Over the past few days, the internet has been in a frenzy following a TikTok video that Sumner Stroh made, accusing Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine of cheating on his wife with her. As Stroh’s video gained traction, so have her past TikTok uploads, which many users have uncovered and deemed as some serious shade towards both Levine and his wife, Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo.
One TikTok user made a compilation of Stroh’s possible digs at Levine, which include her lip-syncing to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” followed by a reaction sound of “I think the f*ck not, b*tch” after the lyric, “You’re probably with that blonde girl.” (Prinsloo is blonde, Stroh is brunette.) There is also another video where Stroh dances around in an angel costume, that was uploaded in November 2020, according to the Daily Dot. Throughout last year, she posted several TikToks of herself set to Maroon 5 songs, including “Beautiful Mistakes” and “Animals.”
Sumner Stroh posted this video using Maroon 5’s “Beautiful Mistakes” during the affair last year. pic.twitter.com/tbX3Ns7d8A
Stroh said in an addendum to her original video, “The most important part that I did definitely gloss over is the fact that I was under the impression that their marriage was over. I believe that they were keeping it quiet to avoid the negative press because, as I had said, I was new to LA. So I had just assumed that with celebrities of that caliber, that was just how it was. And that’s why I feel exploited because he knew I believed everything that he said because of my vulnerable position of being new to LA.”
Levine eventually partially admitted to but also denied the cheating allegations in a statement shared on Tuesday, saying, “A lot is being said about me right now and I want to clear the air. I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner. I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life. In certain instances it became inappropriate; I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family.”
“My wife and my family is all I care about in this world. To be this naive and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again. I take full responsibility. We will get through it. And we will get through it together,” Levine continued.
However, it seems the scandalous saga isn’t over, as Stroh eventually took to her Instagram story to offer some choice words about Levine’s statement. “Someone get this man a dictionary,” she wrote.
What was Melania Trump‘s defining moment as the first lady? Was it her “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket? Or her “evisceration” of the White House rose garden? Or maybe it was time she was caught on a secret recording being haughty about media questions about migrant children (“They said, ‘Oh, what about the children that were separated?’ Give me a f*cking break”) and complaining about Christmas (“Who gives a f*ck about Christmas stuff and decoration?”). Trump would like to set the record straight about that last thing. Not about the migrant children remarks (again, we know her thoughts there), but her hatred of Christmas.
“While I was serving as First Lady of our country, Stephanie Wolkoff secretly recorded several of our conversations. Wolkoff then spitefully edited and released our conversation to create the perception that Christmas is not significant to me,” she said in a statement to right-wing outlet Breitbart. “I will personally set the record straight because the mainstream media has failed to provide context for these misleading exchanges. Christmas is an important time for me, my family, and the American people, and my devotion to the holiday is personal and profoundly serious.”
Trump’s statement comes after she announced a line of “American” Christmas ornaments (and an NFT collection), which I’m sure is just a coincidence. “PATHETIC! Melania Trump needs to attack ME to sell Christmas ornament NFT’s. What is Melania worried about? She can’t sell ornaments on her own?” Melania’s former senior advisor Wolkoff tweeted. “What’s the next attack against me? When she tries to sell lightweight jackets that say I DON’T REALLY CARE! DO YOU?”
PATHETIC! Melania Trump needs to attack ME to sell Christmas ornament NFT’s. What is Melania worried about? She can’t sell ornaments on her own?
What’s the next attack against me? When she tries to sell lightweight jackets that say “I DON’T REALLY CARE! DO YOU?” pic.twitter.com/Sqn7w8tF0K
Celebrity wax figures are hit or miss. A Billie Eilish one from earlier this year raised some eyebrows, but Madame Tussauds has a strong track record, like with their well-received Drake figure from 2019. Tussauds’ latest figure is of Lil Nas X and it looks fantastic. It’s so convincing, in fact, that the rapper was able to use it to prank some of his famous friends.
In a video he shared yesterday (September 20), Nas is in a room with his figure and he decides to FaceTime some people, calling them but only putting the figure in frame. One of the first calls was to Olivia Rodrigo, who cheerfully answered and seemed to think the call was frozen. The real Nas then jumped in and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s a wax figure,” which got a laugh from Rodrigo.
The final call of the video is to Lizzo, who answers by saying, “Hi,” before waiting a beat and exclaiming, “What the f*ck?” Nas then makes the reveal, much to Lizzo’s amusement, who adds, “I f*ckin’ thought it was you. I was like, ‘Why are you in your Met Gala outfit?’”
In the clip, Nas also pranks Troye Sivan, Steve Lacy, Rico Nasty, and others, so check it out above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
People have paying a lot of attention to Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine in recent days. On September 19, model Sumner Stroh shared a TikTok video in which she alleged she and Levine, who is married to Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo, had a year-long affair and that Levine even expressed a desire to name his and Prinsloo’s forthcoming child after her. In a second video, Stroh added she is “embarrassed and disgusted” with herself over her role in the situation and that during the affair, she was under the impression Levine and Prinsloo’s marriage was “over.”
In an Instagram Story shared yesterday, Stroh wrote, “Someone get this man a dictionary,” presumably implying that Levine misunderstands the meaning of the word “affair” or that he’s twisting its definition.
@sumnerstroh/Instagram
Levine’s statement read, “I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner. I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period of my life. […] In certain instances it became inappropriate. I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family. […] My wife and my family is all I care about in this world. To be this naive and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again. I take full responsibility. We will get through it and we will get through it together.”
Last month at the VMAs, Taylor Swift stole the night by surprise-announcing her forthcoming album Midnights, arriving in October. While accepting the final award of the night for Video Of The Year, she said, “I had sort of made up my mind that it might be a fun moment to tell you… my brand new album comes out October 21st. And I will tell you more at midnight.”
She’s telling us even more tonight through a funny TikTok. In a new series called Midnight Mayhems With Me, the pop star is slowly revealing the tracklist through a game of chance with a lottery ball machine. In the first episode, shared at midnight on September 21, she announced the title of the final track, which is… “Mastermind.”
| Taylor Swift will be announcing the #TSmidnightTS tracklist via TikTok!
After announcing Midnights, she shared a poetic statement detailing the concept of the record. “We lie awake in love and in fear, in turmoil and in tears,” she wrote. “We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t — right this minute — about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.
She continued, “This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching — hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve … We’ll meet ourselves.”
Nothing gets attention quite like controversy. Just ask filmmaker Vera Drew. A lot of people know all about her new film, The People’s Joker, but only because it’s inadvertently become the second most controversial film of the season, after Don’t Worry Darling. A parody of the DC Comics-verse, it was supposed to bow at the Toronto International Film Festival. It did, but only for one screening, after it was yanked from the lineup over “rights issues.” Those may eventually be cleared up; after all, parodies are protected by the good old First Amendment. But for now, after attempts to set up defiant screenings, Drew is erring on the side of caution.
Drew, who took to Twitter Tuesday to give an update on the film’s ails. “As The People’s Joker team and I work to resolve our previously reported “rights issues” and come up with a release plan, I have decided to pull our film from all future film festivals for the time being,” Drew wrote. She said she “didn’t come to this decision lightly” and that it “sucks and hurts more than you’ll ever know.” Indeed, her team had 10 festivals all over the world ready to show it.
But she did end on a note of hope. “I promise that everyone — everywhere — is going to be able to see this film soon, first in a theater and then in the comfort of their home. Stick with me,” she wrote. “I’ll keep you posted every step of the way that I can. And you know where you can all send your angry letters.”
The post ended with a rallying cry: “FREE THE PEOPLE’S JOKER.”
Drew’s film, which uses the likenesses of multiple DC characters, tells a version of the Joker story in which she’s trans. The plot goes as such, as per The Daily Beast:
The People’s Joker follows a clown whose chosen name is Joker the Harlequin. Raised in Smallville by a repressive mother and numbed by a drug called Smylex—which does less to alter one’s mood than one’s facial expression—Joker eventually strikes out on her own to figure out who she really is. Eventually, she finds comedy—which, in this interpretation of Gotham City, has been outlawed unless you’re a cast member on a powerful show called “UCB Live.”
So perhaps we’ll be hearing from The People’s Joker soon, and we don’t mean a postcard.
Viral rapper Erica Banks does not look good in this new leaked video from her Instagram Close Friends Story. The “Buss It” performer discussed going out to clubs, saying that her friends have to “look a certain way” or else they’re not accompanying her.
“If she don’t look how I want her to look, physically, I don’t want her to come because the look of everything is so important to me,” she said. “If she ain’t thick enough, no. Hair not did good enough? Nope. Can’t dress? Nope. Skinny? Nope!”
She continued, “It’s like, I don’t feel like I’m discriminating. I just want a certain type of look. She could be the sweetest girl I’ve ever met in my life, but if she don’t look the part, I don’t want her to come. It’s just not the vibe I’m on. She can come to the cookout, she can come to the listening party, but the club? I feel like b*tches gotta look a certain way to come.”
The internet has a lot to say about this controversial statement, whether that’s through ruthless digs fired at Banks, funny memes, or deeper conversations about the toxicity of this mindset.
Erica Banks saying she only wants to go out with women who look a certain way is not surprising to me. A lot of women feel that way. That’s why y’all don’t be having real friends just an aesthetic lol.
More than 20 years have passed since a Major League Baseball player reached or eclipsed 60 home runs in a single season … or at least that was the case until Tuesday evening. New York Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge entered the evening of Sept. 20 with 59 home runs and, though it took him until the ninth inning of a matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 30-year-old delivered the majestic blast that many were hoping to see.
With the home run, Judge ties Babe Ruth for the eighth-most home runs in a single season, and he has plenty of time to continue to rise on the all-time list. In fact, Judge needed only 147 games to reach 60 home runs, becoming the third-fastest player in MLB history to do so.
Aaron Judge just hit his 60th HR this season.
Doing so in 147 team games, Judge became the fastest Yankee to hit 60 HR in a season, beating out 1961 Roger Maris’ 159 games and 1927 Babe Ruth’s 154 games.
Though Barry Bonds’ all-time record of 73 home runs in 2001 appears to be safe, Judge is just one home run away from the American League record of 61 by Roger Maris. The four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger recipient is also leading the league in myriad categories in addition to his jaw-dropping home run total. Judge is setting the league-wide pace in runs scored, runs batted in, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and total bases, and he almost singlehandedly carried the Yankees through a down period in the second half of the season for good measure.
Even with Shohei Ohtani’s unbelievable two-way performance, Judge is the heavy betting favorite to win MVP honors, and he is in the midst of one of the best individual seasons in recent memory. Judge now has more than a dozen games to potentially match or exceed Maris’ total, and if he does, the only names above him on the all-time list would be Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire.
Doja Cat is a pro at getting attention, whether that’s through genuinely perfect pop songs or a public beef with a Stranger Things kid. So it’s no surprise that she’s having fun promoting her highly anticipated album, which she has been doing through continuously confusing fans with contradictory messages.
“im not doing a german rave culture album you guys i was pranking the outlet that interviewed me about it,” she wrote in the first tweet. In a separate follow-up tweet, she wrote: “I’m doing an R&B album.” To top it off, she sent out one last tweet to really drive the point home: “Straight R&B no rap at all.”
im not doing a german rave culture album you guys i was pranking the outlet that interviewed me about it
Pranking a journalist is definitely something Doja Cat would do. However, how do we know that this isn’t her way of pranking fans? How do we know that the LP will actually be R&B? Whatever it is, it’ll be a surprise, so she’s certainly doing a great job of building the anticipation.
For this blind taste, I’m grabbing eight bourbons finished in everything from a second new oak barrel to various wine casks, brandy casks, and dessert wine casks. The throughline for all of this is the taste. I’m basically looking at whether or not I’d actually like to drink this in the real world (outside of tastings). I’m also looking at whether or not these live up to what’s promised on the label.
How can I do that in a blind tasting? Well, I’m going to guess which type of barrel these bourbons were finished in. It’s a test of my mettle and the clarity of the finish on these whiskeys. Our lineup today is:
Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon Double Barrel
Penelope Rose Cask Finish
Woodford Reserve Honey Barrel Finished Bourbon
Bardstown Bourbon Company Chateau de Laubade
Daviess County Cabernet Sauvignon Cask Finish
Barrell Vantage
Woodinville Moscatel Finish
I.W. Harper Cabernet Cask Finish
Okay, let’s find a great whiskey for you to try!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This opens with a faint hint of toasted oak with a burnt sugar vibe next to Christmas spices, dusty dark chocolate powder, vanilla cake, and pecan shells. The palate leans into the woody spices with star anise, allspice berries, cardamon pods, and full sticks of cinnamon over butterscotch candies, more of that dark chocolate, and a hint of rum-raisin. The end has a light black tea vibe with dates and prunes dusted by all that woody spice and packed into a fresh pine box.
My Barrel Guess:
Toasted oak? Burnt sugars? Fresh Pine? This has to be a double oaked. You feel that fresh barrel come through and really lean into the woodiness of the spices.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Soft orange blossoms and white flowers on a summer day pop on the light nose with a hint of candied cherry soaked dipped in dark chocolate with a hint of vanilla underneath it all. The palate holds onto the lightness with a strawberry and cream vibe next to tart raspberry and lush vanilla with a hint of dusty cinnamon that’s more sweet than sharp. The end has a hint of fresh herbs with more tart red berries and brand new porch wicker.
My Barrel Guess:
Light florals and tart berries … this feels like a light wine finish.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Hello, honey cask! The nose has a lovely floral honey note with a hint of orange peels studded with cloves next to Almond Joy and a touch of Graham Cracker dipped in honey and dusted with cinnamon. The palate has a touch of fresh ginger next to more fresh honey with a hint of sticky toffee pudding underneath it all. The end has a touch of old cedar with a whisper of coconut tobacco next to creamy honey cut with vanilla.
My Barrel Guess:
Yeah, this is a honey cask through and through.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This hits on complex notes on the nose from old leather, dried sage, cellared oak, roasted almonds rolled in toffee, sultanas, and then deep winter spice: freshly ground nutmeg, mace, cardamom, sharp cinnamon. The palate has a silky vanilla foundation with more sultanas over top, fresh and meaty dates, ginger snaps, and prunes mingle. The end has a gingerbread vibe next to cherry bark and grape must with more of those spices pouring into an old cedar humidor that used to hold tobacco.
My Barrel Guess:
This is a fancy brandy finish for sure. Those dried fruits and old wood give it away. It’s a refined one.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Sour red wine with mulled wine spices comes through on the nose with tart apples, fresh honey, and plenty of vanilla. The taste holds onto that spicy and sour mulled red wine vibe as a hint of tannic oak and vanilla butter creep in. The end kind of washes out but holds onto the red wine with plenty of oakiness and vanilla and spice.
My Barrel Guess:
Red wine finish. 100 percent sure. A little too proofed down though.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Dark chocolate tobacco leaves infused with dried chili peppers mingle on the nose with toasted coconut, fresh ginger, cherry root beer, and pineapple cores with a hint of espresso. The palate mixes orchard wood with espresso cream next to creamy eggnog, green tea, and savory green herbs. The end leans into spiced sticky toffee pudding with black-tea-soaked dates, plenty of cinnamon, and rich vanilla cream next to pink peppercorns, coconut cake, and smoked plum tobacco packed into a cedar box.
My Barrel Guess:
This is delicious! It’s really all over the place, so I’m not really zeroing in on a single cask. That likely means it’s a whiskey finished in a lot of casks and blended.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a mix of dark chocolate powder, smoked apricot, and burnt orange with a good dose of wet wicker and five spice. The palate leans into toffee and almonds (Almond Roca!) with peach pits, plums, and a touch of vanilla yellow cake. The end leans into the plums with a brown sugar vibe next to light Christmas spices, dry wicker, choco-spiced tobacco, and Almond Roca. My Barrel Guess:
That Almond Roca gives this away as a Woodinville. That sweetness also leans into a dessert wine finish too.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Sweet cherry and caramel mix on the nose with sour red wine, vanilla, and dry porch wicker. The palate marries the tartness of the cherries with winter spices, creating a mulled wine spiked with a whiskey vibe next to a hint of cedar and black tea. The end leans into eggnog with plenty of nutmeg and creaminess with a hint of dark chocolate and a last blast of the cherry before the proofing water kicks in.
My Barrel Guess:
This had a clear red wine finish vibe. It was a little short-winded though.
This Diageo whiskey is a sourced Kentucky bourbon that’s aged at the famed Stitzel-Weller distillery for four years. The whiskey is then finished in red wine barrels from California before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This had a nice enough palate but kind of washed out at the end, that’s the only reason it’s last here. This is a fine whiskey otherwise. The red wine is clear on the palate as well, which is another nice touch.
7. Daviess County Cabernet Savignon Cask Finish — Taste 5
This whiskey combines two mash bill programs. Rye-heavy and wheat-heavy bourbon barrels are aged for five years before they’re vatted and then re-filled into Cab casks from Napa. That juice then rests for a final spell before batching, proofing, and bottling as-is.
Bottom Line:
This was a clearly nice whiskey with a fine palate. It wasn’t arresting like some of the other pours on the list today, but it was clearly red wine finished. I’d say maybe use this for solid cocktails regularly and an on-the-rocks sipper in a pinch.
6. Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon Double Barrel — Taste 1
This whiskey from craft distillery favorite Cedar Ridge combines their beloved whiskey with new oak one more time. The juice has a classic base of 74 percent corn, 14 percent rye, and 12 percent malted barely. After about four or five years, that whiskey is reloaded into brand new charred American oak barrels for a final finish.
Bottom Line:
This was a nice change of pace from the sweeter wine and brandy finishes. Still, this was light and very woody, though that’s the point. The only reason it’s a little lower on this ranking is that it didn’t pop as much as the rest. Otherwise, this is a good grab if you’re in the Midwest.
This whiskey takes Penelope’s beloved and multi-award-winning four-grain bourbon blend — 76 percent corn, 14 percent wheat, seven percent rye, and three percent malted barley — and re-barrels it in hand-selected French Grenache Rosé Wine Casks from the Southern Rhône of France. Once those barrels hit just the right flavor notes, they’re vatted, proofed, and bottled as-is.
Bottom Line:
This had a nice lightness to it thanks to that rose barrel, which really came through on the palate. Overall, this is a lighter whiskey with a nice palate that’s perfect for easy sipping on a slow day.
This brand new release from Barrell Craft Spirits really leans into unique and rare finishings. The blend is a mix of Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky bourbons that were finished in three different oaks separately before blending. In this case, that’s Japanese Mizunara casks, French, and American oak. Different toast and char levels were used for the barrels to achieve a unique palate that builds on the heritage of Barrell’s other triple cask-finished whiskeys (Dovetail, Seagrass, and Armida).
Bottom Line:
Ah, that makes sense as the palate didn’t land on one distinct barrel vibe. Still, this was delicious. Buy this whiskey, especially if you like something new and fresh with a deep flavor profile.
This is also where I’m splitting hairs with the ranking. This could be number one on another day. Today, it’s a little lower since the next three are a little clearer cut on the palate.
This whiskey starts as Woodinville’s award-winning five-year-old bourbon. That juice is then re-barreled into Moscatel wine casks for a finish maturation period. After nearly a year, the whiskey goes into the bottle having just been touched by water but otherwise as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is just delicious. It’s also now available nationwide, so you might be able to try it even if you don’t live in Washington state this year.
This brand-new whiskey from Woodford Reserve takes classic Woodford bourbon that’s aged at least four years and finishes it with some honeyed oak. The bourbon is filled into barrels that aged honey for a final maturation before blending, very light proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This hit the honey barrel finish out of the park. There was a clear sense of the finish with a nice bourbon edge still underpinning everything. It was also very easy drinking and delightful to sip.
1. Bardstown Bourbon Company Chateau de Laubade — Taste 4
This bourbon is a blend of 12-year-old, low-rye bourbon from Kentucky and 10-year-old, very-low-rye bourbon from Tennessee. The whiskeys were re-barreled into Armagnac casks from the famed Chateau de Laubade. One set spent two years mellowing on the bottom floor of the rickhouse while another set spent 16 months mellowing on the top floor. After that, the barrels were vatted and bottled as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is a beautiful sip of whiskey. If you can find it buy a couple — you won’t see it again until next year.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
Overall, this was a nice panel of whiskeys. Each one delivered on what was promised on the label. That’s not always true, I can assure you. I really liked all of these, though the bottom three are more in the cocktail base column for me.
The top five were all nice enough to recommend as sippers or for great cocktails. That said, the top three are the prime cuts. If you can find any of those at your local liquor store or high-end whiskey bar, you’ll be in for a real treat. Good luck out there!
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| Taylor Swift will be announcing the 
(@TSwiftNZ) 
STATEMENT FROM VERA ON FUTURE FESTIVAL SCREENINGS OF THE PEOPLE’S JOKER
(@cookieekawaii) 
