Category: News

This article originally appeared on 04.15.16

What are women up to when no one is watching?

Artwork courtesy of Sally Nixon, used with permission.

---

Well, take a look at Sally Nixon’s illustrations and you’ll see.

The subjects in her artwork aren’t aware we’re looking at them.

And that’s the point. They’re living in a world free from the pressures that exist in the real one.

“I like drawing girls doing their everyday routine — just hanging out, not worried about what others are thinking,” Nixon told Upworthy. “They’re usually alone or with other girls. Their guard is down.”

Editor’s note: An image below contains partial nudity.

Capturing her subjects in this liberated light wasn’t intentional at first, she explained.

But when she started a 365-day challenge last April to create one art piece a day, the work started reflecting the nuances of her own life away from prying eyes — “I was kind of like, ‘Oh, I’m brushing my teeth, so I’ll draw that.'” — and a theme began to form.

Her illustrations show how women look, away from the exhausting world where they’re often judged more harshly than men.

You also might notice none of the girls in her illustrations are smiling.

According to Nixon, that’s a deliberate choice.

“I don’t sit around smiling to myself,” Nixon said, noting the double standard that exists in thinking women should always appear cheerful.

“I’ve been told, ‘You need to smile more.’ It’s so infuriating. I wanted to show the way girls actually look, comfortably.”

The theme of friendship is also an important one in Nixon’s drawings.

“I have four older sisters, so female friendship has always been a big part of my life,” Nixon told The Huffington Post. “You gotta have someone to talk about periods with, and dudes just don’t get it.”

Creating relatable scenes was key to Nixon, too — from the details of women’s lives to the physical shapes of their bodies.

“It’s important that the women I draw aren’t rail thin with huge boobs,” Nixon said. “I think there are enough images of bodies like that out in the world. The ladies I draw typically have small-ish, droopy breasts and thick thighs. They’re kind of lumpy but in an attractive way. Just like real people.”

The women in Nixon’s work aren’t real, but she hopes their stories are.

“One of my absolute favorite comments [on my work] is, ‘Oh my God, it’s me!'” she explained of the depictions.

“There’s a little bit of beauty in [everyday life] and I wanted to bring that out.”

You can view more of Nixon’s artwork on her website and check out her prints for purchase on Etsy.

Chicago rapper Saba didn’t take long after announcing his third album to follow up with the dates for his upcoming world tour in support of the album, the Back Home Tour. The tour will launch in March 2022 in Europe and the UK before coming to the US in April.

Saba’s tour dates in Europe will be supported by a pair of local artists: English rapper/signer Enny, and Dutch-Sudanese R&B singer Gaidaa. When he returns to North America, Saba’s openers will be Dreamville rapper Lute (Saba appears on Lute’s new album Gold Mouf) and the Los Angeles singer Amindi. Tickets will go on sale at 10 am local time on November 12 at sabapivot.com. You can catch Saba onstage before the tour at Day N Vegas this Saturday, November 13.

See below for the full tour dates.

3/1 — Dublin @ Academy
3/3 — Manchester @ Manchester Club Academy*
3/5 — London @ Forum*
3/7 — Birmingham @ Institute 2*
3/9 — Brussels @ Botanique / Orangerie
3/10 — Cologne Luxor
3/11 — Paris @ FVTVR
3/13 — Zurich @ Dynamo
3/14 — Vienna @ Grelle Forelle
3/16 — Milan @ Circolo Magnolia
3/18 — Amsterdam @ Melkweg Main Hall
3/19 — Hamburg @ Gruenspan
3/20 — Berlin @ Yaam
3/22 — Copenhagen @ Amager Bio
3/23 — Oslo @ Parkteateret
3/24 — Stockholm @ Debaser

North America Dates with Lute and Amindi
4/11 — Phoenix @ Van Buren
4/14 — Dallas @ House of Blues
4/15 — Houston @ House of Blues
4/16 — Austin @ Emo’s
4/19 — Orlando @ Celine
4/20 — Atlanta @ Centerstage
4/21 — Charlotte @ Underground
4/22 — Pittsburgh @ Roxian Theatre
4/25 — Brooklyn @ Brooklyn Steel
4/27 — Washington D.C. @ Fillmore
4/28 — Philadelphia @ TLA
4/29 — Boston @ Paradise
5/1 — Toronto @ Phoenix
5/3 — Detroit @ El Club
5/6 — Minneapolis @ First Avenue
5/7 — Lawrence @ Granada
5/9 — Denver @ Cervantes
5/12 — Seattle @ Showbox
5/13 — Portland @ Crystal
5/15 — Vancouver @ Vogue
5/19 — San Francisco @ Regency
5/20 — Santa Cruz @ Catalyst
5/21 — Los Angeles @ Novo

On the morning of January 20, just hours before Joe Biden was set to take the oath of office, Donald Trump reportedly threw a wild tantrum and, along with his son Donald Trump Jr., threatened to quit the Republican Party. Not only that, but the father and son brain trust were vowing to start their own political party, which would have immediate and dire consequences for the GOP whose voters were deeply loyal to Trump.

This latest revelation about the meltdowns occurring in Trump’s final days in office come from a new excerpt from Jonathan Karl’s new book, Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, which shows a tense (and pouty) exchange between Trump and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. According to Karl’s book, McDaniel had called the former president to wish him a cordial farewell, but the situation quickly went south as Trump declared “I’m done” and announced he was quitting the GOP, which would “lose forever without me.” Via ABC News:

Trump’s attitude was that if he had lost, he wanted everybody around him to lose as well, Karl writes. According to a source who witnessed the conversation, Trump was talking as if he viewed the destruction of the Republican Party as a punishment to those party leaders who had betrayed him — including those few who voted to impeach him and the much larger group he believed didn’t fight hard enough to overturn the election in his favor.

“This is what Republicans deserve for not sticking up for me,” Trump told McDaniel, according to the book.

While the tense standoff seemingly favored Trump, Karl writes that the RNC did not take the threat lightly and fired back with threats of its own that got Trump back in line. Namely the RNC threatened to stop paying the legal bills for his numerous election challenges and take control of a very lucrative asset: Trump’s campaign mailing list, which party officials value at over $100 million.

For the record, when reached for comment, both Trump and McDaniel denied the story. McDaniel said she’s never threatened Trump with anything, and you’ll never guess what phrase he used in his response: “fake news.”

(Via ABC News)

Is it sad to get a Cameo for yourself? Probably. But I would absolutely buy one if Matt Berry was on there, if only to hear him say the word “lasagna.”

“Lasagna” is already a funny word, but the What We Do in the Shadows star saying “lasagna”? That’s worth the price of a Cameo right there. It’s also, unfortunately, the only way we’ll get to hear him say it: Chris Pratt was announced as the voice of America’s favorite Mondays-hating, teddy bear-loving, Nermal-mailing cat in the Garfield movie.

This did not sit well with much of the internet (it didn’t help that Pratt was also picked to play Mario in Nintendo’s movie set in the Mushroom Kingdom). But rather than complain, Twitter user @IanDouglasTerry was proactive and came up with an alternate choice. “Hear me out… Matt Berry should be the voice of Garfield and I’m going to do everything in my power to make it happen,” he tweeted. The tweet went viral and inspired a TikTok from @obeanone (@BenKearns6 on Twitter) of what Berry-as-Garfield would sound like.

So good. The campaign to get Berry as Garfield and say “lasagna” has begun.

Pratt already has a Marvel franchise — let Berry play Garfield (and be in The White Lotus season two and host a celebrity cruise and do whatever else he wants).

The Boston Celtics look like a team that could use a shake up after a slow start to the 2021-22 season, while the Philadelphia 76ers continue to be a team in search of a way to satiate Ben Simmons’ public request for a trade. According to a new report, the two franchises might turn to one another for a solution.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Celtics and Sixers have reportedly been in talks with one another over a potential move that would send Simmons to Beantown, although nothing has gotten too far down the road yet. The catch: If it were to happen, Boston would have to part with one of its young All-Star players.

The Boston Celtics have engaged in conversations with the 76ers revolving around Simmons and expressed interest in the 6-foot-11 guard, sources tell The Athletic. Talks have been fluid with no traction as of yet, those sources say. Any potential Simmons deal with the Celtics would have to include All-Star forward Jaylen Brown, an ascending talent who is in the midst of another career season, averaging 25.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Boston finds itself sitting at 4-6 to start the season, the only team in their division with a losing record at the moment. Like Simmons, Brown was a first-round pick in the 2016 NBA Draft who has spent the entirety of his career with the same team. He’s found ways to improve his game throughout his career — he made his first All-Star team last season and kicked off this year with a career-best 46 points in the team’s double overtime loss to the New York Knicks — but was recently called out by Marcus Smart after a loss.

Celtics coach Ime Udoka has a history with Simmons, as he was an assistant coach for the Sixers during the 2019-20 campaign.

With its pandemic-delayed premiere now just a month away, Sony kicked the marketing train for Spider-Man: No Way Home into high gear on Sunday night by dropping a brand new poster that’s filled with some particularly interesting details. As the first trailer revealed back in August, No Way Home is going to put Tom Holland’s Spider-Man through the paces after he asks Doctor Strange for a favor that seemingly cracks open the multiverse. While that trailer didn’t hold back on revealing Alfred Molina’s Dr. Octopus (lot of doctors in this one), which officially confirmed that Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man universe is in the mix. And, now, we’ve got confirmation of another Tobey villain thanks to the new poster, which Holland shared below:

Yes, that’s a tiny Green Goblin flying in the background, looking exactly like Willem Dafoe’s classic take on the character from the original Spider-Man film. But, apparently, that’s not the only secret tucked into the new poster. Over on Twitter, the official No Way Home account told Spidey fans to “go ahead, zoom in on those details,” and here’s what they found:

Naturally, it didn’t take long for things to devolve into hilarious chaos:

But, clearly, this is the biggest reveal from the new No Way Home poster. Big SPOILER ALERT for this one:

Spider-Man: No Way Home swings exclusively into theaters on December 17.

(Via Tom Holland on Instagram)

This past weekend was supposed to be a highlight of the year for Travis Scott, but instead, it became one of the biggest tragedies of his life. At his Astroworld festival, eight people died and many more were injured due to a crowd surge during Scott’s set. The rapper was supposed to be a headliner at this upcoming weekend’s Day N Vegas festival, but understandably, it looks like he will not be performing as planned.

Variety reports that Scott has backed out of the performance because he is “too distraught to play,” according to the publication’s source. As of this post, Day N Vegas organizers have yet to announce any lineup changes related to Scott.

Indeed, Scott seemed deeply bothered by what happened in the statements he shared. His first public response was a written statement in which he said, “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival.” He reiterated that in a video he later shared, saying, “My fans really mean the world to me. I always just really want to leave them with a positive experience. […] I’m honestly just devastated. I could never imagine anything like this happening.”

Furthermore, Variety also reports that Scott intends to provide full refunds to all Astroworld ticketholders.

Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert was awfully proud of her post-Halloween costume, a “Let’s Go Brandon” dress that, like much of the far right, won’t let a lame meme die. All of it began over a month ago when NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast (while interviewing NASCAR driver Brandon Brown at Talladega) mistook a crowd chanting “f*ck Joe Biden” for “Let’s Go Brandon.” Since then, conservative Twitter (and a certain segment of the music world) won’t let it go, but NASCAR officially wants to distance itself from all of that nonsense.

This might be surprising news, given that much of the sport’s audience skews to the right, but here’s how NASCAR president Steve Phelps addressed the subject in his State of the Sport address. He repeatedly called the slogan “unfortunate” (via the Miami Herald), and he elaborated via Deadline:

“I feel for Brandon. I think, unfortunately, it speaks to the state of where we are as a country. We do not want to associate ourselves with politics, the left or the right. We obviously have and we’ve always had, as a sport, tremendous respect for the office of the president, no matter who is sitting.”

Not only did Phelps denounce the slogan, but he made clear that anyone who tries to use NASCAR trademarks on “Let’s Go Brandon” merch will have some legal action coming their way. “We will pursue whoever (is using logos) and get that stuff,” Phelps declared while putting his foot down. “That’s not OK. It’s not OK that you’re using our trademarks illegally, regardless of whether we agree with what the position is.”

Well, some NASCAR drivers either haven’t received the message (surely they have), or (more likely) they don’t care. Following Phelps’ address, Matt DiBenedetto let the slogan fly on Sunday while hopping into his car.

(Via Deadline & Miami Herald)

Dexter: New Blood returned on Sunday night, and in the process, we got to know a whole “new” Dexter Morgan, and we briefly grew reacquainted with the old Dexter, too. These days, he’s living as Jim Lindsay in frigid Iron Lake, NY, where line-dancing to Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” is a good way to spend a night. The revival has turned out to be, at least in the four episodes that I’ve seen so far, a bloody good time, even if it is pretty strange to see Dexter, you know, enjoying sex and romance. Well, he’s at least attempting to enjoy these things, and maybe he really does like sex (with non-fellow-serial killers) these days? Or perhaps he’s mostly keeping a foot in the door of law enforcement while dating a cop who likes to get busy in the back seat.

Yet I’m already veering from my primary objective here, which is to discuss how Dexter’s dealing with the ghosts of his past. And although his son, Harrison, does make a return in the season premiere after tracking down dad, I want to talk about that literal ghost in Dexter’s cabin home: Debra. Showtime didn’t make a secret of Jennifer Carpenter’s return to the show, although the details of how she’d return were kept under wraps. We didn’t have to wait long at all because New Blood whipped out the Deb right away in the premiere episode, “Cold Snap.” In Dexter’s mind, she looks pretty good, about eight years after being eaten up by fish at the bottom of the ocean.

Actually, this episode carried a lot of promise in the “do not delay the inevitable” department. By episode’s end, we received confirmation that Dexter killed again. “Tonight’s the night,” he declared (which is a nod back to that same inevitable phrase from the O.G. show). Jim Lindsay’s already no more, at least in spirit (even though Dexter will have to keep up appearances for everyone but Harrison), thanks to Matt Caldwell being enough of an irredeemable ass (by killing that innocent deer) to trigger Dexter’s code. Throughout, Debra was there with commentary for her struggling brother. The “reunion” at the beginning (and I mean the reunion between Debra and the audience) was a sweet one. She’s taken the place of Harry, and she’s giving Dexter emotional support and encouraging him to keep clean. She gently gives him hell, even, and pointedly, the camera shows that she’s not really there after a brief gesture of physical closeness at Dexter’s dining table, and I do find that amusing for the following reasons:

– Do we need to be explicitly shown that Debra’s not really alive? Probably, yes. Because otherwise, there’d be at least a few people (serious or not) who are far-too-online and would go nutso with speculation that she somehow, you know, survived being taken off life support and dumped into the ocean as a hurricane approached. Seriously, you know that someone would imagine some “clue” and roll with it. By showing that Deb’s only there in Dexter’s mind, we don’t need to be distracted by total silliness.

– Did Debra need to be a “domesticated” ghost, so to speak? Hmmm, maybe. Does that skeeve you out a little bit, to see her hanging out in a house robe? Don’t be afraid to admit it. These are adoptive siblings, but the Season 6 “incest” arc was still wildly gross, with Debra deciding that she was in love with Dexter, and the way that the writers handled the situation felt almost random. And to see Debra in this revival, hanging out in bed with Dexter, telling him, “You’re a changed man, almost 10 years without a kill, and I love you for it,” well, it’s a little bit evocative. Still, this happened after Dexter’s nightmare that Deb rose from ice water while he fished, so I can see why he conjured up some imaginary comfort from her. He should feel like sh*t about dumping her into the ocean.

– Should Debra have turned into a party pooper at the end of the episode, when Dexter killed again? Hell yes. Not everyone was a fan of Debra during the O.G. show, but I enjoyed it when she got punchy, so this is faithful to her character. I wish she would have lectured him over the dumb hurricane sh*t in the finale, too. Maybe that would have been too meta, and the whole “pulled into the icy grips of death” nightmare was enough to get the point across. And she did her best to intervene with Dexter reconnecting with Harrison (“You can’t. Everyone close to you dies. That’s why we’re here”) while the kid was standing in Dexter’s damn home. Through Deb, at least, Doakes got a shoutout, but I do question one aspect of what the writers did with Debra…

– There’s no way that Debra, in her alive state, would have told Dexter that Harrison would be safer with Hannah, given the whole Xanax ordeal and how Debra always wanted Dexter to be as far away from Hannah as possible. So there’s an inconsistency in character there, but we’re also seeing the manifested version of Debra here, not the real one, so I guess this is a Dexter POV thing. He knew all that Hannah was capable of doing, and he still believed that Harrison was better off with Hannah than with Dexter in his life while growing up. From here though, we know that Dexter’s going to try and be a real father to Harrison and care for him and try to guide him away from his own Dark Passenger, should it emerge. Godspeed, Harrison, and welcome back, Debra.

Showtime’s ‘Dexter: New Blood’ airs on Sundays.

What was supposed to be a joyous event turned into a tragedy over the weekend as eight people died during a crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival on Friday, November 5. Now, Scott is facing multiple lawsuits over the event and Drake is a defendant in one of them.

As previously reported, Astroworld attendee Manuel Souza is suing Scott, Live Nation, and organizer ScoreMore. The lawsuit claims the incident was the result of “a motivation for profit at the expense of concertgoers’ health and safety” and the “encouragement of violence.” It also calls the situation a “predictable and preventable tragedy.”

Souza’s attorney, Steve Kherkher of Kherkher Garcia LLP, wrote, “Defendants failed to properly plan and conduct the concert in a safe manner. Instead, they consciously ignored the extreme risks of harm to concertgoers, and, in some cases actively encouraged and fomented dangerous behaviors.”

Furthermore, NME reports that another suit was filed by Texas-based attorney Thomas J. Henry, on behalf of an unnamed Astroworld attendee. Listed as co-defendants are Scott, Drake, Live Nation, and NRG Stadium, and a press release from Henry’s law firm alleges the surge happened when Drake made a surprise appearance on stage.

“There is no excuse for the events that unfolded at NRG stadium on Friday night,” Henry said in a statement. “There is every indication that the performers, organizers, and venue were not only aware of the hectic crowd but also that injuries and potential deaths may have occurred. Still, they decided to put profits over their attendees and allowed the deadly show to go on.”

Beyond that, there’s yet another lawsuit, filed by civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump on behalf of Astroworld attendee Noah Gutierrez, who claims to have offered assistance to crowd members in need in the VIP section.

Crump wrote in a statement, “We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced — the horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying unsuccessfully to save them. We will be pursuing justice for all our clients who were harmed in this tragic and preventable event.”

The statement also notes that Crump expects to file more lawsuits on behalf of other victims in the coming days, so it appears Scott’s plate is full when it comes to legal trouble.