How are Donald and Melania doing these days? It’s hard to say. After they left the White House in disgrace two years ago, she didn’t seem too excited about ever going back. Surely she’s a little peeved that he’s running a third time. Surely she’s also nonplussed that he has all these legal woes, including one stemming from an alleged affair he once had. And surely she’s steamed that all this means he may miss her birthday.
As per People, today, April 26, is Melania’s big day. She’s not planning anything big. All she wants is a “low-key” affair: a quiet night with her family at Mar-a-Lago — or as “low-key” a gathering as one can have at a massive resort that’s home to a former president who likes to rant at strangers. Alas, it’s unclear her husband will be in attendance, as he may have to tend to one of his many legal matters.
“If Donald is here, he will be joining the family to celebrate his wife’s birthday,” a source told People. “Despite what you hear, the Trumps are a close family.”
Another source claimed the two were secretly a happy couple. “Don’t be fooled by the former president’s outspoken manner and dominant influence on those around him. He respects and admires his wife,” they said. “He wants to make Melania happy.”
Said source also described their depths of their passion for one another, saying, “They have a more than suitable partners arrangement.”
What could keep Trump from Melania’s b-day soirée? While he’s not in New York City for the trial involving E. Jean Carroll, the journalist who has accused him of raping her in the ‘90s — he didn’t want to inundate New Yorkers with traffic, he claimed — he could be otherwise occupied. After all, he might be in big trouble for Truth Social posts the judge found “entirely inappropriate,” forcing his lawyer to swear he would tell him to knock it off.
I’ve spent the better part of 2023 listing off bourbons at every price point between $10 and $500. But bourbon whiskey doesn’t tap out at $499. There’s an abundance of bourbon whiskeys that cost well over $500 that truly rule. So to finish off our quest to find the best bourbons at every price point, I’m going to call out 12 bourbons that all cost ridiculous amounts of money but are actually worth that price tag.
Find that hard to believe? Well, it’s hard for anyone to place a price on iconic experiences but if you’re a true aficionado, these bourbons won’t disappoint.
Before we dive in, there’s a huge caveat to address — an elephant-sized bourbon bottle in the room, if you will. These are all highly allocated bourbons that you’re rarely going to ever find at MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price). “Allocated” bourbon is the whiskey that goes out in very small batches to select bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. That tiny allocation means that the price charged for said bottles is often radically inflated due to massive demand. That’s not to say you can’t find some of these bottles at MSRP. But you kind of have a better chance of spotting f*cking big foot in the woods than getting some of these at their suggested price.
That all said, these aregettable bottles. You can purchase every single one of the bottles I’ve listed below right now … at a price. I personally think these bottles are worth the investment because they truly do taste transcendent. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be on this list. And it’s not like there’s no precedent for the cost, in the grand scheme of things, we’ve always assigned higher value to the commodities — shoes, wine, watches, cars, art — that are both rare and sublime.
So no telling me “$500 for a bottle of booze??? F*ck off!” in the comments.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
The latest decanter release from Heaven Hill’s Old Fitzgerald Bottled-In-Bond series was made back in September 2003. Those barrels rested on three floors of rickhouse F and one floor of rickhouse X on the main Heaven Hill campus until October 2022. They were then batched and proofed down to 100-proof for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a classic bourbon nose with deep leather, oily vanilla pods, dark chocolate-covered cherries dusted with salt and nutmeg, and a mild sense of really fancy Almond Joy with this faintest whisper of singed marshmallow and smoldering apple wood.
Palate: The palate leans into woody spices with black licorice and spearmint candy blending into mint chocolate chip ice cream and root beer spiked with cherry syrup topped with creamy vanilla and dusted with cinnamon, clove, and dark cacao powder.
Finish: The end has a long and supple sense of those woody spices before delivering into soft Black Forest cake with a brandied cherry vibe and a hint of star anise-infused apple-berry cider.
Bottom Line:
This is one that a lot of people hide away in safes and cellars. That’s a shame since this is one of the best bourbons you’ll taste and a true gem of a bottle (the decanter is actually cool too).
This whiskey is a blend of Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky bourbons. Each barrel in that blend is a minimum of 16 years old. The barrels were specifically chosen for their cherry, nutty, high-proof, and chocolate profiles. Half of those barrels were then finished in new American oak for a final touch of maturation before vatting and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of wet oak staves (think rained on barrels) next to freshly pressed sugar cane juice, damp, almost still unharvested cherry tobacco leaves, the seeds from a vanilla pod, rainwater, stringy cedar bark, and fresh apricot next to Bing cherry.
Palate: Dark cherry leads to candied ginger on the opening of the taste as orange marmalade mingles with toasted sourdough, sticky yet subtle fir resin, and creamy key lime pie filling with just a hint of the butter in the crust of that pie. The mid-palate leans into the sugar in that pie filling as the cherry kicks back in with a sliver of tartness next to overripe peaches, dried hibiscus, mild anise, allspice berries, sassafras, and dried cacao nibs.
Finish: The finish gently steps through a field full of orange blossoms as that cacao dries out more, leaving you with dried choco-cherry tobacco that’s been inside a cedar box wrapped in decades-old leather.
Why I’d Buy It:
This whiskey is worth that $500 MSRP and a bit more. It’s so rare and delicious that you can’t help but fall in love with it.
I forgot to write down the barrel number on this one but it was in the low 3100s. That means this is a high rye bourbon mash bill (52% corn, 38% rye, and 10% malted barley) that’s aged for just north of nine years. The barrel pick (from The Ballard Cut) has a slightly lower proof than the bottle above.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Singed vanilla pods and candied cherry stems lead to a hint of burnt sugars on the nose next to chewed cigar stubs and a dash of sticky toffee pudding spices (a lot of sharp cinnamon and soft nutmeg next to black tea bitterness).
Palate: The palate leans into the tart cherries with a good dusting of smoked sea salt with a hint of stewed plums with a whisper of dill underneath and plenty of wintry spices adding to the heat of the mid-palate.
Finish: The heat falls off dramatically as a sense of old porch wicker with a hint of black mold melds with worn saddle leather with a hint of wax next to dry bunches of cedar and pine kindling with an echo of maple syrup and pecan waffle underneath it all.
Bottom Line:
Willett hits a sweet spot at nine years old that’s damn near magical, and this bottle is the perfect highlight of that. Granted, the tasting notes will vary depending on the ABV of the single barrel that you find. But one thing remains true — it’ll be an excellent one-of-a-kind bourbon.
9. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This 10-year-old bourbon was aged exclusively in Warehouse C from whiskey made with Buffalo Trace’s Mash Bill No. 1. The nuance here is that the barrels were aged on floors 2 and 5 only. That makes this blend a mix of lower-floor and higher-floor barrels. It’s cooler on those lower floors so the whiskey ages more slowly. Likewise, it’s warmer on the higher floors, and the whiskey ages a tad more rapidly. That means the final blend on this one is from whiskeys that feel and taste like they’re at different eras of the life cycle.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Cherry Coke dominates the nose with a big scoop of blackberry cobbler and Tahitian vanilla ice cream next to mild sweet oak with a whisper of warehouse whiskey mold.
Palate: That Cherry Coke drives the opening of the palate as well with a nice vanilla buttercream foundation below dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, rum raisin, star anise/black licorice, and sharp fresh spearmint.
Finish: That mint adheres to cherry tobacco on the finish with a woody winter spice matrix and a dollop more of that vanilla buttercream.
Bottom Line:
This is lush AF. It also builds and takes you on a journey through berry-forward bourbon toward older and spicier barrels with deep cherry and vanilla. Goddamn, this is a good whiskey. It’s instantly recognizable from the first nose and why this whiskey is so sought after. It really does live up to the hype.
8. William Heavenhill 9th Edition 15-Year-Old Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
The latest edition of Heaven Hill’s super exclusive William Heavenhill release was made from just 34 barrels. Those barrels were from a specific floor of a specific warehouse where they rested for 15 long years before batching and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: That oak comes through like a dank old cigar box with a sense of cinnamon bark, whole nutmeg bulbs, and stewed cherry syrup with a whisper of sassafras and marzipan.
Palate: The palate is lush with a sense of old rye bread crusts next to huckleberry cobbler, more marzipan, orange oils, vanilla oils, and a touch of singed cedar kindling.
Finish: Salted caramel peanut clusters and thick cherry tobacco chewiness mingle with old oak cellars with dirt floors and a fleeting sense of falling fall leaves.
Bottom Line:
This is delicious, hard to get, and very rare. That said, I walked into the Heaven Hill bottle shop and it was right there behind the cash registers. So it’s not impossible. Otherwise, expect very high, unicorn whiskey prices.
This year’s Parker’s Heritage starts off with Heaven Hill’s classic bourbon mash bill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley. From there, it’s all about where and how that whiskey aged. The lion’s share, 67% of the blend, comes from a 13-year-old double-barreled bourbon from the 5th-7th floors of Rickhouse Q. 33% of the blend comes from a 15-year-old bourbon that was aged on the 2nd and 5th floors of Rickhouse II. Those barrels were batched and then bottled 100% as-is without any filtering or proofing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Salted toffee rolled in almonds and dark chocolate is packed into an old oak stave chocolate box and wrapped with old leather and caramel tobacco with a fleeting sense of dried ancho chilis and sour cherry juice next to singed hickory.
Palate: The palate has a deep woody winter spiciness — cinnamon bark, whole nutmeg, star anise, allspice berries — next to sweet oak and dry sweetgrass with a mild sense of cherry cream soda and salted black licorice over woody tobacco.
Finish: The end leans towards sweet and salted dark chocolate with a rummy plum pudding full of dark spice and dried fruits with a fleeting sense of that dried chili on the very back end with some very old oak and leather.
Bottom Line:
I get these to have open and share with my hardcore whiskey crew because it tastes wonderful. But I know a lot of people who squirrel these away in vaults too, making these fleeting finds.
Distilled back in the spring of 2010, this whiskey was made with a mix of Kentucky corn and wheat and barley from North Dakota with that Kentucky limestone water. The distillate was filled into new white oak from Independent Stave from Missouri with a #4 char level (55 seconds) and stored in warehouses C, K, and N on floors 2, 3, and 4 for 12 long years. During that time, 64% of the whiskey was lost to hungry angels. Those barrels were then batched and this whiskey was bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this one is surprisingly sweet with a big slice of coconut cream pie (with a lard crust) next to your grandma’s butterscotch candies straight from an old leather handbag that’s held menthol cigarettes for decades and maybe some old Mon Cheri bonbons.
Palate: The palate opens with a lush eggnog full of nutmeg, allspice, and vanilla that leads to a white pound cake with a hint of poppy seed next to old leather tobacco pouches with a hot cinnamon spiciness on the mid-palate with light cedar woodiness.
Finish: The end layers that white cake into the tobacco while packing it all into an old leather handbag with whispers of mint chocolate chip, Halloween-sized Mounds bars, and old lawn furniture that’s been left out too many seasons.
Bottom Line:
This is up there as one of those whiskeys that not only live up to the hype but kind of part the clouds a little bit, letting the whiskey sun shine on in. It’s great neat but really shines with a little water or a single rock.
5. Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Bottled In Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This is the same whiskey as Master’s Keep 17-Year. In this case, after vatting of minimum of 17-year-old barrels, the whiskey was only proofed down to 50% or 100-proof for bottling as per bottled-in-bond laws. The resulting whiskey is then bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a bold nose of spicy Christmas cakes spiked with orange oils, candied cherries, and dried apples next to vanilla pods and worn saddle leather that leads to this subtle hint of fresh cinnamon rolls with a cream cheese frosting cut with lemon and vanilla.
Palate: The palate is the epitome of smoothness with a subtle warmth derived from woody winter spices — star anise, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon — that then branches toward this whisper of burnt sugars and fats from an old brisket smoker with a hint of salted red taffy and singed marshmallow next to vanilla pound cake with a hint of poppy seeds.
Finish: The end has a sweet cinnamon candy flourish before smoldering wild sage and old boots arrive with a dark chocolate espresso cherry tobacco layers into an old cedar box with a hint of black dirt lurking in the distant background.
Bottom Line:
There’s all the nuance and depth at play here that makes Turkey great while still offering a familiar and convivial — even homey — vibe. This pour is both welcoming and challenging while still feeling fresh, funky, and full of grace. Make sure to add a few drops of water to get a deep creaminess and coconut cream pie and marzipan vibe amped up toward a cherry cream soda and Martinelli’s Sparkling cider depth.
4. Very Olde St. Nick The O.G. Aged 17 Years Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This is a rare find but a monumental one — it’s vintage bourbon in a new release. The whiskey was distilled back in 1981 at the famed and now shuttered Stitzel-Weller distillery in Shively, Kentucky (West Louisville). The bourbon was taken out of the barrel in 1998 and stored in stainless steel vats to stop the aging process. And then it was left alone until 2022 when it was bottled completely as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Blackberries — think black cherry, berry, and currant — dominate the nose with a fantastical freshness that leads to marmalade with orange blossoms mixed in next to sweet yams with singed marshmallows dusted with shaved dark chocolate and kosher salt flakes.
Palate: The black cherry amps up 1000% — kind of like swigging from a Luxardo cherry jar — before more of that dark chocolate kicks in with a sharp peppery spice that’s mildly chili-esque next to Almond Joy, woody maple syrup, and pear compote.
Finish: There’s a light Honeynut Cheerios note on the back end that leads to more nuttiness before the cherry attaches to a winter-spiced tobacco leaf with a sense of old pine tar and leather boots leading to dry cellar dirt and broken-up old oak staves with a sweet plum jam vibe.
Bottom Line:
Preservation is releasing some of the greatest barrels left in Kentucky that you truly will never see again. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime bottles that’s worth every cent.
3. Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 15 Years Old (2022)
This is where the “Pappy Van Winkle” line starts in earnest. The whiskey in this expression — made from Buffalo Trace’s wheated bourbon mash bill — is pulled from barrels that are at least 15 years old. Once batched, the whiskey is just touched with water to bring it down to a sturdy 107-proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with freshly fried sourdough fritters dusted with ground almonds, sharp cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, burnt sugars, and maple frosting with a hint of old vanilla pods next to soft figs.
Palate: The palate leans into rich toffee with a sense of minced meat pies covered in powdered sugar frosting right next to sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel, orange zest, and tons of brown wintry spice countered by a moment of sour mulled red wine cut with dark maple syrup.
Finish: The end has a soft cedar vibe that leads to vanilla and dark cherry tobacco leaves and a hint of pine next to old white moss.
Bottom Line:
This is revelatory bourbon for the uninitiated. It’s really that good. If you ever questioned whether Pappy was worth it, this bottle will answer that for you with a decisive and conclusive “yes” forever.
2. Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 17 Years Old BTAC 2022
Back in the spring of 2005, a humble bourbon was made with Kentucky distiller’s corn, Minnesota rye, and North Dakota barley. That hot juice was then filled into new white oak from Independent Stave from Missouri with a #4 char level (55 seconds) and stacked in Buffalo Trace’s warehouses H, K, and L on floors one and four. It was left alone for 17 years, which allowed 70% of the whiskey to be lost to the angels. In 2022, the barrels were batched and the bourbon was proofed down to 101 proof and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose subtly draws you in with soft pipe tobacco that feels fresh and vibrant next to dried sour cherries dipped in salted dark chocolate and rolled in vanilla seeds and vanilla-laced streusel with a good dose of woody maple syrup with this fleeting hint of red brick, moldy cellar beams, and soft and sandy cellar dirt floor.
Palate: Old maple trees dripping with sap lead to a rich salted caramel candy vibe next to rich vanilla pound cake topped with a creamy dark chocolate frosting and bespeckled with orange zest, dried cranberries bits, and crushed espresso beans.
Finish: The mid-palate takes on a woody spiciness with a whisper of apple bark that informs a spiced Christmas cake full of soft cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, mace, and maybe some anise and dried dark fruits with creamy eggnog baseline next to old Whether’s Originals wrapped up in dry tobacco leaves and stacked in a musty pine box for safekeeping.
Bottom Line:
I try not to throw “perfect” around all that much. But… This is a perfect bourbon.
1. Michter’s US*1 Limited Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 20 Years Old
Master Distiller Dan McKee personally selects these (at least) 20-year-old barrels from the Michter’s rickhouses based on… I guess just “pure excellence” would be the right phrase. The bourbon is bottled as-is — no cutting with water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A sense of dark cherry with deep rummy molasses, dried rose petals, old almond shells, and cedar bark mingle with a fresh pipe tobacco leaf just kissed with apple and pear essence with a hint of vanilla oils and old wintry wine spices.
Palate: The taste leans into smoldering vanilla pods with a sense of old oak staves from a dusty old cellar next to sweet cinnamon and cherry over dried sage and sharp spearmint with a clove syrup base and a dash of toasted marshmallow sweetness.
Finish: The end is full of dark cherry and woody spice with moist marzipan, burnt orange oils, and chewy fresh tobacco wrapped up in old leather and cedar bark with a hint more of that old cellar sneaking in.
Bottom Line:
This was my favorite bourbon of 2022. It’s unequivocally a classic from top to bottom and one of the best bourbons that money can buy. It’s also inching toward my favorite just bourbon ever. Full stop. It’s a true testament to the beautiful work the team at Micther’s does.
When Warner Bros. finally revealed the first look at The Flash during a massive Super Bowl trailer, fans were very surprised to see Michael Shannon reprising his role as General Zod. From the looks of the trailer, the film will use its time-travel/multiverse shenanigans to revisit Zod’s invasion of Earth that took place during 2013’s Man of Steel, which was a little known plot detail. In fact, Michael Shannon didn’t know what was happening at first either.
According to a new interview with the actor, Shannon was hesitant to reprise the role of Zod for two reasons: One, he could’ve sworn Henry Cavill’s Superman snapped his neck at the end of Man of Steel; and two, he was not thrilled with how Warner Bros. treated Zack Snyder during the Justice League debacle.
“I talked to [‘The Flash’ director] Andy Muschietti about it, and I liked Andy, and I said, ‘Andy, look — I just want to get Zack’s blessing on this because it just doesn’t feel right without that,’” Shannon continued. “And Zack, to his credit, was very understanding. He gave me his blessing, and I went to do it.”
Shannon then compared his performance in The Flash to Man of Steel, and well, let’s just say some of the actor’s trademark bluntness came out.
“The story is a lot more all over the place, you know?” Shannon said. “And I feel like I mainly exist in ‘The Flash’ as, like, an obstacle or a problem. Whereas, in ‘Man of Steel,’ it was more of a story. Like, ‘The Flash’ is definitely about The Flash – as it should be. So, it’s not as in-depth.”
Coachella 2023 has come and gone, so now it’s time for country to take over. Goldenvoice’s other major spring event, Stagecoach, kicks off this weekend, also at Indio, California’s Empire Polo Club.
As for who takes the stage when, we’ve rounded up the set times for all three days (April 28, 29, and 30). Check them out below or here. All times are p.m. and PT.
Friday, April 28
Bella White — 12:10 @ Palomino Stage
Mackenzie Carpenter — 12:15 @ Mane Stage
Destinie Lynn — 12:20 @ Horseshoe Stage
DJ Rick — 12:30 @ Diplo’s Honkytonk Stage
Tiera Kennedy — 12:50 @ Mane Stage
The Last Bandoleros — 1:05 @ Palomino Stage
The Tall Pines — 1:10 @ Horseshoe Stage
Drake Milligan — 1:25 @ Mane Stage
Angela Perley — 2 @ Horseshoe Stage
Seaforth — 2 @ Mane Stage
Flamin Groovies — 2:05 @ Palomino Stage
Jackson Dean — 2:35 @ Mane Stage
Adam Perry Lang & Pat Martin — 3 @ Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse Cooking Demos
Diner — 3 @ Horseshoe Stage
Tiera Kennedy — 3 @ Bud Light Backyard
American Aquarium — 3:05 @ Palomino Stage
Nate Smith — 3:15 @ Mane Stage
DJ Bad Ash — 3:35 @ Bud Light Backyard
Caleb Caudle — 4 @ Horseshoe Stage
Jon Pardi — 4 @ Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse Cooking Demos
Pennywild — 4 @ Diplo’s Honkytonk Stage
Priscilla Block — 4:15 @ Mane Stage
Ian Munsick — 4:15 @ Palomino Stage
Seaforth — 4:45 @ Bud Light Backyard
She Returns From Way — 5 @ Horseshoe Stage
Breland — 5:15 @ Mane Stage
DJ Bad Ash — 5:20 @ Bud Light Backyard
Sammy Kershaw — 5:20 @ Palomino Stage
ZZ Top — 5:50 @ Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse Cooking Demos
There will also be limited-time food and drink options. Check out this special menu at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo in Galaxy’s Edge:
Temple Rootleaf and Moss Salad with Seasoned Gwayo Egg: Sweet-savory salad greens, brined vegetables, roasted mushrooms, fried potato noodles, and soy-marinated soft-boiled egg
Temple Rootleaf and Moss Salad: Sweet-savory salad greens, brined vegetables, roasted mushrooms, and fried potato noodles
Light Up! Acid Spitter Orb Sipper with Lanyard includes choice of fountain beverage at time of purchase
For the Andor fans out there (which should be everyone, because Andor rules), Kat Saka’s Kettle is selling popcorn named after the Jersey boardwalk-like world that Cassian Andor visits. You will not get arrested for ordering the Niamos Mix (savory sour cream and chive popcorn) or the jellyfruit muffin (passion fruit buttermilk muffin with pineapple and blackberry jam), however.
Galactic Grill will have a “Darth by Chocolate Parfait,” as seen above, and a freaking adorable Grogu Sipper (it’s also available throughout Tomorrowland).
disney parks
It’s sure better than the root (?) Yoda loses his mind over. Here’s more:
Star Wars Month returns to Disneyland Resort from May 1 to June 4, 2023, bringing epic adventures, exciting flavors, and more to Disneyland park and beyond. In Tomorrowland, hurtle through hyperspace while dodging furious dogfights on Hyperspace Mountain, returning for a limited time. Visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, where you can equip yourself with Star Wars-themed apparel and collectibles, taste cuisine from across the galaxy, and perhaps encounter some familiar faces including R2-D2, Chewbacca, or the Mandalorian and Grogu.
For the full list of Disneyland eats and events for Star Wars Month, head here.
While the conservative world went hog wild protesting a Bud Light campaign featuring trans activist Dylan Mulvaney, one major Republican figure stayed notably quiet during the whole ordeal: Donald Trump. While MAGA acolytes like Kid Rock and Sarah Huckabee Sanders spurred on a boycott and propped up right-wing beer companies, the former president didn’t say a peep about the controversy.
Granted, Trump has his hands full with a myriad of legal issues and a potential primary challenge from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but there’s reportedly a more specific reason why he may have avoided the Bud Light fracas. He owns a whole lot of Anheuser-Busch stock.
According to data reviewed by The Independent, it’s possible that Mr Trump’s reluctance to criticise the company that makes the middling American beverage stems from his personal financial interests. Mr Trump’s most recent financial disclosure shows he holds a significant financial interest in Anheuser-Busch InBev, the company that produces Bud Light.
The disclosure form, which is on file with the Federal Election Commission, shows the twice-impeached former president owns between $1m and $5m in Anheuser-Busch InBev stock under an account listed as “DJT Trust — Investment Account #2”.
While Don Sr. stayed out of the Bud Light fiasco, Don Jr. did enter the fray in a move that’s even more eyebrow-raising. In an odd departure from his fellow Republicans, Junior actually came out against the Bud Light boycott.
“I’m not for destroying an American, an iconic company for something like this,” Junior said on his web show. “Frankly, they don’t participate in the same woke garbage that other people in the beer [industry] actually do, who are significantly worse when I look into it.”
You’ll surely be shocked to learn that Don Jr. did not disclose that his father owns Anheuser-Busch stock. Funny how he forgot to mention that. Probably just a coincidence.
Samuel J. Seymour was one of the approximately 1,700 people at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865, the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. He was also the last to live long enough to talk about that historic night on television.
Seymour was 5 years old when he went to see the play “Our American Cousin” with his nurse, Sarah Cook, and Mrs. Goldsboro, the wife of his father’s employer.
When Booth shot Lincoln, he pulled the trigger during the biggest laugh of the night so that it wouldn’t be heard. What caught Seymour’s attention was when Booth fell from the balcony after a scuffle with Henry Reed Rathbone.
Chaos erupted in the theater and Seymour was ushered out by his nurse. While they fled he overheard people screaming, “Lincoln’s shot! The President is dead!”
“I saw Lincoln slumped forward in his seat,” the old man later recalled. “That night I was shot 50 times, at least, in my dreams—and I sometimes relive the horror of Lincoln’s assassination, dozing in my rocker as an old codger like me is bound to do.”
Two months before Seymour’s death at the age of 95, he appeared on the game show “I’ve Got a Secret,” where panelists tried to guess his secret: “I saw John Wilkes Booth shoot Abraham Lincoln (April 14, 1865).”
Seymour didn’t speak much during the show but he did make a historic understatement when panelist Jayne Meadows asked if his secret was “a pleasant thing,” to which Seymour replied, “Not very pleasant I don’t think. I was scared to death.”
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, once of the most prominent non-Simpsons on The Simpsons, has been a background character since 2017. Hank Azaria stopped voicing the dad of eight following the release of The Problem with Apu, a documentary starring and written by Hari Kondabolu about Hollywood’s portrayal of South Asians. A new voice actor has not been cast.
Azaria, who is white, doesn’t appear in The Problem with Apu, a decision he now regrets (although not as much as The Simpsons should regret their crummy response to the controversy).
“I was afraid,” he admitted to Kondabolu on NPR’s Code Switch podcast. “I was really freaked out. You’re a comedian. And some of your stuff is ‘gotcha.’ It has bite to it, as it should. It’s hilarious and it makes good points. But being on the other end of that really scared me. At the time, I didn’t feel safe to have the conversation privately, let alone recorded.”
Azaria is “grateful” for Kondabolu “dragging and pushing” him into the conversation, though The documentarian and comedian replied, “It means a lot to hear you say that. I know you’ve told me privately the impact that I’ve made, but to hear that publicly is a really big deal to me because one of the things that frustrated me after the film came out is that I was getting death threats.”
Kondabolu continued:
“Initially it bothered me that you didn’t mention me because I had to deal with all this crap to get it there…There is a history of white folks talking about what they’ve learned and sharing the knowledge without giving credit to the people of color that actually got them there. Like, you put in the work and then you get never get credit for the work. And at the end of the day, I’m talking about this way more than I wanted to.
And I know it’s a different experience for both of us, because for you it’s opened up all these new ideas and you’ve grown in incredible ways and I can see your excitement about the work you’re doing now. To me, this was old hat when I made the documentary. So it’s the double whammy of being stuck here without also getting props. So for you to say it now does mean a lot.”
Ed Sheeran’s trial pertaining to the lawsuit from Marvin Gaye’s estate has started. For those who might not be aware of the situation, here’s why it’s causing some waves.
The copyright infringement lawsuit against Sheeran is over his 2014 song, “Thinking Out Loud,” which Gaye’s estate has claimed copies the late singer’s “Let’s Get It On.” It was officially filed by the family of the song’s co-writer and composer Ed Townsend.
It claims that Sheeran’s song used the same instrumental progressions and “repeated it continuously throughout ‘Thinking’ — this incontrovertible musical similarity has been observed by music industry professionals previously, as embodied by various social media and articles about the matter,” according to the filing.
“For far too long, Black artists have created, inspired and spread music all around the world,” the Townsend’s lawyer, Ben Crump, told CBS News. “Mr. Sheeran’s infringement of Black artists is merely another example of artists exploiting the genius and the work of Black singers and songwriters.”
Sheeran is also facing two other lawsuits tied to copyright infringement on the song — these filed by Structured Asset Sales, a company that holds a stake in “Let’s Get It On,” according to Vulture.
And, while most copyright lawsuits get dismissed, Gaye’s estate has a track record of being successful in past cases. They were awarded over $5 million in 2015, after claiming Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s “Blurred Lines” borrowed from “Got To Give It Up.”
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
It would be tough to do a television remake of the ’80s thriller Fatal Attraction and not have a sex scene. In fact, that is basically half of the plot anyway. Without it, you’d just be left with the “fatal” part, and we already have too many shows about that. But even though some actors are shying away from the sex of it all, Joshua Jackson still thinks that it’s an integral part of filmmaking these days, as long as it’s done right.
“The sex scenes are of great importance” Jackson recently told Variety. “Because they’re furthering the narrative. You have to believe that these people want to f*ck each other.” In reality, sex scenes are logistically challenging, which kind of takes the spark out of it, according to Jackson. But yes, making it look like two actors actually wanna get it on might be challenging, to say the least.
Fatal Attraction used intimacy coordinators on-set for scenes between Jackson and his obsessive love interest Lizzy Caplan, which has become more and more common in the last few years. Jackson said that having open communication with everyone involved is the key to a good sex scene, in addition to good directing. “God bless [director] Silver Tree for being amazing and coming at this from the female gaze. There are so many ways to tell the story of a sex scene that don’t need to be about certain pieces of a woman’s body. There are so many different ways that this can give you all of that stuff without it having to be exploitive of the women’s body.”
As for Jackson’s wife, actress Jodie Turner-Smith, he says she actually doesn’t mind the sex scene aspect of the job. “Jodie is not fussed about my sex scenes,” Jackson says, adding a personal anecdote, “The sex scenes themselves, Jodie kind of enjoys them, actually. It’s a weird thing where she’s like a voyeur. So that works! If that’s your thing — excellent.” Hey, whatever works!
Fatal Attraction premieres on April 30th on Paramount+.
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