Month: July 2023

Cardi B has racked up quite an impressive net worth since releasing her debut album, Invasion Of Privacy. Whether she’s pulling in major checks because of her music, brand deals, or movie appearances, Cardi B doesn’t pass up on any lucrative offers. While she splurges on herself every now and then, she doesn’t skip out on treating her children to fancy things. Indeed, Cardi B had a seriously pricey playground set built for them.

In a now-deleted post, Cardi B shared a video of the swanky jungle gym for her five-year-old daughter Kulture Kiari and nearly two-year-old son Wave Set. How expensive was the set? In the five figure range.

“When it comes to my kids, I’m going to give them the world,” declared Cardi. “When it comes to my kids, I don’t play that sh*t. Y’all know when it comes to my f*cking kids, I’m going to give them the world, honey.”

During an interview with The New York Times, Cardi echoed her statement on social media: “But it also do be the little things, right? I just bought this playground set for my kids, and it’s huge. It looks insane. And I spent in the 20 thousand for it.”

As the children of rappers Cardi B and Offset, the lack of money isn’t anything Kulture or Wave will worry about.

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

Samuel L. Jackson has never been afraid to speak his mind, or to speak out. Soon as Hollywood highers-up flirted with using artificial intelligence to create actors, he vowed there would never be an AI Sam Jackson. It’s all part of a life spent fighting the power, which he discusses in a new, in-depth interview with Vulture. At one point, while explaining the beginnings of his life as an activist, Jackson went off on a delightfully profane rant about cheapskate billionaires.

“I’m 74. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be around here raising hell or doing what I’m doing,” Jackson said. “But people need to start understanding that the economic gap is crazy. I pay an enormous amount of taxes, and it’s fine because I know I should.”

Alas, not everyone who has tons of money is like him. “But why can’t we get billionaires to pay their f*cking taxes?” he railed. “If those motherf*ckers paid their taxes we’d solve a whole bunch of sh*t. And they would still be richer than every motherf*cker walking around them.”

In the chat, Jackson goes into great detail about his earlier life, especially how he first became an activist while a freshman at Morehouse, the historically Black college, how he was definitely “not a nonviolent protester,” how the FBI showed up his family home in Atlanta, etc. He also discusses arriving in Los Angeles with no connections in Hollywood, finally getting a job for the bureau of public assistance:

I used to go to people’s houses and see if they were still eligible. I wouldn’t have taken anybody’s fucking money. I was still part of the Black Revolution then. All these people that were on welfare, I just went out and sat in their house, smoked reefer with them, and hung out, made sure that all this stuff was in order and made sure they stayed on public assistance.

It’s a great read, which you can delve into over at Vulture.

On Doja Cat’s recent single, “Attention,” the rapper brags about how she continues to thrive despite all the haters. However, after some criticized the singer’s rumored relationship with J Cyrus, she wasn’t able to play it cool. According to some on social media, Doja Cat went as far as to allegedly block fans who criticized her over their coupling.

Although it was first reported in November that Doja was exclusively dating someone, it wasn’t until last month that her mystery beau was revealed. In images captured by TMZ, the pair are seen vacationing in Los Cabos, Mexico. After the photos hit social media, several users accused Cyrus of grooming and sexual misconduct. Fans of Doja rushed to her profile, urging her to end the relationship.

Supporters have continued to request that Doja Cat end things with Cyrus, often tagging her in posts with screenshots of the allegations. Now some people are implying that after doing that, they’ve been blocked by Doja.

One person went as far as to accuse Doja Cat of reporting them for harassment. In the tweet, they wrote, “Doja cat blocked me earlier this month then dmed me this. She thinks I was trolling her predator boyfriend’s live stream and reported me to ‘cyber security.’”

Doja Cat hasn’t commented publicly about her rumored relationship or the current pushback.

Matt Damon’s doing alright for himself. He’s so set that he promised his wife he’d take a year off — which he almost did before Christopher Nolan came knocking. Not that he always make the right choice. The actor, who’s very good as the mostly supportive General Leslie Groves in Oppenheimer, recently went on CNN’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace (prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, mind you), where the host gave him a hard time for nixing one of the most profitable movies in Hollywood history.

What was that movie? Avatar! He could have played Jake Sully, the soldier-turned-heroic turncoat-turned-Na’vi warrior. That’s not all. James Cameron even offered him a percentage. The movie went on to become the highest-grossing film in history (not adjusted for inflation, natch), and its belated sequel didn’t do too shabbily either.

Damon was chagrined, saying, “I’m sure it’s the most money an actor ever turned down, you know?”

Why did Damon turn a role that eventually went to Sam Worthington? Because he as in the midst of another franchise.

“I was in the middle of shooting the Bourne movie [presumably The Bourne Ultimatum] and I knew that we were going to need work at the end and I had to get it all the way to the finish line and I would have to leave the movie kind of early and leave them in the lurch a little bit and I didn’t want to do that,” Damon explained “I desperately wanted to work with Cameron. I mean, because he worked so rarely.”

Wallace kept digging in, though. “Honestly, Matt, if you had known that Avatar was going to be the biggest grossing movie of all time and you were going to have 10% of the after. Could we have maybe put off the Bourne series?” he asked.

Damon had a noble reason, saying he didn’t want to “all my friends in the lurch.” He then recalled when he told this story to John Krasinski:

[We] were writing this little movie a long time ago called Promised Land and we were in my kitchen and it was a Saturday morning and we were on a break and I said, Yeah, I tell him about Avatar, and he launches himself out of the chair. He starts pacing the kitchen, he goes, ‘Okay, okay, okay. Okay, okay. Nothing in your life would be different today if you had done that movie, except you and I would be having this conversation in space.’ I would have been the same guy…

Damon then cracked, “I would have been the same guy, I just would have had a space station.”

Of course, Matt Damon is doing just fine. He has plenty of money. Perhaps he can comfort himself by noting that turning down Avatar meant that another actor, who wasn’t much known when he nabbed the gig, got a small fortune himself.

Oppenheimer is currently in theaters, and you can see it on a double with another smart movie about existential dread.

(Via Mediaite)

Without giving away any spoilers, the Barbie movie is all about women’s empowerment. But all the Kens need love, too. This is where Sam Smith’s new song “Man I Am,” featured on the Barbie movie soundtrack, comes into play. The track produced by Mark Ronson and Ricky Reed is a rallying cry for all the Kens worldwide. Teeming with gym bro energy, Smith’s song offers a safe space on the dance floor for fist pumping and chest flexing.

As the record opens, Smith states the oath of this newly forged fraternity, singing, “This one is for the boys / With your greased up and heavy metal toys / So beefed up, you can’t get through the door / It’s your time to break through / Bad man to the rescue / Barbie, your time is up / You will not take our voice.”

Smith’s roaring declaration continues in the song’s second verse, in which he belts out, “It’s time you realize / That in this world we’ve all been taught a lie / You think that women rule the world / But, baby, where I’ve been / All the things I’ve seen / This Ken has crossed the borderline.”

Listen to the “Man I Am” above.

Barbie is in theaters now.

For the last few years movies have been in peril. The pandemic shut theaters down, and they’re still not fully back to before-time levels. Warner Bros. Discovery, under the leadership of David Zaslav, has cancelled nearly completed films and put cinema history at risk. There’s a two-pronged strike that may last for several more months. Movies need a win, and this weekend they’re getting one.

As per Deadline, the phenomenon known as “Barbenheimer” descended upon the multiplex this weekend, and sure enough, the two very different films are commanding jaw-dropping numbers. Barbie — a very PG-13 take on the doll line whose feminist bona fides are predictably enraging conservatives — is set to make $150 million+. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer — a three-hour panic attack about the inventor of the atomic bomb — is poised to Hoover up $77 million. (Note: Oppenheimer making half of Barbie’s haul can be partly attributed to its length and its R rating.) Combined, that’s an estimated $308 million, just in domestic tallies alone.

It’s not just that these two films, which have inspired many to do a very odd double bill, are making tons of dough. It’s that they’re both non-franchise films, released at a time when franchise films have been underperforming if not outright tanking. Perhaps execs, when they’ve finally worked out deals with their writers and actors, will take note. For now, though, it’s clear a ton of people took Tom Cruise’s advice.

(Via Deadline)

Back in mid-April, Jamie Foxx was mysteriously hospitalized. It’s still not been made public what ailment befell him, but he’s been getting better and better. The actor-musician has reportedly been looking “vibrant” and “cheerful,” and he even saved a woman’s purse after it went missing. Now he’s opening up further about his progress, while still keeping certain details private.

As per Deadline, Foxx posted a video on Instagram Friday in which he discussed the severity of his illness while thanking people for their messages and prayers.

“I cannot even begin to tell you how far it took me and how it brought me back. I went through something that I thought I would never, ever go through,” Foxx said.

He also explained why he kept himself out of the public eye.

“I just didn’t want you to see me like that. I want you to see me laughing, having a good time, partying, cracking a joke, doing a movie, a television show,” he said. “I just didn’t want you to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was going to make it through.”

Foxx debunked rumors that he’d been left paralyzed or blind. Still, it wasn’t a walk in the park.

“But I did go to hell and back,” Foxx said. “My road to recovery had some potholes as well but I’m coming back, and I’m able to work.”

Foxx ended the video by getting choked up, saying, “I just want to say that I love everybody, and I love all the love that I got.” He assured everyone that he’s “on my way back.”

(Via Deadline)

Travis Scott’s Utopia rollout is the epitome of slowly, then all at once. After months and months of uncertainty, this week rewarded fans’ patience. On Friday, July 21, Scott dropped “KPop” alongside Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. Later that night, he dropped a new Utopia breadcrumb.

Someone tweeted at Scott, “I need Utopia bad @trvisXX [smiling with a tear emoji].” Scott quote-tweeted a promising response, writing, “Meet me here on Monday. We shall eat sooooonnn.”

Scott also hinted at what could be to come with an Instagram post of behind-the-scenes flicks from his “KPop” video with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd.

“K pop Outttt nowwwwww Ahhhhh doing fckkkking flipssssss Can’t wait to seeee ya in Utoppiaaaa In just some days we take the sonics uppppppppppppppppp a notchhhhhh,” he wrote in the caption.

Scott is scheduled to headline Rolling Loud Miami on Saturday, July 22. There has been confusing back-and-forth about whether Scott is still going to fully unveil his Utopia world by performing at the Pyramids Of Giza in Egypt on July 28, but despite conflicting reports, the latest official word from Live Nation, the show’s promoter, assured that “there have been no changes” to the much-hyped show.

Scott’s official website offers five different versions of Utopia for pre-order. Each one is billed as a “Topia Pack” and includes a unique custom printed mailer box and various merch items. Prices range from $50 to $150.

Watch the “KPop” video above.

The Gaslight Anthem’s first single in nine years was appropriately called “Positive Charge.” Almost exactly three months later, the relatively recently reunited New Jersey band are positively charging into an album rollout for the first time in nearly a decade.

“History Books” featuring Bruce Springsteen arrives as a single from History Books, due out on October 27.

“When Bruce Springsteen said I should write a duet for us, I think my head exploded,” lead singer Brian Fallon said in a statement about the title track. “It will never get old to me that one of the greatest songwriters in the world, and one of my hero’s voices, will forever be captured in a song I wrote at a small wooden desk, in October, in New Jersey.”

Directed by Kelsey Hunter Ayres, the accompanying video captures small-town Americana — driving down backroads and dancing in cornfields. “I’m keeping time / One day goes by / I try to live till the next one,” Springsteen sings in his signature gravelly tone. “But these history books / Full of haunted looks / From people I don’t want to see again.”

“None of us wanted to make a very somber or serious record showing how much we’ve matured,” Fallon added in his statement. “We’ve all changed and grown and learned so much, but the overall mood was a feeling of excitement to be back together and making music that means something to us.”

Watch the “History Books” video above, or check out the tracklist and upcoming The Gaslight Anthem tour dates below.

1. “Spider Bites”
2. “History Books” Feat. Bruce Springsteen
3. “Autumn”
4. “Positive Charge”
5. “Michigan, 1975”
6. “Little Fires”
7. “The Weatherman”
8. “Empires”
9. “I Live In The Room Above Her”
10. “A Lifetime Of Preludes”

07/29 — Richmond, VA @ Over The James*
08/12 — Washington, PA @ Four Chord Music Festival*
09/14 — Louisville, KY @ Bourbon & Beyond*
09/16 — Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe
09/17 — Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest*
09/19 — Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Cleveland
09/20 — Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
09/22 — Columbus, OH @ Bluestone
09/23 — Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory
09/24 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
09/26 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
09/27 — Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion
09/30 — La Vista, NE @ Astro Theater
10/02 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
10/04 — Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas
10/05 — Wheatland, CA @ Hard Rock Live Sacramento
10/07 — Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Boise
10/08 — Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Spokane

*Festival appearance

History Books is out 10/27 via Rich Mahogany Recordings/Thirty Tigers. Find more information here.

The USWNT’s quest to become the first team to go back-to-back-to-back at the Women’s World Cup got off to a good start. While the team wasn’t able to score 13 goals like it did in its opener back in 2019, the Americans put forth an emphatic performance against Vietnam in Auckland that resulted in a 3-0 win.

From the jump, it was evident that the United States would be able to control the game against Vietnam, but they ran into a problem in just how compact their opponents were playing — Vietnam lined up in a 5-4-1 and were very clearly doing everything in their power to prevent the USWNT from embarrassing them. Fortunately for the Americans, they have a pretty good answer for that in Sophia Smith, who scored 14 minutes in off of a cheeky layoff by Alex Morgan.

Unlocking Vietnam’s defense proved to be tricky, because while the U.S. had a whole lot of the ball, the ultra-defensive approach Vietnam took mixed with the fearlessness of goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh looked like it was going to limit the Americans to only one goal before the break. That was especially the case after Morgan was denied from the penalty spot right before injury time.

Once again, though, Smith was able to find a breakthrough. While it needed a lengthy VAR review to determine Morgan was not offside on a ball Naomi Girma played into the box, Smith was able to get a shot off from near the top of the box that found its way through a collection of bodies and into the back of the net.

The second half followed much of the same script, as the United States had chances but couldn’t find a third. But once again, Smith’s involvement led to a goal, as she managed to get behind Vietnam’s defense and pulled the goalkeeper out of the net. Instead of attempting a shot, though, she decided to play the ball back to the penalty spot, where American captain Lindsey Horan was waiting. Smith’s work gave and Horan’s understanding of where the space would be as a result gave the captain more than enough time to take a touch, get her feet right, and score.

Vietnam generally managed to do what it set out to do — their best chance at getting something out of this was to muck things up, never open up defensively, and prevent the Americans from scoring in bunches — but ultimately, all three points went to the two-time defending champions, even if they certainly created enough champions to score more goals. Next up for the United States is a rematch of the 2019 Women’s World Cup final against the Netherlands, which will kick off at 9 p.m. EST on July 27.