Category: News

Lil Nas X’s collaborator on those controversial “Satan shoes,” MSCHF, is living up to its name. The design collective’s marketing for the customized Air Max 97 has certainly riled up a fair number of commentators, including Fox News’ Pete Hegseth. The Fox & Friends anchor bit the bait hard, censuring Nike over the shoes and making a false equivalence to a planned pair of Air Max 1s that was discontinued and recalled by the shoe giant over its use of the original, 13-star version of the American flag.

Of course, Hegseth missed the part where Nike wasn’t directly involved in the creation of MSCHF’s limited-edition pair and was promptly fact-checked by none other than Adam Klotz, the show’s weekend meteorologist. He pointed out that “they’re not really Nike. They’re Nike shoes, but there’s a middleman who bought Nike shoes and turned them into these.” To save face, Hegseth posited that the manufacturer could file a lawsuit against the customizer, which … no, man. Just, no.

As far as the story behind those Betsy Ross Air Max 1 goes, those were discontinued by the brand itself after Colin Kaepernick, one of Nike’s most prominent spokespeople, reached out to the company’s leadership with concerns about the old flag’s repurposed connotations. He wasn’t the only one; users on social media also called on Nike to reconsider the design, pointing out how its behind appropriated by some white supremacist groups due to its connection to the nation’s early history when slavery was still legal.

Meanwhile, Nike had just taken flak from conservative groups, including Fox News, over partnering with Kaepernick after his protest of the national anthem at football games. In both cases of conservative backlash, the targets of their complaints would appear to be the victors; not only did Nike boast a 4% sales increase in 2019, Lil Nas X’s customized sneakers sold out within a minute of going on sale.

Watch the clip from Fox & Friends above.

As Post Malone has become a bigger and bigger star in the music world, he has gradually been increasing his profile in the cinematic realm as well. Last year, he had a role in the Mark Wahlberg film Spenser Confidential, in which he had to opportunity to engage in fisticuffs with Marky Mark. Now he’s in another movie, and yet again, he squaring off against the leading man. Even just based on the new trailer for the Jason Statham-starring Wrath Of Man, it seems clear that Malone’s character doesn’t last too long.

In the film, Statham works for a company that uses armored trucks to transport large quantities of money. In a scene from the trailer, Malone is part of a crew trying to pull off a heist on one of these vehicles. Statham does his action star thing and kills everybody involved. It seem Malone gets away temporarily, only for Statham to track him down, shoot him from behind, then put one more bullet in him as he lays on the ground.

Malone filmed his parts in 2019, as photos of him on set surfaced around then, seemingly filming the scene depicted in the new trailer.

Watch the Wrath Of Man trailer above.

The 2021-entering Congressional Republicans included far-right conspiracy theorists like QAnon-loving Marjorie Taylor-Greene and rootin’ tootin. Lauren Boebert, so it makes sense that a grifter might want to rebrand in a similar manner. That appears to be the strategy of Dan Rodimer, who’s introduced his candidacy for Texas’s 6th Congressional District and unleashed one of the most bizarre ads imaginable in the process.

Rodimer (a former WWE wrestler) is seen in full-on cowboy garb while making a grunty face and pretending to take off bull riding, although he’s using a very obvious stunt double, who’s sporting completely different facial hair (both color and length) and is wearing a different vest. No matter, because Rodimer recovers from his “fall” before strutting through the dirt and promising that “Big Dan” will help “Make America Texas Again” because “the commies in D.C. are ruining America,” and he’s got transphobic rhetoric, too. What’s his ultimate goal? To eject Nancy Pelosi after helping to flip the House for the GOP.

If this doesn’t seem real, well, it sort-of isn’t. Yes, Dan Rodimer is running for Congress in Texas, and yes, he’s adopting this “cowboy” persona to do so. However, it all appears to be an act from a guy with a history elsewhere. Multiple places, actually. As unearthed by the Washington Post, Rodimer was born and bred in New Jersey and attended college in Florida. He later relocated to Nevada, where he lost two political elections (a 2019 run for the Nevada legislature and a 2020 bid for U.S. Congress). Here’s a Nevada ad where he’s relatively polished and suited up and not-at-all cowboy-like.

The Washington Post also notes Dan’s arrest record (he and Boebert have that in common), as well as pointing toward how he’s keeping up the act on his campaign website which states, he “has always thought of Texas as his true home.” He further claims to have (at some ambiguous point) owned property in Galveston and to have worked in Houston. Will his cowboy act work to get him elected? Well, his older campaign ads are making the rounds on Twitter with a compare-contrast approach.

It doesn’t seem to be going well!

Ahhh, Spring. A time of renewal, a time of rejuvenation. A time to get outside and enjoy the warmer weather. To soak up the sun after a long, cold winter stuck indoors … unless that is, you’re a TV fanatic. Then Spring is a time to use your chronic allergies and the onslaught of dormant cicadas as logical excuses for why you’re spending most of your free time staring at a small box.

Look, nature’s overrated but this lineup of upcoming TV shows landing on streaming platforms and cable networks sometime this Spring isn’t. So craft whatever ridiculous excuse you need to in order to binge these comedies, dramas, and steampunk fantasy series dropping in the next few months.

Loki (Disney+ series streaming June 11th)

WandaVision got surreal, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is getting real, and Loki will likely live up to his Trickster reputation and be entirely unpredictable. Presumably, he’s still in possession of the Tesseract, and time travel will be an element of this series, but where he goes from there, one can only guess. What we know for sure is that a prison jumpsuit is involved, Loki’s still got daddy issues galore, and naturally, he’ll always be burdened with glorious purpose. Tom Hiddleston sliding back into mischief-making mode is always a pleasure, so June 11 can’t come soon enough. — Kimberly Ricci

Made For Love (HBO Max series streaming April 1st)

A nightmare relationship scenario is run through a sci-fi filter with Made For Love, kicking up fears of tech overreach, the loss of privacy, and the erosion of what makes us singular beings when we’re paired off. Add in the suddenly relevant scenario of being locked in with one person and one person only for a long-assed time, and Made For Love may feel a little too real. But as terrifying a cerebral sci-fi horror as it seems, there’s also the potential for absurdist comedy in this latest showcase for the talents of Cristin Milioti, who with this and time loop sci-fi comedy Palm Springs, now becomes the unquestioned Queen of unintentionally relevant quarantine entertainment. — Jason Tabrys

Shrill: Season 3 (Hulu series streaming May 7th)

The important thing to know about Shrill is that Aidy Bryant is the best. There are other things to know, sure, like how the first two seasons navigated issues about body positivity and the journalism industry and the difficulties of navigating both of those first two things when you are a woman who is not proportioned like a Barbie doll. The show returns for a third and final season this May and, while all of it is worth mentioning for any number of reasons, the thing you’ll probably end up taking away from it is the same thing that led this blurb: Aidy Bryant is really, really good. It’s great she got a shot at a lead role and it would be great if this leads to another shot soon, too. — Brian Grubb

The Nevers (HBO series streaming April 11th)

If you look past the Joss Whedon of it all — and hopefully, you can — The Nevers is a terrific fantasy drama. Set in Victorian Era England, this steampunk period-piece sports major X-Men-but-with-corsets vibes. Picking up a few years after a mysterious event leaves a select group of Londoners with extra-ordinary abilities, the show centers on two gifted women running an orphanage that provides sanctuary for these “Touched” individuals. There are underground orgies galore, plus a handful of kick-ass action sequences and some intricate world-building, but it’s the show’s leads — Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly — that really make this thing worth watching. — Jessica Toomer

Invincible (Amazon Prime series streaming now)

This animated romp will please both fans of The Boys and The Walking Dead, and the latter reference has everything to do with the source material penned by Robert Kirkman. Invincible is an ultraviolent and somehow fresh-feeling deconstruction of the superhero, and yes, we’ve seen plenty of dismantling already, but this story has heart, not to mention a stellar voice cast. Stephen Yeun makes a fantastic leading man here, and the rest of the cast (J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Zazie Beetz, Zachary Quinto, Mark Hamill, and several TWD names) is ridiculously good. — Kimberly Ricci

Mythic Quest: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series streaming May 7th)

The first season of Mythic Quest was a blast. The show followed the development of a fictional video game from creation to completion, but it was barely about that, really. Co-creator and star Rob McElhenney turned the whole thing into an occasionally sweet, occasionally touching, always fun look at a kind of found family of weirdos. And that was before the show got to its quarantine episode, which premiered very early in the COVID panic and still somehow hit every aspect of it right on the head. Mythic Quest is good. The cast is great. Charlotte Nicdao puts on an acting showcase. And there’s even a surprise Jake Johnson and Cristin Milioti sighting. What’s not to like? If season two is half as good as the first, it will still be twice as good as most other shows on television. — Brian Grubb

The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 4 (Hulu series streaming April 28th)

It’s been nearly two years since the last season of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale premiered so you’d be forgiven for forgetting that Elisabeth Moss has become one of TV’s most watchable revolutionaries. She ended season three by shipping a bunch of innocent children across the border to Canada and resolving to destroy Gilead from the inside — well, her character June did anyway — and that plan hasn’t changed. Expect more political maneuverings and underground rebel factions and flashbacks for some characters who were sidelined a bit last season. — Jessica Toomer

Mosquito Coast (Apple TV+ series streaming April 30th)

Leftovers star Justin Theroux returns to series television as the head of a family on the run that’s trying to work through the kind of problem that seemingly can’t be easily solved. Adapted from a novel written by Theroux’s uncle, Paul, and adapted previously by Peter Weir with Harrison Ford in the lead, Mosquito Coast’s first trailer promises a whole lot of tension and globe-trotting adventure. — Jason Tabrys

Law And Order: Organized Crime (NBC series premiering April 1st)

Chris Meloni’s departure (and the way that Elliot Stabler was written out of SVU) always left an unsatisfying taste in the mouths of this long-running series’ fans. The good news, though, is that it’s all water under the Brooklyn bridge because Stabler is coming back to his old stomping grounds. The crossover episode with Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T will launch the show, and from there, it is all Stabler, all the time. Meloni’s movie and TV career outside this universe were worth the time blip, yet there’s no place like home for this ill-tempered detective, who will surely have to adjust his behavior in a TV-cop landscape that’s quite unlike the atmosphere of yesteryear. — Kimberly Ricci

Mare of Easttown (HBO series premiering April 18th)

We’re solidly in the age of Peak TV which means seeing god-like movie stars grace our puny small screens isn’t as shocking these days. But, come on! It’s Kate Winslet people! The premise for this crime drama centering on a small-town detective with her own dark hang-ups was good enough to get Winslet to do a TV show and that’s a good enough excuse for us to watch. — Jessica Toomer

Solar Opposites: Season 2 (Hulu series streaming now)

Season one of Solar Opposites featured one of last year’s single funniest (and best) episodes in “Terry And Korvo Steal A Bear,” the so-called wall episode where producers injected an epic life and death fight into a show about crash-landed aliens at once struggling to blast out of here and also fit in. And now the show is back, stocked with the same kind of big imagination that affords producers Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan an opportunity to grow a pandemic era surprise hit into the kind of cultural behemoth that they’re already familiar with, in their work on Rick And Morty. — Jason Tabrys

Chad (TBS series premiering April 6th)

Let’s explain the idea of Chad first. That will help. The show stars Nasim Pedrad — the female former SNL star — as a teenage boy named Chad. The show was originally ordered by Fox way back in 2016 and now is set for a first season at TBS five years later. It’s cool that the show has survived over this tumultuous half-decade of development, if only because it’s so ambitiously strange and sweet. It’s a grown woman playing a teenage boy who is trying to navigate high school and blend in while also understanding his Persian identity. Pedrad has a history of pulling off this kind of trick, though, at least in sketch form, so the show should be an interesting experiment at worst and a potentially eye-opening sweet little slice of life at best. — Brian Grubb

Rutherford Falls (Peacock series streaming April 22nd)

The absence of Parks & Rec and Schitt’s Creek leaves the quirky community comedy with a heart hole that Rutherford Falls is eager to try and fill. Whether people are ready to laugh at anything even vaguely connected to tense real-world conversations about heritage, relocated statues, and local politics is an open question. But with a talented cast (Ed Helms, Schitt’s Creek alum Dustin Milligan, and Jana Schmieding), Parks co-creator Michael Schur involved as a producer, and a clever first trailer, there are compelling reasons to see if Rutherford Falls can build on its potential and stick its landing. — Jason Tabrys

Ziwe (Showtime series premiering May 9th)

If we’re looking for bright-spots gifted to us by the last year or so in lockdown, multihyphenate comedian Ziwe has to be high on the list of things that got us through. A writer for Showtime’s Desus & Mero, the funny-woman gained an eye-popping following with her entertaining Instagram Live sit-downs last year before dropping an album early in 2021. So yes, she can really do it all and she’s out to prove that with her own variety series that leans on her improv roots and recruits some famous names — think Jane Krakowski, Jeremy O. Harris, Cristin Milioti, and more — to come play in her inventive comedic sandbox. — Jessica Toomer

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (Disney+ series streaming now)

The wheel-O-nostalgia has finally reached The Mighty Ducks and pulled Emilio Estevez back into one of his most significant on-screen roles in years alongside the always fantastic Lauren Graham. But it’s really all about the kids, and this batch has the right amount of quirk and precociousness to connect in the way that the original cast did with their peers in the ‘90s. The show seems hyper-focused on the hazards of overparenting and crushing expectations in youth sports, allowing for a “let kids be kids” rallying cry that should resonate across the board, allowing this to be about more than seeing Gordon Bombay live to quack again. — Jason Tabrys

New England Patriots offensive lineman Justin Herron was enjoying a walk and a light workout at Kiwanis Park in Tempe Arizona on Saturday, March 20.

However, his beautiful day was thrown into chaos when he heard the screams of a 71-year-old woman. The retired school teacher was being accosted by a 30-year-old man who attempted to sexually assault her.

Herron was shocked to see such a horrifying act happening in an open field in broad daylight. Without thinking, the athlete jumped into action, by running over to the victim and screaming for help.

“I’m a football player, so I’m kind of a big,” he said according to CBS News. “I try not to be too aggressive knowing that I could hurt somebody. I do have a loud voice. I yelled, told him to get off of her, and then yanked him off and I told him to sit down and I told him to wait until the cops come.”

“All I could do was thrust myself over there and help the victim, make sure that I could comfort her and be the best person I could be to her around her,” he said.

Herron was assisted by Murry Rogers who was scouting locations at the park for his 15-year-old daughter’s birthday. He helped to detain the suspect, Kevin Caballero, while Herron got the victim to safety.

The two men forced Caballero to wait at the scene of the crime until police arrived. It’s safe to assume that Caballero didn’t try anything funny or attempt to run away. Who would mess with a 6’5″ 300-pound NFL lineman?

Herron moved the victim away from the scene of the crime so she could collect herself and begin to heal.

On Wednesday, the two men were presented with Outstanding Service Awards by the Tempe Police Department. “You see it in movies and TV all the time, but you never think it’s going to happen in real life until it does. In that moment, I was in shock,” Herron said at a press conference.

“It was terrifying to witness,” Rogers added.

“If not for the swift actions of Mr. Justin Herron and Mr. Murry Rogers, this vicious attack could’ve been much worse,” Tempe Police Detective Natalie Barela said.

The two Good Samaritans were briefly reunited with the victim before the press conference.

“It was heartwarming to see her, but also gut-wrenching to see how she responded to the trauma and how she’s dealing with it,” Herron said according to CNN. “No one should go through that.”

“She thanked us. She called us her angels,” said Rogers. “I’m a little bit of a crier, so it was very emotional.”

Caballero was charged with kidnapping and attempt to commit sexual assault, police said.

Herron played 12 games for the Patriots last season after being sidelined with an ankle injury. He was a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft out of Wake Forest College.

Since Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” ended its eight-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart a few weeks ago, the top spot has been more of a revolving door. Following Rodrigo, Drake and Cardi B have had No. 1 songs, and now Justin Bieber is adding his name to that list: On the Hot 100 chart dated April 3, his Giveon- and Daniel Caesar-featuring single “Peaches” is No. 1.

While this is the first chart-topper for Giveon and Caesar, this is Bieber’s seventh No. 1 song. This latest placement moves Bieber up some rankings of all-time chart prosperity. “Peaches” is his 23rd top-10 hit, which ties him with Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, and Whitney Houston for the 13th-most ever. This is also his fourth song to debut at No. 1, which ties him with Drake for second place on that list and puts him one behind Ariana Grande’s five. Since Justice also debuted at No. 1, Bieber is now just the third artist (and first male solo artist) to have a song and album debut at No. 1 in the same week, after Taylor Swift (who has done it twice) and BTS.

Naturally, Giveon is thrilled with his new achievement, as he tweeted, “Wow my first number 1! [trophy emoji] shout to my brother JB for letting me be apart of this moment. It feels even better cause I caught one with the bros.”

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

Add Russell Crowe to the ever expanding list of cameos for Thor: Love and Thunder. The Gladiator star has reportedly joined the film and has been spotted partying with the cast and crew in Australia. Crowe was seen as recently as Friday, March 26 with both director Taika Waititi and star Chris Hemsworth at a rugby match along with Natalie Portman, Isla Fisher, and Hemsworth’s wife Elsa Pataky. Via Deadline:

Crowe’s role is being kept under wraps and the hope was to surprise fans with this fun cameo when the film was released, but following recent photos of Crowe hanging out with the cast all over Australia, Deadline has confirmed he is in the movie. Insiders say Crowe is one of many surprises to come out of the film, with Matt Damon also confirmed to reprise his cameo from Thor: Ragnarok.

Taking place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder will focus on Tessa Thompson’s character Valkyrie and her search for a queen as she takes the throne as King of Asgard. After sitting out Ragnarok, Portman will reprise her role of Jane Foster, but this time with a very significant twist as Foster follows in her comic book counterpart’s footsteps and becomes The Mighty Thor. In a major casting coup (besides Crowe, of course), Christian Bale will make the leap from DC Comics to Marvel as he takes on the role of Gorr the God Butcher, a character from writer Jason Aaron’s epic comic book run who does exactly what his name implies: Murders gods across all space and time.

(Via Deadline)

Things have been going great for upcoming R&B artist Fousheé lately. Last week, her breakout hit “Deep End” made history by being the first single by a Black woman to hit the top 10 of the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart in over 30 years. Now, she has a new collaboration with one of the biggest names in hip-hop history, as she and Lil Wayne have shared a video for the uplifting “Gold Fronts.”

Fousheé spoke about the track with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and explained how she and Wayne came to collaborate:

“I was like, ‘How did you find me?’ And he was like, ‘Well, I’m not really on social media. I don’t search for artists. I have two TVs in my skate room. One is on ESPN, one is on Revolt, and the TV just plays music videos back to back. It’s like, if you end up on that screen and I like you, then I know it’s meant to be.’ And then he was like, he was skating and he saw the video, the ‘Deep End’ video. And it stood out to him because he thought it was like a movie. […] Then he saw me pull out a guitar and he was like, ‘No, stop. Stop the music,’ because I guess he was playing music. […] And he stopped and he listened to it. He was like… he really liked what he heard. The guitar stood out. It’s crazy.”

Check out the “Gold Fronts” video above.

The Internet has been so very excited about the massive ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal (yeah, this is totally gonna be a movie someday) for a week. The thing got pried loose on Sunday night and stuck again and set free again, and no one really knows how this all happened, other than weather (blame everything on the weather). With all of the fuss (including a very interesting Kirstie Alley tweet) ongoing, Netflix tweeted about one of the biggest ‘ships known to its streaming service, and that would be Lucifer‘s will-they-or-won’t-they relationship between Chloe and the Devil himself.

“Love it when a massive ship gets back on its course,” reads a Netflix tweet.

Fans will recall that the detective and the fallen angel actually did hook up in the first half of Season 5 (the second half hasn’t been released yet), after Chloe got over being justifiably angry about being created as a miracle who’s intended for Lucifer. However, their official coupling-it-up moves actually messed sh*t up for Lucifer because Chloe gained Lucifer’s mojo ability (and could use it on him). Also, there was a faux-Lucifer running around at some point, and things got even messier than that after the hook-up, so long story short, it didn’t work out. Yet fans are still holding out hope (as they do), and with Season 6 being announced as the final run, fans started wondering when Season 5B would show up. After a flurry of replies and the rumor mill beginning, the official Netflix and Lucifer Twitter accounts made it official: May 28.

Co-showrunner Joe Henderson has weighed in, too, while thanking fans for the marvelous Twitter sentiment as the cast and crew wraps shooting on Season 6.

Hand modeling seems like a good gig. Just imagine having hands so beautiful that someone else is willing to pay you so that millions can see your paws in high def. But being a hand model probably isn’t all trashing hotel rooms, hanging out with actual famous people, and putting on velvet-lined gloves in slow motion.

It’s probably a lonely existence, as well. Each day you have to live in fear that something might happen to your moneymakers — ’til you end up carefully wrapping your meat hooks in oven mitts just to keep them safe.

If all that doesn’t sound too bad to you, well, we’ve got an opportunity to get you hyped on. It comes courtesy of the Spaghetti Western-referencing whiskey brand Fistful of Bourbon. The expression is a blend of five straight bourbon whiskeys with a name and marketing that offers a nod to the 1964 classic Fistful of Dollars, starring Clint Eastwood.

Playing to their rough and tumble, dusty, western aesthetic, Fistful of Bourbon is in search of what they’re calling a “SpokesFist.” To track the right mitt down, the brand is holding an open casting call. If you meet their criteria of having a badass fist with great grip-ability, a very steady hand, and maximum clenching skills, you can grab yourself a $100,000 contract to star in a new media campaign.

If somehow you think your fist is worthy of this acclaim, you can apply beginning on April 13 here or by responding to the Fistful job posting on Indeed.com.