Category: News

Perhaps the most hotly contested rivalry in international soccer was supposed to have its latest chapter on Sunday in a World Cup Qualifier between Argentina and Brazil in São Paolo. After 10 minutes of action, however, the game was abruptly suspended as Brazilian authorities stormed onto the pitch to detain and deport four members of Argentina’s side who play their club football in England.

According to multiple reports, the authorities came out to accost Emiliano Martínez, Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso, and Emiliano Buendía. The quartet are all based out of England, and because they went from their club teams to their national team for these qualifiers, the players were not able to quarantine for 14 days before entering Brazil, putting them in violation of the country’s COVID-19 rules.

Per The Athletic, the official accusation against the players is “providing false information on immigration forms and breaking COVID-19 laws.”

Amid all the chaos, Argentina star Lionel Messi asked the question that is on everyone’s mind: Why, exactly, did they wait until after the game started to do this instead of addressing it during the three days in the lead-up to the game that the Argentinian national team was in Brazil?

Ultimately, the game was suspended, with Messi making a pretty straightforward declaration about the entire situation.

There is no word yet as to when the game will resume. Both sides should qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar pretty comfortably, but emotions always run ultra high when they face off. Adding the potential detainment and deportation of players, though, is a new level for this rivalry.

This past weekend was set to be another positive moment for Bobby Shmurda as he slowly yet surely finds his footing again in the music world. The rapper was released from prison in February after serving almost seven years for conspiracy to commit murder and weapons charges. Since gaining his freedom, Bobby has made several public appearances but few of them have come with new music or performances. All of that changed this weekend as he released his “No Time For Sleep” freestyle on Friday ahead of his set at the Made In America festival on Sunday.

Just a day before the rapper took the stage, however, a video shared by TMZ captured him nearly coming to blows with a fan at the festival. According to the publication, attendees at the showcase said someone in the crowd threw a water bottle at the rapper which caused him to try and seek out the individual. Shmurda tried to climb a barricade that separated him from fans, but thankfully, a member of the rapper’s crew was able to restrain him before he could get over it. He was then pulled away by his team and taken elsewhere before the situation got worse.

It should be noted that Shmurda’s release from prison came with strict conditions. It includes not being able to drink alcohol, attend any bars, or associate with gangs, abiding by an 8 p.m. curfew unless allowed otherwise. The rapper also must submit to drug testing, and receive aggression and anger counseling and seek, obtain, and maintain employment. All in all, moments like these are ones that Shmurda can’t afford to deal with.

You can watch a video of the incident on TMZ here.

To some, Michael Keaton is best known as the second big-screen Batman, after Adam West — the role to which he’ll soon return. To others, his greatest triumph is Beetlejuice, the previous movie he made with Tim Burton. But it almost didn’t happen. In an older interview unearthed by The Hollywood Reporter on his 70th birthday Sunday, the Oscar-nominated actor said it took some doing for Keaton to say yes to playing the devious poltergeist.

In a 2014 interview, Keaton talked about his first semi-disastrous meetings with the eccentric filmmaker. “I had no idea what he was talking about, but I liked him,” Keaton said. “I said, ‘I wish I could do it. You seem like a really nice guy and I know you’re creative, but I don’t get it.’

“When you see [the movie], you understand probably why it was hard for him to explain,” he added.

It took three meetings for Keaton to click with the part, but there was one more thing he had to do: help come up with his look. “I said, ‘Give me the night or two days’ and I called the wardrobe department at the studio and said, ‘Send me a bunch of wardrobes from different time periods, randomly. Just pick a rack,’” he said. “And then I thought of an idea of teeth and an idea of a walk.”

But he kept his costume ideas away from his director. “Here’s the amazing part about it: He never saw any of it. We discussed it. I said ‘I want hair that looks like I stuck my finger in an electrical socket.’ And I said ‘I want mold because Tim said he lives under rocks,’” Keaton said. “So I showed up for work and I walked on the stage and said, ‘This is either going to be way off the mark, or he’s going to — I don’t know what he’s going to do.”

Luckily, Keaton said, “He got it immediately.”

You can watch the full video below.

(Via THR)

Musicians have historically made plenty of interesting and expensive purchases, but few top Lil Uzi Vert’s $24 million pink diamond which the rapper embedded into his forehead at the beginning of the year. The diamond earned plenty of reactions from fans and while some deemed it as unnecessary, Lil Uzi was no doubt happy with his purchase. After keeping it implanted in his head for about four months, the rapper removed it in June before re-embedding it almost two months later. That’s because it turns out that fans ripped out the diamond while he performed.

He made the reveal while speaking to TMZ on his way into the 18th-anniversary party for Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club at the end of last month. “I had a show at Rolling Loud and I jumped into the crowd and they kind of ripped it out,” he said to the publication. “I’m feeling good. I still have the diamond so I feel good.”

Shortly after he had the diamond implanted, Eliantte, the jeweler responsible for it, addressed concerns about its safety and called it “as safe as any other piercing.” He added, “As long as you maintain it well and have good upkeep, it’s perfectly fine. We made sure that prior to getting anything done that Uzi brought someone in to consult on everything. We didn’t just do this randomly.”

You can watch Lil Uzi speak about the Rolling Loud incident in the video above.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

NBA 2K22 is going to be the first game in the long-standing franchise made with next-generation technology in mind, which is going to be exciting for a lot of fans of the series. New technology means a smoother experience, more to do, and new animations.

We’ve seen that a competitor of 2K, EA Sports’ FIFA series, is using the new technology to try and make their game one of the most realistic looking simulations out there through new animations. It’s an example of how far the technology has come. So how is 2K responding? Well, this made shot celebration they advertised on Twitter is neat!

A few ways that this new spin kick animation might find use in 2K22 is during the less formal games that players can take part in. It seems unlikely that we’re going to watch Steph Curry break this out after hitting a 3-pointer, but we may see it from someone in Park, Blacktop, or ProAm. Maybe we’ll see it as well in some of the postgame celebration lineups.

It’s hard to really understand what the purpose of a player being able to spin kick the air into a split is, but as a big fan of JRPG’s, I can’t say I disapprove of the opportunity to get more anime in my basketball. We’ll obviously need to see how this animation looks in the actual game, and what the context will be, but out of context with nothing more than a motion capture suit, it just looks odd. Of course, we can’t fault them for trying to add more fun ideas to the game, even if this one is a little weird.

Days after Kanye West previewed “Life Of The Party,” his unreleased collaboration with Andre 3000, Drake somehow got a hold of the record and premiere it in its entirety during a recent broadcast on OVO Sound’s radio show on Sirius XM. The decision to play the leaked song was the latest chess move from Drake in his lengthy beef with West. However, putting the rappers’ differences aside, many who listened to the song were impressed with Andre 3000’s verse as it was dedicated to his mother and father who died in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

One of the people who praised Andre and the song was Tyler The Creator as he took to Twitter to share a pair of lines from it and give a nod to the Outkast counterpart. “Straight from Shibuya,” he wrote in one tweet, referencing West’s hook from the song, before pulling from Andre’s verse for a second tweet, writing, “Hey keep rollin.’” Lastly, Tyler showed love to Andre in a final post that read, “sir 3000* [pink hearts emoji].”

Tyler’s message comes after Andre listed him as one of the rappers he’d love to work with in the future.

“I just want to work with people that inspire me,” Andre wrote in a statement that was released after Drake leaked “Life Of The Party.” He added, “Hopefully I can work with Kendrick on his album. I’d love to work with Lil’ Baby, Tyler and Jay-Z. I respect them all.”

Jim Acosta’s Saturday programming on CNN has routinely taken aim at Fox News and its biggest name, Tucker Carlson. But as Carlson’s white replacement theory rhetoric escalates and the Fox News host advocates for anti-vaxxers to break the law Acosta has upped his rhetoric in kind.

Already classified as the “employee of the month” at what he’s described a “bulls*it factory,” Acosta has also called Carlson the network’s “chief white power correspondent.” And on Saturday, Acosta continued that string of labels by calling the host a “human manure spreader.”

“Over on Fox, human manure spreader Tucker Carlson has floated yet another race baiting conspiracy theory that tens of thousands of Afghan refugees are being sent over to this country in order to change the outcome of elections,” Acosta said.

Acosta’s response here is following Carlson’s concern trolling about Afghan refugees, with the CNN host retorting that the real threat to America is those on the far right trying to undermine democracy with their January 6 coup attempt. He called those stoking flames of division and, like Madison Cawthorn, calling for “bloodshed” the real problem. “Sort of like an American Taliban,” he said.

“It is starting to look like a combination of theocracy and thugocracy,” Acosta said. “The leaders of this MAGAban movement, people like Marjorie, Madison and Tucker, they’re not counting on an intelligence failure or a lack of planning on your part. They’re counting on a lack of courage to stand up for your rights in this country. Does that ring a bell?

“The anti-immigration, anti-democratic, anti-women’s rights forces have all sought these kinds of changes for years, even decades, in this country,” Acosta continued. “Their operation to change America forever is well underway.

You can watch the full video below, but it’s certainly something to see Acosta continue to attack Carlson and his rhetoric on a competing network.

It doesn’t seem like Carlson seems to mind these labels, and his audience isn’t exactly going anywhere anytime soon. But for those worried by the broadcasts Carlson delivers to millions of people nightly, it’s a relief to see some kind of counter-programming.

[via Raw Story]

Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is laced with a number of bars that many fans took as disses toward Kanye West. One of them came on “7am In Bridle Path.” On it Drake raps, “Give that address to your driver, make it your destination / ‘Stead of just a post out of desperation.”

He adds, “This me reachin’ the deepest state of my meditation / While you over there tryna impress the nation / Mind’s runnin’ wild with the speculation.” The Toronto native also leaked the full version of West and Andre 3000’s unreleased collaboration, “Life Of The Party,” during a Sirius XM radio show.

While West himself has yet to issue a response to Drake’s shots, one of his close associates has stepped forward to address the Toronto rapper. Consequence, who was signed to GOOD Music from 2005-2011 and has spent the recent months beside West as he continued to work on Donda, arrived with a new diss track aimed at Drake titled “Party Time.”

On the record, Consequence raps, “We know two wrongs never makes thing right/ But when you insinuate, you are with the next man’s wife/ You might as well say you take the next man’s life/ ’Cause that’s a dark place that makes most men fight.” These lines refer to Drake’s “Knife Talk” with 21 Savage where the Toronto native hints at sleeping with another man’s woman, which many believe is Kim Kardashian.

Consequence then goes after Drake by attacking aspects of his personal life. “But from the outside, a person can tell/ You are going through your own personal hell / Your parents out here like Sonya and Dell,” he raps. And ever since Sophie had a story to tell / You’ve been taking Ls and coming after K / And thought we couldn’t tell you were coming after K / But most crabs are a shell of their self.”

Lastly, Consequence shares his desire to confront Drake in person. “Who told Aubs that he can play with them? / That boy Cons can run the fade with them/ I wish we could shoot five instead of group chats / Next time bring Chubbs when you shoot back.”

You can listen to “Party Time” above.

Tom Brady certainly has a reputation as one of the most health conscious players in the National Football League. Being a 44-year-old quarterback still performing at a high level will help you get that rep. But things weren’t ideal for him in the offseason according to a new interview he did ahead of the 2021-22 season with the Buccaneers.

In an interview with Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Brady revealed that he contracted coronavirus in the weeks after Tampa’s Super Bowl win. Brady discussed the impact coronavirus may have on this upcoming NFL season, even though the article made it clear that the Bucs are one of the few squads in the league to be fully vaccinated.

Which means that Brady does, indeed, have the jab.

“You guys beat COVID last year. It’s still around. You’ve had it?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” Brady said.

“And I think it’s going to be challenging this year,” he continued. “I actually think it’s going to play more of a factor this year than last year, just because of the way what we’re doing now and what the stadium is going to look like and what the travel is going to look like and the people in the building and the fans.

“It’s not like last year, although we’re getting tested like last year. It’s going to be, I definitely think guys are going to be out at different points and we’ve just got to deal with it.”

In the piece, it’s revealed that one of the last people on the team to get vaccinated was running back Leonard Fournette. And while it isn’t specific, it sure sounds like Brady was encouraging his teammates to get vaccinated and protect the locker room from any possible disease-related disaster. And Brady’s point about unvaccinated fans and staff being in NFL stadiums is certainly an interesting point as well: despite the advantage of having vaccines available, anti-vax sentiments have complicated so much of what could happen this year.

It shouldn’t be news that NFL players are doing everything they possibly can to stay healthy and keep themselves on the field. So much of the NFL mindset is exactly that, even if it means practices considered medically dangerous outside of football. But as we’ve seen with players like Cole Beasley, not every athlete sees the vaccine as a competitive edge in the age of personal freedoms and owning the libs.

We know by now that breakthrough cases are still possible even after vaccination, but it’s now clear that the Bucs are gearing up for a potential repeat with another edge many of their competitors simply won’t have this year: a fully vaccinated locker room.

[via Tampa Bay Times]

This weekend has been all about Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy in the music world. The rapper shared the 21-track effort eight months after he promised it would originally be released. In a little over 48 hours, the Toronto native’s latest release has set records on both Apple Music and Spotify.

While there are plenty of bright moments on Certified Lover Boy, there was one questionable aspect of the album. On “TSU,” the credits for the song lists R. Kelly as one of the contributors, a detail that upset many fans. After seeing much of the outrage, Drake’s producer Noah “40” Shebib explained why Kelly was credited on the song.

“On a song called tsu at the beginning is a sample of OG Ron c talking,” 40 said in a now-deleted Instagram post. “Behind that faintly which you can’t even hear is an r Kelly song playing in the background. It has no significance no lyrics are present, r Kelly’s voice isn’t even present but if we wanted to use Ron c talking we were forced to license it.”

He continues, “Doesn’t sit well with me let me just say that. And I’m not here to defend drakes lyrics, but I thought I would clear up that there is no actual r Kelly present and it’s a bit misleading to call him a co lyricist.” To conclude his statement, 40 then revealed what pushed him to clarifies things about “TSU.”

“It’s kinda wild cause I was just reading ‘Baby Girl’ by Kathy Iandoli and the recounts of some of that stuff is horrific and disgusting,” he wrote. “Then I saw this post and just had to say something because to think we would stand beside that guy or write with him is just incredibly disgusting.”

You can view 40’s statement and listen to “TSU” above.

Certified Lover Boy is out now via OVO Sound/Republic. Get it here.