Category: News

There weren’t a lot of tackles being made in the Rose Bowl on Saturday night, as USC and UCLA played in a shootout that saw the Trojans get away with a 48-45 win. Most of the defensive stops in the game were simply due to turnovers, not offenses stalling out, with USC forcing three interceptions of Dorian Thompson-Robinson to secure the win.

While the two teams weren’t making a lot of stops, we still got a highlight in the form of a sensational tackle from Rose Bowl security when a fan decided to jump onto the field and run down the sideline. The fan thought he had the juice to outrun the angle of the security guard, but quickly found out he was dealing with the Ed Reed of stadium security, as he got decleated along the sideline (and then hit one more time into the bench to be fully apprehended).

This is just tremendous, teaching tape form from the security guard. He tracks his man, stutters to make sure he doesn’t overrun the angle and allow the cutback, gets his head across the front of his body, and goes shoulder to shoulder to take him off his feet. I’m not sure if this man has exhausted his eligibility, but both Lincoln Riley and Chip Kelly should be inquiring about his availability for a spot on the roster as a safety.

Lizzo made her two-night Special Tour finale at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum especially special. She brought out Cardi B and Missy Elliott for performances of “Rumors” and “Tempo,” respectively, on Friday night (November 18), and then last night (November 19), SZA made a surprise appearance to seemingly debut a “Special” remix.

Lizzo fueled the rumor mill by posting a TikTok with SZA teasing what we can only assume (and hope) is their unreleased “Special” remix. “Guess what B*TCH?!” Lizzo captioned the 14-second snippet, in which she’s beaming next to her longtime friend and lip-syncing along to their angelic vocals.

The North American leg of Lizzo’s Special Tour was initially scheduled to end with last night’s LA show, but she announced a second 2023 leg dubbed The Special 2our last week. Latto will remain her opener for the new dates.

SZA, meanwhile, will serve as the musical guest on the December 3 episode of Saturday Night Live. She revealed within her new Billboard cover story that S.O.S., her highly anticipated sophomore LP and followup to 2017’s groundbreaking Ctrl, is slated for a December release. Her single “Shirt” finally dropped in late October. Billboard‘s Luminate data source tracked 10.4 million on-demand official US streams within the song’s first three days.

Watch the cinematic “Shirt” video, co-starring Lakeith Stanfield, below.

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

This year’s World Cup was a mess even before it began. Qatar, located in west Asia, has proven a controversial choice of host, infamous for its human rights violations. Indeed, thousands of migrant workers have died over the 12 years it took to prepare for it event. In protest, multiple big name artists have declined offers to play. Now some of the estimated 1.5 million planning to attend the month-long event are in for a rude awakening.

As Qatar is located on a peninsula smaller than Connecticut, getting accommodations has proven difficult. There are simply not enough hotels to house the large throngs; Airbnbs have inevitably proven too expensive for many. The solution: Paying around $200 a night — over 29 days — to stay in the Fan Village Cabins Free Zone, a series of makeshift portacabins located in the desert, about a 20-minute metro ride away from the city of Doha, where the matches take place.

Mere hours before the World Cup was set to kick off on Sunday, parts of the Fan Village were still under construction. Those that arrived on time were in for a rude awakening. Cabins made of thick plastic that were too hot during the day, equipped not with air conditioners but simple electric fans. The showers and sinks spewed brown water.

In other words, it didn’t exactly look like a pleasant getaway.

Sure enough, comparisons to the notorious failed Fyre Festival of 2017, which ended with its co-founder, con artist Billy McFarland, sentenced to six years in prison. Currently in a halfway house, he’s of course angling for a Mulligan.

There is a Plan B: Some fans are expected to stay in neighboring countries, flying in for key matches. But not everyone has the scratch to repeatedly hop on planes in the span of a month. Anyway, what a mess.

(Via CNN)

Between earning a top 10 hit with her single “Tomorrow 2,” winning a BET Hip-Hop Award for Best New Hip-Hop Artist, putting out her major label debut EP, and pulling in a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance for her hit single FNF (Let’s Go), GloRilla has a lot to be thankful for. However, it looks like she’s going to have to come up with new Thanksgiving plans rather quickly.

Yesterday (November 19), she learned some rather shocking news about one of her favorite Thanksgiving dishes. After going months without eating park, Glo was distraught to find out that she won’t be able to eat ham this Thanksgiving.

“I know y’all gone laugh at me & call me slow & shit but ima admit to it first & still say YO MAMA,” she said in a Tweet. “but anyways, I haven’t eaten any pork for almost 5 months now, tell me why I just found out ham is pork !!!!!!! Idk Wtf ima eat for thanksgiving now.”

Glo did not mention why she has opted not to eat pork for almost half a year, nor did she note if she enjoys eating turkey.

But ahead of Thanksgiving, Glo will perform at the American Music Awards, which will air tonight at 8 p.m. EST tonight on ABC.

You’d be forgiven for forgetting that Trey Songz was once a prominent face in R&B. He hasn’t retired by any means, but the 37-year-old is better known for generating headlines for troubling allegations.

He fought with a police officer at a Kansas City Chiefs game in January 2021, though he avoided charges. Come May, a police report was filed alleging he hit a woman with his car. Things were worse by last November, as he was linked to a sexual assault investigation by Las Vegas Police that was cleared this April. (It was not publicly clarified whether that was a different case from rape allegations brought against him by former UNLV basketball player Dylan Gonzalez in January.) Earlier this month, a $20 million sexual assault lawsuit from February was dismissed because the statute of limitations expired.

And now, Trey is facing allegations of physically attacking an unnamed woman in New York. TMZ reported last night (November 19) that the woman filed a report in late October that Trey Songz “punched her in the face repeatedly while inside a bowling alley bathroom” and “dragged her by her hair,” which necessitated her to go to the hospital “for what cops noted were visible minor injuries.”

The New York Police Department confirmed the filed report to TMZ, prompting an ongoing investigation into the alleged incident. The outlet added that the NYPD “are interested in talking to Trey at the very least.”

“A source close to the investigation informs us that TS has been cooperative with authorities and expects that when all the evidence is reviewed, he will be exonerated,” Trey Songz’s legal representative Mitchell Schuster told TMZ. “This is another instance where those involved try to blame the celebrity with hopes of getting fame or riches.”

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

Ryan Reynolds has a new Christmas movie out this Thanksgiving: Spirited, a comic riff on A Christmas Carol, playing a modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge type beset upon by Will Ferrell’s Ghost of Christmas Past. (It’s also 127 minutes long.) Turns out it’s not the only Yuletide picture he’s been interested in. In a new interview with Big Issue, the actor reveals he’s been trying to make one about arguably his most popular character, somehow to no avail.

Saying he’d love to see a “song-and-dance number in a Deadpool movie,” Reynolds then dropped a mini-bombshell: “Four years ago, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and I wrote a Christmas movie starring Deadpool. But it got lost in the shuffle of Disney acquiring Fox and it never got made.”

But he hadn’t given up on it. “Maybe one day we’ll get to make that movie,” he said. “It’s not a musical, but it’s a full Deadpool Christmas movie. So one day.”

Even though it’s not a musical, maybe it should be. If it was, Reynolds would help him step up his fake beef with Broadway and Les Misérables movie star Hugh Jackman, who of course is reuniting with him for the non-Christmasy Deadpool 3. Besides, it’s been a while since a franchise unleashed a Christmas edition — maybe since A Bad Mom’s Christmas, which followed A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. It’s time.

(Via Big Issue)

Following Harry Styles‘ Los Angeles show last week, where he was hit in the eye with a Skittles candy after a fan threw them on stage, Skittles has taken to the Los Angeles Times to remind fans not to throw them on stage, according to a report from Billboard.

The colorful confection took out a full-page ad in the Times‘ Saturday (November 19) issue. The ad features a pair of red heart-shaped sunglasses, alluding to those Styles wore in the “Watermelon Sugar” video.

“Protect the rainbow. Taste the rainbow,” read the ad.

Skittles shared an image of the ad on Twitter in a tweet that read, “PSA: Protect your eyes from Skittles (by eating them, not throwing them)”

This isn’t the first time a fan has thrown a random object at Styles. Back in October, during a Chicago stop at his Love On Tour, a fan threw a water bottle on stage, which hit Styles in the groin.

In an interview with Rolling Stone published back in August, Styles’ then-girlfriend Olivia Wilde referred to Styles’ fans as “deeply loving people.”

“..that kind of toxic negativity [online] is the antithesis of Harry, and everything he puts out there,” she said, “I don’t personally believe the hateful energy defines his fan base at all. The majority of them are true champions of kindness.”

Maluma represents Colombia in everything he does. He’s the country’s lone representation at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as it failed to qualify for the tournament. Maluma opened the FIFA Fan Festival last night (November 19) at Al Bidda Park in Doha, Qatar, wearing a Colombia jersey and couldn’t contain his pride.

“SO PROUD TO BE HERE, REPRESENTING AND FEELING PROUD OF MY COUNTRY, MY LAND, MY LATING CULTURE,” Maluma wrote on Instagram. “This moment will live forever in my heart and nothing and no one will be able to take it away from me, thank you all for believing and for giving it to me, without you the real fans none of this would be possible!!!!”

But because Los Cafeteros aren’t competing in Qatar, Maluma is forced to root for someone else.

“Predictions for the World Cup?” Maluma said in a video posted by FIFA World Cup’s official Twitter account this morning (November 20). “Well, I want to talk to you about what I want. For personal tastes, I’m an Argentinean fan, a big fan of Brazil. I really like what France has, even the favorites, but I feel that Leo [Messi] deserves to take the cup. The truth is, I know that he will not have another World Cup, and Leo is a great person, very noble, very humble, and he deserves to have that cup between his hands.”

“I think Neymar would have more chances, perhaps, than Leo, and that it is deserved,” he continued. “I think Argentina could be the world champions.”

Maluma, Nicki Minaj and Myriam Fares collaborated on “Tukoh Taka,” released Friday (November 18) as the official anthem for the FIFA Fan Festival. Per Billboard, “Tukoh Taka” is the first song in FIFA World Cup history to feature English, Spanish and Arabic lyrics. Watch the official music video here.

Maluma’s interview about his World Cup predictions went much smoother than his sit-down with Israel’s state-owned Kan TV, where he was asked why he chose to perform at the 2022 World Cup despite Qatar’s pervasive human rights issues.

“It’s something that I can’t resolve,” Maluma said. “I just came here to enjoy life, enjoy soccer, the party of soccer. It’s not actually something that I have to be involved with. I’m here enjoying my music and beautiful life playing soccer, too.”

The interviewer doubled down on the question, presumably failing to realize the irony in the fact he was also conducting this interview in Qatar and working in the problematic country the same as Maluma, who called him “rude” and walked off the set.

Last weekend, Dua Lipa shut down rumors she was performing at the opening ceremony and said she will only visit the country once “it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup.”

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 kicked off this morning and will continue through December 18.

See clips of Maluma’s performance below.

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

It was a Saturday night and most people were out and about or trying to relax. Not Elon Musk. He was busy working at the company he bought — and has maybe destroyed — reinstating the account of the world’s most famous failed blogger, Donald John Trump.

The former president had been banned almost two years ago after he helped foment an attack on the Capitol, amidst fears that he would help spread further violence. But after a Twitter poll showed that a narrow margin of people wanted him back on his favorite social media service, Musk was quick to act.

“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Muskl wrote, then threw in some Latin for the people: “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” (meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God”).

Over 15 million users participated in the poll. How many were bots, on a service Musk himself kept insisting — when he was trying to back out of the $44 billion deal to buy Twitter — was riddled with them? Who knows? (Though a lot of his own followers aren’t real.) But given that the poll results were 51.8% in favor of Trump being reinstated versus 48.2% against, it’s fair to at least question its veracity.

Will Trump come back? He’s said he won’t. Then again, he says lots of things. Then again, he may be trapped on his rinky dink Twitter clone. Sources tell The Washington Post that the former president has told people he can’t leave Truth Social because he’s essentially single-handedly propping it up. Should he decamp for Twitter, it might fail, and if there’s one thing he hates it’s being associated with failure.

On top of that, to get Truth Social off the ground, Trump agreed to an agreement to make his posts exclusive to the service eight hours before he could share them elsewhere. The exceptions would be “political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the-vote efforts.”

As of this writing, Trump has yet to post anything new on Twitter. But his old posts are suddenly alive again. They provide a grim flashback to the Jan. 6 riots, including his hostage video-like “condemnation” of the Capitol riot. His most recent post dates from Jan. 8 — the day he was permanently banned — and it reads, simply, “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”

It’s been five years since Miguel released a full-length album. His last album, War & Leisure boasted tracks like the Travis Scott-assisted “Sky Walker” and “Come Through And Chill,” which features his longtime collaborator J. Cole. After a long hiatus, fans seem to believe new music from Miguel is on the way.

Will Miguel release new music soon?

Last week, Miguel shared a snippet of a new song on Twitter.

Though he didn’t hint at any song or album titles, fans were able to hear lyrics clearly.

“Can you see through these scars of mine / The ones I hide / They’re splitting me / See my truth / See it through the peace in your eyes,” he sings in the snippet.

While we don’t know much about any sort of upcoming project from Miguel, it’s likely that many of his songs may be sadder in nature, as opposed to his signature romantic and sexually charged sounds.

Back in October, Miguel’s wife, Nazanin Mandi filed for divorce from the R&B star after 17 years together.

But perhaps we may get even more vulnerable lyrics from Miguel in his next project. Over the past year, he’s been advocating in the mental health space with organizations like Better Together, designed to give artists a platform to speak openly about mental health.

“It’s been a real pleasure,” he said in an interview with NME. “And really helpful in my own personal growth to speak about my experience… To be able to share the things that have helped me, to share that I’ve experienced it alone, I think is really cathartic. When things are avoided and taboo, to find there are these points of commonality, you realise there are so many people who experience these things who don’t really often talk about it.”