Category: News

On Thursday, Gucci Mane and Jeezy tookto Atlanta’s Magic City to duke it out in a 20-song Verzuz battle, which was watched by 1.6 million people around the world. To commemorate the duel, Travis Scott released Versuz-themed merchandise. One of them was a pair of “TM:1017” T-shirts, one in white and another in brown, that featured the Atlanta rappers’ iconic logos — Jeezy’s snowman and Gucci’s ice cream — side by side.

The T-shirts are just the latest piece of merchandise that Travis has made available this year. The Houston native previously teamed up with McDonald’s for three rounds of releases that included an action figure, cups, rugs, tote bags, hoodies, a keychain, a pair of house slippers, and so much more.

The Gucci Mane-Jeezy’s Verzuz battle was preceded by days of taunting from the 1017 rapper. Gucci reposted a meme that made fun of him shooting Jeezy’s friend and days later he mocked Jeezy’s The Recession 2 album cover outfit. On the day of the Verzuz battle, Gucci re-uploaded his Jeezy diss track, “Truth,” to streaming services as his latest act against the fellow Atlanta rapper.

Fans can purchase the T-shirts on Gucci’s website here.

Gucci Mane is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

NFL handicapping isn’t always fun. Sometimes, bad process dictates bad results, and we’ve had some of that in this space during the 2020 season. In fact, two selections in Week 10 were simply dreadful, and that happens. However, the brutal parts arrive when things simply go awry for no particular reason. Week 10 featured a Cardinals victory, but not a cover, in memorable fashion, and the Niners out-gained the Saints by more than 40 total yards, only to fail to keep the game within single digits due to a pair of muffed punts and four total turnovers.

Alas, we press on but, before diving into the Week 11 slate, it is time to take a look at the less than inspiring season-long results.

• Week 10: 1-4
• 2020 Season: 25-23-2

Come get these winners.

Atlanta Falcons (+4) over New Orleans Saints

There is at least a chance Drew Brees plays, but even if he does, the Falcons should be able to get us home. Atlanta has been much better in recent weeks, and they match up well with New Orleans, even in the Superdome. Anything more than a field goal, plus the uncertainty with Brees, and the Falcons are the move.

Baltimore Ravens (-5.5) over Tennessee Titans

A favorite of more than a field goal? Yes, indeed. Baltimore is now a team the public is quite skeptical of after some uneven performances, and that leads to a bit of value. Quite honestly, this line should be seven, and the Titans’ defense might be what the Ravens need to see to get on the right track.

Houston Texans (+2) over New England Patriots

The Texans were 2.5-point favorites on the look-ahead line. Then, the Patriots beat the Ravens, and now here we are. I’m willing to bet on this being an overreaction, and I’ll take the points with the best player on the field in Deshaun Watson.

Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos UNDER 45 points

Miami is real on defense and, despite recent success, that is not a particularly explosive or effective offensive team. Drew Lock is capable of just about anything for Denver, in both a good and a bad way for us, but I do trust the Broncos to be solid defensively. We may have to sweat a defensive touchdown and/or some short fields, but 45 should be enough.

Green Bay Packers (+2) over Indianapolis Colts

The Colts got steamed and this line is now silly. Indianapolis looked great last week, but the Packers are the better team in this matchup. Home-field advantage levels the playing field, but not to the point in which Phil Rivers should be favored over Aaron Rodgers. Take the small number.

On one hand, it would be hard for Rudy Giuliani — or anybody, really — to best the Four Seasons Total Landscaping fiasco in terms of sheer weird absurdity. On the other, maybe he did? On Thursday — almost two weeks after the 2020 presidential race was called for Joe Biden — the outgoing president’s lawyer once again embarrassed himself with an inventively wackadoodle presser. It was marred by black mystery goo and — why not! — random odes to My Cousin Vinny. And that’s not even considering the wild nonsense he was spewing about widespread voter fraud he could not prove.

It’s the kind of debacle that breaks even the most seasoned journalist. Seasoned journalists like Anderson Cooper. That night on CNN, the anchor weighed in on Giuliani’s literal meltdown of a presser, and what could he do but just mock it two ways from Sunday. The chyron for the entire segment was brief, not filling out the entire space. It read, simply: “Pathetic.”

“Did you see the press conference?”, an exasperated Cooper asked his audience, describing it as a “trainwreck,” with a sweaty Giuliani as its “conductor.” And while history may never decide which of the two notorious Rudy pressers was crazier, Cooper had an answer. “If you thought they couldn’t top the mishegooss of the press conference at the Four Seasons landscaping parking lot, next to the porn place, they took this one to 11. It was next level.”

He continued:

Can the producers from Intervention please get in touch with his people and set something up? Legendary New York columnist Jimmy Breslin once described Giuliani as “a small man in search of a balcony.” Now he’s just a hot mess. The man once described as America’s mayor appeared sweating with newly applied black hair dye rolling down his face. It wasn’t a press conference, it was a clown show, without any actual meaning or reality.

Cooper continued to play numerous clips from Giuliani’s spluttering, conspiracy-mad appearance, then rip them to shreds. He pointed out how he kept bringing up accusations that have already been shot down by various courts, as well as invent a new, also baseless one about voter fraud in Philadelphia (followed by a liberal amount of Philly bashing).

By the end, Cooper admitted one journalistic mistake on his part: “I said it was a clown show. I apologize to clowns.”

While it was originally planned for a release at some point this year, Lana Del Rey‘s forthcoming album, Chemtrails Over the Country Club, wound up being pushed back to 2021. The reason? Production delays with its vinyl copies. While the delay was certainly a disappointment, it hasn’t stopped her from sharing content. Fresh off delivering a cover of “On Eagle’s Wings,” she’s returned with another, this time her spin on George Gershwin’s 1935 song “Summertime.”

Del Rey’s take on the Gershwin classic also arrives with an earthy video, which begins with her and a few friends making their way back from a coronavirus test in Beverly Hills. Once home, the group reconvenes in a gazebo. The singer also sent out a tweet asking fans to donate to art organizations. “I’m so grateful to have been asked to perform this version of summertime by George Gershwin — the legendary composer-pianist whose music the New York Philharmonic has premiered and with whom we performed,” she wrote, adding, “especially during a crisis faced by all performing arts organizations.”

The cover is one of several the singer will share in the lead-up to Chemtrails Over the Country Club. Speaking about the album, Lana said it has a “16-week delay on the vinyl process, so in the meantime, I’m going to give you a digital record of American standards and classics for Christmas because I can’t get the record plants to open until March 5. That probably goes for a lot of people out there.”

You can watch the video for her “Summertime” cover above.

The movie industry has been cautiously back to production, especially if they’re filming in nations that have handled the pandemic better than America. The movie theater industry is a different story. Not even a Christopher Nolan spectacular was able to reignite the theatrical box office, forcing major studios to make previously unthinkable moves. A day after Warner Bros. announced they’d be releasing Wonder Woman 1984 on their still newish streamer, HBO Max, a report from Deadline claims Disney is considering doing something similar with some of their big live-action remakes.

While no final decision has been made, Deadline reports that three of the company’s splashier titles may wind up taking a path similar to the one that befell their live-action remake of Mulan, as well as titles like Artemis Foul, the Hamilton movie, and Pixar’s forthcoming Soul: They’ll wind up on Disney+, their year-old streamer. Those films are Cruella, in which Emma Stone plays a more punkish version of the 101 Dalmatians baddie; Pinocchio, which reunites director Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks, who will play Gepetto; and Peter Pan and Wendy, from Pete’s Dragon’s David Lowery.

It’s unclear which version of the Disney+ path they’ll take. Artemis Foul, Hamilton, and Soul were/are being made free with a subscription. Mulan, however, was a rental for its first three months, with a steep price tag of 30 bucks. And again, this is far from a done deal. But one thing’s for certain: The pandemic is going to change the theatrical movie landscape in ways that will ensue long after this thing’s belatedly under control.

(Via Deadline)

Thursday is the night the entire hip-hop community has spent nearly a week waiting for: Gucci Mane and Jeezy will kick off the new season of Verzuz with a 20-song matchup of some of the best songs from their lengthy careers. The two rappers have not been face-to-face for the last fifteen years, so when news of the battle arrived, fans were surprised and quickly assumed it would be a bitter battle. While some are hoping that the two rappers will wind up burying the hatchet, Gucci’s latest move is leading others to believe that he is far from ending the beef.

Before the Verzuz matchup, the “Lemonade” rapper made the decision to re-upload his scathing Jeezy track “Truth” to DSPs as a lone single. The song is currently available to listen to on his 2011 project The Trap God, making the move from Gucci seem like even more of a jab at Jeezy. The song was released after Gucci allegedly shot one of Jeezy’s associates in self-defense and is best known for a line in which Gucci says, “Go dig your partner up, n****, bet he can’t say sh*t.”

This is not the first jab Gucci has taken at his fellow Atlanta rapper. Days before the battle, he taunted Jeezy over the death of his late associate. He also laughed at Jeezy’s outfit on the cover of his upcoming The Recession 2 album, saying, “Is fashion a part of the Verzuz? Because I’ma have that sh*t on tomorrow and if buddy have that same funny ass shirt and that dumb ass hat he had on that God damn album cover, I ain’t doing it.”

You can find the “Truth” single on DSPs here.

Gucci Mane is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Well, it’s finally here, the video we’ve been waiting for! A first collaboration between Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa, and maybe the start of many more? Because these two look like they were made to be on screen together. The “Prisoner” video follows the two of them through a careening sprint of driving their tour bus, to partying in the back, dancing and canoodling — Dua even licks Miley’s face at one point — and breaking into a can of bright red maraschino cherries. We learned in the teaser yesterday that the “blood” that seemed to make this video so spooky was actually just cherries, but it still adds a whole hell of a lot of dramatic effect.

The two get about as close to making out as humanly possible without actually doing it, but the possibility lingers. After getting off the bus, they play at what looks like an old graffiti’d Brooklyn venue, and close out the set with Dua flipping the bird. Then a small, heart-shaped graphic comes up on screen that says: “In loving memory of all my exes. Eat sh*t.” There’s also a floating mouth that follows them around through most of the video, presumably Miley’s! It’s a joyride for sure, and if it doesn’t quite “break” the internet, it’ll at least jostle it.

As far as the song, musically it feels like a mash between Dua and Miley’s respective styles. A little more in the glittering ’70s rock lane than Dua usually goes, and a bit more disco-pop than Miley’s been until her “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart” and “Midnight Sky” singles. And if this is what the rest of Plastic Hearts sounds like, I’m definitely optimistic.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Thursday is World Pancreatic Cancer Day, and for Jeopardy! fans, it’s a day that serves as an opportunity for remembrance. Earlier this month, longtime host Alex Trebek passed away following a battle with the disease at age 80. He was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in early 2019 and battled for more than a year, and through Christmas Day, Jeopardy! will broadcast episodes that were aired with Trebek as host from before his passing.

It’s unclear exactly when Thursday evening’s episode was shot, but before things kicked off, Trebek spoke to those watching at home about World Pancreatic Cancer Day. While donning a purple tie, shirt, and ribbon on his jacket — purple is the color used to honor those who have battled pancreatic cancer, and the show’s official Twitter account encouraged people to wear it on Thursday — Trebek urged people to take this seriously.

“Before we get into today’s match, a word about today,” Trebek said. “Today is World Pancreatic Cancer Day, and if you or anyone you know has developed some of the symptoms that I have talked about in the past, then by all means, get to a doctor, get yourself tested, I want you to be safe. This is a terrible, terrible disease.”

For more information on pancreatic cancer and the symptoms associated with it, here’s a link with more information via the Mayo Clinic. And for more on World Pancreatic Cancer Day, click here.

Even Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani’s most trusted friends are finally starting to see the damage the president is causing by not conceding the 2020 presidential election. And they’re doing their best to plead to the president on his once-favorite network to give up the ghost.

Geraldo Rivera is the latest Fox News personality to claim Trump’s attempt to undo election results is giving people, including himself, “false hope.” As news spread Thursday that Trump had invited Republican lawmakers from Michigan to the White House in an alarming attempt to somehow decertify election results that actual people cast earlier this month, Rivera appeared on The Five to torpedo any vast conspiracy theories that somehow Trump had the election stolen from him.

“I love the president. I wanted him to win this election. What I saw with Rudy Giuliani, who I’ve known for decades, was bizarre, was unfocused, there was conspiracy theory this or that,” Rivera said. “When you have evidence, that you suggest, what’s the lawsuit that that evidence attaches to? What’s the action? You can’t go to a court and say ‘It’s fraud. Judge… prove it for me.’ Or ask the FBI to prove it for me.”

It’s an unfocused segment, as the camera whirled around between Rivera and another host, Jessie Watters, trying to defend the failing lawsuits and Giuliani’s sweaty, meme-explosion of a press conference from earlier in the day. But perhaps Rivera saved his most accurate line for the end of the conflict.

“We’re giving false hope to people,” he said. It’s certainly true for those who still believe that Trump can somehow remain president, which includes a good number of people watching Fox News — among them the current president.

The sports calendar is in full swing, with the NFL and college football pressing forward and the NBA raging into a wild offseason with the Draft and free agency back-to-back. Overseas, most attention is being paid to the goings on in the soccer world, with the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and the rest all off and running in their seasons.

As such, you probably aren’t watching an awful lot of snooker — or probably know what snooker even is — but have no fear, social media will always ensure you find out about viral and hilarious snooker content. Yes, the billiards game that calls for immense strategy that is foreign to most of us here in the states — played on a giant table with 15 red balls, six colored balls and the cue ball — can produce viral moments, and on Thursday we were treated to an incredible one.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was facing Matthew Stevens at the Northern Ireland Open, trailing 2-1 in the match, when he stepped to the table and an incredibly loud fart rang out, causing a hilarious scene in the room with players and referees all laughing — and O’Sullivan would see his shot after trying to compose himself rattle in and out of the pocket.

Most thought it was the ref, who turned beet red, who had ripped one, but after the match O’Sullivan took ownership of the fart, saying he’s been dealing with “stomach problems,” via EuroSport.

“I dropped my guts,” admitted O’Sullivan after his 4-2 comeback win. “I’ve had bad stomach problems for the last three months, I’ve been having tests in the hospital.

“I said to the ref, ‘was that you?’ We had a laugh out there. But I’m taking full ownership of that one.”

O’Sullivan did come back to win that game and the match overall, and hopefully he finds a way to take care of his stomach issues. “I dropped my guts” is an all-time line though and everyone in the room had a laugh in the aftermath.