Category: News

Dwight Howard‘s basketball playing career has continued over in Taiwan. While his team has struggled mightily and Shaquille O’Neal has used this as a way to continue his long-standing feud with his fellow ex-Magic and Lakers center, it seems like Howard is having a good time and putting up big numbers as a member of the Taoyuan Leopards.

His first year abroad included an All-Star nod, as Howard played in the inaugural T1 League All-Star Game on Tuesday. While his team lost — Team Infinity beat Team Beyond, 179-124 — the 8-time NBA All-Star won the game’s MVP award with a 37-point, 13-rebound, 8-assist performance. But that wasn’t all Howard did at the event, as he also participated in an NBA All-Star event that made its way over to Taiwan’s showcase of its best basketball players.

That’s right: Dwight Howard was in the Three Point Contest. Howard announced this back on Feb. 19 on his Instagram account — “I’m finally stepping out my comfort zone and doing what I know I could do despite what anyone has to say,” he wrote — and despite never being known for his ability to knock down shots from deep, he didn’t do too bad.

Howard’s 15 points despite taking too long and not finishing the final rack even though he had 70 seconds to complete the round was better than the scores put up by Julius Randle (13) and Kevin Huerter (8) during the NBA’s Three Point Contest earlier this month. Unfortunately for Howard, he was unable to get past the first round, as he would have needed to get 23 to move on.

As for the All-Star event that he’s won back in the States, Howard wasn’t a contestant in the Dunk Contest, as he instead judged the competition. He was, however, an important part of the final dunk of the evening, as the 6’2 Liu Chun-Ting of Tainan TSG GhostHawks jumped over Howard and threw down.

Lin did an admirable Mac McClung impression, as he was nearly perfect en route to winning the event.

Shakira‘s 2023 is looking bright. The singer just featured in “TQG,” a song and video with Karol G. Last month, she achieved her first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 single in over 15 years with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.”

Now she’s elaborating on her decision to work with the powerhouse producer Bizarrap for the latter project. It was, in fact, not her idea. It came from her son, according to a new interview in Univision. A translation by Pop Crave reads: “He sent an audio to my manager saying ‘you have to make my mom work with Bizarrap.’ Even when we were editing the video, he came in and said ‘Mom, you’re a bit far from the microphone. Let’s fix this.’”

Karol G opened up to Uproxx recently about the experience of working with Shakira. “She was very sweet! All the photos we have together, we are literally laughing,” she said. “There was a lot of pressure days before to shoot this video. I was super afraid of how the vibe and energy would be like, but when we were on set, it was incredible. We had a great time. We helped each other a lot. We had a lot of admiration for each other. When she was filming, I was there. When I was filming, she was there. We were cheering each other on. Everything has been special.”

One could easily argue that Alex G‘s God Save The Animals and Alvvays‘ Blue Rev were the two best indie records of 2022. So it sure is a treat that both of those beloved acts are pairing together to hit the road this summer.

Both have been reveling in the success of their sublime records, with Alvvays giving a wonderful performance of “Belinda Says” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Alex G taking the emotive “Miracles” to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Alex G also performed an NPR Tiny Desk in December of last year, playing songs from the new album as well as deep-cuts from fan-favorited old LPs to satisfy as many fans as possible.

Meanwhile, Alvvays also have an exciting opening slot for the one and only Maggie Rogers at the Hollywood Bowl in August in addition to this run.

Find the full tour dates below.

08/13 — Hollywood Bowl @ Los Angeles, CA ^
08/23 — Brooklyn NY @ Prospect Park *
08/25 — Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion *
08/26 — Philadelphia, PA @ Dell Center *
08/27 — Martha’s Vineyard, MA @ Beach Road Festival
08/28 — Toronto, ON @ The Budweiser Stage *
08/30 — Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak *
08/31 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE *
09/01 — Buffalo, NY @ Art Park *

^ w/ Maggie Rogers
* co-headline date w/ Alex G

Find ticket information here.

On Monday, the world learned a not very surprising thing about Fox News. Last month, honcho Rupert Murdoch was deposed over the Dominion lawsuit against his network, a transcript of which was finally made public. It was not good, at least for him and for some of his employees. For one thing, Sean Hannity, Murdoch claimed, was “privately disgusted” by Donald Trump’s voter fraud antics. For another, Murdoch himself admitted he let his hosts spread some of that very nonsense, knowing it was bunk.

The news predictably did not go over well with Trump himself, who took to his rinky-dink Twitter clone with one of his barely coherent rants about the conservative powerhouse with whom he’s currently feuding.

“Why is Rupert Murdoch throwing his anchors under the table,” he asked about the media titan testifying under oath. Trump claimed Murdoch being honest (again, while under oath), was “killing his case and infuriating his viewers, who will again be leaving in droves – they already are.”

As it happened, texts from Fox News hosts shortly after the 2020 election showed them admitting they were elevating claims they knew were BS because they were afraid of losing viewers to the likes of Newsmax and OANN.

Trump then did what he often does: Baselessly claim there’s proof of voter fraud in an election he lost almost two-and-a-half years ago.

“There is MASSIVE evidence of voter fraud & irregularities in the 2020 Presidential Election,” Trump railed. He then cited Dinesh D’Souza’s roundly mocked and discredited doc 2000 Mules, which the likes of Fox News still won’t touch because they don’t want to get even more sued. He ended his post with the word, “RIGGED!!!”

Meanwhile, Trump had his own humiliating revelation recently: He allegedly goaded his poor staffers into complain to Jimmy Kimmel’s bosses because Kimmel kept making fun of him.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Tomorrow x Together kicked off the year with their 12tn EP, A Name Chapter: Temptation, which included their infectious hit “Sugar Rush Ride” and a seductive music video to go along with it. “It tells the story of youths who decide to embark on a long journey for their future but is swayed by the temptation in front of them,” member Soobin explained about the EP.

They took that memorable track to The Late Late Show With James Corden with an invigorating performance. The room is bursting with energy, like a literal sugar rush. Their sparkling harmonies are speckled with the shrieks of girls in the audience, obviously amazed to be in the group’s presence at all. Of course, their complicated and entertaining dance choreography is definitely inspiring the screams, as well.

The quintet, often going by the abbreviation TXT, is preparing to head out on the road for the massive Act: Sweet Mirage World Tour. The highly anticipated run begins next month in Seoul for two nights on March 25 and 26. It’ll hit in Singapore, Taipei, major cities in Japan, and then come over to the US for shows all over the country in May.

Watch their performance of “Sugar Rush Ride” above.

Shygirl‘s 2022 album Nymph was a singular, salacious excursion. The rapper knows how to hook a listener in, whether it’s with eccentric atmospherics and bewitching flows on “Come For Me” or uncensored sexuality on “Coochie (A Bedtime Story).” Now, she’s back with the announcement of Nymph_o, an expanded version of that LP.

The first taste of Nymph_o is delectable, namely “Heaven,” a dreamy collaboration with the one and only Tinashe. The two together are a force to be reckoned with; their voices coalesce to make stunning harmonies, like, “All I do is look at you, look at you / All I do is look at you, look at you.”

Nymph_o is full of exciting guests and remixes that will definitely excite fans. For instance, Björk transformed the track “Woe” after the pair worked together for the Fossora song “Ovule.”

Watch the video for “Heaven” above. Find the tracklist for Nymph_o below.

1. “Angel” – Shygirl x Fatima Al Qadiri
2. “Heaven” feat. Tinashe
3. “Crush” feat. Erika de Casier
4. “Woe” (I See It From Your Side) (Björk Remix)
5. “Shlut” feat. Sevdaliza
6. “Nike” feat. Deto Black
7. “Playboy / Positions”
8. “Poison” (Club Shy mix)
9. “Firefly” (Kingdom Edit)
10. “Wildfire” (Eartheater Remix)
11. “Unconditional” – Shygirl x Arca

Nymph_o is out 4/14 via Because Music. Pre-order it here.

After turning Kevin McCarthy’s Speaker of the House election into a mad house, Matt Gaetz is, alas, newly emboldened. Not only does his party have a wafer thin majority in the chamber, he may even have negotiated his way into some new powers. Whatever the case, one half of the GOP’s Beavis and Butt-Head been speaking up more. But that may not be so good for him, much less the rest of America.

As per HuffPost, a Congressional hearing with the House Armed Services Committee was held on Tuesday, during which Gaetz tried to be his usual combative self. Instead, he only wound up being calmly humiliated by a witness he was trying to grill. In an exchange with Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, Gaetz tried to slam U.S. involvement in Ukraine, inquiring whether the Pentagon has officials in the invaded nation. Kahl said they don’t.

Gaetz then tried to bust out a gotcha moment. He cited a report from Global Times about Pentagon allegedly training Ukrainians to fight. What is Global Times? Well, it’s an English-language daily tabloid run that’s a subsidiary of the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper The People’s Daily. In other words, it’s not exactly something a competent lawmaker cites in a hearing. And Kahl called him out on it.

“I’m sorry, is this the Global Times from China?” Kahl asked Gaetz.

Gaetz fumbled, first claiming it wasn’t then, after looking at the publication more closely, sheepishly saying, “Yeah, it might be. Yeah.”

Kahl calmly responded, “As a general matter, I don’t take Beijing’s propaganda at face value.”

Gaetz then asked if the allegation happened to be true anyway. “I don’t have any evidence one way or the other,” Kahl replied, then repeated, “As a general matter, I don’t take Beijing’s propaganda at face value.”

“Fair, fair enough,” an embarrassed Gaetz replied. “I would agree with that assessment.”

Gaetz oozes unearned bravado, so please enjoy him being cornered by someone who actually knows what he’s talking about.

(Via HuffPost)

Competitive cheerleading is one of the most difficult activities out there. At any given moment, you’re flipping, spinning or getting tossed in the air all while shouting chants and trusting your stunt group will catch you. Throw some dancing in the mix and it’s like a mash-up of gymnastics, dance and acrobatics that requires tight ponytails and plastered-on smiles even when it hurts.

It’s a sport that gets little respect outside of other cheerleaders and their family members, but the training is intense. The private tumbling lessons so you can land your back handspring full twisting layout before tryouts. Gym nights so long you may as well live there, all leading up to important competitions where all of your hard work is on full display.

Imagine putting in all that time, only to have the music stop while you’re mid-routine at that competition you just drove hours to get to.

That’s exactly what happened to a competitive cheer squad in the middle of what appears to be a National Cheer Association competition. Technical issues are a possibility whenever there’s technology in use, but thankfully, cheerleaders generally learn their routines without music to an eight-count with emphasis on the odd numbers. Lucky for the cheerleaders who lost their music mid-routine, the crowd was full of other cheerleaders.

When the music went out, the crowd immediately began to count and clap in unison so the cheerleaders on the mat could finish their routine without interruption. The entire thing was caught on video and the internet is having some feelings.

“This literally gave me chills. They say cheer isn’t a sport! Please. This was the epitome of sportsmanship! Class act! Pure bada**,” one commenter wrote.

“The way they didn’t even hesitate, they heard the music stop and immediately started counting. I have no background in cheer but this was amazing to see,” another person said.It’s not clear who the cheerleaders are or where this took place. It was posted to TikTok recently by Magen Reaves and currently has 1.9 million views. You can watch the incredible moment for yourself below.

@magenreaves

And why were we all crying?! Such a sweet moment and they slayed their routine! 📣 #AXERatioChallenge #cheerleaders #cheer #cheerleaders #cheertok #competitivecheer #allstarcheer #nca #ncacheer #dallas #zero #zerodeductions

While Republicans often refer to themselves as the “family values party,” some of them also seem to have a habit of wishing death upon their enemies. And each other. While Lauren Boebert has been known to lead a church full of parishioners in praying for the death of Joe Biden (on more than one occasion), Republican lawmakers who are worried about what sort of havoc Donald Trump could wreak on the country — and the GOP — with his 2024 presidential run are apparently quietly wishing he’d just keel over somewhere between the first and eighteenth holes.

As the GOP tries to figure out the best way to win back the White House in 2024, the big question on many people’s minds is: How will Trump help or hinder that goal? Given his most recent track record (read: he lost in 2020), official and potential presidential candidates are doing their best to carefully analyze what sort of power Trump’s seemingly shrinking base might hold. And as Politico reports, many Republicans are reportedly just hoping that a heart attack on the golf course might take care of the problem.

As David Siders and Meridith McGraw wrote for Politico:

Despite his difficulties since he left office, about a third of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters still consider themselves supporters more of Trump than the Republican Party, according to a recent NBC News poll. Many of them aren’t going anywhere. Fully 28 percent of Republican primary voters are so devoted to the former president that they said they’d support him even if he ran as an independent, according to a national survey last month from The Bulwark and longtime Republican pollster Whit Ayres. Indeed, the “Always Trump” component of the party is so pronounced that it’s affecting how Trump’s opponents operate around him.

Fergus Cullen, former chair of New Hampshire’s Republican Party, gave a pretty blunt answer about what he’s hearing around the GOP watercooler: “All these folks are just hoping that Trump’s going to have a heart attack on a golf course one day, and that’s going to solve this problem for them. Not much of a strategy.”

Maybe not, but it’s certainly effective.

An unnamed source close to Trump told Politico that the former/would-be POTUS doesn’t take his supporters for granted.

“He ran on a platform of the forgotten man and woman in America,” said the insider. “They have been with him since he announced in 2015, they were with him in 2020. They won’t leave him.”

Will that be enough to defeat Joe Biden (should the current president choose to run again) or any other candidate (Democrat, Republican, or otherwise) who ultimately decides to throw their hat in the ring for 2024? Only time — and no sudden golf course emergencies — will tell.

(Via Politico)

Prince Harry’s new hit memoir, Spare, has been a fount of Piers Morgan-triggering tabloid fodder. There are some inevitable shocking stories about the Royal Family, from which he and his wife, Meghan Markle, are semi-estranged (though his dad is trying to lure him back for his coronation). There are also some more lighthearted passages. For instance, he claims he once did magic mushrooms while staying at the home of Courteney Cox, which sounds MadLibs-y enough to be true. Well, turns out it may be only partially legit.

The story as told by Prince Harry: He and some pals were crashing at the Friends’ alum’s home. One night their host had some friends over for a party. At one point in the evening, he and an unnamed reveler went to the kitchen. There, they found a box of “black diamond mushroom chocolates” in the fridge. Someone told them the shrooms were communal.

“My mate and I grabbed several, gobbled them, washed them down with tequila,” wrote the Duke of Sussex, who claims he was soon hallucinating that Cox’s trash can was talking to him.

In a new interview with Variety, though, Cox — who just nabbed her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — poured a bit, if not a lot, of cold water over the fun tale.

“He did stay here for a couple of days — probably two or three. He’s a really nice person,” Cox told the publication. “I haven’t read the book. I do want to hear it, because I’ve heard it’s really entertaining. But yes, it’s gotten back to me about it. I’m not saying there were mushrooms! I definitely wasn’t passing them out.”

In summary: There may or may not have been shrooms lurking in the refrigerator of the former Monica Geller, but she will neither confirm nor deny. Worth noting, though, that Prince Harry never said that she handed them out, so maybe he really did trip his balls off in the home of someone who acted in the movie where Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell are thieving Elvis impersonators.

(Via Variety)