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Yes, ‘Barbie’ Baby Name Searches Are Spiking Online (And Ken, Too)

We all have a friend named Bella who had a tough time in 2011 when Twight became a thing, or maybe you recently met a pre-teen named Arya. And surely you have met a Luke or Leia at some point in your life. But the latest name craze is throwing it all the way back to your grandma’s friend group, all thanks to Greta Gerwig (no, it’s not Lady Bird….yet).

According to Nameberry, the baby name database, searches for the name “Barbie” have gone up 603% since April, when the trailer first dropped. Similarly, “Ken” is also seeing a 293% increase in page views. Somewhere out there, Ken Jennings is fuming at the thought of being grouped among the commoners.

But even if people are searching “Barbie” to learn the origins, it doesn’t mean that we’ll have a ton of Barbies in college two decades from now. “Barbie and Ken are piquing parents’ interest, but this doesn’t mean that will translate into actual usage. As of now, Barbie is a predominant Amish name,” Nameberry Editor-in-Chief Sophie Kihm told People. Side note, the most popular baby girl name for 2023 might be “Luxury,” so use that information however you see fit.

The name stems from Barbara, which, according to Nameberry, means “foreign woman.” Perhaps that means someone from Barbieland, maybe? Barbara landed on the Top 10 list every year from 1927 to 1958, when the name slowly began to decrease in popularity. Only time will tell if the name really catches on in the 2020s. Who knows, maybe we’ll see some Julius Oppenheimers running around daycare next year.

(Via People)

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Tekashi 69 Was Arrested In Florida For Missing A Court Date After A Traffic Stop

Controversial rapper and internet personality Tekashi 69 was arrested on Wednesday, August 9, after being pulled over for a traffic violation. According to NBC News and Billboard, the rapper was pulled over by police after committing “a moving traffic violation” and failing to display a license tag. He was arrested on a warrant issued for failure to appear at a court date in July for a previous traffic incident in June. He was released on bond today.

69 hasn’t had the greatest luck over the past several months. In March, he allegedly assaulted by three men at a gym in Florida and temporarily hospitalized for cuts and bruises. While the three men were later arrested on robbery and assault charges, Tekashi deplored the attack on Instagram, calling the attackers “nothing but cowardly.” He also boasted about “walking around with no security,” while leaving out the part where he couldn’t get security services in the first place and was sued in 2021 for an unpaid $75,000 security bill.

He might need to get caught up on that bill because he’s getting beat up with alarming frequency. Early last year, he was sucker-punched from behind in a Miami nightclub, while later in the year, his girlfriend apparently also punched him, leading to him having to bail her out.

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Sydney Sweeney Has Revealed One Slight Way Her Life Turned Out Differently Than Planned

Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney quickly became known beyond the HBO Sam Levinson series. There was her discomfort-inducing The White Lotus character and a recent dramatic turn on HBO’s Reality. Soon, she’ll appear in an R-rated rom com with Glen Powell and Madame Web for Sony. And then there’s the whole MAGA family controversy, which Sweeney recently discussed in a Variety profile.

In that same deep-dive piece, Sweeney reveals how her prolific career has actually delayed her from realizing what she once thought was a life dream, but she’s good with it. During a portion of the Variety interview, Sweeney discusses her soon-to-be thriller with movie mom Julianne Moore. Unsurprisingly, the two actresses bonded, and Sweeney admits that she would like to achieve longevity like Moore, and part of that is finding “a really healthy balance.” Cue the revelation of changed plans:

“I always thought I’d have a kid by now. I always wanted to be a young mom. I love acting, I love the business, I love producing, I love all of it. But what’s the point if I’m not getting to share it with a family?”

A smile breaks through, and Sweeney’s voice turns whimsical. “The time will come, and I’ll have four kids. And they will come with me everywhere and be my best friends.”

For sure, Sydney is only 25, and she’s got ample time for the family thing. At least she realizes that a “healthy balance” is needed, which is the first step to a truly happy life. (Also, go watch Reality if you haven’t done so already.) The rest of the profile is well worth reading over at Variety.

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Victor Wembanyama Is The Highest-Rated Rookie In ‘NBA 2K’ History

Victor Wembanyama is widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA Draft prospects in modern history and it seems the hype isn’t slowing at the moment. Ratings for NBA 2K24 are rolling in throughout this week and Wembanyama’s is among those that have been made public thus far. The San Antonio Spurs big man received an 84, which marks the highest rating for a rookie in the video game’s history, surpassing Zion Williamson, who received an 81 for 2K20 prior to his first year with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Wembanyama met up with Ronnie 2K to learn his rating and had some fun along the way.

“You better rate me good, man,” he said playfully.

As he opened the envelope revealing his rating, he seemed to appreciate the mark, though vowed to “for sure” be a 90 by the end of the 2023-24 season.

“Ah, that’s nice, that’s all right, that’s just all right,” he said of his rating.

Wembanyama’s 84 rating is shared by the likes of Rudy Gobert, Paolo Banchero, Tyrese Maxey, Cade Cunningham, and Josh Giddey. That’s pretty lofty company as a rookie and speaks to his prowess. He’ll have a chance to begin his journey toward a 90 overall when he and the Spurs kick off their season in late October.

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NFL+ Subscriptions Will Now Include NFL Network And NFL RedZone

The NFL launched its own streaming service, NFL+, last season, but it was met with fairly reserved fanfare as it only offered access to live preseason games, NFL Films archives, and local and primetime regular season and playoff games on a phone or tablet (a restriction that’s part of the league’s TV deal).

Only being able to watch games on a second screen limited the scope of what fans got out of the package, but it was apparently just a foundation for the league building out a larger streaming platform. This year, with the league shifting its Season Ticket package to YouTube TV rather than DirecTV, it was also able to add more to NFL+ by renegotiating their own rights with a new service. As such, the NFL announced that all NFL+ subscriptions will now include the ability to watch NFL Network and premium subscriptions will be able to watch NFL RedZone — with the biggest note being both channels will be available on the NFL+ TV app, not just on small screens.

Unsurprisingly, there is a price hike to go along with these new additions, as the regular package is $6.99 per month or $59.99 annually, while the premium subscription is now $14.99 per month or $99.99 annually — with both annual deals currently available for $20 off. Given RedZone’s popularity and that it requires you to add a sports extra package on most cable or streaming bundles, this is a pretty good deal and provides another option for NFL fans who might have gotten rid of their cable or only keep it for watching games in the fall.

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The Best Milkshakes In All Of Fast Food, Ranked

Can you feel it? Summer is coming to a close (kinda — we don’t know where you live). We don’t want to admit it either but let’s face facts, this is the final full month of the season and we’re nearly halfway through it. Maybe that means you’ve started making travel plans for the holidays, or you’re planning a road trip to watch the leaves change. At the very least, you’ve probably started to rethink whether wearing shorts is the proper attire for a full-day out of the house. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still hot outside but not unbearably so.

That means if you’ve yet to grab an ice-cold brain-freeze-inducing fast food milkshake this summer, you’re f*cking up! What are you going to do drink a milkshake during the fall, aka pumpkin spice and hot chocolate season? Be prepared to be mocked!

Don’t worry, fam, Uproxx won’t let you let the season go without having at least one great milkshake, diet and health concerns be damned. So to celebrate the final hot days of summer we’re ranking the very best milkshakes across the fast food universe.** For this ranking, we picked a single stand-out milkshake from all the big fast food chains so if you’re favorite didn’t make the cut, sorry — we only have room for the best of the best here.

** EDITOR’S NOTE: I can only assume that if Dane had tasted Burgerville’s Marionberry Milkshake it would be among the top 2 or 3 entries. We will work on getting him up to the PNW to rectify this tragic omission. In the meantime, I’ve written about this glorious milkshake here.

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Food Rankings From The Last Month

16. McDonald’s — McCafe Chocolate Shake

McDonald

Thickness: 2/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

I very much wanted to include the Grimace Shack in this summer milkshake roundup, but unfortunately, McDonald’s has taken it off the menu. It’s not because of the insane viral videos — it was always meant to be limited — but in getting rid of it, McDonald’s has gotten rid of its best milkshake. The McCafe Chocolate Shake isn’t exactly a close second, but it’s a milkshake that you can drink, so… I guess it makes the list.

At the end of the day, this is a fine milkshake. It gets the job done, but compared to everything else in the fast food market, this just doesn’t hold up. The milkshake is made with McDonald’s vanilla soft serve base, blended with a flavored chocolate syrup that tastes too faint to be described as delicious. Overall this milkshake just comes across as too watery in consistency and too weak in flavor.

The Bottom Line:

Skip it and wait for the Shamrock Shake or the inevitable return of the Grimace shake.

Find your nearest McDonald’s here.

15. Wendy’s — Chocolate Frosty

Wendy

Thickness: 5/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

The Chocolate Frosty is thick and super-rich, but with the rise of fast-casual chains like Shake Shack and Steak n Shake, it just doesn’t compare. There was a time when the Frosty was truly novel, offering an unparalleled milkshake experience, but today in 2023 it just comes across as tasting watered down and slightly bland.

I know there are people out there that are ride or die for the Frosty but our advice is, get out there a little more. There are much better milkshakes to be had, let this one die.

The Bottom Line:

Wendy’s makes great cheeseburgers, and delicious chicken sandwiches, and offers amazing sides. Unfortunately, the Frosty comes across like a relic of the past that is in desperate need of a revamp. Because it has such a legendary reputation, we fear it’ll never get that update.

Find your nearest Wendy’s here.

14. Burger King — Chocolate Oreo Milkshake

Milkshakes
Burger King

Thickness: 3/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Burger King’s Chocolate Oreo Milkshake feels interesting, at the least. While shake-specialty fast food chains like Five Guys and Shake Shack have an equivalent to this milkshake, most drive-thru equipped fast food restaurants don’t, and that makes BK’s Chocolate Oreo Milkshake special. It is a standard chocolate milkshake with Oreo cookies blended into it. Vanilla tastes a lot closer to Oreo creme than chocolate does, so strangely this milkshake doesn’t exactly taste like an Oreo Milkshake at all, instead, it comes across as a rich brownie-flavored shake with bits of chocolate cookie for texture.

I don’t hate that! If Burger King paid a little more attention to their milkshake mix and swapped out its stock base with something a bit richer and creamier (and thicker), this milkshake would compete with the best of ‘em, but unfortunately for now this milkshake is just ~ pretty good ~ not great.

The Bottom Line:

A pretty solid chocolate milkshake with chocolate cookie textural elements. Good, but not great.

Find your nearest Burger King here.

13. Dave’s Hot Chicken — Chocolate Shake

Milkshakes
Dane Rivera

Thickness: 3/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Rich earthy chocolate notes dominate this shake. I love the deep chocolate flavor but I’m less of a fan of the slightly watery consistency. It comes up the straw a bit too easily, and it melts quickly. Dave’s Hot Chicken is a fairly new fast food chain and while I’ve sampled most of the menu (including every level of heat), I’ve yet to have the loaded milkshakes, so I can only speak to the quality of the vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.

But considering Dave’s uses those flavors as the base to build the loaded milkshakes on, I can’t imagine that throwing a bunch of candy significantly improves the experience.

The Bottom Line:

A fine-tasting chocolate milkshake, but the consistency leaves a lot to be desired.

Find your nearest Dave’s Hot Chicken here.

12. Carl’s Jr. — Hand-Scooped Vanilla Ice Cream Shake

Shakes
Carl

Thickness: 4/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Carl’s Jr’s milkshakes don’t rely on soft-serve vanilla ice cream to serve as a base, instead opting to hand-scoop real ice cream into the mixer. The result is a much thicker and richer milkshake, and no flavor shows this off better than the vanilla. Rather than tasting like super sweet milk, this milkshake actually captures the floral soft notes of natural vanilla. Imagine a great scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream, but drinkable!

While I like this shake a lot, it’s hard for a plain vanilla shake to compete with more complex flavors and interesting mix-ins, for that we have to rank this lower than we think it deserves.

The Bottom Line:

If you love the flavor of vanilla, few milkshakes out there can compare to this thick and creamy milkshake which actually captures some of what makes vanilla a special flavor.

Find your nearest Carl’s Jr. here.

11. Arby’s — Jamocha Shake

Arby

Thickness: 3/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Arby’s milkshake offerings are straight-up sad, but although the roster is thin this chain is one of the few fast food brand’s that offer a coffee milkshake, and we love them for that!

The Jamocha shake sports a decadent bold coffee flavor hovering over rich chocolatey notes. It’s similar to a Mocha Frappuccino in consistency, but the flavor focuses more on sweet notes rather than coffee. It’s not complex by any means, but it still has a bitter vibe and a considerable amount of caffeine, making it one of the best morning milkshakes.

Milkshakes in the morning? Gotta love summer!

The Bottom Line:

It has a sort of Mocha Frappuccino flavor but with a greater focus on sweetness.

Find your nearest Arby’s here.

10. Del Taco — Strawberry Shake

Milkshakes
Del Taco

Thickness: 4/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Refreshing and fruity with a luxurious consistency and actual bits of frozen strawberry that come through the straw offering the occasional tangy infusion of flavor. When a fast food brand only offers the big three milkshake flavors (vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate) it’s rare that strawberry rises above the rest, but at Del Taco it’s hands down the best option.

We can credit the inclusion of real strawberries for that one.

The Bottom Line:

The best strawberry milkshake in fast food.

Find your nearest Del Taco here.

9. Jack in the Box — Oreo Milkshake

Jack in the Box

Thickness: 2/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Luxuriously thick with a vanilla cream-forward flavor that ends with a strong chocolate cookie finish. The Oreo cookies mixed into this shake are surprisingly crunchy despite being drowned in a vanilla base and JiB goes heavy on the mix-ins here, providing you with a lot of cookie flavor in every sip. At one point in time, this was a top-tier fast food milkshake, but just this year we blind taste-tested Oreo Milkshakes and this one came up dead last.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

The Bottom Line:

It’s good, but several other brands are doing Oreo Milkshakes much better.

Find your nearest Jack in the Box here.

8. Sonic — Strawberry Cheesecake Master Shake

Sonic

Thickness: 5/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

A single sip takes you on a journey that begins creamy, shifts into a sharp wince-inducing tang, morphs into sweet cherry and fruity strawberry flavors, and finishes with a nice nutty cinnamon-inflected graham cracker vibe. Sonic is on some gourmet shake, so they’ve earned the right to use the ridiculous “Master Shake” name.

I’ve long been a fan of Sonic’s Strawberry Cheesecake Master Shake because it’s a bit different than everything else in the fast food landscape. Few brands attempt to capture the magic of strawberry cheesecake, probably because Sonic already nailed it so well, so why try?

The Bottom Line:

If you love strawberry cheesecake, this milkshake will blow your mind. It’s rich, creamy, tangy, and packs a bouquet of flavors in every sip.

Find your nearest Sonic here.

7. In-N-Out — Neapolitan Shake

In N Out Ranked
Dane Rivera

Thickness: 5/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

A medley of flavors that bloom along the palate, beginning with an intense burst of strawberry flavor before settling into creamy chocolatey territory. The consistency is thick and incredibly rich, so if you’re living in California, the land of the paper straws, consider bringing your own because your spit will sog that paper straw up making it useless before you’re done drinking.

If you’re wondering why this isn’t on the menu, it’s because it’s part of In-N-Out’s Secret Menu, but don’t worry you can ask for a “Neapolitan Shake” and the employees will still know what you’re talking about.

The Bottom Line:

One of In-N-Out’s most delicious secrets.

Find your nearest In-N-Out here.

6. Steak n Shake — Oreo Mint Milkshake

Thickness: 4/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Remember when I said there were several fast food brands that did Oreo milkshakes better than Jack in the Box? Steak and Shake is one of them. This milkshake offers a stunningly complex iteration of an admittedly overused flavor. It begins with a cool mint flavor that pairs perfectly with the semi-bitter cocoa flavor of Oreo cookies before finishing with a sweet vanilla flavor.

Every element of this milkshake is thicker than what JiB offers, from the whipped cream to the milkshake base. JiB wishes it had a milkshake this good!

The Bottom Line:

Like an Andes Mint had a baby with an Oreo Cookie and that baby was a delicious milkshake.

Find your nearest Steak n Shake here.

5. Johnny Rocket’s — Chocolate Chip Cookie Shake

Thickness: 4/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Johnny Rocket’s Chocolate Chip cookie shake is exactly what it sounds like — a milkshake that captures the magic of a chocolate chip cookie. It’s smooth and buttery with a prominent brown sugar flavor with semi-sweet chocolate notes on the aftertaste. As good as this milkshake is, it’s unfortunately not a permanent fixture on Johnny Rocket’s menu so if you like the idea of drinking a chocolate chip cookie, get yourself to Johnny Rockets as quickly as possible.

The Bottom Line:

A delicious milkshake that features a buttery brown sugar flavor with gentle kisses of semi-sweet chocolate flavor.

Find your nearest Johnny Rockets here.

4. Dairy Queen — Banana Malt

Milkshakes
Dairy Queen

Thickness: 5/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Why don’t more fast food restaurants serve banana milkshakes? How is this not an obvious win for everyone? Thankfully we have DQ and their Banana Malt is so good it’s worth a trip for the milkshake alone.

The combination of sweet intense banana flavor and the toasty malted milk powder combine to create a milkshake so rich that a single sip will cause you to exclaim “god damn!” Be warned, if you drink this milkshake out in public you’re going to embarrass yourself because it’s too hard to drink it and not express to someone just how delicious it is.

DQ is one of the few fast food chains that still use malted milk powder in its milkshakes, offering a richer and thicker milkshake than the competition.

The Bottom Line:

A winning combination. It’s one part intensely sweet and tropical, one part toasty and rich. If you haven’t been to DQ in a minute, this right here is a reason to go.

Find your nearest Dairy Queen here.

3. Five Guys — Milkshake with Oreos and Oreo Creme

Milkshakes
Ashley Garcia

Thickness: 5/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

There isn’t a single fast food restaurant that makes a better Oreo milkshake than Five Guys because this tastes exactly like an actual Oreo cookie. It has a supremely thick consistency with a prominent chocolate cookie finish. The sensation of drinking this milkshake is a bit like eating an Oreo inside out, it begins creamy and sweet and finishes with that strong cocoa flavor characteristic of Oreos.

It’s no secret how Five Guys is able to pull this off, they throw both the Oreo cookie and its cream into the milkshake, rather than just the cookies like most of the other fast food chains out there. The results are incomparable, this is the ultimate Oreo Milkshake and we even did a blind taste test to prove it. Five Guys has a fully customizable menu so don’t just stop at Oreos, go ahead and mix in bananas, peanut butter, or even bacon for a salty smokey finish.

The Bottom Line:

Your favorite Five Guys milkshake will vary based on what sort of mix-ins you like, but using the Oreo cookies and creme as a starting base will ensure that you build a truly delicious milkshake.

Find your nearest Five Guys here.

2. Chick-fil-A — Peach Milkshake

Peach Milkshake
Chick-fil-A

Thickness: 4/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Delicate, floral, sweet and slightly tangy, Chick-fil-A’s Peach milkshake is truly one of the greatest milkshake experiences in all of fast food. It’s made with real peach puree blended with Chick-fil-A’s iconic Icedream soft serve and topped with creamy ribbons of whipped cream. The consistency is very thick, yet somehow airy, and passes easily through the straw.

This is a seasonal milkshake that only hits the menu in the summer, which is a true shame because it’s significantly better than all of Chick-fil-A’s milkshake flavors. So much so that I’m going to go ahead and suggest you not even bother ordering a milkshake from Chick-fil-A in any other season.

The Bottom Line:

A must-order. Hurry while you still can because this seasonal shake leaves the menu as soon as the weather turns cool.

Find your nearest Chick-fil-A here.

1. Shake Shack — Malted Chocolate Milkshake

Milkshakes
Dane Rivera

Thickness: 4/5

Tasting Notes & Thoughts

Remarkably complex beginning with flavors of rich cocoa and earthy brown sugar that turn nutty and toasted as it melts on the tongue. The flavors here go deep, the way they inundate your taste buds and completely take over your senses is unparalleled in the fast food space. I’ve never had a fast food milkshake that tastes as rich, overwhelming, and satisfying as this.

Now sure, naming a plain chocolate milkshake as the best in all of fast food admittedly feels weak and a bit boring, but the flavor here is undeniable — sometimes you just can’t compete with a classic.

Make sure when you’re ordering your milkshake from Shake Shack that you “make it malted,” because that malted milk powder deepens and enriches the flavors in a way the stock milkshake just doesn’t. Once you go malted, you’ll never be able to settle for a milkshake that isn’t malted.

The Bottom Line:

Shake Shack earns its name by producing the finest milkshake in the entire fast food landscape. You may not believe that a simple chocolate malted milkshake can beat them all, but order this just once and we guarantee you won’t be arguing with our choice. Nothing beats this, period.

Find your nearest Shake Shack here.

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Brock Lesnar Hopped On Stage And Sang Along At A Zach Bryan Concert

Brock Lesnar’s had a busy couple of days. On Saturday, Lesnar completed his trilogy against Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam, which he lost by pinfall. After it was over, Lesnar apparently surprised Rhodes by going off script, extending his hand, and giving the American Nightmare a hug in the center of the ring.

It was an awfully nice moment between the two, and while Rhodes appeared on television this week by kicking off Raw and then having a match later, Lesnar was nowhere to be found. While it’s not uncommon for Lesnar to take breaks from his time in the squared circle, he’s usually pretty good at going completely off the map when he’s away from WWE, which he isn’t doing this time.

A video started going around the internet on Thursday of Lesnar hopping on stage at a Zach Bryan concert. It happened on Wednesday night as he performed “Revival,” and I do not think I have ever seen Brock Lesnar have this much fun doing anything other than hitting people with a bunch of German suplexes.

We’ll have to wait and see when Lesnar’s next appearance in WWE is going to be, but until that day comes, I hope he keeps popping up at concerts from coast to coast.

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Joe Biden Snapped At A Fox News Correspondent Over A ‘Lousy Question’ About (You Guessed It) His Son Hunter

The “Dark Brandon” merchandise really went to Joe Biden‘s head.

Following a speech in at a plant in New Mexico where he mocked Donald Trump’s odd fear of wind turbines, the president snapped at Fox News reporter Peter Doocy over a question about his son, Hunter. “There’s this testimony now where one of your son’s former business associates is claiming that you were on speakerphone a lot with them, talking business. Is that… what?” Doocy said, to which Biden replied, “I never talked business with anybody. I knew you’d have a lousy question.” Doocy asked why his question was lousy. Biden answered, “Because it’s not true,” then walked away.

The Huffington Post has the background:

Doocy was likely attempting to build on discounted congressional testimony by former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer, who provided no smoking gun to tie the president to wrongdoing in his son’s deals. Archer did claim, though, that Biden made small talk with his son’s associates.

This isn’t the first time that Biden and Doocy have sparred. The president called the White House correspondent a “stupid son of a b*tch” and razzed him about being friendly with Vladimir Putin.

You can watch the latest incident below.

(Via the Huffington Post)

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Halsey Made 50 Bracelets For Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ And Gushed About The Experience

Taylor Swift and Halsey have always been supportive of one another. When the “Anti-Hero” star spoke up about her manager Scooter Braun’s “incessant, manipulative bullying,” Halsey defended her. When Halsey shared their experimental 2021 LP If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, Swift said she was “blown away” by their artistry.

In an Instagram Story, Halsey shared a photo of bracelets they made for The Eras Tour with the caption: “20 down 30 to go.” They also tweeted about the Los Angeles concert that occurred Wednesday (August 9), writing, “I literally cried hysterically during tolerate it and then rep set started and I was like oh she did this on purpose cause now I gotta wipe my face it’s bad b*tch hours.”

Plenty of celebrities have been attending The Eras Tour, including Flavor Flav. “FLAVOR FLAV::: I’m honored to meet Taylor Swift’s Mom and Dad plus Papa Swift gave me the guitar picks to hand out!!! COME FIND ME #TaylorSwift,” Flav wrote in the caption of an Instagram post.

Even the Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked for Swift to bring the run to his country. “It’s me, hi,” he tweeted. “I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don’t make it another cruel summer. We hope to see you soon.”

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Lil Tay And The Controversy Around Her Reported Death, Explained

Over the past couple days, there has been some confusion surrounding Lil Tay, the 14-year-old Canadian internet personality and rapper. So, what’s going on?

Yesterday (August 9), a post on Tay’s Instagram page announced that she had died, saying (via Variety), “It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire’s sudden and tragic passing. We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain. This outcome was entirely unexpected, and has left us all in shock. Her brother’s passing adds an even more unimaginable depth to our grief. During this time of immense sorrow, we kindly ask for privacy as we grieve this overwhelming loss, as the circumstances surrounding Claire and her brother’s passing are still under investigation. Claire will forever remain in our hearts, her absence leaving an irreplaceable void that will be felt by all who knew and loved her.”

Around the same time, it was also noticed that Tay’s YouTube bio read, “help me.” This caused some uncertainty, so Insider investigated. Lil Tay’s father Christopher Hope and former manager Harry Tsang both spoke to the publication and did not confirm whether Tay was alive. The publication also noted, “It also suggested her brother, Jason Tian, had died as well. The statement didn’t give causes of death for either and said the deaths were under investigation. But law-enforcement agencies in Los Angeles and Vancouver, British Columbia — two cities where Lil Tay is known to have lived — told Insider there were no active death investigations involving Hope.”

Today, TMZ shared what they say is a statement from Tay’s family confirming that she is still alive. The statement says, “I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say. It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was bombarded with endless heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out this mess. […] My Instagram account was compromised by a 3rd party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors regarding me, to the point that even my name was wrong. My legal name is Tay Tian, not ‘Claire Hope’.”

The death announcement post has since been deleted. Before that post, Tay’s most recent Instagram post was from 2018. As TMZ notes, “Tay was caught in the middle of a nasty custody battle between her parents, Angela Tian and Christopher Hope — one we were told had been going on in court since 2018, around the same time the influencer went radio silent online.”