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Festival lovers are willing to endure some tough weather conditions purely out of the sheer admiration they have for their favorite acts. For others, the advertised ambiance is the biggest selling point (see Fyre Festival). Each year, this passion shows as thousands of brave fans make the voyage to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to attend the multi-day event Burning Man.

Unfortunately, no one could have foreseen that a freak rain storm on September 1 would leave attendees stranded in muddy terrain, which eventually led to road closures. Musician Diplo and comedian Chris Rock were able to make the 5-mile hike to a getaway ride, which escorted them to safety. Not everyone else was as fortunate. According to AP, local authorities are currently investigating a death take took place at the festival.

The outlet cites KNSD-TV’s initial report, which quotes the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office. In their authorities’ statement, they did not share the name of the deceased or the potential cause of death, just simply confirming that someone had tragically passed away.

The Bureau of Land Management, as well as the Sheriff’s Office, have advised the nearly 70,000 attendees that to ensure their safety, all access points for the event have been closed.

Read the note shared on X (formerly Twitter) yesterday (September 2) below.

“Due to recent rainfall, the Bureau of Land Management and the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office officials have closed the entrance to Burning Man for the remainder of the event. Please avoid traveling to the area; you will be turned around. All event access is closed.”

No matter how severe the situation media mogul 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) finds himself in, he will let out his inner troll. Although Jackson could potentially face felony battery charges for unintentionally causing bodily harm to an attendee of his The Final Lap Tour, he found a way to joke about the gruesome incident in an Instagram post.

Instead of directly addressing the microphone-tossing incident during his Los Angeles tour stop on August 30, Jackson shifted the focus to the technical issues he faced, looping fellow rapper Lil Wayne into the fracas.

On Friday, Jackson uploaded a screengrab of Radar Online‘s report on Wayne’s audio hiccup during his opening performance at Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour stop in Inglewood, California. He captioned it, “Damn, the only thing left is Taylor Swift show. I fired everyone involved in the audio department. If the mic don’t work, your ass don’t work here.”

Lil Wayne was slated to take the stage before Jackson at the now infamous show. While the joke was at his expense, rather than Jackson’s alleged microphone victim, Power 106‘s host Bryhana Monegain, but fans still believe that Jackson should issue a public apology to Monegain for the reported injuries she faced.

However, due to the legal parameters surrounding this incident, it’s probably best for Jackson to exercise his right to remain silent.

Gender Reveal Parties can be nice, but they’ve also taken strange turns, but over the weekend one ended in tragedy. As per The Daily Mail, one such event held in Sinaloa, Mexico on Saturday was supposed to be big, complete with a plane — which unfortunately suffered a fatal misfunction.

Video of the sad incident went viral, showing a small Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee aircraftflying over the crowd of reveler, as well as a giant sign reading “Oh Baby.” The plane was what was meant to reveal the gender, dumping either blue or pink spray. It dumped pink — only for one of its wings to suddenly fall off, causing the plane to sail wildly over the guests, crash landing behind them.

The crowd didn’t seem to notice the crash, at least at first, continuing to party. The pilot, Luis Angel N., who was the only person in the aircraft, was rushed to the nearest hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

It’s far from the first time a gender reveal party has ended in death. In October 2019, a party in Iowa went south after a homemade pipe bomb that had been made to spray out pink or blue wound up shooting out shrapnel, killing a grandmother.

(Via The Daily Mail)

On Friday, September 1, news that “Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett had died shook the world, including musicians like Paul McCartney, Elton John, Blake Shelton, and more. Even President Joe Biden issued a statement expressing his condolences to Buffett’s family.

In a note posted to Buffett’s official website, a representative wrote, “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music, and dogs. He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

No further information, including cause of death, was shared. However, on Saturday, September 2, TMZ revealed how Buffett allegedly died. An anonymous source, who alleges they were friends with Buffett, told the outlet that Buffett’s cause of death was the result of a prolonged battle with skin cancer and lymphoma. The individual suggested Buffett had been diagnosed with cancer nearly four years ago.

The source was quoted saying, “He lived his life in the sun, literally and figuratively,” referring to his love of the boats, having been seen vacationing many times on massive yachts.

The Boston Globe reported that in Buffett’s obituary, the official cancer type was listed as Merkel cell skin cancer.

For 13 seasons, The Great British Bake-Off has been the most pleasant show about stressed-out bakers improvising impossible dishes. But last year that placid veneer was broken by, among other things, a “Mexican Week,” in which contestants from the U.K. butchered one dish after another while the hosts made cringey puns. The episode earned the show some rare controversy (though it wasn’t the first time). But when it returns, viewers can rest easy that they won’t to endure British bakers messing up pico de gallo.

The Guardian recently profiled the upcoming season, and, in a bit teased out by Entertainment Weekly, producer Kieran Smith responded to the backlash the show faced last time.

“We’re not doing any national themes this year,” Smith said. “We didn’t want to offend anyone, but the world has changed and the joke fell flat.”

Episode 4 of last season’s GBBO was the main offender, not only due to the bakers’ ignorance of Mexican culture, but its use of stereotypes and bad puns, such as this one.

But there were other dodgy moments throughout the season, including the time co-host Prue Leith made the bizarre remark that not “many people make spring rolls.”

What’s more, previous seasons have contained disastrous themed episodes. Season 11 contained a “Japanese Week,” in which bakers used Indian and Chinese spices for Japanese dishes, and co-host Matt Lucas referred to katsu curry as “cat poo curry.”

Though GBBO producers may vow not to indulge in cultural cringiness, there may be bigger problems afoot here. As Uproxx‘s Carrie Whitmer put it in a piece about last season:

Alas, this all seems to be a result of the series deal with Netflix. Since 2018, the series has had a deal with Netflix. New seasons air in the U.K., and the episodes are available to stream on Netflix stateside days later. A few years into the deal, and Netflix’s signature and exhausting gimmicky meme-thirsty influence is all over The Great British Bake-Off. An attempt to make the show younger and goofier has worked against it. What was once a relaxing, reliable, and already goofy time, is now a vaguely depressing and exhausting one for all involved from hosts to judges, contestants to the audience.

(Via The Guardian and EW)

Since The Jonas Brothers broke into the music business as teens, each of the sibling stars have been seen as heartthrobs. Fast-forward to the present, and each of the three singers — Kevin, Nick, and Joe — have traded in their bachelor days for loving families. Unfortunately, according to TMZ, Joe Jonas‘ time as a married man could be coming to an end. The outlet alleges that Joe and his wife, actress Sophie Turner, are preparing to divorce.

Sources who spoke directly with the platform said that despite having been seen in public on several occasions, the pair have, for the last six months, been quietly dealing with problems behind closed doors. The insider did not provide specifics about the marital spats, but they shared that regardless of their rocky relationship, Joe has not let it interfere with the time he spends with their two small children. (However, he is still currently on the road touring with his brothers, so it’s not clear how much time he’s spent with them.)

Joe and Sophie’s romance first began back in 2016. By the following year, they were engaged, and their wedding took place in May 2019. The couple welcomed their first child in 2020. Last year, they had their second.

For months, Kevin Costner has kept quiet about all that Yellowstone drama that’s being going down. Is he really leaving the show that gave his career a steroid shot? When on earth will they even finish filming Season 5? Much has been kept from the public, but on Friday, while giving testimony involving his high-profile divorce case, Costner was forced to open up about what exactly is happening with the biggest drama on linear cable.

As per Deadline, during the testimony, the attorney for Costner’s estranged wife Christine Baumgartner asked if he had been offered a sixth season of Yellowstone. Costner said it was “complicated,” saying they did “negotiate” and that he was offered $24 million to do Seasons 5, 6, and 7.

Alas, he said there were “issues about creative,” which likely means he and Taylor Sheridan, who writes every episode, were no longer seeing eye-to-eye. “I tried to break the logjam. They walked away.”

Costner has already been paid, though, for the fifth season, which likely doesn’t mean the full $24 million he would have been paid for three seasons. However, they’ve only filmed the first half of Season 5. The second half, or Season 5B, is still up-in-the-air, which has been even further delayed by the two-pronged strikes that have crippled Hollywood.

Scheduling seems to be the main factor contributing to this mess. Since Yellowstone re-raised his profile, he was able to get his Western epic Horizon off the ground. He was hoping to be able to do less Yellowstone so he could juggle both. But it was not to be.

“Somewhere along the line, they wanted to change things,” Costner said. “They wanted to do 5A and 5B; [it] affected Horizon. I was going to do my movie Horizon and leave that show, do my movie, then do B. A show I was only doing once a year I was now doing twice.”

Costner concluded that he will “probably go to court” over the Yellowstone fracas.

So, sorry, fans of Yellowstone, but not only will you have to wait even longer to see how the show concludes, but when Costner finally steps back on set, you might get a grumpier John Dutton III than you’re used to.

(Via Deadline)

After cruising through the group stage, USA Basketball came into Sunday’s matchup with Lithuania feeling very good about themselves but also facing a very dangerous matchup against a talented and very big Lithuania squad.

While the Americans were expected to have their hands full in the paint and on the glass, it was a three-point barrage early that saw Lithuania jump out to a 21-point advantage as they stunned the USA squad with their energy, ball movement, and knockdown shooting (particularly from their bigs). Lithuania knocked down its first eight threes of the game, unleashing a barrage from deep against a USA defense that seemed a step slow to getting out to shooters.

It wasn’t just a hot shooting start that had Lithuania rolling early, as their length stymied the American offense in the first quarter, they dominated the offensive glass, and their cutting caught the USA napping for some easy baskets inside.

At the half, Team USA trailed by 17, but as expected they came out with much better energy to start the third quarter, making a 13-2 run to trim the deficit to six with haste. Anthony Edwards was the catalyst on defense, as his ball pressure bothered Lithuania’s guards and kept them out of their actions, forcing turnovers and bad shots to allow the Americans to get out and run some, and it became Team USA’s time to knock down shots.

However, Lithuania had the answer for the big USA run out of the halftime break, continuing to apply pressure inside and once again knocking down timely shots to keep the U.S. squad from ever getting the game all the way back to level, ultimately pulling away for a 110-104 win. Lithuania punished switches in the post, particularly targeting Austin Reaves on the block, and continued its hot shooting, knocking down 14-of-25 from deep on the game — including a rather hilarious one to beat the shot clock buzzer that was an indicator this just wasn’t going to be Team USA’s night.

Edwards did his best to drag Team USA back into the game, scoring 35 on 14-of-26 shooting (5-of-13 from three), but he didn’t get enough help as only Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson (14 points each) and Brandon Ingram (10) could join him in double figures. The bench unit, which has been dominant all tournament, went cold in this one and foul trouble plagued the Americans as they struggled mightily to handle the size and physicality of Lithuania. Seven players scored in double figures from Lithuania (with two more scoring nine) as they got a balanced scoring night that was enough to take down Edwards’ sensational individual effort.

Moving forward, the Americans are still headed to the quarterfinals, but certainly showed there’s work to do if they’re going to make a run all the way to the gold. While you can certainly point to a wildly hot shooting night from Lithuania as a big reason for the loss, so many of those shots early were wide open and Team USA needs to shore up its defensive communication, particularly against pick-and-pop, and general intensity level on that end from the start of games. They’ll get their first chance to do so against Italy in the quarterfinals.

Trump Steaks. Trump Airlines. Trump Vodka. Trump: The Game. Tour de Trump. A second Donald Trump presidential term. These are but a handful of the former Apprentice star’s many failures. But what of Truth Social, his rinky-dink attempt at a Twitter clone? It’s lasted over a year-and-a-half, which ain’t bad. But there’s a chance it won’t be around for much longer.

As per The Washington Post, the far-right social media service faces a key vote this coming week. When Truth Social was announced in October of 2021, its future hinged on the merger of Trump Media & Technology Group and the Miami-based Digital World Acquisition. The latter managed to raise some $300 million off investors and the two companies vowed to merge within 12 to 18 months.

It’s now almost two years. And on Tuesday, shareholders who invested in the venture will meet to vote on whether they can extend the merger by another year. If they vote no, Digital World will have to return the $300 million. It will also “cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up.” Trump Media & Technology, meanwhile, will be left with nothing.

What on earth is taking the two companies so long to fuse? Well, it’s complicated:

Digital World’s efforts to merge with Trump Media have been troubled almost from the start, beset by allegations that it began its conversations with the former president’s company before they were permitted under SPAC rules.

Then, in the past year, its issues became more pronounced: Its chief executive was terminated by the board, a former board member was arrested on charges of insider trading, and the company agreed to pay an $18 million settlement to resolve charges that it had misled investors and given false information to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The merger has “been pretty much unprecedented in terms of all of the glitches,” said Jay Ritter, a University of Florida finance professor who studies stock markets. “The deal does seem to be running out of time. You can’t just keep getting extensions forever.”

Should funding for Truth Social suddenly dry up, will it cease to be? Or will Trump once again beg his supporters for enough scratch to ensure he has a place to drop dozens of weird videos a day or further incriminate himself? Nevermind that he already has two big money sucks right now: his third presidential campaign and all those court cases he’s racked up because he potentially did crimes.

(Via The Washington Post)

On May 28, 2014, 13-year-old Athena Orchard of Leicester, England, died of bone cancer. The disease began as a tumor in her head and eventually spread to her spine and left shoulder. After her passing, Athena’s parents and six siblings were completely devastated. In the days following her death, her father, Dean, had the difficult task of going through her belongings. But the spirits of the entire Orchard family got a huge boost when he uncovered a secret message written by Athena on the backside of a full-length mirror.

After removing the mirror from the wall, Dean discovered a 3,000-word letter written all the way down its backside in black pen. “She never mentioned it, but it’s the kind of thing she’d do,” her father told People magazine. “She was a very spiritual person, she’d go on about stuff that I could never understand – she was so clever.” The moving letter revealed her deepest feelings about her fight with the dreaded disease. “Every day is special, so make the most of it, you could get a life-ending illness tomorrow so make the most of every day,” she wrote. “Life is only bad if you make it bad.”

Although Athena is gone, the mirror now serves as a powerful memory of her undying spirit. “We’re keeping the mirror forever, it is a part of her we can keep in the house, it will always be in her room,” her mother, Caroline, said. “Just reading her words felt like she was still here with us, she had such an incredible spirit.”

Athena’s full message:

“Happiness depends upon ourselves. Maybe it’s not about the happy ending, maybe it’s about the story. The purpose of life is a life of purpose. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. Happiness is a direction not a destination. Thank you for existing. Be happy, be free, believe, forever young. You know my name, not my story.

You have heard what I’ve done, but not what I’ve been through. Love is like glass, looks so lovely but it’s easy to shatter.

Love is rare, life is strange, nothing lasts and people change. Every day is special, so make the most of it, you could get a life ending illness tomorrow so make the most of every day. Life is only bad if you make it bad. If someone loves you, then they wouldn’t let you slip away no matter how hard the situation is. Remember that life is full of ups and downs.

Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about. I want to be that girl who makes the bad days better and the one that makes you say my life has changed since I met her!

Love is not about how much you say I love you – it’s about how much you can prove it’s true. Love is like the wind, you can feel it but you can’t see it. I’m waiting to fall in love with someone I can open my heart to. Love is not about who you can see spending your future with, it’s about who you can’t see spending your life without… Life is a game for everyone but love is the prize. Only I can judge me.

Sometimes love hurts. Now I’m fighting myself. Baby I can feel your pain. Dreams are my reality. It hurts but it’s okay, I’m used to it. Don’t be quick to judge me, you only see what I choose to show you… you don’t know the truth. I just want to have fun and be happy without being judged.

This is my life, not yours, don’t worry about what I do. People gonna hate you, rate you, break you, but how strong you stand, that’s what makes you… you!

There’s no need to cry because I know you’ll be by my side.”

This article originally appeared on 04.15.19