Month: July 2023

While comedy fans were already aware of Michael Cera thanks to his days of playing George Michael Bluth on the cult-favorite sitcom, Arrested Development, the teen actor’s fame rose in 2007 after starring alongside another burgeoning young star, Jonah Hill, in the hit comedy Superbad. That same year, Cera also starred in Juno, which only further cemented his star status. However, Cera was not a fan of the sudden attention.

“That was sort of overwhelming,” Cera said. “I didn’t know how to handle walking down the street. Fame makes you very uncomfortable in your own skin, and makes you paranoid and weird. There were lots of great things about it, and I met a lot of amazing people, but there’s a lot of bad energies, too, ones that I was not equipped to handle.”

There was also the drunk people, which didn’t help the situation. Via The Guardian:

“You know, if people are drunk, and they recognise you, and they’re very enthusiastic, but it can be kind of toxic too. When you’re a kid, people also feel they can kind of grab you – they’re not that respectful of you or your physical space.” At 19, he says, “I didn’t know how to respectfully establish my own boundaries.” The weekend Superbad came out, Cera went to a bar with friends “and it was a mistake. It was like a burning feeling the whole time, just like everybody was so aware of me.”

According to Cera, he went into a “crisis” and stopped “taking jobs that would make me more famous,” including turning down a chance to host Saturday Night Live. After seeking out a steady stream of “interesting,” low-profile projects (Save for the exception of Scott Pilgrim, which Cera was already contracted for and is “grateful” to have made.), the actor reached a point where he no’s longer afraid that his work will affect his “day-to-day life.” So, he did what anybody would do in his position, and immediately tried to get into the Barbie movie.

“I was desperate to be a part of it,” Cera said about the Greta Gerwig-directed film. “I would stand there and marvel, and never got tired of looking around and finding new little details. It was one of the most stunning things I’ve ever seen.”

Barbie opens in theaters on July 21.

(Via The Guardian)

Keeping up with Tom Cruise‘s death-defying antics can be difficult, but not if you’re Pom Klementieff. The Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (and Guardians of the Galaxy) scene stealer was introduced to skydiving by her co-star in 2021; since then, she’s jumped out of a plane over 100 times.

“I’ve jumped 104 times since October 2021, when Tom Cruise gifted me skydiving lessons as a wrap gift,” Klementieff told the New York Times. “I love the rush, I love the precision, I love how sharp it makes me. When I jump off a hot-air balloon very early in the morning and the sun is rising and it smells like mist — it’s magical.” After filming in Marvel soundstages for so long, being in Mission: Impossible, with its practical stunts, felt, well, magical.

“We trained very hard with [stunt coordinator] Wade Eastwood. But I had been training for years with a martial artist who taught me how to punch, how to kick, so I had been doing kickboxing, boxing, taekwondo,” she told Variety. “It was my dream to be part of Mission: Impossible. When I was training years ago, sometimes in my schedule, instead of writing ‘martial arts’ or ‘stunt training,’ I would write ‘Mission: Impossible,’ because I wanted to manifest it.”

Good things happen to cool people, and Klementieff is the coolest.

(Via the New York Times and Variety)

Over the weekend, Sexyy Red posted a throwback video on social media of her meeting fans at a high school in St. Louis. In the clip, as soon as she walks through the doors, students go wild and jump from their seats in the bleachers to say hi to her.

Then, someone from the staff can be heard trying to calm the commotion down. “What school should I go to next it’s been a minute!” she captioned the clip.

However, social media users weren’t exactly pleased about the choice to have her interacting with high school students — purely because of the explicit nature of her lyrics.

“None of sexyy red’s lyrics are high or middle school appropriate. Imagine singing my coochie pink, my bootyhole brown in front of 13-17 year olds,” one user commented with crying emojis.

Others think there’s a double standard when she didn’t perform for the students. “Male rappers legit go to high schools all the time with their woman hating ass songs and y’all complaining about an old video of Sexyy Red going to a high school to give out prom money. What a dumb ass bunch,” another wrote.

Sexyy Red eventually heard about the internet debate and decided to clarify things about her appearance on a post from The Shade Room. She also posted a similar message on Twitter.

“I actually didn’t perform it was a prom week and I went up there to give the girls bundles and boys money for haircuts cause I remember when I needed help wit my prom stuff!” she wrote. “Pay attention to the fellas behind me with gags in their hands… shout @princebeautysupply for helping me make this happen… SEXYY LOVE DA KIDS.”

Her tweet shared yesterday (July 16) reads, “Y’all do know I went there to give the boys money for they haircuts and girls bundles for prom week cause I remember when I needed help with my prom stuff.”

Ariana Grande ended 2020 on a high note: On December 20, she announced her engagement to Dalton Gomez. The news was certainly a hit on social media, as the post sharing the news was one of the year’s ten most-liked Instagram posts despite only having been up for ten days. Then, in May of the next year, the two got married. (That too yielded a year-end top-ten Instagram post.)

Now, things appear to have taken a turn: Grande and Gomez are reportedly separated and appear to be heading towards a divorce, TMZ reports, citing “sources connected to the couple.”

The two have reportedly been apart since December, when Grande started filming Wicked, but were reportedly having marital issues before that. They apparently remain friends and talk on the phone regularly, but the marriage is still “heading for divorce.”

TMZ recently reported that Grande wasn’t wearing her wedding ring at the Wimbledon men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, and that this wasn’t the first time she had been spotted ringless.

Neither Grande nor Gomez has publicly addressed the rumors about their supposed marital issues.

Meanwhile, in a video from April, Grande shared how her life was going, saying, “Life is beautiful and surreal and I’m learning so much, and I’m growing so much right now, and I’m working my ass off, and I’m enjoying and savoring every moment of it as much as I possibly can. So yeah, very grateful.”

Kevin Spacey is currently in the midst of a sexual assault trial in the UK, and Elton John popped in to testify for Spacey’s defense.

Per The Associated Press, one of Spacey’s alleged victims is accusing the actor of aggressively grabbing his crotch while driving with him at John’s annual White Tie And Tiara ball in 2004 or 2005. However, David Furnish, John’s husband, previously testified that Spacey only attended one of the balls, and Spacey said he only attended the 2001 event. Furnish said that after looking at photographs, it appeared Spacey indeed was only at the 2001 event.

In his 20-minute testimony, John, appearing in court remotely from Monaco, said Spacey attended the 2001 gala and he does not recall the actor’s presence at the event during any other year.

Spacey currently faces 12 counts of sexual assault via accusations by four men. He has pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges.

John, meanwhile, recently concluded his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, but suggested he’s not necessarily done with live performances altogether, saying, “I’m not going to tour again. There may be the odd show, but I’m not touring. Touring is exhausting for me now, and it takes me away from my family and my children.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene has been known to play with language. That’s putting it diplomatically, but maybe she’s simply confused when she talks about a “peach tree dish” and “gazpacho police.” Then there’s the geographical confusion that she falls into at times, along with a statistical flub that may have been more than a typo. Also, there’s the self-professed “wokeness” of Chris Stapleton that got Greene all worked up, but now, she’s moved onto “socialist” ills like Medicare.

Greene was on hand Turning Point Action Conference (along with noted cocaine opponent Don Jr.) over the weekend, and she dropped this confusing little ditty. Greene began by comparing Joe Biden to Lyndon B. Johnson while declaring that they were both “Democrat socialists.” She then pointed out that Johnson was once a VP (to JFK), whereas (as everyone knows), Biden was VP to Obama. And then her history lesson really went off the rails:

“His big socialist programs were the Great Society… his Great Society were big government programs to address [in sarcastic voice] education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and welfare….”

Clearly, Greene doesn’t believe that “education” should be publicly funded, and I’m not sure what she has against “transportation,” although “Medicare” is truly a head-scratching inclusion. Plenty of Republicans use Medicare after they contributed parts of their paychecks to the program for decades (and the same can be said for Social Security). Medicare also generally kicks in due to age, although disability can prompt to go into effect earlier. And although Republicans have fiddled around with age limits, it seems unlikely that they’d ever really want to rile up their voting base by eliminating it altogether.

It’s unclear whether Greene believes that Medicare is the same as Medicaid, or if this is another “peach tree dish” thing. A mystery for the ages!

Bebe Rexha shared some alleged texts from her boyfriend, Keyan Safyari, that have many speculating their possible breakup. The pop star posted screenshots of the conversation to her Instagram Story, where he appears to criticize her for gaining weight.

“Hey. I never said you weren’t beautiful and I never said I didn’t love you,” Safyari allegedly wrote. “In fact I said how beautiful you are and how much I loved you. But I always said I would be honest with you and your face was changing so I told you it was.”

“Because I care, would you rather I lied to you? You gained 35 pounds obviously you gained weight and your face changes? Should I just pretend it didn’t happen and that it’s ok?” the text adds.

Safyari reportedly goes on to then claim that Rexha has poked at his weight in the past, too — but this would be her reason for breaking up with him.

“Come on I gain 3 pounds and you called me chubbs and fat,” it continues. “Doesn’t mean you don’t love me. If you’re trying to find reasons to break up this makes sense… but it’s not the real reason. If you’re unhappy with me/yourself/with life and don’t see a future with us then that’s ok and that’s the reason. Don’t use something like that to weaponize your anger or anxiety or any insecurity you may have. You know I always found you to be beautiful and loved you no matter what.”

Since the upload, fans are rallying behind Rexha — especially in the wake of having objects hit her on stage and crying during recent performances. Check out some reactions below.

Bebe Rexha is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Billie Eilish with a gut punch of a Barbie movie song and Post Malone continue his singer-songwriter era. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Billie Eilish — “What Was I Made For?”

While the upcoming Barbie movie appears to be full of colorful cheer, the advance trailers so far have indicated there’s some emotional depth at play, too. It appears part of that will come from Eilish’s song for the movie, a tender piano ballad that’ll tug on your plastic heartstrings.

Post Malone — “Overdrive”

Post Malone’s new album, Austin, is set to release before the end of the month, and so far, he’s made it clear that it’s more about pop/rock than hip-hop this go around. He further proves that with “Overdrive,” an introspective number on which he sings, “I spend my nights on overdrive / I live my life so uninspired / There ain’t no angels in this world / So I live my life on overdrive.”

PinkPantheress and Destroy Lonely — “Turn Your Phone Off”

PinkPantheress has added Destroy Lonely to her expansive roster of collaborators for a new joint effort. “Turn Your Phone Off” is a rapid and jittery number, a love song through a modern lens: “I turned my phone off but your calls still came through / I reply when they do ’cause I want to chat to you,” PinkPantheress sings.

JT — “No Bars”

JT got clever on the new solo single “No Bars,” which sees her addressing both her time in prison and criticism over her lyrical abilities. This is far from the end of City Girls, which JT ensures by rapping, “It’s City Girl sh*t / Even when you think it ain’t City Girl sh*t / I’m a City Girl, b*tch.”

Quavo and Future — “Turn Yo Clic Up”

ICYMI, there’s some beef between Future and Russell Wilson, which he reignited on the Quavo collaboration “Turn You Clic Up.” There’s no mistaking that Future is going after the NFL star when he says, “Big dawg status, bill hopper / I ball in his mall for my brothers / Goyard bag, tote the cutter / I got it out the field, f*ck Russell.”

Jung Kook — “Seven” Feat. Latto

It’s been mostly about the solo material for BTS members lately, with the latest output on that front being Jung Kook’s “Seven.” It’s not exactly a solo track, through, as he links up with Latto, who he called the “perfect fit” for the track.

Karol G — “S91”

Karol G just dropped her new album, Mañana Será Bonito, a few months ago, but that’s not stopping her from a quick return with fresh material. Last week, she dropped “S91,” which alludes to the Psalms 91 verse of the Bible and sees her strongly coming back from heartbreak.

Troye Sivan — “Rush”

Troye Sivan launched the promotional cycle for a new album, Something To Give Each Other, last week. He exploded out of the gate with “Rush,” a club-ready summer anthem that’s causing a bit of a stir online.

Jamila Woods — “Tiny Garden”

Woods had a critical hit on her hands with 2019’s Legacy! Legacy!, and four years later, she’s coming back with another new album, Water Made Us. She previewed it last week with “Tiny Garden,” which she called “a song about the way my heart works, the slow and steady way I love.”

Coco Jones and Justin Timberlake — “ICU (Remix)”

With references to crying, rivers, Disney, and boy bands, Coco Jones made it pretty clear who she was teasing as a collaborative partner. Indeed, it was Justin Timberlake who hopped on last week’s remix of Jones’ breakout 2022 hit, “ICU,” contributing a new verse to the heartbroken song.

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

Ron DeSantis entered the 2024 presidential race with the largest campaign staff in the Republican field, nearly double the amount of the Trump campaign, and that strategy is already starting to backfire.

Despite out-raising Trump earlier in the year, the DeSantis campaign has reportedly burned through its coffers paying 92 staffers. With polling numbers in the toilet as the Florida governor fails to energize voters outside of his state, staffers are being let go. On top of that, DeSantis might be in the market for a new campaign manager as insiders turn on Gerrera Peck for the over-staffing blunder.

Via NBC News:

A Republican source familiar with the campaign’s thought process said: “They never should have brought so many people on. The burn rate was way too high. People warned the campaign manager, but she wanted to hear none of it.”

The donor said: “DeSantis stock isn’t rising. Twenty percent is not what people signed up for.”

The campaign firings arrive on the heels of a strained relationship with DeSantis and his donors who coughed up big checks at the start of his run. As he began to flail in the polls, DeSantis reportedly sent out a secret memo to assure his backers that he has everything under control and is focusing on early states like New Hampshire to build momentum.

However, those same backers are rapidly losing confidence. According to a recent report, DeSantis donors are not thrilled with his “petty” culture war stunts.

“People want to support Ron but don’t like this kind of stupid stuff,” a fundraiser told CNN. “There are people on his team who are trying to win petty wars that make Ron look stupid. If they get that taken care of and just let Ron and Casey be Ron and Casey, then they’ll be much better off.”

(Via NBC News)

Does every animated series have a banned episode? It seems like it. Disney+ would rather you forget that season three of The Simpsons begins with “Stark Raving Dad,” which isn’t available on the streaming service because of its guest star, while the abortion-themed season episode of Family Guy, “Partial Terms of Endearment,” is nowhere to be found on Hulu (but “When You Wish Upon a Weinstein” is on there). Even SpongeBob SquarePants has a banned episode, but there is an overly complicated way to finally watch it.

As noticed by Jason the Cartoon Fan on Twitter, “Mid-Life Crustacean,” the season three SpongeBob episode attached to “The Great Snail Race,” is on Paramount+, but only “if you’re accessing it through Prime Video and not its own separate app.” If you only have Paramount+, you still can’t watch the episode. It has to be done through Paramount+ by way of Amazon Prime Video — or instead of trying to figure all that out, you can go to the source here.

“Mid-Life Crustacean” premiered in January 2003 and was banned 15 years later “following a standards review in which we determined some story elements were not kid-appropriate,” Nickelodeon spokesperson David Bittler told the New York Times. The episode is about Mr. Krabs feeling old, so he joins SpongeBob and Patrick for a wild night out, including a panty raid.

It’s not a great SpongeBob episode, especially compared to season three all-timers “Chocolate with Nuts” or “Ugh,” but it’s good that the season can once again be watched in its entirety. Or you can buy the season three DVD and own a physical copy, which is good advice for all shows these days.

(Via Jason the Cartoon Fan/Twitter)