Category: Trending

“Don’t” miss out on the South Park duo’s Casa Bonita revamp while anywhere near Lakewood, Colorado.

That’s the message coming from Ed Sheeran, who believes that he lacks the “pizazz” to be the Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner, and only time will tell if he called that one correctly. He definitely, however, holds the clout to score a coveted ticket to an eatertainment venue that is currently admitting by “invite only,” which has left some superfans holding out hope while sleeping in the parking lot. Presumably, bringing a record crowd to Denver’s Empower Field last weekend didn’t hurt the “Shape Of You” crooner’s chances of admission.

Ed is making a tasty habit of popping into famed eateries while on his various The Mathematics Tour stops. He recently donned an apron at Chicago’s The Weiner Circle, where he was allegedly “too proper and friendly,” given that the restaurant’s motto is “hot dogs served with a side of abuse.” At Casa Bonita, however, Ed stuck to the role of spectator while enjoying the venue’s cliff divers and the fake jail, and of course, he indulged in chips and salsa.

“When in Colorado, Casa Bonita is a must,” Sheeran wrote on Instagram.

Any sopapillas? Ed left that part up to the imagination. Regardless of the answer, Cartman would be so jealous. Trey Parker and Matt Stone dumped “infinity dollars” into restoring the shuttered restaurant “like a piece of art,” but again, welcoming 80,000+ fans to one’s own concert is an airtight way to making sure that watching the Casa Bonita mariachi band is also on the weekend’s agenda.

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

Rihanna has reportedly given birth to her and ASAP Rocky’s second child. According to TMZ, Rihanna gave birth on August 3 in Los Angeles, but has kept things quiet after making the announcement of her pregnancy in the flashiest way possible during her February Super Bowl Halftime Show performance. Rihanna and Rocky had their first child, who they named after RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, back in May of 2022. Since then, Rihanna has added maternity bras to her Savage X Fenty lingerie line, while Rocky has hinted multiple times that the couple also secretly got married.

How this affects the couple’s future music plans remains to be seen. Rocky has been teasing his upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb, since late last year, apparently beginning the rollout with his new single, “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n),” after “putting the finishing touches” on the album back in January. He also previously released the single “Sh*ttin’ Me,” his first solo release in nearly three years, last December.

Rihanna’s comeback album, meanwhile, has been the subject of much speculation and a long-running meme involving playfully paranoid banter between the singer and her fans. While she did mention in February that she wants to release the album sometime this year, with a newborn to look after, those plans may just get postponed. However, with Rocky gushing about how much he loves being a dad and Rihanna using her motherhood for inspiration, that may work out for the couple in the long run.

Last week, Donald Trump made history yet again: He became the first U.S. president to score not one, not two, not three, but four indictments. Congrats? There was a chance, thanks to his reckless social media antics, that he’d go straight from his fourth arraignment to his first stint in jail. It’s a nasty jail, too, hardly fitting for someone who owns a gold toilet. But now, for a sizeable price, he’ll avoid that fate.

As per Mediaite, Trump’s lawyers met with Fulton County, Georgia D.A. Fani Willis to negotiate the terms of his surrender. Among the topics they agreed upon was the size of the bail bond. It ain’t cheap, coming in at $200,000. But after he pays that lofty sum, he’ll be able to enjoy freedom once again and tweet about murder waves or whatever.

Mind you, Trump won’t be able to tweet about everything. One of the details in the court filing was that he “shall perform no act to intimate any person known to him or her to be a co-defendant or witness.” That part was included surely because he’s already engaged in witness intimidation, to say nothing of taunting some of the people who hold his freedom in their hands.

Trump isn’t the only one of the 19 defendants in the Georgia case whose bail bond was made public. John Eastman, the lawyer who designed the infamous plan to overturn the 2020 election, has agreed to one half the size of Trump’s, coming at a “mere” $100,000. Hope it was worth trying to unsuccessfully subvert the will of the American people!

(Via Mediaite)

Ronan Farrow just dropped a massive expose on Elon Musk that paints an alarming portrait of a man who’s doing far more than just running Twitter into the ground. In fact, that’s easily the least concerning move for Musk’s empire that reportedly has considerable sway over the U.S. government.

According to Farrow, both SpaceX and Tesla have received deferential treatment from the Department of Defense and regulatory bodies thanks to Musk’s company dominating the fields of space technology and electric vehicles, respectively. Essentially, Musk has been able to operate with very little to zero oversight, which is concerning in light of allegations that he’s significantly ramped up his ketamine usage.

Earlier in the summer, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk was using the drug to treat depression and at parties. According to Farrow, that use has concerned associates.

Via The New Yorker:

Associates suggested that Musk’s use has escalated in recent years, and that the drug, alongside his isolation and his increasingly embattled relationship with the press, might contribute to his tendency to make chaotic and impulsive statements and decisions. Amit Anand, a leading ketamine researcher, told me that it can contribute to unpredictable behavior. “A little bit of ketamine has an effect similar to alcohol. It can cause disinhibition, where you do and say things you otherwise would not,” he said.

Anand later told Farrow, “You can feel grandiose and like you have special powers or special talents. People do impulsive things, they could do inadvisable things at work. The impact depends on the kind of work. For a librarian, there’s less risk. If you’re a pilot, it can cause big problems.”

While Musk’s impulsive business decisions appear to be contained to Twitter, at the moment, Farrow also reported that Musk has the ability to cut off the Ukraine army’s communications thanks to their reliance on Starlink, a satellite network run by SpaceX. In fact, Musk already threatened to revoke Ukraine’s access after revealing to defense officials that he personally spoke to Vladimir Putin.

According to Farrow, Musk and the Pentagon reached an agreement to secure Starlink’s use by Ukraine. The conditions of that agreement were not revealed.

(Via The New Yorker)

On Monday morning, Stephen A. Smith dropped a nugget of reporting on First Take that he’s heard Stefon Diggs wants out of Buffalo, citing a loss of belief in the Bills.

This came after Diggs missed the first day of mandatory minicamp and there was some apparent friction with the star receiver and the organization, but all parties have insisted it’s “water under the bridge” since and he’s been preparing for the season as normal throughout camp. As such, Stephen A.’s little side note about Diggs being unhappy still was notable to many, enough so that Diggs made sure to let Bills fans know that was definitively not the case, shutting down Smith’s report on Twitter.

While there certainly seems to be something lingering under the surface in Buffalo with their star wideout, everyone seems willing to move forward and try to put it behind them and see if a bounce back season can fix things. Josh Allen saw some regression a year ago and the Bills faltered under heavy expectations to be a Super Bowl contender. They’re still supposed to be one of the AFC’s best, but have plenty of competition in the division from the Jets and Dolphins. That brings a different kind of pressure, but if they can win the AFC East one would think that would be a serious confidence boost going into the postseason, where they are looking to finally find the success they crave. If they do, that will probably smooth things out with Diggs and everyone. If not, we may very well revisit Diggs’ frustrations next offseason, but he seems determined to not let that be a story as the season begins.

August is the Sunday of Summer so, naturally, everyone and their cousin are away on a vacation to visit an obscure relative or go to their college roommate’s wedding, or avoid working. Most of these are valid. Get in your vacation now before hibernation begins. But with travel comes fees, and with fees come those who do not wish to pay them (everyone). Enter: Skiplagging.

No, skiplagging isn’t the practice of reloading a YouTube video to avoid a laggy ad, though it sure sounds like it. It’s the new trend where flyers buy a connecting flight somewhere with the intention of not completing the second part of the trip. For example, flying from Missoula to Denver might cost you $500, but if you book a connecting flight from Missoula to Salt Lake City that stops in Denver could cost you around $250. Thrifty, right? It’s been saving people hundreds, even though it’s also not really allowed.

The practice of Skiplagging has become popular this summer, though airlines are starting to pick up on the trend and deny boarding to anyone who might intend to do such a thing. While the act isn’t illegal, it could lead airlines to ban travelers from their service, leaving them stranded with no complementary pretzels or ginger ale.

“If a customer knowingly or unknowingly purchases a ticket and doesn’t fly all of the segments in their itinerary, it can lead to operational issues with checked bags and prevent other customers from booking a seat when they may have an urgent need to travel,” American Airlines said in a statement. “Intentionally creating an empty seat that could have been used by another customer or team member is an all-around bad outcome.”

Are people still doing it? Yup! There is a whole site, Skiplagged.com, dedicated to finding “ridiculous travel deals.” American Airlines filed a civil lawsuit earlier this month against the site, accusing it of using “unauthorized and deceptive ticketing practices.” While other airlines haven’t threatened legal action, you probably don’t want to get on Jet Blue’ bad side. You would never be able to eat Terra chips again.

(Via Today)

Ted Cruz fell for one of the oldest hoaxes in the book.

As Tropical Storm Hilary rolled into southern California, bringing with it flash floods and record-setting rain totals, Barstool‘s Dan Katz wrote on Twitter, “Friend of mine out in LA just took this picture on the 405. And yes, all news and media outlets you have permission to use this. Wild.” The tweet also included an obviously fake photo of a shark swimming down the highway… and the rare double community note.

One reads, “The photograph is a digital hoax. The image of the shark was lifted from a 2005 photograph of a kayaker being trailed by a great white shark and pasted into a photograph of a flooded street,” while the other notes, “The photo originally appeared in 2011, after Hurricane Irene hit Puerto Rico. The hoax also made the rounds in 2015 after Texas was hit with heavy rains, in 2016 during Hurricane Matthew and again in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey.”

“Hurricane Shark” has gone viral enough times that it has a Know Your Meme page. But instead of two seconds of research, Ted Cruz shared the tweet with his millions of followers. “Holy crap,” the senator quote-tweeted. Cruz later tried to take it back in a follow up (“I’m told this is a joke. In LA, you never know,” he wrote, whatever that means), but for someone so Extremely Online, he should know better. The only explanation I can think for why Cruz fell for the obvious hoax is because he’s been busy looking at other images online.

Last week, Mike Lindell held his “Election Crime Bureau Summit” after promising that the event would be a bipartisan love fest that would “save our country” by guaranteeing the security of America’s future election. Instead, the MyPillow CEO delivered an event that predictably devolved into MAGA conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, and at one point, featured Steve Bannon telling the crowd to do a January 6 on Georgia officials.

As for Lindell’s bold, new election fraud plan that has never been done before: drones. That was his big play, and he’s already walking back.

As reported by The Daily Beast, states, local municipalities, and the FAA all have strict laws about the use of drones, which would make it very illegal to just fly one up to a polling place to see if China is manipulating votes or whatever:

Flying a drone within 15 miles of Washington, D.C.’s inner ring can land you in jail for 90 days. Other cities like New York have their own anti-drone laws on the books, and drones are prohibited within five miles of airports.

On Thursday, Lindell was aware of at least some technology laws. He said he would have demonstrated his [wireless monitoring device] on real voting machines, but that he worried he might face legal risk.

While appearing on Charlie Kirk’s podcast on Monday, Lindell wanted to set the record straight that his WMDs would not be used on drones despite him demonstrating the device to his Election Summit audience by using a drone.

“These are not drones, everybody. We brought it in on a drone just for effect and to make it kind of cool, bringing it in all the excitement,” Lindell told Kirk via Raw Story. “The drones have nothing to do with it. So it is legal, believe me, we’ve had our legal team on this for over a year. And it’s just, it’s like radio waves are capturing it.”

(Via Raw Story, The Daily Beast)

The Got Sole sneaker convention went down in New York City this past weekend, and Meek Mill was on hand looking to score some new footwear. One of his pickups in particular drew some attention, but because of how the transaction went.

In a video, Meek is seen discussing a pair of “Pine Green” Nike SB x Air Jordan 4’s with a reseller (as Complex notes). Currently, pairs of the shoe are available for around $300 per pair on StockX, depending on the size, but the reseller priced theirs at $500. (While writing this post, though, the most recently sold pair on StockX went for $517.)

Meek took exception to the pricing, but ultimately bought the shoes. He said, “I could buy these at the store right now for $300. You want $500? That’s a bad move. I’m going to buy them from you, but that’s a bad sell. You’re supposed to give it to Meek Mill for the low, get the commercial: Boom, I might come back and buy more, you know? […] Now I’m going to go to the next table and I might spend $5,000.”

Some people didn’t love Meek bringing his celebrity status into the equation, and the whole ordeal made Meek one of the top trending topics on X (formerly Twitter) today (August 21). One user wrote, “Well he got the publicity and the sale at his price. I understand what Meek is saying but it’s also predatory. He’s trying to strong arm him for a lower price, when he can clearly afford the price that’s being offered. Plus the price is on par for what others are charging.”

Somebody else tweeted, “First off this isn’t schooling. Your price is your price. I bet if he go to LV they making him pay and there isn’t any discounts. And they gladly pay it. Ain’t nobody trying to get no weak free promotion at all. Stand your ground on your price. Either buy it or move on.”

Some folks took Meek’s side, though, like one person who wrote, “Hustling backwards… Should have gave Meek that pair and an additional one for the $500. Sure you take the loss upfront but now you’re locked in as Meek’s shoe plug and can supply him and his team with all the sneakers they will need.” Somebody else responded, “He got the $500 and i seen this video so free publicity [crying laughing emoji].”

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

(Spoilers from the Sex And The City revival will be found below.)

When it comes to And Just Like That…, I’ve been watching the chatter on social media and in forums, and yikes. Che Diaz is out there sparking strong feelings again. People are also holding that character to standards that would never fly for Carrie and Miranda, who have been rather terrible to people over the years, too. Miranda is also now unrecognizable from her old badass self, and even though this revival’s writers must have watched the original show, it sometimes feels like they’ve forgotten what made SATC enjoyable.

Look, I know that there’s some lingering sentimentality out there for the original characters, but this show has long since passed the point it should be taken seriously or infuriate us. And at this point, I’m only rooting for Steve Brady and Charlotte York Goldenblatt. (Oh boy, Charlotte? I cackled after her tipsy “I was a person before all of you!” speech to Harry, their kids, and their learned helplessness. And she sold a painting to Sam Smith, so good on her.)

The vast majority of these characters, however, can stuff it. Sex And The City was at least a confection, but And Just Like That… is a buffet of selfishness. These characters are buried so far into their self-involved navels, and Che Diaz is catching the brunt of the ire? I have to wonder if that’s the case because Che was, by the “logic” of this spinoff, supposed to be representative of the LGBTQA+ community. Yet in a show like this, it’s kind-of an unrealistic expectation to ask any member of a marginalized community to deliver a nuanced portrayal. That’s simply not how this series works.

After last week, however, I was at least entertained by knowing that the abrasive spirit of Che is still alive. After the writers shoehorned them into a miserable LTR with Miranda — it was never going to work out, and that had nothing to do with sexuality — Che is finally free to be Che. The writers actually did something interesting, too. Che had failed at moving from being an aggressively bad standup comic to take a shot at a network comedy. That pilot didn’t even make it to air, and Che had broken up with Miranda, and suddenly, Che became many different things, including a lover of animals.

See, that’s cute. Still, people found them insufferable, and then the show doubled down on Che being this show’s version of Satan. Che also wore this Kendall Roy Gucci jacket during their return to the comedy stage. Coincidence?

The standup set led to the return of Villain Che, who was the crowning touch of the first season’s horror-show vibe, even more so than Mr. Big’s Peloton and the projectile vomiting. As a returning comedian — and remember, Che has never been funny, so why start now? — they cracked jokes about dating (the mortified and watching) Miranda that included the following: “She was confused about everything, and I was confused about why I was f*cking her.”

Again, not amusing at all, but I’m not exactly sure what Miranda expected to see while showing up unannounced at Che’s first show after their split. That’s especially the case because Miranda tends to completely ignore that her exes exist and even avoids mutual-friend situations. Che didn’t expect Miranda to care at all, and comedians tend to use negative personal experiences for material. That’s what comics do. Granted, I’m not excusing Che’s bad jokes, but Che never named Miranda during her set, and Miranda shouldn’t have expected butterflies and roses simply because she showed up.

Furthermore, I am more than ready to see Che move back into tearing this show’s little world apart. They’re not exactly an agent of chaos, but they are a reality check because And Just Like That… has made several cringeworthy attempts at inclusivity. Most of them are not great efforts, especially when it comes to Nya, who now only sits in her apartment revenge-buying expensive gifts for her ex’s impending baby. Lisa and Seema are likewise one-dimensional, but Che? Che may not be funny, but they are fun. The backlash to their profound unlikeability actually made me like them, in a way.

Che Diaz dared to be more than a mere prop and a token of inclusivity, which — let’s face it — is what this revival is doing with its new characters. Granted, Che’s villainy isn’t nearly as spectacular as The Gays on The White Lotus, but I’ll take what I can get with And Just Like That…. Furthermore, Che is overall much more palatable when she’s not with Miranda. Those two were miserable together with personalities that clashed 9 moments out of 10. Miranda also deserved to be taken down a few pegs by someone, and I am fine with it being Che who did it. If they decide to end the season by throwing all of Carrie’s Manolo Blahniks into a dumpster, I wouldn’t be mad at that, either.

Finally, let’s do some bullets on the disappointments of this season:

— The show decided to write off the late Willie Garson’s Stanford Blatch by having him run away to be a Shinto monk. And because they couldn’t just let that sentence hang in the air, so the wind could sweep it away, they even photoshopped a grinning Stanford in front of a monastery. This, apparently, was actually a move in service of Anthony’s plot, so that he could be motivated to also let go of his “worldly possession” of always being the “top” in gay relationships. They had to disrespect Stanford in order to inspire Anthony to get into the idea of being penetrated? I guess so.

— Miranda isn’t even a shadow of who she used to be. She has long since quit her job as a law firm partner. She dumped Steve, essentially for being embarrassing. She fawned over Che and became a simpering hanger on, and when she finally decided to work again, Miranda interned at the U.N. and dumbed herself down because she wanted everyone to like her. Ugh.

— Carrie outwardly questioned whether “Big was a big mistake” (which even freaked out Miranda) and she’s decided to throw herself back into this Aidan thing despite two shattering breakups in the past. The show heads into the season finale with Aidan devastated because his son got drunk and wrapped his truck around a tree, and all Carrie can do is wonder what this means for her. Because she sold her Carrie apartment to buy a “palatial” new pad with Big’s money, so she and Aidan could inevitably start irritating each other again.

— Oh, and the Real Samantha is “back.” She’s making her phone call to Carrie next week. If someone wants to edit that out of the season finale ahead of time, that would be cool. (Samantha, you don’t need this mess in your life.)

I’ll close by reiterating that it’s simply not worth it to get upset about And Just Like That…. However, I’m pleased that Steve is thriving. He’s set up a new bar on Coney Island, and he’s gonna sell clams. Dude is happy. Let him be that way. Also, let Che be The Villain.

HBO Max’s ‘And Just Like That’ will stream its season finale on Aug. 24.