Category: News

Ja Morant was ejected at the end of the second quarter from Grizzlies-Thunder for one of the most bizarre technical fouls of the season. During some free throws, Morant was having a friendly conversation with a fan courtside when the referee hit him with his second T of the night, ejecting him in the process to the disbelief of everyone — Morant, the rest of the Grizzlies, and the fan who pleaded with the refs to walk back the decision.

While the broadcast team seemed to think he was getting into it with a fan, in actuality Morant was having a discussion with the fan when he said the “refs won’t give me a f**kin whistle,” which drew the second T. Morant wanted to make sure the fan didn’t think he blamed her for the interaction, and even went so far as to FaceTime his dad from the locker room so he could take the phone to the fan and they could continue their conversation and make sure they knew it was all love.

The league has been very active in fining players for using profanity with fans, but this is one of the more preposterous punishments yet. To eject Morant, who had gotten T’d up earlier in the game for arguing a no-call, for this kind of interaction with a fan just cannot be the type of thing the league allows to happen. Fans want to see stars, particularly on the road, and to give out a soft ejection like this is just bad for everyone, and rescinding the second technical (as one would anticipate happening) isn’t going to undo the worst part of this.

Nathan Apodaca, known for his viral TikTok video featuring him drinking cranberry juice while skateboarding as “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac plays in the background, was arrested in his Idaho home, according to a report from TMZ.

According to the news report, the police pulled Apodaca over as he was allegedly driving with an expired registration sticker. The officer said he smelt marijuana as he approached the vehicle. As Apodaca was searching for his registration in the car, the officer apparently noticed some weed gummies.

Apodaca reportedly admitted to having weed in the car, and was later arrested and held on pot possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The viral TikTok star was later released and spoke to TMZ upon his release.

“During the arrest, the officers failed to read me my Miranda rights,” he said. “Initially, when officers found weed they said they were only going to write a ticket. They then found a gun and told me I was under arrest because I had a felony on my record and I wasn’t allowed to possess a firearm. However, I do not have a felony on my record, which I told the officers. Despite me telling them this, I was taken into custody. I was held in jail for several hours without bond before they told me they make a huge mistake. Then was told I was only being held on the weed charge and could bond out.”

The rules of boxing, at least as it pertains to the action allowed in the ring, are as clear and simple as in any sport. You can throw punches from the belt line up, don’t hit your opponent in the back of the head, don’t bite, headbutt, or kick, and stop when the referee (or the bell) says to stop.

It’s understandable if, sometimes, a rule gets broken on a borderline punch once, as accidents happen. As such, a first violation is almost always given a warning, but after that, points start getting taken away and the benefit of the doubt goes with it. On Saturday night, Omar Juarez just could not stop punching his opponent, Austin Dulay, below the belt in their super lightweight bout in Las Vegas, sending him to the canvas three times with below the belt shots that resulted in three points being taken away — a warning, a one point deduction, and then a two-point deduction.

As the Showtime commentators note, there was one that was maybe borderline, but the last one that earned him a two-point deduction was a straight uppercut to the dick and when you’ve been warned twice already, that’s just not going to fly.

Credit to Dulay for continuing to step in there and take an absolute beating below the belt. If boxing doesn’t work out, he may have a future with the Jackass crew after this showing. Despite the three points being deducted, Juarez still managed to win the fight on the cards.

Ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup final, Drake has let it be known that he is betting on Argentina to win the closing game against France. Depending on who you’re rooting for, this could be a good thing or a bad thing.

See, Drake doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to making bets or expressing fandom to certain athletes or teams. While he is known to make allusions to professional sports and athletes in his songs, as well as share photos of himself wearing team jerseys. However, his outward support has not always worked out in his favor.

Some examples of teams and athletes who have fallen victim to the “Drake curse” include Conor McGregor, who lost his fight in a fourth-round submission to Russian fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, after McGregor shared a picture with the rapper in 2018. Just months later, Drake shared a video of him working out while wearing a University Of Alabama hoodie in support of their college football team. Just a week later, the Roll Tide would lose 44-16 to the Clemson Tigers.

Needless to say, Argentina fans are on edge.

Check out some of the hilarious fan reactions above.

The World Cup Final takes place tomorrow at 10 a.m. EST. You can stream the game on Peacock.

The 1975‘s At Their Very Best tour has been making several headlines in recent weeks. At one of the tour’s earliest stops, the band’s leading vocalist Matty Healy ate raw meat on stage. At several stops, Healy has pulled fans from the audience, making out during performances of their song, “Robbers.”

Last night, during the tour’s stop in Newport, Kentucky, Healy received a tattoo on stage.

In a fan-shared video, Healy is seen laying onstage, as a tattoo artist tats him on the chest, with a message reading “I’m a man.” After receiving the tattoo, he then takes a drink from a bottle.

In a recent interview with Variety, the band and their collaborators discussed the buzzy tour, as well as Healy’s antics. The band’s conceptual designer, Tobias Rylander broke down how they came up with the home-like concept for At Their Very Best and how they distanced themselves from their “Tumblr” aesthetic.

“Matthew is a brilliant entertainer, and he’s very welcoming into his house,” said Rylander. “But I don’t think that you could put him on a stage without him actually taking the opportunity to comment on the world that’s going on outside of the venue walls. It’s not all escapism, even if it seems that way.”

Check out a clip of Healy’s tattoo session above.

Last night (December 16), Billie Eilish closed out her three-night series of shows in Los Angeles, which she called her Hometown Encore shows.

During the three nights, Eilish performed several songs from her catalogs, which spans her two critically-acclaimed albums, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and Happier Than Ever, as well as her EP, Guitar Songs, which she released earlier this year. In one of the earlier shows, she was joined by Phoebe Bridgers, as the two performed a duet of Bridgers’ song, “Motion Sickness.” Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters also joined Eilish onstage, as they honored the band’s late drummer Taylor Hawkins with a performance of “My Hero.”

But on the final night, Eilish surprised the audience by bringing Childish Gambino on stage. The two then performed a smooth cover of Gambino’s hit single, “Redbone.”

The performance took place two days before Eilish’s 21st birthday. In the most recent edition of famous interview with Vanity Fair, in which she answers the same questions every year, Eilish revealed that she has learned to trust in her intuition more, and embrace fear.

“For the first time ever next year, I would like to maybe skydive, maybe do, like, a big bungee jump off a cliff or something,” said Eilish. “I really enjoy fear.”

Check out a clip of Billie Eilish and Childish Gambino’s performance above.

Rihanna is keeping her loyal navy fed this holiday season. Last month, she shared two new songs on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, as well as her annual Savage X Fenty fashion show, which showcased new additions to her collection of intimates.

Now, it appears the musically-elusive pop star and multihyphenate has joined TikTok. Today (December 17), she shared her first video on the platform — an adorable video of her son.

Rihanna and ASAP Rocky welcomed their son back in May, however, neither party had shared a video or image of the boy until today.

In the video, the boy is seen sitting in a car seat, smiling and cooing.

“You tryna get Mommy’s phone,” Rihanna says as she records the video.

In the following clip, the baby yawns as he looks out of a car window.

Rihanna and Rocky have not yet revealed their son’s name, however, Rocky expressed his elation over being a father in a recent interview with Complex.

“It’s beautiful,” said Rocky. “Honestly, I think fatherhood gives me more time to do exactly what I want. I don’t have time for anything that isn’t priorities. It helps you prioritize, honestly. I love it. Everything is just based around my newfound love for being a dad and a family man.”

Check out the precious clip above.

South Carolina mom Darryl Prendergast’s hilarious TikTok PSA has become an anthem for parents everywhere who find themselves in the throes of chaos right before school lets out for the holidays.

In her video, Prendergast rattles off:

“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but your kid has some kind of pajama-wearing, winter fest, book swap, Secret Santa, cookie-sharing, Twelve Days of Christmas, Spirit Week-something happening at school tomorrow that you need to get ready for.”

“And P.S.,” she added in her comments section, “there’s a sign-up genius somewhere out there with your name on it. Go get your item.”

Let’s just say that parents knew this year-end struggle all too well, and were quick to commiserate.

“Pj day and book swap today two different kids,” one person wrote.

Another added, “Just saw this..and sure enough, tomorrow is a holiday party that I signed up to bring the cookies for. Good thing it’s going to be a snow day!”

@d_prend40 #momlife #momsindecember #momsatchristmas #momsover35 #oldmillenialmoms #momsover40club #momhumor ♬ original sound – Darryl Prendergast

Some parents admitted that perhaps some of this last-minuteness could be blamed on the kiddos.

“And my kid won’t mention it until about 9 pm the night before…” one person commented.

Prendergast shared in an interview with TODAY what prompted her to make a video in the first place. “I had just gotten an email from my child’s middle school about a Holiday Spirit Week that entailed various outfit changes,” she said. “There is an ice cream truck one day — don’t forget to send money — Wednesday is ‘Red and White’ Day, Thursday is ‘White Out Day’ and Friday is ‘Pajama Day.’ Oh, and there’s a teacher’s luncheon.”

She also shared that as an educator, she previously only knew the other side of end-of-year anxiety. “Before I had kids, I was the one emailing parents to send donations to build gingerbread houses, not realizing how busy parents are,” she admitted.

Ultimately, Prendergast hopes that her relatable post encourages other parents to “stop and laugh” even during the craziness, “and appreciate that one day we’re going to miss this.”

So, to all the parents out there scrambling to make magic happen for their little ones … Merry Christmas. And Godspeed.

Preschoolers make the best philosophers, especially when they surprise us by simplifying something in a truly profound way.

Take, for example, little Emi, who managed to sum up the meaning of friendship perfectly at just 3 years old.

Katy-Robin Garton was riding Emi home on her bike during her first week of preschool when they started talking about Emi’s day. Garton is a documentary filmmaker in Missoula, Montana, and she had a GoPro attached to the bike for something else she was filming. She also had Emi mic’d up because she likes to be able to hear her talking while they ride together.

“I’ve always had really lovely conversations with the kids on the ride home on the bike or in the car,” Garton tells Upworthy. She has learned through interviewing people for documentaries that how you ask questions makes all the difference. Rather than asking her kids “How was your day?” or “What did you do today?” she asks them specific questions to trigger their memories about the day, which helps to get them to open up.

On this ride, Garton asked Emi who she had sat next to at her table at school that day. That got Emi talking about her friend Frankie, and the conversation evolved into a beautiful testimony of friendship that people of all ages can appreciate.

Garton asked Emi what she loves about Frankie, and Emi said she was funny, which led to a revelation about how friends can bring out our funny sides.

“When she laughs, that makes me that I’m funny,” said Emi. “When she puts some of her funniness into myness, she makes me even funnier, and she still has that funniness.” Maybe a 3-year-old way of saying it, but it makes perfect sense.

See on Instagram

Then she hit at the heart of what friendship is as she described how Frankie makes her feel better when she’s not OK.

“When I get super scared and new teachers are with me, I just run over to Frankie. And I’m still crying, and then she laughs, and then I laugh, and then we just get better and better and better and better.

“She’s my best friend in the whole entire world. I wish she could be with us because she is the special-est.”

See on Instagram

So. Darn. Sweet. And honestly, so profound in such a simple way. Friends are the people we can run to when we’re upset and who help us feel better just by being themselves.

Garton is raising three young children—two 3-year-olds and a 6-year-old—and she’s conscientious about talking through feelings with her kids. However, Emi’s deep thoughts on this bike ride still took her by surprise.

“I hadn’t talked to her about how friends make us feel,” says Garton. “I mean maybe I did over time, because we’re always having mindful conscious conversations—we try to—with our kids about ‘How does someone make you feel? Do you like being around them?’ Those kinds of thoughts. But she’s kind of put it together on her own.”

Garton says the response to her and Emi’s conversation made it clear that Emi’s musings on her friendship with Frankie are what we all need to hear.

“We forget to check in, like, ‘What do I need in a friendship? How should a friendship make me feel?’ as adults, and here was my 3-year-old talking about it in such a simple way,” says Garton. “And the response that I saw from people was so heartwarming, just thousands of people tagging their besties, saying ‘You’re my Frankie!’ It was just beautiful. Like it wasn’t just for parents, it was for everyone.”

If you have a Frankie in your life, be sure to let them know they’re the special-est. For more of Emi’s adorable wisdom, follow @katyrobinbird on Instagram.

For families that celebrate Christmas, December can be a whirlwind of preparation, excitement, busyness and, frankly, stress. It’s all in the name of good things—festivity, family gatherings, generosity—but phew, it can be a lot.

Perhaps that’s one reason why the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóð (approximately pronounced Yo-lah-boke-ah-flode) has grabbed people’s attention. What if, instead of hustling and bustling, families spent the night before Christmas quietly reading?

Literally translating as “Christmas book flood,” Jólabókaflóð is the tradition of not just gifting books, but actually reading them together on Christmas Eve. Imagine the whole family cozied up in front of the fire, hot cocoa in one hand and a book in the other, quietly enjoying some calm reading time together. Quite a contrast to the sensory overload that can often mark the holiday, and a decidedly introvert-friendly tradition.

“The culture of giving books as presents is very deeply rooted in how families perceive Christmas as a holiday,” Kristjan B. Jonasson, president of the Iceland Publishers Association, told NPR in 2012. “Normally, we give the presents on the night of the 24th and people spend the night reading.”

How did this Christmas book giving and reading tradition get started? According to jolabokaflod.org, it began during World War II after Iceland gained its independence from Denmark in 1944. Since paper was one of the few things not rationed during the war, Icelanders gifted one another books.

Every year since, a book catalog—the “Book Bulletin”—has been published by the Icelandic book trade and sent to every household in mid-November. People order books from the catalog to give as gifts for Christmas.

The hot cocoa is part of the tradition, as well as a Christmas ale called jolabland, which is a uniquely Icelandic orangey-malty fizzy drink.

The Jólabókaflóð tradition has a decidedly hygge feel to it, which makes sense considering Iceland’s long, cold winters and cultural connection with Denmark. (Hygge = the Danish word that essentially means a warm and cozy atmosphere and sense of well-being.) Even if we don’t have Scandinavian roots ourselves, we can all appreciate creating a space of comfort and warmth in the darkest, coldest time of the year (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway).

And books are excellent gifts. They don’t take up a lot of space, they can be enjoyed again and again and they can be regifted easily. A good book can teach us things, change our mindset and make us more empathetic. And all things considered, they’re inexpensive—especially if you buy them secondhand.

But the reading books together part is where Jólabókaflóð really shines. So many holiday traditions are centered around the extroverts among us—the idea that introverts get to have their preferences not just tolerated, but honored, and on a major holiday no less, is just beautiful.

So get the family on board, gift a book, grab a cocoa and a good read, and spend Christmas Eve in cozy silence, reading with your loved ones. Sounds like the perfect way to spend a holiday.