Category: News

Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, but a bunch of folks who support him sure do like showing their love for him by getting together during a pandemic. The latest example was a rally in Washington D.C. on Saturday, where thousands offered support for his continued failed attempts to overturn the election.

The latest pro-Trump rally drew some generally unhinged conspiracy theories and selfie moments for Trump surrogates. Of course, the turn-out could certainly have been even larger. In fact, some Trumpists posted a picture on Twitter of huge crowds — that just happened to be one from a different gathering, for a very different reason.

It was pointed out that the photo in question was actually from the March For Our Lives protest in 2018, which happened in response to a rash of high-profile episodes of gun violence, organized by young people who were the victims of school shootings. Many were quick to point out the mistake.

David Hogg, a school shooting survivor who became an activist against gun violence and took part in that protest, confirmed where the photo came from.

It’s another example of the separate reality in which many Trump supporters exist, where everything is about a vast conspiracy against Donald Trump. There are plenty of people who didn’t vote for Trump, but at least those that did could try and not make such obvious lies.

Week 14 in the NFL was a pivotal week for fantasy football players around the country as it was the last week of the regular season for 10-team leagues and the first week of the playoffs for 12-team leagues. As such, tensions were high as fantasy owners tried to set their lineups to either jockey for a playoff spot or to advance to the next round.

Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs has been one of the most productive backs in fantasy football this season, ranking seventh in points among running backs and, as such, he’s a key piece for an awful lot of teams this week. The Raiders have been a run-heavy offense this season and Jacobs has been the primary recipient of those carries. This week, the Raiders face off against the Colts at home, and while it’s not a super favorable matchup against a very good Indianapolis rush defense, Jacobs still figured to get the start for an awful lot of teams.

Jacobs was listed as active, but posted to Instagram just after the 1 p.m. games kicked off that despite his active status he wasn’t playing, and issued a message to mad fantasy owners.

This naturally sent many into a panic, as they tried to figure out how to adjust their lineups and wondered what happened to lead him to not play. However, it appears this was all an elaborate troll by Jacobs who seems to be one of the many NFL players who have had enough of fans asking constantly about fantasy football and getting mad about their performances due to it, and decided to mess with fantasy minded folks in a critical week.

We’ll find out for sure when the Raiders take the field on offense for the first time, but it certainly appears that Jacobs will be playing and has just created fantasy panic for his own enjoyment.

On Friday, pop singer FKA Twigs — born Tahliah Debrett Barnett — stepped forward to accuse her ex-boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, of sexual battery, assault, and “relentless abuse” in a lawsuit filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court. In the lawsuit, Barnett points to a February 2019 incident where she says LaBeouf threatened to crash a speeding vehicle they were in after a trip to the desert. She also alleges that he choked her, raged, and threw her body against the vehicle. In a separate incident, she also says he knowingly infected her with a sexually-transmitted disease.

After hearing about the lawsuit and the abuse Barnett suffered, Sia step forward with allegations of her own while showing support for the Magdalene singer.

“I too have been hurt emotionally by Shia, a pathological liar, who conned me into an adulterous relationship claiming to be single,” Sia said in a tweet on Sunday. “I believe he’s very sick and have compassion for him AND his victims. Just know, if you love yourself- stay safe, stay away.” In a second tweet the Music creator said, “Also I love you ⁦ @FKAtwigs ⁩ This is very courageous and I’m very proud of you.”

Sia’s tweet comes after FKA Twigs explained her decision to speak out about LaBeouf’s abuse was to help survivors “feel like they are not alone.” She added that “it’s important for me to talk about it and try to help people understand that when you are under the coercive control of an abuser or in an intimate partner violent relationship leaving doesn’t feel like a safe or achievable option.”

Christopher Nolan’s Tenet has had a tumultuous 2020 to say the least. The film was originally expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, then the pandemic happened and sent the movie industry into chaos. The film’s release date was moved several times, and became symbolic of the value of the movie theater experience compared to viewing movies at home.

For many, going to a theater to see any movie amid the COVID-19 crisis is a risk too big to take, and Tenet‘s box office numbers certainly showed that. But if you still haven’t seen Tenet, your options to do so will increase on Tuesday when the film gets its digital and physical release. Ahead of that, Warner Bros. released the first six minutes of Tenet on YouTube on Friday, calling it the film’s prologue and finally giving those who have refused the box office offering a chance to see it for themselves.

It’s certainly an interesting decision to put it on YouTube given just how insistent Christopher Nolan was on giving moviegoers the full silver screen treatment for the mind-bending work. But the prologue’s release on the platform also serves as an ad for a special Q&A Nolan is doing for the movie on December 20. He’s sure to say something interesting about the film, and perhaps the state of the movie industry itself given all the HBO Max controversy that’s followed this extremely strange year at the movies.

The closing credits of Saturday Night Live are often a grab bag of hidden meanings and thank yous from the show’s host. Last week, for example, a farewell from 15-yearsold Jason Bateman-hosted episode served as monologue material when Bateman hosted again and recalled an encounter he had with a dangerous primate as credits rolled.

Timothée Chalamet had a much less eventful time hosting on Saturday, though he did have some animal interactions of his own. But it was his final moments on the show that were of particular interest to those in the entertainment industry, especially what he wore on camera as he said goodbye for the night.

Unlike on most episodes, Chalamet was given a few extended moments to say some words to those watching. He said he didn’t have anything prepared, and opted to ad lib a call for kindness from others.

“We’ve all been through a crazy year…we could do a little bit of kindness,” Chalamet said. “Every bit of kindness counts.”

What most people noticed, though, was what he wore when he came back out to end the show. Namely, a Legendary hoodie. As Deadline pointed out, Legendary is the production company behind Dune, the same one which is weighing a lawsuit against Warner Bros. in response to the company announcing that all of its films slated for a 2021 release in theaters will also do the same on HBO Max.

Most who noticed the clothing choice thought it was a clear sign of support for Legendary and Dune director Denis Villeneuve, who wrote a scorching op-ed against the Warners move that drew support from others in Hollywood. And others noticed that Chalamet seems to have worn a Dune t-shirt under the red jacket he also wore during his monologue.

Considering that it’s likely his hosting gig would have been tied to his Dune promotional work in a more coronavirus-free world, it makes sense that he would show his support for the project despite it getting pushed into the 2021 window that will land it on HBO Max next year.

It’s not exactly the same level of support others like Jason Momoa have done, as it’s merely wearing a hoodie and not giving a verbal statement of support like others have done. But even SNL knows how much Chalamet likes his hoodies, so maybe that should be considered here as well.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are not good this season. The reasons for this are many, but what hasn’t helped them is the rotating cast of kickers they’ve employed throughout the year. Their usual starting kicker, Josh Lambo, has been dealing with injuries which has forced the Jaguars to try and find numerous replacements. The results haven’t been good as they just haven’t found one that can stick around.

Over the weekend, the Jaguars made yet another change by cutting Chase McLaughlin and signing Aldrick Rosas for Sunday’s contest against the Titans. Unfortunately for them it didn’t take long for things to go poorly with the new signing. In Rosas’s first ever field goal attempt for the Jaguars he had an absolute disaster, slipping as he tried to kick the ball resulting in it being blocked. Afterward, the broadcast mentioned he had been struggling to maintain his footing in pregame warmups and that apparently was not remedied by game time.

This is just flat out funny. Poor Rosas was just trying to make a good impression on his new team and ended up instead producing an incredible lowlight. You rarely see this happen at any level of football, but especially the NFL. However, it’s pretty representative of the Jaguars and their kicking woes this season.

For some bad teams, they’re just not good because of a single really bad aspect such as quarterback play, an offensive line, or defense. For others, it just feels like the entire team is failing every weekend. The Jaguars fall into the latter and those failures stretch even into the kicking. It’s not surprising to see them with only one win. It will also be exciting to find out which kicker they bring in next week because it’s hard to see Rosas recovering from this.

Snoop Dogg recently sparked a bit of controversy after he shared his sentiments on Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.” In an interview with Central Ave, the Long Beach rapper said that No. 1 song caused some concern for him on how young women would express themselves after hearing it.

“I just don’t want it that fashionable to where young girls express themselves like that without even knowing that that is a jewel that they hold onto until the right person comes around,” he said. Hours after the interview was released, TMZ caught up with Offset and asked him about his opinion on Snoop’s comments regarding his wife’s song.

“I love Snoop, man. [Cardi B is] grown,” Offset said. “I don’t get in females business, so Ima just stay at that. I hate when men do that. I don’t do that. I don’t care if a girl woulda said something bad about me. I just don’t get in females’ business.” The Migos rapper also pointed out that men often rap about the same content that is present on “WAP.” “As [male] rappers, we talk about the same sh*t,” he said. “It’s a lot of woman empowerment. Don’t shoot it down. We never had this many female artists running this shit. They catching up to us, passing us and setting records. That’s two women on one record that’s a very successful record.”

Before concluding his statement, Offset made sure to clarify that he did not have any bad feelings towards Snoop for what he said.

“I really f*ck with Snoop, like, on a personal level. So, I could personally call him and be like, ‘Snoop, come on now.’ I don’t wanna seem like I’m dissing at Snoop, that’s my boy. But, at the same time, all men should stay out of women business,” Offset said. “That’s women business. You ain’t gon’ have no win. Your comments probably looking crazy from just saying stuff like that. Stay outta women business. Women are strong now. We should uplift our women. Don’t say what they can and can’t do.”

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

Netflix’s Queen’s Gambit is now the most popular limited series in Netflix history, ringing up a reported 62 million viewers in the first 28 days. The chess drama is a king-sized hit for Netflix, remaining the top show on Netflix for weeks after its release. It’s a madly addictive show, too, and it works even if you’re a chess idiot.

One of the most compelling elements of the Queen’s Gambit is its phenomenal cast. Let’s look at who we meet in the limited series and where we’ve seen the many familiar faces before Queen’s Gambit came along.

Anya-Taylor Joy (Beth Harmon)

The lead of Queen’s Gambit is getting a lot of attention for her role in the series, but this is far from her first role. Anya-Taylor Joy was in the little-seen X-Men movie, The New Mutants as Illyana Rasputin; she appeared in the most recent season of Peaky Blinders; and her break-out role was in Robert Eggers’ wicked little horror flick, The Witch. Most people, however, recognize her from M. Night Shyamalan’s Split and its sequel Glass, where she played Casey Cooke.

Bill Camp (Mr. Shaibel)

Bill Camp, who played the janitor at Beth’s orphanage, and the man who taught her to play chess, is a character actor who has been working consistently in the industry for 30 years. He was in The Leftovers and in a brilliant HBO miniseries, The Night Of. More recently, however, he was a main cast member in the popular HBO series The Outsider, based on the Stephen King novel.

Marielle Heller (Alma Wheatley)

Heller, who played Beth’s adopted mother, is perhaps the most interesting member of the cast because she’s probably not a familiar face to many people (she had some very small roles in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and the MacGruber movie), but anyone who has seen Tom Hanks’ A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood has seen her work. She directed that movie, as well as the phenomenal Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which elicited Oscar nominations for both Richard E. Grant and Melissa McCarthy. She’s also married to Jorma Taccone, one-third of The Lonely Island, who directed Popstar and MacGruber.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Benny Watts)— Brodie-Sangster is a former child star, and for those of us who know him for his earlier work, it’s often difficult to see him as a grown-up. We know him as the little boy, Sam, in Love Actually, but also as Jojen Reed in Game of Thrones. He’s also the voice of Ferb in the animated series Phineas and Ferb.

Harry Melling (Harry Beltik)

Melling has been acting consistently for the last decade, but most people only know Melling from one thing other than Queen’s Gambit. He played Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies. He’s much more likable in the Netflix series!

The charm of SNL is that it lets its hosts show off different sides of themselves. But the show also finds greatness when it just lets a host do their thing. Such is the case with Tiny Horse, a prerecorded sketch from last night’s episode where Beck Bennett, Chloe Fineman, and host Timothée Chalamet commit like hell to the premise of a poor farm family on the cusp of losing everything. Including Chalomet’s cherished tiny horse. Which is just so darn tiny. Tiny Horse, how’d you get so tiny? Look out for the oral history on that in a couple of years, but for now, let’s all bask in how SNL weaponized Timothée Chalamet’s sad-eyed stare.

I haven’t felt this much for a horse since we all sang a song to say goodbye to Lil Sebastian on Parks And Rec. And while Chalemet’s earnest ballad pulls on those same heartstrings, recalling the plot of literally every horse movie ever made, it also sets up a silly punchline that only lands so hard because Chalamet is Chalameting the sh*t out of the scene.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic seeing Timbo piss off Questlove or get really into a sketch about delusional Jets fans (there’s a joke I’m leaving on the table because I honestly think Jets fans dig the pain or else why would they be Jets fans?), but having him metaphorically cry into a fireplace over the big hole in his heart caused by losing his tiny horse is perfection.

Kyrie Irving may not be speaking to the assembled media in Brooklyn right now, which earned him a $25,000 fine late last week that will continue accruing as his silence continues, but he did find a way on Saturday night to talk hoops and life with the masses as he hopped on Instagram Live with Kevin Durant.

The two talked about all manner of topics, but the clip that’s drawn the most interest came in a conversation about how they see the Nets offense working. Irving, of course, famously said he felt that everyone on the Nets was something of a coach after Steve Nash was hired, and while Mike D’Antoni is the assistant in charge of offense (understandably given his history coaching elite offensive units) the stars of the team will surely have their say.

At one point Irving suggested he should go in the post a lot this season because he, like Durant, can get his shot off over most any opposing point guard and create a mismatch in that spot. Durant very kindly explained why he didn’t think that was a good idea and got Irving somewhat on board with scaling back his request, but not fully, leaving KD to eventually just change the subject.

Kyrie: “I just want to be able to be like — in my past life, like I said , I was you. I was you. What you are now, that’s what I’m up here. Same mentality, I’m getting to a spot. I’m raising up. I’m getting to a bucket. My footwork is impeccable. I have length. I’m able to shoot over the top, hold the follow through, and I don’t see people. Do you not feel the same way?”

KD: “I do sometimes, I’m just saying I don’t think that’s good for the continuity of our offense if our point guard always wants to be underneath the rim, you know what I’m saying?”

Kyrie: “You know what, that can come off…”

KD: “You get what I mean?”

Kyrie: “I do, you’re right. That can come off like I’m trying to implement myself — OK, so what about 7 post ups instead of 8.”

KD: “I mean we negotiated, I thought we was gonna do 2.5 postups a game. The half one was like, I throw you the ball in the post and you throw it right back out to me.”

Kyrie: “No, but I’m also saying I feel like every play down I have a mismatch, no matter who’s in front of me. So I think that mentality, mixed with having that post-guard is a great balance for our squad.”

KD: “We’re gonna see though.”

Kyrie: “I know my post-ups are negotiable. But I think four a half works. Like 8, that…what?”

KD: “We’ll see. I got another question.”

The 2.5 postups line from KD is objectively hilarious, and it’s clear that he’s not fully on board with this plan for Irving to postup four times per half and is trying to think of the impact of Kyrie’s role on the team, whereas it seems Irving is a bit more focused on how he can be most effective for himself. That dichotomy is fascinating and certainly presents some of the challenges that are going to come in this partnership and for the Nets in figuring out how to appease both of their stars while also constructing the best possible offensive system that works for the entire roster.

It’s a glimpse behind the curtain of the types of conversation that will surely happen over and over in practices and beyond as the Nets try to find themselves and build something from scratch with two stars that have never played together and a coaching staff that’s never been with them. I think it’s also representative of both Durant and Irving’s experiences to this point. Kyrie saw his chance to be “the guy” taken away in Cleveland by LeBron’s arrival and did his part to play a secondary starring role en route to a title, but left, in part, due to a desire to to be a leader elsewhere. He’s still chasing that a bit even now in Brooklyn after injury issues have derailed progress in Boston and now Brooklyn. Durant, meanwhile, has had to be the one fitting into a culture and a system and understands the difficulty of that from his time in Golden State, and seems much more cognizant of the impact star demands can have on the rest of the team’s psyche and the importance of that to winning.

This is one of the reasons the Nets are heavily intriguing, because it’s clear these are two stars that truly like each other off the floor but have somewhat different approaches on it. They have to navigate that part for the first time with a new coaching staff and it has the potential for greatness but also to be combustible. One thing that’s clear from this video is that, if nothing else, KD has a deft touch when it comes to talking Irving off of some of his requests and deflecting when needed to avoid conflict but also just let something fade away.