Category: News

As the July 1 deadline for rosters to be finalized for the NBA restart approaches, a handful of players have made their intentions of opting out of the restart. Players were allowed to opt out with no penalty beyond missing out on the game checks for however many games they miss (1/92.6 per game), with a minimum of eight games each.

Davis Bertans, Trevor Ariza, and Avery Bradley have all made their intentions of skipping the Orlando restart known for various reasons. On Sunday, Wilson Chandler of the Brooklyn Nets joins that list, informing the Nets he will opt out, per ESPN’s Malika Andrews. Chandler told Andrews that he wanted to spend more time with family and ensure their health and safety by not joining the bubble in Orlando.

“As difficult as it will be to not be with my teammates, the health and well-being of my family has to come first,” Chandler told ESPN Sunday afternoon. “Thank you to the Nets organization for understanding and supporting me in this decision, and I will be watching and rooting for our team in Orlando.”

Chandler, who missed the first 25 games of the season due to testing positive for a banned substance, averaged 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for the Nets and will become a free agent this offseason.

Finding a good bourbon has never been easier. But that also means it’s never been easier to find a bad bourbon. There are so many expressions on the shelves these days that reaching for the wrong bottle and wasting your hard-earned cash is a real possibility. That’s why we’ve taken to breaking down entire lines of whiskey in our UPROXX Expression Sessions. And this week, we’re breaking down the three mainstream bottles from Heaven’s Door, with one extraordinary bottle tacked on at the end.

For those who don’t know, Heaven’s Door is Bob Dylan’s signature whiskey from Tennessee. It’s not a “Tennessee Whiskey.” It’s just produced there. The idea behind the whiskey is to “tell a story,” according to Dylan. The company achieves this by sourcing some serious juice and giving it great finishing touches and then bottling it in legitimately cool bottles (each one has an overlay of Dylan’s famed iron farmstead gates).

This week we had a slightly shorter Expression Session, as we only had four bottles to taste. Still, it was illuminating and both David Duran and I found a bottle that truly stands out in the line. (Spoiler: It wasn’t the priciest one!)

Heaven’s Door Tennessee Straight Bourbon

ABV: 45%
Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This “high-rye” bourbon has a mash bill of 70 percent corn supported by 30 percent “small grains.” Basically, that’s mostly made up of rye with a dash of malted barley. The juice is then aged in new American oak for eight years before the barrels are blended into the bottle.

Tasting Notes:

This feels like a classic bourbon with notes of vanilla, bread, and oak upfront and is too basic to truly stand out. The sip edges towards a creamy vanilla essence with hints of stone fruit, like cherries, next to a slight spice. It’s very straightforward and drinkable with a long finish that leans into the spice, fruit, vanilla, and maybe a hint of chocolate.

Heaven’s Door Double Barrel Whiskey

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This is the most “Tennessee” whiskey of the line. The expression is a blend of two bourbons and a rye that then goes through the Lincoln County Process — sugar maple charcoal filtration — that makes Tennessee whiskey what it is (still, since this is a blend, it’s defined as “American whiskey”). The juice is first aged for six years in new American and second-use bourbon barrels before blending and additional aging of new American oak for up to a year, hence the “Double Barrel” moniker.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a sense of red berries with a slight tartness alongside a very clean nose. The sip edges those berries into chocolate territory, with an almost cinnamon bread feel, touched with plenty of oak. There’s a slight hint of herbs on the short finish.

Heaven’s Door Straight Rye Whiskey

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $80

The Whiskey:

This was the clear winner of the Expression Session this time around. The juice is a classic rye that spends seven years in new American oak. It’s then transferred to French “Cigar” barrels which are dried in the French sun and then lightly toasted, not charred.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a clear pepperiness alongside bright florals up top. Cherries, more florals, citrus, and sharpness of ginger follow. The depth of the sip really shines through as the matrix of florals, fruits, spice, and oak slowly fades and leaves you ready for more.

Heaven’s Door The Bootleg Series 2019 Edition

ABV: 55.75%
Average Price: $495

The Whiskey:

This bottle is going to be hard to find outside of private collections. The 26-year-old whiskey is finished in Japanese Mizunara oak barrels. These barrels are made from trees that have to be at least 200-years-old and impart something truly unique into the juice that touches the wood.

Tasting Notes:

This whiskey is shockingly easy to sip. First, we have to talk about the color. There’s a dark green (almost black) hue to the yellow liquid that’s unlike any whiskey I’ve ever seen. The nose is a mix of herbaceous, fruity, and spicy without any one element overpowering. The sip surprises with coconut, clove, and a hint of fresh coriander. The end is short-lived but sort of beautiful in how subtle it brings all the oak and flavors to the fore, leaving you eager for another sip almost immediately.

Check out our LIVE tasting of each bottle below with food and travel writer David Duran and UPROXX Life Deputy Editor Zach Johnston!

Sacha Baron Cohen has made a career out of duping people into proving his points for him, and his latest stunt has targeted a far right rally in Washington. The Who Is America creator’s latest target is a far right rally organized by Three Percenters in Olympia, Washington. The group is a right wing antigovernment militia movement. The “March for Our Rights 3” event was organized by the Washington branch of the organization, which claimed that Baron Cohen approached them disguised as a leader of a political action committee who wanted to sponsor the rally.

The event organizers claim that he provided a security team for the event that later prevented them from getting him off stage once he started performing and even prevented them from cutting power to his microphone. Videos circulated over the weekend of Cohen on stage and performing a song with a band that included racist lyrics, which he had the crowd chant with him as he performed.

Per Variety:

“Obama, what we gonna do? Inject him with the Wuhan flu. Hillary Clinton, what we gonna do? Lock her up like we used to do. Fauci don’t know his head from his ass. He must be smoking grass. I ain’t lying, it ain’t no jokes. Corona is a liberal hoax. Dr. Fauci, what we gonna do? Inject him with the Wuhan flu. WHO, what we gonna do? Chop ’em up like the Saudis do,” Baron Cohen sang.

Another video posted to Twitter showed an interview with the event’s organizer, who described how the event was given a mysterious boost late in its planning. The security hired for the event then prevented him from pulling the plug as the

As Variety noted, Who Is America was never formally canceled or renewed, so some wondered if the stunt would be part of a new season of the series.

It’s been a full decade since LeBron James shook up the NBA by announcing his plans to “take my talents to South Beach” and form the Big 3 in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, officially ushering in the superstar team era.

“The Decision,” the hour-long special aired on ESPN in which James announced his intentions of leaving Cleveland to Jim Gray, made LeBron a villain for the first time in his career. Him joining forces with two other All-Stars might have done that anyways, but for many it was the way he announced that decision in a primetime TV spectacle that turned people against him — even though “The Decision” resulted in millions of dollars going to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

It remains fairly incredible that the greatest misstep in LeBron James’ career was this misguided TV special for charity, but for many, questions have remained about how this all came to be. Who was responsible for this concept? Was it ESPN or LeBron’s team that pitched it to the other? Why did LeBron’s team think this would work in their favor, particularly if he was considering leaving the Cavs?

On Sunday night, those questions will be answered in a new “Backstory” episode on ESPN that looks at “The Decision,” and will confirm that a 38-year-old Pistons fan was the initial spark for the idea thanks to a mailbag question he sent to then ESPN columnist Bill Simmons, who pushed the idea aggressively to his ESPN bosses, per ESPN’s Don Van Natta.

“What if LeBron announces he will pick his 2010-11 team live on ABC on a certain date for a show called ‘LeBron’s Choice?’” Drew wrote, with no last name published. “What type of crazy ratings would that get?”

Drew Wagner never knew for sure if his mailbag question led to “The Decision,” but now has confirmation that it, indeed, was the spark that sent Simmons to John Skipper with the idea and also to bring it up in a meeting with LeBron’s then agent, Leon Rose, and William “World Wide Wes” Wesley. While Simmons provided the initial push, he says he was not involved in the show actually coming to life.

Reached for comment by ESPN on Saturday, Simmons said in an email, “I never thought LeBron would do the show if he was planning on actually leaving Cleveland. They were the favorites to win the title that year and it just seemed like he was staying there. Even when I met with Wes and Leon in May, they were playing Boston and were the favorites, i think they even won that night. But after those 3 Boston losses and how badly it went, I gave up on pushing the idea, it seemed like there was no way. I thought it was dead. I wasn’t involved after that.”

Jim Gray was the one that eventually got it done, working with Maverick Carter and Hollywood agent Ari Emmanuel to pitch ESPN on the special, per Van Natta. Unsurprisingly, many of the people involved have worked to distance themselves from the show given the PR disaster it caused. It remains the biggest public misstep of James’ career and took years for him to shake the reputation it brought him, and might’ve all been avoided had Drew from Columbus, Ohio never given the idea to Simmons.

On Saturday night, Shaquille O’Neal and Rob Gronkowski put on a livestream together, competing in various challenges to raise money for social justice, with Shaq playing for the Boys & Girls Club of America and Gronk playing for the NAACP.

The two competed in everything from a lip sync battle to jousting, but the highlight of the night was seeing what happens when Shaq is allowed to dunk on a basketball hoop that’s not a regulation NBA goal. During the HORSE portion of the evening, Shaq decided to do an off the backboard dunk and proceeded to rip the rim clean off the backboard with one hand.

It’s honestly one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. He doesn’t shatter the backboard — as he’s done multiple times before in his career. He doesn’t bend the rim or cause the goal to collapse — again, a thing he did while in the NBA. No, he rips the rim off the backboard and slings it to the ground.

Gronk’s reaction is terrific, as he just stares in disbelief at the carnage that just unfolded — while wearing a Shaq jersey. That was the end of the HORSE competition, which was never something Gronk had a chance at but did yield the best possible result in Shaq doing things that remind us how preposterously big and strong he is (Related: he recently told us that his “go-to” order at Krispy Kreme is three boxes of glazed doughnuts).

Danny Masterson’s arrest on rape charges has sent shockwaves through Hollywood as well as the Church of Scientology as the group’s involvement in apparently covering up these incidents becomes more public as the case unfolds. Masterson was charged earlier this month with three counts of rape years after he was fired by Netflix from The Ranch after allegations against him first surfaced.

His accusers, who initially sued both Masterson and the Church of Scientology in 2019 over sexual assault allegations, have reacted positively to the news that their alleged rapist will stand trail for his crimes. And former Scientologist Leah Remini issued a warning to the church that more of its interference will become public as the case goes to trial. And it seems we’re already learning some of the harrowing details of what Masterson’s accusers dealt with in response to bringing allegations to the organization’s attention.

Page Six reported on Sunday that the church actively intimidated members when they alerted it to Masterson’s sexual misconduct in an attempt to smother details from getting outside of the church, making them go through “security checks” where they would be convinced there was a reason things happened to them.

“Maybe you’d be directed into finding that, 10 million years ago, you enslaved a whole city and ­allowed your soldiers to rape all the women,” (Ex-Scientologist Geoff) Levin added. “[And] that is the reason why this is happening to you now. It is brainwashing to the Nth degree.”

Ryan, the lawyer, told The Post that it “is accurate” that the women experienced intimidation tactics by the church. “It was part of the pressure campaign to force them into ­silence.”

The details of various ways the accusers were intimidated are as harrowing as they are varied. The only named accuser said she was stalked by church members, spit on, and even thinks they had her pets killed.

Indeed, the civil suit details allegations of such tactics. In it, Bixler claims that she was stalked by church members and filmed; that “an agent of [Scientology]” spit on her after she caught him trying to hack her phone; and that there were threats to leak nude photos of an underage Bixler. According to the suit, she believes that Scientology representatives contributed to the deaths of two of her family’s pets.

Tony Ortega, editor of The Underground Bunker, a Scientology-investigating website, said: “[Founder] L. Ron Hubbard called [such procedures] noisy investigations. Not only do they surveil you, but they want you to know it via very creepy encounters. They want to convince you to stop ­exposing Scientology because it causes too many emotional issues in your life.”

It’s another example of the sentiment that Masterson’s trial will be as much a trial for his crimes but also the church and the way they are alleged to have actively covered up his actions to protect both the actor but the church itself. One source in the story was asked about the chances the church stops protecting Masterson, and it may be entirely determined by whether the case goes to trial or not.

“It’s a tenuous situation,” he told The Post. “It depends entirely on Masterson taking a plea deal. If he takes a plea deal and coughs up to [the allegations], which will implicate a number of Scientologists, they will cut him off. They will say, ‘We threw you out years ago.’ ”

But, Rinder said, that would be a last-ditch effort. “They all have to stay on the same page and keep their stories straight,” he speculated. “Scientology is afraid that if they condemn Danny, he will turn on them. It may be in his interest to keep ­everybody on the same team, coming up with the same defense.”

The story has many other details about the Masterson family and its relationship to the church, but the treatment of Masterson’s alleged victims is a scary reminder of the power it has over some in Hollywood and the fear of criticizing its members that’s been created over the years.

[via Page Six]

As often happens in the entertainment industry, one movie getting its release date moved causes a string of reactions of movies doing the same. Lately, though, the jostling for big box office returns is more about whether theaters are open and people feel safe in returning to darkened theaters inside with strangers than anything.

The movie industry has largely been on pause since mid-March, causing havoc on the release calendar. But early hopes for a return to theaters by July seem largely dashed in the final days of June. Friday’s news that Tenet was delayed again, this time to mid-August, meant that other movies would shuffle as well.

And indeed, Variety reported that Disney’s live-action Mulan remake was delayed a third time, to August 21. Another movie that was actually pushed up to be released as theaters opened, Russell Crowe’s Unhinged, also saw another delay to July 31, per The Hollywood Reporter. That movie was originally supposed to hit theaters in September but was announced for July 1 in an attempt to be the first nationwide release to hit cinemas since they shut down the industry in March. But as theater reopening dates slowly slipped back in the calendar, Unhinged was pressed to July 10 and now sits on the month’s final day.

The Broken Hearts Gallery, in fact, may be the last large-release movie standing in the middle of July. Deadline reported on June 16 that the prior Tenet delay pushed Broken Hearts back to a July 17 release date. Tenet, Mulan, and Unhinged have all been delayed again since that, but there’s been no update on Broken Hearts. It seems inevitable that it, too, gets a delay at this point, but nothing is official until it has a new date.

Theaters themselves are still supposed to open in July, though as COVID-19 cases rise in dozens of states and some slow their shutdowns it remains unclear if they’re still on that trajectory when we actually get there. Right now, Unhinged on July 31 would likely be the first big movie released, if theaters are, indeed, open. Until then, there’s still plenty to watch on your streaming devices at home.

The shelter-in-place orders had been just issued, she says, and “I received email after email of conference and performance cancellations. A single tear fell down my cheek as I held a sleeping baby.”

Suddenly, it really hit home that the world was changing permanently, and like many of us, she started thinking about how she was going to survive all of this change.

“I remember feeling defeated, unprepared and overall just sad,” she says.

Since March of 2020, our lives have changed dramatically because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Countries, states and cities all over the world have instituted lockdowns and issued shelter-in-place orders. Non-essential businesses have shut down, concerts and performances have been cancelled. Millions of us self-quarantined in our homes, often while trying to work from home and raise children with no daycare. Our day-to-day lives don’t look the same anymore and it’s easy to feel defeated, just like Arielle did that day.

“We are such tender beings, us humans,” Arielle says, “and considering we are in a global pandemic, there are a lot of traumas and mental stresses that come with that reality, whether or not we realize it.”

“Because of that,” she continues, “I think it’s so vital that we take care of ourselves mentally, spiritually and physically because our bodies are probably taking in more than we realize.”

In other words, self-care has never been more important. Here are some of her self-care tips for these uncertain times:

1. Remember, it’s okay to take time to do things for yourself.

“Finding moments to go on a walk, bake something that feels like comfort, dance in your kitchen, finding books that inspire your creativity is so important right now,” she says.

“We all have time [for self-care], it’s just about making it,” she continues. “Pass the baton to your spouse if you have kids and take turns making sure you’re not only taking care of others, but also yourself.”

2. Find what brings you joy.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Arielle has stopped asking “how are you?” because it’s a difficult question to answer with everything going on right now.

“I noticed that whenever I was asked,” she says, “I never fully knew how to respond to the question and do so authentically.”

So instead, she’s starting to ask “What brings you joy?”

“While we were in this space where a lot has been taken away, disrupted, and paused, there was even more of a reason to find joy in life, especially in the smallest and most mundane aspects of life,” she says.

“Currently what brings me joy is trips to home goods stores and finding trinkets for my home that my husband and I are physically building.” She also loves doing face masks, painting her nails — “It’s become a form of self care and therapy,” she says — and finding new plants for her home.

3. Make your self-care routine consistent and intentional.

It’s easy in the day-to-day of quarantine, with so much time spent at home, to put off taking care of yourself. That’s why, Arielle says, “I have been very intentional about adopting self-care routines, not just weekly, but daily.”

For example, she has decided to make working-out part of her self-care routine and while working out every day may vary in length or intensity, she fits it in no matter what.

“Some days, [self-care] looks like an online class of some sort, a dance video on YouTube, or a walk around the block at sunset.”

4. Listen to your body and your own needs.

“If [your body] needs rest then rest,” she says. “If you need to put down the phone and turn off the electronics and read a good book. then do so.”

“But also listen for when it needs a whole season of Gilmore Girls and a glass of wine,” she adds. “That’s okay too.”

5. Don’t forget about your skin.

“The SK-II Pitera Essence is magical for me right now,” Arielle says. “I felt like my skin was really needing something to boost its glow.”

She says that it has helped boost her skin’s natural moisture without making it too oily or causing build-up in her pores.

“It also feels amazing to apply and leaves my skin feeling refreshed and super soft,” she continues. It has definitely been included in my skin care routines both in the morning and right before bed, to keep me skin feeling refreshed and nourished all day long.”

Arielle Estoria

6. Drink lots of water.

7. Find creative ways to adapt so you can still do the things you love.

“Find what brings you joy and do whatever it takes to engage with that joy as much as you can,” Arielle says.

Before the pandemic, for example, she loved going to hot yoga. “When the pandemic started, I tried to work out with my floor heater instead to get the same vibe,” she says. “Didn’t really work, but that’s okay!”

8. Make sure you go outside.

“As much as you can,go outside, be with nature,” she says. “Get out of your house for a moment if you can. Read on your front lawn, loop around your block, walk to ice cream, find moments to get your body active, moving and in nature.”

Don’t know what to read while you’re outside? Arielle recommends “All Along You Were Blooming” by Morgan Harper Nichols and “I’m still here” by Austin Channing.

9. It’s okay to take a break from social media and your phone.

“Take “time outs” from social media when you need to,” she says.

Put away the phone. It will help you find more time for yourself.

“I dare you to look at your screen time,” she says. “I bet that’s where you’d find a lot of your time is going. That [time] could be used otherwise.”

Arielle Estoria

10. Remember, self-care doesn’t have to take a lot of time.

Taking time for yourself doesn’t have to be a whole day thing. It doesn’t even need to take several hours. “Just small increments of 5, 10, 15 minutes could make a difference!”

To learn more about SK-II or help them in their fight against systemic racism and injustice as part of the P&G family of brands, go to PG.com/TakeOnRace

On the very first episode of Friday Night with the Morgans in mid-April (and what feels like 12 years ago), Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife, Hilarie Burton, had husband and wife Jensen and Danneel Ackles as their first guests. They were, coincidentally, the couple that introduced Morgan and Burton at a bar many years ago, and it came with a spectacular meet cute story.

This weekend, Jeffrey and Hilarie had on another married couple, Garrett Dillahunt and Michelle Hurd. Ironically, Dillahunt was up for the role of Negan on The Walking Dead that Jeffrey Dean Morgan would eventually land, although Dillahunt got a fairly decent consolation prize as John Dorie on Fear the Walking Dead. Hilarie Burton, meanwhile, knew Michelle Hurd from a 2012 Christmas film, Naughty or Nice, that they starred in with … Daneel Ackles (small world!).

Anyway, many people may not realize this because he is a fairly private actor (except for all the novelty masks he shows off on Instagram), but Dillahunt has been married to Picard star, Michelle Hurd, since 2007. In the tradition of sharing meet cutes on Morgans, Hurd and Dillahunt shared theirs this week, and it involves a huge misunderstanding.

As Hurd tells it, she and Dillahunt were starring in a play together. She doesn’t name the play, but it appears to have been 900 Oneonta in 1996. When she arrived to the first day of rehearsal, Hurd was excited to meet her new co-star and love interest, Dillahunt, and excitedly introduced herself. “I put on a big smile, and I stuck out my hand, and I said, ‘Hi! I’m Michelle, and I’m playing your love interest!”

“And I swear to God,” Hurd continues, Dillahunt listlessly turned his head and said, “Hi. I’m Garrett,” and turned back away from her. “Oh, that’s it, huh?” Michelle thought. “You’re just going to give me a look?” Meanwhile, she sees their other co-star, Missi Pyle, approach Dillahunt and they start laughing and chatting together. “Oh, that’s fine! That’s fine!” Hurd thinks. “You done. We are not playing. I’m out!”

Dillahunt, however, remembers the experience differently. “It was hot,” Dillahunt says, “and Michelle was on rollerblades, so she rolls in and she’s nine feet tall.” She’s not wearing much, Dillahunt continues, saying that she was “all bare abs and bare legs for days.” Meanwhile, Dillahunt was nervous, and “had no sense of fashion,” and he “turns around … and I was just the biggest nerd. I was so tongue-tied that I couldn’t come up with anything to say … It was awful.”

And there you go: The first time that Dillahunt met his future wife, he was so lovestruck that he couldn’t speak to her.

Meanwhile, Michelle Hurd — who has naturally curly hair — also told a story on the episode about an experience she had playing an “event planner to the stars,” who owned her own business on a TV series she recurred on. Hurd received a call from producers after the first day on set, and they said to her, “We love you, and we love your hair. It’s just so fabulous. However,” the producers continued, “we have done research where we have found that a Black woman who owns her own business can only be taken seriously if she has straightened hair.”

“This was said to me,” Hurd continues, understandably frustrated. “Just a few years ago. On a big f**king show … it’s just like Tracee Ellis Ross says. ‘If you hire me, you hire my hair.’”

Hurd did not specify the show, but it is worth noting that she played an event planner on The CW’s 90210 back in the early 2010s.

Source: AMC

One of the most striking visuals in a landscape still mostly lacking sports came on Saturday at the NWSL Challenge Cup when two players on the Chicago Red Stars, Casey Short and Julie Ertz, kneeled while wearing Black Lives Matter shirts and were overcome with emotions during the national anthem.

It was a powerful moment, and one of importance to both the athletes and the social movement the actions represented as sports leagues finally begin to embrace the Black Lives Matter movement. And it seems even the NBA, which has been reticent to allow players to protest during the national anthem in years past, may embrace “social justice slogans” on its player jerseys when the NBA’s bubble league gets up and running.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported late Saturday that the league is working with its players and jersey suppliers to allow slogans on the back of jerseys when league play resumes.

The move likely means players can wear the Black Lives Matter slogan on the back of their jerseys, and perhaps like the English Premier League then move the slogan to a patch on the jersey for the rest of the season. The wording of the report, however, isn’t specific and may mean players get to choose the language they put on their jerseys themselves, though Black Lives Matter has been the most poignant and popular phrase of the current movement.

What’s unclear is whether the league will allow players to kneel or do some other form of protest during the national anthem, if it is played before games in the bubble. And nothing is official just yet, but it seems like players will be able to continue bringing awareness to the important issues involving racial inequality even when games get underway in Orlando next month.