Category: Trending

Most parents hope they raise kind humans. Those that will show up for a friend in need without looking for a pat on the back for doing so. This story about a college student who was sexually assaulted in the ’70s by a popular and beloved college football player shows exactly what it means to be the kind of person who shows up for someone in need. Betsy Sailor was a student at Penn State University in the late ’70s when she accused a football player of assaulting her at knifepoint. Nevertheless, the football season continued and the players closed ranks around the star player leaving Sailor isolated and fearful. That is until Irv Pankey knocked on her door.

Pankey was a star football player at the time who would eventually go on to play in the NFL. He had everything to lose by showing support to a person who publicly accused his teammate of rape, but after hearing the ordeal play out in court, he couldn’t sit back quietly. Being a Black football player in 1978, it was risky for him to break ranks with his team, but his position in society is what helped him understand what it was like to feel isolated. Pankey told ESPN reporters Todd Junod and Paula Lavigne that he thought to himself, “She does not deserve to be a pariah. You will never have to walk alone again.”

And she didn’t. Pankey became Sailor’s protector walking her to class and making sure she felt safe. The two became inseparable during their time at Penn State. Pankey would invite Sailor to parties that he threw and the football players in attendance all knew and respected her. In the late ’70s it was still a rare thing for women to report sexual assault, and when they did, they were often not believed or worse, they were blamed for their own assaults based on how they were dressed or how much they had to drink. For a college student to stand up and accuse a star player of assault at a time where social outcasting was almost guaranteed to happen was a brave, bold thing to do, and the players at Pankey’s get-togethers understood that.

Streaming now on @ESPNPlus is u201cBetsy & Irv.u201d It should reaffirm a belief in humanity. It’s a bright light in an otherwise dark narrative of rape and murder. Because this story isnu2019t about an evil man. Itu2019s about, as one survivor says, a u201cguardian angel.u201d1/5pic.twitter.com/VMnLfX6uH1

— Paula Lavigne (@Paula Lavigne)
1650452457

Sailor says in ESPN Films’ new documentary “Betsy & Irv,” “I felt a bit of respect, and the respect came from, I believe, a woman that was taking on something quite large. And the majority of people that I was dealing with were Black football players that had certainly been up against battling big things in their lives.” Sailor recounts that Pankey’s kindness in showing up for her gave her a sense of freedom that she felt she otherwise wouldn’t have had.

The player that assaulted Sailor, Todd Hodne, was eventually kicked out of school and later went on to serve a life sentence in prison for various crimes including the murder of New York taxi driver Jeffrey Hirsch. It was revealed through investigations that Hodne had assaulted multiple other women, including while out on bail for Sailor’s assault.

Pankey’s act of kindness was bigger than the time the pair spent together on campus and it made a lasting impact on Sailor’s life. Irv Pankey went on to play for the Los Angeles Rams and Betsy Sailor worked in HR, but after 40 years apart, the admiration and love can be felt through the screen watching “Betsy & Irv.” It’s clear from their story that one act of kindness and showing up for someone in need can make all the difference in the world.

Think of The Afterparty, a very good show, as Apple TV+’s answer to HBO Max’s The White Lotus. Both shows are murder mysteries (or sort of, in the case of The White Lotus) that end with the crime solved. The White Lotus found a creative way to birth a second season, namely by replacing most of the original cast but bringing back a couple of them for some sense of consistency. And that’s what’s now happening to The Afterparty.

As per Variety, the hit show, created by 21 Jump Street and Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse’s Chris Miller (and executive produced by his frequent partner, Phil Lord), will return for yet more murderous mayhem, this one at a different soiree. Ditto two of its stars, Sam Richardson and Zoë Chao. Everyone else will be replaced by a new septet, namely Zach Woods, Elizabeth Perkins, Paul Walter Hauser, Poppy Liu, Jack Whitehall, Anna Konkle, and Vivian Wu.

The first season of The Afterparty followed a simple premise: There’s a high school reunion after party at which someone is murdered, and each episode tells the same story from a different perspective, like Rashomon but with more people having fun. That season’s star-studded cast included Tiffany Haddish, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, and Dave Franco. The show has done so well that Miller and Phil Lord already have their next program lined up: a Western about a woman being catfished in the 1800s called, simply, Western.

(Via Variety)

Loneliness is one of the most dangerous health problems in the United States, although it’s seldom discussed. Psychology Today says loneliness has the same mortality risks as obesity, smoking, alcoholism and physical inactivity.

A meta-analysis from Brigham Young University found that social isolation may increase the risk of premature death by up to 50%. The problem with loneliness is that people suffer in silence and it afflicts the ones we don’t see.

A TikTok user who goes by the name Megan Elizabeth recently shared a touching story on social media about how her grandfather was feeling lonely so he reached out to her. The story shows what can happen when one person is brave enough to confront their social isolation and the important role grandkids can play in their grandparents’ lives.

See on Instagram

It started when Megan’s grandpa texted her to ask if she’d like to come over for a sleepover. “I haven’t been feeling well and miss you. We can order food and watch a mystery show. Love, grandpa,” he wrote.

Megan was happy to go see him, so grandpa made a series of requests to make the sleepover a hit.

“Could you pick up applesauce? The cinnamon kind,” he asked. “And if you go somewhere with mash potatoes, I would like that because I have no teeth and can only eat soft things. Ha!”

He also wanted some strawberry ice cream for dessert. “Thank you. You are my favorite granddaughter,” he ended the conversation. Megan later noted that she’s his only granddaughter.

Megan came by with a big bag of food and some ice cream and the two hung out and watched his favorite black-and-white “mystery movies.” When it was time for bed, grandpa hadn’t forgotten how to put her to sleep. He got her a glass of water to put by the bed in case she got thirsty and left a flashlight on the nightstand just in case his 29-year-old granddaughter got scared.

The next morning, at 5:30 am, he watched her leave for work.

See on Instagram

Grandfather and granddaughter grew up close to one another. Megan lived with her grandparents when she was young while her parents saved up money for a house. When they bought one, it was right across the street.

“I am so lucky to have grown up with my grandpa and my grandma (rest in peace),” she wrote on Instagram. “I feel so happy. I am thankful for my grandpa and he will never understand how much love he truly has shown me. And more importantly, the love he showed my grandma while she was alive. I believe in love and loyalty because of this man. He is my hero,” she added.

See on Instagram

Megan’s time with her grandfather made her realize a valuable lesson about her life.

“I think one of the most important realizations I have had recently is that it’s important to live in the moment but it is important to live in the now with intent,” she wrote on Instagram, “so that when you are 92, you look back and smile at all the people you loved, the memories you made and the life you chose to live.”

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, nobody harmonizes like Dehd. The Chicago post-punk trio lay down vocal melodies that are downright infectious and sparkle with both edge and innocence. Jason Balla and Emily Kempf have got that certain something when it comes to laying down vocals and on the latest single, “Empty In My Mind,” they’ve got their sights set on somebody else, who has a different kind of “certain something.”

A song about the unpredictable wavelength of emotions that comes with feeling googly-eyed gaga for someone new, “Empty In My Mind” is a sweet love song. Balla’s catchy guitar riff is present throughout the entire hook-driven tune as they sing, “Give me all of your heart tonight, kiss me like we’re out of time. Empty in my mind, oh!” The band elaborated in a statement saying that the song captures, “the floating mindless space around a new crush… The sort of high that occurs, the spinning, the detachment and the feeling of ungroundedness. All of these things being either very fun or absolutely dreadful.”

Listen to “Empty In My Mind” above and check out Dehd’s upcoming tour schedule here.

Blue Skies is out 5/27 via Fat Possum. Pre-order it here.

The American rightwing has long aligned itself with the teachings of Jesus Christ, a figure who preached helping the poor and dispensing with material possessions. But their words and actions often suggest they never quite got to the New Testament. Take Marjorie Taylor Greene. The controversial lawmaker, who had to be educated about the Holocaust well into middle age, recently came out against [checks notes] the Catholic Church for [checks notes] helping those in need.

As per Mediaite, Greene, who was recently caught embellishing the truth while under an oath she took by placing her hand on a Bible, did an interview with the right-wing Christian organization Church Militant. Greene used her time to take aim at one of the largest wings of the Christian faith, claiming that “Satan’s controlling the Church.”

And what is Lucifer making the Church do? Help migrants and refugees, who are struggling to find safety from oppression and violence.

“The church is not doing its job, and it’s not adhering to the teachings of Christ, and it’s not adhering to what the word of God says we’re supposed to do and how we’re supposed to live,” Greene said.

“What they’re doing by saying, ‘Oh, we have to love these people and take care of these migrants and love one another,’” she said in a mocking tone. “Yes, we are supposed to love one another, but their definition of what love one another means, means destroying our laws. It means completely perverting what our Constitution says. It means taking unreal advantage of the American taxpayer. And it means pushing a globalist policy on the American people and forcing America to become something that we are not supposed to be.”

Yes, on top of smearing the entire Catholic Church, Greene also dropped the term “globalists,” which has well-known anti-Semitic roots.

Greene’s words made her an unlikely enemy: Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League, which usually goes after Hollywood movies, like Kevin Smith’s Dogma and 2007’s The Golden Compass, for alleged anti-Catholic sentiments. But this time Donahue went after a fellow conservative, who he said “slandered the entire Catholic Church.”

“Satan is controlling the Catholic Church? She needs to apologize to Catholics immediately. She is a disgrace,” Donahue said in a statement to Mediaite. “We are contacting House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about this matter. He’s got a loose cannon on his hands.”

Then again, McCarthy isn’t terribly good at reigning in party members who’ve made unhinged statements, so good luck with that.

(Via Mediaite)

An early season matchup between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals got tense after Mets pitcher Yoan López threw up and in to Cardinals designated hitter Nolan Arenado. During the previous half-inning, Mets third baseman J.D. Davis got hit on the foot by a pitch from Genesis Cabrera, and had to leave the game as a result.

While X-rays were negative, Davis getting hit led to López retaliating in the bottom of the eighth with a 94 mile per hour fastball that was just a little too close for Arenado’s liking. The six-time All-Star was visibly upset with López, and it didn’t take long for both benches to clear, both bullpens to empty, and some pushing and shoving to take place.

At one point, Mets slugger Pete Alonso found himself pulled to the ground from behind by Cardinals coach Stubby Clapp — after they hit the deck, Alonso got up while Clapp was still holding onto him.

St. Louis would go on to win the game, 10-5, which helped them avoid getting swept in the three-game series against New York. The win put the Cardinals at 10-7 at this early point in this season, a half-game back of the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central, while the Mets are still clearly in first place in the NL East at 14-6.

Fans of the superior Harley Quinn (not that one) are in for a real treat! A spinoff of the hit animated series Harley Quinn is in the works at HBO Max, with a focus on Kite Man and the various patrons of Gotham’s sketchy dive bar hangout, Noonan’s.

The show will be produced by Harley Quinn co-creators Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey, as well as the voice of Harley herself, Kaley Cuoco. The third season of Harley Quinn will premiere this summer.

Suzanna Makkos, executive VP of original comedy and adult animation for HBO Max, told Variety, “We love the wild and fun world of Harley Quinn so much we just had to make a spin-off and who better to center it around than the outcast Kite Man. Justin, Patrick, and Dean have created the perfect local hangout for Gotham City’s not-so-finest at Noonan’s, where bar patrons can blow off steam after a long day of mayhem.”

Matt Oberg will reprise the role of Kite Man in the 10-episode season. Peter Girardi, executive vice president of alternative programming for Warner Bros. Animation, added: “Exploring this world further with our partners at HBO Max and DC is going to be a lot of fun. Plus, after getting dumped by Poison Ivy, the least we could do was give Kite Man his own show.” Poor Kit Man.

The series is expected to air later this year.

Dre London lied to us… well, sort of. Two weeks ago, Post Malone’s manager stirred up the new album pot by indicating on Instagram that the next Post Malone album would be out “next month.” And today, we just learned from rapper himself, that the new album‚ which is set to feature appearances from The Weeknd, Doja Cat, Roddy Ricch, Robin Pecknold, and The Kid Laroi — is actually coming a little bit later than London indicated.

“Twelve Carat Toothache. June 3rd,” Post Malone tweeted today.

To London’s credit, he started the year voicing his frustrations over Post Malone’s label, Republic Records, delaying the release of the album. In an Instagram post, he commented that, “Album has been done!! We Ready!! But seems @republicrecords @universalmusicgroup isn’t [shrugging emoji] Posty fans no more need to press me anymore we did our part!! Now it’s time for the label to get the business right before we drop BIG Album! Hit them up! We been ready like u are! #DreVision #2022 It’s Time!!!”

It looks like the powers that be have finally given the green light for what will surely be one of the biggest album releases of 2022. Before the album comes out, Post Malone has a show scheduled at the Miami Grand Prix, before he’s set to headline a slew of summer music festivals like Outside Lands in San Francisco and Hangout Festival in Atlanta.

Twelve Carat Toothache is out on 06/03 via Republic Records. Pre-order it here.

A decade ago, a young gospel-focused singer named Jacob Lusk made it to the final five of American Idol season 10 on the strength of his booming, layered voice that was well, unforgettable. Now with the modern cinematic R&B trio Gabriels, the Compton-native Lusk has found the vessel that is sure to vault him and multi-instrumentalist bandmates Ari Balouzian and Ryan Hope to great heights. Uproxx recently named Gabriels’ Bloodline EP one of our “Best Albums That You May Have Missed” from this past winter and even the great David Byrne has cited Gabriels as a current inspiration of his. But wait… there’s more!

Today, Gabriels have just released their first new single of the year in the expansive “One And Only,” and it presents the most stacked and booming sounds from the group yet. The soul-packed number sees Lusk’s silky baritone rising above backing gospel harmonies with Motown drums, upswing strings, and lively keys. The song feels akin to contemporary R&B acts like Michael Kiwanuka and Leon Bridges, both in Lusk’s silken vocals as well in Balouzian and Hope’s fantastic arrangement. The band added in a statement that the song “is about relationships that are built on a trauma bond. As much as you can love someone and want to help each other, ultimately change and peace come from inside and the only one who can save you is yourself.”

Listen to Gabriels’ “One and Only” above.

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

Earlier this week, a Rolling Stone report published a surveillance video of the altercation that led to DaBaby’s deadly shooting at a Walmart in 2018. In the video, DaBaby is seen scuffling with Henry Douglas down the store’s aisles, before Jaylin Craig intervenes and is ultimately shot and killed by DaBaby. DaBaby has maintained that he was acting in self-defense and while the internet is ablaze on what exactly the surveillance footage means for the case, DaBaby hasn’t wavered on his stance.

Now, DaBaby’s lawyers Drew Findling and Marissa Goldberg, have told TMZ that not only did they see the video in 2018, but that it shows that the rapper (real name Jonathan Kirk) indeed acted in self-defense. “Witnesses were interviewed and corroborated Mr. Kirk’s statement,” they said in a statement to TMZ. “The entirety of the surveillance video was viewed and determined to corroborate Mr. Kirk’s statement … Mr. Kirk was protecting himself and his family at the time of the shooting.”

In watching the video, it can be construed that when Craig comes to the assistance of Douglas, his hand is on his hip, thus indicating that he was pulling a gun. DaBaby has claimed that he fired his weapon as he sought to protect his kids, who were with him. Given that the case was concluded without charges in 2019 — although DaBaby was tried and convicted on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, for which he was given a year on probation — it would seem that the authorities agree with his claims of self-defense.