Category: Viral

On Saturday, September 17, the University of Utah played its ninth annual “Ute Proud” game against San Diego State at Rice-Eccles stadium. The game featured recognition of the Ute Tribe Business Committee and a traditional performance by the Ute tribe.

In the 1600s, the Ute tribe inhabited what is now Utah, Western Colorado and parts of Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico.

The University of Utah uses the Ute name with permission from the tribe and is careful to note that the team’s mascot is Swoop, a red-tailed hawk. This understanding is an example of the positive relationship between the university and the tribe.

The win-win relationship stands in contrast to many college sports programs and professional teams that have appropriated Native American tribal names and customs.

In 2020, the Utes and the university signed an agreement where the tribe “encourages the University of Utah to use the Ute name for the University’s sports programs with its full support.”

In return, the University provides scholarships for Ute students and educates its students on Ute history and the tribe’s ongoing cultural and economic contributions to the state. It’s a wonderful example of what can happen when a sports program celebrates the positive aspects of Native American culture while also giving back to the tribe.

To celebrate this warm partnership, members of the Ute tribe shared a traditional performance during halftime of the “Ute Proud” game. The Utes beat San Diego State 35 to 7.

Earlier this week, an Instagram model by the name of Sumner Stroh accused Maroon 5’s lead vocalist Adam Levine of having a year-long affair with her, contacting her about naming his forthcoming third child after her. Levine has since denied the allegations through a statement shared with TMZ, admitting he “crossed the line” and “in certain instances it became inappropriate.” Meanwhile, Stroh leaked messages the pop star had sent her, prompting lots of memes.

One person used a screenshot of Adam Levine’s messages stating “It is truly unreal how f*cking hot you are; Like it blows my mind” to recall the classic fairytale Goldilocks And The Three Bears. Another used the same screenshot to describe her MacBook after 30 minutes of use.

Others got more creative. One person photoshopped a three-dimensional rendering of Lara Croft from Tomb Raider upon Levine writing, “Holy f*ck; Holy f*cking f*ck; That body of yours is absurd.” Another used the same messages but instead placed a photo of the Indianapolis Colts guard Quentin Nelson squatting during his pregame stretch above them. One went as far as to edit the Levine messages themselves to say “It is truly unreal how soon the Bob’s Burgers season 13 premiere is; Like it blows my mind.”

Needless to say, the internet has yet again found a way to laugh through someone else’s pain. Check out some more of the other tweets inspired by Adam Levine’s awkward DMs below.

the adam levine DMs rock because he's a 43 year old man and all his texts sound like this pic.twitter.com/GDxb7Wj5G2

— #1 computer user (@inherentvibes) September 21, 2022

It’s been almost seven months since Russia invaded Ukraine and it’s going so badly that Vladimir Putin has kicked things up a notch. On Wednesday, amidst a mass exodus of citizens and a sloppy attempt to call up hundreds of thousands of reservists to replace soldiers who’ve had enough, the nation’s president went and threatened nuclear war. And guess who made sure to amplify that message without condemning it, all while making it all about him?

Shortly after Putin’s speech went public, Donald Trump took to Truth Social, not to rebuke Putin’s threats but to moan about how he’s no longer president. “President Putin of Russia is now threatening the use of Nuclear Weapons, saying ‘It is not a bluff,’” Trump wrote. “The Ukrainian conflict should never have happened, and would not have happened if I were President. But as I have made very clear for quite some time, this could now end up being World War III.”

The former president — who on Wednesday was formally sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James — has long had a, shall we say, interesting relationship with Putin. In the early days of the invasion, Trump praised his actions so many times, even calling them “genius,” that his pals begged him to stop. Recently he even reminded everyone of the so-called “pee tape,” a remnant from a more lighthearted time (that wasn’t remotely lighthearted).

To recap, everyone’s worried about Putin busting out the nukes. Meanwhile, Trump is still worried only about himself. But then, he does have a good reason to worry.

(Via Mediaite)

The Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers have been mentioned as potential trade partners from basically the moment the offseason began. The rumored trade would see L.A. acquire the duo of Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, while the Pacers would get the Lakers’ draft picks in 2027 and 2029 back, along with Russell Westbrook to make the numbers work.

Every time this trade gets kicked around, a report follows it and says that it’s not going to come to fruition. Well guess what, folks: The rumors are back, and the exact thing that has happened every other time this has popped up during the offseason happened again.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that the two teams discussed a Hield and Turner to Los Angeles trade earlier this week, but the Lakers view giving up both of those unprotected first-round picks as too steep of a price to pay.

“The Pacers demand for two first-round picks has not changed throughout the summer for any deal that includes Buddy Hield and Myles Turner,” Charania said before noting that the Pacers’ general manager, Chad Buchanan, said on Wednesday that Turner won’t be traded before the season starts. “That two first-round pick price is just not appealing for the Lakers. And right now, they’re gonna be very prudent, I think, in their approach that they’re gonna take coming into this season.”

Charania went on to say that the team has “a long runway” to figure out what to make of Westbrook’s future.

There is an old adage that the ‘”eyes are windows to the soul,” but in Uproxx’s new show, Fresh Pair, it’s a person’s sneakers that offer a true glimpse into who they are. Launching September 28 at 12pm PT/ 3pm ET, the show stars sneaker customizer to the stars Katty Customs and hip-hop super producer Just Blaze. Each week, the duo sits down with your favorite celebrities and presents them with iconic one-of-one sneakers inspired by their respective careers, lives, and journeys.

Throughout the debut season, Katty and Just will be joined by legends like Jadakiss, TI, The Game, El P, Jim Jones, Styles P, will.i.am and more for a set of in-depth interviews that go beyond sneakers and deep in their careers. But this isn’t your typical sneaker show. Each bespoke design — dreamed up by Just and Katty — serves as an exploration of what makes these legends truly great and inspires each guest to open up and share previously unknown anecdotes and stories.

Attendees at Monday’s Fresh Pair launch party at will.i.am’s FYI House in Hollywood got a taste of what to expect with a special screening of Will’s episode, which, in addition to a truly dope and futuristic pair of kicks that perfectly captures will.i.am’s aesthetic, included gems like how the Black Eyed Peas got their start, an explanation of Will’s early beat-making, and sage advice he received from Prince, as well as how the iconic chant from Usher’s “OMG” came to be.

Some of the celebrities in attendance included Cordae, Trinidad, apl.de.ap, Sauve, Rap Sh!t‘s Victoria Richards, multi-hyphenate talent Jarry Lee, Grammy award-nominated graphic designers Brian Roettinger and Julian Gross, streetwear icon Jeff Staple, and many more with celebrities and influencers rubbing shoulders and dancing to the sounds of Jurassic 5’s DJ Nu-Mark who kept things moving by spinning classic cuts all night long.

Sponsors for the event included Fresh Pair‘s NFT partner Wagmi Beach, key sponsors D’Ussé VSOP and Filthy, and Salt & Straw, Kettle One Botanical, Liquid Death, Heartbeat Hot Sauce, and Sabali Graphics. After you check out the trailer, be sure to dive into these photos from the premiere, shot by event co-sponsor TOSTI Photography’s David Tosti.

Last week, The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that cooking chicken in NyQuil is dangerous, and if you’re scratching your head over why anyone would try cooking chicken in NyQuil in the first place, well… because of TikTok, why else? Sometime last year a TikTok showing a user cooking a piece of chicken breast doused in cough syrup (and flipped with a flatiron) went viral, which has led to all sorts of copy-cat posts (most of which have been removed) from users looking to up engagement to their page.

The FDA’s warning reads:

“Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways. Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapors while cooking could cause high levels of the drug to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs. Put simply: Someone could take a dangerously high amount of the cough and cold medicine without even realizing it.”

The FDA’s warning sent NyQuil trending on Twitter for a good portion of the day yesterday, and while the idea of cooking chicken with cough syrup is truly vile to even think about, if you have any idea how TikTok works it’s obvious that the users cooking chicken in cough syrup are just trolling for views.

Still, you never know who is going to take it seriously, so it’s better that the FDA issued a warning, as ridiculous as it is. Check out some of the reactions from Twitter below.

For the first time in the franchise’s history, the Las Vegas Aces are WNBA champions. It’s been an outstanding year for the Aces, one that saw them add a title to their win in the Commissioner’s Cup. Beyond that, a few of their players took home individual honors for their play this season, while head coach Becky Hammon was named the league’s Coach of the Year.

The good news continued for the Aces on Tuesday during the team’s championship parade in Las Vegas. At one point, All-Star forward Dearica Hamby stepped up to the microphone to address the crowd, which led to the announcer asking the crowd to “give it up one more time for Amaya’s mom.” Before she could walk away, Hamby grabbed the microphone and revealed that she played in the WNBA Finals while pregnant, telling the crowd that “it’s no longer Amaya’s mom, it’s Amaya and Legend’s mom.”

The news was confirmed a little later by a very good source, Amaya, who said on IG Live “I’m having another brother.”

A WNBA All-Star selection in each of the last two years, Hamby missed the final two games of the regular season and the first four games of the team’s playoff run before returning during Game 3 of the team’s semifinal series with the Seattle Storm. While she started 32 of the 34 games in which she appeared in the regular season, Hamby came off the bench in all four Finals games.

Lonzo Ball underwent knee surgery back in January. It was only expected to hold him out for a few weeks, but after a number of setbacks, the Chicago Bulls decided to shut him down with the hopes that he’d be able to go in time for the 2022-23 season. That hasn’t happened, and on Wednesday evening, the team announced that Ball will go under the knife again before the season begins.

The Bulls put out a statement indicating that Ball needs “an arthroscopic debridement of his left knee,” which he will undergo next Wednesday. After that, the team put a 4-6 week timetable on when he’ll next have his knee evaluated.

Previously, Bulls executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas said that Ball’s knee was not healing as quickly as they anticipated, and eventually, it was reported that Ball was viewed as doubtful to be able to suit up in time for the start of the season. It’s an extremely tough break for Chicago, as Ball was crucial to their early season success last year due to his ability to initiate their offense and help spearhead their perimeter defense.

Ball joined the Bulls last offseason on a 4-year deal worth $85 million. During his first year in Chicago, Ball averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.8 steals in 34.6 minutes per game.

(Spoilers for The Karate Kid spinoff Cobra Kai will be found below.)

The fifth season of Cobra Kai only arrived a few weeks ago, and people already want Season 6. Yet since there will obviously be a wait involved before that happens, the Netflix is a Joke Twitter account decided to gift us with a makeshift story, which involves a robot watching the entire show and then regurgitating its impressions, so to speak.

Man, and I thought that a star’s butt-double admission was the strangest thing that I’d see today from The Karate Kid spinoff, but nope. Enjoy this surreal yet surprisingly irresistible rendition of Johnny Lawrence’s karate lust and all of his students moving in unison. The highlight, for me, was when “a Stingray fights a Hawk.”

Hawk is, of course, actually Eli Moskowitz and portrayed by Jacob Bertrand, who would like to see his character team up with John Kreese after he escaped prison. And Stingray’s portrayed by Paul Walter Hauser with plenty of surprising conscience over the show’s most recent few episodes. The robot is correct: they should fight every season.

From there, I’m reminded that Daniel LaRusso doesn’t seem to work anymore because obsessing over the soul of karate is a full-time job. Hey, everyone has their thing. And I could definitely stand to hear Johnny shout, “Send it to the Internet!” but still, this is a nice consolation prize while we wait for more.

Netflix’s ‘Cobra Kai’ is currently streaming the first five seasons on Netflix.

Quinn Christopherson has a lot of gratitude. As a trans man and an Alaskan-born Native artist, there were a lot of people in his life that helped him get to where he is today, having just released his debut album Write Your Name In Pink to an outpouring of positive reviews. This gratitude is expressed in his album’s opener, aptly titled “Thanks,” which repeats his appreciation throughout its three-minute runtime. Christopherson sings of feeling thankful for being told he is smart, for people believing in him, and, among other things, being taught it’s okay to be wrong.

Much of Christopherson’s Write Your Name In Pink looks to the past with kindness, featuring thoughtful prose that can be likened to talented indie lyricists like Phoebe Bridgers and Christian Lee Hutson. Songs like the rolling, acoustic guitar ballad “2005” reflects on middle school which, although difficult, is now seen as a simpler time. Other tracks like the euphoric “Celine” lean more upbeat, combining shimmering chords and a triumphant chorus to create an overall joyous jam.

Christopherson’s music has already been recognized by venerable musicians, even before his debut album was released. He just finished opening for Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, and Julien Baker on their The Wild Hearts Tour, where he got the chance to share his music to crowds of thousands. To celebrate the release of Write Your Name In Pink, Christopherson sits down with Uproxx to talk forging mushrooms, his grandma’s storytelling, and sewing his own clothes in our latest Indie Mixtape Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Hopeful, nostalgic, joyous, vulnerable

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

In 2050 I hope that my music is remembered as art that exists as its own. That being a thriving queer person and thriving/visible Native person is normal and championed that the music stands alone as a unique and honest portrayal of one specific person’s life. I hope that the people who respond to it now — who identify deeply with my stories still find strength, energy, and encouragement from my music in the future. And I hope those fans are thriving, living exactly how they want to live.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

Seattle.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

My grandma Mary Alee’s storytelling has always inspired my songwriting.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

The best meals are the meals that we catch & gather ourselves! Salmon my partner caught, with fiddleheads and morel mushrooms we gathered.

What album do you know every word to?

Usher’s Confessions Part II.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

Dolly Parton!

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

I don’t have a format for outfits at the moment, but lately my favorite colors to wear have been white, beige, brown, and green.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Mariska Hargitay.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

“Follow Me” by Uncle Kracker.

What’s the last thing you Googled?

Thai food near me.

What album makes for the perfect gift?

Definitely depends who I’m giving it to!

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

A horse barn.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

I have a grocery cart on my arm because my grandma used to say her favorite activity was grocery shopping. We’d go together every week and just take our time through every aisle and find something good to cook for dinner.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

Anything with heart!

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Believed in me.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

That if all I have is 2 chords, I can still say something important.

What’s the last show you went to?

HAIM in Washington, D.C.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Coyote Ugly.

What’s one of your hidden talents?

I love to sew and make clothes!

Write Your Name In Pink is out now via Play It Again Sam. Get it here.