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Ever since there was even a whisper that Ron DeSantis might throw his hat in the ring to be the Republicans’ presidential nominee in 2024, Donald Trump has been on the offensive. In addition to giving the Florida governor a fancy new nickname, Trump has threatened to spill all the secrets he claims to know about “Ron DeSanctimonious” or just straight up “kick him in the nuts.” But given how many former allies seem to be turning their backs on the former president, Trump has decided to take his intimidation up a notch and threaten the entire Republican party.

As The Hill reports, Trump refused to say whether he would definitely endorse the GOP’s presidential nominee if it’s not him. “It would have to depend on who the nominee was,” he said during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. Which is pretty much the same answer he gave when asked the same question in 2016, before he won the party’s official nomination. That could make him a liability (which is very likely why he’s saying that).

As The Hill notes, there’s a lot of concern among Republicans that if Trump does not secure the Republican nomination, he’ll shift his campaign strategy and run as an independent nominee — which, if MAGA diehards follow their leader — could potentially hand another victory to the Democrats.

While Trump is the only person to officially announce his candidacy for 2024, it’s expected that Nikki Haley will be next. In addition to DeSantis, Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo are also names being bandied about as possible candidates.

(Via The Hill)

Hollywood loves to shove people into boxes. Not literally. That would be against the law. Probably. Unless they do it in a movie. Like, maybe there’s a movie called Box Guys someday about a bunch of people getting packaged-up and mailing themselves places instead of buying a plane ticket. Maybe they do it to sneak into the Super Bowl, like a Trojan Horse thing. That would be okay. I feel like Kevin James would be involved somehow.

In any event, it’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about the figurative sense of it all, how actors can get pigeonholed into one kind of role and rarely get a chance to branch out, especially when they’ve had some success in that narrow little field. Specifically, we’re talking about this thing Dave Bautista said in a recent interview, which started with him saying “I know I’m not your typical rom-com lead” and then proceeded to make me very sad. Here, look.

“I’m a little rough around the edges. But I always, you know, I look in the mirror and I say, I ask myself, ‘Am I that unattractive? Is there something that unappealing about me that excludes me from these parts?’” he continued.

“I don’t know. It’s just never come my way. I’ve never had an offer to do a rom-com. I still have high hopes. I’ll just keep searching.”

A couple things are going on here, both of them important. The first is, like… Jesus Christ, somebody cast Dave Bautista in a rom-com already. For the world, yes, but also for Dave Bautista, personally. Read that quote a few times through. Picture Dave Bautista saying it, sitting in a comfy chair, just kind of sighing a little, with a dress shirt unbuttoned to his sternum and the first buttoned-button straining to contain his bulging torso. It’s heartbreaking. Something about a big strapping dude being sad is even more devastating to me than a scrawny guy whimpering. It’s heavy stuff.

The other thing is that Dave Bautista would kill it in a romantic comedy. He really would. Even when he plays beefed-up aliens like Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, there’s a sweetness there behind the eyes. Something tender. Something that could certainly carry over to a lighter story that doesn’t have laser fights in outer space. Or one that does. Dave Bautista would also kill it in a space-based rom-com, if that’s what we want from him. Eating little cupcakes with a recently widowed alien who never thought she would find love again after her last lover was heaved into a black hole by a godless space dragon. That could work. We have options.

It’s not just Dave Bautista, either. Let’s get all of Hollywood’s charismatic beefy boys into some sweet little movies. Jason Momoa would crush in a rom-com. Close your eyes for a second — not now, after this paragraph — and picture him in a movie as a single dad who hits it off with a single mom who runs a little coffee shop in town. Picture him with two adorable squirts hanging off of his massive shoulders as she looks at him with hearts in her eyes. Picture him squeezing into her little Prius — “no, no, I’m fine” he says as he crunches his knees up into his abdomen — to go to the museum with the kids on a Saturday. This is where you close your eyes and try to tell me I’m wrong.

Do you see? Do you see what I’m getting at? Their size can be used to tell the story. We can have fun here. Get Tom Hardy in there, too. He would be great in a sweet little movie. It goes back to the thing I said at the beginning, about how seeing a big dude deal with emotions is somehow more emotionally taxing for a viewer. The stakes feel higher. Strong men also cry, etc. etc. etc.

It would even things out a little bit, too. Pretty boys get to be action stars all the time. Ryan Gosling is a dude who was pretty much created in a lab to star in romantic comedies (boyish face, perfect hair, little rascal twinkle in his eye) and he’s running around with automatic weapons in movies like The Gray Man. Paul Rudd got his start in freaking Clueless 100 years ago and he’s about to star in his third Ant-Man movie, which doesn’t even count all the Avengers stuff he’s done. Which is fine! I love those guys! I would race to the theater opening weekend and park my car right on the sidewalk in front of the entrance if they ever made some sort of goofy action-comedy movie about two thieves trying to steal… oh, let’s say “a horse that won the Kentucky Derby.” That would be great. Those guys have range. And we let them have range. We need to extend this courtesy to the swole guys, too. It’s only fair.

Think about it for a little bit. Or a lot. I’ve been thinking about it since I read that quote a few days ago. I suspect I’ll keep thinking about it straight through this weekend, too, unless I get distracted by the mental image of Ryan Gosling and Paul Rudd trying to steal a racehorse. Which could happen. I guess I have two points here: One, I am sad that Dave Bautista is sad and I think it would help both him and me if we started putting big jacked dudes in sweet little comedies; two, now that I think about it, I would also watch a movie about Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa stealing a racehorse, too.

Let’s get working on all of that.

Even though Hollywood might seem like its own universe, stars are really just like us regular folks and get sleepy from time to time. With all of the cross-time zone traveling, early morning workouts, and various late-night appearances, it isn’t surprising that celebrities need a little assistance falling asleep, so they might pop a Jay-Z-endorsed Ambien and knock out before another day of long being rich, famous, and talented.

Pedro Pascal is not immune to being a sleepy guy from time to time (who isn’t), which is why he opened up about a sleeping pill experience on The Tonight Show that inadvertently caused him to think he lost out on his starring role in The Last of Us. Stars are just like us: sleepy and confused.

The actor was retelling how he got the job as Joel on the post-apocalyptic HBO drama, only he had found out in a sleeping pill haze. During the interview process, Pascal was set to meet with the video game creator Neil Druckmann. “They were like, ‘Will you stay up a little bit later…’ — at this point, it was getting kind of late in London — ‘… to talk to Neil Druckmann, the creator of the video game?” Pascal recalled.

He continued, “I take an Ambien to go to sleep just in case. They’ve got my adrenaline going and my hopes up,” Pascal recounted. “But I get a call and I get told that I got the job after I took the Ambien. And so I was excited, I guess, but I didn’t remember.” Pascal then went to sleep and probably dreamt of zombies and Baby Yoda (again, stars are just like us).

Pascal added, “I woke up in the morning and the first thing that occurred to me was, ‘Aww man, I really want that job… I’m gonna wait by the phone all day long. This hasn’t happened in a while. I’m gonna think about it all day,’” he recalled, forgetting that he had actually been offered the job on the late-night phone call. “I was like, ‘Oh yeah! I got the job!’”

It’s a good thing he did! The Last Of Us has given HBO yet another massive hit. Hopefully, Pascal will be able to stay up long enough to host Saturday Night Live this weekend.

The Last Of Us airs Sundays on HBO (before your nightly melatonin regimen).

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Despite getting her start in music at Los Angeles-area underground rap events, Doja Cat recently said she doesn’t feel like she receives the credit she deserves as a rapper. She explained why in a new interview with Variety, saying “a lot of people discredit me” as a rapper and posits that this is due to her success with disco-inspired records like “Kiss Me More” and “Say So.”

“I just got an award [from iHeartRadio] for a billion spins on the radio, so with that alone, I’m constantly being shoved down people’s throats,” she said. “I would be upset if I saw somebody who has kind of been fed to me as this pop-star girl with a fat ass making it to this level of rap icon after I’ve only been watching them do disco shit and pop shit all the time.”

Her complaints might well be valid; during an interview with Drink Champs last year, Remy Ma said, “I don’t think she’s a rapper. But she makes dope records, and I think she’s dope.” Likewise, when Doja expressed her dream to release a hip-hop double album produced by 9th Wonder and Jay Versace, many rap fans raised their eyebrows — including one of the producers in question.

Of course, none of this skepticism has stopped Doja from accumulating accolades from both fans and peers. She’s nominated for a Best Rap Performance Grammy Award for her Elvis contribution “Vegas” (and should win it, to be honest), and she has the second-most Platinum singles for female rapper ever.

Tyrese Haliburton is heading to the All-Star Game. Haliburton’s first full season as a member of the Indiana Pacers has led to the best campaign of his young career, and on Thursday night, he learned that his performance earned him a spot in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City a little later this month.

Making it to the All-Star Game for the first time is always an achievement, but for Haliburton, this one is a little extra sweet due to some comments made by Wally Szczerbiak. A former player and current television analyst for MSG, Szczerbiak called Haliburton a “supposed, wannabe, fake All-Star,” which he eventually walked back. In response to this, Haliburton poked some fun at Szczerbiak back in December, saying that while he knows the name, he doesn’t know anything about him.

And after he got his All-Star nod, Haliburton couldn’t resist a little more fun at Szczerbiak’s expense. While he didn’t make a big deal over this, it was pointed out that Haliburton changed his profile picture on Twitter to a screenshot of Szczerbiak as he was in the middle of his rant.

If there is a silver lining for Szczerbiak, it is that a Knick made it to the All-Star game, as Julius Randle joined Haliburton as an Eastern Conference reserve. But still, we think Haliburton got the last laugh here.

Lil Keed‘s first posthumous song has arrived. “Long Way To Go” dropped today along with a heartfelt statement from Keed’s mother, Tonnie Woods-Reed. In it, she reveals that he was working on a new album, Keed Talk to ’Em 2, at the time of his death from eosinophilia, and promises more to come.

Before his death at the age of 24, Keed was a rapper on the rise, receiving co-signs from the likes of Drake and Young Thug, who signed him to the YSL Records imprint. Keed died just a month before YSL Records was caught up in a racketeering indictment which saw key members like Thug and Gunna locked up for the better part of a year. Thug goes on trial this month after Gunna and several others pled guilty to racketeering in exchange for lesser sentences.

You can check out the “Long Way To Go” video above, and Woods-Reed’s statement below.

On May 13, 2022, I lost my son Raqhid Render—who many of you knew as the artist Lil Keed,” Woods-Reid said. “While this journey through the different phases of grief has been indescribably hard, a way that I have found to cope is through his music. Right before his passing, Keed was hard at work at what would’ve been his highly anticipated next album, Keed Talk to ’Em 2. As much as he was a great father, son, and friend—he was also an artist who (thanks to many of you) lived and continues to live through his music. With that being said, the time has come to share some of our last pieces of Keed with you all starting with the release of his first single, “Long Way to Go.” This song holds a special place in my heart and as you guys will see it will reflect on many aspects of Keed’s journey here on Earth. I hope you all appreciate it as we take the first step in cementing Keed’s legacy. Long Live Keed!

Lil Keed is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Last of Us has finally arrived on HBO, and three episodes in, it’s killed the sour reputation of video game adaptations, and it’s just as good as everything else from the Home Box Office. The series, which takes place twenty years after a global pandemic, has already gone back in the past starting with the first twenty minutes of the first episode, which documented the day everything changed. Since The Last of Us is following different timelines, here is your ultimate guide to what is going on when: human beings are required to retain eniugh information as it is, so we can all use a little help remembering what’s going on on a television show.

Here’s a breakdown of the timeline: The Last of Us takes place in 2023 (our present year), with the outbreak happening twenty years prior in 2003, the year that Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl came out. This differs from the source material. In the video game of the same name, the present is 2033, with the outbreak day occurring in 2013 (the year the game came out).

1968

The Last of Us decades in the past with a rather harrowing television segment about the spread of viruses and how modern air travel helps spread viruses faster. “A new virus in Madagascar, says, could be in Chicago in a matter of weeks.” While the scene is not directly related to the events of The Last of Us, it established how quickly these things can spread and why. We’ll likely never return to the 1968 timeline, but it would be nice to see Big Head from Silicon Valley again, wouldn’t it?

2003

The Cordyceps outbreak occurred worldwide on September 26, 2003, just a few months before The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King was supposed to hit theaters. In an interview with Inverse, co-creator Craig Mazin explained his reasoning behind changing the years around.

“I have this thing about jumping into the future,” he said. “I feel like, if I’m watching a show and the year is 2023, and the show takes place in 2043, it’s just a little less real. Even if I’m watching a show in 2023 and it takes place in 2016, it’s a little less real.” He added, “I thought it might be interesting to just say, ‘Hey, look, in this parallel universe, this is happening right now. This is happening this year.”

2023

2023 in The Last of Us universe really puts things into perspective. Sure, 2023 is pretty bad in the real world for many reasons, but at least we’re not living under a fascist regime that forces people to live in limited quarantine zones with execution being the punishment for leaving. In The Last of Us, 2023 is the present timeline, two decades after the outbreak day and the world is not the same and does not appear anywhere close to recovery.

In between

Episode three takes place over the two-decade span in the years between the infection day and the present. The surprisingly heartwarming and gutwrenching episode follows Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), two men who meet and fall in love under dire circumstances. They live a somewhat peaceful, isolated life. The pair meets following the outbreak in 2003, and the episode follows how their relationship unfolds over the years until 2023 when they choose to die together. Given that the show is this experimental with its storytelling so early on, it’s likely that the show will continue to bounce back and forth between the past and the present and in unexpected ways.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has been attempting to “rehabilitate” her image as she reportedly jockeys to be Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024. The controversial congresswoman has denounced her prior QAnon beliefs, and she tried to paint herself as the voice of reason during the contentious Speaker of the House vote. Greene has even distanced herself from Lauren Boebert (albeit via a bathroom brawl) but at the end of the day, the Georgia representative still can’t help putting her foot in her mouth.

During a recent video, Greene can be championing the plight of the average white man, who just can’t seem to catch a break in this country. It’s hard out here, you guys.

Via Newsweek:

Greene complained that lobbyists in the U.S. are just fighting “for big corporations and industries” and no one is taking care of “regular Mr and Mrs American, like mom and pops shops, the single moms trying to make it, the guy.”

The MAGA Republican lamented that “there’s not people fighting for regular Americans,” such as “the average white male trying to climb the corporate ladder when his problem is being white and male.”

Naturally, Twitter had a field day with Greene’s words as users repeatedly pointed out that white men control an overwhelming majority of top level positions in corporate America.

“88.8% of CEOs, CFOs, and COOs in 2022 were white, and 88.1% were men,” Michigan State Board of Education member Mitchell Robinson fired back. “Thanks for fighting for the underdog, Marge.”

Other users highlighted Greene’s past appearance at a white nationalist rally, which adds a whole lot of concerning context to this latest rant. You can see some of the reactions below:

(Via Newsweek)

For several reasons, the Grammy Awards are a sore touching point for many Black musicians and recording artists. While rap superstars Drake and Nicki Minaj have spoken out against the Recording Academy (the collective behind the awards) on several occasions for alleged preferential treatment, singer Summer Walker has claimed the voting board is out of touch, other entertainers like Lizzo shared her fear of being overlooked. Partnering with the Black Music Collective, the Grammys are attempting to repair its relationship with Black musicians.

As part of this year’s Grammy Week pre-ceremony festivities, yesterday (February 2), the organization hosted its annual 2023 Recording Academy Honors Gala alongside the Black Music Collective at Hollywood Palladium. Music titans Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, and Missy Elliott were given the Global Impact Award during the event. Drake set his beef with the event aside for his mentor Lil Wayne’s sake with a special speech, and budding Parkwood Entertainment singer Chlöe delivered a powerful tribute performance for hip-hop icon Missy Elliott.

The tribute was not broadcasted, but a clip of a part of the performance was uploaded to a social media fan page for the singer. During her set, she performed a melody of some of Elliott’s greatest hits both as a solo artist, songwriter, and producer. Chlöe effortlessly sang the late Aaliyah’s 1996 song “One In A Million,” which was written by Elliott. Chlöe also performed Elliott’s 2001 sex liberation anthem, “One Minute Man.”

Elliott is hoping this isn’t the last time you’ll be honored for his life’s work, as she just became the first woman rapper in hip-hop to be nominated for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame consideration.

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. The ceremony will be broadcasted live on the CBS Television Network and streamed live and on-demand on Paramount+. Find the complete list of 2023 nominees here.

Trippie Redd’s new album, Mansion Musik, is out now on 10K Projects. The album, which features Chief Keef (who also executive produced the project), Juice WRLD, Lil Durk, Travis Scott, and more, was released on January 20 — but as it turns out, that may not have been the original plan.

Speaking with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, the Ohio rapper acknowledged some fans’ complaints about the mixing on some of the album’s tracks, most notably “Krzy Train” featuring Travis Scott.

Trippie gave a pretty solid explanation for the rush job, telling Lowe that he had to push the album out as quickly as he could after hackers stole all of the tracks he’d recorded and demanded $1 million to withhold a leak.

“Every time I read people talking about this album, they’re complimentary,” Trippie said. “But they’re like, ‘What’s up with the mix on ‘Krzy Train?’ I don’t understand why it sounds like that.’ I was held for ransom on my project. They wanted me to pay them a million dollars because they had all my records. Every single last one, all the features.”

He said that the same hackers had also leaked his past projects, so he decided to circumvent them this time around, even though he only had Scott’s raw vocal file and no time to mix it. His reasoning? “They’re going to hear it regardless and they’re gonna hear the bad mix regardless, so I’m gonna put it out unmixed and see what they think.”

He still plans to fix the mix and re-upload it to DSPs, so eventually, fans will get the completed version, but it does suck for him — and for the fans — that a group of opportunists are ruining the fun. You can watch Trippie’s interview with Zane Lowe up top.