Category: Trending

Mark Hamill has had quite the last decade. Not only did he make a triumphant return to the role that made his name, but he’s proved himself excellent at Twitter. Whether it’s trolling Trump or trying to spoil a popular Star Wars meme, he’s arguably more popular than ever. He’s so beloved that one person wondered if all one had to do to go viral was to tweet two words: his first and last name. And Hamill himself proved the answer is yes.

It all started when an actor from North Ireland with disabilities whose interests include Doctor Who and, yes, Star Wars, tweeted at Hamill, positing that “you could just tweet ‘Mark Hamill’ and you’d get thousands of likes.” It didn’t take long for Hamill to quote-tweet her, taking her at her word.

It worked gangbusters. As of this writing, Hamill’s tweet has not just thousands of likes but hundreds of thousands. (The original, meanwhile, is currently closing in on 10,000 likes.)

Mind you, this a flawed test. Of course, a Hamill tweet in which he just writes his name will go viral. So others tested it out as well — and, spoiler, got thousands of likes.

Will you get thousands of likes by writing out the name of the one of the stars of Samuel Fuller’s war movie The Big Red One? Only one way to find out.

It’s been five years since the world received a new album from Beyonce, and while that streak will go on for a bit longer, she will return with music within the next couple of months. The singer will have a new track in the closing credits of King Richard, the upcoming biopic about tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. According to the Los Angeles Times, who is reporting from Telluride Film Festival, where the movie debuted ahead of its November 19 release, the upcoming song is titled “Be Alive” and it’s co-written by Roc Nation signee DIXON.

The news comes after Beyonce shared an exciting update about her future. “I feel a renaissance emerging, and I want to be part of nurturing that escape in any way possible,” she said in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “I’ve been in the studio for a year and a half. Sometimes it takes a year for me to personally search through thousands of sounds to find just the right kick or snare. One chorus can have up to 200 stacked harmonies. Still, there’s nothing like the amount of love, passion, and healing that I feel in the recording studio.”

She concluded, “After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was nine years old. Yes, the music is coming!”

The road to Kanye West’s tenth album Donda was a long and eventful one. After hosting three listening sessions, two that were in Atlanta and one in Chicago, West finally released the album, which offered nearly two hours of music across 27 songs, with guest appearances from Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, DaBaby, Marilyn Manson, Lil Baby, The Weeknd, Young Thug, Roddy Ricch, and many more. While opinions on Donda vary, it easily topped the charts.

West’s tenth album reached the top of the Billboard 200, selling 309,000 units in its first week. This number is comprised of 272,000 streaming equivalent album units thanks to 357.39 million on-demand streams of the songs. It also posted 37,000 pure album sales. It’s the rapper’s tenth consecutive album and eighth straight solo project to do so, a streak that dates back to the 2005 release of his sophomore album, Late Registration.

Kanye’s also joined The Beatles, Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Eminem, and Elvis Presley as the only artists in history with ten or more chart-topping projects. Donda also earned the biggest first-week sales figure across all genres in 2021.

You can revisit our review of Donda here.

Donda is out now via GOOD Music/Def Jam. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Mike Lindell is in trouble. The CEO of MyPillow, the pricey bedwear company, is reportedly digging himself into a financial hole, having spent the last ten months spreading the “Big Lie” about the 2020 being stolen from his good friend Donald Trump (it wasn’t) and repeatedly changing the date of when he’ll get his old job back (he won’t — at least, not until at least 2024). And yet he still somehow finds time — and money — to launch attacks against his many enemies. His latest is a journalist, who had the gall to write a couple articles that didn’t make him look good.

Salon reporter Zachary Petrizzo posted a video on Twitter that showed Lindell, on his own show on his own website FreeSpeech.com, vowing revenge against him. What did Petrizzo write? Raw Story pointed out that he’s written only two: one about him selling a MyPillow plane to pay for his fight against Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit; the other about him paying millions to “cyber experts.”

Lindell, known for his ever-unhinged public statements, gets a lot of negative press from all over the media. Usually they just report on things he did or said. But he decided to single out Petrizzo.

“I going to spend a lot more money, Zachary, contrary to your little thing here,” Lindell said on The Lindell Report. “We are going after that kid.” He added, “He’s an enemy of our country.”

Lindell’s threat was vague, made even more cryptic by his financial troubles. But unlike false claims about Trump winning an election he didn’t, at least there’s proof of his money woes.

(Via Raw Story)

Legendary singer Anita Baker spent the majority of 2021 fighting to gain control of the masters for her first five albums, which were released between 1983 and 1994. In March she announced she was making the big move. “Miraculously… i have out-lived *ALL, of my Artists Contracts,” she wrote. “They no longer ‘Own’, My Name & Likeness. And, by Law…30 yr old, Mstrs are 2B Returned, 2 Me. Unfortunately, They’re gonna make me Fight 4 it. I’m Prepared, 2 do that. Please Dont advertise/buy them ABXO.” Thankfully, nearly six months later, she’s successful. And she took to Twitter to celebrate.

“All My Children Are Coming Home,” she announced with a picture that displayed vinyl records of her first five albums. “Catalog. Impossible Things Happen… Every. Single. Day. Gratefully.”

After catching wind of the news, Taylor Swift, who previously voiced her support for Baker during her battle, cheered her on. “What a beautiful moment, CONGRATULATIONS ANITA!!” Swift wrote with two happy-crying and clapping emojis. Baker replied to her, writing, “Thank You, for Your *Fire & Support!! It Inspires us all, to move Mountains.”

After Baker shared the news that her masters had been returned, a fan asked if it was okay to stream her music again. “Yes. Chil’ren….” she replied. “STREAM ON [music note and ballon emojis] ABXO.”

Late night television used to be a lot more chaotic. Today’s chat shows are safe, overplanned. Nathan Fielder famously used a Jimmy Fallon appearance to satirize the trend towards overly wacky, possibly even questionable anecdotes. But once upon a time things got real. Every now and then someone resurfaces an old Tonight Show episode from 1994, where Burt Reynolds and Marc Summers seemed like they were about to beat the crap out of each other.

Reynolds was there to promote his memoir My Life. He wasn’t in the best place: Evening Shade, the show that had netted him two Emmy wins (and three more nominations) had recently come to an end. Loni Anderson and he had just divorced. Marc Summers, meanwhile, was still hosting Double Dare, the messy children’s game show. It was an odd pairing, and on The Tonight Show guests would hang together instead of swapping spots in the Green Room.

Things quickly escalate between them. Reynolds was already clearly peeved that host Jay Leno had made a joke about his divorce. When Summers — whom Reynolds had been giving a hard time over his claims to be a “neatness freak” (despite his Double Dare gig) — made a similar joke, Reynolds’ smirk violently turned into a sneer.

Suddenly Reynolds dumped a mug of water on Summer’s lap. Summers eventually responded in kind. When Summers tries to placate his opponent by reminding him that they got along when he did the Reynolds-co-created game show Win, Lose or Draw, Reynolds replied, “Funny, I don’t remember.” Reynolds also calls Summers Fabio and makes fun of him for being on Nickelodeon.

Eventually Leno decides to settle things with a pie fight.

By the end, the two guests seem to have reached an impasse. You can even see Reynolds signing his memoir for Summers. But there are moments when the rivalry does not appear to be a joke, where the normally unflappable Summers goes flappable and Reynolds, usually able to contain his rage, can’t contain it. It’s one of late night’s great too-real spats, up there with the Andy Kaufman-Jerry Lawler duel on Letterman (which Lawler later revealed was staged) or Letterman almost getting kicked in the head by Crispin Glover. And it’s a reminder that Burt Reynolds, whose last stretch found him suffering hard times, was a god.

You can watch the fight in the video above.

Last week, Texas began enacting their draconian abortion law, which bans the procedure after a mere six weeks and even puts anyone who performs or assists it in legal jeopardy. The announcement led to widespread condemnation, as well as creative forms of dissent. It was also only made possible thanks to the current, conservative-leaning Supreme Court line-up, three of whose members were installed by former president Donald J. Trump. And don’t think he’s not taking credit for the state’s new rules.

As per Raw Story, Trump did an as-yet-to-air interview with Sinclair television stations, a portion of which has already been made public. It finds host Sharyl Attkisson pointed out that many are blaming the ruling on the two virulently anti-abortion judges, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, he appointed, the latter shortly before he lost re-election.

“We do have a Supreme Court that’s a lot different than it was,” Trump said boastfully. “Before it was acting very strangely and I think probably not in the interest of our country.”

He did, however, admit that the law may not stay on the books permanently. “The ruling was very complex and also probably temporary,” he said. “I think other things will happen and that will be the big deal and the big picture. So we’ll see what will happen. But we’re studying the ruling and we’re studying also what they’ve done in Texas.”

He also teased that he and his team will “be announcing something over the next week or two weeks.” Perhaps it will involve the re-election campaign his wife reportedly does not want.

You can watch the interview snippet below.

(Via Raw Story)

Now that Drake and Kanye West have released their respective new albums, it can be argued that Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming fifth project is rap’s most anticipated of 2021. Excitement in the upcoming project spiked after he announced last month that the full-length effort would be his last with TDE, a label he’s called home since 2005. Anticipation increased again after he and his team seemed to register multiple songs with ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), an organization that protects artist’s musical copyrights.

The titles for some of the new uploads go as followed: “Before The Hangman’s Noose,” “Director,” “Believe,” “Blow Ya Mind,” Feel For You,” “End of the Line,” “Erika Kane,” “Driving Down The Darkness,” “Lesson Learned,” “Living My Life,” and “Hood Love.” It’s unknown when the tracks were uploaded.

In the statement about his departure from TDE, Kendrick gave us a glimpse into his headspace as he puts the finishing touches on his fifth album. “I spend most of my days with fleeting thoughts,” he wrote. “Writing. Listening. And collecting old Beach cruisers. The morning rides keep me on a hill of silence. I go months without a phone. Love, loss, and grief have disturbed my comfort zone, but the glimmers of God speak through my music and family.”

He added, “While the world around me evolves, I reflect on what matters the most. The life in which my words will land next.”

You can view screenshots of the songs that were uploaded to ASCAP above and read some reactions to them from fans below.

Few First Ladies in United States history have been as private and absent as Melania Trump. She usually dealt with her husband’s constant controversies by doing and saying nothing, occasionally letting her curious wardrobe speak for itself. And though she hasn’t split with him since he left office, as some predicted, she’s reportedly not particularly excited that her spouse may want to be president again.

“Being first lady again is not what she wants,” a source told CNN. “For her, it was a chapter — and it’s over, and that’s that.”

Another source says she at least won’t be on the trail. “You’re not going to see her at rallies or campaign events, even if he ‘officially’ says he’s running again,” they said. “Instead it’s going to be Lara [Trump, the wife of Trump’s son, Eric] or [Kimberly] Guilfoyle [the girlfriend of Trump’s eldest son, Don]. They have that same urge Trump has to [run] again; Melania absolutely does not.”

Since Donald Trump left the office in disgrace, Melania has barely been seen. This summer she’s only been caught in public once, leaving Trump Tower in New York City, accompanied by her son Barron. She’s popped up a couple times in pictures posted on Instagram, but she’s made little effort to be seen by the public eye. Friends say she will soon take up full-time residence at Mar-A-Lago, where her husband has spent most of his post-White House time, ranting to strangers about the election win he falsely says was taken from him.

Donald has yet to formally announce his candidacy in the 2024 election, which would be grossly premature anyway, considering he only left office less than nine months ago. But it’s believed he’ll do that anyway. Meanwhile criminal investigations into him and his company by various authorities are still ongoing.

(Via CNN)

Perhaps the most hotly contested rivalry in international soccer was supposed to have its latest chapter on Sunday in a World Cup Qualifier between Argentina and Brazil in São Paolo. After 10 minutes of action, however, the game was abruptly suspended as Brazilian authorities stormed onto the pitch to detain and deport four members of Argentina’s side who play their club football in England.

According to multiple reports, the authorities came out to accost Emiliano Martínez, Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso, and Emiliano Buendía. The quartet are all based out of England, and because they went from their club teams to their national team for these qualifiers, the players were not able to quarantine for 14 days before entering Brazil, putting them in violation of the country’s COVID-19 rules.

Per The Athletic, the official accusation against the players is “providing false information on immigration forms and breaking COVID-19 laws.”

Amid all the chaos, Argentina star Lionel Messi asked the question that is on everyone’s mind: Why, exactly, did they wait until after the game started to do this instead of addressing it during the three days in the lead-up to the game that the Argentinian national team was in Brazil?

Ultimately, the game was suspended, with Messi making a pretty straightforward declaration about the entire situation.

There is no word yet as to when the game will resume. Both sides should qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar pretty comfortably, but emotions always run ultra high when they face off. Adding the potential detainment and deportation of players, though, is a new level for this rivalry.