Category: News

Former President Barack Obama’s never too far away from public view these days while weighing in on everything from UFOs (which he does take seriously) to Amazon Prime’s The Boys (he’s definitely a fan, and Homelander actor Antony Starr loves it). Barack was certainly never been a Trump fan, and he’s expressed disapproval of his follow-up prez’s policies, but we’ve never really heard 44’s unfiltered take on 45, until now.

The Guardian details key excerpts from a new book, Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats’ Campaigns to Defeat Donald Trump, by The Atlantic staff writer Edward-Isaac Dovere. The book’s arriving with a May 25 release date, and contains claims that Obama called Trump a “corrupt m*therf*cker” along with “madman,” “that f*cking lunatic,” and “racist, sexist pig.” Here’s how that all apparently went down:

“He’s a madman,” Dovere reports Obama telling “big donors looking to squeeze a reaction out of him in exchange for the big checks they were writing to his foundation.”

“More often: ‘I didn’t think it would be this bad.’ Sometimes: ‘I didn’t think we’d have a racist, sexist pig.’ Depending on the outrage of the day… a passing ‘that fucking lunatic’ with a shake of his head.”

Obama’s strongest remark, Dovere reports, was prompted by reports that Trump was speaking to foreign leaders – including Vladimir Putin, amid the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow – without any aides on the call.

“‘That corrupt m*therf*cker,’ he remarked.”

Weirdly enough, I can totally hear Obama saying “m*therf*cker” in my head even though Obama has never come close to uttering that word in public. And if you’ve had the same thought, too, we’re not alone. Now, if you’d like to hear how Stephen Colbert also imagines Obama saying, “m*therf*cker,” check out the clip at the 3:30 mark below.

(Via The Guardian)

This time last year, director Steven Soderbergh was on lock down in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City. Next month, his new film will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. What a difference 12 months (and a life-saving vaccine) makes.

No Sudden Move is about a group of small-time criminals (the best kind, imo), “who are hired to steal what they think is a simple document. When their plan goes horribly wrong, their search for who hired them – and for what ultimate purpose – weaves them through all echelons of the race-torn, rapidly changing city.” The 1950s-set film has a stacked cast, including Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Ray Liotta, Jon Hamm, Amy Seimetz, Brendan Fraser, Kieran Culkin, Noah Jupe, Julia Fox, and Bill Duked.

Cheadle, Fraser, and Julia Fox? The movies are back, baby!

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have No Sudden Move as part of this year’s lineup. Once again, Steven has assembled a powerhouse ensemble cast in a story that is uniquely Soderbergh,” Tribeca chief content officer Paula Weinstein said in a statement. “The festival’s audiences are eager to celebrate the moviegoing experience together again and this film will thoroughly entertain.”

No Sudden Move premieres at Tribeca on June 18 before an HBO Max debut on July 1.

On Wednesday, the House approved the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021—but with no help from the GOP. Seth Meyers dedicated his Wednesday night “A Closer Look” segment to reminding the Republicans who are trying to create an “alternate universe” surrounding what happened that day, and Donald Trump’s legacy as president as a whole, that Americans have the receipts.

“Republicans have also been busy trying to rewrite the history of what happened at the Capitol on January 6th. That’s why GOP leaders like Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell have come out against creating an independent commission to investigate it and many Republicans have straight-up lied about it. Which is hard to swallow because we all—every one of us—saw it happening in real time with our own eyes. Most of the people doing it were also filming it. It was one of those collective national moments where we were all watching the same thing unfold together in shock. Like the O.J. Simpson trial or the Apollo 13 landing or David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear.”

On Wednesday, the FBI released new video of the attacks on the Capitol in an attempt to solicit the public’s help in identifying the “most violent” rioters, and have already arrested more than 300 people for their actions on that day.

Between social media and on-the-scene videos shot by both the global media and the rioters themselves, there are hundreds of thousands of single pieces of evidence as to what happened that day—yet the GOP is still firmly against creating a commission to make the events of that day a part of the public record (a decision that has apparently angered Capitol police).

“It’s all there, on camera, for us to see,” Meyers said. “And yet Republicans are engaged in an intensifying effort to rewrite the history of that day by claiming, preposterously, that the entire thing was a peaceful protest.” He concluded:

“This is why we need a commission: to lay out the facts as we know them for the historical records so that Republicans can’t lie about it and create an alternate reality where it didn’t happen. If there isn’t an accurate historical account of the insurrection, with shame and consequences for the people involved, it could very well happen again.”

You can watch the full clip above.

On Wednesday morning, Albert Watkins—lawyer to the so-called “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley, a.k.a. the guy who stormed the Capitol wearing horns and fur but no shirt—appeared on CNN in what seemed to be a mild attempt to walk back his very bad decision to describe the Capitol insurrectionists of January 6th as “f*cking retarded” and f*cking short-bus people.” But he made a big mistake (in a long list of them, obviously) when he dared to invoke the name of Chris Cuomo, CNN’s muscle-bound darling of prime time, in explaining his decision to use such triggering language:

“I was on Chris Cuomo when he decided the way to respond to my suggestion that these people needed compassion and patience and help was to call them ‘crazy.’”

Neither Cuomo nor his bulging biceps were about to let that comment lie. So Watkins appeared on CNN for a second time on Wednesday, this time as a guest on Cuomo Prime Time, in order to set the record straight about exactly what was said during Cuomo’s interview with Watkins way back in January as well as which product(s) Watkins uses to smooth his hair “so brilliantly and luxuriously back” (Cuomo’s words). What followed was a lot of this:

Cuomo: I never called them “crazy.”
Watkins: Well, I’ll tell you, my memory is that you called them—or called my client—crazy.
Cuomo: I have the transcript.
Watkins: Well you know I’d love you to share it with me.
Cuomo: I don’t have to, I’m just telling you you’re wrong. But I’ll give it to you.
Watkins: You don’t have to share anything with me. I’ll share with you.

Not exactly Frost/Nixon.

The sometimes-combative—at least as “combative” as two totally chilled-out dudes can get—dialogue only continued from there, with Watkins barely addressing his highly offensive language. He was more interested in changing the narrative surrounding his client and painting Chansley as a… peacemaker? Yes, Watkins, with a totally straight face, actually said that “In the case of Jacob Chansley, he was helping law enforcement garner items that had been stolen from them, stopping a theft that was going on.”

When Cuomo reminded Watkins that his client “entered the Capitol. He was flying in there with his spear. He was saying obnoxious things,” Watkins deemed that a total “mischaracterization.”

You can watch the full interview over at Mediaite.

It seems like Taylor Swift can do a bit of everything, and that apparently includes cooking lessons. On a recent episode of Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast, St. Vincent told a story about a time that Swift taught her how to cook a meal, which St. Vincent was later disastrously unable to replicate for her friends (as NME notes).

The tale began:

“Around… I think it was probably 2015, Taylor Swift — who you might know — invited me over to teach me how to cook a steak, asparagus, and cauliflower, something like that. And it’s very sweet of her to have done that and I don’t remember exactly why… I don’t remember if she experienced that I couldn’t cook and thought, ‘I’m going to help this girl.’ I’m not really sure how it came about, but she brought me home and she taught me how to do the thing.”

It was only much later that disaster struck:

“So flashforward, a couple months later, I’m at my Laurel Canyons studio and I’m like, ‘You know what, I’m going to have a couple of friends over, make this meal that Taylor showed me how to make.’ And my friends still mock me for it, to this day. I hear of them basically being ‘raw, crusty cauliflower’ and ‘hockey puck steaks.’ And these are people who one, they’re in the hospitality industry, they know how to cook. They know how to eat. You know, just people who know how to [be] like, ‘Here, come over,’ and there’s candles lit and there’s all the things that make an experience wonderful… I didn’t do any of that sh*t and I made them terrible food. They still mock me for it to this day.”

Listen to the full Table Manners episode with St. Vincent here.

Margot Robbie is an action movie star who’s been nominated for two Oscars (and one Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress: AnTEENcipated!). She also runs a production company that’s put out multiple Best Picture nominees, including Promising Young Woman. Robbie is a multi-hyphenate talent… but maybe don’t ask her to sing.

In an interview with the Associated Press, The Suicide Squad writer and director James Gunn said that Robbie, who plays Harley Quinn in the superhero movie, “can do anything. Or I thought she could do anything. And then one day she had to sing and I said, ‘OK, well you can do everything but one thing.’ But she’s such a great actress.” No wonder there’s not more signing in the “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” sequence.

Gunn continued:

“She embodies the character. She’s able to do the comedy. She’s able to do the drama. And physically, she is a pure athlete and is able to do these stunts in such a graceful, magnificent, beautiful way. And so I wrote the biggest action scene I’ve ever done all around Harley, and it was so fun to create just on every level from working with the stunt guys all the way through to working with her. It’s probably my favorite four minutes of film I’ve ever shot before.”

The Suicide Squad — which isn’t a musical, but I would love to see Harley and King Shark sing “Suddenly Seymour” together — comes out on August 6.

(Via the AP)

Commentator Geraldo Rivera hasn’t been afraid to go against the Fox News grain these days. The tide really turned for him during the Big Lie, and he recently (and repeatedly) sparred with conservative radio host Dan Bongino over police brutality, and this week, he shared the same perspective as one of his enemies, John Oliver, who unabashedly accused Israel of “war crimes” against Palestinians.

Geraldo came very close to Oliver’s stance, at least on air. Late Tuesday afternoon, he spoke with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, he used the term “complicit” to describe the U.S. for providing Israel with bombs. He then doubled down on Twitter to say that the U.S. is “complicit in an ongoing crime against humanity” because the U.S. (“without even demanding a ceasefire”) is providing weapons to Israel. And Geraldo stressed, “20 times as many Palestinians are being killed than Israelis-including children.”

The former keeper of Al Capone’s empty vault then popped over to Sean Hannity’s program, where he sparred with the host and Dan Bongino. It got ugly, and as one might expect, Geraldo was on his own out there. Paper was thrown at the camera.

Geraldo began by discussing the death toll of Palestinians (including children) being far greater than that of Israelis, and Hannity pushed right back: “They’re the ones that fired first.” Geraldo then shouted, “There are dozens of Palestinian children dead!” And Hannity replied, “And whose fault is that?” Enter Bongino, who greeted Geraldo’s call for a ceasefire with an accusation that Geraldo’s simply dealing out “garbage” and “misinformation.” Then things got shouty before quickly devolving into crosstalk, where nothing could be accomplished. Before that happened, this did:

Geraldo: “Stop attacking me, punk! Address the issue! Do you have the guts to address the issue?” At around 1:45, Geraldo balled up a piece of paper and lobbed it toward the camera while ranting, “I’m sick of you! You’re a punk!” Geraldo then showed Bongino the back of his head before Hannity stepped in and ended the conversation. Given that few audible words were spoken during the clash, no one wins this argument, although it will undoubtedly continue.

On Wednesday night, the West’s 7-seed was taken by the Lakers as they edged out the Warriors in a thriller that saw LeBron James drill a game-winning three from the logo over Steph Curry while still dealing with eye issues saying he saw “three rims” on the shot. With the Lakers finally, officially, in the playoffs, the NBA announced the complete TV schedule for the entire first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs that start on Saturday, even as the two 8-seeds are still to be decided on Thursday and Friday between the Wizards and Pacers and Warriors and Grizzlies.

When the league slow-rolled the playoff schedule release, it seemed obvious they and the TV partners wanted to see where the Lakers would likely end up, and as such it wasn’t a surprise to see the schedule drop moments after the final buzzer sounded on Wednesday. The Lakers will open in Phoenix on Sunday in the 3:30 p.m. slot on ABC, and the rest of the complete TV schedule with tip-times and dates for each first round series available below.

WEST

EAST

The three series that, for now, will have NBA TV games are, unsurprisingly, Sixers-IND/WAS, Clippers-Mavs, and Nuggets-Blazers. There are still game times to be worked out for the two 1-8 series, as the road games still need tip-times as Memphis and Golden State are in different time zones and games in Memphis could be earlier rather than later.

The Lakers and Warriors matchup was the highest anticipated NBA play-in tournament game of the week — and, quite likely, will hold that title for years to come — and it lived up to the hype. Stephen Curry had 37 for the Warriors and, after a slow start, LeBron James and Anthony Davis came alive to lead a 13-point second half comeback to give the Lakers a 103-100 win to earn the 7-seed.

The game-winning shot came with a minute to play and the shot clock winding down for the Lakers, as the ball got kicked back out to LeBron James 30-plus feet from the basket where he drilled the go-ahead bucket over Curry.

Just a few minutes prior to that shot, James got poked in the eye by Draymond Green on a foul at the rim as Green rotated over to contest a layup, staying down and getting eye drops on the bench afterwards.

In his walkoff interview, James said he was still struggling with his sight when he got the ball on that final deep three, saying he was seeing three rims and “shot at the middle one.”

When in doubt, shoot for the middle rim, I guess. The Lakers will have until Sunday to be rested up for the Suns, as James can get that eye right and have a few extra days to let his ankle, which seemed to bother him some early in the game, heal up before they go to Phoenix at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC for Game 1.

The fourth game of the NBA’s play-in tournament was the clear main event as the Lakers played host to the Warriors for the chance to win the 7-seed in the West and earn a date with the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs.

Early on, the superstars who headlined the matchup struggled, as it was Kent Bazemore and Andrew Wiggins who helped Golden State to an early lead, while the Lakers trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Dennis Schröder couldn’t buy a bucket.

Eventually, Stephen Curry got it rolling on his way to 37 points. Once he did, the Warriors were able to run out to a 13-point halftime lead, as Curry capped the half off with a patently absurd three at the buzzer.

The third quarter saw the Lakers finally get it going, as Frank Vogel finally went to a small lineup with Davis, who led the Lakers with 25 points, at the five, allowing L.A. to move better defensively, get out and run, and create more space offensively. With that space, LeBron — who finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists — came to life as a playmaker by orchestrating what had been, to that point, a rather lifeless Laker offense and getting some big buckets of his own.

The LeBron-Steph duel the world had hoped for came to fruition down the stretch of the third, with both players trading blows as L.A. closed the Warrior lead to just two at 79-77.

The fourth quarter began all Lakers, as they had sprung to life with an 8-0 run to open the final period, taking their first lead of the game at 81-79 with 11 minutes to go and opening that up to 85-79 to force a Warriors timeout.

However, Curry and the Warriors had an answer, making their own run to tie the game at 93-93.

After a Lakers bucket to take the lead back, Golden State jumped in front thanks to a terrific find from Draymond Green to Jordan Poole for three, with Steph adding to that lead with another drive for a floater after.

From there it was back and forth into the final minute, with LeBron giving L.A. a 103-100 lead with a logo three in the face of Steph Curry as the shot clock expired on a desperation look.

Jordan Poole got an open look to tie in the corner, but couldn’t knock it down and after an empty possession from the Lakers, the Warriors for some reason didn’t call timeout off the rebound or once the Lakers trapped Curry in the backcourt and didn’t get a timeout called until 2.1 seconds remained. On the final inbounds play, the Warriors couldn’t get a shot off as the pass to Curry bounced off his hands into the backcourt and the Lakers escaped with a massive comeback win, 103-100 to secure the 7-seed and meet Phoenix in the first round.

The Warriors will go back home and host the Grizzlies on Friday for a shot at the 8-seed and a meeting with the Jazz, needing to regroup after a sensational performance that came up just short.