Category: News

There’s a decent-sized group of pop stars who got their starts on Disney TV shows and movies, including Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers, and most recently, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series‘ Olivia Rodrigo. When it comes to Cyrus and Rodrigo, there’s actually one person who got to witness those two catapult to fame firsthand: Jason Earles, who played Jackson Stewart on Hannah Montana and is now an acting coach (and is also stepping into a new on-camera role as a camp counselor named Dewey) on the High School Musical show.

In a new interview with People, Earles spoke about Rodrigo and Cyrus, declaring that their rises to major music success were “so shockingly similar,” saying:

“For me, what has been mind-blowing is I was there during Hannah Montana, and I watched Miley turn into the biggest pop star in the world overnight. The show premiered, we told them, ‘She’s a pop star,’ [and] suddenly, she was a pop star. And then Olivia Rodrigo when ‘Drivers License’ dropped, the world just decided that she was the biggest pop star on the planet. It happened so quickly. It was so shockingly similar to Miley’s rise that I was like, ‘How can I possibly be this close to this twice in one lifetime?’ It’s just fascinating to see in the front row as it goes down.”

Read the full interview here.

After Kelsey Plum scored 30 points and won All-Star Game MVP at the WNBA All-Star Game earlier this month, her reward was a rather hilariously diminutive trophy that emerged as a meme across the internet. My colleague, Robby Kalland, summed it up well: “The real trophy really is preposterous, like they realized on Saturday they didn’t have an actual trophy and just drove out to a local shop in Chicago that supplies little league team trophies.”

On Tuesday, Plum and her Las Vegas Ace teammates dispatched the Chicago Sky, 93-83, to win the 2022 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup. Amid the post-game celebration, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert approached Plum, who logged a game-high 24 points and six assists, with a box holding what was presumably a larger trophy to make up for the snafu in Chicago.

The catch: Engelbert opted to continue the joke and presented Plum with an even smaller trophy this time, despite chants from teammates demanding Plum “need a bigger one.”

Plum and Engelbert shared a laugh and hug, but Plum took to Twitter and made clear this is not the end of the saga.

At 20-8 and second in the league, Las Vegas has been one of the WNBA’s top teams this season. Maybe it’ll take a championship run in which Plum balls out and wins Finals MVP to finally receive a properly sized trophy for her career-best campaign — Plum is leading the Aces with 20.1 points per game this year.

We are just over a week away from one of the most hotly-anticipated collection of songs of the summer. Ahead of the release of Calvin Harris‘ upcoming album Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 2, Calvin Harris has revealed the album’s tracklist.

Thus far, Harris has released “Potion,” which features Dua Lipa and Young Thug, “New Money,” featuring 21 Savage, and a Halsey, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell Williams collaboration called “Stay With Me.” Earlier this month, Harris revealed the album’s collaborators, which featured several buzzy rap and R&B acts, including Chloe, Coi Leray, Latto, Lil Durk, Swae Lee and more. Ahead of the album’s release, Harris will drop “New To You,” which features Tinashe, Offset, and Normani, this Friday.

Check out the full tracklist below.

1. “Intro”
2. “New Money” Feat. 21 Savage
3. “Potion” Feat. Dua Lipa & Young Thug
4. “Woman Of The Year” Feat. Stefflon Don, Chloe, And Coi Leray
5. “Obsessed” Feat. Charlie Puth & Shenseea
6. “New To You” Feat Normani, Tinashe, And Offset
7. “Ready Or Not” Feat, Busta Rhymes
8. “Stay With Me” Feat. Justin Timberlake, Halsey, And Pharrell
9. “Stay With Me (Part 2)” Feat. Justin Timberlake, Halsey, And Pharrell
10. “Somebody Else” Feat. Jorja Smith & Lil Durk
11. “Nothing More To Say” Feat. 6lack & Donae’o
12. “Live My Best Life” Feat. Snoop Dogg & Latto
13. “Lean On Me” Feat. Swae Lee
14. “Day One” Feat. Pharrell & Pusha T

Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 2 is out 8/5 via Columbia Records. Pre-save it here.

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

We all remember the moment when, in April 2020, Donald Trump suggested that drinking a disinfectant such as bleach might be one way to fight off the COVID-19 virus while Dr. Deborah Birx, the then-newly appointed White House coronavirus response coordinator, looked on and listened in what appeared to be abject horror:

(Though watching it with the theme song from Curb Your Enthusiasm edited in somehow feels more natural.)

But according to a new book, Dr. Birx wasn’t the only member of the Trump administration to have such a visceral “Good god—what have I done?!” moment. As Mediaite reports, the former president’s Russia adviser, Fiona Hill, had a very similar kind of out-of-body experience at the 2018 Helsinki summit when she sat and watched Trump openly stated that he believed Vladimir Putin when he swore he didn’t meddle in the 2016 elections, despite the fact that Trump’s own intelligence officials were telling him differently.

“President Putin says it’s not Russia,” Trump declared. “I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

In The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020, a new book from Politico’s White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemire, the author writes about that moment:

Fiona Hill, the senior Russia expert on the National Security Council, who was sitting one row in front of me, later told me that she considered doing something, anything — including faking a heart attack — to disrupt the proceedings and get Trump to stop talking.

While it would have been a drastic measure, who’s to say Trump would have even noticed — or reacted. Unfortunately, we’ll never know the answer. But it would have made for a great show.

Even as recently as this year, Trump pals like Sean Hannity have desperately given the former president every opportunity to cool it on his pro-Putin rhetoric. And each time, he blows it!

(Via Mediaite)

We are just over a week away from one of the most hotly-anticipated collection of songs of the summer. Ahead of the release of Calvin Harris‘ upcoming album Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 2, Calvin Harris has revealed the album’s tracklist.

Thus far, Harris has released “Potion,” which features Dua Lipa and Young Thug, “New Money,” featuring 21 Savage, and a Halsey, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell Williams collaboration called “Stay With Me.” Earlier this month, Harris revealed the album’s collaborators, which featured several buzzy rap and R&B acts, including Chloe, Coi Leray, Latto, Lil Durk, Swae Lee and more. Ahead of the album’s release, Harris will drop “New To You,” which features Tinashe, Offset, and Normani, this Friday.

Check out the full tracklist below.

1. “Intro”
2. “New Money” Feat. 21 Savage
3. “Potion” Feat. Dua Lipa & Young Thug
4. “Woman Of The Year” Feat. Stefflon Don, Chloe, And Coi Leray
5. “Obsessed” Feat. Charlie Puth & Shenseea
6. “New To You” Feat Normani, Tinashe, And Offset
7. “Ready Or Not” Feat, Busta Rhymes
8. “Stay With Me” Feat. Justin Timberlake, Halsey, And Pharrell
9. “Stay With Me (Part 2)” Feat. Justin Timberlake, Halsey, And Pharrell
10. “Somebody Else” Feat. Jorja Smith & Lil Durk
11. “Nothing More To Say” Feat. 6lack & Donae’o
12. “Live My Best Life” Feat. Snoop Dogg & Latto
13. “Lean On Me” Feat. Swae Lee
14. “Day One” Feat. Pharrell & Pusha T

Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 2 is out 8/5 via Columbia Records. Pre-save it here.

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

Madonna is one of the most dynamic and world-conquering performers in pop music history. So why did it take five decades into her career to make a movie about her life? (Fox’s Madonna: Innocence Lost does not count.) Sexist dudes, basically.

In a recent interview with Variety, Madonna was asked for an update on Little Sparrow, the Diablo Cody-co-written biopic reportedly starring Ozark and The Americans great Julia Garner as the Queen of Pop. “I have a very long script that is really hard for me to make shorter. I’ve been whittling away at it, but it’s like hacking off my limbs,” she said.

As for why she decided to make this film, Madonna said, “I’ve had an extraordinary life, I must make an extraordinary film. It was also a preemptive strike because a lot of people were trying to make movies about me. Mostly misogynistic men.” She eventually decided to put her foot in the door and said, “No one’s going to tell my story, but me.”

Hopefully she’ll make an exception for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.

The auditions to play Madonna included daily choreography lessons, some lasting as long as 11 hours, “with Madonna’s choreographer, after which there are choreography sessions with Madonna, herself,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. “And then there are callbacks, which consist of readings with Madonna, as well as singing auditions with the superstar.” If Garner did indeed get the role, she’s a lucky star.

(Via Variety)

The Golden State Warriors have been willing to spend big over the years if it means they’re able to compete for a championship. It’s worked out pretty well for them, because even though they’ve routinely boasted some of the most expensive rosters in the history of the NBA, the Warriors have won four of the last eight championships and made it to the NBA Finals an additional two times.

The issue is that between the team’s veteran core and their newer, younger players who have blossomed into important players for the future, things have the potential to get more expensive than ever in the not too distant future. While Steph Curry is locked in through the 2025-26 season, Golden State has a number of gigantic decisions to make sooner rather than later.

One of those revolves around Draymond Green, who is set to make $25.8 million next season and has a player option worth $27.6 million the year after. Per Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic, the 32-year-old do-everything forward “wants and believes” that he should get a 4-year max extension, and is eligible to sign one worth $138.4 million starting on Aug. 3. The issue, however, is that the Warriors don’t seem keen to offer him one.

All indications, though, are that the Warriors have no plans to offer Green a maximum extension, and there isn’t any current traction on any type of extension. The typical pattern of this Golden State front office is to extend with one year remaining. Even Stephen Curry waited until one year remained before signing his max extension last offseason. Green has two years remaining on the maximum extension he signed in 2019. While he could opt out a year earlier, the Warriors’ current preference is to talk extension with Green next summer.

The pair went on to report that Green is “willing to explore his outside options to get the kind of contract he wants,” and while the team would take that risk, there are concerns about how Curry would react to Green potentially leaving “because the team didn’t want to pay him.” Should Green decline his player option and sign a 4-year deal for any amount with the Warriors next summer, the final year of his deal would take place during the 2026-27 campaign.

It’s been four months since Will Smith infamously slapped Chris Rock during the Oscars, and the comedian hasn’t said much about the incident outside of a few stray remarks during his shows. In fact, Rock has routinely joked that when he does talk about The Slap, it’ll be for money. “I’ll get to it eventually, on Netflix,” he quipped during a London performance back in May.

However, Rock seems to be letting the viral moment slip into his routine. During a recent set in New Jersey, the comedian opened up about the Oscars incident. “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” Rock joked before referring to Will Smith as “Suge Smith.” Via Us Weekly:

Later, during a sketch about people being overly sensitive and playing the victim, Rock declared, “I’m not a victim, mother–ker,” before joking that he “shook that s–t off” and returned to work. “Yeah, that sh-t hurt, motherf–ker,” he continued. “But I shook that sh-t off and went to work the next day … I don’t go to the hospital for a papercut.”

The New Jersey show is the most that Rock has talked about the Oscars incident. Smith, on the other hand, issued a public (but not personal) apology for the incident, and wife, Jada Pinkett Smith has called for the two men to bury the hatchet.

“My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” Pinkett Smith said during a June episode of her Red Table Talk web series.

(Via Us Weekly)

Despite being one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood right now, Sydney Sweeney is still getting used to being a household name. The actress secured multiple Emmy nominations this year for her role in both Euphoria and The White Lotus, and she’s gearing up to sling some webs alongside Dakota Johnson and Adam Scott in the upcoming Madame Web.

After a busy few years, Sweeney has finally gained enough momentum in Hollywood to get work, though she says that it’s a lot harder for actors to afford to stay in the business than it used to be. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress says that despite her long days, she doesn’t have quite enough star power to take long breaks without working.

“If I wanted to take a six-month break, I don’t have income to cover that,” Sweeney explained. “I don’t have someone supporting me, I don’t have anyone I can turn to, to pay my bills or call for help. They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals,” Sweeney added. “The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5 percent to my lawyer, 10 percent to my agents, 3 percent or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that’s more than my mortgage.”

Still, the actress was able to buy a house earlier this year, thanks to her brand deals and ad campaigns that help pay the bills. “If I just acted, I wouldn’t be able to afford my life in L.A. I take deals because I have to.”

What’s even more shocking than her bills is the fact that she doesn’t drink coffee at all to keep up with her no-sleep lifestyle. She admited, “If I’m celebrating, or it’s a very rare occasion, I’ll have a Shirley Temple.” Hopefully, she had a celebratory Shirley when she scored her Emmy noms earlier this year!

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

On Tuesday, Donald Trump made his first return to Washington, D.C. since scurrying off in a cloud of shame as he reluctantly handed over the keys to The White House, despite his very vocal protestations that he was the real winner in a presidential election that he lost by more than 7 million votes.

Trump was in our nation’s capital on Tuesday—not to foment another riot, but to give what his team was describing as a “policy speech” at the very first annual gathering of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank created by several members of the former Trump administration (and, yes we know that sounds like an oxymoron). As The Daily Beast reports, Trump made sure the crowd that had gathered to hear him was a friendly one, while he revisited past policy suggestions (let’s execute drug dealers!) then shared his brilliant idea for solving America’s homeless crisis, which seems to largely rely on the old “out of sight, out of mind” adage, and would involve lots and lots of tents.

While focusing on the topic of how to “Make America Great Again,” Trump pointed to the homeless populations filling our cities are one of the country’s great scourges. Fortunately, he has a plan to fix that—and it’s basically to erase those individuals struggling with homelessness off the planet. As Trump explained:

Perhaps some people will not like hearing this, but the only way you’re going to remove the hundreds of thousands of people — and maybe throughout our nation, millions of people we’re talking about — and help make our cities clean, safe, and beautiful again is to open up large parcels of inexpensive land in the outer reaches of the cities. Bring medical professionals, including doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, [and] drug rehab specialists. Build permanent bathrooms and other facilities — make ‘em good, make ‘em hard, but build them fast — and create thousands and thousands of high-quality tents, which can be done in one day. One day.

Call it “Hamsterdam for the Homeless Population.” Understanding that there would be some inevitable backlash to this clearly terrible and dehumanizing idea, Trump noted that some people would think his plan was “horrible,” but he proactively disagreed. “What’s horrible is what’s happening now,” he said. “Because now they’re in tents, but most of them aren’t even in tents that function.”

“Them.”

Trump touched upon other topics with more of his trademark empathy, like when he repeated his long-held belief that drug dealers should be executed. ‘Cause: Why not?

While Trump didn’t make any announcements about his plans for the 2024 presidential election, he did note that he believes a Republican can and will win the office back. What he very conveniently did not mention is that he might not be the guy to do it, as he could be sitting in jail for his attempts to overthrow the government—especially since yesterday’s announcement that the Department of Justice is zeroing its investigation into the events of January 6th in on Trump directly.

(Via The Daily Beast)