker whose doctor said she shouldn’t lift more than 20 pounds. UPS told Young that if she couldn’t lift 70 pounds, she’d be placed on leave without pay. The Court sided with Young, but the decision left employers unclear about the rights of pregnant employees. The legal gray area allowed workers to take their employers to court.

“We believe it is going to reduce the chances for that type of litigation and provide clarity to employers about what their obligations are,” said Marc Freedman, vice president of workplace policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Our expectation is that a high majority of these requests for accommodation will lead to employers and employees finding a way to work things out.”

Remember the wholesome, joy-filled days of singing families a la The Brady Bunch or the The Osmunds? Well, the Sharpe Family Singers might have just incited a comeback.

Hailing from New Jersey, the vocal group is made up of mom and dad Ron and Barbra along with their four kids: Samantha, Logan and twins (yes, twins) Connor and Aidan.

The Sharpe’s already have a huge following on TikTok and Youtube, where they go all out to perform covers of well known pop songs. We’re talking full costumes and everything. Each video is a cheesy, harmony-filled masterpiece.

And now, after their mesmerizing audition for “America’s Got Talent” on June 27, it looks like they’re gonna have even more loyal fans.

Even before signing, the Sharpes stole the hearts of judges with their sweet story. Ron and Barbra had actually met on the very same “AGT” stage years ago, where they shared their first kiss in a show. As Howie Mandel joked, things went “from production to reproduction,” hence their four children.

What’s more, Ron told the audience that each kid grew up actually wanting to be part of the group. “Hey if you wanna hang out with your parents, that’s pretty cool.” How cute is that?

Then they proceed to blow the roof off the place with a cover of “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s “Moana.”

Behold:

While eldest child Samantha (who had auditioned for “American Idol” back in 2021) had an impressive solo, the entire family unit was incredible to watch…so sayeth folks from the Youtube comments.

One person wrote, “That was everything that song needed to be. Thank you! Great energy, beautiful harmonies, and really fun and uplifting.From the beautiful earthy warm honey tones of the young man’s first solo line, the compelling solos of the oldest sister to the twins at the end, they sold that song and created magic for the audience.”

The sentiment was shared by the judges, from Simon Cowell who called the act “as American as apple pie” to Heidi Klum who told the Sharpes “I would love nothing more than to do this with my entire family.”

It’s clear that what’s even more inspiring about this family than their god given talent is how much pure joy they have performing with one another. And if you’re jonesing for more Sharpe family content, you can find it here and here.

And Just Like That… began its second season last week with Che Diaz making many headlines. Yet there’s another reason that the show’s been grabbing more attention lately, and that would be the miraculous return of Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones. The show teased this — presumably going rogue in the process — with a text conversation in the first season finale. Supposedly, “Samantha” agreed to meet Carrie for drinks, and I wondered how Cattrall would feel about this, given her forthright stance of not being interested in revisiting Sex And The City and that feud which has been acknowledged by Sarah Jessica Parker.

However, we recently heard that Cattrall would be making a cameo, which she filmed by herself, even surprising Evan Handler when he heard about the scene. This week, Cattrall discussed the subject on The View, and she revealed that she did have one condition after HBO came calling again:

“It’s very interesting to get a call from the head of HBO … [dramatic pause] … saying ‘What can we do?’ I went, ‘Hmm, let me get creative.’ And one of those things was to get Pat Field back … You know, if I’m going to come back, I need to come back with that kind of Samantha style. I gotta push it.”

This thrilled self-confessed SATC fan Alyssa Farah Griffin to no end, and as Variety notes, Field was definitely on the scene when it came to wardrobing Samantha. You know… just like that.

Kim Cattrall can also be seen in Glamorous, currently streaming on Netflix.

Following the critically-acclaimed return of The Bear, which has been bringing in record ratings for its second season, series creator Christopher Storer has landed his next big project. The writer/director is set to helm an adaptation of Don Winslow‘s crime thriller The Winter of Frankie Machine at Paramount.

According to Deadline, Winslow and producer Shane Salerno have struggled to find the right filmmaker to tackle the film for over a decade. After digging the first season of The Bear, they took to Storer’s take on the Chicago restaurant scene and his passion for Winslow’s novel:

Winslow’s 2006 novel is about Frankie Machiani, a hitman for a San Diego mob family who’s dragged out of retirement when asked by an LA crime family boss to oversee a meeting between Detroit and LA crime families. He realizes quickly it’s all a set up to kill him. He needs to shake off the rust and dodge those killers until he figures out who is trying to kill him.

Just to emphasize how hot a commodity The Winter of Frankie Machine has been, the film was almost tackled by Michael Mann, William Friedkin, and even Martin Scorsese. Now, it falls to Storer, who’s white-hot right now thanks to Carmy and the gang on The Bear.

The Bear Season 2 is now streaming on Hulu.

(Via Deadline)

It looks like Megan Thee Stallion may have an unexpected new ally in her fight against her label, 1501 Certified — the woman ostensibly brought on to “replace” her at the label. Fans are sure that “Buss It” rapper Erica Banks has some beef of her own with 1501 after a new song snippet circulating online finds her criticizing an unnamed label for being “greedy.”

“Give a f*ck about that label they see me,” she snaps in the 30-second clip. “And they owe me some money, they greedy.” Of course, you never know; there could be a third label involved somehow, or Banks could even have issues with Warner Records, where she signed in 2021. Considering that her complaint sounds a lot like Meg’s issue with 1501, though, a lot of the signs are pointing in that direction. And where there’s smoke… etc.

If it is true that Banks is dissing 1501, that would make a couple of things that Meg’s been right about over the past few years after Tory Lanez was convicted of shooting her in 2020. Meg’s long maintained that the terms of her deal with 1501 were unfair; as she has fought the label in court, she later accused its owners of hiding money after she was granted numerous restraining orders against 1501 so she could continue releasing new music.

It could also mean that the collaboration between the two women some fans have been hankering for since the “Buss It” challenge broke the internet could be one step closer.

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