Category: News

Like basically everyone in the world these days, even the ultra-wealthy are (mostly) stuck at home. Apparently that’s helped escalate a very interesting battle between wealthy neighbors in Laguna Beach. The tiff started over a million-dollar sculpture, but now it’s mushroomed into a psychological battle that includes the Gilligan’s Island theme.

The Los Angeles Times has the story — and important photos for context — of “bond king” Bill Gross, his former pro tennis player wife Amy Schwartz, and their tussle with tech entrepreneur Mark Towfiq and his wife over a 22-foot-long blue glass sculpture by notable material artist Dale Chihuly.

Apparently the two couples have long been in a not-so-quiet war over property, and something damaged the statue to the point where the bond king installed a very tall net that blocked Towfiq’s view.

Gross and Schwartz in a lawsuit say more than $50,000 damage, “apparently” caused by a thrown rock, is evidence of an “escalating campaign of vandalism”; Towfiq and his wife say it was probably damaged by something falling on it.

Redacted emails released to The Times by the city of Laguna Beach indicated someone associated with Gross and Schwartz told a code enforcement officer the netting was temporary and needed to protect the sculpture from “trees and mother nature,” and that a palm frond caused $100,000 in damage.

There are a lot of fascinating details to the story, such as Schwartz and Gross’s deep love of the statue and some background on both parties’ business history and wealth. According to The Los Angeles Times, the fight over the statue has turned ugly, to the tune of using the Gilligan’s Island theme song as a noise weapon.

The neighbor’s lawsuit accuses the billionaire and his partner of playing blaring music at all hours, including the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song, rap and pop, in an effort to force him to drop the complaint. The couple say they have had to take refuge twice with either relatives or in a hotel room. In an application for a temporary restraining order filed Oct. 15, which was granted, Towfiq cites a text message allegedly sent to him by Gross after he asked the music to be turned down: “Peace on all fronts or well [sic] just have nightly concerts big boy.”

First of all, it needs to be said that this is an incredible use of the phrase “big boy,” even if there are some grammatical errors in the text. As the Times pointed out, both sides have issued lawsuits involving various other complaints against each other, and so, as often is the case in battles between two very wealthy parties, there are no real good guys here. But the Gilligan’s Island theme usage is a very funny, and certainly inspired, quirk in a battle that started over a piece of artwork.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s most notorious character is back with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which is still funny, even if racism in America isn’t nearly as shocking in 2020. The film’s full title, of course, is the characteristically overwrought Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, in which the “victims” become the performers, and Borat’s “daughter” is along for the satirical ride. The film probably entertained millions of home viewers over the weekend, and of course, Rudy Giuliani isn’t a fan, but guess who’s come around? The Kazakhstan tourism board.

Through a series of four videos, it would appear that the country’s new tourism ad slogan is “Kazakhstan. Very nice!” It’s certainly an unanticipated turn of events, given that the Borat character has always received a mixed reception, since not everyone’s thrilled with the joke. Of course, it’s also understandable that not everyone in the country would be pleased that an anti-Semitic and frequently gaudy character from Kazakhstan could be construed as a representative, no matter how satirical. Times have changed.

According to the New York Times, Kairat Sadvakassov, the Kazakhstan tourism board deputy chairman, feels that Borat 2 could actually help his country during our pandemic times. “In Covid times, when tourism spending is on hold, it was good to see the country mentioned in the media,” he said. “Not in the nicest way, but it’s good to be out there. We would love to work with Cohen, or maybe even have him film here.”

Sadvakassov admitted that he did, however, feel slightly wary when the first Borat 2 trailer surfaced: “It was like, ‘Oh, again?’” At first, the tourism board was good with simply ignoring Borat’s return and “to let it die its natural death and not respond.” Such a shrug of the shoulders already would have been quite the turn of events after the authoritarian Kazakh government banned the first movie, but an intervention happened. A former U.S. exchange student, Dennis Keen, who now lives in Kazakhstan and hosts a state-television channel travel show, dug in and pitched the travel videos to the tourism board and received a yes. Then Keen and his friend, Yermek Utemissov, produced the videos on a pro bono basis, but they do look very professional. Well, as professional as one can look while cracking urine jokes.

Congrats to Sacha Baron Cohen for at least having fewer enemies as a result of this sequel. There are already enough angry parties for him to dodge.

(Via New York Times)

If you were to assemble an Avengers of weed smokers, you’d have some pretty legendary stoners to pick from. You’ve got Snoop Dogg, Rihanna, Willie Nelson, The Game, Kevin Smith, Jim Belushi, Sarah Silverman (with a cameo from her parents), Bob Marley, Woody Harrelson, Rogen, Chainz, Wiz… The list goes on.

But among all of history’s cannabis lovers, two names rise above the rest. Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin.

For many present-day tokers, “Cheech & Chong” served as an introduction to the world of cannabis. Whether you grew up on movies like Up in Smoke or Born in East LA or were introduced to the pair via some other means, maybe Fern Gully or That ’70’s Show, weed and Cheech & Chong just go together. It’s like peanut butter and jelly.

Which makes it even more surprising that the comedy collaborators currently have zero shared presence in the booming legal cannabis industry. Because as solid as both Cheech’s Private Stash and Tommy Chong’s Cannabis are, what the people want is a Cheech & Chong co-branded line. Five Point Holdings (run by Tommy’s son, Paris) definitely seems to think so. The brand recently signed Marin and Chong to a multi-year agreement with shops opening in California, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, and Washington. These legal dispensaries — which will feature Cheech & Chong movies on loop, film and TV memorabilia, and city-specific decor –are set to open in 2021, beginning with San Francisco and followed shortly by Los Angeles.

To dive deeper into this new project, we chopped it up with Tommy Chong over the phone about the corporatization of cannabis, why it’s taken so long for a Cheech & Chong joint project to hit the weed space, and just how much weed the legend actually smokes. He also shares a pretty damn funny Joni Mitchell anecdote.

…

How involved are you and Cheech in the curation of the products?

We’re the number one testers. We test all the products, and then we reach out to my wife for sure, and Cheech’s wife to some extent… and all our kids. They’re all connoisseurs. They grew up with the best weed in the world, all of their lives. We have a very close-knit family testing system set up. We’re involved in every stage of this thing, it’s not just lending our names, sitting back, and collecting our money.

Why has it taken this long to do an official Cheech & Chong branded weed? It seems like as soon as dispensaries opened it would’ve been a natural fit.

It was. But the trouble was it was too soon. We had to wait, you don’t want to grab the first one off the assembly line. Let everything play out, that’s what we did. All the greedy entrepreneurs who were just in it for the money, they got burned. They had no eye on consumers, or the product, no respect for the actual plant itself.

We’re like growers, you don’t pick the plant before it’s totally ripe. So we let the industry ripen, the ones that were early fell by the wayside. We had the advantage of seeing what mistakes they made and how we can come in and correct the mistakes. One of the biggest problems was the way the government was trying to overtax and over-regulate everything. Now we’re coming into a point where it’s no longer number one on the radar as far as people trying to make a buck.

Anything good, you have to work at it to make it work for you.

Take us into these new dispensaries, what can we expect?

Each one is going to be [different] according to where it’s at. We’re going to start with San Francisco and LA. What we’re doing is we’re going into Cheech and Chong territory. We could live off our fans in the Southwest, but we have fans all over the world. Our big core audience has always been in California though. Cheech is Chicano, and I’m… Canadian. I can be from anywhere. We go very deep into a family thing in California, so our stores are going to start here. We want to make that distinction. It’s about respecting the product and the people that use it.

Other than Texas, California really was the epicenter of marijuana. That’s where it came through, that’s probably where it was made illegal! When Hearst decided it made you crazy and would kill people. That was a racist law! We’re taking advantage of that and going right for our hardcore fans off the bat. Then we’ll broaden out to places that need us because it is a medicine and it is essential. We’ve proven that with the pandemic. Bars closed, the dispensaries never did. That tells you a lot.

How do you feel about the overall corporatization of cannabis?

It’s a medicine. We’re trying to provide medicine for as many people as we can. If we make a few bucks out of it, great. I know for myself, I’m going to turn my profits into helping people. The last thing I’m going to do is warehouse it offshore. You can do so much with money — I’m only speaking for myself I’m not speaking for Cheech.

The reason Cheech and Chong don’t retire is because we have too many families between us to support, so we gotta keep working.

You’re a legend when it comes to smoking weed, but like other legends — I’m thinking maybe Woody Harrelson or Willie Nelson — you probably don’t smoke as much as people think right?

Oh not at all. Not even close. Up in Smoke was a movie, you know? One of the greatest things about marijuana is that you don’t have to smoke it, it’s not addictive. Not like cigarettes. I remember when I smoked cigarettes, I was addicted. A lot of my energy was spent going on cigarette runs. Marijuana? No. When I got busted I quit smoking for three years, not because I had to — well… in a way I had to, because they were trying to bust me and to make the bust look more palatable, but no, I learned very early that marijuana wasn’t addictive.

The first time I got high, a jazz musician gave me a joint and that joint lasted me a month but after that month there were no more joints. I wouldn’t smoke until I came across it. It was always given to me — I was a music man, people always just say “oh here! Here is a joint!”

Do you have a favorite method of smoking?

I’m a one-hitter. I’ve got a series of pipes I’m looking at right now. I make pipes! Out of bamboo, wood, kombucha bottles, I just found a bottle with Chinese sauce in it, it’s beautiful so I’m going to clean it out. That’s my hobby. I had a bottle collection that I had to get rid of, I had kombucha bottles coming out of everywhere, my family had to put me through an intervention.

When I was growing up there was no toy store, there was no city — I grew up in the country. So whatever toys you had, maybe you’d find a softball or a ball in the gutter, but if you wanted a toy you had to make it. I would make these crude knives and guns, so, eventually, I started carving pipes. I starting looking at bamboo and I’d say “oh this would make a nice pipe.”

I got bamboo growing in my yard, I go and harvest it just to make pipes. I’m trying to work it into how I can do it on an artistic scale but I haven’t come to that realization yet.

Are you an indica, sativa, or hybrid guy? Or just anything green?

My favorite strain is called marijuana! Or cannabis. I understand what Indica does to you, but because I’m a one toker, it’ll only last for a few hours. Now I’m getting old and this virus is going around so every once and awhile I’ll go “oh no, I feel weird am I getting the virus?” and then I’ll realize “oh, you smoked up, idiot!”

Can you speak on your experience with cannabis in the seventies compared to today?

In the 70s, Cheech and I always liked our weed, but then the cocaine came in. It was short-lived as far as Cheech and I go. Cheech is very health conscious all his life, he was a track star in school. He didn’t indulge too much, the same as me. Cheech was a bit of a lightweight too because he’d smoke up and get really stoned and do stupid things. That’s how we made all the movies.

One time, he was dating Joni Mitchell and we were in Paris at the time shooting a movie, and Joni came to a concert. Cheech had a piece of hash and had no way to smoke it so he ate it. He got so stoned man he couldn’t talk. We’re sitting at a little brasserie with Joni and he’s just very very quiet, usually, he’s Mr. Entertainer. I looked down and realized he never ordered anything to eat.

That’s how stoned he was! He was so stoned he forgot to eat.

What was Joni’s reaction?

Oh, she’s such a sweetheart. She’s Joni! When you go out with those famous people, you’re like an accessory. “Oh yeah, I’m with him.” They get all the attention, I don’t think she even noticed. Cheech will do that. He was in Israel and they’re going to go visit the Wall, and Cheech again ate something he shouldn’t have eaten and he started projectile vomiting in a cab, can you imagine the poor guy? “We’re under attack by these fucking Americans!”

Can you imagine if he did it now with the COVID going around? Oh no. But we’re lightweights both of us, we’re good actors! When we did the records though, we did smoke weed before — but not a lot.

[Dog barks]

That’s my stupid dog. He’s a racist dog. Ww got Mexicans working here and he’s barking at them. He’s a white poodle, maybe that’s why.

What do you hope to see change in the weed industry going into this next decade?

I get a lot of blowback from everybody, but marijuana is a medicine. All marijuana use is medical no matter how you do it. It changes the composition of your body and that’s why you do it. It affects the brain, the organs, the whole body in a healthy way. It gives bulimics and people with eating disorders an appetite.

You can’t tax medicine. They got a sin tax on marijuana and it’s ridiculous. Everybody will pay a little bit but no one is going to pay too much. It’s overtaxed and over-regulated right now.

This is just me, but it has a phenomenal medical reach. Marijuana was always considered a medicine in ancient times, it was an herb. It was used for various ailments. In China for cancer and menstrual cramps. It wasn’t until the hippies in the 60s started using it and people in the Vietnam war that the government got up in arms about it. You can’t protest when you’re drunk, but when you’re high on pot you can run around and create all sorts of mischief.

I see it evolving. The reason it’s legal is because of a year-old baby with epilepsy. Sanjay Gupta showed the world that epilepsy could be cured with marijuana. You have this weird alcohol mentality, but it’s a racist mentality. All prohibition is racist. When they prohibited alcohol it was because of the Italians, the Germans, and the people from Europe. The Puritans wanted to get rid of that. When prohibition ended, that’s when marijuana prohibition started, you had all these cops with nothing to do so they sent them to chase Mexicans and black people for marijuana.

Look at the jails! They’re filled with marijuana cases! California just expunged records, I’m trying to get my time expunged too. I had a chance to get pardoned from Obama but I turned it down because I didn’t want to be pardoned for something that shouldn’t be a crime. It didn’t seem right.

In the future, I see it as being treated more like medicine. Just like any drug store, a dispensary should be able to operate the same way. That’s my hope.

It’s been two years since Rae Sremmurd dropped the third edition of their SremmLife album series, Sr3mm. Swae Lee, one half of the duo, has since had an illustrious solo career, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his Post Malone collaboration “Sunflower” and receiving a handful of Grammy nominations. But now, it looks like Lee is back with his brother Slim Jxmmi putting some final touches on Rae Sremmurd’s fourth studio album.

Teasing the return of Rae Sremmurd, Lee took to Instagram to share a snippet of an upcoming song. Both Lee and Jxmmi appear in the clip and excitedly sing along to the lyrics playing over their studio’s speakers. “Sremm 4 OTW,” Lee wrote, signaling that SremmLife 4 is coming sooner rather than later.

In other Rae Sremmurd news, the duo are apparently down to compete against Migos in an upcoming Verzuz battle. Lee confirmed his interest in a recent interview with Power 106. “All I’m gonna say is we got a nice catalog,” he said. “It’s gonna be hard. We got some classics. I got some classics. SremmLife got some classics. You know what I’m sayin’? The numbers don’t lie. That would be good because they got some hits, we got some hits. That’d be fun. […] They’d have to cut us all a nice little [check]. That’s gonna be action-packed. You know we gonna turn up.”

Watch Swae Lee play a snippet of a new song above.

A TikTok video is making the rounds because it continues to make people question their own senses. In the video, a voice can be heard saying either the word “brainstorm” or the words “green needle.”

What you hear depends on what you’re thinking about when you read the screen.

So, if you play it while thinking “green needle,” that’s what you’ll hear in the clip. The same goes for “brainstorm.” Then, go back and forth between the two. It’s a surreal experience.

Green Needle or Brainstorm?🤔 What Do You Hear?

www.youtube.com

The video is a great reminder of how subjective our senses really are. It’s a perfect example of how our minds have the power to interpret sensory data how it chooses, depending on our own internal biases.

It makes you wonder just how many things you see, smell, hear, taste, and feel that may not be what they seem. It also shows how two people can experience the same sensory data, interpret it completely differently, and not be wrong.

That’s why two people can witness the same car accident and tell conflicting stories in court, while both people swear they are telling the truth.

“Basically, you are priming your brain to expect acoustic patterns that match expected patterns for a particular word,” Valerie Hazan, a professor of speech sciences at University College London, said according to People.

“When faced with an acoustic signal which is somewhat ambiguous because it is low-quality or noise our brain attempts a ‘best fit’ between what is heard and the expected word,” she added.

This video first appeared in 2018 after a toy review by YouTube creator DosmRider. The toy is from the Children’s TV show “Ben 10 Alien Force” that features a character called Brainstorm.

Brainstorm is the Omnitrix’s DNA sample of a Cerebrocrustacean from the planet Encephalonus IV. Whatever that means.

The viral phenomenon is similar to the “Yanny” versus “Laurel” debate that had the whole internet talking back in 2018.

According to The New York Times, people hear Laurel or Yanny based on the “frequency range” they pay attention to. So if someone tends to hear in the higher range of things, then they’re going to hear “Yanny” rather than “Laurel.”

These videos are another example of how the human psyche has a real problem with ambiguity, even if that means incorrectly interpreting sensory data. “The brain is built to turn messy signals into meaning,” Dr. Kevin Franck, director of audiology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, told Time.

It “all comes down to the brain,” he added. “The fact that brains go in one way and some brains go in the other means that we’re all just wired a bit differently based on our experiences.”

The clip also another reminder that even if someone sees things differently than we do, it’s best to reserve some judgement or give them the benefit of the doubt. As research shows, two people can look at the same thing and get a totally different meaning.

As someone who has given birth to three children and who was raised by a labor-and-delivery nurse, you’d think I’d have a good handle on the physical mechanics of childbirth. But despite knowing all the terminology and experiencing all the details first hand—uterine contractions, cervical dilation, etc.—I’m a visual person, and most of the birth process happens internally. Feeling it and being told what’s happening isn’t the same as being able to visualize what’s actually happening.

Enter high school teacher Brooke Bernal, who teaches consumer sciences. She shared a video on TikTok demonstrating how she teaches her students about childbirth, which she says is her “all time favorite lesson,” using a balloon and a ping-pong ball. It’s a simple, but-oh-so-helpful demonstration that even helped me get a better grip on the miracle of childbirth. (Without the baby shooting across the room at the end, of course.)

Bernal explains that the big round part of the balloon is the uterus, the skinny tube part is the birth canal, and the opening is the cervix. Then she puts a ping-pong ball into the balloon and shows how the pressure of the contractions causes the ball baby to push on the cervix, causing it to thin out (efface) and open up (dilate).

There’s one little hiccup with this demonstration, which is that the “birth canal” isn’t actually above the cervix like shown in Bernal’s video. The cervix is immediately outside of the uterus, and then the birth canal is the vagina below that. So in a real birth, what you see happening with the cervix would happen before the baby goes through the birth canal (and is, in fact, what allows the baby to do so).

A video that may have served as the inspiration for this one (Bernal told Buzzfeed that she had seen the idea shared in a teacher group on social media but wasn’t sure where it came from) illustrates that a bit more clearly:

Use a balloon and ping pong ball to show how the cervix thins and dilates during labor

www.youtube.com

Aside from the birth canal bit, Bernal’s video is great. The first awesome part is how she illustrates the difference between Braxton-Hicks contractions and real contractions. For those who haven’t experienced the joy of thinking you were in labor half a dozen times before you actually were, Braxton-Hicks contractions are basically practice contractions. It’s your uterus running drills. Some people have them for weeks before real labor starts, and they can be pretty uncomfortable..

Real contractions come from the top of the uterus and actually move the baby down into the birth canal. This part of the video makes that difference so clear.

The other part that I found helpful was the effacement and dilation illustrations. Not being able to see your own cervix, it’s hard to imagine what a midwife or doctor means when they tell you you’re “90% effaced” or “7 cm dilated.” You can see it in drawn diagrams, but I don’t find those nearly as helpful as watching that balloon opening get thinner and wider as the ball was being pushed down.

“Normally, this demonstration does not faze my students at all,” Bernal told Buzzfeed. “They are really just surprised that a ping pong ball can fit into a balloon and that a balloon can stretch like it does without popping. It’s just a good visual aid for them.”

“And, yes, they know a baby will not actually yeet across the room!” she added. “I personally feel that they get more out of me showing it this way than they would watching birthing videos because it’s something that is hands on and they can’t just zone out.”

I will say, though, that as illustrative as it was to see the mechanics of contractions, effacement, and dilation goes, it’s definitely a limited demonstration. First of all, babies are nowhere near the size of a ping-pong ball, and that whole contraction > effacement > dilation > baby popping out process takes a heck of a lot longer and involves a crapton more work than that. It doesn’t even touch on the reality of what our bodies go through and what it’s really like to grow an entire human being and then push it out through an opening that does not look or feel nearly large enough to do so.

So yes, this demonstration (with the caveat about the birth canal) combined with some real-life footage would go a long way in helping people understand what’s happening during childbirth.

Well done, Ms. Bernal.

After debuting a handful of singles, like the Kanye West-featuring track “Ego Death” and “Expensive” with Nicki Minaj, Ty Dolla Sign announced his new record Featuring Ty Dolla Sign. The album dropped last week and saw a number of other big-name features from the likes of Jhené Aiko, Big Sean, Kid Cudi, and more. Now, Ty has pulled his solo track “Nothing Like Your Exes” to offer a priceless visual.

Directed by Eif Rivera, the visual is a parody on a drama-filled dating show. A handful of men gather in an opulent mansion to give their best shot at winning the heart of one woman, played by Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander. Several men vie for the bachelorette’s attention — and fail spectacularly. One contestant creepily appears in Alexander’s bathtub and another man tries to win her over by cooking up a nearly-inedible breakfast.

Flavor Flav, who makes a cameo in the visual, has actually had a previous relationship with Alexander. Flav and Alexander met when she competed for (and won) his heart on the first season of his 2006 dating show, Flavor Of Love.

Watch Ty Dolla Sign’s “Nothing Like Your Exes” video above.

Featuring Ty Dolla Sign is out now via Atlantic. Get it here.

Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Media artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Griselda Records fans seem disappointed by the label’s treatment by its parent imprint Shady Records after Eminem posted a rare update to his social media to promote another artist’s project instead of Westside Gunn’s. While Gunn is three projects deep for 2020, his most recent release Who Made The Sunshine was his first to bear the Shady Records logo after the Buffalo artist and his cohorts signed to Eminem’s label in 2017. However, the project blew by without a peep from Eminem’s social channels, which were only sporadically active throughout the summer and early autumn.

In fact, the only two projects that Eminem did posts about were Big Sean’s Detroit II, which released in early September, and featured a verse from Eminem, and The Alchemist’s The Food Villain. Interestingly, neither is a Shady Records release, although Eminem is close with both Sean and Alchemist — the latter of whom is also Eminem’s tour DJ. One fan took note of the discrepancy and commented that it seemed strange (the fan’s exact words were “lol wtf”), prompting a response from Westside Gunn himself, who posted several laughing and shushing emoji.

While Griselda Records is already used to grinding it out for themselves as an independent label, they’d be within their rights to be disappointed by the lack of support from the larger label. Of course, they’re not the first to find themselves in this situation. Although Shady is associated with one of the biggest acts in hip-hop of the 12 acts that have been part of its roster, only four remain. Meanwhile, former Shady artists such as Bobby Creekwater and Stat Quo left the label without releasing any albums at all, while a number of signees including Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf departed after only one release apiece.

It’s probably not a huge deal in the long run if Gunn is laughing about it. Griselda’s established base stands firm in supporting just about everything the label puts out, while the notoriously social media averse Eminem could have simply slipped up — if he even runs his own account in the first place. The project seems to have done just fine without the additional promo, as Who Made The Sunshine debuted at No. 64 on the Billboard 200 and received plenty of positive reviews. Check out Uproxx’s own review here.

Jared Kushner sparked controversy on Monday when he appeared on Fox News and criticized Black Americans for voting for Democrats and not supporting Donald Trump. The quotes spread quickly on social media, forcing the White House to defend Trump’s son-in-law and advisor as he attempts to help the president’s reelection campaign.

Kushner appeared on Fox And Friends on Monday morning, speaking about how many Black voters identify as Democrats despite his claim that Donald Trump’s policies actually benefit them more. He claimed that many Black voters need to “want” to be successful in order for Trump to help them.

“One thing we’ve seen in the Black community, which is mostly Democrat, is that President Trump’s policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they’re complaining about,” Kushner said. “But he can’t want them to be successful more than that they want to be successful.”

Kushner claimed there’s a “groundswell” of Black voters coming to Trump in the campaign’s final days because they are “realizing that all the different things bad things the media and Democrats have said about President Trump are not true.” But to many, the comments from Kushner — who grew up in a family with inherited wealth — were implying the economic disparity in some Black communities exists because people of color simply don’t want to fix their “problems” enough to do it.

A number of people were quick to criticize the comments, sharing the video on social media and providing commentary about Kushner’s choice of words.

The White House quickly responded to criticism of the comments as well, claiming Kushner’s statement about Black voters was taken out of context by “trolls.”

Still, it’s not a great look for Kushner and Trump in the final days of an election in which millions of people have already voted and Trump is behind in polls nationally. There aren’t many undecided voters left in America after an exhausting campaign and two head-to-head debates, but Kushner likely didn’t help his cause very much on Fox News on Monday.

We Are Who We Are (HBO, 10:00pm EST) — The gang’s beginning to fall apart amid their disagreements about Colonel Wilson, who’s tearing the base apart, which says a lot, considering that it’s a microcosm of the United States at large. As troubles mount, Caitlin freezes her self discovery, but Danny plows full steam ahead with hit. This show is Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino’s first stab at a TV series, and it will appeal to the Euphoria audience while they await Season 2.

Filthy Rich (FOX, 9:00pm EST) — Franklin heads to Mardi Gras, and it’s not only for fun but a worthy cause? Alright. In the meantime, Margaret’s annoyed by Reverend Paul and Eric, and Ginger gets pulled into that hot mess.

One Day At A Time (CBS, 10:00pm EST) — Alex and Penelope are at odds over practical matters while Schneider and Avery deal with an awkward Dr. Berkowitz situation. Then The Alvarezes get romantic with their significant others during the supermoon.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon — Sterling K. Brown, Zoe Lister-Jones, Rina Sawayama

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Gwen Stefani, Giancarlo Esposito

In case you missed these picks from last week:

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Prime film) – Sacha Baron’s most beloved character is back and still funny, even if racism in America isn’t nearly as shocking in 2020. With this followup, formally titled Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the “victims” become the performers, and Borat’s “daughter” is along for the ride. You’ve heard about the Rudy Giuliani scene, so watch it now, and then check out Borat’s response to Rudy’s explanation, as well as Cohen’s out-of-character remarks.

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix series) – This chess-centered drama is a surprisingly interesting and tightly paced show. It’s also a meditation upon addiction and danger and what it means to be a champion, all wrapped up in a coming-of-age tale about a boozy grandmaster in the making. As fictional prodigy Beth Harmon, Anya Taylor-Joy’s piercing gaze is here to demonstrate how a board game can look like a battlefield in Scott Frank’s adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel. The supporting cast (including Marielle Heller as a tragic 1950s housewife, Moses Ingram as a kickass childhood friend, and Harry Melling and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as gameplay rivals) also crushes the game

How To With John Wilson (Friday, HBO 11:00 p.m.) — This comedy docuseries launches with John Wilson dissecting the careful balancing act of making small talk, with all its ups and downs. Wilson also spoke with us about capturing the intimacy and absurdity of life in New York with a “psychotic amount” of footage.

Unsolved Mysteries: Vol. 2 (Netflix series) – The next batch of cold-case deep dives is here to spook the hell out of you. We ranked the six episodes — which include a mysterious death in a luxury hotel, the disappearance and murder of a Washington insider, and a mass haunting following a tsunami — that invite citizen detectives to do their thing. This reinvigorated take on the classic series comes from the original creators, who teamed up with the Stranger Things production company, and hopefully, some justice and closure can be found for victims’ families.