Since the last four months, Ted Cruz has pretended as though he didn’t help foment a failed MAGA insurrection. Instead of retiring in disgrace, he’s done things like abandon his constituents during a crisis. And he’s picked Twitter fights. They always blow up in his face, be it AOC or the star of his favorite movie, who hates his guts. A couple weeks ago he tried to come for Trevor Noah and because the only thing he’s good at is avoiding responsibility for his actions, he wound getting repeatedly owned.

Cruz didn’t learn his lesson, and so on Friday he tried again. The Daily Show recently did a segment about Twitter toying with the idea of flagging posts considered “mean.” It wouldn’t ban them. It would simply flag them, asking the user to verify if they indeed want to post something untoward. Buried towards the beginning of the segment was a couldn’t-resist Cruz joke. When he caught wind of this, he tried to come for Noah.

“Trevor Noah is turning into Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction,” Cruz tweeted, along with their rabbit emojis — a nod to the grim fate that meets Michael Douglas’ daughter’s favorite pet. It was a mediocre jab at best, and Noah responded with an old stand-by.

“Ted, what’s the best way to end this feud: by insulting your wife or your dad?” Noah wrote back.

Cruz is regularly dragged for throwing his support behind Trump, a man who’s called his wife ugly and claimed his dad assassinated JFK. Although Cruz stayed anti-Trump for a while, he eventually caved, ensuring that any time he tries to come for anyone, there’s always a good way to shut him up. Indeed, Cruz never tried to clap back.

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Lakers on Friday night, 106-101, to take the season tie-breaker over Los Angeles, move ever closer to a guaranteed top-six seed, and avoid the Western Conference play-in game.

Damian Lillard was excellent as usual, with 38 points and seven assists, while Anthony Davis gave his all with 36 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

The Lakers moved to 5-11 this season with Andre Drummond, who was brought in to bolster the team’s chances while Davis and LeBron James recovered from injury. That hasn’t happened. Drummond was 2-4 from the field against Portland and fouled out in just 22 minutes.

Without James, Los Angeles just didn’t have enough to keep up with Portland’s offense in the biggest moments.

With the win, Portland took the season series from the Lakers and most importantly secured a magic number of four for a top-six seed. This means that once the total number of Trail Blazers wins and Lakers losses gets to four, Portland gets a top-six seed. With only five games remaining on the Lakers’ schedule and the need to now finish a full game over Portland to finish sixth, it’s looking more and more like Davis, James and Co. will be fighting for their lives in the play-in game.

The next two games for the Lakers don’t let up, as they host Phoenix on Sunday and the Knicks on Tuesday. As for Portland, it’s San Antonio and Houston next, but matchups at Utah, at Phoenix and home against the Nuggets loom to close the season.

The Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves played on Friday night in a game that has some seeding implications for the former and another chance for the latter’s young core to build chemistry with one another. It also included Jimmy Butler going up against one of his old teams, which gave him the opportunity to go at one of his former teammates.

The on-court mics caught some of the jawing that went back and forth between Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns before Bam Adebayo took a free throw — it got to the point that a pair of Timberwolves, Juancho Hernangomez and Jarred Vanderbilt, stepped in between the two of them to keep things from really boiling over. Some of the back-and-forth is muddled, but two lines from Butler were clear: “You’re a loser, I already punked you once.”

As a refresher, Butler’s time in Minnesota came to an end after, among other things, a practice in which he famously played with the third-stringers and took it to the starters, led by Towns. One report of the practice indicated that Butler made it a point to go at Towns relentlessly, which rendered the big man “distraught and speechless.” Butler was eventually dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers, and while a few years has passed since all of this, it’s evident that he has a pretty long memory.

There’s not much to be afraid of with the Rockets these days, but Brook Lopez had some fun with Houston’s young squad on Friday night when, after a highlight Kenyon Martin Jr. dunk and defeaning scream, Lopez mocked Martin Jr., pretending to be scared by the young Rocket’s feat of athleticism as the Bucks put the game away over Houston.

First, Lopez held his hands up like the little kid in a scary story, feigning fright as Martin got super fired up about his dunk.

The Bucks’ social media team got in on the fun, building up Lopez’s fake fright into a meme — and at the same time basically making fun of how aggressive Martin got on his dunk.

Milwaukee went on to beat Houston, 141-133. It’s safe to assume Lopez was not at all worried about anything Martin Jr. — who scored a relatively inefficient 26 points — did on Friday. On the other side, Lopez was the Bucks’ leading scorer with 24 points, so he was obviously feeling himself as well.

As a team, the Rockets turned the ball over 16 times and shot just 67 percent from the free-throw line. The loss in Milwaukee was the fourth straight by the tanking Rockets, though Martin has been a bright spot after being the 52nd overall pick in the 2020 draft.

In the weeks since the passing of Kentucky star and local Boston hoops standout Terrence Clarke in a car crash, the city and basketball community have mourned his passing. The latest effort to support Clarke comes in the form of the Clarke Family Fund and the TClarkeFoundation, designed to support Clarke’s family and honor his memory.

“We are heartbroken but committed to doing everything we can to support Terrence’s family as they find their way through this time of grief,” said Klutch CEO Rich Paul in a statement. “Terrence’s love of style and fashion lit up every room and we’re grateful to these brands for their support.”

The agency will partner with brands Chinatown Market, Rhude, and SP5DER to continue Clarke’s passion for clothing and self-expression. The brands and Klutch will create custom items featuring a “TC” logo, from which proceeds will go to the Clarke Family Fund.

“Terrence changed so many people’s lives, and his family hopes the TClarke5 Foundation will build upon his legacy of service to others,” said Klutch COO Fara Leff in the statement.

Clarke passed away on April 22 on the way back from a draft workout in Los Angeles. He was expected to be a top pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Prayers up for mama Snoop.

Today, Snoop Dogg asked his family and friends to get on their knees and start asking for a little heavenly help. Posting a glowing photo of his mother, Beverly Tate, on Instagram, the rapper captioned it: “ I need all my prayer warriors for momma right now please and thank you .”

Though there’s no further information on what Snoop and his family are going through right now with regards to his mother’s health, the public post suggests that she might be in some sort of crisis.

Prior to the post asking for prayer, he shared another pixelated throwback of the two tagged to Jamaica with the caption: “A mother’s love is precious Rita.”

And after the prayer post, he shared a few more photos honoring her: another of her by herself captioned “Love u mama ,” a group shot with his two brothers captioned “The queen wit her 3 boys. We love u mama ,” and finally, a pic of him and her all ddolled up with the emotional note: “Mama thank u for having me could of gave me up but u raised a family. .”

After the tragic death of Chris Cornell in 2017, his family issued a lawsuit against his doctor the following year, alleging that Dr. Robert Koblin “negligently and repeatedly prescribed[ed] dangerous mind-altering controlled substances… which impaired [his] cognition, clouded his judgment and caused him to engage in dangerous impulsive behaviors that he was unable to control, costing him his life.”

Cornell took his own life after a Soundgarden concert in Detroit, and the suit alleged that he was prescribed medications like Ativan and Oxycodone, which were dangerous for an “addiction-prone individual” like Cornell, who had been sober since 2002, aside from a relapse with benzodiazepines in 2016. According to the suit, Dr. Koblin wrote prescriptions for similar drugs knowing that his history of addiction made the prescriptions dangerous for Cornell. Though the coroner’s investigation into Cornell’s death ruled it a suicide by hanging, even if traces of Ativan were found in his system.

But the lawsuit has now been settled, according to AP News. The documents for a confidential agreement were filed back in April, and were first reported when City News Service covered them on Thursday. The Cornell family attorneys said in the April 2 filing documents that “after years of litigation and settlement negotiations, Plaintiffs and Defendants … have reached a confidential settlement agreement to resolve all claims.”

Back in February, northern Virginia was experiencing freezing temperatures, so FOX 5 DC’s Bob Barnard took to the streets to get the low down. His report opens with him having fun with some Leesburg locals and trying his hand at scraping ice off their parked cars.

But at about the 1:50 mark, he was interrupted by an unaccompanied puppy running down the street towards the news crew.

The dog had a collar but there was no owner in sight.

Barnard stopped everything he was doing to pick the dog up off the freezing road to keep it safe. “Forget the people we talked to earlier, I want to get to know this dog,” he told his fellow reporters back in the warm newsroom.

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About a minute later, the dog’s owner rushed out of the house in cold-weather gear and took the dog from Barnard. “I’m so sorry!” the owner exclaimed, realizing she interrupted a live TV shoot.

“She just jumped over the gate,” the owner says. “She wanted to see us!” Barnard excitedly added. Before returning the dog to its home the owner, told Barnard that the dog’s name is Pierogi.

For the uninitiated, pierogies are a European dumpling made with unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling.

Since the video was released on February 19, Pierogi has become quite the sensation. Over 4.5 million people have watched the video of the dog’s incredibly adorable video bomb.

Adorable puppy crashes reporter’s weather report on live TV! | FOX 5 DC

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The best new hip-hop this week includes albums, videos, and songs from Coi Leray, Isaiah Rashad, J. Cole, and more.

Throughout the week, it was evident that the previously dormant music industry is beginning to ramp up for the coming summer months and the return of live concerts. Among the new songs that dropped were YG and Mozzy’s sunny “Perfect Timing” with Blxst, Philfe Dawg’s slinky “French Kiss Deux” with Illa J, Little Simz’s celebratory”Woman,” and Don Toliver’s “What You Need.” Meanwhile, DJ Khaled continued his album rollout with a flurry of new videos for “Thankful” featuring Jeremih and Lil Wayne, “Every Chance I Get” with Lils Durk and Baby, and “We Going Crazy” with HER and Migos.

Friday saw the releases of Coi Leray’s “Bout Me,” the long-awaited returns of J. Cole and Isaiah Rashad with “Interlude” and “Lay Wit Ya,” respectively, Russ’s deflective “Small Talk,” Saweetie’s latest high-speed single “Fast (Motion),” Trippie Redd’s “Miss The Rage” collaboration with Playboi Carti, and Toosii’s new album single “Shop,” along with the releases listed below.

Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending May 7, 2021.

Albums/EPs/Mixtapes

Allblack — TY4FWM

Oakland upstart Allblack has been a fixture of California’s independent rap scene for years (behold his dizzying appearance on G-Eazy’s “West Coast“), but is only now getting around to releasing his “debut” album. His tone is every bit as appreciative as the album’s title, while his flow is tighter than ever as he runs a versatile gamut of styles alongside a who’s-who of Bay Area faves, from E-40 and Guapdad 4000 to Mozzy and Rexx Life Raj.

Czarface & MF DOOM — Super What?

The first posthumous DOOM project to enter the world is the follow-up to his first joint album with revivalist rap trio Czarface. According to Hip-Hop By The Numbers, DOOM verses constitute a little over 15 percent of the project, while Esoteric and Inspectah Deck do most of the lyrical heavy lifting. Alas, beggars can’t be choosers and with so many fans ravenous for new DOOM material since the announcement of his passing on New Year’s Eve, the project has been hanging near the top of Twitter’s trending topics all day.

L’Orange & Namir Blade — Imaginary Everything

Off-kilter art rap has been experiencing something of a renaissance in 2021 and Mello Music Group’s extensive collection of rap impressionists is carrying the flag. L’Orange and Namir Blade are a near-perfect example of the style, embracing bizarre loops and aggressive, intricate rhyme cadences on their first full-length team-up.

Megan Ran & Noveliss — Maverick Hunters [EP]

A collaborative EP between a pair of independent rappers with a nifty gimmick — the samples come from the Mega Man game series, which also heavily informs the clever, concept-driven rhymes. Mega Ran and Noveliss have long been fixtures of the underground, self-produced scene, which fans looking for something different would do well to investigate further.

Tee Grizzley — Built for Whateve

Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley’s consistency is downright impressive as he keeps his annual album release streak alive with a 19-track collection of sometimes sneering, sometimes heartbreakingly vulnerable tracks. On this project, he brings plenty of big names along for the ride, from fellow Motown native Big Sean to late Chi-Town barn-burner King Von, but his chemistry with Baby Grizzley — his recently incarcerated younger brother Marcellus Wallace (I shit you not) — is the most undeniable.

Toosii — Thank You for Believing

While one of the artists releasing today thanked fans for f*cking with him, Toosii is thanking them for believing. That gratitude is well-earned; fans’ belief shot his debut album, Poetic Pain, to a top 20 Billboard 200 debut, impressive for a relatively new artist releasing his first-ever major-label project. This mixtape doubles down on the emotive style that fans fell in love with, rewarding their loyalty with collaborations with DaBaby, Key Glock, and Mulatto.

Singles/Videos

Drakeo The Ruler — “Long Live The Greatest”

A touching ode to Drakeo’s late Stinc Team compatriot Ketchy The Great. Drakeo decries Twitter thugs who “just bang for the fame,” reminding listeners that there are real people behind the mic — people who feel the pain of loss every bit as deeply as anyone else.

Glasses Malone — “6 ‘N The Mornin’” Feat. Snoop Dogg, Ice-T & Ty Dolla $ign

It’s been a while since we last heard from the LA stalwart once known as G. Malone. Here, he shows he hasn’t lost a step and even elicits some insight from OG Ice-T for a G-Funk banger.

Kash Doll — “Thumbin”

Kash returns with a get-money anthem that aims to stick in listeners’ brains with a hypnotic hook and slick bar work over a thumping, club-ready beat.

Lil Eazzyy — “Why”

Chicago newcomer Eazzyy takes a left turn from his hard-edged breakout single for a more melodic meditation on a relationship that has soured.

Tee Grizzley — “White Lows Off Designer” Feat. Lil Durk

Tee Grizzley originally released this single a few weeks ago, but today added a cinematic video that follows the aftermath of a shootout.

Young Dolph — “Hashtag”

Young Dolph shares a laid-back video for one of his menacing solo bangers from his and Key Glock’s joint album, showing off more of his lifestyle via a luxury hotel suite and a private dancer as he smokes on a balcony overlooking the city.

Young M.A — “Hello Baby” Feat. Fivio Foreign

These two New Yorkers are beginning to develop an indelible chemistry — maybe they should do a joint project.

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

The New Orleans Pelicans are going to be without the services of Zion Williamson for an indefinite period of time. The team announced on Friday afternoon that a fractured ring finger on his dominant left hand will keep him on the sidelines as the Pelicans try to make up the 1.5-game gap between themselves and the San Antonio Spurs, which have the 10-seed and the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.

In the aftermath of the announcement, Pelicans executive David Griffin sat down with the media and proceeded to lay into the NBA’s officiating. An obviously frustrated Griffin called out the way that referees call games involving Williamson, saying that his young star has done everything the way that he’s supposed to in order to bring attention to fouls he draws, but ultimately, “if you flop, you tend to get more calls.”

Griffin went on to say that there is “violence encouraged” against Williamson to a level that no player has received since the early days of Shaquille O’Neal, and claims that there are players who have straight up said to Williamson that they will continue to lay into him because they know officials will not call everything a foul.

It is not hard at all to see where this frustration comes from, both because of the team’s battle for a playoff spot and because Williamson is the franchise’s young star who, Griffin believes, needs protecting. We’ll bet that Griffin is going to hear from the league office for his comments, and we’ll also bet that when he pays whatever fine comes his way, he’ll make it a point to send in some of the footage of some fouls that were not called.