Category: Viral

People have been sleeping on grilled chicken sandwiches for too long! With all the great fried chicken sandwiches out there, we get it: a sandwich with a grilled piece of meat will always seem boring compared to one that has been deep-fried. But here at Uproxx, we’ve long sung the praises of the grilled chicken sandwich, and while it may seem less appealing initially, some of the sandwiches out there right now are so good that they dunk on their fried counterparts.

Last year we ranked 14 of them, and while there are a lot of great sandwiches on that ranking, when we ranked them we couldn’t help but notice one thing — there is a serious lack of spicy grilled chicken sandwiches. You can call a grilled chicken sandwich “boring,” but when the thing is so spicy that it starts activating your salivary glands and breaking out your brow into a sweat, it’s a little harder to make that argument.

Which is why we’re pretty psyched Chick-fil-A has finally decided to drop a spicy version of its grilled chicken sandwich.

Once known by menu hackers as the “Spicy Char,” a spicy version of Chick-fil-A’s sandwich isn’t exactly a new thing, it’s the stuff of legend, and while some people swear this used to be a thing you could readily order, it hasn’t been available for some time. I know because I’ve tried to order it.

So does the official version live up to the menu hacker hype? We found out by giving the Grilled Spicy Deluxe a thorough taste test. Here are our thoughts.

Grilled Spicy Deluxe

Thoughts & Tasting Notes:

First, let’s talk build. The Grilled Spicy Deluxe features a chicken breast filet tossed in a blend of peppers — I’m tasting a dash of cayenne, smokey paprika, a hint of chili powder, and black pepper — topped with a slice of Colby-Jack cheese, a single leaf of lettuce, and juicy tomato slices on a toasted multigrain brioche bun.

The chicken is tender and leads with an earthy black-pepper flavor that slowly builds up in heat the more you eat. An initial bite will introduce some spice, but you don’t really start to feel the heat until about halfway through the sandwich. But the tomatoes do a lot to ease a lot of that heat, offering a bright umami burst of juicy flavor.

The Colby-Jack cheese brings in some creamy and sweet notes to the sandwich, which pair nicely with the sweetness of the dense multigrain bun. As much as I like this cheese, I would sub it out for pepper jack cheese to up the spice. If you’re not after a “healthy” meal, consider ditching that multigrain bun for the white bun too if you don’t want something so dense.

While the sandwich doesn’t have sauce, it is served alongside a packet of Cilantro Lime Sauce, which is a mayo-based sauce seasoned with cilantro, garlic, and lime. It adds an interesting tart finish that pairs nicely with the season of the chicken filet, but honestly, I’d skip this sauce and use one of your favorite Chick-fil-A dipping sauces instead.

The Bottom Line:

Here is the thing about Chick-fil-A’s Grilled Spicy Deluxe — I think it’s the best grilled chicken sandwich in all of fast food right now. But it’s not perfect.

However, with a few smart tweaks (subbing Colby-Jack for Pepper Jack, subbing out the bun, possibly adding bacon) you can seriously elevate what is already a great chicken sandwich to something truly next level.

Let’s hope Chick-fil-A comes to its senses and realizes that this should be a permanent menu item.

Jimmy Butler trade requests run the risk of getting a little weird. That is, once again, the case with his potential departure from the Miami Heat, as Butler recently received a seven-game suspension from the team as Miami tries to find him a new team — one that, Butler assuredly hopes, will give him a lucrative extension when he declines the player option in his contract after this year.

Still, compared to his high-profile departure from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Butler hasn’t publicly rocked the boat all that much this time around. He did, however, have a little fun at the expense of the Heat recently during an appearance at his coffee shop, Bigface Coffee. Butler interacted with one of the baristas, and this happened:

“This is our best guy right here,” Butler said. “See that? See that? I gave you a compliment. That’s what bosses do. We build you up, we don’t break you down.”

After saying that last bit, Butler — who is ever the showman — turned right to the camera, smiled, and gave a big thumbs up. Currently, Butler is four games into a suspension that the team handed down after he told the press that he’s skeptical he can “get my joy back from playing basketball” in Miami.

Saturday Night Live takes an annual break around the holidays, but now, the first episodes of 2025 are set to air soon.

SNL has announced the first set of hosts and musical guests for this year: Dave Chappelle and musical guest GloRilla are booked for January 18, while Timothée Chalamet is hosting the January 25 episode… and he’s going to be the musical guest, too.

Chalamet, of course, doesn’t currently have a proper music career, so presumably, he’ll be performing some Bob Dylan covers, given his role in the Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (or maybe some cuts from the Wonka soundtrack). Whatever the case, we’re surely in for some terrific Dylan content, whether it’s from Chalamet or leading Dylan impersonator and SNL cast member James Austin Johnson.

(The real Dylan, by the way, was an SNL musical guest one time, in 1979.)

Chalamet has built up a nice SNL history over the past few years: He first hosted in 2020, then returned to host again in 2023. His 2020 episode was particularly notable for the sketch in which he and Pete Davidson played SoundCloud rappers; He later reprised the character in 2023.

Meanwhile, Chappelle previously hosted in 2016, 2020, and 2022, while the January 18 episode will be GloRilla’s SNL debut.

Headlines about Spotify tend to primarily be about a new feature rolling out, Spotify Wrapped if the time of year is right, or about issues with how poorly they pay artists for the streams their work generates. On the latter front: Billboard reports Spotify is hosting a Songwriter Of The Year Grammy party on January 28, but four out of the five songwriters nominated in that category will not be in attendance.

Two of them are specifically not attending in protest of Spotify: Representatives for Amy Allen (who worked on songs like Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Harry Styles’ “Adore You”) and Jessie Jo Dillon (Dan + Shay’s “10,000 Hours” and Morgan Wallen’s “Lies Lies Lies”) told Billboard the artists are not attending due to Spotify’s change in royalty rates on premium streams that was introduced in April 2024.

In a statement, Dillon told Billboard, “After some thought, I couldn’t in good conscience support this initiative given their approach to bundling royalties. It is very nice to be individually honored, but it is better for me and my entire songwriter community to be paid fairly for our art. There are no songs without songwriters.”

Meanwhile, a rep for Raye says the artist never committed to attending on the first place, but she’s “an outspoken advocate on behalf of songwriters’ rights igniting an industry-wide dialogue on the topic.” A rep for Jessi Alexander said the artist won’t be attending but didn’t give a reason.

Edgar Barrera, the fifth and final nominee in the category, did not respond to the publication’s request for comment.

Ahead of the release of their debut album, My Apologies To The Chef, Nashville punk band Winona Fighter have released a high-energy new song.

“R U Famous” is about “someone who always tries to see what they can get out of people doing well in their music career,” singer Coco Kinnon said. “I think the term is called a ‘starf*cker’ but I don’t think you can say that in an article haha! But that’s seriously what it’s about. It’s a situation I think unfortunately happens to a lot of up and comers, and something that has happened to us via a person we thought was a friend.” The message might be venomous, but the song itself is sugar-sweet punk.

The video for “R U Famous” was put together by We’re All Gonna Die productions, who “did an amazing job at really bringing our Tony Hawk Pro Skater aesthetic to life,” Kinnon raved. We had so much fun being a couple of Y2K bros for the day but I’m okay never wearing low rise pants ever again… like ever.”

Check out the “R U Famous” video above, while the dates for Winona Fighter’s Yes, Chef Tour can be found below.

Winona Fighter’s 2025 Tour Dates: Yes, Chef Tour

02/14 — Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Hell (Emo Night)
02/18 — Austin, TX @ 3Ten at ACL Live
02/19 — Dallas, TX @ Three Links
02/21 — Tempe, AZ @ Innings Festival
02/22 — San Diego, CA @ House of Blues – Voodoo Room
02/23 — Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
02/25 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
02/26 — Berkeley, CA @ Cornerstone
02/28 — Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
03/01 — Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
03/03 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
03/05 — Denver, CO @ Larimer/Marquis
03/07 — Kansas City, MO @ Uptown – Encore Room

My Apologies To The Chef is out 2/14 via Rise Records. Find more information here.

Starz’ Outlander, based upon Diana Gabaldon’s time-traveling books, is currently bodice-ripping towards the end of the seventh season. Hopefully, the wait for the eighth and final season (still starring Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan as Claire and Jamie Fraser) won’t lead to another “Droughtlander,” or fans could get rowdy, but there will be distractions to tide viewers over. Those include Sam Heughan’s thriller series that debuts this month, and a potential spin off could still happen with Lord John Grey.

Sooner than a possible John Grey adventure, however, Outlander universe will go back in time again to before Jamie and Claire were born. Let’s talk about what has been unveiled so far about the Blood Of My Blood prequel.

Plot

Diana Gabaldon has been very hands-on with the writing process on this show, and she had a blast. In fact, Gabaldon told Collider how this series was “so much easier than writing novels.” She further explained how Blood Of My Blood isn’t based on an existing book but, rather, “based on the synopsis of the first” book (out of three) that she has material for on Jamie’s parents. For the past few years as well, Gabaldon has been providing slight updates on those books as well as the in-process tenth Outlander novel, but it’s probably safe to assume that Blood Of My Blood will arrive far ahead of those future books.

As a limited prequel series, Blood Of My Blood will run for 10 episodes and will be set in Europe at various ancestral stomping grounds with the following logline: “The series will center on these two parallel love stories set in two different time periods, with Jamie’s parents in the early 18th-century Scottish Highlands and Claire’s parents in WWI England.”

Additionally, TV Line has noted that the casting of Sara Vickers points toward a housekeeper character who takes their name from Davina Porter who voices the Outlander audiobooks. This trivia ties into a source of Jamie’s trepidation:

In a Season 2 episode of the TV adaptation, an ashamed Jamie confesses to Claire that his father was an acknowledged bastard of Lord Lovat; he apologizes for not having the courage to tell her the truth before their wedding.

Vickers’ character will actually be retconned into the story as Jamie’s paternal grandmother who doesn’t appear in the Outlander books but is mentioned in The Outlandish Companion, which sure feels like a full circle moment.

Cast

Starz hasn’t revealed whether we will see flashes of future Jamie and Claire interspersed throughout this prequel series. However, their parents will be portrayed by Hermione Corfield and Jeremy Irvine ^^^ (on the Claire side) along with Harriet Slater and Jamie Roy (on the Jamie side), below.

Rounding out the cast will be Sara Vickers, Jocasta Cameron, Brian McCardie, Terence Rae, Jhon Lumsden, Annabelle Dowler, Peter Mullan, Harry Eaton, Sally Messham, Ailsa Davidson, and Sadhbh Malin.

Release Date

Outlander‘s eighth season wrapped over the fall, and Starz hasn’t revealed that finale season’s release date or whether Blood Of My Blood will air before or after the flagship series concludes.

Trailer

Since no trailer exists yet, this is a wonderful place to watch a trailer for Sam Heughan’s next series, The Couple Next Door. He’s in suburbia, so presumably, no kilts shall be worn:

Since its inception, hip-hop has been filled with crews. Over the decades, the music collectives have become an encapsulation of each era. For New York City’s 2010s wave, no group embodied that more than the ASAP Mob. However, with its two most notable rappers (ASAP Rocky and Ferg) focusing on their solo ventures and with no new collaborations in sight, the group could have quietly disbanded.

During a recent interview, Ferg sat down to share some heartbreaking news.

Did ASAP Mob Break Up?

When asked about the current status of the ASAP Mob, Ferg confirmed to Touré that their time was through. So, according to Ferg, yes, the ASAP Mob did break up.

In his appearance on the Touré Show (viewable here), Ferg revealed that their split was due to their professional pursuits.

“I don’t think there is ASAP anymore,” he said when answering if he’s still a member. “I think it is a thing of the past. From the music point, you think about like me and Rocky — who did [release] music and all of that. It was built off the back of Bari and Yams, but we are the faces.”

He continued: “If we not making no music [together] and putting out no new timestamps, then there is no ASAP.”

Supporters drew this conclusion when Ferg dropped the ASAP prefix from his stage name back in May 2024. Still, fans are saddened after receiving his official confirmation.

Listen to the full episode here.

Mercifully, the 2024 NFL regular season has come to an end. While the nation remains captivated by the NFL on a weekly basis, it was (by far) the worst season in the history of this column, which began in 2017. As you will see below, it was carnage from a win-loss perspective but, hey, we did win in Week 17 and Week 18.

Nevertheless, we move on to the playoffs with a busy Wild Card slate beginning on Saturday. But first, the aforementioned carnage.

• Week 18: 3-2
• 2025 Season: 36-52-2

Come get these winners.

Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers UNDER 42.5 points — FanDuel, Caesars

The Texans are back in their usual Saturday afternoon time slot on Wild Card weekend, and they’re joined by a Chargers team that enjoyed a strong season under Jim Harbaugh. Naturally, I expect some grind-it-out, tough-to-watch football and, honestly, I’d enjoy it. Houston’s offense has highly underwhelmed this season, but the Texans have quietly been stout on defense. Los Angeles is often content to play low-scoring, ugly games. Bring on the punts.

Houston Texans (+3) over Los Angeles Chargers — Widely Available

This is simply a principle play when this got to 3. My confidence level in Houston’s offense is quite low, but nabbing the full field goal at home with a total in the low 40’s is pretty appealing. Does it actually matter that playoff underdogs are 52-34 ATS since 2017? Or that underdogs are 24-12 in the Wild Card round during that span? Maybe not, but I don’t hate it.

Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers UNDER 43.5 points — Widely Available

Would it have been better to grab this at 45.5 or higher early in the week? Well, yes. But the column comes out when the column comes out, and I can’t give you a number that no longer exists. The danger here is that Lamar and the Ravens might find fifth gear and put up 30-plus points on their own. But I do tend to trust Pittsburgh’s defense, and the absence of Zay Flowers does make life a bit more difficult for the Ravens to be explosive.

TEASER: Buffalo Bills (-2.5) over Denver Broncos AND Los Angeles Rams (+8.5) over Minnesota Vikings — Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel

I wouldn’t love laying 8.5 points with Buffalo against a very strong Denver defense, but I do think the Bills advance and we love a good Wong teaser through two key numbers. On the other side, I think Matthew Stafford and company can keep this within one score, even amid the heartbreaking circumstances that have moved this game to Arizona.

Green Bay Packers (+5) over Philadelphia Eagles — Widely Available

Green Bay has six losses this season, but five of them are by five points or less. That includes a five-point loss to Philly in Week 1 but, of course, much has changed since then. Jordan Love is expected to go and, while Jalen Hurts will likely play, he’s been out of action for a while and could be rusty. This isn’t a game I’d give out on a normal, full slate, but I lean to the Packers.

Travis Scott is open to rumbling in the wrestling ring. However, one person is ready to deliver the smack down in the court of law. Today (January 10), reports reveal that the “Fein” rapper could be soon duke it out over one of his recent tracks.

In documents obtained by Billboard, Travis Scott, SZA, and Future have been accused of intellectual property theft. The three entertainers are named in a copyright lawsuit that claims their Utopia collaboration “Telekinesis” was stolen from other musician.

Roc Nation singer-songwriter Victory Boyd claims the lyrics and melodies heard in her 2019 song “Like the Way It Sounds” were incorporated into “Telekinesis” without authorization. Boyd went on to allege that her former Jesus Is King collaborator Kanye West played a role in the intellectual property theft.

Boyd says she “shared her song” with Ye, he then turned around and recorded his own version after which he presented it to Scott, SZA, and Future. Still, West is not named as a defendant in the case.

Boyd is credited as a co-writer on the track but only as a friendly gesture from Scott. Boyd’s lawyers claim that she was privately offered an 8-percent writing credit in an attempt to resolve the copyright dispute after she expressed his dissatisfaction with Scott’s alleged actions.

Representatives for neither Scott, SZA, nor Future have released a statement regarding the matter.

The January supply of new TV seasons is not lacking. That includes shows on Apple TV+, where Severance will finally return after three years. Will this season be worth the gap? Critics overwhelmingly say so, and Adam Scott has predicted that the upcoming season finale will be met with thirst for a third season, but c’mon guys, let’s not wait three more years on that one. Please?

When Does Severance Season 2 Premiere On Apple TV+?

Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan will be back in the office on Friday, January 17 with one episode. From there, the season will have a total ten weekly episodes that will conclude on March 21. Will there be dancing, though? There had better be some moves from Milchick, at least.

This season will follow up on the Innies’ going rogue in their Outies’ world, and teasers have suggested that Milchick will be even more passive-aggressive in the aftermath of their attempted whistleblowing spree. The goats will be back, too, and new characters will be portrayed by Alia Shawkat, Merritt Wever, and Gwendoline Christie. We are truly blessed with an abundance of the latter on streaming TV. The Game of Thrones actress will also be seen in The Sandman‘s second season, and do not count her out (as Christie has suggested) when Wednesday returns. For now, though, it’s almost Party Down time at Lumon.