Category: News

Given that a typical day of being Donald Trump usually includes spewing a ton of bulls**t and acting in an often dangerously unhinged way, it seems like it would take a lot to make the former president flinch. But as Newsweek reports, even Trump—like the rest of us—was horrified when, on November 19, 2020, the world witnessed Rudy Giuliani literally melting right in front of us. “Oh my God, this is just like a freak show,” one White House staffer reportedly said.

In I Alone Can Fix It, a new book by Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker, a White House staffer confided in the authors that the 45th president was taken aback as a seemingly frenzied Rudy carried on for nearly an hour and 40 minutes—about as long as it would take you to watch Reservoir Dogs—about election fraud and the corrupt media, who were fortunately there to capture every dripping moment of History’s Most Bizarre Press Conference, as hair dye poured down his face from his head, like a human oil spill.

The headlines practically wrote themselves for this display of utter insanity, which many people on Team Trump determined to be their last licks at convincing anyone who wasn’t already on the then-president’s side to come over to their way of thinking. According to Newsweek, even Lindsey Graham, who had already begun trying to convince Trump that concession was his best move, thought it prudent to call him and again attempt “to ease Trump toward acceptance of defeat.”

As William M. Arkin wrote for Newsweek:

Trump himself was “unsettled” by the hair dye spectacle and the media mockery, according to Leonnig and Rucker.

From then on, the president subtly shifted to trying to convince his supporters that he still had a number of different pathways to overcome the apparent election loss: that no matter what the “lamestream media” was saying, supporters were right to believe that democracy was in peril and that there were conspiracies all around. As the White House increasingly hollowed, with some leaders quarantining after COVID exposures and others looking for post-administration jobs, President Trump stayed in the Oval Office, working the phones and tweeting, more and more isolated in who he talked to, uninterested in the presidency or in governing.

The last defense, Trump increasingly argued, rested with “the people,” those behind him who now had it on their shoulders to save the nation.

Which was probably much less toxic than whatever was all over Rudy’s shoulders at the end of that presser.

(Via Newsweek)

Taylor Swift just dropped the rerecorded version of her 2012 album Red and fans were poised to support the singer in light of the legal battle for her masters. The buzz around Red (Taylor’s Version) led to it debuting at the top of the charts and gave her her tenth No. 1 album. But the fan-favorite on the project was definitely the extended version of the song “All Too Well,” which clocks in at 10 minutes and 13 seconds. The song landed at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week, making it the longest song to ever top the charts.

Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” broke the chart record previously held by Don McLean’s “American Pie,” which is eight minutes and 37 seconds. McLean had held the record since the track’s 1972 release, so he commended Swift on her impressive achievement. In a statement given to Billboard, McLean said:

“There is something to be said for a great song that has staying power. ‘American Pie’ remained on top for 50 years and now Taylor Swift has unseated such a historic piece of artistry. Let’s face it, nobody ever wants to lose that #1 spot, but if I had to lose it to somebody, I sure am glad it was another great singer/songwriter such as Taylor.”

Of course, Swift isn’t the only pop star to record long versions of a song before being told to cut it back to a more radio-friendly length. Ahead of the release of her anticipated album 30, Adele said her hit track “I Drink Wine” was originally 15 minutes long. “[The label] was like, ‘Listen, everyone loves you, but no one’s playing a 15-minute song on radio,’” Adele said in an interview.

The 64th Annual Grammy Awards are not too far away now, as the 2022 ceremony is set to air on January 31 on CBS. Ahead of then, though, the Recording Academy has unveiled its list of nominees. (As a reminder, the eligibility window for the 2022 Grammys is from September 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, so only works released during that period are eligible for recognition.)

Check out the full list of this year’s Grammy nominees below.

Record Of The Year
ABBA — “I Still Have Faith In You”
Jon Batiste — “Freedom”
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga — “I Get A Kick Out Of You”
Justin Bieber — “Peaches” Feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
Brandi Carlile — “Right On Time”
Doja Cat — “Kiss Me More” Feat. SZA
Billie Eilish — “Happier Than Ever”
Lil Nas X — “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
Silk Sonic — “Leave The Door Open”

Album Of The Year
Jon Batiste — We Are
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga — Love For Sale
Justin Bieber — Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)
Doja Cat — Planet Her (Deluxe)
Billie Eilish — Happier Than Ever
HER — Back Of My Mind
Lil Nas X — Montero
Olivia Rodrigo — Sour
Taylor Swift — Evermore
Kanye West — Donda

Song Of The Year
Ed Sheeran — “Bad Habits”
Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile — “A Beautiful Noise”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
HER — “Fight For You”
Billie Eilish — “Happier Than Ever”
Doja Cat — “Kiss Me More” Feat. SZA
Silk Sonic — “Leave The Door Open”
Lil Nas X — “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
Justin Bieber — “Peaches” Feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon
Brandi Carlile — “Right On Time”

Best New Artist
Arooj Aftab
Jimmie Allen
Baby Keem
Finneas
Glass Animals
Japanese Breakfast
The Kid Laroi
Arlo Parks
Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie

Best Dance/Electronic Recording
Afrojack and David Guetta — “Hero”
Ólafur Arnalds — “Loom” Feat. Bonobo
James Blake — “Before”
Bonobo and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs — “Heartbreak”
Caribou — “You Can Do It”
Rüfüs Du Sol — “Alive”
Tiësto — “The Business”

Best Dance/Electronic Album
Black Coffee — Subconsciously
Illenium — Fallen Embers
Major Lazer — Music Is The Weapon (Reloaded)
Marshmello — Shockwave
Sylvan Esso — Free Love
Ten City — Judgement

Best Rap Performance
Baby Keem — “Family Ties” Feat. Kendrick Lamar
Cardi B — “Up”
J. Cole — “My Life” Feat. 21 Savage and Morray
Drake — “Way 2 Sexy” Feat. Future and Young Thug
Megan Thee Stallion — “Thot Sh*t”

Best Melodic Rap Performance
J. Cole — “Pride Is The Devil” Feat. Lil Baby
Doja Cat — “Need To Know”
Lil Nas X — “Industry Baby” Feat. Jack Harlow
Tyler The Creator — “Wusyaname” Feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Ty Dolla Sign
Kanye West — “Hurricane” Feat. The Weeknd and Lil Baby

Best Rap Song
DMX — “Bath Salts” Feat. Jay-Z and Nas
Saweetie — “Best Friend” Feat. Doja Cat
Baby Keem — “Family Ties” Feat. Kendrick Lamar
Kanye West — “Jail” Feat. Jay-Z
J. Cole — “My Life” Feat. 21 Savage and Morray

Best New Age Album
Will Ackerman, Jeff Oster and Tom Eaton — Brothers
Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej — Divine Tides
Wouter Kellerman and David Arkenstone — Pangaea
Opium Moon — Night + Day
Laura Sullivan — Pieces Of Forever

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Cinema — Josh Conway, Marvin Figueroa, Josh Gudwin, Neal H Pogue and Ethan Shumaker, engineers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer (The Marías)
Dawn — Thomas Brenneck, Zach Brown, Elton “L10MixedIt” Chueng, Riccardo Damian, Tom Elmhirst, Jens Jungkurth, Todd Monfalcone, John Rooney and Smino, engineers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer (Yebba)
Hey What — BJ Burton, engineer; BJ Burton, mastering engineer (Low)
Love For Sale — Dae Bennett, Josh Coleman and Billy Cumella, engineers; Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone, mastering engineers (Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga)

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Jack Antonoff
Rogét Chahayed
Mike Elizondo
Hit-Boy
Ricky Reed

This post is being updated.

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

Tanya Whitaker’s life mantra is a large part of why she’s so driven to help those in need in her community of Clinton, Maryland. It boils down to a Gilbert Young painting called “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.”

“I knew I needed to do something to help break down systemic barriers and build bridges for not only the underprivileged, but the underserved,” Tanya tells Upworthy. “I am assisting my brother in our community.”

Tanya has been working to lift up underserved communities in almost every aspect of her life. She works in the career and technical education department for the District of Columbia’s State Superintendent of Education, and helps students realize goals they didn’t even know were possible. That work informed the development of her nonprofit, Skills Today Advance Tomorrow Development Center (STAT DC), which aims to “advance the economic mobility and social progress in low and moderate-income communities,” she explains.

Even before starting STAT DC, Tanya felt compelled to help people have access to what they need, regardless of their circumstances. This became particularly clear to her during the pandemic, which left so many more people in need of food and/or shelter. “It has been my experience through this pandemic that all economic lines have been blurred,” she says.

One thing that really stood out to her is how many children went hungry during the pandemic because schools were closed.

“America was faced with the fact that most school-aged children were getting most of their nutritional needs from the school,” explains Tanya. “And without that outlet to tap into, parents were forced to get into food lines that they never thought would be part of their daily or weekly needs.”

In response to the need she saw, Tanya created a sizable network of volunteers to feed the homeless in her community. Just like in her day job, she’s the manager making it all happen, from organizing donations, deliveries and all the other working parts it takes to carry out such a gargantuan task on a regular basis. “I have such an awesome group of dedicated volunteers,” says Tanya. “This could not be done to this magnitude without such a group.” Even her 78-year-old father is involved.

Tanya Whitaker (left)Photo courtesy of TD Bank

She often doesn’t have enough funds to cover the costs of her food distribution program. Thanks to a donation from TD Bank from their #TDThanksYou campaign, however, she should be able to keep her work going through the holidays — when food insecurity and homelessness are most prevalent in the U.S. “This directly impacts the daily operation of the food distribution. What the public does not see is the day-to-day expenses that we incur to make this happen,” says Tanya.

TD Thanks You is TD Bank’s annual campaign that aims to bolster its customers, colleagues and communities by giving back to them in meaningful ways. This year, the 2021 #TDThanksYou campaign is highlighting stories of people who are spreading positivity and optimism in their communities without asking for anything in return. Tanya’s work certainly seems to fit the bill.

Tanya’s team distributes food every Thursday, but that means organization and packing of food has to begin Tuesday. Food is assembled into sections, non-perishables, meat, dairy, frozen food and produce. Thursdays tend to be the busiest days because they typically get a surprise batch of food that needs to be sorted. After all the food is sectioned out, they start assembling it into bags and prepare those bags for distribution.

Tanya’s been able to keep food distribution efforts of this magnitude going with the help of several businesses. And she made those connections by literally knocking on doors.

One relationship came about when she realized a nearby mall, and its parking lots, had been sitting unused. “I drove around the parking lot until I found a security office door. I knocked on what seemed to be an abandoned, empty room, and met my wonderful angel, Ms. Carolyn Martin, the property manager for the Landmark Mall’s division for Howard Hughes Corporation.”

Tanya explained her mission to feed the homeless, and the next day, Ms. Martin welcomed her to use one of the mall’s parking lots free of charge.

“It is imperative that we, as socially responsible individuals, not wait on government programs or a ‘knight in shining armor’ to come to the rescue,” says Tanya.

People like Tanya use compassion and fervor to fight food insecurity, homelessness and economic inequality every day. They’re not waiting for a “knight” to come to the rescue; they just pick up the proverbial sword themselves.

In case you missed it: Retired NBA star Iman Shumpert is now a champion in two sports, basketball and ballroom dancing. The former Brooklyn Net won the 30th season of the dance competition show Dancing With The Stars with his professional partner Daniella Karagach, becoming the only NBA player in the show’s history to qualify for the finals and to win the competition.

Online, though, some have begun to credit his impressive win (in week 6 of 10, he and Karagach scored a perfect 40 in the contemporary dance category) to his marriage to R&B singer/dancer/choreographer/director/producer Teyana Taylor. The two share two children, have appeared in many of Taylor’s videos together, and also star in a reality show on VH1, Teyana And Iman. With her impressive list of accomplishments, as well as her expertise in the field of dance, fans came together to joke that her stern tutelage was a big contributor to Shump’s success, making her name trend on Twitter in the process.

Of course, considering what the response would have been if were the roles reversed, no one should have a problem with the jokes, as men are often credited for the accomplishments of their famous female partners (sometimes, headlines erase their partners’ names entirely, reducing women to just athletes’ wives and girlfriends). If we can poke a little fun at a rich and famous athlete and the patriarchy at the same time, I’d call that a win-win for everybody.

Check out more of fans’ responses to Iman’s win below.

Never in the past decade would I have imagined being jazzed for a Hawkeye show. And partially for that reason, oddly enough, I’m now jazzed about Hawkeye. I’ll explain that seemingly contradictory thought, but let’s get this out of the way first: this is no WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Solder, or Loki. All of these Disney+ MCU shows arrived in highly anticipated fashion for a few reasons:

(1) Open-ended threads with potentially high stakes: Fans wanted to know how Vision’s death was handled, and how Wanda coped; likewise for the Cap passing the shield to Falcon; and Loki stealing the Tesseract, and so on. With Hawkeye, the biggest open thread didn’t materialize until a Black Widow credits scene, which left fans wondering how Yelena will show up to avenge Natasha’s death. While that stake isn’t anything to dismiss, it’s really got nothing to do with Hawkeye himself, since it’s based upon a lie conjured up by Countess Valentina.

(2) People have strong feelings for Vision, Wanda, Falcon, Winter Soldier, and Loki: These characters were damn likable, and even when some of them did terrible things, they managed to pull the heartstrings and/or exude charisma while doing so. Whereas Hawkeye? He’s a closed book, for the most part. He’s often been the guy who would do his duty when necessary, but he often had one foot out the door. Hell, he’s attempted to retire at least twice. He wanted a quiet life with the fam and to forget about all of this Avengers stuff. And while he’s not at all loathsome like, say, Star-Lord, he’s not a character that people clamor over on his own. Hawkeye only wants to go home!

So, I wasn’t expecting much from Hawkeye other than a “placeholder,” yet this show finds so much glee in the Hawkeye-wants-to-go-home thing. The poor guy is utterly miserable while sitting through a Captain America musical, and he has a visible reaction to seeing the Natasha character. She, of course, was his strongest tie to the Avengers and pulled him back in after his turn as the vigilante Ronin. That offshoot gave Clint Barton his meatiest story that we’ve seen onscreen, but consider this: Hawkeye didn’t appear in Infinity War, and Ronin arguably got swept away in the behemoth that was Endgame. The MCU could have permanently put him on ice at that point and let him go back to the fam for good, but nope.

With all of that said, the MCU’s taking pointed steps to replace retired Avengers with successors. Chris Evans literally passed the Cap shield to Anthony Mackie; Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man can never truly be replaced, but Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange looks (at least) to be filling the Spider-Man mentor shoes in the upcoming No Way Home. And Natasha Romanoff’s Black Widow mantle will be taken up by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, even though she (apparently) signed onto the wrong team for the time being. Pugh is confirmed to appear in Hawkeye, and I previously assumed that she’d be the most endearing part of the show, but there’s a lot more to offer.

At the top of that heap would be Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, a Manhattanite who is about the right age to have grown up in the shadow of the Avengers. And that’s wild, really, considering that the Battle of New York happened nearly a decade ago with the Chitauri invasion and all of the PR fallout, which spiraled after other high-profile incidents. Kate Bishop has been watching this whole situation carefully. She looks up to Hawkeye in particular, yet even she can see that he’s no longer really into this hero stuff. And he hasn’t been into it, dating all the way back to Civil War times.

And that’s all good. I can’t say that Hawkeye, in fact, will depart the MCU because Disney+ did not screen the entire Hawkeye season for critics. Yet the wheels are definitely in motion and, more importantly, Kate Bishop’s resourcefulness, layered personality, and charisma all make her a compelling and dynamic onscreen presence. She’s unapologetically messy but driven and headstrong and a fresh take on a female hero. Steinfeld aces the role. In addition, Kate’s complicated mother is portrayed by Vera Farmiga (who is in everything these days, and I’m here for it). Kate’s also got a would-be stepfather, played by Tony Dalton who’s still rocking that Better Call Saul mustache.

Kate is, to go for the obvious rhyme, great. She’s good at kicking ass and not caring about names, and she’s obsessed with bows and arrows. Kate’s also someone who has all makings of wanting to be a superhero. She’s an enormously cool character and worthy of taking Hawkeye’s place in the MCU, should the powers that be choose to go there. With all of that said, the way that these two meet, and the relationship that they develop, and the quest that they undertake results from some convincing timeline patchwork. As well, there’s a lot of humor in this show with Clint’s “I’m so over this” attitude mined for laughs. He is so frustrated that he’s in this world again. And that’s fun, especially when he realizes that someone does or does not recognize him. As well, the city transforms into a character, and it annoys the hell out of Clint while he fights his way back to his family (and away from his past), hopefully before Christmas.

Speaking of family, Hawkeye’s wife is still portrayed by Linda Cardellini. If you’re excited to see her in this show (and who wouldn’t be? you’re not a monster), don’t hold your breath because the most egregious thing I’ve seen in Hawkeye so far is that Laura Barton needs more screentime, and Linda Cardellini, who is best part of any project, is forced to phone this one in. That’s still forgivable, though, because the Hawkeye focus is about acknowledging a new generation and a less cynical type of Avenger than Clint (or Natasha, or Bruce Banner). Yep, there’s something about the still in-progress assembling of Avengers who are striking more of a balance. They’re very aware of how the world perceives heroes, and they know the perception is largely bullsh*t, but they do believe that they can make a difference. They’re wary but not weary.

That sentiment’s been brewing for awhile because, remember, Falcon initially surfaced in The Winter Soldier because he wanted to assist Steve Rogers, and he still had to earn that shield over the course of several movies, and then he had to convince society and himself that he really wanted it. That process seems to be in the works for Yelena, who looked up to Natasha, and we’ll potentially see the pattern continue in She-Hulk with Jennifer Walters and Banner. For the moment, it’s all about Kate Bishop, who’s learning the ropes from Hawkeye. Steinfeld’s a pleasure to witness onscreen and proves to be essential to the morphing MCU brand. And damn, can she aim those arrows.

Disney+’s ‘Hawkeye’ debuts on November 24.

Donald Trump, a man who thinks exercise will kill you, has received an honorary ninth-degree black belt in Taekwondo.

The ex-president was presented with the honor by Lee Dong Seop, the president of Kukkiwon, the world Taekwondo headquarters located in South Korea. He told Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo that “I heard that Donald Trump is highly interested in Taekwondo,” most likely because his buddy Vladimir Putin also received the same honor in 2013. Neither man has ever been known to practice Taekwondo.

Issued by Kukkiwon president Lee Dong-sup, Trump received the honorary belt at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. Kukkiwon posted the exchange to its Facebook page, where Trump can be seen wearing a traditional taekwondo uniform, outfitted with a black dan belt. In taekwondo, the ninth dan belt is the highest level a person can achieve.

“It is my honor to receive Honorary Dan Certificate and I think Taekwondo is magnificent martial art for self-defense,” Trump was quoted as saying on Kukkiwon’s Facebook page. “I wish to see Kukkiwon Taekwondo Team’s demonstration.” The post comes with the disclaimer, “This ceremony is not related any other political issues.”

A ninth-degree black belt takes decades of training and “incredible devotion to the art, hard work, and consistent training for life,” and one must “also have to have overseen a significant number of black belts and/or other such accomplishments.”

The losers and haters out there might think Trump doesn’t deserve the honorary black belt. But I disagree: “watching Bloodsport a lot” counts as an accomplishment.

(Via the Hill)

With hundreds of millions of followers across her various social media profiles, there’s no denying Dua Lipa has a massive platform. While she is able to have direct communication with her fans through social media, the singer wanted a way to share more in-depth style tips, movie recommendations, and important news stories with her audience. That’s why she’s launching Service95, a new weekly newsletter that will give fans a way to get curated articles from the singer herself.

Service95 was born out of Lipa’s habit for making lists of her favorite things and sharing them with her friends and family. The singer describes herself as an avid reader who’s always up-to-date on the latest news. But she says she wants to create a way for people to read stories they won’t have access to on larger news platforms. Along with giving fashion advice and discussing pop culture, Service95 will invite activists from around the globe to share their perspectives.

Announcing the new newsletter in a video on social media, Lipa wrote:

“I’ve been wanting to tell you about this for the longest time, and now that it’s ready I hope you’ll let me guide you through some of my favourite things I’ve discovered around the world over the years.

Service95 is a free weekly newsletter that will cover everything from little-known hotspots to up-and-coming artists and travel tips. Service95 will serve up a considered curation of lists, recommendations, stories, information, thoughts, perspectives, and conversations you won’t hear, see, or read anywhere else. Powerful articles from the world’s most compelling voices will live alongside savvy social commentary, laugh-out-loud feature-writing, and left-of-center recommendations for anything from late-night snacks to the best in-flight music for long-haul trips. We’ll also be sharing the important work of activists bringing to light causes and complex world issues we should all be talking about.”

Service95 launches in January 2022. Sign up here.

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

As Travis Scott and Live Nation continue to get bombarded with lawsuits stemming from the deaths at Astroworld Festival, one of the latest comes from some of the staff who actually worked the festival, rather than attendees or their families. According to TMZ, two of the fest’s security guards, Samuel and Jackson Bush, are suing the festival’s organizers, as well as security contractors AJ Melino and Associates, for $1 million in damages after being traumatized by personally witnessing some of the deaths that took place as a result of the crowd crush and inadequately equipped facilities.

Both men not only claim mental distress from watching CPR performed on unconscious people and personally pulling someone from the crowd who later died, but also physical injuries suffered while trying to help control the chaos of the event.

Despite the seemingly large ask of $1 million, the Bushes’ lawsuit is actually at the low end of the Astroworld fallout spectrum, with one of the over 20 lawsuits demanding $750 million in damages for over 125 Astroworld attendees. Another lawsuit filed by the family of a nine-year-old boy who was trampled in the crowd (and later died) also seeks $1 million.

The fallout from the Astroworld disaster has also begun to affect other events; the organizers of Rolling Loud have implemented an age limit policy on their upcoming event in California, perhaps hoping to mitigate the liability in the case of another crowd control failure.

Donald Trump may no longer get his Diet Cokes delivered to the Oval Office, but that doesn’t mean that the dangerous ideologies and deceptive practices he brought to the forefront of American politics aren’t still very much in play. On Monday night, Seth Meyers dedicated part of his “A Closer Look” segment to the people who have taken up Trump’s chintzy, gold-embossed mantle—specifically: Ted Cruz.

“Texas senator Ted Cruz was just on CBS this week, continuing to spread the lie that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election and defend his role in trying to overturn the results on January 6th,” Meyers said.

Meyers also shared a clip of that appearance, on Face the Nation, where Cruz claimed that “we right now have a substantial chunk of our country that has real doubts about the integrity of the election. And if we had had a credible electoral commission do an emergency audit, it would have enhanced faith in democracy. But instead, Democrats and a lot of the press decided to just engage in incendiary rhetoric rather than acknowledge voter fraud is real. It is a problem, and the allegations of voter fraud needed to be examined.”

It took a little effort for Cruz to get that last part of the sentence out, because host Margaret Brennan wanted to quickly shut Cruz down and make it clear—yet again—that there was no evidence of voter fraud.

Meyers took Cruz to task, too, noting that:

“First of all, over 60 cases did examine the evidence and not one found any merit in any of Trump’s claims. That includes judges appointed by Trump and the GOP-dominated Supreme Court. You think a judge appointed by Trump himself would turn down the opportunity to help out? They were probably getting nonstop texts from him begging for help like an ex who won’t go away.

Seriously, did you forget about all of that? How could you? Rudy Giuliani’s probably still standing outside the Supreme Court banging on the front door like a guy who just got evicted from his apartment for hoarding cats.”

Come for the Cruz takedown, stay for the Rudy imitation.