Category: News

A week ago, bettors and NBA newsbreakers were locked in a battle over the No. 1 overall pick, with the consensus of NBA insiders being, up until minutes before the Draft, that Jabari Smith would go first to the Magic, while bettors began hammering Paolo Banchero’s odds.

Banchero briefly became the favorite on Thursday morning before Adrian Wojnarowski insisted Smith-Holmgren-Banchero would be the order, prompting some books to remove odds altogether, while others brought them back with Smith back at -10000. That didn’t stop bettors from continuing to pour money into Banchero’s odds the rest of the day, and ultimately they proved to be right when the Magic drafted the Duke star despite never bringing him in for a workout.

Now, we have another case of massive steam pushing odds on the NBA transaction market, this time with Deandre Ayton’s next team odds. The Phoenix Suns have been favored to retain him, particularly after the Pistons drafted Jalen Duren and reportedly have less interest in making a max offer to the Suns star. However, as a steady stream of reports point to Kyrie Irving leaving Brooklyn and creating a scenario where Kevin Durant could ask out, the Suns have become the favorite for many to land Durant in such a situation — with a package built around an Ayton sign-and-trade plus some combination of Mikal Bridges and/or Cam Johnson and picks.

Bettors seem to be buying in on that, as once again some big Monday steam has pushed the Nets (once at over the weekend 40-1) from 22-1 to +300 in the course of an hour, now good for the second-best odds to land Ayton behind Phoenix (+150) and ahead of Detroit (+350).

Now, it should be noted that odds like this do not typically have an awful lot of money being bet on them, which means it doesn’t take all that much to move a line. However, this is a considerable move and one that is not typical, which certainly raises eyebrows and, when coupled with bettors winning big on the Paolo steam last week, you can’t help but wonder if there’s real smoke to a KD-to-Phoenix scenario — or, less likely but still in play, the Nets trying to sign-and-trade for Ayton if Kyrie simply walks to try and keep KD happy.

It’s all incredibly fascinating and an example of how legal betting markets are creating yet another place where insights can be drawn. If Ayton is on the Nets by the end of this offseason, then folks will start leaning even more on the markets as a crystal ball for player movement.

Only a few short months ago, HBO’s Succession writing team trolled a bit over what was planned for Season 4. Now, we’re hearing about some real progress for what’s to come, and it sure sounds like we’re going to get more of Alexander Skarsgård’s Tech CEO. That’s obviously good news because the world can never have enough Skarsgård, but more to the point, Variety reports that filming has begun and is cruising along in a speedy fashion.

Like first two seasons, the show’s got 10 more episodes (as opposed to one less for Season 3) readying themselves in the chute, and it’s pretty clear that Tom and Cousin Greg (oh, and Logan) won the past season, given Tom’s betrayal of his wife. He, of course, decided to let Logan know about Shiv, Kendall, and Roman’s plan to halt the sale of Waystar Royco. Tom received some wonderful satisfaction, no doubt, after the demeaning way that Shiv treated him, but will things backfire all over the place? From the sounds of the season synopsis, it sure sounds like that’s possible:

“In the 10-episode season four, the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is completed. A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.”

If these characters really wanna get existential, someone will be shown watching Apple TV+’s Severance, although I suspect that these universe will not collide. Regardless, expect to see all the usual suspects — Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Alan Ruck, Matthew Macfadyen, and Nicholas Braun return. Oh, and Kieran Culkin will be back, which means that there could be more of Roman’s d*ck-pic drama, and hopefully, none of that will fall onto J. Smith-Cameron’s Gerri because geez, man. Leave Gerri alone!

(Via Variety)

Showtime’s Yellowjackets certainly left a lot of questions unanswered through its chilling first season, but that’s kind of the point. The drama needs mystery and a bit of mysticism to keep it moving, but as eagle-eyed viewers of the show know what does get shown on screen is all there for a reason.

And that includes the costuming and characterization of the various personalities from the doomed high school soccer team from New Jersey. As viewers of the show scoured scenes for neon pink Chuck Taylors and various sweatshirts to decipher what happened out in the forest, other details about certain characters were a bit more overt. Like making Ella Purnell’s Jackie something very different from the popular girls found in other high school dramas.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Yellowjackets showrunners, designers, and Purnell herself detailed the thought process behind Jackie and how they brought her to life. For one, everyone involved wanted to make sure they didn’t just create a character like Regina George from Mean Girls.

“I think there were a lot of people who came in thinking, This is going to be Regina George,” Ashley Lyle, who created and runs the series with husband Bart Nickerson, says of some of the actors who auditioned for the role. “That was absolutely not what we wanted. We wanted somebody who had a natural, inherent fragility just under the perfect, beautiful surface.… In my experience, there is no such thing as a teenager without insecurities.”

Purnell didn’t want the queen bee trope either, though the 25-year-old has encountered it plenty of times over the course of her career. “I definitely was over playing anything close to stereotypical, so I wanted to make sure that she was vulnerable,” she says. “Maybe she says some things that come off a little insensitive, but that’s only because she’s insecure.”

The vulnerability certainly comes through after the plane crash, as Jackie is slowly ostracized from the group and other characters find their footing out in the wild. And small differences in the character’s costuming helped audiences visually understand that growing gap between Jackie and the others.

Her breakdown is also reflected in her costumes. “Her clothes are cleaner than other people’s in the body of the series, and she’s still wearing pretty pulled-together looks, like a vest over a button-down shirt. I don’t think anybody else is really putting together their looks in that same way,” Schley says. Toward the end of the season, as the survivors become more desperate and turn on one another, and particularly in the penultimate episode, “Doomcoming,” Jackie “becomes a little bit less put together,” Schley says, as her power within the group weakens.

Other ways Jackie was highlighted were a bit more unexpected, though. The throat slash/smirk at the camera at the 30-second mark of the show’s opening credits, for example, has become one of the most memorable characterizations of Jackie’s pre-crash personality. Interestingly, that scene never actually made it into an episode: in the interview, Purnell said she had to text the other actors in a group chat to figure out when she even shot it.

The full piece is loaded with small details like that, which will help fans eager for a second season of Yellowjackets bide their time for just a bit longer.

On Britney Spears’ wedding day to Sam Ashgari earlier this month, her ex-husband Jason Alexander trespassed onto the property hours before the wedding ceremony was to begin. We reported on footage that surfaced of Alexander entering the house, frantically shouting “Where is Britney?!” while being followed by security guards. At one point in the first video that TMZ posted, Alexander can be heard saying, “Hey, I can trespass, y’all don’t gotta have a gun.” And now, new details have emerged according to a Rolling Stone report with comments from the security guard’s testimony — whom Spears reportedly fired after the incident — at a preliminary hearing in Ventura County where Alexander is being charged with felony stalking, and more.

According to the security guard, Richard N. Eubeler, he and Alexander were at a standstill of sorts in front of Spears’ locked bedroom door. “He started reaching into his right pocket,” Eubeler said, “I drew my weapon and held it to my chest.” This seems to explain the exchange we referenced above, where Alexander told the guard that a gun wasn’t necessary. Eubeler eventually got Alexander out of the house, but then testified that Alexander punched him in the chest when he was trying to get back into the house. Eubeler also said that he and his team had seen Alexander “lurking” around the property on both May 28th, and June 8th, the day before the wedding, and had told him to stay away.

Alexander definitely seemed unhinged as he paraded around the property desperately looking for Britney. Along with the felony stalking charge, he’s also facing charges for misdemeanor battery and trespassing. He has pled not guilty to all of the charges. Meanwhile, Captain Cameron Henderson of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Dept told Rolling Stone that Alexander had a knife on him at the time, but that it, “Was in no way involved with the incident.”

As for Britney, Eubeler testified that “she was very upset and wanted everybody to leave the property.” And being “upset” seems like a beyond reasonable response to this incident considering she was about to get married. Spears’ lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, told Rolling Stone that, “This was an outrageous security breach, which I am livid about, but fortunately Britney is safe and she was a stunning and happy bride.”

Earlier this week, a source that went by the name PopTopic (red flag no. 1) claimed that Johnny Depp was in talks to return Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise where he starred as the fast-talking drunken pirate Captain Jack Sparrow for five movies. Depp was allegedly in negotiations to return to Disney with a giant $301 million deal. As it turns out, the claim is false.

According to E! Online, a representative for the actor said the claim was “made up.” There is a future Pirates movie in the works, though the movie has been going forward without Depp for some time. Earlier this year, producer Jerry Bruckheimer shot down rumors that Depp was involved.

Depp himself said, under oath, that he would not return to the franchise if Disney asked. During the defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, Heard’s lawyer asked, “Mr. Depp, if Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates of the Caribbean film? Correct?” To which Depp replied, “That is true, Mr. Rottenborn.” That’s probably where the idea of a “$301 million deal” came from!

Even though Depp has no plans to be a pirate on screen, he seems to be fine with donning the infamous black eyeliner on stage as he is set to head out on tour with Alice Cooper next year in Europe, which should be interesting considering a judge in the U.K. once called him a “monster.”

(Via E! Online)

As a daytime talk show focused on women, naturally, The View delved into the controversial Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. As always, Whoopi Goldberg did not pull her punches, and the fiery co-host had some choice words for Justice Clarence Thomas, whose opinion opened the door for a cornucopia of regressive decisions that could peel back everything from gay rights, contraception, and even interracial marriage. A topic that Goldberg notes Thomas should be very concerned with.

“We were not in the Constitution either. We were not even people in the Constitution,” Goldberg said of African-Americans who were legally allowed to be owned as slaves. “You better hope that they don’t come for you, Clarence! And say you should not be married to your wife who happens to be white. And you better hope that nobody says, ‘You know, well, you’re not in the Constitution, you’re back to being a quarter of a person,’ because that’s not going to work either!”

Goldberg also took Thomas to task for putting the right to contraception in jeopardy. Via The Daily Beast:

“And I appreciate everybody’s religion, but I do not subscribe to your religion. I don’t ask you to subscribe to mine. And you do not have the right based on your religious beliefs to tell me because what’s next? As Clarence Thomas is signaling, they would like to get rid of contraception. Do you understand, sir? No, because you don’t have to use it!”

Granted, Thomas’ opinion did not specifically mention the landmark decision in Loving v. Virginia, which allowed interracial marriage, but he did mention several similar decisions that could easily be overturned. As Goldberg so fiercely noted, there is nothing stopping this court from deciding Loving should be in the mix, too.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Chaka Zulu, Ludacris‘ longtime manager and the president of their label Disturbing Tha Peace, is in the hospital after being wounded in a triple shooting in Buckhead, Atlanta last night, according to XXL and the local news. The shooting took place around 11:30 pm Sunday night outside a restaurant called Apt4b. A dispute escalated into gunfire as a male shooter killed one person and hit two others, including the music impresario, who underwent surgery and is expected to recover. Police are reviewing surveillance footage to identify the shooter.

Chaka Zulu, Ludacris, and Chaka’s brother Jeff Dixon founded DTP in 1998 to promote Luda’s music after he was turned down for a record deal by the major labels at the time. Eventually, spurred by the success of its marquee rapper and roster additions including Bobby V, Chingy, Lil Scrappy, Playaz Circle (which included 2 Chainz, rapping under the name Tity Boi), and Shawnna, DTP became a subsidiary of Def Jam, pumping out a string of hits throughout the 2000s, and producing the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack.

In other Ludacris-related news, the self-described “worst hoarder of all” recently received an honorary degree from Georgia State, celebrating by buying himself a private jet — which he can fly himself after taking lessons during the pandemic. Maybe in the next Fast & Furious movie, his character will be due for an upgrade from a sports car to something that can really fly.

Coldplay performs for big crowds: The band’s A Head Full Of Dreams Tour in 2016 and 2017 (the sixth highest-grossing concert tour ever) had an average attendance of about 47,000 people per show. Recently, though, Chris Martin played for a significantly smaller audience: just a few people in a small pub.

As NME notes, Martin was recently spotted at The Stag Inn pub in Hinton Charterhouse, England. In a video recently shared by The Stag Inn on Twitter, Martin is seated at a piano, chatting with an off-camera couple, who note they’re getting married in August. Beyond that, it sounds like there are a handful of other people in the room. After some more conversation and laughs, Martin turns back to the keys and performs some of 2014’s “A Sky Full Of Stars.”

As for Coldplay’s ongoing Music Of The Spheres World Tour, it has yielded some headlines of its own in recent months. In late March, just after the death of Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins, the band dedicated a rendition of “Everglow” to the late drummer. Earlier this month, they were joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen and about a week later, Kelly Rowland took the stage with the group to assist on a Destiny’s Child cover.

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

The 2021-22 NBA season was, uh, quite the doozy for the Brooklyn Nets, one that culminated in a first-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics.

Kyrie Irving refused to get vaccinated and hardly played, a storyline that dominated news surrounding the team. James Harden requested a trade midway through the year and received it in early February. Kevin Durant missed significant time with an injury. And the star that Harden yielded, Ben Simmons, did not suit up once, due to a litany of ailments.

Needless to say, it was a season any organization would prefer to forget and aim to avoid in the future. In the Nets’ case, the chaos was so taxing that they’d rather not endure another season like it than retain Irving and Durant, if such an ultimatum confronted them, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

“They are are prepared to lose both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant,” Windhorst said. “They would rather lose them both than go through what they went through last season, which was a miserable season under the situation that Kyrie Irving contributed to creating.”

Irving has a $36 million player option for 2022-23 and the deadline to opt in or decline it is Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET — with the Nets apparently giving him permission to find sign-and-trade opportunities with other teams. Meanwhile, Durant inked a four-year extension with Brooklyn last August, which kicks in next season and runs through 2025-26.

With Irving’s decision imminent and reports indicating it could have significant bearing on Durant’s future, this development only stands to swell in interest over the coming days, weeks and months.

The Regrettes third album, Further Joy, came out this past April and it’s filled with sticky, infectious pop rock brimming with spry energy. Led by singer and primary songwriter Lydia Night, the band have been touring the US, Europe, and music festivals ever since and today, just dropped the new video for the catchy single “Barely On My Mind.”

In the clip, the band courses through a Brooklyn street, having a conversation with each other, but then having a totally different conversation inside of their heads. It was filmed when The Regrettes had a mere a four-hour window ahead of their sold out show at New York City’s Irving Plaza, and what came out of it is a creative take on how our mind wanders on the regular. Or, as Director Claire Vogel says, “Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, our thoughts take over reason.”

Watch the video for “Barely On My Mind” above and check out the full upcoming 2022 tour schedule for The Regrettes below. And if you just can’t get enough, the band also shared a new live version of “Barely On My Mind” taken from their Shaky Knees Festival performance here.

06/27 — London, England @ Rough Trade East
06/29 — Manchester, England @ Castlefield Bowl
07/01 — Rotselaar, Belgium @ Rock Werchter Festival
07/02 — Arras, France @ Main Square Festival
07/03 — Bilbao, Spain @ Bilbao Bizkaia Rock Day
07/05 — Madrid, Spain (With Incubus) @ La Riviera
07/06 — Madrid, Spain @ Mad Cool Festival
07/08 — Glasgow, Scotland @ TRNSMT Festival
07/09 — Cheltenham, England @ 2000 Trees
07/10 — Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux Jazz Festival
07/23 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
07/26 — Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
07/27 — Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
07/28 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (Lolla Aftershow)
07/29 — Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
07/31 — Hampton Township, PA @ Allegheny County Summer Concert Series
08/02 — Detroit, MI @ The Magic Stick
08/03 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
08/04 — Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
08/06 — Kansas City, MO @ Innovation Fest
08/08 — Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
08/11 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
08/12 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
08/13 — Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
08/16 — Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
08/17 — Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club
08/18 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
08/20 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
09/22-25 — Dover, DE @ Firefly Music Festival

The Regrettes is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.