Category: News

As more footage from last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol comes out, we’re getting a fuller picture of what took place that day. And frankly, it’s terrifying.

We’ve now seen the gallows erected outside of the Capitol and the rioters shouting “Hang Mike Pence!” We’ve seen reports of insurrectionists carrying zip tie restraints and now know how close we were to possibly witnessing lawmakers being taken hostage—or worse—live on TV. We’ve seen journalists attacked, a policeman dragged down steps and beaten with an American flag, and feces and urine left in the hallways and offices of the U.S. Capitol.

One piece of footage that has emerged shows how one Capitol Police officer’s bravery may have saved members of the U.S. Senate. Officer Eugene Goodman found himself alone and confronted with a mob forcing him backwards up a stairway within the Capitol. Video from HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic shows Goodman attempting to hold back the rioters, but he is clearly outnumbered. They keep pushing him farther and farther up the stairs, toward the floor where the Senate chambers are.

What isn’t immediately obvious in the video footage is a specific moment when the mob reached the floor where the Senate chambers were. Goodman appears to glance down the hall toward the chambers, where no security can be seen, and then shove the frontman of the mob before leading them in the opposite direction of that hallway.

In other words, it looks like he used himself as bait to keep the mob away from the Senate chambers. Insurrectionists did end up breaching those chambers, but thankfully, it wasn’t until after lawmakers had been moved to a secure location within the building.

It’s hard to imagine the terror this man must have felt in these moments. Completely outnumbered, charged with the duty of protecting the U.S. Capitol as it’s being overrun, knowing that the nation’s lawmakers—including the next three people in line for the presidency—were in the building and relying on the police for protection.

But the terror for Officer Goodman goes beyond that. This isn’t just a police officer being outnumbered; it’s also a Black man facing down an angry white mob. We’ve seen photos of pro-Nazi apparel worn by some of these people. We’ve seen a huge Confederate flag being marched through this building that day. Many of the people who have since been arrested are prominent members of white nationalist groups.

To be who he was, in the place that he was, facing the mob that he was—and to still have the presence of mind to do what he did—is a demonstration of heroism that can’t be overstated.

As we express our gratitude and praise for his heroism, we must also acknowledge the trauma of this experience. Not just the trauma any of us would have endured, but the added racial trauma of knowing that this mostly white mob could—and just might—lynch him.

The racism in the group isn’t just an assumption. Nor is the violent threat they posed.

BuzzfeedNews interviewed two Black Capitol officers, both of whom remained anonymous, about their experiences in the Capitol that day. They said they were repeatedly called the n-word as the rioters stormed the building. Some even abused them while telling them they were doing it for them.

“We were telling them to back up and get away and stop, and they’re telling us they are on our side, and they’re doing this for us, and they’re saying this as I’m getting punched in my face by one of them … That happened to a lot of us. We were getting pepper-sprayed in the face by those protesters — I’m not going to even call them protesters — by those domestic terrorists,” one officer told the outlet.

And they were left to fend off white supremacists without sufficient support. One officer, who has been with the Capitol Police for more than a decade, said the threat was downplayed before the event, and then the chief of police was MIA during the riot. He also explained how the absurd costuming and antics of some of the rioters served as a distraction from how serious the threat really was.

“That was a heavily trained group of militia terrorists that attacked us,” said the officer. “They had radios, we found them, they had two-way communicators and earpieces. They had bear spray. They had flash bangs … They were prepared. They strategically put two IEDs, pipe bombs, in two different locations. These guys were military trained. A lot of them were former military.”

The threat isn’t over. There are multiple reports of plans for more armed protests in the nation’s capital as well as state capitals in the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration. Social media companies have cracked down on incitement, including banning the president, in an attempt to keep extremist groups from organizing via their platforms. Other private companies have also taken action to limit further violence by denying service to Parler, a “free speech” social media platform that has been a favorite of many pro-Trump organizers, as the seriousness of what happened last week truly sinks in.

In everything that’s happened this week, Officer Goodman’s brave actions stand out as a beacon of hope. President Biden will have an incredibly busy schedule once he takes office, but as soon as possible, he should award this man the Presidential Medal of Freedom. If anyone has ever deserved that honor, Eugene Goodman certainly does.

What does the State Department know that the rest of us don’t? A lot, actually, but if you went to President Donald Trump’s biography on the department’s website earlier today, it read, “Donald J. Trump’s term ended on 2021-01-11 19:40:41.” That would be 7:40 p.m. EST tonight (the website is currently down with a “this site is currently experiencing technical difficulties” update). Vice President Mike Pence’s biography was equally mysterious: “Michael R. Pence’s term ended on 2021-01-11 19:41:09.” Should we be congratulating Pence for having his term lasting 28 seconds longer than Trump? No. We should be thanking the fed-up staffer for giving us a welcome Monday distraction.

BuzzFeed News reports that a “disgruntled employee at the State Department” is behind the update biographies. “[A diplomat] said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has ordered an internal investigation into the matter, beginning with interns and employees leaving the State Department this week and next ahead of the transition to the Biden administration,” the article reads. This is obviously the biggest issue facing Washington, D.C. right now. But can you blame people for thinking the “term ended” leak was real?

First off, it would be extremely in character for the Trump administration to bungle their own exit. Also, earlier today, House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against President Trump earlier today for “inciting a mob that attacked the Capitol last week, vowing to press the charge as Republicans blocked a separate move to formally call on Vice President Mike Pence to strip him of power under the 25th Amendment,” according to the New York Times. Why not speed up the proceedings?

At least the reactions are real, and hilarious.

Despite the success of the first two Deadpool films, which scored huge box office hauls on a minimum budget thanks to the pitch-perfect casting of Ryan Reynolds as the “Merc with a Mouth,” there’s been a sizable question mark around the chances of a Deadpool 3 happening now that the more family-friendly Disney owns screen rights to the character. It also didn’t help that Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld was making it a habit of saying the film wasn’t a “priority” for Marvel Studios.

However, two recent developments have proven Liefeld wrong. In late November, the sequel picked up two writers from Bob’s Burgers, and over the weekend, Marvel Studio head Kevin Feige confirmed that Deadpool 3 is not only coming to the MCU, but it will be Rated R. Ever the jokester, Reynolds took to Twitter on Monday where he revealed his method to getting Marvel on board with the foul-mouthed sequel.

“Full disclosure: I showed them Spiderman 1 & 2 and told them it was Deadpool 1 & 2,” he wrote along with a link to an article quoting Feige.

As for how quickly Deadpool 3 will arrive in theaters, there’s going to be a bit of a wait. Contrary to Liefeld’s predictions, Deadpool is very much a priority for Marvel. The main issue is Reynolds’ schedule, which is notably jam-packed. Via IGN:

“Ryan is a very busy, very successful actor. We’ve got a number of things we’ve already announced that we now have to make, but it’s exciting for it to have begun. Again, a very different type of character in the MCU, and Ryan is a force of nature, which is just awesome to see him bring that character to life.”

According to Feige, Reynolds is currently overseeing the script while the studio works on lining up a production start.

(Via Ryan Reynolds on Twitter)

Lana Del Rey premiered the title track of her upcoming album Chemtrails Over The Country Club today, and after she did that, she chatted with Annie Mac for a live interview on BBC Radio 1. It was during that conversation that Del Rey offered her thoughts about the controversial comments she initially wrote when sharing the album art yesterday; Her comments addressed race and the people included in the art, comments that some thought were tone deaf.

The relevant part of the BBC interview went:

Del Rey: “Before I even put the album cover up, I knew what people were gonna say. So when they actually started saying things, I responded and I just said, ‘I’ve got a lot of issues, but inclusivity just ain’t one of them.’ It just isn’t. You can’t just make it my problem. My friends, my family, my whatever… They’re not all one way and we’re not the ones storming the Capitol. [laughs] We voted for Biden. My girlfriends come from all over the world, they have children from all different types of people. And I’m mentioning all this, like, to people who are listening because people really wanted even more people of color on my album cover. Which you know is, to a point, a photo just sometimes is what it is.”

Mac: “So you are saying people pressured you to put more people of color so that it could look, what, representative, that type of thing? Or totalistic?”

Del Rey: “That was the issue that was coming up. But I said that actually half the people in this photo are people of color. […] I thought about it for the better half of that day and I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to be discouraged because this is what happens often with this, like… I actually am representing a certain thing, but people will say that I’m not.’ It’s kind of like being in opposite world.”

Mac: “Those women are your friends. Am I right? Those are all people that are dear to you?”

Del Rey: “Oh yeah, they are my longest-term, nicest friends. I also felt uncomfortable having them somewhat brought into the controversy, but I spoke to them as well and they were like, ‘We don’t care. You should not care about everything you’re doing… Your friends are from all over the place and you’ve never represented yourself in any other way.’ I think back to all my songs and videos and starting with more of a hip-hop sound… I mean, I just don’t feel like that’s my issue. I feel like there have been certain things that people have touched on that have made me be like, ‘OK, maybe I have to look at that,’ but this is not one of them. I wasn’t being preemptive, I was definitely responding, but […] I just feel like if that’s really what people are gonna say, I have an answer for them, which is that if you look closer, you will see people of color. It’s a black-and-white image, so zoom in, you know? It’s just weird.”

Listen to the full conversation here.

Chemtrails Over The Country Club is out 3/19 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

The Star Wars universe is always expanding, and on Monday, we learned that this now means that Lucasfilm Games is coming back, too. The official Star Wars website shared on Monday that the property’s gaming elements will all officially fall under the Lucasfilm Games title moving forward:

StarWars.com is thrilled to reveal that Lucasfilm Games is now the official identity for all gaming titles from Lucasfilm, a name that encompasses the company’s rich catalog of video games and its eye toward the future.

That includes new social media channels on Facebook and Twitter, as well as a sizzle reel highlighting Star Wars games from the not-too-distant past.

While no new titles were revealed, and just one LEGO Star Wars game on the calendar in 2021, it may not be huge news in the immediate sense. But as Ars Technica recalled, Lucasfilm Games is far from a new concept. The company made games as early as the 1970s while focusing on adventure titles for the PC. Lucasfilm Games was eventually folded into LucasArts, and when Disney bought Star Wars from George Lucas in 2012, this brought big changes for the company and its Star Wars games, including the never-finished Star Wars 1313, which gamers still mourn to this day.

That doesn’t mean that EA will stop making Star Wars games anytime soon. But the Lucasfilm Games branding and organizational structure is interesting, to say the least, and bodes well for gamers who hope the video game Star Wars universe plans to grow as quickly as the one currently germinating on Disney+.

(Via StarWars.com)

Kansas City-based Hallmark Cards is not messing around, people. They’ve had enough of Missouri-based Senator Josh Hawley, who’s already been taken to the woodshed by local newspaper and dropped by his book publisher for his role in helping to incite the failed MAGA uprising by digging in his heels over certifying the Electoral College vote. Hallmark is now formally distancing itself from not only Hawley but another area Republican senator, Roger Marshall (of Kansas), who also voted against certifying Joe Biden’s (legitimate) presidential election win.

Of course, Hawley, Ted Cruz, and several other GOP senators (along with President Trump) all played a role in stirring up the chaos that led to the MAGA insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. It was an event that left six people (including two U.S. Capitol cops) dead, and Hallmark is standing firm in their position. The company is doing so in a way that it might hurt the most: by asking Hawley and Marshall to return political donations (funded by Hallmark employees) to their campaigns. For the most recent election cycle, this translated into $7,000 being handed to Hawley and $5,000 to Marshall. From Hallmark spokesperson JioJio Shen, via the Kansas City Star:

“Hallmark believes the peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind. The recent actions of Senators Josh Hawley and Roger Marshall do not reflect our company’s values. As a result, HALLPAC requested Sens. Hawley and Marshall to return all HALLPAC campaign contributions.”

Man, Arnold Schwartzenegger broke out his Conan sword over the weekend over the MAGA shenanigans, and now this. No tiny violins have been heard thus far, but Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post suggested “a condolence card for his career.”

(Via Kansas City Star)

Matt Shakman is a bit of a secret weapon in his own right when faced with the challenge of directing something like WandaVision – the first Disney+ Marvel series, which reunites Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) with Vision (Paul Bettany). But, all is not what it may seem. At least for the first three episodes I saw, WandaVision sticks to its bizarre and unique concept of putting the two characters in a different sitcom each episode, the first three being inspired by The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, and a sort of The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family hybrid.

What gives Shakman an interesting perspective was his time as a child actor on Just the Ten of Us, a spinoff of Growing Pains that lasted three seasons on ABC. But it’s learning those specific beats of how a situation comedy flows that aided Shakman. Specifically how lines of dialogue work while working with a laugh track and, for one episode, a studio audience. (The Dick Van Dyke Show was filmed in front of a live studio audience. Trying to recapture that energy as much as possible, that episodes, the first one in the series, was actually filmed in front of an audience that was asked to sign strict non-disclosure agreements.)

So I used to watch Just the Ten of Us religiously.

Oh, wow.

It was a Growing Pains spinoff, so of course I watched a show about Coach Lubbock. But did being a part of a sitcom help you do a show like this? Knowing the beats?

Absolutely.

How so?

I mean, this is definitely a trip down memory lane for me. But, I have to say, having done sitcoms and understanding the rhythms of them, it’s been very helpful. But, more than that, we shot a chunk of WandaVision at the Warner Bros. ranch on Blondie Street. Which is this amazing little row of sitcom houses: Bewitched and The Partridge Family and I Dream of Jeannie. And that’s where we shot Just the Ten of Us. I used to go on my lunch break and skateboard around Blondie Street. So, it was very strange to find yourself directing the show about the history of sitcoms while standing on the street that you skateboarded on when you were a sitcom actor many years before. The whole thing just feels like it’s surrounded by the ghosts of my past.

Are you aware of the Twitter account that adds the theme to Just the Ten of Us to everything?

[Laughs] I am.

I’m hoping WandaVision is next. I hope they get the connection.

I’m sure they will. Yeah. “Doing it the best we can,” right? That was part of it, too, in re-creating these shows was the chance to collaborate with an old college friend, Bobby Lopez, and his amazing wife and partner, Kristen Anderson-Lopez. They wrote these extraordinary theme songs for each of our episodes.

Do you worry about people who are younger who might not have a working knowledge of Bewitched to get what you’re doing?

Well, I hope that there is enough of a narrative that’s happening in the moment, in the WandaVision show, that doesn’t require an appreciation or love or knowledge of these classic sitcoms. Because ultimately this is a story: It’s a romance, it’s a mystery, it’s an adventure story, it’s a comedy. About these two amazing characters in Wanda and Vision, we’ve gotten to know in these Avengers films, and they’ve had relatively little real estate there. We get a chance to take them and go much further over nine episodes. So, I’m hoping that this is a show that you can watch with your grandparents, and watch with your parents, and your kiddos, and that there’s something in it for everybody. And just as the Marvel fans will get all the Easter eggs, maybe grandpa will love the Dick Van Dyke. Who knows? But ultimately it’s a good story and well-told to drive you through.

To be fair, I think the cutoff age is somewhere around 30 with Dick Van Dyke, because of Nick at Night. So I’ll say he’s more appealing than to just grandparents.

Yeah. They should be! And if they aren’t, they should get caught up.

So what’s the meticulous differences between hitting a beat on a show that’s kind of doing Dick Van Dyke, and the one that’s doing Bewitched? As a director, what’s the difference in timing?

Getting a difference was a huge part of the job. We did a lot of work to make sure that we were being as authentic…

What’s a specific example?

Well, I’ll tell you. The big example was that Dick Van Dyke was shot in front of a live, studio audience. So there’s a performative quality to it that’s almost like theater. There’s an energy that comes from feeding off of an audience. One thing I learned from The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was amazing, was that they didn’t pre-tape the show. They didn’t do pickups for the show. They did the show once in front of the audience. And unless something went drastically wrong, which it only rarely did, that’s the episode. That’s what you watched. So you’re basically watching the one and only time that they did that episode in front of that audience. And you’re watching the audience react. Whereas, Bewitched was shot single camera, in sets, on backlots, and shot much more like a movie. So everything has been constructed in a different way. So obviously, comedy, physical comedy, it’s different in Dick Van Dyke to Bewitched. So we were trying to figure out what the sort of style differences are there. Then, because you have a camera right in front of your face in Bewitched, it’s much more of a naturalistic performance style than something that’s trying to be shared with an audience that’s a hundred feet away.

Was there ever a thought of how to replace Paul Bettany halfway through the Bewitched episode with a different actor? Like on Bewitched?

With Colin Firth maybe?

I’m just wondering if it was seriously brought up, “Hey, should we do the Dick York/Dick Sargent thing here or not?”

I worked with Dick Sargent when I was a kid actor.

Really?

Loveliest man. Yeah. Great guy. But no, I mean, why would I want to get rid of the greatest actor, Paul Bettany? Amazing. That guy is fearless. And he is the best dramatic actor and also the biggest comedic ham. I love that guy.

Have the other shows you’re recreating been announced?

I mean, I think there’s been some vague allusions to skipping through decades. I think Kevin Feige mentioned that we get to that kind of The Office, Modern Family kind of style as well.

What was your personal favorite show to redo?

Well, it’s weird, because as a television director, I actually have directed some of these reference points when we get to a certain point, which is funny. Then, as an actor, I was on a certain other chunk of reference points as well. The whole thing feels a little bit like therapy. So I guess the ones that were further away from my personal experience were the ones that I enjoyed the most: Dick Van Dyke styles. Or I Love Lucy, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, up to The Brady Bunch. They’re very far from my personal experience as a filmmaker now. I’m a theater director and I loved the live audience. I thought it was really fun.

Wait. You actually had a live audience for one of them?

Oh, yeah. We had a live audience for the first episode. Yeah.

For Dick Van Dyke? That’s amazing.

Yeah, we did.

I’ve been at TV tapings. How does the warmup for the audience go for something like this? Do you have to explain, “Okay, here’s what we’re doing, gang. You have to give us the laughs, even if that might be a little weird.”

No. We didn’t do that. Because they didn’t do that at Dick Van Dyke. They did the show from beginning to end, like I said, so they didn’t need to juice the audience and say, “Come on, laugh like you haven’t heard it before,” the way they do now in a modern sitcom taping. So that’s the joy of it. Everyone dressed up in period clothes. You’re using period lighting and period lenses. The whole thing felt like this was something from a time capsule from back in the day. We put it on and it was fast, and it was some fun. Everyone signed an NDA. Those laughs, that energy: it’s like lightning in a bottle. It really makes it work.

This is my last question, unless the answer is no and it’s really quick then I’ll ask something else. But is there a show that you wanted to do but it just didn’t work.

[Laughs] No.

Alright. Then I’m going to do another last question.

Sure.

Is this a concept that could keep going beyond these none episodes? Or is it very much its own thing that is only these none episodes?

We certainly set out to tell a completely satisfying and surprising story over these nine episodes. But this is Marvel, so the end is often not the end. So who knows what the future can hold?

‘WandaVision’ is scheduled to begin streaming via Disney+ on Jan. 15th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Before his death, King Von was one of rap’s finest storytellers. That extended to his visuals as well, like in his recently released “Wayne’s Story” video, which chronicles the downward spiral into a life of crime. Now Von’s estate has shared another visual the rapper made before his passing, for Welcome To O’Block standout “Armed & Dangerous.”

The new video begins with Von taking a trash can out to the curb when he notices he’s being watched by a lot of suspicious characters. Then, in a flash, Von is wearing an orange jumpsuit in prison and playing basketball with other inmates. On the track, he references his run-ins with law enforcement, like on the chorus when he raps, “Police steady watching me, every day they clocking me / Red alert, armed and dangerous, I keep that Glock on me / And I ain’t looking for no trouble, I’m just looking out for me / ‘Cause I done did shit that n****s ain’t talking ’bout no rapping beef.”

In an interview conducted shortly before his death, Von told Uproxx about the inspiration behind the stories in his music and visuals, saying, “It’s really just me making everything up. My imagination is decent. I know how to just think of sh*t. I just come up with what type of story I would want to start off with. F*cking somebody or fixing to rob somebody? What’s his name? Who you fixing to rob? What he rob him for? You see what I’m saying? Then I just put it together.”

Watch the “Armed & Dangerous” video above.

In early December, HBO announced that it would be rebooting its vampire hit True Blood, which caught fans of the supernatural series by surprise, considering it had ended its seven season run not that long ago. You can now add star Anna Paquin to that list after she recently revealed that the original cast and even author Charlaine Harris, who created the book series, were furiously texting each other over the reboot news that seemingly came out of nowhere.

‘Everybody’s phones were blowing up. Cast and crew, by the way, were like, ‘Oh my God, your show is getting picked back up!’ and we were all like, ‘Huh? What?’” Paquin said about the tight-knit group who have remained close since the original series ended. As for the reboot, Paquin has no hard feelings and even jokes about the need for fresh… blood. Via Collider:

“I wish them well. I don’t know if they need us for anything. Aren’t we all too old now? But it’s a fun world. It’s a supernatural world with endless possibilities. Of course, there’s room to do more and to tell more stories within that universe. We don’t own it.”

The True Blood reboot is just one of three series that HBO is bringing back from the dead. A Gossip Girl reboot is on its way to HBO Max, and the network just announced that it’s launching a revival series of Sex and the City. However, that show will feature its original cast except for the noticeable absence of Kim Cattrall, which has left fans fuming on social media.

(Via Collider)

The Philadelphia Eagles had one of the most disappointing 2020 campaigns of any team in the NFL, as they went 4-11-1 to finish last in the woefully bad NFC East despite boasting a roster most anticipated would be among the best in the division.

At the forefront of Philly’s problems was an offense that was dreadful, ranking 28th in the NFL in yards per play (5.0) and had the third most turnovers in the league with 29. Carson Wentz looked rattled and unsure behind an offensive line that was extremely shaky and the one-time MVP candidate became downright unplayable as the season wore on. Eventually, the Eagles turned things over to rookie Jalen Hurts, although some would say it was too little too late, and while there were some bright spots, even with the more dynamic Hurts, the offense still struggled to put points on the board consistently.

The season culminated in a 20-14 loss to the Football Team that saw Hurts get pulled for Nate Sudfeld in the fourth quarter, a move many felt was blatantly tanking and was divisive even within the Philly locker room. All of that seemed to combine to create the perfect storm in Philadelphia this offseason to push head coach Doug Pederson out the door, as was reported by various outlets on Monday afternoon.

The Eagles made the news official shortly after reports emerged, with a statement citing how the coach and ownership had differing views on their vision for the future of the organization.

Pederson went 42-37-1 in five seasons as the Eagles head coach, with the high point being Philadelphia’s Super Bowl win in 2017. In the three years since, the Eagles went 9-7, 9-7, and 4-11-1, winning just one playoff game in two appearances in that frame. Given how rapidly the Eagles ascended to the top of the NFL under Pederson, it’s a rather shocking demise for his tenure in Philadelphia, but with the way this season ended it appears the Eagles felt they had no choice but to make a change.