Category: News

How do you pay back nearly a billion and a half dollars in legal damages? If you’re Alex Jones, you just don’t. Last fall the Infowars honcho was ordered to pay an unimaginable sum to families of Sandy Hook massacre victims, whom he spent years slandering with deranged conspiracy theories. That could have been the end of Jones, who had a meltdown while his verdict was read. Alas, according to a New York Times report, he managed to find a Plan B:

A New York Times review of financial documents and court records filed over the past year found that Mr. Jones has transferred millions of dollars in property, cash and business deals to family and friends, including to a new company run by his former personal trainer, all potentially out of reach of creditors. He has also spent heavily on luxuries, including $80,000 on a private jet, bodyguards and a rented villa while he was in Connecticut to testify at a trial last fall.

As such, the families are worried they may never see what they’re owed. What’s more, the families are finding that the American bankruptcy system has sided with Jones, who has tried to obfuscate the size of his wealth. Jones has taken advantage of a law put into effect in early 2020 that allows more lenient rules for small businesses. Infowars has qualified for that law, even though its estimated revenues, of some $70 million a year, are not exactly small.

Throughout this ordeal, Jones — who was sometimes a nightmare in court — has taunted the families, whom he’s called “jerks.” Infowars, meanwhile, has been thriving in the wake of the lawsuit, with Jones calling it a conspiracy to silence him. “If anybody thinks they’re shutting me down, they’re mistaken,” he declared on his podcast last month.

So far the only money Jones has forked over in relation to the lawsuit is to his lawyers.

(Via NYT)

Yes, Miley Cyrus can proudly buy herself flowers and even write her own name in the sand, but she can also send lavish gifts to her friends. Fellow former Disney star Selena Gomez can attest to that. As Cyrus’ latest album, Endless Summer Vacation, continues to dominate the music charts, advertisers have come running to align with the project. One of the collaborators includes the luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana.

Following the album’s theme of leisure, the company released a special edition of their self-tanner, Dolce Glow, to match the project. After Gomez uploaded a selfie with Cyrus’ song in the caption to her over 401 million Instagram followers, the “Flowers” singer had to find a way to thank her.

The solution was to send Gomez her own set of Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation x Dolce Glow line. Grateful for the gift, Gomez took to her Instagram stories with the line, “The queen sent me presents,” as she held the box of goodies.

Cyrus was sure to send the love right back to her, reposting her story with the caption, “You glow naturally, But I had to send you the ESV X DG collab because I love you.”

The pair have come a long way since their reported falling out over their ex Nick Jonas.

As the saying goes, diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and based on Tyga’s reported latest splurge purchase, he is hoping that’s true. In late February, rumors began to circulate online that the “Go Loko” rapper and punk rocker Avril Lavigne were dating. Earlier this month, during Paris Fashion Week, the pair took their relationship public while attending the Mugler x Hunter Schafer Party after making out in front of the paparazzi.

Although Lavigne’s ex-finance musician Mod Sun wasn’t too happy about the news, the pair seems to be enjoying each other’s company. Tyga even took it a step further, according to TMZ, by purchasing the singer a custom $80,000 pink and black diamond necklace fit for a punk music princess.

The necklace was supposedly designed by celebrity jeweler Eric Mavani, more commonly known as Eric Da Jeweler. As paparazzi pieces show, Lavigne sporting the lavish piece, was spotted holding hands with Tyga leaving a restaurant in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 16, following her awkward run-in with a topless protester in her home country of Canada while she was speaking on stage at the Juno Awards.

Fans of Avril and Tyga may be confused by their pairing. Heck, even Mod Sun fans led a “f*ck Tyga” rant during his show post the news of their coupling, but that hasn’t stopped their budding romance.

50 Cent’, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, is no stranger to filing and being on the receiving end of a civil lawsuit (see penis enhancement or former employee embezzlement lawsuits). However, as his co-executive produced series Power Book II: Ghost, starring Michael Rainey Jr., Method Man, and Mary J. Blige, made its return to the Starz network last week, the pending lawsuit surrounding it is also back in the headlines.

In April 2021, a gentleman by the name of Corey Holland Sr., whose nickname is Ghost, filed a $1 billion lawsuit again Jackson, the STARZ network, and series creator Courtney Kemp, alleging that the beloved show was based on his likeness. Holland believes that Kemp was inspired to current the show after obtaining a copy of his CD Blasphemy, which was originally given to Kemp’s father in 2007. He believes the seventh season of Power and the first two seasons of Power Book II: Ghost were directly inspired by that CD.

Given that Power has now birthed three spin-offs for the network (Power Book II: Ghost, Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force), Holland feels that the $1 billion asking price for supposed intellectual property theft is justified.

According to HotNewHipHop, because the rapper’s legal team never responded to Holland’s complaint, the courts ordered all parties to come to a resolution through mediation. Although no date has been formally set, it is being reported that mediation could begin as soon as May.

He also alleged in court documents reviewed by the outlet that 50 Cent himself showed up at his home as he filed suit against him and attempted to start a physical altercation between the two of them.

50 Cent has not yet issued a statement about the allegations or the lawsuit.

In an age when shows never end or at least spawn endless spinoffs, it’s almost comforting, in a way, that Succession is ending, hopefully on top. (Although some future spinoff isn’t off the table.) The news was shocking to many; after all, it will have only been on the air for four seasons. It was a shock to one of its cast members, too, if only because no one bothered to tell her it was over until a ways into the process.

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times (as caught by IndieWire), Sarah Snook said she as “very upset” at the news, which she only found out at the table read.

“I felt a huge sense of loss, disappointment and sadness,” Snook said. “It would have been nice to know at the beginning of the season, but I also understand not being told until the end because there was still a potential that maybe this wasn’t going to be the end.”

For Snook, it’s bittersweet that the show that made her a household name. “Emotionally, all of us weren’t necessarily ready to be done with the show because we love each other so much,” she explained. “But everything has to come to an end, and it’s smart not to let something become a parody of itself.”

Snook’s onscreen father, Brian Cox, was a little more detached when the show ended, saying he felt nothing after filming his final scene. He won’t even mind not having to constantly pelt people with Logan Roy’s signature catchphrase.

Succession‘s final season begins its run starting March 26 on HBO.

(Via LA Times and IndieWire)

This coming week, the unthinkable might happen: Donald Trump may finally face the consequences of his actions. The Manhattan district attorney’s case against the former president has been ratcheting up, and it’s believed — though not confirmed — that an indictment is imminent. Trump himself thinks it will go down Tuesday, and he’s already whipping up his violent supporters. What if Trump really is indicted? What if he even goes to jail? What if he gets busted for one of his other scandals? Sean Hannity has claimed the big guy could still run for president from the slammer. But another pal is going one further.

As per Raw Story, serial Trump defender Alan Dershowitz went on Newsmax, and he didn’t have good news. “He will be indicted,” he said. “In New York, you can indict a ham sandwich. In New York City, you can convict a ham sandwich because the jury pool is so unfair.”

But not all was bleak. “Even if he’s convicted, he can run for president,” Dershowitz said. “He can run for president from prison. He can even serve as president from prison.”

If all goes south for Trump and if Dershowitz is right about his latter point, then Trump will not only be the first president to be jailed but also the first president to do his elected duties from the clink. Congrats?

You can watch video of Dershowitz’s Newsmax appearance at Raw Story.

Drake has found himself in a sticky situation. With festival season in full effect, the “Jumbotron Sh*t Poppin” rapper’s South American fans were excited to see him headlining the opening night of Lollapalooza Argentina alongside Rosalía. As the musician gearing up to hit the road for the It’s All A Blur tour with 21 Savage, and given that the Toronto native has shown the country love in the past by betting nearly a million dollars on their soccer team to win the World Cup Final, Argentines were expecting a show of epic portions.

With fire display, smoke machines, and his signature high energy on stage, Drake nearly delivered on all cylinders except one, according to the fans attending the show as comments poured into Twitter complaining about his set.

One person’s remarks roughly were translated as “Drake’s show should’ve lasted an hour and 30 minutes in Lollapalooza Argentina, but the artist unexpectedly ended it early. In total, he played for less than an hour.”

Despite prompting the crowd to sing Argentina’s World Cup anthem, “Muchachos,” that wasn’t enough to please the fans after he reportedly cut his set 30 minutes short.

Fans at home had something to gripe about, too. According to some users, the festival promised that the rapper’s set would be accessible via their stream. However, as viewers logged in to watch, a message on the screen revealed that Drake’s set would no longer be televised.

The anger has spilled over in the comment section of Lollapalooza Argentina’s Instagram posts, as one user wrote, “Started 10 minutes late, cut 30 minutes early, sang 30 seconds of each song, out of control just said the word literal “control,” sound went off, screens stayed on black for minutes — a disaster.”

Other users jumped in to defend the star, pointing out that he wasn’t the only performer not to have his set live-streamed.

Taylor Swift’s The Era Tour is making history in more ways than one. For one, Glendale, Arizona, temporarily rename the city in the “Lavender Haze” singer’s honor after being the launching pad for the nearly 30-date North American tour. For another, as per Pop Base, the tour’s opening night just broke a concert record previously held by pop superstar Madonna.

Overwhelmed with the career milestone of opening up for Swift, Gayle was moved to tears on stage as she thanked the singer for allowing her to be one of the tour openers. Paramore also opened for Swift during opening night.

The singer tearfully said, “Thank you, Taylor Swift, for having me. Man, Taylor Swift — this is such a dream come true. Thank you so much. I can’t believe this is happening to me.” She then turned to the audience, saying, “Thank you for paying attention.”

The singer then snapped back into the moment as she dove into her viral smash “abcdefu.”

When asked about finding out that she would be accompanying Swift on a few selected tour dates, Gayle said, “She’s done so much for women in pop music for Nashville and for songwriters. And the fact that she can look at me in Nashville and just be like, ‘You, come with me.’”

With the Glendale dates wrapped up, Gayle’s remaining support stops include Las Vegas, Nashville, Philadelphia, Foxborough, and the second closing night at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. For more information, click here.

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

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the 1998 film Wild Things, which is famous for its hairpin plot turns.

Wild Things, the twisty-turny erotic thriller from the late ‘90s, turns 25 this year. In many ways it’s a product of a different time. For one thing, erotic thrillers are thin on the ground these days. (Even Deep Water was skimpy on the sex.) But in some ways it was ahead of its time. The sexually fluid characters played by Neve Campbell and Denise Richards were rarities during the Clinton era. But in the original script, they weren’t the only ones who swung both ways.

In a retrospective interview about the film by Yahoo! Entertainment, director John McNaughton confirmed something that’s been discussed before: That Dillon’s high school teacher and Kevin Bacon’s crooked detective were supposed to get it on, too, in the scene where it’s revealed the two had been in cahoots.

“In the original version of the scene, Matt walks into his bathroom to take a shower and there’s Kevin,” McNaughton said. “They were supposed to look each other up and down and then wham — go at it.”

Alas, soon before they were supposed to film it, one of the actors opposed it. McNaughton wouldn’t say which one, but it’s not hard to figure out who it was. Both actors spoke to Total Film about the cut moment of intimacy in 2005. Bacon said the reveal was “great,” though he put the blame on the financiers, who he said “didn’t like the idea of men making out.”

Dillon, meanwhile, said, “Man, I was relieved when they got rid of that scene” He added, “Kevin seemed pretty attached to it, though!” He also described the duo’s relationship as “one twist too many, man, one twist too many.”

One can still sense some homoeroticism between the two. After all, when it’s revealed that Dillon and Bacon are working together, Bacon can be seen taking a shower, showing off full frontal nudity. During the end credit bumpers, which fill in some more of the twists, there’s some sparks, too.

“Neve preps him, and then Matt goes inside and sits next to Kevin and says, ‘Hey, could I buy you a drink?’ The next time you watch that scene, watch it closely, because [their relationship] is there,” McNaughton explained. “I always called it ‘acting twice’ with the cast, because what their characters were saying was never really what they were doing.”

McNaughton also spoke about that famous threesome between Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, and Denise Richards, which he said probably couldn’t fly today. That’s not because it’s too racy but because it’s a high school teacher getting it on with two students. McNaughton said that scene could “probably not” be filmed, adding, “Maybe in 20 years, the pendulum will swing back again, but now it’s swung pretty far in the other direction.”

Wild Things currently streams on Showtime as well as for rental.

(Via Yahoo! Entertainment)

Ticketmaster may have dropped the ball when it came to the pre-sale of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. However, that hasn’t stopped the singer’s avid Swiftie fans from showing up in droves. In fact, it’s estimated that the tour has already earned just over half a billion dollars in the United States alone.

On March 17, in Glendale, Arizona, the tour kicked off with support from Paramore and Gayle. While local Glendale officials basked in being the launching point for the tour, temporarily renaming the city in Swift’s honor, they now have a cool piece of history to had to their record books. Not only did the “Anti-Hero” singer also sell out the opening night at State Farm Stadium due to overwhelming demand, but she also had to add a second date.

Now, according to Pop Base, Swift’s The Eras Tour opening night was a record-breaking night for more reasons than one. The outlet is reporting that it broke fellow pop star Madonna’s record for the most attended female concert in U.S. history. Based on the final ticket count, Swift’s opening night held an audience of over 69,000. The stadium has the capacity to hold up to 72,200 people.

Madonna’s 1987 concert in Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, previously held the record after the final count of attendees came in at 62,986 people.

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