Category: News

As far as the internet concerned (and with all due respect to Messina), Hollywood is dominated by the Chrises: Pine, Evans, Hemsworth, and Pratt. Why that order? Because that’s how I would personally rank them, and while everyone is entitled to their hunky opinion, it appears that the consensus “worst Chris” is Pratt. On Saturday, filmmaker Amy Berg tweeted, “One has to go,” along with photos of the four Chrises. “Respondents overwhelmingly voted out Parks and Recreation actor Pratt, citing him reportedly being a President Trump supporter and — in a claim that Pratt, 41, has denied — last year supporting a church that maintains anti-LGBTQ beliefs,” according to the New York Post. Berg did the same tweet structure later that day, except this time, she replaced Pratt with O’Dowd, adding, “I feel like this is harder.” Ouch. Poor Andy.

Pratt’s wife, author Katherine Schwarzenegger, has come to his defense on Instagram after E! News posted about the debate (beats talking about the other debate). “Is this really what we need? There’s so much going on in the world and people are struggling in so many ways. Being mean is so yesterday,” she wrote. “There’s enough room to love all these guys. Love is what we all need not meanness and bullying. Let’s try that.”

For what it’s worth, it’s unclear if Pratt is a Trump supporter, but we know for sure that Schwarzenegger (and the Jurassic World star’s terminator-in-law) isn’t. She urged her social media followers to vote for Joe Biden. “If that tweet itself is not enough to get you fired up to want to elect Biden and get rid of Trump as president of our country, then I don’t know what is. That’s the sickest tweet I’ve ever seen. Please vote,” she wrote.

“Please vote” is something we can all agree on. That, and the Chris club should have five members: Pine, Evans, Hemsworth, Pratt, and Kattan.

(Via Yahoo! Entertainment)

I remember first discovering Trey Songz. A young R&B singer with cornrows to the back, concealed by a navy blue skully, singing about making it out of the hood with his girl on a song titled “Gotta Make It.” The music video played incessantly on BET’s now-defunct R&B segment Midnight Love and it was Trey’s obvious attractiveness and ability to hold a note that captured my heart; along with millions of other young girls who were just discovering a then 20-year-old Tremaine Aldon Neverson and would continue to follow his career for the next 15 years.

My mother must have taken notice because for some reason, and on a rare occasion, she surprised me with a physical copy of his debut album, I Gotta Make It. Though I didn’t immediately pop the album into my portable CD player on bus rides to school, at some point I did and suddenly I Gotta Make It was all I listened to. I simply couldn’t get enough and was telling everyone I knew about Trey Songz. From “Cheat On You” to “Kinda Lovin” to “In The Middle” to my absolute favorite, “All The Ifs,” I Gotta Make It was an exceptional debut from an up-and-coming singer that stood out during a time when R&B was thriving more than it is today.

15 years later, Back Home candidly brings back those same pleasant emotions and feelings that I experienced as a young high school girl overflowing with raging hormones, hearing I Gotta Make It for the first time. It flawlessly encapsulates the best of his musical journey over the years. If there was any doubt in Trigga’s ability to keep up with his legacy, Back Home is a reassuring collection of love songs that display his growth as an artist and as a man.

“A lot of people are saying it feels like the old me, and no disrespect to that because I did want you to have that feeling, but old me couldn’t sing the way I can sing now,” Trey told Uproxx. “I feel like this is my best vocal project, I feel like it’s the most cohesive project and I feel like it’s the project where I probably didn’t think about the expectations as much as in the other projects.”

While recording Back Home, the Grammy-nominated artist spent a copious amount of time surrounded by family, friends, and protesting for social justice, in his hometown of Petersburg, Virginia — right where his humble beginnings as an aspiring singer began. He also recently became a father.

During our conversation, Trey Songz opened up about going back to Virginia to record Back Home, his 15-year long career, his special relationship with the late Aretha Franklin, and his balancing act to bring love back to R&B.

Are you still in Virginia right now?

No, actually, I couldn’t go to Virginia because I wanted to make sure I was all the way good before I went back home to my family.

How has dealing with coronavirus been for you? Are you almost through it, or what?

I’m actually at the non-contagious stage right now, I’m on my twelfth day of quarantine. They say on the tenth day, you’re not contagious. After 14 days, you’re supposed to go back and get retested, but it’s possible you could still get a positive sign because it sometimes lives within people for a while. You could be positive without being contagious. But I feel all the way better. I feel 100%. My symptoms weren’t too crazy. It did flare up for a few days and couldn’t smell, couldn’t taste, chills, fever-type stuff. I’m blessed to be feeling how I feel right now.

Good, I’m happy to hear that you’re feeling better! Congratulations on Back Home, being out. How are you feeling?

I feel good. When you’re working on something for as long as I’ve been working on that you finally release it to the world and it’s been received well, it’s always a great feeling.

What was life like for you just going through the day pre-COVID?

Man. This year has been a different year for my daily routine. My daily routine is highly impacted. Before COVID, I’m in the gym everyday, I like to bowl, I like to get out and be active. I’m a foodie so I like to go out and eat at different restaurants. That was diminished. I love to play basketball. I’m pretty simple. The thing about it is, if I wasn’t working, I’d be in the house. One of my friends made the joke, he said “You been in quarantine for about three, four years now.” If I don’t have to leave my house, I generally don’t.

No, I feel that. I’m a homebody, too. I don’t like to leave the house, so I was excited when it opened up a bit, not that I was excited but…

You was, but everybody going to be mad if you say you was excited.

They are, people get so mad.

Just say, you was excited.

Okay, I was! Let’s talk about a quarantine favorite right now: Lovecraft Country; because I’m not into that show but I saw you tweet “If you’re not into Lovecraft Country, there’s something wrong with you” or something like that. You didn’t say that, but it was something like that. Why should I watch Lovecraft Country? What makes it so good?

I think I said it’s the best show on TV, don’t at me. I said it’s too good. It’s very introspective. If Jordan Peele is involved, it’s going to have an angle of introspect on Black people and what we go through. It’s everything. It’s raw emotion, it’s great acting, it’s science fiction, it’s Black history, it’s outlandish. It’s like every episode is a movie. Every episode is like an hour film. It might be hard for you to get into, because it does take a few wild turns, but I want you to watch it.

I’m going to check it out. It’s just too gory for me.

Yeah, it’s a lot of that, but it definitely takes a few different turns. Just turn your head on the gory parts.

You’ve been in the game for about 15 years. I want to revisit I Gotta Make It and talk about that journey to Back Home, because I feel like one of the unique things about your career is you’ve been here through physical CD’s, DatPiff, MySpace, UStream to Instagram Lives and instant access to music with Apple Music. When you go back and look at the album cover for I Gotta Make It and you listen to the music on there, what type of feelings and emotions do you get?

It’s almost as if I go back to that very specific moment. I can see everything, because you can only do that thing for the first time, one time. When I go back and I listen to that music, I remember the studio session, I remember the excitement, I remember how passionate I was about it. I remember just how special it was. You kind of get used to doing things. You get used to putting an album out, you get used to the recording process, you get used to the magazine covers. I went back and I looked at all those things — the covers, the newspaper clippings — and it kind of just brought me to a place of “wow” again. When you’ve been doing it a while and you go through these cycles, you just get used to it like anything else. Taking that journey and really going back to those moments for me was kind of like reliving them.

Being that you’ve put out so many projects, including mixtapes, how do you feel about your own legacy as an R&B artist of right now?

I’m proud. I would be proud of myself if I never put out nothing but my first album. To be who I am and to mean what I mean to R&B music and to have people who sing like me, to have a voice of my own. I get demos with people singing with that growl in their voice. I’ve never wanted to be anything but myself. But then again, in the music industry, a lot of times people will push you this way or that way to compete with this person or make a sound like this person; because once something comes successful, everybody does it.

Right, we hear about those stories that all the time.

I remember when the four count was very successful and everybody was using it. I remember when auto-tune first came on, everybody was using it. I remember, even now, the melodies that everybody uses, you can swap out the artist and keep the same song. It makes me very proud 15 years later to have an album that is relevant and culture-shifting.

With I Gotta Make It, you worked with Troy Taylor and you guys reconnected on this one. What was that like for you?

There’s not been an album that Troy has not been a part of.

But he’s been with you from the beginning to now, so what was that like for you guys to come together for this particular project?

On this project, even though we weren’t in the same room in the making of a lot of these songs, we just connected differently. Troy, knowing me since I was 14 years old, has watched me become a man. At this point, he’s like the ying to my yang, basically. We worked very much hand-in-hand on everything, from song selections to sequencing. We would write songs and produce songs together on FaceTime. We would take songs off of the album, put it back on the album. It was less stress involved. Throughout my career, he and I have worked very closely, but as you excel into the game and you try to make a name for yourself, you often have to make sacrifices musically and artistically because you got a label involved. As I mentioned earlier, they like, “You in competition with this guy. They’ve done this. We want to see you do the same. Let’s use this writer because he’s successful right now.”

But, when you’ve been able to accomplish what we’ve been able to accomplish with this amount of time in the game, there’s more trust involved. There’s no A&R, it’s just him and I making music. When we turn a project in, that’s what the project is. That was a big difference in this album from the other ones.

For the projects in between, do you feel like the label was trying to pressure you in a different direction?

I would say that’s just what a label does. A label sees chart success and sees a formula they think can work. They will implement that wherever possible. That is business, so that’s understood. With that being said, I’ve never been cool with that. That’s why I put out projects like Anticipation and Anticipation 2. They weren’t considered albums because that’s what I wanted my music to be. Whereas when you’re working with a record label, you’ve got to have a single and you’ve got to have a record that can be positioned.

Even with those mixtapes, Anticipation and Anticipation 2, a lot of people feel like those are classics from you. Then you also had#LemmeHolDatBeat, with you rapping and singing, which I was a really big fan of. I want to talk to you about that because there are a lot of singers that rap and rappers that sing nowadays.

Everybody do both now, it’s crazy.

I’ve just rebranded every artist that low key sings and is a “rapper,” as just melodic rap. That’s going to be a new category. I don’t know.

Yeah, rap didn’t used to have many melodies. Used to be about your bars. Right now, as respectfully as I can say this, because I love a lot of the new music that’s coming out and I love that if they want to sing. But I do feel as though hip-hop is one sound, if that makes any sense. You get you a trap beat, a catchy melody and you might have you a hit record if you’ve got the right branding and money behind you. I do feel like some people are more talented at it than others, but auto-tune and a good melody helps a lot. In R&B, it’s still a challenge. You’ve still got to sing. You’ve still got to be able to sing to make real R&B music. I think that’s the difference in what I do and what a lot of other people do.

A lot of things have changed for you as well. You’re a dad now. Congrats.

Thank you.

How old is Noah?

A year and a half.

You seem to be enjoying fatherhood. What is your favorite thing about being a dad?

I could go on and on and on, but just watching my boy just grow and become his own person. Of course he has traits of his mother and I within him, but seeing him develop his own personality, watching him learn, seeing what he likes, seeing how sweet and innocent and` pure he is. It’s just amazing, day to day to watch a life mold. Knowing that I’m responsible for him and the kind of person he’ll be makes me want to be the best version of myself that I can be. Not just as Trey Songz the entertainer. More so, me the man. The person I am is far more important than the artist I am.

Also, the social justice stuff that you’ve been doing and how you’ve been using your Instagram as a platform to amplify voices has been so incredible. What made you decide, “I’m going to use my Instagram to call out racists” and get involved that way?

It wasn’t like this thing that I was like, “Oh, I’m going to do this.” The crazy thing about it, calling out the racism, was kind of just me getting sick of people finding a reason for any injustice. You post something with someone who is treated inhumane, and then you see people comment “Well, we didn’t see what happened before this” or “We don’t know the full story.” That’s inhumane, and if you finding excuses for people to be murdered then you probably racist. So for me having the platform I have, when I was blatantly pointing out racists, it was to show people “Look, this really exists out here. Y’all making excuses for something that’s real.”

Mike Pence said during the debate that he don’t know if it’s true, that the police system is corrupt in any way, shape, or form. You have corruption in all jobs. You have people that abuse power in every walk of life. So, when you have something like the police, who have the most power to be abused, [and] you can’t even say that you see power of abuse? You racist. For me, it was more so bringing attention to people and in a time where, especially now, in 2020, even if you not really riding for this or if you’re saying Black Lives Matter as a company and you don’t even really believe it, you’ve got to say it, because otherwise you’re going to be looked at crazy. In a time where white people will lose their job for being racist, in a time where you will be made an example of for the same thing. I’m going to use my platform to point that out.

Davido is on your album and I appreciate what he’s doing right now with what’s going on in Nigeria and using his platform similarly to how you’ve been doing here in America. Have you two connected on that at all?

I’ve actually reached out to him and every day it’s feet on the ground. I had no idea about SARS before the album came out. I’ve been to Nigeria. I made songs with WizKid, I’ve made songs with Davido. I’ve actually spent time in Lagos and I have many fans there. Me being active here in America allows me the insight and I got to speak out on these too. It’s actually worse over there because people that look just like you committing crimes against you. Here, it is often police brutality and abuse of power driven by race and a feeling of superiority.

In Nigeria, they dealing with that with people who supposed to protect them. They supposed to be a special anti-robbery unit and they more scared of the police than people robbing you. It’s happening to young people that want to dress a certain way, that have iPhones and are influenced by American culture. They’re being murdered, they’re being extorted, they’re having money taken from them, and people are just turning a blind eye. When you know better, you do better and my thing is, I’ve made a career and I’ve made a living for myself and a better life for my family because of the people who enjoy my music. Not to take anything away from my fans that are not Black, but I know that I’m in the position that I am because of Black people. When I see injustice and I can bring attention to it and at the very least inform people. That’s my duty as a man right now. I can’t look at myself the same if I don’t.

I know you were in Virginia as things in America as racial tensions intensified. What was that like for you, being home and doing the work there?

Virginia is known as the place where slaves were first sold and where the slave trade was the strongest. The city I’m from, Petersburg, is actually the Blackest city in Virginia. Having seen systemic oppression, having seen police brutality first-hand and second-hand, for me, that was one of my greatest achievements just to be able to bring so many people together for the same cause. Seeing the pride in my grandmothers’ face and my fans that’s been following me forever, it was a special thing. I was out there protesting, we did a food drive out there. We was able to feed 3,000 families. It was just a blessing and really surreal. You start out doing one thing, singing “Panty Dropper” and “Neighbors Know My Name” on stage and then you out there with those same people who supported you and you put your fist up and say Black Lives Matter. We matter. You matter. It’s really humbling.

You were making the album during this time too, and you made “2020 Riots,” as well. You became a father. I know you also lost your grandfather. How did all of those elements shape Back Home?

Everything that has happened in my life has been a part of the process of making music and a part of the process that this album sounding the way it sounds and becoming what it is, now. I felt most in making this album that we as a people, we as a culture, need love back in the music. Not to say that there’s not people making music with love in it, but it’s not the focus. There was a time where R&B and hip-hop were parallel and they existed in the same world. It was okay for LL Cool J to say he need love and for Naughty By Nature to say what they said. There was a place in superstardom for every avenue of the genre, and I feel like the toxicity and the don’t give a fuck-ness is really dominating music right now.

For sure.

The love and the soul that used to balance is out is not really there, and when it is there it’s not getting the light and attention that it deserves. With this album, because you know I have always had one foot in, one foot out throughout my whole career with, like you said, #LemmeHolDatBeat. If you think about it, “Bottoms Up” was on the same album as “Can’t Be Friends” and “Say Aah” was on the same album “One Love.” There was always a balance. With this album I wanted to lay down even more heavy the R&B presence of love.

Which song means the most you and how do you feel about the way the project came out?

The song that means the most to me without question is “I Know A Love.” I feel this is my best project to date. A lot of people are saying it feels like the old me, and no disrespect to that because I did want you to have that feeling, but old me couldn’t sing the way I can sing now. I feel like this is my best vocal project, I feel like it’s the most cohesive project and I feel like it’s the project where I probably didn’t think about the expectations as much as in the other projects. I don’t know why, because this is probably the project where the expectations were probably where they meant the most, being that I hadn’t put an album out in so long. This is the one where I felt the least pressure, although, I probably was the most nervous before it came out.

Oh really?

I’m always nervous before an album comes out, there’s no way around that.

What were you scared of?

Not even scared, just nerves. It’s like as if you wrote some of your most intimate feelings in a journal about someone and then you had to give it to them. You would definitely be a little bit nervous. The times where I haven’t been that nervous is the times where I need that feeling, because that feeling of discomfort is what makes it all worth it.

Do you feel like maybe you being back home in Virginia had something to do with you being a little bit more relaxed with the process?

Oh, yeah. Just being around so much real, genuine love. As an artist, when you’re moving city-to-city, state-to-state, you’re often around what can be described as fake love. Even if it is genuine, it’s not the people that know you. Fans love me to death, but they love the perception of me unless you really dove into who I am. No matter how comfortable you are as a celebrity, you’re always on guard. I was at home for almost three months straight. I probably don’t spend that much time at home within a year, accumulated. That continuous time to just be Trey from The Heights, Trey from Petersburg and be perceived that way every day and get so comfortable. When I was making my first album, that was who I was. I wasn’t Trey Songz yet. I was trying to be Trey Songz.

You going back home and getting those old feelings back, and you being able to relax and put out what you feel like is some of your best work is dope. With that being said, do you feel like you have a classic project?

Anticipation 2. It is one of my truest bodies of work because it was what I wanted to do. In every album, at the end, it was a process where we met with the label, and I would say it was a joint decision that these are the best songs, but those albums wouldn’t be those albums had it been up to me. They would have been different. I feel like the truest albums you’ve gotten from me are albums where there wasn’t any input from anybody else but me and Troy. That’s what happened with this album.

I also want to talk about Aretha Franklin because I know she was on the intro to I Gotta Make It and she has passed away since. What is something that you will always remember about your relationship with her?

It’s actually amazing. The relationship I had with her is through Troy. Before I got my record deal, I would go everywhere with Troy and he was a vocal producer. He was a producer of course but he was a specialist in vocally producing. I would go with him and I would sit in the back and I would be his vocal production assistant. When he got gigs or opportunities, he would tell me that they were coming and I would write songs. I wrote a song and Patti LaBelle actually ended up cutting the song. I don’t think it made the album. That’s crazy, like 18 years ago.

It was also written for Aretha, and Aretha had heard the song. She loved the song and one of the things I remember — and this isn’t even a thing anymore — she was like, “Honey, I loved the song but I can’t cut it because it’ll be over my cap.” What that means is if you have a cap of 12 songs, then any songs you put over that will diminish your mechanical rate — your funds. The money you get per song is less. I knew nothing about that until she told me.

Troy went out to her in Detroit but I didn’t go on this trip with him. He recorded it with her and he played her my new album. She talked on the phone with me and everything she said on the intro, she said that and more. She was impressed because although my album came out when I was 20, the majority of those songs I wrote and sang was from when I was 17 and 18. If you listen to I Gotta Make It, you’re listening to 17, 18, and 19-year-old Trey Songz. Troy asked her to do something for the album and what she did was speak to me after knowing the title of my album was I Gotta Make It. Right now, to this day, if I’m having a bad day I can listen to the intro. I got it acapella on my phone, too. I can just listen to Aretha Franklin telling me, “Don’t worry what nobody else got to say. Believe in your dreams.” That’s the most special thing ever.

The last time I saw her, I performed at Essence the day before her and I got to watch her set. The next day me and my mom we went back and we got to kick it with Aretha and her family. We was in there joking and chopping it up. It was one of the most beautiful moments. The crazy thing is it’s before Instagram and all that so I don’t even believe I have no real footage of it but it’s a memory etched in my brain. Shout out to Aretha for what she means to music and what she means to me. Her telling me I can do this was very much a battery in my back, you better believe.

How often do you find yourself going back and listening to it?

I haven’t listened to it in a while, but I used to listen to it all the time. When she passed, it was heavy on my mind. In the beginning of my career when everything is new, you’re learning how to deal with the pressures, the scrutiny, the criticism, the anxiety, everything that comes with becoming a star. Once you commit yourself to this, a portion of you belongs to the world. What artists like her, and her in particular, had to deal with to become who they were, they were laying the groundwork down for artists like us to be able to perform freely. To be able to perform everywhere and to be able to sleep in the same hotel as white people. There was a time when if you were an artist, you could not, not be conscious. You had to make these songs because it was so much of your existence.

You think about James Brown, you think about Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan. All these people, they had to make these songs because it was their livelihood. Aretha and any artist that came before me had to deal with these social injustices on a whole other level than we do.

Back Home is out now via Atlantic Records. Get it here.

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

In an effort to help the Texas Democratic Party flip the state in the upcoming election, Seinfeld alums Julia Louis-Drefyus, Jason Alexander, and Larry David are reuniting for a “Fundraiser About Something.” To add even more star power to the event, Late Night host Seth Meyers will be moderating the livestream, which “promises special guests and surprises.” Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“Texas is a battleground state, period. We knew that we had to reunite for something special and the movement on the ground for Texas Democrats up and down the ballot is the perfect opportunity to do just that,” say Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander and David in a joint statement about the Seinfeld reunion. “Texans are getting out to vote in droves and showing the world that Texas has never been a red state, it’s been a non-voting state. We couldn’t be more thrilled to host a ‘fundraiser about something’ for a terrific organization like the Texas Democratic Party, who are building the movement necessary to turn Texas blue in 14 days.”

The livestreaming event is being organized by Veep showrunner David Mandel, who’s been very active this election season. He recently produced an anti-Trump ad featuring Wayne Knight’s classic Seinfeld character Newman, and he arranged a Veep reunion with Louis-Dreyfus to benefit Wisconsin Democrats in late September. Meanwhile, Jason Alexander has been taking some clever shots at the top of the Republican ticket by noticing that Trump’s dancing looks very familiar.

A “Fundraiser About Something” will stream Friday October 23 at 6 PM ET, and small donations can be made at txdem.co/Something.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Netflix and Hulu both released documentaries detailing the catastrophe of the fraudulent Fyre Fest last year, causing people to be outraged by the event, which left attendees stranded and employees penny-less. The festival’s organizer, Billy McFarland, was sentenced to 26 months in federal prison in Ohio while his business partner Ja Rule distanced himself from the disaster. But now, McFarland is ready to tell his side of the story in a new multi-part podcast series.

Cleverly titled Dumpster Fyre, McFarland will recount the events from his perspective from prison. The story will be told in several parts and consists of several phone interviews between McFarland and acclaimed podcaster Jordan Harbinger of The Jordan Harbinger Show

According to Forbes, McFarland expresses remorse throughout the phone calls with Harbinger, saying “a three-month stint in solitary confinement” brought a “forced reflection on [his] mistakes and the people [he] hurt.” McFarland added, “I’m aware of the pain and suffering that I caused. What I did was completely wrong and stupid. […] When I think about the mistakes that were made and what happened, there’s no way that I can describe it but just, ‘What the f*ck was I thinking?”

Apparently, McFarland is adamant about repaying what he owes. The entrepreneur has committed to put 100 percent of the profits from the podcast towards the $26 million he owes to various employees and investors.

Watch McFarland’s Dumpster Fyre trailer above.

The first episode of Dumpster Fyre airs 10/20. Listen to it here.

Fashion Nova has become one of the most popular and successful clothing brands of the past few years thanks largely to its ambassador program, which trades on influencers’ social media clout to increase the brand’s visibility. Fashion Nova has also employed celebrity endorsers to great effect, from Cardi B to Kylie Jenner, ensuring instant recognition among millennials and Gen Z. However, the policy has occasionally backfired as well, at times costing the brand millions due to broken contracts.

The latest celebrity to cut and run on the brand, according to TMZ, is Rich The Kid, who was reportedly paid a $100,000 advance in October 2018 to promote Fashion Nova on social media and in a song. Fashion Nova is now suing Rich for $2.1 million in damages for breach of contract and making false promises after he avoided posting anything Fashion Nova-related on social media for almost two years. Of course, this pretty much falls in line with what we now know to be Rich’s M.O.; the Queens, New York (by way of Atlanta, Georgia) rapper has been subject to a veritable pile-on of lawsuits in the past year thanks to neglecting his legal obligations and failing to pay just about anyone any amount he owes.

The “Plug Walk” rapper was sued by his management company for $3.5 million, sued by his jeweler for an unpaid $250,000 tab, and sued by his landlord for over $300,000 in unpaid rent. Meanwhile, Fashion Nova is also currently chasing Tekashi 69 for $2.25 million after he got locked up two weeks into his deal with the brand. Perhaps Fashion Nova should stick with tried-and-true partners like Cardi B, whose lines with the brand sold-out in a matter of hours, one of them netting over $1 million in profits (which they partnered again to give away during the pandemic).

The Indiana Pacers made a coaching change earlier this year when the franchise opted to part ways with Nate McMillan. The move came following the team’s departure from the NBA’s Orlando Bubble in August, and for nearly two months, the job has been vacant.

That is slated to change soon, according to a report by Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Pacers’ search has reportedly come to an end, with the team deciding to pluck Raptors assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren from Toronto and make him Indiana’s next head coach.

The news of the hiring was confirmed by J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The 45-year-old Bjorkgren has never been an NBA head coach, but has stints with several G League teams under his belt. He has some NBA assistant coaching experience, as he was with the Phoenix Suns from 2015-17 and joined Nick Nurse’s staff in Toronto prior to the start of the 2018-19 campaign, when the Raptors went on to win the first championship in franchise history. He’ll take over a franchise that has long been a playoff team in the Eastern Conference, but has never quite gotten over the hump — the franchise has not made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2013-14.

Following a tense 24 hours of being repeatedly attacked by President Donald Trump on Twitter and in the press, Dr. Anthony Fauci attempted to steer the conversation back to the important matter at hand. Namely, a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases that is most likely a “second wave” that health experts predicted would arrive in the fall. While conducting a radio interview on Tuesday morning, Fauci brushed aside questions about his ongoing feud with Trump by referencing The Godfather, which objectively speaking, is a much more relevant callback than the president’s Bob Hope insult. But we’ll defer to Fauci’s medical advice that trading barbs with Trump is a distraction from the pressing issue of keeping the American public on task in following CDC guidelines as COVID cases surge nationwide. Via KNX 1070:

“We are headed, if things don’t turn around and change, as we get into the cool months of the fall and cold months of the winter, we may be headed into some serious issues and we really want to avoid that,” Fauci said.

Fauci says he focuses totally on the health and welfare of the people of this country.

“That’s the only thing I really care about. That other stuff, it’s like in ‘The Godfather:’ nothing personal, strictly business as far as I’m concerned. I just want to do my job and take care of the people of this country,” Fauci said.

Tensions between Fauci and Trump reached a boiling point on Sunday when Fauci appeared on 60 Minutes and revealed that he got “really ticked off” when he learned that the Trump campaign not only used him in and ad without his permission, but they took his words out of context. “I do not and nor will I ever, publicly endorse any political candidate,” Fauci said. “And here I am, they’re sticking me right in the middle of a campaign ad. Which I thought was outrageous.” To add insult to injury, after Fauci requested to be removed from the ad, the Trump campaign refused and continued to run the spot in battleground states.

(Via KNX 1070)

In a bizarre turn of events, Tomi Lahren and 50 Cent appear to be on the same side. On Monday, 50 learned about Joe Biden’s plan to raise taxes only on Americans making more than $400,000 a year, and he wasn’t happy. The news caused 50 to re-think his vote entirely, announcing he would be voting for Trump instead.

50 explained his pivot to the right on Instagram, writing “WHAT THE F*CK! (VOTE ForTRUMP) IM OUT, F*CK NEW YORK The KNICKS never win anyway.” The rapper added: “I don’t care Trump doesn’t like black people 62% are you out of ya f*cking mind.” While many of his fans were not on board with his announcement, Fox News host Tomi Lahren was overjoyed.

Lahren shared her praise of 50 both in the comments of his original Instagram post and her personal Twitter page. Under 50’s announcement, Lahren welcomed 50 to the “Trump train.”

While 50 is shying away from paying more taxes, the rapper recently shelled out a handful of cash to some lucky fast food employees. After news of Travis Scott’s partnership with McDonald’s went viral, 50 decided to take things one step further. The rapper teamed up with entrepreneur Jay Manzini to pass out $30,000 in cash to Burger King employees in his Queens, New York hometown. The whole ordeal was filmed and it seems as though the employees were just as excited to meet 50 in person as they were to be gifted the cash.

Henry Cavill knows that the wait for more of Netflix’s The Witcher might feel super long as 2020 stretches into oblivion, even if there will be a payoff for that patience. After all, The Witcher TV universe will eventually include spinoffs and as least one movie, but for now, it’s enough to obsess over Season 2 hints. For example, we recently got to see Cavill’s new armor for Geralt after he joined up with warrior Ciri, and the synopsis told us that Geralt is feeling forlorn about Yennefer of Vengerberg, since he believes that she’s dead. What’s a loner monster hunter to do with all the resulting pent-up energy? Well, he could engage in more swordplay, and to do that, Cavill needs to stay in tip-top shape.

Cavill has made no secret of telling the world that fitness does not come easily to him. He works hard for gains and posted some evidence of his routine to Instagram. In the process, he detailed the “three major aspects….speed, explosive power, and fitness” of his Witcher training. He’s satisfying all three components by running “for miles up hill,” which sounds completely miserable, but he’s into it.

No shortcuts for this guy. Cavill does his own stunts in this series, and he constantly practiced his sword play for several months leading into filming for the first season. So, I can do nothing here but conclude that Geralt of Rivia will be running up at least one mountain in Season 2 while Jaskier torments him with another horrific song. Worst. Workout. Ever. But if it happens, you heard it here first.

Normally, the political person in the Cephus family is Cardi B but in a new voting PSA, Offset is the one making the overtures to get fans to the polls by sharing a relatable experience for many. A common response to calls to vote in the upcoming election has been to point out rampant voter suppression in many states. In his new PSA, Offset details his own experience with voter suppression — and shares how he overcame it.

According to Offset, a felony conviction at 17 put him on the path to believing “I wasn’t supposed to be involved.” He remembers a probation officer telling him that he couldn’t vote and believing it, even though it wasn’t true. Offset says his mother pushed him to become involved, telling him “your voice matters.” While he said he initially pushed back, he talked to his lawyers and realized that he was, in fact, eligible.

He explains why he feels voting is important, saying, “It still could be ten times better, but you gotta vote. That’s what changes the rules, changes the laws. I really felt good voting, because I was told I couldn’t, or I was told I wouldn’t be able to clean up or get away from my past and look where I’m at now.”

Watch Offset’s PSA — made in collaboration with WhenWeAllvote.org, Vote.org, and PushBlack — above.