Category: News

In 2020, the artist formerly known as Priscilla Renea decided it was time for a change. She’d been successful in the industry as a songwriter, penning records for the likes of Rihanna (“California King Bed”), Ariana Grande (“Imagine“), Pitbull and Kesha (“Timber“), Fifth Harmony (“Worth It”), and more. While these are all undoubtedly successful records, a fresh start was what she truly desired. So in 2020, Renea changed her stage name to what we all know her by today: Muni Long. Between then and now, Long used her veteran experience, combined with the appearance of being a new artist, to do things her way.

And then she struck gold. At the end of 2021, Long released Public Displays Of Affection, her third project under her new stage name. In a matter of a month, “Hrs And Hrs” from the project grew to not only be a fan favorite from the project but a viral record on TikTok as well. The song is a sultry and immensely passionate record that manifests a love that lasts a lifetime. However, the track’s success didn’t stop there. Just a month in 2022, “Hrs And Hrs” has climbed upward on the Billboard Hot 100 chart where it currently sits at No. 25. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we can expect the song to grow even more and reach new heights.

We caught up with Muni Long to talk about the record, her growth as an artist and songwriter, and what she hopes the future for herself and the industry looks like.

With the success you’re experiencing as Muni Long, it’s also brought attention to your past work as Priscilla Renea, thus elevating your past and current chapters. How has this experience been watching it all unfold?

I’m just happy to always be able to be free and express myself in whatever way I want to, I think that’s the power of the internet. Also, when you just choose fearlessly to exist the way you want to exist, and you’re able to be your most authentic self, then people will love you for it and accept you. I think part of that, what people don’t really maybe cling on is that I’m everything that doing it for the pure joy of this is just what I want to be doing. My intention is not to go viral or have everybody love what I’m doing, I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less about that part. I think that’s part of the magic, right? It was like a balance between focusing on what you want and attracting it and then creating that distance so it’s like you’re not desperate for it when it comes to you. I’m just excited that I finally figured out that formula because I know that that means I can do this over and over again.

How did you learn to deal with the frustrations of being boxed in as a songwriter despite wanting to break out as your own established artists?

I’ve been like, really, really high and then really, really low. I’ve always believed in the idea that you got to keep going and because I have had like some crazy health scares and moments where I was like, “Oh, sh*t, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to sing again,” you sort of lose that concern for what everybody else thinks. I’m already very down to earth, but I think having some really humbling moments where you realize, “dang you really can lose it all,” it just makes you just live carefree. I’m just glad to be here, glad to be alive, glad to be able to breathe, you know, just simple things like that. Everything else is a bonus., an extra. I think me getting to that place mentally, spiritually, [and] emotionally has contributed to the success of the song, the success of my Muni Long project. I don’t know, I’m just really happy to be alive.

Your success on TikTok with “Hrs And Hrs” is similar to that which you achieved on YouTube to start your career. What inspirations or anything at all did you keep in mind when it was time to use TikTok to your advantage?

I don’t think anything was specific to the song. My strategy was just to get back to being my authentic self: goofy, not caring about what people think about me, blocking all the negativity — literally like I’ll block and delete it. Really just liking all the comments and having a rapport with enough of my following to actually respond to people or have a relationship with them. I wouldn’t say that we’re friends — I mean a couple of people, like literally maybe one or two, I’ve actually become close with outside of the internet, like, we talked on the phone and hang out. But I actually have a rapport with my supporters, like my true supporters. I could tell, I just know who really are the ones who really f*ck with me, and the ones who are just here because of the song, it’s love to all kinds of traffic. I think the strategy is to actually care about the people you’re asking to support and listen to your music. I actually really do care about them and I want them to feel inspired and uplifted by what I’m giving them.

Looking at how things went for you after your YouTube success, what have you learned from then that you plan to do differently with your resurgence?

Just keep the negativity to a minimum. I don’t want to engage in any drama. I just want to have fun, that’s it. Have fun, keep making great music, perform, connect with people, [and] experience the best things in life.

With “Hrs And Hrs,” what was the one moment where you realized this song was going to be bigger than you ever imagined?

Okay, so I was home, like Christmas — no, it was New Year’s Eve. I went home to visit my parents, me and my husband were supposed to be on vacation, but that didn’t work out. We ended up going to my mom’s house in Florida and I was on the way back home from Chick Fil A with my husband and we were just in the car and I heard the song playing and I kind of panicked like hold up, where’s that coming from? I don’t know why I panicked, but I just was nervous for a second, like, what the hell? My phone is not on, the radio is not on, what is that? I realized that the car next to us was blasting the song, and I was like, “Oh sh*t, she’s playing the song.” Then she merged over in front of us and we could see her finger waving like she was singing the song. I was like, “Oh that’s crazy!.” At first, it felt like a video game. It just didn’t feel real

How would you describe your growth as Muni Long over the past two years?

I think there’s being confident in who I am, really enforcing the boundary of love and light, positivity, [and] manifesting what you want on songs like “Build A Bae.” There’s “Hrs And Hrs” which people have said that they’ve been using as an affirmation song to manifest love. I think people are always looking for some type of drama, they’re always trying to start something. One of my things as an artist is to just really enforce that I don’t want to be a part of that. Let’s have fun, let’s elevate, let’s grow as people and individuals, let’s encourage each other, and let’s support each other’s artistry. I’m starting to see the fruits of that in my life behind the scenes. As I continue to exist in the spotlight, people will see more of that where I’m collaborating with a lot of these other dope female artists. Collaborations are coming with some of the guys too, it’s just like that message is gonna continue to permeate. Beefing is really stupid to me, I’m just happy to be alive. I don’t wanna beef with nobody, but that’s the biggest thing to me for Muni Long. Even the name Muni Long is an affirmation. My whole life is centered around attracting the best possible out of this universe and you can’t do that when you have any type of blockages or animosity. Of course, you need darkness in order for life to exist and vice versa, but I just choose to be the light and that’s really the biggest thing.

How have things changed for you in the past couple of months, even on the most minimal scale possible? How are you handling it?

It’s pretty crazy what the internet can do for you. Honestly, the best way to explain it is I don’t know if you’ve ever walked into church late? Or walk into class late and everybody turned around and look at you? It really feels like I walk into a stadium of people and everybody turned around and looked at me at the same time. It’s like, “Damn! Okay.” It’s not a bad thing, I’m ready for it, it’s like, I can take it but all of y’all just turned around at the same time? My Instagram went crazy. Or the last two weeks. Like last week, I was getting like 60,000-70,000 followers a day. My Instagram went from 80k to 361k [followers]. That’s nuts! It happened super fast. The kind of attention that I’m getting now is different. The other day I went to lunch with my friends, and four people walked in the restaurant waving at me, you know, “Oh can I take a picture?” I’m like, yo that’s crazy. Now, I’m at the point, like, I went out on Sunday, and somebody was filming me while I was eating my food. They posted on Instagram and I was like, okay that’s weird. Stuff like that is weird, but you know, what you gonna do?

It’s a new year and you’ve already experienced so much success. What are some additional goals that you have for yourself both musically and personally?

I just want to keep exploring the depths of my talent. I know that this is the song that blew up and it’s super R&B, but I rap, you know, I have all these things that I can do that I want to do. I just want to have fun, so just being able to have success on multiple levels. Doing some Latin music, you know, just exploring. Then getting into the fashion world and the beauty world, maybe some film and television. I just want to explore my creativity.

You’ve got the attention of the industry as you’re one the most talked-about artists. What’s one or two things that you’d ask from the industry?

I just wish that people in general were nicer. I went through hell in the beginning, like the first 5-7 years of my career, people can just be really mean. You never know what people are going through. Like how people were making fun of Chadwick Boseman for being so skinny, and then they found out he was sick. Why do we feel so comfortable picking on people? I never understood that. That would be one thing, and I know that’s not really the industry, but I think artists kind of set the standard, right? If we come out and speak up against certain things, or if there were more programs or opportunities for us to encourage kindness? I know it sounds like such a small thing, but I don’t know, I just hate it. A lot of these fans — not to like name anyone specific but I think we know who we’re talking about here, like different groups that support artists, they’re really mean. They’re mean to other artists, they’re mean to other fans, it’s like that energy is not cool.

Public Displays Of Affection is out now via Supergiant Records. You can stream it here.

Chris Evans and noted dinosaur enthusiast The Rock have been cast in a new holiday movie from Amazon. From director Jake Kasdan, who previously worked with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the Jumanji reboot, the film will be titled Red One, and is expected to shot later this year. Few plot details have been released, but it’s expected to be a genre-bending action-adventure comedy, with some holiday cheer mixed in.

An original story, Red Ones will have a screenplay by Chris Morgan, who has worked with Seven Bucks Productions on several Fast and Furious movies, which The Rock has famously starred in. The Rock has had a busy few years, starring in Red Notice (seemingly unrelated to Red Ones) and Disney’s action-adventure film Jungle Cruise, based on the mediocre Disney ride. Oh, he also has a giant T-Rex skull replica, for some reason.

Meanwhile, Evans has been exploring other genres after his final stint as superhero Captain America in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. He recently had a small cameo in Netflix’s satirical doomsday comedy Don’t Look Up, and stars Apple TV’s series Defending Jacob, where he played an acting DA who’s son is charged with murder. He will also voice a young Buzz Lightyear in the upcoming Pixar prequel.

The weekly top-10 reveal of the new Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated January 29) is out now, and it shows this this is a big week for two of the most notable chart stories of recent times.

First and foremost, Adele’s “Easy On Me” is No. 1 for a tenth total week, which makes Adele just the seventh artist to ever have multiple songs spend at least ten weeks at No. 1. She’s also the first artist to ever have two songs spend ten weeks at No. 1 and two albums spend two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with “Hello,” “Easy On Me,” 21, and 25. The former was on top for 24 weeks, while the three later each topped their respective charts for ten weeks.

The other big chart news of the week is the continued success of Encanto. Aside from yesterday’s reveal that the soundtrack album was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 yet again, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has risen to No. 2 on the Hot 100, a new peak. That’s almost a new peak for songs from animated Disney films, too, as the only such track to chart above “Bruno” is “A Whole New World” from Aladdin, which topped the chart in 1993.

On top of that, “Bruno” isn’t even the only Encanto song in this week’s top ten, as “Surface Pressure,” credited on the chart to Jessica Darrow (who voices Luisa Madrigal in the film), has risen to No. 10. This makes the Encanto soundtrack the first one for a Disney animated film to place two songs in the top ten of the Hot 100.

“Bruno” previously became Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first top-ten song (as he wrote it and all other Encanto songs), and now “Surface Pressure” is his second.

This article originally appeared on August 14, 2016

Time travel back to 1905.

Back in 1905, a book called “The Apples of New York” was published by the New York State Department of Agriculture. It featured hundreds of apple varieties of all shapes, colors, and sizes, including Thomas Jefferson’s personal favorite, the Esopus Spitzenburg.

---

That was 110 years ago, when commercial apple orchards were still pretty rare and when even in the biggest of those orchards, everything was done by hand.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But why is that apple book such a big deal? The book is significant because most of the apples listed in it have all but disappeared in the past century. DISAPPEARED. In fact, we used to have thousands of apple varieties, but most of those have largely vanished due to industrial agriculture. Now, many varieties are only found tucked away in agricultural research centers and preservationist orchards.

Fact: Today, the 15 most popular apple varieties account for 90% of all apple sales in the U.S. The most commonly sold apple? Red delicious.

2015 looks so different.

The fate of all those apple varieties is not uncommon. “In the last century, nearly 75% of our agricultural crops have disappeared. They’re simply gone. Today, farmers primarily grow 12 crops. And of these, we mainly eat potatoes, rice, corn, and wheat.”

So what gives? Why the huge shift? In part, the shift has a lot to do with seed regulation. Back in the day, farmers would save seeds from year to year and share them with friends and neighbors. But nowadays, most seed production is controlled by big companies — and those companies patent their seeds, prohibiting things like seed saving or sharing.

So what do we do now?

Not all hope is lost (yay!). It may be an uphill battle, but there are lots of small farmers working to preserve the freedom to freely share and use seeds. People store thousands of seeds from all around the world in buildings called seed banks, and trade with other farmers at seed swaps.

“They’re preserving culture and biodiversity, one seed, one plant, and one person at a time.” How ’bout them apples? (No, really, I bet those antique apples they’re swappin’ are ridiculously tasty.)

To check out the full story from The Lexicon of Sustainability, watch the video below:

This article originally appeared on 07.22.15

“So just recently I went out on a Match.com date, and it was fantastic,” begins Dr. Danielle Sheypuk in her TEDx Talk.

If you’ve ever been on a bunch of Match.com dates, that opening line might make you do a double take. How does one get so lucky?!

Not Dr. Sheypuck’s actual date.

Not Dr. Sheypuck’s actual date. Photo by Thinkstock.

But don’t get too jealous. Things quickly went downhill two dates later, as most Match.com dates ultimately do. This time, however, the reason may not be something that you’ve ever experienced. Intrigued? I was too. So here’s the story.Gorgeous!

Gorgeous! Photo from Dr. Sheypuk’s Instagram account, used with permission.

She’s a licensed clinical psychologist, an advocate, and a model — among other things. She’s also been confined to a wheelchair since childhood. And that last fact is what did her recent date in.

On their third date over a romantic Italian dinner, Sheypuk noticed that he was sitting farther away from her than usual. And then, out of nowhere, he began to ask the following questions:

---

“I’ve been thinking, how are you gonna be a mother? How are you gonna do the duties that’s gonna be required of you? And even as wife — how … I’m not sure how this is gonna work.”

Used to this line of inquiry, she had the perfect quippy reply: “Well that’s simple: I’m just gonna hire someone like every other New Yorker.”

But despite her witty answer, he’d already made up his mind. She never heard from him again.

“I tried to convince myself that this was like any other relationship, but deep down I knew the reality. Who wants to date someone in a wheelchair?”

Dr. Sheypuk knows that that single question is evidence of a really serious problem —not just on the dating scene, but in society in general.

Society has factored out an entire group of potential romantic partners: people with disabilities.

In her words:

“We are completely left out of the dating picture. Society, media included, seems to ignore the fact that we have the same emotional needs and desires as everyone else. Is this injustice born out of the concept of the poster child and his or her duty to induce pity to raise money?

Or maybe it’s a conclusion drawn form mainstream porn where we have actors performing, like, gymnastic stunts with the stamina that none of us have of bucking broncos and jackrabbits.”

Um, yes. So much yes. She continues:

“The silent message: The more in shape your body, the better the sex. The unspoken conclusion: If you have a disability, you are too sick to have sex.

The silent message: The more in shape your body, the better the sex. The unspoken conclusion: If you have a disability, you are too sick to have sex.

“Now let’s look at the continuum in our society where sexual is measured. On the one hand, we have humans that are the ultimate sex appeal object. So on that end, we have Victoria Secret models, Playboy centerfolds, people like that.

On the complete opposite end, we have people with physical disabilities. And it seems like the more we deviate from this ultimate sex icon, the more desexualized we become, the more taboo the topic, and the more damaging the consequences.

Now, for most people there are quick fixes, right? We have Hair Club for Men, Botox, Spanx, butt implants. But for people with disabilities, there are no quick fixes. There is no magic pill.”

“And we are hit hard.”

Watch the rest of Dr. Sheypuk’s talk to hear her important insights about what dating and relationships are like when a person has a disability — and how much of society is limiting itself.

She talks about a guy on Tinder who asked her if she was capable of having sex (her answer is funny), why people with disabilities can have sexual experiences that are even better than those of able-bodied folks, and more.

In the wake of the announcement of Thierry Mugler’s death today at the age of 73, fans are remembering the French fashion icon not only for his work expanding the boundaries of high-end design but also for his contributions to the musical impacts of stars like Beyonce and Lady Gaga. Beyonce herself shared a collage of her Mugler-designed looks throughout the years on her website with the message “Rest In Peace Thierry Mugler.” Fans also paid tribute to their groundbreaking collaborations, which included the signature Sasha Fierce looks that accompanied Bey’s third album, I Am… Sasha Fierce.

“Thierry Mugler was a master designer, but for a lot of music fans his biggest impact will be helping bring Sasha Fierce to life,” wrote industry professional and historian Naima Cochrane on Twitter. “Mugler’s been a favorite of hers for years. I’m in danger of overusing the word ‘drama’ as a descriptor but it’s the most apt phrase I can think of when explaining why his looks fit with Bey so perfectly.”

Fans lovingly recalled some of the designer’s most recognizable looks created for Beyonce, pointing out that the star was one of the first given access to the designer’s archives in ideating their collaborations. While some of the looks dated back to Bey’s Sasha Fierce era, some were as recent as her Disney+ musical film, Black Is King, which also featured her daughter Blue Ivy.

When someone imagines the classic “IPA” taste, they’re likely envisioning a West Coast IPA. The style is known for its heavily — sometimes ridiculously — hopped beers. Commonly brewed with Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, Citra, and Chinook hops, these bold brews are typified by bright citrus and dank pine notes, along with varying degrees of hop bitterness. For context, even the least bitter West Coast IPA is likely more aggressively bitter than your favorite hazy, juicy New England-style IPA.

The tendency toward abrasively dank hop flavors is a big part of why the IPA is so divisive to beer fans (the amount of coverage given to these beers is also part of the issue). Still, as long as drinkers who love West Coast IPAs keep buying them, brewers aren’t likely to stop making them. To uncover some of the best options on the market, we asked a handful of notable brewers, brewing professionals, and craft beer experts for help.

Keep scrolling to see the one West Coast IPA beer pros keep coming back to.

Wicked Weed Pernicious

Eric Warner, brewmaster at Karbach Brewing Co. in Houston

ABV: 7.3%

Average Price: $12 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Pernicious, or “Perni,” from Wicked Weed is a great West Coast IPA. It has incredibly complex aromas of citrus, pine, tropical fruit, and even some herbal and dank notes that are all masterfully balanced. Perni has good foundational bitterness but doesn’t finish overly dry.

Thankfully, this beer is now available up and down the East Coast and greater South. Get you some.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo

Cooper Asay, head of quality at BrewDog USA in Columbus, Ohio

ABV: 7.2%

Average Price: $11 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Torpedo from Sierra Nevada is classic, consistent, and delicious. This 7.2 percent ABV “Extra IPA” is brewed with Crystal, Citra, and Magnum hops. The result is pine-filled, herbal, floral, slightly bitter IPA that I go back to again and again.

Oliphant Dracula Weed

Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin

ABV: 6%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

Oliphant Brewing’s Dracula Weed West Coast Style IPA is my West Coast must-have. It’s brewed with your traditional piney and resiny Cascade, Chinook and Simcoe hops, but the addition of the Warrior hops gives it a soft grapefruit and sweetened basil flavor that rides the balanced caramel malt wave of the beer. It’s a craft beer with body and yet only six percent ABV, so it’s quite easy to have a couple at a time.

Breakside IPA

Joe Connolly, director of Springdale Beer Co. in Framingham, Massachusetts

ABV: 6.2%

Average Price: $6 for a 22-ounce bottle

Why This Beer?

Breakside in Oregon makes some of the best IPAs I’ve had in the last year. Their flagship IPA on draft at their pub was a revelation. Just huge flavors of pine and resin with this special kind of candied citrus character that I love. It’s in your face, but accessible and still inviting the next sip.

Half Acre Bodem

Kelly Laut, brewer at Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis

ABV: 6.7%

Average Price: $13 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

Why This Beer?

Bodem by Half Acre is a solid IPA. They use a variety of hops, which give it a tropical/melon aroma while not overshadowing the malty biscuity notes. It’s important to me to be able to taste the base beer under all the hops. To that avail, it’s clean.

After drinking one, I’m already looking forward to the next.

Ghost Town Power Nap

John “Magic” Montes De Oca, co-head brewer at Barebottle Brewing Company in San Francisco

ABV: 6.9%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

Ghost Town is making some of the best new-age West Coast IPAs in the country. Power Nap is a great example of balancing fruit-forward and dank hops. To borrow an analogy from music, the hops fill out every frequency. You have darkness, citrus, and tropical fruit with a resinous mouthfeel and dialed in bitterness.

The malt is clean and never gets in the way. Mosaic, Citra, and Enigma aren’t only for hazy beers.

Ballast Point Sculpin

Luis G. Brignoni, founder of Wynwood Brewing Co. in Miami

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $14 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point Brewing Company is an iconic West Coast IPA. It has bright citrus and piney hop flavors yet it’s well balanced. Clocking in at seven percent ABV and 70 IBUs, Sculpin is a full-bodied, full-flavored beer and even has grapefruit and habanero versions.

Comrade Superpower

Jordan Fink, owner and director of brewing operations at Woods Boss Brewing Co. in Denver

ABV: 7.3%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

This is just one of the most balanced West Coast IPAs you can find just about anywhere. It has pine, grapefruit, and citrus but with a mellow malt profile that complements the whole beer. You can crush this beer all day.

Russian River Blind Pig

Dave Lopez, co-managing partner at Gun Hill Brewing in Bronx, New York

ABV: 6.25%

Average Price: $8 for a 510ml bottle

Why This Beer?

There are just so many things I enjoy about this beer. For starters, the ABV (6.25 percent), is the perfect sweet spot to be able to enjoy more than one. The beer is a fantastic blend of citrus and pine flavors that do not overpower your palate. Full-bodied and very hoppy, the beer has that dry, bitter finish that you want in a West Coast IPA.

Cannonball Creek Mindbender

Alex Paine, sales manager at WeldWerks Brewing Co. in Greeley, Colorado

ABV: 7.2%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

Give me pretty much any IPA that Cannonball Creek Brewing Company makes and I’ll be a happy man. But every time I am at the brewery I am ordering at least one Mindbender. It has big notes of grapefruit with the perfect amount of piney bitterness.

Writer’s Pick: Laurelwood Workhorse

ABV: 6.7%

Average Price: $10 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

While many drinkers first look to California to get their West Coast IPA fill, we like to turn out attention to Oregon-produced IPAs. One of the best under-the-radar West Coast IPAs is Laurelwood Workhorse. Hopped in the kettle using a hop-back and then dry-hopped twice, this beer is dank, piney, floral, and bittersweet enough to please the most ardent West Coast IPA fan.

Writer’s Pick: Pure West IPA

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $19 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

San Diego’s Pure Brewing Project constantly cranks out high-quality, flavorful IPAs. One of its best is Pure West, a classic West Coast IPA brewed with Mosaic, Citra, and Simcoe hops. It’s known for its dank, resinous pine flavor with notes of grapefruit, pineapple, and a nice hint of bitter, floral hops to remind you that you’re drinking a West Coast IPA.

Last summer, the National Music Publishers Association honored Taylor Swift with the Songwriter Icon Award. It’s unclear how Swift was declared the recipient of that prize, but however that process went, Damon Albarn probably wasn’t involved, as he doesn’t believe that Swift actually writes her own songs.

In a new Los Angeles Times interview, the Gorillaz leader spoke about how he finds that playing in a band (as opposed to performing solo) is “not hard,” saying, “You can’t hide behind anything. You learn whether the songs are any good or whether they were popular at the time because of the sound and the attitude.”

That prompted a conversation about artists relying on “sound and attitude” and the interviewer mentioned Swift (as somebody who isn’t that way), calling her “an excellent songwriter.” Albarn replied, “She doesn’t write her own songs.” The interviewer retorted, “Of course she does. Co-writes some of them.” To that, Albarn replied by disagreeing and noting that he likes Billie Eilish and Finneas as songwriters:

“That doesn’t count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great. And some of the greatest singers — I mean, Ella Fitzgerald never wrote a song in her life. When I sing, I have to close my eyes and just be in there. I suppose I’m a traditionalist in that sense.

A really interesting songwriter is Billie Eilish and her brother. I’m more attracted to that than to Taylor Swift. It’s just darker — less endlessly upbeat. Way more minor and odd. I think she’s exceptional.”

Check out the full interview here.

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

The explosive docuseries Secrets Of Playboy premieres tonight on A&E, and it reportedly details years of abuse, blackmail, and trafficking by legendary Playboy honcho Hugh Hefner.

Hugh Hefner’s exes and former Playboy mansion residents are featured in the four-part mini-series, remarking all of the terrible things the Playboy founder did. Holly Madison, who starred in the reality series Girls Next Door, spoke out about her time living with Hefner, and how she believes she developed Stockholm Syndrome while living with him for nearly a decade. “I felt like I was in this cycle of gross things and I didn’t know what to do.”

Other disturbing allegations, including beastiality, are brought to light by former playmates Miki Garcia and Sondra Theodore. “It was a manipulation from the beginning. [He] groomed us all.” Theodore stated. “Really, he was a monster.”

Theodore, who met Hefner when she was 19, said he also used to film ‘everybody’ and use the tapes for blackmail. “He had tapes on everybody. The first time I looked up at the two screens he had for the TV in the bedroom and I realized it was me, I’m like, ‘Whoa, what are you doing?’ And when we started bringing other people into the bedroom, some girls had the same reaction.” Hefner was also famously close with Bill Cosby.

Hefner, who passed away in 2017, supposedly trapped models into “unfair contracts.” Jennifer Saginor, who was the daughter of Hefner’s personal doctor and close friend Mark Saginor, also claims there were “shadow mansions,” where women were drugged and assaulted while being promised potential modeling contracts.

Last week, Playboy released a statement, insisting that Hefner’s Playboy is different from modern-day Playboy.

“The Hefner family is no longer associated with Playboy, and today’s Playboy is not Hugh Hefner’s Playboy. We trust and validate these women and their stories and we strongly support those individuals who have come forward to share their experiences. As a brand with sex positivity at its core, we believe safety, security, and accountability are paramount. The most important thing we can do right now is actively listen and learn from their experiences. Today, our organization is run by a workforce that is more than 80% female and we will continue to confront any parts of our legacy that do not reflect our values today, and to build upon the progress we have made as we evolve as a company so we can drive positive change for our employees and our communities.”

Secrets Of Playboy premieres tonight at 9pm ET on A&E.

Aaron Rodgers criticized Joe Biden in an interview with ESPN that was published the day before his Green Bay Packers became the first team in NFL history to fail to reach the Super Bowl after winning 13 games in three straight seasons. While touring tornado-hit areas of Kentucky in December, the president joked to a woman wearing a Packers jacket, “Tell that quarterback he’s gotta get the vaccine.” Rodgers was not amused.

“When the president of the United States says, ‘This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,’ it’s because him and his constituents, which, I don’t know how there are any if you watch any of his attempts at public speaking, but I guess he got 81 million votes,” Rodgers, who was fined by the NFL for violating COVID protocols and takes medical advice from Joe Rogan, said. “But when you say stuff like that, and then you have the CDC, which, how do you even trust them, but then they come out and talk about 75% of the COVID deaths have at least four comorbidities. And you still have this fake White House set saying that this is the pandemic of the unvaccinated, that’s not helping the conversation.”

Rodgers’ comments, especially the part about Biden receiving 81 million votes in the 2020 presidential election, caught the attention of Donald Trump’s chief spokeswoman, Liz Harrington. She used it as proof that the election was stolen from her boss. “There’s not a lot of good news. We see what happens after one year of an illegitimate regime in place,” she said on Steve Bannon’s War Room: Pandemic podcast:

“The only good news is the American people know it. I mean, you had four years of them saying the 2016 election was stolen by Russia and you never had quarterbacks questioning President Trump’s legitimacy. You’ve got Aaron Rodgers just flat out calling it out and saying ’81 million votes? Yeah, I guess.’ But it doesn’t certainly look like it.”

Here’s the clip:

Rodgers now has plenty of free time to do his own research.

(Via Mediaite)