Category: News

Music festivals have suffered a huge blow this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Some have opted to push things back a year, hoping the world will be back to normal next year. Others have taken advantage of the internet and held virtual showcases for people quarantining. While Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival did not announce an official cancellation or postponement, a tease from the platform’s official Instagram page revealed that the festival will not make its return this year. But it’ll be back.

“See you next year… at Astrofest can’t wait to turn the f*ck up!” the post read alongside a picture of an astronaut. The message was signed off by Scott, while the post itself featured a caption that boldly proclaimed “THE PARTY NEVER ENDS.” According to the platform’s Facebook page, the Astroworld Festival was locked in for a November 7 date before the pandemic hit. The 2019 Astroworld Festival was largely successful, with performances from Migos, Gucci Mane, Young Thug, Pharrell, Marilyn Manson, Megan Thee Stallion, Playboi Carti, DaBaby, Rosalia, Young Dolph, and of course, Scott himself.

Scott has kept busy this year despite just a handful of musical releases. The Houston has spent most of the year working on his branding as he’s partnered with Fortnite, McDonald’s, and PlayStation for various creative endeavors.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On Saturday, the majority of news networks called the presidential race for Joe Biden. Even Fox News! What followed hasn’t been surprising: The loser, incumbent Donald J. Trump, has refused to concede, firing off baseless accusations of voter fraud and other misinformation. So far pundits say the system will work out in the end, that Trump will leave office by hook or by crook. But the chorus of naysayers has brought back waves of anxiety to a nation that had been, at least in the cities, enjoying the rare good news.

But just as there’s always a tweet that finds Trump complaining about the very thing he just did, there’s always video of his entourage saying the opposite of what they’re saying now. The Daily Show team put together one of their patented supercuts and, lo and behold, it shows people like Kayleigh McEnany (pre-Press Secretary), Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, calling those who cry voter fraud “sore losers,” who “have a problem conceding defeat,” and they even mock the idea of “some mystery votes hiding somewhere.” And if you swap “Republicans” in for “Democrats,” they all sound like they’re members of the Trump resistance.

The clips, of course, aren’t new. They hail from the 2018 election, which saw the Democrats overtake the House. One favored Democratic leader who failed to win: Stacey Abrams, who was narrowly defeated in Georgia’s gubernatorial race by Republican Brian Kemp. Kemp was accused of voter fraud and voter suppression, particularly since, as then-secretary of state, he was in charge of Georgia’s elections and voter registration. Still, Abrams decided against pursuing legal action. Given that Trump has already filed numerous dodgy lawsuits, it’s safe to say if the shoe were on the other foot McEnany and company would — or at least should — be even madder now than they were two years back.

You can watch the full video above.

Construction on St. James Church in Antwerp, Belgium began in 1476 and wasn’t completed for another 180 years. Over the generations, it would become the burial site for many of the area’s notable residents including Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens.

The church was constructed in Gothic style with a Baroque interior and is famous for having one of the largest working tower clocks in the world.

Like any great piece of architecture from hundreds of years ago, the church is constantly being renovated. Currently, the site is undergoing restoration of its inner and outer shells.

via Wikimedia Commons

Recently, a worker on the site discovered a secret message left by men who performed a similar job on the church nearly 80 years ago.

The restoration worker was looking in a keystone that hangs from one of the ceilings in the tower and noticed a matchbox tucked inside an ornament. When he opened the matchbox, he found a note written on the back of two coupons.

via stad_antwerpen / Instagram

via stad_antwerpen / Instagram

The note was dated July 12, 1941, and signed by four workers at the chapel: John Janssen, Jul Gyselinck, Louis Chantraine, and Jul Van Hemeldonck.

The note was dedicated to anyone who happened to find it in the future. It recounts the struggles of a bygone era but gives some positive advice to about how to live the best life possible, no matter the circumstances.

via stad_antwerpen / Instagram

“If this ceiling will be painted again, we will no longer belong to this earth…We have to tell the following generations that we didn’t have a happy life. We have lived through two wars. One in 1914 and one in 1940, that can still count! We’re working here hungry they extort us to the last cent to eat little.”

“I advise our descendants when it comes to war again. In the course of life, take good care of a stock in the house, such as rice, coffee, flour, tobacco, wheat, grain for you to keep alive. Have a sufficient amount of food in excess like rice, coffee, flour, tobacco, grains, wheat, to keep you alive…Enjoy life to the fullest and if necessary take another wife. The ones who are married: Just go home! Salut men!”

It’s interesting to see that when the workers were providing advice to people in the future, it was about making sure that you have the necessities to make it through hard times, because they were probably luxuries during that time.

But they also said that it’s just as important to share your life with someone that you love.

via Wikimedia Commons

When the letter was written, Belgium was in turmoil. Although the country was neutral at the onset of World War II, the country soon had to mobilize after it was invaded by Hitler in May of 1940, a little more than a year before the letter was written.

Antwerp was an important port in the war that handled 40,000 tons of supplies a day until it was captured by the Nazis.

The occupation of Belgium would last until 1944.

The United States is in an unprecedented, if not unpredictable, predicament right now. President Trump is refusing to concede the election, claiming it was stolen from him through fraud and cheating and illegal votes being counted. Despite legal experts, election officials (including Republicans in the states in question), and international election observers invited by Trump himself all saying that they’ve seen no evidence to back up these accusations, Trump isn’t backing down.

This behavior from Trump is not surprising. It’s been clear from the get-go that the guy is a malignant narcissist, and malignant narcissists will do anything to avoid admitting defeat. He is literally incapable of doing so, it’s likely that he will go to his grave claiming that this election was illegitimate, even if someone with sway in his circle manages the herculean feat of getting him to publicly accept the loss like a big boy.

Trump is a problem, but he’s not the biggest problem. This nightmare of a presidency has been marked time and again by half the country cringing at the president shattering democratic norms, then quickly shift to a chagrined brushoff of “Ugh, Trump being Trump again.” After four years, we’ve come to expect, if not accept, that Trump is gonna Trump. Playing the victim when he doesn’t get his way is Trump’s game. We know this. He’s not going to change.

What’s more disconcerting is how many people are continuing to enable his behavior, despite the fact that it’s tearing the nation apart. Not just disconcerting, but gross, frankly. As CNN’s Jake Tapper said this morning, “They’re coddling him like a 5-year-old whose pet turtle died.” We’re talking about a grown-ass man in the most powerful position in the world, not a petulant toddler past his nap time. It’s just embarrassing.

And yet only a handful of Republicans have come out to say so. According to the Washington Post, a senior Republican official recently remarked, “What is the downside of humoring him for this little bit of time? No one seriously thinks the results will change. He went golfing this weekend. It’s not like he’s plotting how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on Jan. 20. He’s tweeting about filing some lawsuits; those lawsuits will fail; then he’ll tweet some more about how the election was stolen; then he’ll leave.”

I’m sorry, what?

What is the downside? How about the tens of millions of Trump followers who, for whatever reason, actually do believe his lies and who seriously do think the results will change? How about the fact that their adulation of him is the only thing he lives for, and that he will keep feeding them the narrative that the election was stolen even after these lawsuits fizzle out? How about the fact that a not-insignificant number of his most ardent supporters are armed to the hilt, just waiting for the call to save America from the evil Democratic overlords? How about the militias and extremist groups that have been foaming at the mouth for an excuse to start a civil war?

Even if the chances of violence are small, they’re real. These people don’t brush off Trump’s bombast; they cherish it. Trump’s base is full-on beholden to Trumpism to a cult-like degree, and if this senior Republican official can’t see the danger in fanning that flame of fanaticism, then they’re a fool.

But we don’t even have to go that far. The peaceful transfer of power is a democratic norm that keeps America safe and stable. Even during closer elections than this one—including the 2016 election, which Trump won with narrower electoral vote margins in key swing states and without the popular vote—the loser has conceded when the states’ official projections made it clear that they’d been defeated.

This reaction of Trump’s is humiliating on every level. We may have unfortunately had to live with Trump daily debasing the office of the presidency with his words and behavior because there was nothing we could do about it, but what he’s doing now goes beyond that. This is an undermining of democracy itself.

Trump’s base can’t or won’t see it, but I would think every single one of our elected officials would. This isn’t rocket science. This is basic. The Republicans could have nipped this in the bud immediately, but instead most are just going along with it, either oblivious to or unconcerned about how fractious and dangerous it is.

But perhaps the biggest downside of “humoring” the Trump narrative is that HELLO WE ALL NEED TO LIVE IN THE SAME OBJECTIVE REALITY HERE. Claiming that Democrats literally stole an election through fraud isn’t a schoolyard insult, but a genuinely serious criminal allegation. Pretending it’s just run-of-the-mill political theater is insane.

Because people believe it, 100%. The right-wing slip into unreality keeps getting steeper, with hoards of Trumpists fleeing Fox News—FOX NEWS, for the love—for not being Trumpist enough. This is the same frighteningly large percentage of Republicans who believe that QAnon conspiracy theories are real. Some of these people are now in Congress. The whacko fringe is taking over and bringing their untethered-from-reality misinformation machines with them and SERIOUSLY REPUBLICANS WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU? Conservative views are one thing; enabling your constituency to reject reality and substitute their own is entirely something else.

This goes so far beyond normal partisanship, it’s not even funny. In fact, nothing about this is funny. Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, representative of the U.S. on the world stage, said today, “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.” Then he chuckled.

Was that a joke? Is the attempt to overthrow a democratic election a joke? Is letting the whiny child with the nuclear codes think he’s going to get his way, simply because he wants it, a joke? Or was Pompeo being serious? It’s impossible to tell anymore. Even listening to the entire press conference, it was impossible to tell. The president’s appointees are afraid to tell him the truth, either out of fear of his wrath—which is real—or fear of losing the brainwashed masses they need in order to keep political power.

Either that, or he has sucked them into his narcissistic delusions, which is actually a lot scarier.

Again, we are in uncharted territory here, but we shouldn’t be. No one should be humoring this man’s baseless claims to protect his fragile ego. No one should be going along with his undignified response to losing an election when the good of the country is at stake. No one should be allowing the feelings of a man with dangerous pathologies to control the way the United States of America transitions to new leadership.

Trump’s power is not absolute. His sway is not unshakable. Elected leaders—Republicans in particular—can put an end to this embarrassing, dangerous charade right now by raising a united front and saying “enough” to Donald, loud and clear. He’ll throw a fit and probably fire a bunch of people, but he’s going to do that anyway once it sinks in that he can’t have what he wants.

The stability and safety of the country, from forces both inside and outside our borders, hinge on how everyone in government who isn’t Trump acts right now. So please, take a step back, look at the big picture, and do the right thing.

In the long run, there isn’t a downside to that.

Acting is a notoriously tricky business, with huge ups and downs and no guarantee of work, even with a herculean amount of hustle. Even today’s biggest stars have had their bad patches, and even after appearing in big titles. One of those is Jason Momoa, who in an interview with InStyle, says that after his character, Khal Drogo, was killed off of Game of Thrones in Season 1, it almost killed him, too.

At the time, he was struggling to pay the bills at the Topanga Canyon house he shares with his now-wife Lisa Bonet. Losing the gig didn’t help. “I mean, we were starving after Game of Thrones,” he told InStyle, in a bit caught by Entertainment Weekly. “I couldn’t get work. It’s very challenging when you have babies and you’re completely in debt.”

Why on earth was Drogo having trouble getting work. As EW points out, he extrapolated on that in James Hibberd’s newish Game of Thrones behind-the-scenes book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, saying that people assumed he was as monosyllabic as his character. “For a while afterward, a lot of people bagged on me. It hurt me a lot. People thought I didn’t speak English,” Momoa recalled. “They didn’t know I was playing a role. I’m nothing like Drogo. I’m like Drogo when I’m being lovey and close to the woman I love and being nice, but his other half is not me. But then everyone fell in love with Drogo when they rewatched the show.”

It wasn’t until he nabbed the role of Aquaman in Justice League that things took a turn for the better. Now look at him! In lighter news, the same interview found him gushing about the color pink, so he’s obviously in a better place.

(Via EW and InStyle)

The Christmas season is a little over a month away, although some are already getting into the gift-giving holiday. That includes the LVRN record label, which announced on Tuesday that its members would join forces to release a Christmas album next week, before even Thanksgiving. The label is home to notable names like Summer Walker, 6lack, Boogie, and Shelley (formerly known as DRAM). Entitled Home For The Holidays, the nine-track project is set to release on November 16 and feature holiday renditions of “This Christmas,” “Chestnuts Roasting,” and more. There will also be guest appearances from Cruel Santino, OMB Bloodbath, Eli Derby, Young Rog, and BRS Kash.

LVRN made the announcement in an Instagram post that also revealed the project’s cover art, which shows cartoon versions of the label’s various members, putting up the decorations on a Christmas tree while others sit around and enjoy some conversation.

Home For The Holidays comes after two of its most-known members shared EPs earlier this year. Summer Walker made her impact in 2020 with her Life On Earth effort, which featured PartyNextDoor and No1-Noah. 6lack also shared an EP this year with his 6pc Hot release, which saw a guest appearance from Lil Baby.

Home For The Holidays is out 11/16 via LVRN/Interscope. Pre-order it here.

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

New York-based designer and illustrator Sophia Chang is transfixed by icons. The bulk of her playful and lighthearted illustrations tell entire stories through the use of simple symbols that are able to take the viewer on a visual journey. That use of attention-grabbing iconography stems from growing up in the busy streets of New York City, a city famous for its sensory overload. “It’s a super busy city, there are all these visuals, pictures, colors, sounds, everything is calling for your attention… I’ve always been very inspired and mindful of the moments when I stop in my tracks and look at something.” One of the icons that stops Sophia in her tracks is Nike’s Air Max, a sneaker silhouette that both satisfies Sophia’s interest in futuristic design and her admiration of cultural staples.

In this episode of Uproxx’s Studio Visit — created in partnership with Foot Locker — Sophia takes us into her studio for a behind the scenes look into her design process, which usually begins with pen and paper. She also shared her thoughts on the sometimes impenetrable gatekeeping of modern streetwear and sneaker culture, with the Air Max and Foot Locker acting as a way into the exclusive world and something that sparks nostalgia for her.

“All throughout high school and onwards a lot of our creative inspirations came from music, arts, illustration, graffiti, all kind of tied into how we wanted to leave the house. A retailer like Foot Locker opens doors for how we express ourselves.” Like her art, Sophia’s personal style is a reflection of the city she calls home, making the Air Max not just the perfect stylistic attention-grabbing icon to wear on her feet, but a functional piece of fashion that speaks to Sophia’s way of life.

“Growing up in New York, you’re always on the go, you’re always on the move, you want to be comfortable, but you also want to look fly and make sure you’re leaving the house looking good… There’s a phrase called ‘feet first’ which basically means we judge you by what’s on your feet first and foremost. If you wear black head to toe, but you still got some fire kicks on? You’re good.”

To learn more about Sophia Chang’s design process and her exciting collaboration with Foot Locker, check out the new episode of Discover Your Air above.

It’s hard to imagine this now, when he’s been a busy movie star for ages, but Dwayne Johnson’s first blockbuster appearance was pretty small. The year was 2001, and he was a big star in wrestling — his film debut was in the 1999 doc Beyond the Mat — but when he tried to cross over into movies, he did so with baby steps, making a cameo as the fearsome Scorpion King in the sequel The Mummy Returns. He returned to the character, now as a hero, in the next year’s spin-off The Scorpion King, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, dozens of films later, he’s about to return to his first triumph. Sort of. According to Deadline, he’s looking to reboot the Scorpion King franchise. Thing is, Johnson may not actually returning to the role, having a full schedule through 2022. Instead he’ll at the very least produce it, allowing a new actor to assume the role. Still, Deadline speculates he may at least make an appearance.

Johnson’s been busy, even during the pandemic, with Netflix’s Red Notice and the superhero pic Black Adam on the docket. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a time, as in 2001, when he would simply drop in for a couple appearances, one of those mostly ensconced in CGI, as was the cast in The Mummy Returns. Luckily, the spin-off was able to be pulled-off without much overflow with the then-Mummy series. Good, because the one with Tom Cruise likely killed that IP for at least a few more years.

(Via Deadline)

Alex Trebek’s death on Sunday hit home for millions of people, as the longtime Jeopardy! host had become an institution of American television and someone that was a regular visitor into your home most every weeknight. As Ken Jennings said in his tribute on Twitter, Trebek felt like a family member to so many because of the familiarity and comfort you felt just watching him, even if you’d never met the man. Those lucky enough to have met him, meanwhile, have almost nothing but glowing things to say.

As tributes continue to pour out about Trebek, we thought we’d put together some of our favorite moments of his on Jeopardy! For me, the last two years after he announced his diagnosis of stage IV pancreatic cancer produced some of the most memorable moments, as it seemed everyone that came on the show recognized that we weren’t going to have Trebek with us forever. That led to some touching moments as contestants made sure to give Trebek his flowers while he was still hosting the show, which if there’s a small silver lining to all of this, it is that he got a chance to hear from people how much he meant to them.

Two of the most shared clips in recent days have been of Dhruv Gaur’s touching “We Love You Alex” answer to Final Jeopardy during last year’s Tournament of Champions and recent champion Burt Thakur’s emotional testimony of how he learned to speak English by watching Trebek on Jeopardy! with his grandfather.

It has been pretty tremendous to see over the past couple years as contestants show their appreciation for the legendary host, and, as our Ryan Nagelhout wrote, part of what made Trebek so beloved was his genuine hope for everyone to do well on the show and the care he took in getting each contestant to open up, even ever-so-briefly, on the show. He also took delight in seeing contestants win, whether it was how astounded he was by the performances of Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer on their legendary runs, or this moment in which all three contestants tied (with the returning champ purposefully betting the amount to let the other two tie him) and, thus, all won $16,000 and got to come back to play the next day. (This rule eventually changed and there’s now a tiebreaker question.)

While Trebek was known for his kindness and warm-hearted nature, which was why so many took delight in seeing him make jokes or even curse, as everyone does, in outtakes like this oft-viral clip of him doing promos for the Jeopardy! phone game.

His dry humor was often on display, but almost never to the delight of the audience more than when they would slip a sports category in that would completely stump the contestants. His delivery of “If you guys ring in and get this one, I will die” is one of the funniest things ever on the show.

Trebek also listened to more “fun facts” about contestants than any human probably should have to, and sometimes their talents or stories would blow him away, such as the recent beatboxer who appeared on the show and made Trebek genuinely thrilled with his exploits.

Other times, people would relay some extremely obscure interests to the host and television audience, to whom Trebek would try to translate to the people at home, most famously with his “losers, in other words” quip after a lady explained nerdcore hip-hop.

And then there were those relationships we got to see him build on screen with two of the best contestants the show ever had, Jennings and Holzhauer, who are inextricably linked to Trebek forever. Holzhauer’s dominance was something that made Trebek almost guffaw at, with his incredible acumen, skill, and knowledge in just about every category. For Jennings, the on-screen dynamic was similar but the 74-time champ clearly loved to prod at Trebek and try to make him break his typical stoic character, never more successful than his answer of “hoe” that produced an all-time reaction from the host.

There are words that Jeopardy! fans will always hear in Trebek’s voice, none more than genre, but for me personally I will always laugh uncontrollably at the weirdest Jeopardy! video edit on the internet: Jeffpardy!

What’s amazing about Alex Trebek’s longevity as host of Jeopardy! is that nearly everyone you ask will have a different favorite memory of Trebek. Some will be incredibly personal, while others may simply be some very funny moment they’ll never forget, whatever the case, he has left an indelible mark on millions and it’s a pretty tremendous legacy to leave behind. As for Trebek himself, he became introspective after his cancer diagnosis and offered his thoughts on how he wanted his final episode to end.

“It’ll be a significant moment for me,” he said. “But I’ve kind of, in my mind, rehearsed it already, and what I would do on that day is tell the director, ‘Time the show down to leave me 30 seconds at the end. That’s all I want.’ And I will say my goodbyes and I will tell people, ‘Don’t ask me who’s going to replace me because I have no say whatsoever. But I’m sure that if you give them the same love and attention and respect that you have shown me…then they will be a success and the show will continue being a success. And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.”

Until we meet again, Alex.

Last Friday, it was reported Johnny Depp was being suddenly yanked from the third Fantastic Beasts entry. The reason? The failure of the libel suit he had filed against the British tabloid The Sun, which has been deemed not guilty for referring to him as a “wife-beater” in relation to his divorce from actress Amber Heard. Warner Bros. reportedly wished to distance themselves from Depp. Problem is, the movie had already re-launched production, with pandemic precautionary measures, of course. But it looks like they have quickly found a replacement for Depp’s character, fearsome villain Gellert Grindelwald, and it’s a thespian with a longer history at playing baddies.

According to Deadline, talks are under way with Mads Mikkelsen, the Danish actor who’s played the villains of Casino Royale, Doctor Strange as well as the cannibalistic anti-hero of NBC’s TV version of Hannibal. (For the record, he also played the kindly father of Felicity Jones’ hero in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, because the man has range.) Should he get the role, Mikkelsen will be the third person to play the role in the series in only three films. The first Fantastic Beasts concludes with Colin Farrell’s character revealing himself to be Depp’s Grindelwald, setting the stage for the 2018 sequel.

Depp may have only got to film one of his scenes before getting his walking papers, but he can’t be that sad: Monday it was revealed that he’ll still be receiving his full six-figures payment.

(Via Deadline)