Category: News

Acting is just a gig. If a performer is cast as, let’s say, a doctor, it’s not a requirement that that they have any medical knowledge, nor that they even be smart. (That said, Andy Daly can play one anytime.) This is what General Hospital, the near-60-year-old soap that occasionally employs Stephen A. Smith, is finding out the hard way: As per The Hollywood Reporter, they just lost longtime cast member Steve Burton to the vaccine requirements that have become a mainstay of the industry (and have gotten some bewildering pushback). And he’s not even the show’s first one.

Burton made the announcement on his Instagram page, where he revealed the show had “let me go” after his applications for medical and religious exemptions from the vaccine mandate were denied. His reasons for applying were vague; he mentioned “personal freedom” and said, “I don’t think anyone should lose their livelihood over this.”

The loss of Burton comes a day after General Hospital aired the last show featuring Ingo Rademacher, who also departed the show over their vaccine mandate. When news of his departure broke earlier this month, it came the day after his fellow cast members called him out for sharing an anti-trans meme on social media.

Like Rademacher, who had been on the show since 1996, Burton was a General Hospital veteran. He first joined the show in 1991, left in 2012, only to return in 2017. He played Jason Morgan, a character who originated in 1981 and underwent many, often dramatic changes over the decades. During Burton’s tenure alone, been a mob enforcer, a businessman, a restaurant owner, and a coffee importer.

One thing Morgan never was was a doctor.

“Maybe, if one day these mandates are lifted, I can return and finish my career as Jason Morgan, that would be an honor,” he said. What he didn’t seem to realize was that people like him refusing to get vaccinated is what’s going to make the pandemic, and their attendant vaccine mandates, last longer than it should.

(Via THR)

Earlier today, the 2022 Grammy nominations were revealed, and as expected, it had everyone talking. Some artists themselves nominated for one of the show’s 86 awards. Others did not. One who didn’t is Machine Gun Kelly, whose album Tickets To My Downfall failed to get a single nod. After the nominations were announced, he took to Twitter to share his thoughts, writing, simply, “Wtf is wrong with the grammys.”

Tickets to My Downfall was released on September 25, 2021, which falls in the eligibility window for the upcoming award ceremony, namely between September 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021. After its release last fall, Tickets To My Downfall topped the albums chart, giving him his first No. 1 album. Kelly will have another chance at Grammy gold when he drops his next album, Born With Horns, with Travis Barker.

The 2022 Grammy nominations proved to be huge for other artists. Jon Batiste received the second most nominations in the award show’s history with 11, right behind the 12 nominations Michael Jackson and Babyface received in 1984 and 1997, respectively. “WOW!!” Batiste wrote in a tweet afterward celebrating the feat. “Thank you God!! I love EVERYBODY! I’m so grateful to my collaborators and to my ancestors [crying emojis] 11!”

After Batiste, Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and HER, are tied for the second-most nominations for the 2022 Grammys, with eight. Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo were next up, receiving seven each.

Last week ended with a bombshell: Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges related to shooting three protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, killing two. Since then, the Illinois teen, who largely kept quiet during the last year and change, has been making the interview rounds. First stop was Tucker Carlson, of course, where he accused Joe Biden, when he was running for the job he now holds, of “defaming” him by linking him with the people now cheering his getting off scot-free.

On Tuesday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy tried to come for the president, or at least the White House press secretary. He asked Jen Psaki, his frequent sparring partner, if Biden ever planned to apologize, specifically but not exclusively for a video he released before he won the 2020 election where he grouped him in with other violent militia and white supremacist groups who terrorized the country then, and now.

Psaki began by contextualizing Doocy’s question. “This is about a campaign video released last year that used President Trump’s own words during a debate as he refused to condemn white supremacists and militia groups,” she said. “And President Trump, as you know from history, as many of you covered, didn’t just refuse to condemn militia groups on the debate stage, he actively encouraged them throughout his presidency.

“So what we’ve seen are the tragic consequence of that — when people think it’s okay to take the law into their own hands instead of allowing law enforcement to do its job,” she continued. “And the president believes in condemning hatred, division, and violence. That’s exactly what was done in that video.

When Doocy asked about another similar comment Biden had made about Rittenhouse, she pointed to the notorious photo he posed for alongside members of the Proud Boys, all of them flashing a white power symbol, Rittenhouse included.

In an interview with NewsNation released Tuesday, Rittenhouse placed the blame for that photo on his then-lawyers, including pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Lin Wood, whom he later fired. He said that they’d put him “in situations like that with people I don’t agree with,” that he didn’t know flashing OK had become a white power symbol, and that he had assumed those in the photo with him “were just a bunch of, like, construction dudes based on how they looked.”

Meanwhile, Rittenhouse’s current lawyer has slammed those on the right who’ve tried to exploit Rittenhouse’s case for personal and financial gain, including Matt Gaetz. He was also irritated with Tucker Carlson, but not enough, apparently, to stop his client from making him his first interview.

(Via Raw Story)

Tuesday night’s matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks won’t feature LeBron James. For the first time in James’ career, the future Hall of Fame inductee was suspended for a basketball game following a scuffle in Detroit in which he caught Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart, who started bleeding and lost his cool.

James tried to get Stewart’s number to apologize, but at the end of the day, both guys got suspended — Stewart’s reaction meant that he got one more game tacked onto his. Despite this, Stewart got some support on Inside the NBA from Shaquille O’Neal, who thought his reaction was the sort of thing he had to do in that situation.

“LeBron’s been in the league, what 18, 17 years? Shaq said. “He’s never been that guy. When you’re going strength against strength, and you’re stronger, sometimes, you gotta put that extra uh in there. As he put the uh into him, a guy got hit in the face. Now, Stewart reacted like he was supposed to react. You hit somebody in the face…”

Kenny Smith came in and said he didn’t have to do that, but Shaq had his back, saying, “somebody hits you in the face, you either gotta hit ’em back, or act like you wanna hit ’em back, it’s the only two options.”

As soon as she picked up a violin for the first time, Yuli knew it was the instrument for her. The musician has been playing violin since a young age, but her passion for the music meant she was the kind of kid who never had to be told to practice. Now, years later, Yuli tells Uproxx how she hopes to defy expectations and show that violin “is for everybody.”

For Uproxx’s New Normalists series presented by Instagram, Yuli explains that she began playing violin by accident. Hailing from Detroit, she got involved in her public school’s music program in second grade where she was presented with the option between several different instruments. Yuli was revolted by wind instruments upon seeing their spit valves, so she instead picked up a violin as her instrument of choice.

Though she’s been playing since elementary school, Yuli knows that people don’t expect her to be a talented violinist upon seeing her. “When most people think of violin, viola, they think it’s a certain class that you can’t be a part of,” she told Uproxx. “I’m a Black woman, I’m playing this instrument. Maybe you haven’t seen this but you’re going to enjoy it and you’re going to feel connected to it. I want to show people that this is for everybody.”

As a seasoned musician, Yuli is most proud of her craft when she plays for kids. “I love to make them aware that there are people who look like them who can play these instruments and do it well,” she said. Though she does enjoy “changing people’s perspective” with her craft, she always remains her most authentic self — no matter what.

Watch Yuli detail her passion for violin in Uproxx’s New Normalists series above.

Eight years ago, florist Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richmond, Washington refused to serve a gay couple, Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed, for their wedding. The couple was deeply hurt by her decision because Ingersoll had been a long-time client of the flower shop.

“After Curt and I were turned away from our local flower shop, we canceled the plans for our dream wedding because we were afraid it would happen again. We had a small ceremony at home instead,” said Robert Ingersoll in a statement.

The couple sued the shop with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union under Washington’s anti-discrimination law. The rule states that businesses that are open to the general public cannot refuse to serve someone based on their sexual orientation. The law specifies that this form of discrimination is illegal even if it’s based on someone’s sincere religious beliefs.

Stutzman, who was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) claimed that her “religious freedom” granted her the right to discriminate against the couple and that being forced to sell flowers to them violated her freedom of speech.

Barronelle Stutzman, the Washington State florist who was sued over refusing to serve a gay coupleu2019s wedding, has withdrawn her appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.https://www.advocate.com/news/2021/11/18/washington-florist-settles-gay-couple-ends-court-battle?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=newsu00a0u2026

— The Advocate (@The Advocate)
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According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the organization has a long history of promoting homophobia:

“The Alliance Defending Freedom is a legal advocacy and training group that has supported the recriminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ adults in the U.S. and criminalization abroad; has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad; has contended that LGBTQ people are more likely to engage in pedophilia; and claims that a “homosexual agenda” will destroy Christianity and society.”

The case went all the way to the state’s Supreme Court who unanimously ruled against Stutzman.

The Court believes that selling flowers to a gay couple for their wedding wasn’t an endorsement of same-sex marriage. “As Stutzman acknowledged at deposition, providing flowers for a wedding between Muslims would not necessarily constitute an endorsement of Islam, nor would providing flowers for an atheist couple endorse atheism.”

However, the fight didn’t stop there. Stutzman filed with the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded the case back to the state of Washinton to take another look. A year later, the state reaffirmed its decision. Then, the case was sent back to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court denied a petition by Stutzman and her lawyers in July of 2021, over the dissent of conservative judges Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito.

Earlier this month, the court battle came to an end when Stutzman agreed to withdraw her petition and agreed to pay $5,000 to Ingersoll and Freed. The couple has agreed to donate the money to an LGBT youth charity.

Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene’s Flowers said she will turn the “struggle for freedom over to others” after settling with Curt Freed and Robert Ingersoll.https://www.huffpost.com/entry/washington-state-florist-same-sex-wedding-settlement_n_61983c8be4b0451e54fa20cd?d_id=2859022&ncid_tag=tweetlnkushpmg00000016&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=us_politicsu00a0u2026

— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPost Politics)
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Her lawyers say that Stutzman is “at peace” with the settlement because she can “finally retire with her conscience intact, and she knows that the legal effort to protect the artistic freedoms of creative professionals” will continue in other challenges.

The couple hopes that their hard-fought battle means that other same-sex couples won’t have to endure the same discrimination they did.

“We hope this decision sends a message to other LGBTQ people that no one should have to experience the hurt that we did,” Ingersoll in a statement.

Stutzman fought against providing flowers for a same-sex wedding because she believed doing so violated her religious beliefs. But does she understand that her high-profile court cases stretching over eight years probably did much more harm than good for her faith?

The number of people who identify as Christian has been on a steep decline for the past ten years in America and a major reason is the religion’s views on LGBTQ issues.

If more people went out on a limb to promote the ideas of peace and love that were at the core of Christ’s teachings, they’d bring a lot more people to the faith than by making sacrifices to promote intolerance.

For the last year, Mike Lindell has been like one of those end-of-the-world doomsayers, who boldly pick a date as the planet’s last then helplessly watch as the day uneventfully passes. The troubled pillow salesman has kept swearing his favorite president-turned-resort wedding speechgiver would be magically reinstated in the White House. And so far he’s been wrong, about that and about whatever he’s been trying to claim in incoherent “documentaries” and disastrous symposia.

Now another professed deadline is, as of this writing, hours from passing: Lindell swore that on Tuesday, Nov. 23, he would file a shocking complaint alleging election fraud in a year-old election to the Supreme Court. Like his previous promises, that didn’t happen. But he has a good reason for why he didn’t inundate the nation’s top justices with his conspiracy theories. And, of course, it involves another conspiracy theory.

According to The Daily Beast, Lindell informed those checking out his daily livestream on Monday that a massive GOP plot, led by RNC chairperson Ronna McDaniel, kept him from filing the Supreme Court complaint.

“We believe that they have reached out to multiple [attorneys general] and put pressure on them, not to sign the Supreme Court complaint,” Lindell alleged. “How dare the RNC try and stop this case from getting to the Supreme Court. Shame on you, RNC! You are worse than Fox [News] now!” (Lindell is also mad at Fox News, who he claims is trying to silence him, and he’s reportedly planning to protest their headquarters.)

Part of the problem, according to Lindell, is he was having trouble getting enough signatures for the complaint. He claimed numerous Republican attorneys general want to sign but need time beyond the established deadline.

But he had a Plan B. “We do have a copy of the complaint,” Lindell said, revealing that he may simply wind up making it public on Thanksgiving Day, while the nation is eating. Once people see the contents of the filing — which would no doubt be far more convincing than previous attempts at arguing for massive voter fraud in an election that occurred over a year ago — he might finally be able to get the required signatures.

Lindell made these allegations while aboard his private plane, dealing with poor WiFi and loud engine noise. Where was he going? On a Hail Mary sprint across five states to get their respective attorneys general for signatures to the filing whose deadline he’s about to miss.

Since Donald Trump lost re-election in early November of the year 2020, Lindell has devoted a large amount of his time and his finances to arguing that it was stolen by current president Joe Biden and a large cabal. It’s led to billion-dollar lawsuits, the loss of revenue by retailers that don’t wish to be associated with him, and an ocean of flop sweat as he’s manically issued impenetrable claims of voter fraud that even he, after all this time, can’t prove exists. Hope it’s been worth it, whatever “it” is.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Things have been a little tense at Fox News. First top brass required that its employees get COVID vaccines (or negative tests), all while hosts like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham railed against them on air. Then Carlson went and released Patriot Purge, a “documentary” series that peddled conspiracy theories and other nonsense about the Capitol siege. That was a bridge too far for some of their relatively more serious colleagues. Two longtime contributors quit in disgust, while a handful — including Chris Wallace and Bret Baier — went so far as to voice concerns to top brass.

What Wallace and Baier objected to has not been made public. But the latter elaborated a bit when he joined fellow Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade on the latter’s radio show. Kilmeade, of the morning show Fox & Friends, asked Baier (via Mediaite), host of the more hard-hitting Special Report, about the departure of contributors Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg, who declared Carlson’s lie-strewn series the last straw.

“I think it was a tough choice but one that they made on principle,” Baier said, though he didn’t go much further, saying he was “going to let them speak for themselves.” Baier did say that, personally, he’s interested in hearing “all kinds of voices: left, right, Trump, whoever, supporters.”

Kilmeade didn’t let it go, though. He tried to semi-defend Carlson’s offending program, saying it had an “interesting perspective” on Jan. 6. “I didn’t get hurt by it. I didn’t get damaged by it,” he informed Baier, then asked him, “Were you bothered by it? Because that’s the reporting.”

What followed was a loud sigh and an awkward pause. Eventually he simply told him, “Brian, I don’t want to go down this road.” He told him “You know, I mean, there were concerns about it definitely,” presumably about Carlson’s “reporting.” He danced around the subject, cryptically saying “there were concerns about it, definitely,” and pointing out that “the news division did what we do we do when we covered the story.”

In any case, fun times over at the station that airs the guy who tells his viewers to harass people wearing masks.

You can hear Kilmeade and Baier’s uncomfortable exchange below.

(Via Mediaite)

Ready the monologue and cue that iconic “DUN DUN” — we now know who the first returning Law & Order cast member is going to be and are that much closer to the series’ big revival. After nearly 12 years away from the program, Anthony Anderson has officially confirmed he will be returning to the hit NBC legal drama to reprise his role as Detective Kevin Bernard, Variety reports. The Black-ish star joins Burn Notice alum Jeffrey Donovan and Hannibal’s Hugh Dancy as the third announced actor set in to star in the upcoming revival and has reportedly signed on for a one-season contractual commitment with no word on if he intends to stay beyond the show’s highly-anticipated season 21.

At the time of its abrupt cancellation back in 2010, Anderson was among one of the many main cast members on the celebrated police procedural. In addition to Anderson, Jeremy Sisto, S. Epatha Merkerson, Alana de la Garza, Sam Waterston, and Linus Roache were all also season 20 Law & Order mainstays, though over the course of the series’ whopping 20 seasons, several other cast members also rose to prominence and could return as dark horse fan favorites — such as Chris Noth. So far, there has been no word on whether or not any of these actors are set to return. However, the upcoming revival has secured some additional star power with Donovan and Dancy, who will be playing an NYPD detective and assistant district attorney respectively.

Announced back in September, the upcoming Law & Order revival picks up where the show’s season 20 left off after it was suddenly canceled. The Dick Wolf series is set to premiere on February 24, 2022, and will once again air on NBC at 7 PM CT each Thursday, with its popular offshoots — Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime — directly following.

My daughter and I were at the park last week — running, jumping, chasing ducks, and playing tag — when the unthinkable happened: when she was mocked and teased for the first time.

The very first time.

Of course, my initial reaction was full of hurt and sadness, anger and rage. I wanted to swoop in and hug my daughter. I wanted to swoop in and protect my daughter, and I wanted to go full on mama bear on the little twerp who thought it was okay to make fun of girls because she (and her friends) were just that: young women. Young ladies. Creatures of a different sex. But my mind told me I shouldn’t. My mind told me I need to sit back and calm down, and my mind forced me to check myself. It told me to stop and pause and leave my insecurities at the door. Because while I hate to see my daughter struggling — while I hate the fact that my sweet, innocent, kind-hearted, and free-spirited 4-year-old girl is already experiencing feelings of disappointment, rejection, judgement, and being let down — I know that, in order to grow, I must let her face these things. I know that I must let her feel these things, and I know that if I want her to become a well-rounded human being, I will have to let hurt. I will have to let her cry.

So I stepped back, stood by, and waited.

I tapped my foot, bit my nails, picked at the skin between my thumb and my forefinger, and waited.

And while my daughter didn’t run away, nor did she cry, she was visibly frustrated. She was upset and, well, she was annoyed. But just as I was getting ready to speak up, moments before I stepped forward to yell her name, she decided to say something. She decided to tell this boy he was being “mean” and “not nice.” And while my daughter, my 4-year-old little girl, handled herself well — while she handled herself with poise and confidence, self-respect and pride (well that, a low-blown swipe at his face) — I was still rattled because my gut told me I needed to do more.

Because inside, I yearned to do more.

Of course, I know this desire to “save her” and “help her” comes from my own painful childhood, i.e. I was a quiet girl. A shy girl, and a girl who ran from bullies, literally. I once ran through a row of bushes and hid behind a tree. And I always cowered. For years, I swallowed my voice and my words. But now? Now I want to scream. Now I want to yell. Now I want to advocate and intervene on her behalf. But I know that is not what she needs. I know that that is not what I need, and while I want to protect my daughter from the world — while I want to shield her from the hurt and sadness, from anger, fear, disappointment, and pain — I cannot because doing so would be a disservice.

I need to “help her help herself.”

Make no mistake: I know not everyone will agree with my parenting approach, i.e. I know it sounds distant and callous, cold and harsh but I’m not pushing her in front of traffic and seeing if she runs. I’m not dropping her off in the woods and seeing if she can find her way home, and I’m not “tossing her to the wolves” and then traipsing off in the other direction while she wallows in sorrow, in pain, or in despair. I am simply standing back and looking on. I am guiding her and advising her from the sidelines. Which, I assure you, is harder than you know.

But the “lessons” don’t end there. You see, we talk about these incidents long after they end. We talk about these encounters long after they end, and we talk everything and anything from what she could have done or said to her feelings, her thoughts, and (yes) asking for help. I explain to her that, sometimes, she can and should ask for help and remind her that there is no shame in doing so. Even Mommy’s and Daddy’s need guidance from time to time.

So yes, while watching her flail and — at times — fall is sad, heartbreaking, and full of tears, I firmly believe it is one of those tough aspects of my job. Of my role as “mom.” Because, as my parent, my job isn’t to numb her feelings — or protect her from her feelings — it is to teach her how to acknowledge them, how to cope with them, and how to move through them.

I need to help her develop the resilience or self-confidence she needs to take with her through life.