Category: News

He was once called “America’s mayor.” But in the last few years Rudy Giuliani has fallen farther than an Edith Wharton heroine. To the towering pile of incriminating and/or embarrassing things he’s done, much of it at the behest of his client Donald Trump (and sometimes involving the MyPillow Guy), add this: There is now audio of him doing what many suspected was real, namely that he tried to badger Ukrainian officials into investigating loony conspiracy theories involving Joe Biden.

The audio, which was obtained by CNN, hails from July 2019, mere months after the nation’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, took office. In a phonecall between he, U.S. diplomat Kurt Volker, and Zelensky senior advisor Andriy Yermak, Giuliani can be heard aggressively insisting that Yermak’s boss look into possible corruption into Biden, when he was still just a presidential candidate.

“All we need from the President [Zelensky] is to say, I’m gonna put an honest prosecutor in charge, he’s gonna investigate and dig up the evidence, that presently exists and is there any other evidence about involvement of the 2016 election, and then the Biden thing has to be run out,” Giuliani can be heard saying. “Somebody in Ukraine’s gotta take that seriously.”

Throughout the call, Giuliani laid out convoluted conspiracy theories, some of which Volker himself informed him had come from sources that were “simply not credible.” He also accused Biden, when he was vice president under Barack Obama, of corrupt activity involving Zelensky’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko — claims that have no basis in fact.

At one point Giuliani suggested that making a public statement about a Biden investigation “would clear the air really well.” He added, “And I think it would make it possible for me to come and make it possible, I think, for me to talk to the President [Trump] to see what I can do about making sure that whatever misunderstandings are put aside … I kinda think that this could be a good thing for having a much better relationship.”

The call, which lasted some 40 minutes, occurred shortly before Trump’s own infamous chat with Zelensky himself, which led to his first of two impeachments. The audio undermines the claim that there was “no quid pro quo” that would swap a Biden investigation for U.S. support. Partial transcripts had been made available earlier this year, but this is the first time that audio has gone public.

In the meantime, Giuliani is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. The feds even raided his Manhattan home in April, taking him from the city’s former mayor to one of its potential crooks.

(Via CNN)

Many are still buzzing over the Bitcoin conference that was held in Miami over the weekend, but while cryptocurrency continues to be greeted with skepticism in the U.S., one Central American country is taking it next level.

El Salvador will apparently be the first country in the world to officially recognize Bitcoin as legal tender. Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, announced at the Bitcoin 2021 conference that he would introduce legislation to make it official, proposing it as a way to help grow the nation, as well as help the cryptocurrency find stability.

The other legal tender in El Salvador, it’s important to note, is the US dollar. The movie is generally seen as positive for Bitcoin, especially in the wake of the currency taking a big tumble in recent weeks as China announced policy against it. But according to Yahoo, some investors don’t think the decision will much impact the market.

“Crypto is seen as a way of hedging against political turmoil, but it will need to reach critical mass. El Salvador’s move is unlikely to counter China’s given its relative size,” Santiago Espinosa, strategist at the independent investment research firm MRB, said in an interview.

El Salvador has a gross domestic product of $27 billion versus Argentina’s $445 billion or Brazil’s $1.8 trillion. China’s GDP was $14.2 trillion in 2019, according to the World Bank.

It’s a big move in crypto regardless of its impact on the market, as even a designation that it’s an official currency is a big step toward giving it legitimacy. But what impact it has on the currency’s value, it seems, remains to be seen.

If you follow sports news, you might remember billionaire CEO and Patriots owner Robert Kraft from such stories as soliciting prostitution in Florida, raising Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s hackles for his donations to Trump’s Inaugural Committee, and vigorously defending Tom Brady when he was suspended following Deflategate. Real track record on this guy, huh? At least he stays consistent with his values.

Which is why a lot of fans of Jay-Z and Meek Mill are a little puzzled over their involvement in an extravagant birthday gift delivered to Kraft for his 80th birthday today (of course he’s a Gemini). In a video that’s circulating on social media, Kraft can be seen walking outside to encounter his bright blue Bentley, while Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin mentions that the car is something Kraft would “never buy for himself” (Follow up question: Why not, you’re a billionaire??) and that it was a joint effort gift from many people, including Meek Mill and Jay.

Both rappers are well-documented sports fans, and we all know how much Jay-Z loves billionaires. Meek’s strange alliance with Kraft has been documented before, so it’s not that surprising that he’d want to show out for a landmark event. And USA Today reports that Kraft has been involved with criminal justice reform alongside Rubin, Meek and Jay. But after a year of economic crisis due to a pandemic, this video might not be having quite the impact on fans that was anticipated, especially with some remembering how stingy Meek was with neighborhood kids trying to hustle selling water last year.

The Republican party sure hates Dr. Anthony Fauci, don’t they, folks? The nation’s top infectious disease expert helped make a once-in-a-century public health crisis less cataclysmic than it could have been. But he often contradicted a president who alternately downplayed it and didn’t seem to care, even after he himself got sick. So the GOP has tried to turn a hero into a monster. And when one Trump loyalist tried to own the good doctor on social media, it only succeeded in backfiring.

That Trumpist was Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, one of the lawmakers who spread lies about the 2020 election, even refusing to formally certify the results on Jan. 6…until later that day, after a mob of whipped-up Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. But her belief system hasn’t changed, and on Monday she tried to make hay out of the fact that he took some time to write a book.

“While Americans suffered, Fauci wrote a book,” Blackburn tweeted. Nevermind that the book, entitled Expect the Unexpected: Ten Lessons on Truth, Service, and the Way Forward, is only 80 pages long. The bigger problem is the senator’s tweet seemed to imply that he’s to blame for the over half a million Americans who have died from COVID-19. But people thought other people deserved some of that ire. Like, say, Dr. Fauci’s top boss.

Some pointed out that Matt Gaetz certainly profited far more while not doing his job to help people.

Same with the entire GOP.

And many pointed the finger back at Blackburn, asking what she was doing while people suffered.

Again, Republicans sure hate the people who keep them alive, don’t they, folks?

Coach of the Year is often an award given to the coach of the team that exceeds preseason expectations the most. In 2020-21, no team did that more than the New York Knicks, who earned the 4-seed in the East behind the play of Most Improved Player, Julius Randle, and under the tutelage of the Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau, as was announced on Monday night on Inside the NBA.

The turnaround the Knicks made from last year when they missed out on the Bubble to this season under Thibodeau was truly remarkable, as he wins the award for the second time in his career (2011 in Chicago). The buy-in he got from seemingly every player, particularly on the defensive end where he turned New York into a top-5 defensive unit was incredible considering they were 23rd a year ago with much of the same roster. The playoffs didn’t work out as the Knicks had hoped, as they got bounced by the Hawks in five games, but the season was unquestionably a success. Now comes the difficult work for Thibodeau and the Knicks to follow up the surprising season when there are real expectations, but it’s hard to argue against his worthiness for the award.

The voting was incredibly close between Thibodeau and Monty Williams in Phoenix, who won Coach of the Year as voted on by his fellow coaches, whereas the league’s award is voted on by select media members. Williams received more first-place votes than Thibs from the media, but Thibs had far more second-place votes to out-point Monty for the award.

What Williams has done with the Suns has also been remarkable, but as tends to be the case, the award went to the team with lower expectations entering the season that wowed everyone.

The Philadelphia 76ers dropped Game 1 at home to the Atlanta Hawks, losing homecourt advantage in the process. While the return of Joel Embiid provided some optimism for the organization as did a much improved effort in the second half of the opener, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey’s week became even tougher on Monday evening. The NBA announced that Morey has been fined $75,000 for an errant tweet, sent earlier this month, involving Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry congratulating his brother Seth on a big Game 5 performance

Morey’s fine took a long and winding road, beginning with a series-clinching win over the Washington Wizards. Following that win, Morey fired off a tweet in response to a social media post from 76ers guard Seth Curry, who had a tremendous game in the clincher.

Within seconds, Morey’s tweet made the rounds, with many pointing to potential tampering. Seemingly sensing that he could be in hot water with the league, Morey tried to do damage control, pivoting to an insistence that his tweet was merely in congratulations of Seth, rather than open recruitment of Steph.

Obviously, this effort did not prove fruitful for Morey. In the grand scheme, the fine is a drop in the bucket for Morey after years as a top-flight executive, but the NBA apparently felt that it needed to send a message. In the end, no tweet “clarification” was going to be enough to avoid the league’s wrath.

One reason Ted Lasso is so popular is its good vibes. Or that’s how people see it, anyway. In truth, it can get pretty dark. The football coach played by Jason Sudeikis may be freakishly optimistic, but parts of his life are in tatters. He’s been dumped. He has panic attacks. He’s not always doing that hot. Co-creator Bill Lawrence, who developed the show with Sudeikis, has been adamant about pointing this out. And in a new Variety interview with him and fellow showrunner Chuck Lorre, he made the point even finer.

“We’re grateful and gracious to people that have found helpfulness in a show that we know is about empathy or forgiveness — the things that we really cared about,” he said. But it needed more than relentless optimism:

“We knew it would not work unless it had pathos in it as well. And when you take the episodes apart and say, this is the most optimistic and upbeat and hopeful show in the world, what happens? This poor guy’s wife that he’s desperately in love with leaves him and he is prone to massive panic attacks that he can’t deal with unless he’s helped through them by another kind soul and he doesn’t know why they’re happening. Jason [Sudeikis] wrote the seventh episode of “Ted Lasso” and said, “I’m going to write a real rendition of what it’s like for this guy to face overwhelming anxiety and a panic attack in a way that makes you know he’s not Mister Rogers.” I think that’s what cracked the show.”

Lawrence says he loves “snarky character comedy,” like Veep. He even admits he’s not like his latest show’s hero. “If I met someone like Ted Lasso, I would assume that it’d be two weeks until he revealed that he was actually an asshole. It’s how cynical our discourse had gotten. And then, two weeks later, if he turned out to be someone kind of spirit and empathetic and forgiving, then you have to look at yourself. And so that’s where we started.”

Ted Lasso, he says, also fits in with Lawrence’s other series, such as Spin City, Cougar Town, and Scrubs. “All my shows seem to have these male friendships with guys that are open and honest with their feelings, fears and insecurities in ways that I, as a repressed WASPy type dude from Connecticut, wish I could be,” he said. “On Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis and I were talking when we were breaking down the show, and I’m like, ‘These guys should talk way too honest and openly about their feelings so that you don’t have the toxic masculinity.’”

(Via Variety)

An ’80s-focused one-day festival called Cruel World was announced for May of 2020, but like most events last year, the event had to hold off due to the pandemic. Luckily, the Pasadena-based event was able to do a pretty straightforward reschedule for next year, boasting the same packed lineup featuring iconic artists like Blondie, Morrissey, The Psychedelic Furs, and many more.

Slated for Saturday, May 14, 2022 at Brookside at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, the Goldenvoice announced that their pre-sale will begin this Friday, June 11 at 10 AM PST. A pre-sale signup is currently available at their website for interested fans. Ticket prices begin at $159, but are also available on payment plans that require as little as $29.99, for those who might still be reeling from the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The full lineup is available below in alphabetical order. For more info visit the event’s website.

Full Lineup (ABC order):
45 Grave
Automatic
Bauhaus
Berlin
Black Marble
Blaqk Audio
Blondie
Christian Death
Cold Cave
Devo
Drab Majesty
Echo & The Bunnymen
English Beat
Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel
London After Midnight
Missing Persons
Morrissey
Public Image Ltd.
Sextile
Soft Kill
The Church
The Damned
The KVB
The Meteors
The Psychedelic Furs
TR/ST
Violent Femmes

Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff of Migos have always shared a deeper connection than most rap groups (thanks to shared familial bonds), but on the cover of their upcoming album, Culture III, the three rappers’ connection is made more literal. Featuring a trio of overlapping portraits along with their signature doves flying through the background (maybe they’re really big John Woo fans), the cover for the third installment of their signature album series splits the difference between the first two, borrowing the collage-style art from the first and the portrait aesthetic from the second.

The album is the group’s first as a trio in over three years after they took most of 2018 off to release their respective solo records. Quavo released his Quavo Huncho first, then Takeoff followed up with The Last Rocket, and lastly, Offset dropped the more personal Father Of 4 after a delay owing to his ongoing marital issues with Cardi B.

The group initially planned to release Culture III in 2020, but of course, due to the global pandemic, were forced to shelve those plans — although, the delay turned out to be a mixed blessing as it gave the boys more time to record fresh material in sessions that allowed them to share the studio, according to Offset. The group revealed the new release date with a Michael Jordan reference; Culture III is due this Friday, June 11, and Migos will headline a three-day festival to promote the album later this year.

Check out the cover art above.

Olivia Rodrigo is becoming one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, but like most teen stars, she’s been in the show biz industry for a while already. Rodrigo’s onscreen character as Nina Salazar-Roberts on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has already become a rather infamous part of her origin story, due to the love triangle that emerged between her and her co-star, Joshua Bassett, and his now-girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter.

But, Olivia was in an episode of on another popular show long before her High School Musical days, she appeared in an episode of New Girl back in 2017, way before she was old enough to get her drivers license. Though Netflix has already shared a compilation of all her scenes from the show, it was a tidbit singled out by none other than the show’s star, Zooey Deschanel, that has the internet’s attention today.

In the clip, Olivia’s character, Terrinea, praises Zooey aka Jess for being a cool principal. But Zooey decided to repurpose the clip, and cheekily claimed it was Olivia giving her credit for inspiring Sour. “You went from kind of meh, to sort of cool, to totally the coolest ever!” Rodrigo’s character gushes in the scene. “Real footage of Olivia Rodrigo crediting me for inspiring her number #1 album. (JK, but great album @Olivia_Rodrigo!),” Zooey wrote in a tweet along with the clip. Check it out below.