Category: News

Ten years ago today, Kanye West dropped his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It arrived at the backend of a tumultuous point in his career, filled with headline-making moments, like his 2009 MTV VMA incident with Taylor Swift. It produced many unforgettable moments, such as Nicki Minaj’s incredible verse on “Monster” and Kanye’s performance at the 2010 MTV VMAs. A decade later, fans took to Twitter to celebrate the album and answer one question: Is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye’s best album?

For some, the question was an easy one to answer. One Twitter user said yes and labeled it a “culmination of so many parts of hip hop into one perfect project.” Another said seemed to agree as well and called it an “undisputed classic.” More comments poured in support of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, with another saying, “This was Kanye’s peak. Both fashion and musically.”

Others weren’t so sure it was his best. One chose Kanye’s 2005 Late Registration, while another opted for 2013’s The Life Of Pablo. The varying responses continued, with another Twitter user calling his first three albums — College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation — better releases.

You can find more takes from fans below.

As of this writing, Election Night 2020 was nearly three weeks ago, and it’s been just over two weeks since most news outlets — and many states — have called the presidential race for Joe Biden. Donald Trump, not so surprisingly, has yet to concede, and he’s peppered the courts with lawsuits alleging voter fraud. All but one of them has been shot down, and for a simple reason: Trump’s often klutzy legal team has offered no evidence to their tall claims. Still, the majority of the GOP has yet to condemn Trump’s refusal to concede. But there have been exceptions.

One of them is Chris Christie, a longtime Trump loyalist and someone who, by his own admission, voted for him a second time earlier this month. And yet, in an appearance on ABC’s This Week, the former New Jersey governor said that, after weeks of pushback, enough is enough. Host George Stephanopoulos asked him a question point blank: “Is it time for this to finally end?” To which Christie responded bluntly: “Yes.”

He then explained his reason why. “The president has had an opportunity to access the courts,” he said, adding that if the president’s legal team — including Rudy Giuliani and former prosecutor Sidney Powell, who’ve been alleging a conspiracy involving [deep breath] Venezuela, Cuba, China, George Soros, and the Clinton Foundation — have evidence of fraud, they should “present it.” But that hasn’t happened. So Christie didn’t hold back. “Quite frankly the conduct of the president’s legal team has been a national embarrassment.”

He elaborated, saying that Powell was “accusing [Georgia] Governor Bran Kemp of a crime on television yet being unwilling to go on TV and defend and lay out he evidence that she supposedly has.” He added, “This is outrageous by any lawyer, and notice, George, they won’t do it inside the courtroom. They allege fraud outside the courtroom but when they go inside the courtroom they don’t argue fraud.”

He continued:

Look, I’ve been a supporter of the president. I voted for him twice. But elections have consequence. And we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that didn’t happen. You have an obligation to present the evidence. The evidence has not been presented. And you must conclude — as Tucker Carlson even concluded the other night — if you’re unwilling to come forward and present the evidence, it must mean the evidence doesn’t exist. That’s what I was worried about starting Election Night, and I remain concerned today. I think it’s wrong.

He concluded by saying, “As much as I’m a strong Republican and I love my party, it’s the country that has to come first.”

Christie hasn’t always followed the party line. After he was one of dozens in Trump’s entourage to test positive for COVID-19 — which sent him to the ICU — he begged his supporters to take it far more seriously than they have. So kudos to Chris Christie (even if it seems few in Trump’s base listened to him about the latter)! Then again, you’re supposed to take the rational position on things like a rampaging pandemic and baseless accusations of voter fraud. And of course, Chris Christie will still always be Chris Christie.

In a normal year, anyone who decides to remain sober (for a whole range of very legitimate reasons) might be faced with a Holiday-season conundrum: What to drink while others are tying one on? But due to COVID, the social calendar is light this year. So that’s a non-issue.

You can drink tea on Zoom, no one will notice.

That said, plenty of sober folks love the taste of beer without wanting the effects of the alcohol. And good news for them, the non-alcoholic beer industry is booming. And while yellow, fizzy NA beers from giant macro brewers still abound, craft beer has begun to embrace alcohol-free brews over the past few years.

To help you navigate the exciting world of non-alcoholic brews, we decided to list eight of our favorites as we head into the holidays (and the traditional beers they most resemble).

Partake Stout

Non-alcoholic stout is a tall order. Partake tackled the task and while the warming alcohol flavor of many stouts is missing, the flavors aren’t. It’s full of roasted coffee, dark chocolate, and sweet caramel flavors that are so pronounced you might continue drinking this beer well into spring.

Most Resembles: Beamish Stout

Brooklyn Special Effects

Brooklyn Brewing is one of the OG’s in the world of craft brewing so it’s no surprise the iconic brewery decided to try its hand at a NA beer. Special Effects definitely doesn’t disappoint with its dry-hopped, fresh, resinous, and crisp flavors.

It’s light, clean, and perfect for a sunny-yet-chilly late-fall day.

Most Resembles: Harpoon Rec League

BrewDog Nanny State

We know the lads at Scotland’s BrewDog like to make jokes with their beer names, but this NA bottle speaks for itself (and despite the name). This is a beer for pale ale fans hoping to take a month or two off from high octane hop bombs. Though it’s devoid of alcohol, it’s filled with bitter, spicy, citrusy hops.

Most Resembles: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Athletic Smooth Ascent

With a name like Athletic, you can probably guess that this beer is designed for athletes who aren’t trying to run a 5K or play slow-pitch softball with a mid-day buzz. While it’s well known for its lighter beers, you’d be remiss if you didn’t try Smooth Ascent, the brewery’s chocolate and coffee-filled stout that actually contains about half the caffeine of a cup of joe.

Most Resembles: Narragansett Coffee Milk Stout

Heineken 0.0

If you enjoy the taste of Heineken, but you’re not trying to fall asleep after a few beers at lunch, Heineken 0.0 is for you. While many larger brands have launched beers that barely resemble their alcohol-filled counterparts, Heineken 0.0 tastes identical to regular Heineken with none of the booze.

Most Resembles: Heineken

Hairless Dog Black Ale

Hairless Dog’s “darkest ale” is its Black Ale. While it doesn’t contain any alcohol, it’s high in flavor with roasted malt and subtle bitter coffee flavors along with velvety chocolate richness to finish. To add to that, it has a nice hop presence that ties everything together in a neat, little bow.

Most Resembles: Schlafly Black Lager

Surreal 17 Mile Porter

November is a great month for porters. If you’re staying sober but want to try one, opt for a 17 Mile Porter from Surreal instead. While it contains no alcohol, it’s full of bitter espresso, rich dark chocolate, and resinous hop flavors.

Most Resembles: Anchor Porter

Over the past half-decade, Wiz Khalifa’s love of cannabis has escalated beyond something he merely does for fun. Back in 2014 he created a strain called Khalifa Kush, which he did in partnership with Cookie Co. 415. But now the “Black And Yellow” rapper now faces a lawsuit from the strain’s co-owner Carlos Arias, who sued both Khalifa and NFL Hall of Famer and Good Morning America host Michael Strahan, who was involved in the product. Arias claims he was left out of a cannabis licensing deal valued price at no less than $20,000,000.

According to court documents provided by The Blast, Arias, who is a director and managing agent for Cuzzi Consulting Inc., claims that Wiz and Strahan “pilfered more than $100,000,000 in assets from Nominal Defendants.” Arias’ lawsuit also claims a “breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting fiduciary breaches, conversion, corporate waste, tortious breach of an express or implied agreement, unjust enrichment, money had and received, professional negligence, civil conspiracy, and declaratory judgment arising out of Defendants’ wrongful conduct concerning the usurpation and misappropriation of assets from Nominal Defendants KKE USA and the Khalifa Kush Joint Venture.”

Arias’ lawsuit also says that Wiz orchestrated the scheme with help from “his entourage who conspired with the illicit assistance of outside counsel Pryor Cashman” in order to “funnel the proceeds from to themselves and certain third party beneficiaries.”

The lawsuit arrives after Wiz launched his delivery-only restaurant, HotBox By Wiz, which boasts a menu that references his music catalog and his love for marijuana.

(via The Blast)

Wiz Khalifa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

As UFC fighter Mike Perry began walking out to his UFC 255 bout, something unexpected happened. Instead of hearing his chosen song, Perry was surprised that “Halo” was playing. It’s unclear what song he expected to walk out to, but usually the songs are fierce, pump up anthems, not a ballad like “Halo.” Yet, it all worked out for the fighter, who went with it and began singing along to the emotional track while he prepped:

It takes a certain kind of guy to roll with the punches (heh) in a situation like this, and both fans of Perry and Beyonce are enjoying the moment, watching him sing along.

And as the announcers noted, his main supporter during the fight was his very pregnant girlfriend, so given that context, maybe “Halo” does make sense for his song — it’s a track about realizing someone loves you unconditionally and how that love makes them seem angelic. Plenty of pregnant women wouldn’t want to be in a UFC ring during that sometimes difficult and exhausting time, but Perry has that, so perhaps his girlfriend deserves the song as a tribute.

Sadly, as USA Today notes, Perry did still lose his fight. But that has nothing to do with the Beyonce song in my book.

While the NBA is in the midst of the free agent frenzy, the new league year has also opened up extension negotiations for players entering the final year of their deals around the league. The one everyone is waiting on is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s decision regarding the supermax the Bucks have on the table for him, but there are others that can lock themselves in longterm to their current team as well.

Among those is Donovan Mitchell, who is at the top of the rookie class eligible for extensions this season, and given his continued improvement year over year, headlined by his production in Utah’s seven-game series loss against Denver, it comes as little surprise that Utah would make sure to lock him up. On Sunday, word emerged that the Jazz and Mitchell had agreed to a 5-year max extension, with $163 million guaranteed that could become worth up to $195 million if he’s selected to an All-NBA team next season, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski breaking the news.

Mitchell has become one of the league’s best shooting guards/combo guards, averaging 24 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game last season as the Jazz earned the 6-seed in the West. The task now for Mitchell, who has seen an uptick in both production and efficiency in each of his three years in the league, is to help elevate the Jazz to more than just a solid playoff team and try to, along with the help of a strong supporting cast that will hopefully stay healthy this year, push them deeper into the playoffs in a crowded West.

As for the Jazz, locking down Mitchell was always going to happen, but next summer brings the real test of their belief in this squad as constructed when Rudy Gobert becomes extension eligible.

The Atlanta Hawks have, as expected, been one of the NBA’s most active teams during the free agency period as they entered the offseason with the most cap space in the league. To use that space, they’ve signed veterans Danilo Gallinari and Rajon Rondo, as well as taken a bit of a flier on Kris Dunn to beef up their defensive presence in the backcourt.

Still, after those moves, they had up to $19 million to use and the one big free agent left on the market was Bogdan Bogdanovic. There has been a ton of smoke surrounding the young shooting guard’s free agency, starting with the botched sign-and-trade with the Bucks and then reports of interest from the Hawks, Knicks (who also have gobs of space), Lakers, and Pacers, the latter of whom have been rumored to be interested in a sign-and-trade. However, much like how things went with the Bucks, everything was dependent on Bogdanovic’s interest in signing an offer sheet with a team — something he apparently didn’t sign off on with Milwaukee.

The Hawks have now placed their offer sheet on the table, per Sam Amick of The Athletic, which must be signed by Bogdanovic and agreed to in principle before returning to the Kings where they have the opportunity to match if they so choose. The deal is a reported 4-year, $72 million deal ($18 million annually), which would put the Hawks right at the cap.

As Amick relays in a later tweet, he doesn’t believe Atlanta would submit such an offer sheet if they didn’t feel good about their chances. The question now is whether Sacramento will match once (or if) Bogdanovic signs the offer sheet, and given their apparent willingness to do a sign-and-trade to move him elsewhere, it’d be a fairly surprising — but not completely unreasonable — if they were to match.

Earlier this month, Vogue debuted the cover for their December 2020 issue, featuring Harry Styles. On the cover, Harry is wearing a dress, a move that has elicited reactions in the likes of Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Logan Paul, and many others.

But this weekend, during an Instagram Q&A session, congressional AOC also weighed in, not just on Harry in the dress, but the multitude of reactions his fashion choices sparked. “What do you think abt Harry Styles wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue” one of her followers asked.

Here’s what she had to say: “It looks wonderful. The masculine and feminine elements are balanced beautifully — the hair and jacket styling give me James Dean vibes too. Some people are mad at it bc some folks are very sensitive to examining and exploring gender roles in society. Perhaps for some people it provokes some anger or insecurity masculinity/femininity/etc. Sit with that reaction and think about it, examine it, explore it, engage it, and grow with it. What’s the point of creating things if they don’t make people think? Or feel or reflect? Especially as an artist or creative? Who wants to see the same things all the time? And never explore their assumptions? Anyway it looks bombs (shrug emoji).”

In a later slide, she noted the historical implications of the gender fluid designer Harris Reed who is involved with the shoot after learning about them in a post from Alok. “Also, my context on this question had just been with seeing general right-wing critique of the image. I wasn’t aware of the historical context of the cover! With that, @alokvmenon has a thorough and nuanced perspective on this and the under recognized role of trans femmes of color worth reflecting on.”

Alok notes: “Harry is the first non-woman to appear solo on the cover of American Vogue… let alone wearing a dress!”

Read their full post below:

After Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1) dispatched Alex Perez within two minutes of the first round Saturday night at UFC 255, UFC president Dana White announced his intentions to turn the champ around just 21 days later at UFC 256. And that appears to be the case, with ESPN reporting Figueiredo will defend his flyweight title against Brandon Moreno (18-5-1), who also made quick work at UFC 255 with a first-round knockout of Brandon Royval.

“We’re going to keep (Figueiredo) here,” White said at the post-fight news conference, per MMA Junkie. “He’s not going back to Brazil. We’re going to turn him right around (in) December. That’s what we’re working on.”

Less than 24 hours later and Figueiredo and Moreno have verbally agreed to the fight, which makes UFC history as the quickest turnaround for a champion and/or challenger in a UFC title fight, per ESPN.

Moreno is 4-0-1 in his last five bouts with the knockout Saturday night, three decisions and a draw. Figueiredo has been dominant since losing the only fight of his career in March of last year to Jussier Formiga. After missing weight in his initial bout with Joseph Benavidez in February, Figueiredo submitted Benavidez to win the division crown in July. With the fight in December, that means he’ll fight four times in 2020, the most of his career.

Figueiredo-Moreno will likely serve as the co-main event of UFC 256 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which is currently slated to be headlined by Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title.

Because of when this season of Fear the Walking Dead was interrupted by the pandemic, tonight’s seventh episode will be the midseason finale (the midpoint is usually episode 8). Without spoiling anything, the end of this week’s episode works well as a midseason finale, even if it was unintentional. I find myself incredibly excited for the back half of the season in 2021, the seventh season, and beyond.

It’s a strange thing to say given how well The Walking Dead has rebounded under new showrunner Angela Kang, even after the loss of Andrew Lincoln, but this season of Fear is every bit as good as any seven-episode stretch of The Walking Dead. That is not hyperbole. Check any of the fan forums, where viewers of Fear the Walking Dead were absolutely brutal to the series last year, and you’ll see how truly excited fans are about this series again.

Lennie James has been with The Walking Dead universe since the very first episode, and he’s never been as good as he is now, and there are a few characters on Fear that now rival Carol, Daryl, and Maggie as the best of the TWD: Colman Domingo’s Strand, Garrett Dillahunt’s John Dorie, and Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Alicia. That’s not to mention Rubén Blades’ fan-favorite character Daniel Salazar, and a strong supporting cast that includes Austin Amelio’s Dwight (over from the parent series), Maggie Grace’s Althea, and even Jenna Elfman’s character, June, who — until this sixth season — had become one of the most disliked characters since Lori Grimes.

What’s so interesting about the drastic shift in the quality of the show from Season 5 to Season 6 is that there has not been a creative shakeup either behind the camera or in front of it. There have been a couple of new writers, but five of the seven episodes (so far) were written by the same people who wrote last year’s episodes, and the only additional director this season has been Lennie James himself, who directed the season’s third episode. It’s virtually the same cast, the same writers, and the same directors, and yet this season is dramatically better than last.

Why?

Entertainment Weekly interviewed showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg about that very question, and the two were very careful not to trash last season. They insist they are “proud” of all the episodes they have done, but they are glad that fans seem so much more receptive to season six. Ultimately, however, Andrew Chambliss attributes it to the fact that they are telling the kinds of stories they like to tell now:

I think the storytelling that we’re doing season 6 is kind of our favorite kind of storytelling to do, which is focusing on characters and taking them in a complete journey within each episode. And I think we’ve said this before, but our favorite episodes of The Walking Dead are the ones that do that.

And I think because we are telling these kinds of stories that we love to tell as we were looking at season 6, as it was all kind of coming together and we were getting cuts and we were getting scripts that we felt really good about it.

Meanwhile, they don’t quite come out and say it as such, but they do suggest that Season 6 wouldn’t have been as good as it has been if Season 5 hadn’t sucked, although they don’t say “sucked.” They say “a place of hope and triumph”:

Season 5 was an unusually bright and optimistic and kind of benevolent vibe… By the end of the [fifth] season, the goal was to sort of rip the rug out from under everybody. And that started to happen when we introduced Virginia and her group, and really kind of had a finer point on it in the finale when Morgan was shot and everyone was separated from each other.

So we kind of feel like we couldn’t have had the character shifts in season 6 and that reinvention and new tone and new journeys that people are grappling with, unless we brought them to a place of complete hope and triumph.

I believe that Chambliss, Goldberg, and the writers cracked the code on this kind of storytelling, which — as they say in the interview — is the opposite of what we hear so many other showrunners say about their shows these days. It’s very common for showrunners to say that their seasons are like very long, 8, 10, 13-hour movies. “I think we’re kind of doing the opposite,” Goldberg says, “where yes, that’s the case, but each episode is its own movie”:

The Walking Dead universe has been operating in 8-episode arcs for so long now that it may have forgotten the importance of a good, self-contained episode. Goldberg and Chambliss have managed to revive Fear the Walking Dead by going back to the basics of network television. It’s never been better, and if it can somehow keep this up, Fear may have a few seasons left in it after all.

Source: EW