Month: August 2023

You know things are getting slightly desperate in Trumpland when Eric Trump heads out for the talk show circuit to supplement the Eldest Boy’s wild rants. Eric isn’t as bombastic as Don Jr., but he does bring his own variety of ire, particularly while telling straight-up falsehoods to the Fox News audience.

This went down on Fox News after word that Trump Sr. would be indicted a third time (and he might even pose for a mugshot). Perhaps you’ve been too numb to pay attention to this particular indictment because they simply keep coming, but Donald will be arraigned at 4:00 pm EST in Washington, D.C., on charges related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into January 6. Even Mike Pence is appalled about the insurrection in his own way, but Eric Trump is here to suggest conspiracy theories that would have people believe that his dad did nothing wrong and was set up.

First, here’s the part where Eric “forgot” recent U.S. history while accusing liberals of “literally trying to imprison political opponents,” as though his dad broke no laws, and the dozens of felony counts against him are bogus.

Cue the “lock her up” memories:

He had conspiracy theories, too. Fox News host Jesse Watters smugly smiled the whole time Eric went off, suggesting that mysterious forces conspired against his father to orchestrate January 6, and his dad didn’t really tell his MAGA followers to “fight like hell” in front of the whole world:

“There are a lot of questions about January 6th. How about all the video tapes? How about all the FBI agents that where in there… Why didn’t they call up the 10,000 National Guard, you know, troops that my father, you know, approved? Why didn’t they do that? What else is happening behind the scenes?”

The AP has already debunked the claim that Trump (as Eric alleges) “approved” those National Guard troops, only to be shut down by Pelosi:

CLAIM: Former President Donald Trump signed an order to deploy 20,000 National Guard troops before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but was stopped by the House sergeant at arms, at the behest of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. While Trump was involved in discussions in the days prior to Jan. 6 about the National Guard response, he issued no such order before or during the rioting. Speaker Pelosi does not control National Guard troops.

The more applicable question (than what Eric is asking) is whether the third indictment is the final indictment? 2023 is a real trip so far.

Rudy Gobert is very good at a lot of things on the basketball court. One thing that he’s never been by any stretch of the imagination is a three-point shooter — in 10 seasons as an NBA player, Gobert has gone 0-for-14 from three in the regular season and 0-for-1 from behind the arc in the postseason. International play for France has been much of the same, as Gobert’s never made a three for them at a FIBA World Cup or at the Olympics.

But that finally changed on Wednesday, as Gobert and France took on Montenegro ahead of this month’s World Cup. Gobert was left wide open behind the three-point line as the French inbounded the ball, lined up a triple, and knocked it down. His national team teammate, Nicolas Batum, shared the video after the game and was quite happy about it.

Now, we don’t exactly think that teams are going to change up their scouting reports out of a fear that Rudy Gobert will get hot from deep, but this was a fun moment for him. And after the game, he, uh, well here’s the quote.

“Tonight I feel like I lost my virginity,” Gobert said.

France beat Montenegro, 80-69, with Gobert going for 16 points and nine rebounds. The French are the defending silver medalists at the Tokyo Olympics, will enter the tournament as one of the favorites to win the whole thing. It won’t be easy winning their group, though, as they’re in Group H alongside Canada, Latvia, and Lebanon.

Heads are still spinning from Denzel Curry’s “Blood On My Nikez,” his single that began as a two-minute solo flex before receiving a Juicy J feature for the full version last week. Curry just increased the spin rate with “Ice Cold Zel Freestyle” featuring IceColdBishop.

The Florida-bred rapper only needs 99 seconds to confidently illustrate a visceral picture, juxtaposing his tangible rewards (“I got a motherf*ckin’ choppa like Olajuwon”) with the dire realities he had to overcome (“I was like six in the kitchen / My uncle and cousin was mixin’, they servin’ up rock”). Curry and IceColdBishop swap bars atop an unrelenting beat — seamlessly complementing each other’s stream of consciousness.

Curry teased “Ice Cold Zel Freestyle” with a Ken-like photo (nobody is immune to the Barbie craze), and the single arrives as he appears to be leading up to the release of Blood In Blood Out Reloaded (stylized as 13LOOD 1N 13LOOD OUT RELOADED), which he vaguely tweeted about in April.

Curry last dropped Melt My Eyez See Your Future in March and doubled down on the album’s success with a two-disc Melt My Eyez See Your Future: The Extended Edition release last fall. Between then and now, Curry also assisted Armani White’s “Goated” and teamed with Midwxst for “Tally” in January.

The day after becoming the first member of Disney’s Hall of Presidents attraction to be indicted for a third time, Donald Trump took to his preferred social media platform to rant about how the whole world is against him.

“Look, it’s not my fault that my political opponent in the Democrat Party, Crooked Joe Biden, has told his Attorney General to charge the leading (by far!) Republican Nominee & former President of the United States, me, with as many crimes as can be concocted so that he is forced to spend large amounts of time & money to defend himself,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump then issued a threat about what next year has in store. “The Dems don’t want to run against me or they would not be doing this unprecedented weaponization of ‘Justice.’ BUT SOON, IN 2024, IT WILL BE OUR TURN. MAGA!” he added before raising a glass and toasting to the concept of evil.

Despite all the indictments and arraignments, we haven’t seen a Trump mugshot — yet.

A sheriff in Georgia said former President Donald Trump will likely have his mug shot taken if he is hit with a fourth indictment in that state. Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat anticipates authorities will adhere to “normal practices” if Trump receives an indictment for attempting to challenge the 2020 election results in the Peach State. “Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesn’t matter your status,” Labat told reporters. “We’ll have a mug shot ready for you.”

Trump’s mugshot will be the hottest selling shirt on the New Jersey boardwalk since all the Jokers playing poker together.

(Via Raw Story)

A24 has released some of the best horror movies (Hereditary, Green Room), coming-of-age films (Eighth Grade, Lady Bird), and documentaries (Amy) of the past decade, as well as two Best Picture winners (Moonlight, Everything Everywhere All at Once). Now, the indie studio is preparing to release its first musical: D*cks: The Musical.

Directed by Seinfeld and Borat great Larry Charles, D*cks: The Musical stars Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp (who also wrote the two-man show the movie is based on) as businessmen who realize that they’re “f*cking identical twins.” The twins’ parents are played by Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane, in his second A24 film of the year, while the rest of the cast includes Bowen Yang as God, Megan Thee Stallion as the twins’ boss, and two disgusting puppets called the Sewer Boys. Might as well set aside $40 bucks now — you’ll need it when a Sewer Boys shirt goes on sale in the A24 store.

You can watch the trailer above. Here’s the official synopsis:

Two self-obsessed businessmen (writers Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp) discover they’re long-lost identical twins and come together to plot the reunion of their eccentric divorced parents, in this riotously funny and depraved musical from comedy icon Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Borat) also starring Megan Thee Stallion, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, and Bowen Yang as God.

Dicks: The Musical opens in theaters on September 29th.

On Wednesdays, we make Mean Girls references.

Lindsay Lohan gave birth last month to her first child, a son named Luai. “Lindsay Lohan and her Financier husband, Bader Shammas, welcomed a beautiful, healthy son named Luai. The family is over the moon in love,” her representative told People.

In her first Instagram post since giving birth, Lohan wrote, “I am so proud of what this body was able to accomplish during these months of pregnancy and now, recovery. Having a baby is the greatest joy in the world! My OOTD lately is my @fridamom postpartum underwear.” She added, “Because I’m not a regular mom, I’m a postpartum mom,” a reference to the 2004 teen comedy.

The next time Lohan does a branded post, she should quote one of her deep-cut films. Something for the Herbie: Fully Loaded-heads to look forward to.

Lohan announced her pregnancy in March, revealing on social media that she was “blessed and excited” at the thought of becoming a mom. One of the actress’ movie moms, Jamie Lee Curtis from Freaky Friday, congratulated the new parents, writing on Instagram “My movie daughter just made me a movie grandmother. Blessings to Lindsay and Bader for the birth of Luai!”

You can see Lohan’s post below.

(Via EW)

In addition to being a rapper and producer, Lupe Fiasco is also a teacher. Last year, he taught a rap course at MIT and broke down lyrics by iconic hip-hop artists. Now, he’s joined the discussion about how AI will play a role in the genre.

The “Superstar” performer has teamed up with Google for an AI tool called TextFX that aids “the writing process of creating raps.” In a Google Lab Sessions video, Fiasco explains, “Rap is born out of technology. Rap wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for these technological advancements.” He lists examples, such as a DJ’s turntable, microphones, recording studios, Auto-Tune, and more. “What’s next?” he says. “Artificial Intelligence, large language models — rap’s optimal for it.”

A Creative Technologist at Google named Aaron Wade steps in and explains the tool, which actually is a large language model. “Initially, we thought that maybe Lupe would want an AI system to write lyrics for him, verses, and raps,” he said. “But it turns out that he didn’t want that at all. What he wanted was a tool that helped him explore the universe of possibilities that can arise from any given word, or phrase, or concept.”

Watch Fiasco’s full Google Lab Session above and check out TextFX here.

Diddy was one of rap’s original moguls, with interests in fashion, beverages, tech, and more. Unfortunately, he’ll need to find a new way into one of the most lucrative growth industries available today after his plan to purchase a pair of cannabis companies for $185 million fell through. According to TMZ, Diddy had designs on buying the merged Cresco Labs and Columbia Care once their merger was completed — but was forced to cancel his deal, as shareholders of the two companies were unable to reach an agreement.

Per TMZ, the deal would have made Diddy the biggest Black cannabis business owner, with nine stores in Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York. Each also had its own production facility — vertical integration, baby — so it’d basically have been darn near all profit. Diddy would have joined a large — and growing — list of rappers with weed companies, which includes Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, and more (this also brings to mind those Hair Club For Men commercials where Sy Sperling informs viewers he’s not only the president but also a client of his own business).

It’s been a rough year for Diddy on the business side thanks to a lawsuit against his former drinks partner, but he did also launch Empower Global, an online marketplace for Black-owned businesses, so it seems he’s still doing his best to

Taylor Swift is hours away from the first of six shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the final stretch of the US leg of her wildly successful The Eras Tour. Only, these LA shows will no longer be a curtain call. We were naive to believe they would be. Haven’t we learned by now that Swift is always up to something more?

This morning (August 3), Swift announced newly added North American dates. Gracie Abrams will return as the opener.

“Turns out it’s NOT the end of an era,” she captioned the new The Eras Tour poster posted to Instagram. “Miami, New Orleans, Indy and Toronto: The Eras Tour is coming to you in 2024 with @gracieabrams! Verified fan registration for all shows is open now – visit TaylorSwift.com for more information.”

And how could we forget how disastrously the Verified Fan presale went for the initial US leg (and more recently in Paris)? Let’s hope Swifties in Indianapolis, Miami, New Orleans, and Toronto have better fortunes. Watch out, Ticketmaster.

About a month ago, Swift unveiled additional 2024 European dates with Paramore as the opener. The European/UK leg will stretch from May 9 to August 17, and then she’ll return stateside.

See Swift’s new The Eras Tour North American dates below.

10/18/2024 — Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium
10/19/2024 — Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium
10/20/2024 — Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium
10/25/2024 — New Orleans, LA @ Caesars Superdome
10/26/2024 — New Orleans, LA @ Caesars Superdome
10/27/2024 — New Orleans, LA @ Caesars Superdome
11/01/2024 — Indianapolis, IN @ Lucas Oil Stadium
11/02/2024 — Indianapolis, IN @ Lucas Oil Stadium
11/03/2024 — Indianapolis, IN @ Lucas Oil Stadium
11/14/2024 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
11/15/2024 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
11/16/2024 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
11/21/2024 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
11/22/2024 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
11/23/2024 — Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre

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

Lil Wayne “is still the greatest rapper alive,” according to Flo Milli, and Wayne isn’t particularly worried about his status on rap’s Mount Rushmore changing in the wake of AI.

On Wednesday (August 2), Wayne was revealed as the cover star of Billboard‘s annual “R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players” issue. This year, it’s doubling as a celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.

Within the accompanying cover story, Gail Mitchell asked Wayne for his opinion “on artificial intelligence and its potential effect on creativity.”

Wayne coolly replied, “Someone asked me about that recently. And they were trying to tell me that AI could make a voice that sounds just like me. But it’s not me, because I’m amazing. I’m like, is this AI thing going to be amazing too? Because I am naturally, organically amazing. I’m one of a kind. So actually, I would love to see that thing try to duplicate this motherf*cker.”

This week also marked the premiere of Mixtape on Paramount Plus, and Wayne is among many pioneers featured in the documentary. Back with Billboard and Mitchell, Wayne shared his thoughts on the perception of mixtapes in a post-AI music landscape.

“The terminology or definition has changed, that’s all,” he said. “Mixtapes can mean an album mix or anything now. But when it comes to Lil Wayne, everybody knows how I approach mixtapes. So my mixtapes won’t ever change.”

See more from Wayne’s Billboard cover shoot below.