Month: July 2023

Last year, Taylor Swift was sued by author Teresa La Dart, who claimed that the pop star stole the design from her 2010 self-published book Lover for her 2019 LP of the same title.

According to Billboard, La Dart has dropped her lawsuit after Swift’s lawyers said the case “never should have been filed.” They demanded the case be dismissed, saying it was “legally and factually baseless.”

In August of last year, La Dart’s lawyer shared a statement with Pitchfork. “It has been a bizarre day as this was filed less than 24 hours ago,” It read. “Glad to provide some insight as many commentators seem to think this was poorly undertaken. Initially, it is important to note Miss La Dart feels strongly that her full work needs to be compared with that of Miss Swift’s before a conclusion is made here.”

“Secondly, this decision was not made nor taken lightly considering the other side is quite formidable. Lastly, this was a recent consideration and this filing was made ostensibly to reserve Miss La Dart’s rights (primarily at this point) since yesterday was the date the statute of limitations closed. Hope the masses can understand these issues from her perspective, in other words.”

Sinéad O’Connor has passed away at 56 years old. The Dublin-born singer’s death was first reported by The Irish Times on Wednesday afternoon (July 26) and later included a statement from her family, reading, “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

The London Inner South Coroner’s Court has since confirmed O’Connor was found “unresponsive” at her London home and “pronounced dead at the scene,” as reported by the BBC. An autopsy will be performed to determine O’Connor’s official cause of death.

On Wednesday night, Pink brought her recently launched Summer Carnival tour to Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, and used the stage to honor O’Connor alongside Brandi Carlile, one of her tour openers.

“When I was a little girl, my mom grew up in Atlantic City and I used to go down to the Ocean City Boardwalk with my $10 and I would make a demo tape,” Pink told the crowd (as relayed by Billboard). “I would make a little cassette tape and imagine it was my demo for the record company.”

She continued, “And it would always be either ‘Greatest Love of All’ by Whitney Houston or ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Sinéad O’Connor. So in honor of Sinéad, and in honor of my very, very talented friend Brandi Carlile I asked her if she would come out here and sing this song with me.”

Someone in attendance captured the moment and posted video to Twitter:

Carlile and Pink also posted about O’Connor in their respective Instagram Stories. Carlile posted a black-and-white throwback portrait of her with the message, “She was right the whole time. I hope she found peace,” as well as video of her duet with Pink alongside the note, “Bittersweet moment.”

Meanwhile, Pink resurfaced her performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U” for the BBC Radio 2 Piano Room from earlier this year.

O’Connor cracked No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in 1990 with “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a power ballad written by Prince. (Prince’s estate denied the use of the song in O’Connor’s documentary last fall.)

In January 2022, O’Connor shared that her 17-year-old son, Shane, died by suicide. She reportedly admitted herself to hospital the following week after expressing suicidal ideation online.

Most recently, on July 17, an unverified Twitter account linked to O’Connor’s professional account wrote, “Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him.”

When a new coach takes over after someone was fired, they usually take a diplomatic approach to how they’re going to change things in order to get better. Rarely will a coach air out another member of the fraternity directly, instead focusing on how they’re going to shift the team’s culture and try to do things a bit differently in order to get more out of the team.

And then there’s Sean Payton.

Payton is taking over in Denver this year for Nathaniel Hackett, who was very clearly in over his head in his lone season with the Broncos. There was the infamous decision to play for a 64-yard field goal in the very first game of the season, which ensured everyone focused on poor game management choices for the rest of the year. His tenure ended with a 51-14 loss to an extremely mediocre Rams team, and while you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that would praise his efforts in Denver, not many expected Payton to take out the torch on him at the start of camp.

Jarrett Bell of USA Today spoke with Payton this week and got the new Broncos coach’s full, unfiltered take on the disaster that was last year, with Payton ripping Hackett and the entire staff, calling it “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”

“Oh, man,” Payton began. “There’s so much dirt around that. There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don’t know Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it. This B.S. that he hit a wall? Shoot, they couldn’t get a play in. They were 29th in the league in pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball.”

…

“That was a message,” Payton said. “They can only beat the (expletive) out of you so much. But everybody’s got a little stink on their hands. It’s not just Russell. It was a (poor) offensive line. It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL. That’s how bad it was.”

Payton also made clear he expects this Broncos team to be a playoff team, despite being in the same division as the Chiefs and Chargers, as he is not shy about his feelings that the presence of a coherent coaching staff can right the wrongs of last season. It’s pretty wild to hear a coach talk like this about another coach, but he’s also just saying what pretty much everyone who watched a lot of the Broncos last year did. Now, we’ll find out if Russell Wilson’s woes really were just coaching and the lack of a cohesive system, or if he’s as cooked as he looked a year ago. If the latter is true, it won’t matter how much better the team culture is under Payton, but he’s clearly hitching his wagon to Russ and expecting a bounce back in the form of a playoff berth.

After ripping open your presents on Christmas, head to the theater to see ripped Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White.

A24 will release The Iron Claw, about the Von Erich family of wrestlers and the tragedies they faced, on December 22, 2023. That’s the same day as Illumination’s animated comedy Migration; two days after Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2; and three days before The Color Purple and Ferrari. It would be the busiest week of movies this year, if Barbenheimer never happened (and for the sake of theaters, thank god it did).

The Iron Claw stars Efron and White as Kevin and Kerry Von Erich, as well as Harris Dickinson as David Von Erich, Holt McCallany as Fritz Von Erich, Maura Tierney as Doris Von Erich, and Lily James as Kevin’s wife, Pam. Real-life wrestlers will also appear in the film, including Maxwell Jacob Friedman (a.k.a. AEW’s MJF) as Lance Von Erich and Chavo Guerrero Jr. as The Sheik.

“There’s something human about never feeling like you are really your own man,” The Bear star, who gained 40 pounds of muscle, told GQ about The Iron Claw. “All great drama is about family, whether it’s blood or not. It’s about acceptance, it’s about belonging, and just getting away from loneliness.”

Here’s a first-look photo:

Cardi B and Offset have had a rollercoaster of a relationship. Last month, Offset publicly accused Cardi of cheating on him in an Instagram Story, which Cardi vehemently denied: “First of all, let me say: You can’t accuse me of all the things you know that you are guilty of,” she said in a Twitter Space.

Since then, Cardi joined him during his Rolling Loud Miami set, and now they’ve announced a collaboration together, coming Friday, July 28. Fittingly titled “Jealousy,” the track was announced on Cardi’s Instagram with the artwork of the single.

The song was teased by Offset earlier this week with a promotional clip on Twitter featuring Jamie Lee Curtis: “Your fans are saying that there’s a lot of drama between you and your beautiful wife, Cardi B,” she said. Offset replied, “Let’s talk about music.”

In May, Offset revealed that Cardi, calling her his “bestie,” helped him quit lean. “I put down lean. I was drinking my whole career,” he said. “It opened my mind up, but I never thought it helped me create. I feel like getting past that, cleaning up, and putting that message out.”

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Following the passing of music legend Sinéad O’Connor, fans of the Irish singer began reminiscing about her most iconic songs and moments like the time she famously tore up a photo of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. However, another fiery O’Connor retort to power has come to light, and it has people falling even more in love with the late musician.

After the death of her son, Piers Morgan reportedly tried to get O’Connor on his show several times. She wasn’t having it and shot him down with a hilarious email that blasted him for his well-known obsession with Meghan Markle.

Via The Irish Mirror:

“Hi Piers, I think it’s best I don’t do your show because of the irresistible temptation I would have to point out that you’re dying to be balls deep in Meghan Markle so bad it’s driven you crazy, and that your dislike of Prince Harry is down to his being balls deep in her ten times a day.

“It being the case that if you were ever to get near her, which would never happen, you’d last ten seconds: and that would be that for ten days.”

The rejection has gone viral since O’Connor’s death, and people can’t believe the email actually exists. O’Connor’ was a real one, and she just picked up a whole new legion of fans thanks to her absolute roasting of Morgan.

You can see some of the reactions below:

(Via The Irish Mirror)

Sean Hannity‘s staff earned the Fox News host’s ire after he botched Rep. Tim Burchett‘s name. While introducing the Tennessee congressman who was on hand to discuss Wednesday’s wild House hearing on UFOs, Hannity accidentally referred to Burchett as “Tom.” The congressman had to correct Hannity twice before he recognized the mistake. Turns out, the Fox News host was eager to discuss the potential existence of aliens after falling hook, line, and sinker for the testimony of controversial UFO whistleblower David Grusch.

“Why do I not think they’re lying, and why do I believe them?” Hannity said of Grusch and the other UFO witnesses before Burchett finally got the Fox News host to apologize for botching his name.

“I’m going to blame my staff and throw them down the stairs,” Hannity said, to which Burchett replied, “That’s OK. You’re all right, brother. No, don’t do that. They’re the ones that invite me back.”

While Burchett was on hand to discuss UFOs, the congressman had a viral moment of his own thanks to his infamously tone-deaf response to the Nashville school shooting earlier in the year.

“We’re not gonna fix it,” the staunch second amendment supporter said. After Burchett got dragged on social media, The Daily Show guest host John Leguizamo tore into the congressman.

“There’s not a lot of heck you can do about it? That’s the best you have to offer? You’re a congressman!” Leguizamo said. “If you don’t have any ideas for how to keep our kids safe, get the f— out of the way. And go work at a Pinkberry or some s—!”

(Via Aaron Rupar on Twitter)

J. Cole is the latest person to feature on Kevin Hart’s Hart To Heart talk show on Peacock. Cole’s episode debuted on the streamer this morning, July 27, and covered a lot of ground in 44 minutes.

The Dreamville boss gave pro-tips for combatting social media addiction, contextualized his standing in rap — he’s “more disconnected” from the discourse because he’s “fulfilled” and “grateful” — and professed his love for basketball before assessing rap as a whole.

“I think it’s fire. It’s a whole different ballgame — whole different crop of young superstars and styles, you know what I mean?” Cole said about 29 minutes in. “To me, I’ve been feeling like this for, like, maybe a year or two. It’s like — I hate to say it almost ’cause it sounds like pandering, but I really do think, like, man, there’s a lot of fire female rappers.”

He continued, “I feel like they’re doing some of the most exciting — commercially, they’re doing some of the most exciting [things]. They’re giving us a lot of fire moments. I feel like that’s something that wasn’t around when we was growing up. […] You always had one. Lil’ Kim, Foxy, Eve. There was always one, but there could never be more than one, almost, it felt like. Now, it’s like, bro, we getting moments and moments and moments. I think that’s hard.”

The rest of Cole’s conversation with Hart touched on his patience in business, “mindful” approach to spending his money, and his future goals outside of music.

Watch the Hart To Heart clip above or watch the full episode on Peacock.

Vladimir Putin’s dwindling supply of allies is no secret due to his war on Ukraine. Within Russia, those who support the Russian president are reported to be at civil war with each other and fearful of being accused of war crimes. Globally, Putin has tried to hand out fancy rings to sway other leaders to be on his side while others make fun of his shirtless horseback riding photoshoots.

Additionally, recent word of Putin’s behind-the-scenes behavior during the Wagner mutiny has been unflattering at best. He apparently froze and just sat there without being able to give input to regional leaders, and Putin also realizes that his war is not going well. He finally actually admitted that it’s an abysmal showing by Russia. And with Ukraine intensifying attacks lately, Putin could use some friends. Or allies. Or both.

So and as The Daily Beast reports, Putin spoke this week in St. Petersburg for the “Russia-Africa” summit — where only 17 out of 54 African nation heads of state were in attendance — and he offered up free grain due to Ukrainian exports not being available (because of a Putin maneuver). And he framed himself as a “benevolent overlord,” apparently, even though it’s his fault that a grain shortage could be afoot. Here’s one desperate Putin:

“We are expecting a record harvest this year. In the coming months, we will be ready to supply Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea with 25,000-50,000 tons of grain free of charge. We will also provide free shipping for this product,” Putin said.

After tanking the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17 — which had helped to keep Ukraine’s huge farming industry afloat by allowing deliveries out of Black Sea ports — Moscow unleashed a string of attacks that decimated the country’s grain exports and wiped out supplies that the United Nations said could have fed hundreds of thousands of people.

As well, Putin attempted to blame “Western countries” for any obstruction of supply transport to African countries while claiming that Russia will never steer “the poorest countries” wrong and will provide for them. And are there any takers? Not yet. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa spoke to the press, to whom he declared that his “food-secure” country is “not in any grain deficit of all” and therefore won’t be in need of this offer. So there.

(Via The Daily Beast & The Guardian)

Post Malone sometimes makes questionable decisions. The “Better Now” singer drank beer from a fan’s shoe in Australia. He once said he smokes up to 80 cigarettes a day.

On Wednesday (July 26), he engaged in a conversation with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe ahead of his new album Austin and revealed a habit that did not end well for him. “Yeah, I take shrooms,” he said. “I like shrooms. I like shrooms. Not as much as I used to. It’s really affected my short-term memory. Maybe it was just a stint of habitual overuse. Daily. But now I take a little bar of chocolate with my buddies, a little square chocolate and just laugh and laugh and laugh.”

He added, “I was talking to a ranger buddy of mine. He was a ranger and he was saying they’re giving it to guys for PTSD and stuff. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ because a lot of the times, a lot of pharmaceuticals, they have negative reactions often.”

“And it’s cool to see that they’re giving them this medicine and it’s actually working,” he said. “He was saying his buddy was going through it and it really helped him a lot. I don’t know. It’s interesting because it’s improved. It has improved my view on things.”