Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Who Is The White Worm In ‘House Of The Dragon?’

House of the Dragon’s penultimate episode dropped more than a few jaw-dropping reveals ahead of the season one finale. Not only was Aegon crowned king, but a hunt through the city turned up quite a bit of dirt on the reluctant ruler and his family — and gained the Hightowers some powerful enemies in the process.

Before news of King Viserys’ death could spread, both Otto Hightower and Queen Alicent sent men into the city to find the wayward prince. While Otto dispatched twin Kings Guard soldiers Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk, Alicent sent Ser Criston Cole and her son Aemond to retrieve Aegon so that they could set their plan to usurp the throne into motion. The brothers stumbled upon the first lead when they found one of Aegon’s bastards in a child fighting pit in Flea Bottom and were approached by an agent of The White Worm — a major player in the game for the Iron Throne who has only been whispered about until know.

Who Is The White Worm?

In the early days of House of the Dragon, Daemon Targaryen had a paramour named Mysaria. A former slave from Lys, Mysaria came to Kings Landing and became a trusted confidante of the Rogue Prince. He brought her to Dragonstone and announced his intentions to make her his second wife, but their relationship broke down when she discovered Daemon was simply using her to cause trouble with his brother. When Mysaria popped up again in episode four, she took care of a drunken Daemon, revealing she had amassed power in Flea Bottom and crafted her own network of spies, the original “little birds.” She was working with Otto Hightower at the time and one of her “children” was responsible for passing along rumors of what happened in the brothel between Daemon and his niece, Rhaenyra.

Fast forward to episode nine’s “The Green Council,” and Mysaria is still controlling the flow of information in Kings Landing, but she’s doing it under the ominous moniker, “The White Worm.” After one of her spies tells the Kings Guard soldiers that The White Worm knows where to find Aegon, Mysaria sets her terms. She’ll help Otto, but he’ll have to come to her — a display of dominance that proves she’s not one to be messed with. The twins initially find Aegon with Mysaria’s help but are challenged by Aemond and Ser Criston Cole and eventually abandon the young prince.

Later, once Aegon has been crowned, Alicent is surprised by Lord Larys Strong in her chambers, and the two trade information. (Well, Larys trades information, Alicent trades feet pics.) Larys reveals that a network of spies has infiltrated the castle and that, rather than eliminating them, Otto has been using them to his benefit. Since Alicent has spent the entire episode going against her father’s wishes, she sees these “birds” as a threat and agrees to Larys’ plan that likens the spies to bees and Mysaria to their queen. In order to rid the Red Keep of the nest, they must kill the queen. At the end of the episode, The White Worm’s headquarters has been set ablaze, presumably by someone who works for Larys.

So, is The White Worm really dead?

Our guess is probably not. Mysaria has a significant role to play as an ally of Team Black in George R.R. Martin’s book and though HoTD has made some significant changes to its source material so far, we can’t see the showrunner wasting a character as interesting and duplicitous as what is essentially the blueprint to GoT’s Lord Varys, a.k.a. The Spider.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Dennis Schröder Will Miss 3-4 Weeks After Thumb Surgery

The Los Angeles Lakers spent the offseason reworking their roster around LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, trying to get more defensive players, more youth, and more shooting depth around their trio of stars.

With the lack of cap space and having to operate with veteran minimums, they did have to fill out the roster with some older players, including an old friend in Dennis Schröder as a late addition to the roster. However, Schröder dealt with visa issues on his way back to the U.S. after EuroBasket and missed much of camp and, once he did arrive, quickly suffered a thumb injury that has now required surgery, with Darvin Ham announcing he’ll miss three to four weeks to start the season.

That is obviously a blow for a team a bit thin at point guard, which will now rely even more heavily on Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn, and Patrick Beverley — and surely some time with LeBron on the ball as the primary initiator as well. The first test for the Lakers will come Tuesday night as they travel north to San Francisco to face the Warriors on ring night, and they’ll do so without their full accompaniment of point guards as Schröder recovers.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Lil Uzi Vert Takes A Swing At Jersey Club With ‘Just Wanna Rock’

Lil Uzi Vert appears to be moving in a new direction with his latest single, “Just Wanna Rock.” Employing a Jersey club beat with a stinging synth, the song has already become a TikTok favorite due to a snippet that has soundtracked hundreds of videos since mid-September. Uzi surprised fans with an official release today. While it’s not their first attempt to step outside the cloud rap bubble that has followed them since their early days (check out “Futsal Shuffle“), it could be an indication of what fans can expect whenever they decide to release The Pink Tape.

Uzi’s been relatively quiet this year while finishing the promised album, although they did offer a brief reprieve from the wait with the Red & White EP this summer. The project featured singles “I Know” and “Hittin My Shoulder” while Uzi made sporadic guest appearances on albums from Nav, Nigo, and Pusha T throughout the year. They also made headlines with the announcement that they are non-binary, going by the pronouns they/them. Uzi’s girlfriend JT defended Uzi on Twitter after some fans criticized their coming out.

Listen to “Just Wanna Rock” above.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Even Donald Trump Thinks Kanye West Is Acting Too ‘Crazy’ And Is Reportedly Keeping His Distance

As Kanye West delves deeper and deeper into the world of MAGA, his idol Donald Trump is moving in the opposite direction. The former president has been reportedly keeping his distance after West’s recent spate of antisemitic social media posts. Despite boasting about how the two are friends, even Trump has the wherewithal to realize the situation is going south. He’s reportedly told “multiple people” that West is acting “crazy” and needs “help.”

Via Rolling Stone:

The former president’s comments came before West’s antisemitism hit a new level in an interview released this weekend. On the show Drink Champs, West ranted about “the Jewish people” while he’s impervious to charges of anti-Semitism because he’s also a Jew “as the blood of Christ.” He then said the Jewish people control all facets of media and entertainment and said they have “owned the Black voice” — a trope frequently espoused by neo-Nazis.

Trump has also privately signaled that it’s best if he keeps his mouth shut about West for now.

Trump turning his back on West is an interesting development in light of recent news that the rapper has cozied up to MAGA personality Candace Owens and will reportedly purchase the right-wing social media platform Parler from her husband.

“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” West said in a press release while unknowingly aware that his own opinions have become too controversial for Trump, the de facto thought leader of the conservative world. Womp womp.

(Via Rolling Stone)

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Kevin Huerter Brings Perspective And Pragmatism To The Kings New Lineup

There is just one absolute, consistent thing Kevin Huerter is hoping to find in Sacramento, the city he moved to at the end of August following his trade from the Hawks, and it’s a red sauce joint. Huerter calls himself “a big food guy” and while he relies on a chef at home, he enjoys going out to eat. Settling into a new city is all about establishing new landmarks, new favorites, new routines, and Huerter, who notes much of the adjustment for him comes away from the court, has slowly been doing that in finding different restaurants and “seeing what Sac has to offer”, but a solid Italian-American bistro eludes him.

For someone who spent the last four seasons shifting in and out of supporting and main assignments in Atlanta, adjusting to head coaching and roster changes, plus the toll injuries and Covid took on the Hawks throughout, the promise of a more consistent, definitive role with the Kings might be welcome, but it wouldn’t reflect the quieter skill Huerter has been honing up to this point: pragmatism.

“Your life is always changing. That’s off the court, that’s on the court,” Huerter says, sitting relaxed but intent on a couch post-scrimmage in a bright, quiet nook of the team’s private facilities within the Golden 1 Center, “I also think that’s the nature of the NBA. It’s your lifestyle.”

“Moving across the country, brand new team, starting a new contract, changing my whole life,” he continues. “It feels like, the first phase of my career was in Atlanta, that was my ‘Welcome to the NBA’, get my feet in the ground, figure out my role and my place. Now it’s literally just starting a new chapter, new city, new team.”

The Kings were quick to fit Huerter into their pre-camp drills and workouts, and Huerter notes how “seamless” that side of the relocation felt, “When you’re in the gym it’s like anything else.”

While the fundamentals of work may be the same no matter the gym, a good chunk of that seamlessness stems directly from Huerter developing versatility as its own deployable skill. Whether asked to step in and defend against opposing point guards, often acting as a buffer for Trae Young, or trading in his own touches and shots to give the team what it needed, Huerter, as the Hawks designated Swiss Army knife, improved season over season in Atlanta. His overall points, assists, and rebounding ticked up while his minutes hovered steady around 30 per game, and he honed his defensive capabilities by intently studying film of stoic sentries like Nikola Jokic. The work was what he became familiar with, even if his role continued to shift.

About that, Huerter is just as pragmatic, saying while he is hopeful for the potential of more stability in Sacramento, a lot of what happened in Atlanta “was in some ways out of anyone’s control” (his most pointed observation, and one Hawks fans surely feel personally, came in an almost regretful aside, “It felt like we were always hurt”). Where he brightens, or shifts from more methodical beats, is when he begins to talk through the budding identity of the Kings.

“The way Domas [Sabonis] plays, and his passing ability, and De’Aaron’s [Fox] ability to get up and down the court and play fast and get downhill. Sometimes having bigger guys on the court can slow that down a bit — and the flow of the offense. I think what you’ve seen them do here, bringing myself, drafting Keegan [Murray], having a guy like Harrison [Barnes] around and Trey Lyles, we can all play multiple positions. De’Aaron can slide to the two, I think really everybody can be versatile and play a lot of different ways.”

It’s in listening to Huerter’s birds-eye perspective of the team that his prescriptive sense of the game comes through. Growing up, he often found himself up against older players, and where he lacked size and strength, he relied on his IQ and intuition. That point guard’s perspective gives him the sort of court vision that readily assembles his teammates, and often leaves him slotting in secondarily, even mentally, where he’s needed. With the Kings smaller and quick roster, this perceptive feel for the floor, not to mention players adept at shifting spots, could make for a high-flying and high-minded team this season.

“The best teams can think the game,” Huerter says, “They got guys that might be playing out of position, but it’s positionless basketball. Everybody knows the old ground and pound, and box sets, playing mid-range game — it’s not the NBA anymore. And I think our personnel fits what the NBA is and is obviously continuing to become.”

Still, while pace and space are paramount in the modern NBA, some emerging contenders around the league are sizing up, and the Kings, even if they intend to skew small, have options for scale. Huerter lists Richaun Holmes, Alex Len, Chimezie Metu, Sabonis.

“So” Huerter gives a knowing smile, “we got some muscle if we need it.”

Some of that muscle went to visit Huerter in the offseason. The Kings new player development coach, Deividas Dulkys, joined the team this summer after serving as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies’ G League arm, Memphis Hustle, and has quickly become close with Huerter. Dulkys, a swingman who knows what it is to be asked to do a bit of everything, played in college at Florida State and internationally in Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Turkey, Italy and Spain, stopped in on Huerter twice this past summer in upstate New York. Huerter runs offseason youth basketball camps in his hometown of Clifton Park, and Dulkys dropped in for a couple days to watch. He also worked out with Huerter, met his family — who “love my fit basketball wise, love all that” but will have to adjust to west coast time and distance — and personal trainer, and “saw my small bubble in upstate New York that I like to get away to,” Huerter smiles.

Back in Sacramento, Huerter has been to Dulkys’ home and met his family. Huerter credits him with “making it not feel so foreign out here”.

“With anything, it doesn’t have to be all job, all business all the time. There’s relationships and things you can build. He’s definitely been someone that I’ve found a nice friendship in so far,” Huerter says.

The new feel of the team is palpable. Beyond the roster adjustments, much of the front office and team support staff have changed, plus, most publicly, a new head coach in Mike Brown. There’s an energy around the team that feels urgent without veering desperate, a lightness in the clean slate of new personnel, plus rookie Keegan Murray, and the feeling of the team’s forming identity being in the hands of its players.

“Guys are competing like they know it’s a season we have to win. Guys who don’t have a reason to be here are here, that doesn’t always happen with every team,” Huerter says of the stretch before training camp started. “Just guys working out together, getting used to each other, it’s a lot of new faces. I think it’s already positive, it isn’t like that everywhere in the NBA.”

Other off court connections have come just as naturally. Huerter says he’s played golf with Murray, Malik Monk, and Sam Merrill, and of his new point guard, Fox, it “feels like we’re always working out at the same time, lifting, getting treatment.”

For his approach to figuring out the city, the team, and the relationships within it being so panoramic, with everything prioritized just ahead of himself, it feels correct that Huerter would finally land on his own fit with the Kings toward the interview’s end. Of his role, though, he is pragmatic as ever. He notes learning how the “head of the snake” in Fox, Sabonis, and Harrison will function, and how he can best play off the trio and “make their lives easier.” When the question of fresh starts comes up again, as in, how to tell what is good baggage worth keeping versus what has to be jettisoned for personal progress, Huerter pauses, perhaps thinking through everything the last four years have brought.

“In some ways I am coming in with experience — playing in the playoffs, coming into my 5th year — there’s guys here who haven’t played at that level, haven’t had those minutes. And I’ve been on some really bad teams, and a couple really good teams, teams that got hot and found a way to win at a really high level. And so in just four years, I think I’ve seen a lot already. I’ve been in a lot of different scenarios. Hopefully a little of that experience I can bring to this team,” he says.

“I think my role is always going to change. My strengths — being a playmaker, making shots, doing my part defensively — that’ll never change. Whatever my role is, I know that’s my focus. I’m just going to try to stick to that, and maybe a month into the season I’ll have a better answer for you.”

A month into this season and it isn’t hard to picture this team’s fresh start and intuitive identity, their new routines, taking hold with Huerter’s help as an on and off floor facilitator — and he’ll know the best place to go in Sac for chicken parm, or the best five.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Romeo Santos Embraces Regional Mexican Music In His ‘Me Extraño’ Video Featuring Christian Nodal

Romeo Santos is embracing regional Mexican music for the first time in his new music video. In the romantic “Me Extraño” video that was released on Friday (October 14), the Dominican-American icon teams up with Mexican singer Christian Nodal.

Santos is known for helping globalize Dominican bachata music as a solo artist and as part of the group Aventura. On his previous albums, he’s gotten superstars like Nicki Minaj, Usher, and Drake in on the genre. With his new LP, Formula, Vol. 3, Santos decided to also experiment with genres that were new to him. He did just that with Nodal in “Me Extraño.”

Nodal has become a superstar in the regional Mexican music scene thanks to his mariacheño sound, which is a mix of mariachi and norteño music. “Me Extraño” is a full mariacheño ballad. Santos seamlessly works his sensual voice into the Mexican song that feels authentic with Nodal’s heartfelt croon. Santos and Nodal trade verses where they thank their lovers’ exes for screwing up those previous relationships.

The charming love song comes to life in the “Me Extraño” video that was shot in Buenos Aires by Fernando Lugo. Santos and Nodal are shown singing the track together at the bar. They also share a few shots and raise their glasses to the aforementioned exes. After its revealed that Santos let the woman in the video slip away, she ends up with Nodal with in the end.

The rest of Santos’ Formula, Vol. 3 album is filled with new bachata fusions. Justin Timberlake joined him for the LP’s massive hit “Sin Fin.” For “El Pañuelo,” Santos collaborated with Rosalía and they blended the genre with a touch of flamenco music.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Brendan Fraser issues an ‘almost apology’ for stunt gone wrong on ‘George of the Jungle’

Ladies and gentlemen of San Francisco, our beloved Brendan Fraser would like to clear the air.

While at a screening for “The Whale” at the Mill Valley Film Festival in Northern California on Oct. 13, the actor half-jokingly issued an apology to the nearby Bay Area for a stunt performed during the filming of one of his most iconic movies, “George of the Jungle.”

In his red carpet interview with SFGATE, Fraser recalled that the 1997 comedy featured a scene showing the effortlessly charming (and always shirtless) vine-swinging himbo rescuing a wayward parachutist who became tangled up in the Oakland Bay Bridge. As the heroic George is wont to do.

“I have almost an apology to make,” Fraser said.

As Fraser explained, the stunt meant that a mannequin was hanging “from the uprights.” Unfortunately (and hilariously) no one got the memo that this mysterious person hanging on for dear life wasn’t actually a person at all.


“It brought traffic to a standstill on either side of the bridge,” Fraser said. And apparently, news traveled fast that day.

He continued, “My trailer was on the other side in a parking lot…I had the TV on, and ‘Oprah’ got interrupted because there was a special news report with helicopters saying a parachute is dangling on the bridge. And I’m going — wait a minute, I’m looking at the helicopters and TV — somebody didn’t pull a permit, somebody’s going to get in trouble with the mayor’s office. So I can only apologize for that.”

Here is the scene, to jog your memory and trigger your nostalgia:

To add insult to injury, Fraser kept referencing the Golden Gate Bridge instead of the Oakland Bay Bridge, but as SFGATE said, “It’s been 25 years, so we’ll give him a break.”

After receiving a lifetime achievement award at the festival, Fraser remarked, “My bad. It won’t happen again” of the movie stunt gone wrong. He did not, however, mention whether or not he would look out for that tree, moving forward.

It’s nice to see Fraser soaking up the spotlight in such a lighthearted, positive way these days. The actor with lovable goofiness might have endured a Hollywood hiatus due to truly tragic circumstances, but his emotional resilience to all of life’s challenges is nothing short of inspiring. The fact that he’s made not only a career comeback—reuniting with former co-stars on the red carpet, receiving accolades for his current works, even being in talks to return to former franchises—but also held onto a sense of humor through it all, is evidence of his character.

Another attribute worth mentioning: Fraser’s compassion, which has seemingly been the leading major influence behind his work in “The Whale.” Though there has been some controversy surrounding Fraser donning a fat suit to portray the role of Charlie, who is obese, Fraser recently addressed the criticism. In an interview with Newsweek, the actor shared his hope that, regardless of people’s initial judgments, the movie “can change some hearts and minds at least in terms of how we think and feel about those who live with obesity.”

He added, “So often, those people are dismissed in our society, or the object of scorn and derision, and it’s unfair to them. I believe that shaming people for that reason is almost the last domain of prejudice that we overlook, and I think we can do better to change that. So I hope that this film might change some hearts and minds.”

Just Brendan Fraser having a huge heart. No big.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Caroline Polachek Expands Her Sonic Palette With ‘Sunset,’ A Warm And Operatic New Single

In 2017, Chairlift called it quits, which gave Caroline Polachek the opportunity to more prominently pursue her solo career, which previously existed but was more of an afterthought in relation to the band. In 2019, she dropped Pang, her first solo album under her own name and it was a big success, as it was widely regarded as one of the year’s best releases.

Since then, fans have been yearning for more and Polachek has offered a few loose singles since then, like 2021’s “Bunny Is A Rider.” Now she’s back with another new track, “Sunset” (which Polachek co-produced with Sega Bodega). The tune sees Polachek going in a new-for-her stylistic direction, drawing inspiration from Balearic music. The song is also accompanied by a video, which was shot in Barcelona and co-directed by Polachek and Matt Copson.

Polachek says of the song, “Resolution is so rare in life, but music is unnaturally full of it. A sunset is the biggest pop cliche ever, because it’s a perfect resolution. Ennio Morricone passed away a few months before Salvador (Sega Bodega) and I started ‘Sunset’, and the folkloric, epic tone of the spaghetti western sunset played on my mind. I wanted an operatic chorus with no lyrics, but salted with some very real disillusionment: past all the distraction, dead ends, and false promises of the world is the love we too often take for granted. That’s my sunset.”

Watch the “Sunset” video above.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Jack Harlow Serenades His Favorite Fans In His Romantic ‘Like A Blade Of Grass’ Video

Jack Harlow’s video for “Like A Blade Of Grass” from his album Come Home The Kids Miss You is simple but effective, putting the focus squarely on the song’s target audience. Since the song is a classic “for the ladies jam” of the kind that was popping on the radio when Harlow was in grade school — think Bow Wow, B2K, or other 106 & Park staples — it only makes sense that he spends the tour footage-centered video serenading the femme concertgoers in the front row. Naturally, they know all the words and sing right back at him.

The song is the fourth single from Harlow’s album after “Nail Tech,” “First Class,” and “Churchill Downs,” and the footage comes from his tour, fittingly also called the Come Home The Kids Miss You Tour, which wrapped up on Sunday, October 16 in Atlanta. While on the tour, he co-hosted The Tonight Show alongside Jimmy Fallon, sharing his “rapper origin story,” which consisting mainly of getting jeered off the stage during his fifth grade talent show for performing Fergie.

Jack is set to return to 30 Rock later this month to host Saturday Night Live, where he’ll also pull double duty as the musical guest.

Watch Jack Harlow’s “Like A Blade Of Grass” video above.

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

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Famed NYC Restauranteur Keith McNally Says He’s Banning James Corden From His Restaurants For Being A ‘Tiny Cretin Of A Man’ Who’s ‘The Most Abusive Customer’ To His Staff

Balthazar is one of New York City’s most iconic restaurants, but you won’t be seeing a famous patron there anytime soon. “James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago,” owner Keith McNally wrote on his Instagram account. “I don’t often 86 a customer, to today I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh.” He then shared two examples of why The Late Late Show host is banned.

“In June,” McNally quoted from a manager’s report, “James Corden was here on table 61. (Although this is diabolical, it happens Very occasionally in all restaurants.) After eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to Balthazar manager G. who was very apologetic. Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said: ‘Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.’”

The second report involves an incident that happened during a brunch shift earlier this month. Corden’s wife ordered “an egg yolk omelette with gruyere cheese and salad.” Then, “a few minutes after they received the food, James called their server, M. K. and told her there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk.” The server informed the floor manager, and the kitchen accidentally remade the dish with home fries instead of a salad.

The post continues:

“That’s when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: ‘You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!’ M.K. was very apologetic and brought G. over to the table. He returned the dish, and after that, everything was fine. He gave them promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out. G. said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server.’ M.K. was very shaken, but professional that she is, continued to finish her shift.’

Corden has not responded to the allegations (or said where he’ll get steak frites now).