Month: June 2023

For two years, the professional golf world has been battling each other over the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour poaching away some top talent from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour).

Golfers who left for LIV were banned from the PGA Tour, leading to lawsuits filed by some former players and the tours against each other. It has all been very messy, but ever since this year’s Masters, there has seemingly been a cooling of tensions between the LIV world and the PGA and DP World Tours. Brooks Koepka contending at Augusta and then winning the PGA Championship only further complicated matters within the rift, as the majors (which aren’t under the umbrella of the PGA Tour) had allowed all qualified parties to continue competing. With the Ryder Cup upcoming, where LIV golfers likely weren’t going to be selected but Koepka was going to qualify on points just off of his major success, there was some impetus on all sides to figure out how to coexist.

The result was a stunning announcement on Tuesday morning that the three entities were merging with one another to bring LIV Golf’s team concept under the umbrella of the two Tours, with the Saudi Public Investment Fund remaining as the lead stakeholder.

The PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) today announced a landmark agreement to unify the game of golf, on a global basis. The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players.

There were a number of reasons for the various Tours to all look to reach this agreement, and that was laid out in one of the early paragraphs of the release where part of the agreement includes dropping all legal action against each other. None of the Tours wanted to go deep into discovery on lawsuits, and this will allow them to drop all of that and move forward.

Notably, today’s announcement will be followed by a mutually agreed end to all pending litigation between the participating parties. Further, the three organizations will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of re-admission, consistent with each Tour’s policies.

On the LIV side, it gives them a better chance of continuing to exist long-term, as there have been rumblings some players are not exactly thrilled with the situation and were going to be exploring how to return to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour whenever their contracts ran up. This allows them to do that, but also seems to ensure LIV won’t completely fade away — and might be able to land a TV deal that isn’t on the CW — in the near future.

From a golf perspective, this brings all the best players in the world closer to playing against each other again, which we’ve seen in the majors has been something we’ve been missing. That said, the PGA Tour going into business with the PIF will only raise questions about how involved the Saudis will be in PGA Tour business, with it being very difficult for the Tour to shrug off given one of the main points of attack on LIV has been the human rights atrocities committed by the Saudis and how blatant LIV Golf was as a sportswashing attempt — especially given the announcement includes this nugget: “PIF’s Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will join the PGA TOUR Policy Board.”

Those questions won’t just come from the outside, as many PGA Tour players were apparently blindsided by the announcement.

Given how outspoken some PGA Tour players were against LIV Golf for the reasons of where the money was coming from, there may be some internal blowback coming the Tour’s way.

Young Thug’s brother Unfoonk has been sentenced to nine years in prison for violating the terms of his probation, according to Rolling Stone via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Unfoonk, whose real name is Quantavious Grier, pled guilty to violating Georgia’s RICO Act and theft by receiving stolen property in December and was granted release with time served. He was given 10 years probation in lieu of 12 years in prison.

However, on May 4, he was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, violating his probation. Some of the other terms included not associating with any other suspected member of the alleged YSL gang/record label, 750 hours of community service, and a 10 am to 6 pm curfew. During the sentencing hearing on Monday (June 5), Judge Ural Glanville noted Unfoonk hadn’t begun his community service or paid his probation fees: $141.08. He’s quoted in Rolling Stone‘s report saying:

“The issues I find aggravating in this particular circumstance are several. You got arrested with a gun within six months of you being placed on probation. All you had to do was complete your probation and do what you were supposed to do. Instead, you were out riding around with a gun in your car.”

Unfoonk was among a dozen alleged YSL co-conspirators to accept a plea deal in exchange for his release, including Gunna. All of them maintain that their Alford pleas do not constitute “snitching” — although the hip-hop community at large appears to disagree.

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

Prince Harry has delivered a scathing testimony against Piers Morgan in the trial that accuses the British journalist of allegedly being aware of the phone hacking of celebrities, politicians, and royal family members during his time as editor for The Daily Mirror. Harry also accused Morgan of allegedly launching an “intimidation” campaign against both he and Meghan Markle in hopes they would stop pursuing the phone hacking accusations.

Harry’s written testimony was delivered to the London High Court and notably blasts Morgan over the torment of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, during the time before her tragic death. Morgan has denied any knowledge of phones being hacked during his roughly nine year run as editor of The Daily Mirror.

Via Deadline:

“The thought of Piers Morgan and his band of journalists earwigging into my mother’s private and sensitive messages (in the same way as they have me) and then having given her a ‘nightmare time’ three months prior to her death in Paris, makes me feel physically sick,” Prince Harry said.

Harry went on to rebuke Morgan’s alleged campaign to get the royal couple to abandon the phone hacking case.

“Unfortunately, as a consequence of me bringing my Mirror Group claim, both myself and my wife have been subjected to a barrage of horrific personal attacks and intimidation from Piers Morgan,” Harry wrote. Unfortunately for Morgan, Harry has now become the first senior member of the royal family to be cross-examined in court since the 19th century.

(Via Deadline)

What happens in Las Vegas stays there. Well, unless it occurs on the stage of iHeartRadio’s annual music festival. iHeartRadio Music Festival 2023 will return to T-Mobile Arena on Friday, September 22, and Saturday, September 23. At the top of the lineup for this year’s festivities are rap bad boy, Lil Wayne, rock legends Foo Fighters, Emmy Award-winning talk show host Kelly Clarkson, and Fall Out Boy.

Other acts slated to perform at the festival include Kane Brown, Lenny Kravitz, Miguel, Public Enemy, Sheryl Crow, Tim McGraw, TLC, and Thirty Seconds To Mars. The organizers have hinted on the event’s official flyer that there are still more featured performers to be announced at a later date.

Last year’s event featured appearances from Megan Thee Stallion, Halsey, and Luke Combs. If the festival follows its yearly tradition, fans who cannot attend in person might be able to rewatch it when it airs on television the following month.

The Capital One presale for iHeart Radio Music Festival 2023 begins on Wednesday, June 14, at 10 a.m. PT. The general public ticket sale will start on Friday, June 16, at 11 a.m. PT. Find more information here.

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

Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast is finding continued success with her massive New York Times bestselling memoir, Crying In H Mart.

Now, it has a new co-sign from none other than BTS’ Jungkook. He had expressed his love for Zauner’s work during a recent WeVerse live broadcast.

“Michelle Zauner explores what it means to cook your feelings,” he said. “In the book, she uses the lens of food and cooking to explore her Korean identity after she loses her mother to cancer.”

Zauner then reacted to the photo of the pop star reading her book on social media. “Excuse me Jung Kook has bought a copy of Crying in H Mart!!!!!,” she wrote on her Instagram Story.

Over the past few months, she embarked on a book tour across the US, in support of both becoming a bestseller and her paperback version hitting stores back in March. However, pretty soon, it will become an even bigger title: The book is currently in the process of being adapted into a film, with The White Lotus‘ Will Sharpe directing the project. Recently, an open casting call was announced for an 18- to 25-year-old Korean American to play the role of Zauner.

Fans interested in reading before hit hits the big screen can find a copy here.

The Idol has officially premiered, and while it’s not exactly a critical hit so far, the cast has a ton of musical firepower: Aside from The Weeknd, Blackpink’s Jennie and Troye Sivan also have roles in the show. Sivan actually has a pretty funny story about the first time he and Jennie met.

In a video interview with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly, Sivan spoke about what it was like working with Jennie and how their initial meeting went. He said:

“Jennie is so, so lovely. You know, the first day I met her, I’ll never forget. We were just making casual conversation, I think I was asking her about her travel plans. I was like, ‘Where did you come from?’ And she was like, ‘Oh, I flew in from’ wherever. And I was like, ‘Oh nice, what were you doing over there?’ And she was like, ‘Well, I’m in a band, so we were…’ And I was like, ‘Girl, I know. Like, literally the entire planet knows that you’re in a band [laughs].’”

He also noted of promoting the show, “I mean, it was really fun. I know a few creative directors, I’ve dated a few. So I know them really well. I am also fully that person. I catch myself now. Like, you know, on the press tour, for example, [Lily-Rose Depp is] just like looking unbelievable at all times, of course. And so I’m like, you know, like the gay best friend. It’s like taking a million pictures of her all the time. I think that is just like a very natural role for me to slip into.”

The Shameless alumni are doing just fine these days, and of course, Jeremy Allen White has busted out of the crop with The Bear, which will return on June 22. The actress who portrayed Fiona Gallagher ain’t doing so bad, either. Emmy Rossum realized her dream project with Angelyne, and she’s appearing in The Crowded Room as Tom Holland’s mom, but she has explained why this kinda makes sense despite only a 10-year-age gap.

As well, Rossum feels fondly about her old Chicago stomping grounds in Shameless, and she fielded a question (from Cleveland.com) on whether Fiona would visit “Lip… at his Italian beef shop in Chicago.” That would be quite the crossover, and now I want it to happen. Rossum declared that she’s hopeful that a visit would happen if Lip was actually Carmy, but as for White, “I’m so proud and happy for him.” However, she’s feeling great about where Fiona must actually be these days.

Naturally, Fiona would still be into real-estate investments, according to Emmy. She is now “probably owning some condos in Miami.” From there: “She’s on the beach having a, you know, hot-girl summer. She’s good.”

Man, let’s hope so. And let’s hope that Fiona managed to stay single for more than 10 minutes. She ended up with some real doozies, and it says a lot that Jimmy/Steve actually looked like a dream compared to a few of them. Still, I’m here for Real Estate Fiona and will secretly root for a one-season revival/”hot-girl summer” spinoff. Admit it, you’d watch that, too.

(Via Cleveland.com)

Lil Yachty is an extremely successful professional musician, but that doesn’t mean he’s about to stop hustling and exploiting financial opportunities when they present themselves.

Over the weekend, Yachty joined Drake for a live stream with Stake, and during the broadcast, Yachty joked that he could quickly make some pretty good money by selling a slice of pizza that Drake had taken a bit out of. Indeed, later that day, Yachty posted a photo of the partially eaten slice on his Instagram Story and wrote, “Selling this drake bit slice of pizza for 500k.”

Presumably, Yachty is just joking around here. That said, if a serious buyer actually presented Yachty with half a million dollars in exchange for the pizza, that would probably be hard to turn down.

Meanwhile, Drake recently popped up in the season finale of Dave. Throughout the season, there had been nods to Drake, and sure enough, in the finale, he and Lil Dicky finally met up. Real-life Dicky said of Drake, “Drake is like the top of the mountain top musically and as a rapper. I had met Drake and he pulled me aside and told me the show is one of the more important shows of our generation and I knew he was a fan.”

Earlier this month, Pete’s Davidson‘s dog, 2-year-old Henry, passed away. “Henry was only 2 years old but unfortunately got very sick very fast,” he wrote on Instagram about the pup that he shared with his mom and sister. “My mom, sister and I got Henry at the beginning of the pandemic and he saved our lives. Not sure I’d even be around without him. He was the happiest and sweetest dog ever.”

Like many pet owners who are reeling from the loss of a furry friend, Davidson recently got another dog for his mom, a two-and-a-half-month Cavapoo, according to the New York Post. Unlike other pet owners, however, the SNL alumnus was publicly criticized by PETA for buying the puppy from a pet store instead of adopting from a shelter.

“It’s tragic that Pete didn’t seek out a borough-born mutt from a city animal shelter, because a scrappy New Yorker with charm, personality, and unconventional handsomeness could have been his perfect match,” Daphna Nachminovitch, PETA’s senior VP of Cruelty Investigations, told TMZ. “Since shelters in New York and across the country are overflowing with homeless animals, PETA urges Pete to show some big heart energy by adopting, not shopping, in the future.”

In response, Davidson left an understandably angry voicemail for Nachminovitch, telling PETA to “suck my d*ck.” The actor is allergic to dogs, so “I had to get a specific dog,” he explained. “So why don’t you do your research before you f*cking create news stories for people because you’re boring…”

Davidson ended the call, “F*ck you and suck my d*ck.”

[TMZ] contacted Pete about his furious voice mail, and he admits he was unaware he could “adopt a specific hypoallergenic dog.” He says he was told “it wasn’t an option, and if it was, it was rare.”

As for his anger, he addressed that by emphasizing his family was really going through it after his mother’s dog died — “I haven’t seen my mom and sister cry like that in over 20 years. I was trying to cheer up my family. I was already upset that the store [Citipups] had filmed me without my permission or acknowledgement. Then this organization (PETA) made a public example of us, making our grieving situation worse. I am upset. It was a poor choice of words. I shouldn’t have said what I said, but I am not sorry for standing up for myself and my family.”

There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but generally speaking, adopt, don’t stop. Also, RIP Henry.

(Via TMZ)

We all go through phases, and depending on how extreme the past versions of ourselves were, sometimes it can be a cringe-inducing experience to look back on previous eras. Ariana Grande isn’t necessarily cringing, but in a new TikTok video, she’s definitely at least poking fun at the difference between her current and former makeup styles.

Grande wrote in on-screen text, “me to old me who wouldn’t dare be seen without a thick cat eye and an over drawn lip.” In the video, Grande plays two versions of herself, one of which is applying her classic makeup look. All the while, audio from Keeping Up With The Kardashians plays as Grande lip-syncs along. In the audio, Kim Kardashian asks her mother Kris Jenner, “Do you think your eyes are a little too smokey for every day?” The video switches to Grande applying the older makeup style as she mouths along to Jenner’s response, “Yeah, I’m going through a phase. Is that OK with you?”

Meanwhile, Grande recently removed over 4,000 Instagram posts from her profile, which has fans excited for the possibility of new music. Grande has had a chart presence this year, though, actually earning a No. 1 single thanks to a new remix of The Weeknd’s “Die For You.”