Category: News

Young Dolph’s tragic death yesterday was not only a loss for the music community, but also for his hometown of Memphis. FOX13 Memphis noted yesterday, “Young Dolph is well known for handing out turkeys around Thanksgiving in Memphis through the Memphis Athletic Ministries charity, speaking to school children, and donating money to his former high school Hamilton High School.” Furthermore, his annual Thanksgiving turkey giveaway was apparently supposed to take place yesterday afternoon at 2 p.m., FOX13’s Joey Sulipeck reported.

Dolph’s turkey giveaways in previous years took place at Memphis Athletic Ministries, the website for which notes it “exists to coach, grow, and lead the youth of Memphis by helping them discover their identity in Christ and their purpose in the community.”

During his 2018 giveaway, Dolph told Memphis’ ABC24, “This is the holidays. There’s more to it than just giving away turkeys. I’m here to flood the area and the city with positive vibes.” He added, “Ain’t nothing like family. When you come to Memphis, you get the family vibe. All of my partners, friends, they’re from my neighborhood. Everyone here is for the support, and it’s really just about capturing the positive vibe around the holidays.”

Jermia Jerdine, a beneficiary of the event, also noted, “He just able to give back to others. That really means something to this community. One thing he strives to do is to give back and be a blessing to others.”

In 2019, ABC24 noted that that year’s turkey giveaway was the rapper’s fifth.

Unlike Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee, which makes perfect sense, I’ll admit to being skeptical when I heard that Lilly James was cast as Pamela Anderson in Hulu’s Pam and Tommy. “The English actress? From Downton Abbey and Cinderella?” But my doubt started to disappear when I saw the first photos from the series, and it’s gone for good now that the trailer is out. Lily James is Pamela Anderson.

In Pam and Tommy, Stan and James, who spent “anywhere from three to five hours [on] hair and makeup” every day, play the original Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox, whose sex tape is stolen by Seth Rogen’s greasy-haired Rand Gauthier. “In some ways, it’s very similar to I, Tonya with the surprise of it,” director Craig Gillespie said about the series. “There’s the victimization of the media and what happened with that tape that was such an affront to them, and how it really ultimately severely damaged their personal life and her career. There’s this situation with the public who snicker and go, ‘Oh, yeah, I know that story. They sold it.’ But people just don’t know the story.”

They don’t know the story (yet), but they do know James’ transformation into Pamela Anderson (with a voice like Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn) is incredible.

Pam and Tommy premieres on February 2, 2022.

Over the years—and the Donald Trump years in particular—Republicans have done and said a lot of bizarre things to excuse a fellow GOPer’s bad behavior. But Congressman Andy Biggs just upped the ante in a major way.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives gathered to vote on whether to formally censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) for tweeting out an anime video of him violently murdering fellow Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden—a video that saw Gosar’s own sister call him out as a “sociopath.” But on Wednesday, many of Gosar’s Republican colleagues came to his defense, including Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, and fellow Arizonian Biggs, who seemed to maybe be making the argument that the video was not offensive because it was anime, and we should believe him because he lived in Japan? The real “oh, no he didn’t!” moment came when Biggs proceeded to make his argument… in Japanese.

“I’ve lived in Japan,” Biggs explained. “I’ve lived in Japan!,” he repeated again, with gusto. “For several years. I speak Japanese. I read and write Japanese. This is an anime. [Insert Japanese phrase that we won’t even attempt to spell.] Highly popular. Stylized. Intended to demonstrate the alienation people feel, particularly young people, in their cultures.”

What does any of this have to do with a 62-year-old conspiracy theorist with purported ties to the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers sharing a video in which he murders two of his co-workers? Your guess is as good as ours. How do you say “But I have a Japanese friend!” in Japanese?

(Via Acyn)

Dave Chappelle’s The Closer controversy shows no real signs of resolution. He continues to crack trans jokes onstage, weeks after his “final” Netflix comedy special included his declaration that he is “Team TERF,” meaning that he agrees with JK Rowling’s trans-exclusionary radical feminist position — a stance that spurred an employee walkout. Recently, Chappelle’s alma mater, Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Georgetown, pumped the brakes on renaming a theater after the comedian (after they already quietly cancelled a fundraiser for the same venue).

At the time of the brake pumping, Duke Ellington had responded to student “concerns” while declaring that they hoped to carefully consider these concerns, lest they squander “a missed opportunity for a teachable moment.” Well, Dave heard all about the disinviting, and he responded during his recent Indianapolis show. Essentially, he’s joking about it, and it’s coming off like the way that Vince Vaughn’s Swingers character got kicked out of a diner and then claimed, “I would never eat here anyway.”

Via IndyStar, Chappelle said, “They’re canceling stuff I didn’t even want to do.” More:

He made further light of the situation by saying his high school disinvited him from a planned fundraiser, lamenting that he “can’t even raise money for children.”

“They’re canceling stuff I didn’t even want to do.”

“If you think you’re mad at me — remember, I didn’t disinvite you from anything.

During this show, Chappelle also claimed that trans people aren’t really mad at him over The Closer. “If anyone says trans people are angry at me, they are wrong,” he asserted before continuing his trans jokes. “And if you see (a trans person), buy them a coffee or lipstick or whatever they want and tell them Dave Chappelle sent you.”

Previously, the Washington Post noted that Chappelle described the theater renaming as “the most significant honor of my life.” After Duke Ellington’s decision to postpone the renaming, Chappelle rep Carla Sims released a statement that indicated that Chappelle “supports the school and any effort to contribute to open conversations vs. cancellations.” His onstage declarations, however, aren’t as cooperative, and in fact, it sounds like he’s pushing back by now claiming that trans people aren’t mad at him. Whereas last week in Des Moines, Iowa, he told his live audience, “Boy, I went too far with The Closer. The trans always get mad, but this time I did it.”

(Via IndyStar & Washington Post)

Taylor Swift has done some genre- and mood-hopping over the course of her past few albums: Reputation was edgier than usual for Swift, Lover brought things into more peaceful pop territory, and she well full-blown folk with Folklore and Evermore. She has been focused on her Taylor’s Version albums this year, as she has so far released re-recorded editions of Fearless and Red. The Taylor’s Version albums have had plenty of bonus tracks but now Swift is offering even more Red-related goodies, as she just dropped a “Sad Girl Autumn Version” of “All Too Well.”

This recording is based on the ten-minute version instead of the standard five-minute version, and aesthetically, it’s a return to her Folklore sound. Here, the track is an extended piano ballad, which makes sense given that Swift recorded the song with Folklore collaborators Aaron Dessner and Jonathan Low at Dessner’s Long Pond studio, where Folkore and Evermore were recorded.

Swift wrote when sharing the track, “One of the saddest songs I’ve ever written just got sadder. Drove up to Long Pond Studios to record All Too Well (Sad Girl Autumn Version) with the besties [Aaron Dessner and Jonathan Low].”

Listen to “All Too Well (Sad Girl Autumn Version)” above.

Red (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic. Get it here.

One of pop’s most notable couples has called it quits. After two years of dating, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello announced that their coupling was uncoupled in a joint statement that they shared on their Instagram Stories. “Hey guys, we’ve decided to end our romantic relationship but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever,” their posts read. “We started our relationship as best friends and will continue to be best friends. We so appreciate your support from the beginning and moving forward.”

Mendes and Cabello first met back in 2015 when Mendes served as an opener for Cabello’s group Fifth Harmony, which she left at the end of 2016. The duo released their first song together, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” in November 2015 and it entered the top 20 of the singles chart. Nearly four years later, they reconnected for “Señorita,” which hit No. 1 on the charts. The record gave them an American Music Award for collaboration of the year and a Grammy nomination for best pop duo/group performance. Shortly after “Señorita” was released, Mendes and Cabello confirmed their relationship by sharing a kiss in an Instagram post.

As for their personal careers, Cabello is wrapping up her third album, Familia, which is led by her summer single “Don’t Go Yet.” Mendes, on the other hand, will kick off his Wonder: The World Tour in March.

You can read the message from Cabello and Mendes in the post above.

Sebastian Stan’s so-called “Sunday workout” paid off in spades, it seems. We’re finally getting to see him in action as Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee alongside Lily James’ Pamela Anderson in the first trailer for Hulu’s Pam and Tommy limited series. Granted, the preview pictures that we’ve seen already are pretty great, but still images didn’t quite breathe as much life into the doomed couple as this first trailer does. Hot damn, these two really went to town to portray their tabloid-esque escapades, which culminated in the theft and release of their, uh, adult oriented “home movie.”

That little ditty got released into the wild by a disgruntled electrician, Rand Gauthier, who was all upset about a contracting bill, as portrayed by a beardless Seth Rogen. And oh boy, did he ever get the party-in-the-back vibe going with that mullet, a hairstyle that’s shared by Nick Offerman’s porn-producing Milton Berle (a.k.a., “Uncle Miltie”) as they begin their stealthy distribution scheme. Those inner workings are discovered by Pam and Tommy at about the same time that the general public became aware.

The limited series — and thank goodness this won’t simply be a feature length film — co-stars Taylor Schilling, Andrew Dice Clay, Pepi Sonuga, Spencer Granese, and Mozhan Marnò. Sure, this project looks like the ideal bingewatch, but some patience will be necessary because Hulu will release the first three episodes in one chunk and go from there. From the looks of this glorious trailer, it’ll be worth the wait.

Pam and Tommy will debut on Feb. 2, 2022.

On Wednesday, the music world was shocked by the news that Memphis rapper Young Dolph was shot and killed in his hometown of Memphis. He was gunned down outside of Makeda’s Butter Cookies on the city’s Airways Boulevard. Shortly after the shooting, reports arrived that Prive Restaurant, which is owned by Dolph’s longtime foe and fellow Memphis native Yo Gotti, had been shot up. This was quickly denied by police officers, but they still took the step to briefly shut down the restaurant after the shooting. Yasser A. Kishk of Memphis’ Fox 13 confirmed the news and revealed it came as a result of Dolph and Gotti’s past interactions.

In a tweet, Kishk wrote Memphis police “shut down Prive and businesses nearby as a precaution since @YoGotti has connections with the business and past interactions with now dead rapper Young Dolph.” It’s unknown if any threats were directed at Gotti or the business.

Dolph and Gotti’s beef goes back to 2016 when Dolph released his mixtape King Of Memphis, a title that Gotti and other Memphis rappers took as an insult. Afterward, the duo traded shots at each other through songs, on social media, and in interviews. Its peak came in 2017 when Gotti’s associates, which included rapper Blac Youngsta, were arrested in connection to a shooting of Young Dolph. Over a hundred shots were reportedly fired at Dolph’s SUV, which was outfitted with bulletproof panels. Youngsta and Gotti’s other associates were later released due to a lack of evidence. Police have yet to mention anyone as a suspect in Dolph’s death.

On Wednesday, Matt Gaetz spent a chunk of his day on the defense. He wasn’t defending himself, despite spending the last year or so being under federal investigation for his ties to a sex trafficking ring. Instead he defended a politician who shared a video of him murdering a colleague and a president, plus a teenager who killed two people with a semiautomatic rifle.

During the afternoon, the beleaguered Florida representative took to the House floor in an unsuccessful attempt to keep Arizona’s Paul Gosar from being censured. He compared the violent anime video he shared on social media, involving the killing of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joe Biden, to a mere cartoon. He invoked “the Wile E. Coyote.” It was weird. (Although it wasn’t as weird as Lauren Boebert’s pro-Gosar rant.)

But it wasn’t as weird as when he went on Newsmax (of course) later that night. He was there to speak about the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teen who last summer crossed state lines and wound up shooting three protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, killing two. The jury is in the middle of deliberation following a clownshow of a trial, which saw not-quite-convincing crying jags and an unhinged judge with a questionable ringtone. But Gaetz is hoping for the best.

“He is not guilty,” Gaetz told host Grant Stinchfield, who he thanked for saying nice things about Rittenhouse. “He deserves a not guilty verdict, and I sure hope he gets it because you know what? Kyle Rittenhouse would probably make a pretty good congressional intern. We may reach out to him and see if he’d be interested in helping the country in additional ways.”

Stinchfield agreed, but called dibs on the young man who, even if found not guilty by a jury picked out of a raffle, still killed two people with a big gun. “I want him here at Newsmax,” Gaetz said. “Maybe he can be a Stinchfield intern too.”

So there you go. No matter where the verdict goes, Rittenhouse has a long life ahead of him.

(Via Mediaite)

Cozz has gone almost four years without releasing an album. His last one, Effected, arrived at the beginning of 2018, and since then it’s been mostly loose singles and guest appearances, like “LamboTruck” with Reason, “Don’t Hit Me Right Now” with Bas, Buddy, Guapdad 4000, and Baby Tate, and “Eye To Eye” with fellow Dreamville rapper Lute. Thankfully, Cozz seems to be getting back in the swing, returning with his latest single, “Addicted,” and its accompanying video.

On the track, which Cozz described as a “quick joint with some choice words about a few of my addictions,” Cozz gets vulnerable as he opens up about his many vices, including women on social media, drinking, and his ex. “Ditching my addictions is like switching my pigment,” he raps. “Sh*t if ya got any advice I’m here to listen, we all got plenty of vices and mine no different / Unless we talking be women who grew up without they fathers / So they addictions attention you know.” The video tracks a day in his life filled with said vices.

Prior to “Addicted,” Cozz expressed his gratitude for living to see another day in his video for “Fortunate,” which sees Cozz walk away from a head-on collision that left him with some cuts and bruises.

You can watch the video for “Addicted” above.

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