Category: Viral

Marjorie Taylor Greene is still apparently being ignored by AOC, so she found the energy to tweet something not-great after the Derek Chauvin verdict. The former Minneapolis cop was found guilty on all three counts (second-degree unintentional murder along with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter) against him in the matter of George Floyd’s death. Greene’s position, unsurprisingly, is that Black Lives Matter was going to “riot” in the streets.

To this end, Greene decided to claim that “DC is completely dead tonight. People stayed in and were scared to go out because of fear of riots.” She added, “Police are everywhere and have riot gear. #BLM is the strongest terrorist threat in our county.”

While it is true that the U.S. capitol mobilized National Guard members to brace for possible unrest, none actually happened in D.C. on Tuesday night. So, people wanted to know what the heck Greene was talking about, especially since life seemed pretty normal, other than it being a Tuesday night when things weren’t exactly raging. Others were wondering what the heck Greene meant because things looked relatively active with people eating at restaurants and generally being out and about like usual.

Greene has yet to provide any photo evidence of these supposedly vacant D.C. streets.

After shocking the film world with it’s $469 million purchase of two Knives Out sequels from director Rian Johnson and star Daniel Craig, Netflix is making it clear that it will be dropping huge amounts of cash on content in 2021. In an attempt to significantly bulk up the back half of its content offerings for the year, Netflix will be spending over $17 billion, which is a considerable increase over last year’s budget of $11.8 million. Via Variety:

“As we’ve noted previously, the production delays from Covid-19 in 2020 will lead to a 2021 slate that is more heavily second half weighted with a large number of returning franchises,” said the company in its letter to shareholders. “And while the roll out of vaccines is very uneven across the world, we are back up and producing safely in every major market, with the exception of Brazil and India. Assuming this continues, we’ll spend over $17 billion in cash on content this year and we’ll continue to deliver an amazing range of titles for our members with more originals this year than last.”

There’s also a bit of urgency to Netflix’s increased spending. While the pandemic was initially a boon for subscriber growth, the streamer is reportedly in the midst of a “dramatic slowdown” for nabbing even more subscribers, according to CNBC. Netflix attributes the phenomenon on production delays weakening new content offerings, and it’s confident that wheeling out new films and movies will restart its subscriber growth.

To aid in that effort, Netflix recently won a multi-year auction that will give it access to Sony’s streaming library in 2022.

(Via Variety & CNBC)

Earlier this month, Pasquale Rotella — the founder and CEO of Insomniac Events, the company behind Electric Daisy Carnival — made the surprising announcement that EDC would host its 2021 festival soon, from May 21 to 23. Now, this year’s event will not be able to go forward as initially intended, as Rotella has revealed that the Las Vegas festival has been pushed back to between October 22 and 24, 2021.

Rotella shared the news on Instagram and in his message, Rotella indicated he expected Nevada’s social distancing guidelines to be lifted by the time the festival was going on, but plans changed:

“As we expected and were assured prior to announcing the festival for May, Nevada state officials announced they would lift social distancing requirements as of May 1, creating a path for EDC to happen with strict safety guidelines in place. We just had a meeting in Las Vegas this past Friday with police, fire, medical, and other agencies involved with EDC to plan out details surrounding the event.

However, today, Clark County (home of EDC & the Las Vegas Motor Speedway) passed a reopening plan that requires 60% of their residents to be vaccinated before restrictions over large scale gatherings such as EDC can be lifted. Unfortunately, the rate at which people get vaccinated before EDC is out of our control. It might happen in time, it might not. Either way, we can’t take that risk.”

He concluded his message, “I continue to believe it’s important we get back out on the dancefloor as soon as possible, and I won’t give up on trying to make that happen. I will be announcing an AMA on Reddit in the near future to address any questions.”

Check out Rotella’s full statement below.

“I am sorry to say that EDC Las Vegas needs to move to October. I want to thank everyone who has put their heart and soul into this show–the Insomniac team, artists, agents, managers, production crews, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway staff, the government officials who supported us, and most importantly, you, the Headliners.

As we expected and were assured prior to announcing the festival for May, Nevada state officials announced they would lift social distancing requirements as of May 1, creating a path for EDC to happen with strict safety guidelines in place. We just had a meeting in Las Vegas this past Friday with police, fire, medical, and other agencies involved with EDC to plan out details surrounding the event.

However, today, Clark County (home of EDC & the Las Vegas Motor Speedway) passed a reopening plan that requires 60% of their residents to be vaccinated before restrictions over large scale gatherings such as EDC can be lifted. Unfortunately, the rate at which people get vaccinated before EDC is out of our control. It might happen in time, it might not. Either way, we can’t take that risk.

Our team has been working around the clock to organize this event. We currently have over 40 trucks en route to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway from all over the country. The lineup is fully booked and was going to be announced tomorrow at 12pm PT. The team and I are heartbroken, as I know many of you are as well. For those who have stayed with us on this journey, I thank you. Your trust & loyalty is what gives us strength to keep moving forward.

The good news is that EDC Las Vegas will still take place on the new dates of October 22-24, 2021. Your ticket will automatically be transferred to the new dates, or you may elect to receive a refund by clicking the link in my bio. If you have already transferred your ticket to 2022, your ticket will also be transferred to the new dates unless you choose to receive a refund.

I continue to believe it’s important we get back out on the dancefloor as soon as possible, and I won’t give up on trying to make that happen. I will be announcing an AMA on Reddit in the near future to address any questions.

Love & Light,
Pasquale”

Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw has the best character arc of anyone in the Fast & Furious series. Heck, maybe the best character arc in any movie. In the Fast & Furious 6 post-credits scene, we learn that he’s the one who crashed into and killed Han in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift; in the next movie, Furious 7, he blows up Dominic Toretto’s house. But by The Fate of the Furious, he’s part of the Furious family after being recruited by a government agent played by Kurt Russell. He even attends the group picnic and holds Dom’s son! Also, his mom is Helen Mirren, and that’s just cool.

Deckard isn’t expected to appear in F9 after getting a spinoff movie, but Statham hopes to eventually return to the franchise — especially now that Han is back. “They better bring me back, because I need to put out that fire,” Statham told Entertainment Weekly. “If he’s got any score to settle, it’s with me.” Deckard v. Han: when?

“I’m game,” Statham said with a smile. “I love Justin Lin, he’s a great director. It’s a shame because when I joined the franchise all those years back, he went on to do something else and all I did with Justin was a little tag at the end. I need to do a movie with him. And I’d love to see all the Fast crew, Vin and everybody, they’re all great people. I have a lot of affection for them.”

The #JusticeForHan will commence on June 25 when F9 comes out.

(Via EW)

Pete Davidson delivered one of Saturday Night Live‘s more memorable music-adjacent moments from recent months when he impersonated Eminem for a PS5-themed parody of “Stan” back in December. He revived his Eminem parody in March when he once again adapted an Eminem song to be about a relevant cultural topic, this time transforming “Without Me” into a song about NFTs with help from Jack Harlow. Now Eminem himself has offered a response to the latest sketch while also teasing a related new venture.

On Monday, Eminem shared a video of the sketch and simply added a thinking emoji. That turned out to be a set-up for a tweet yesterday, which completed the emoji narrative with a lightbulb symbol. That was tagged onto a Tweet Eminem shared from NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway, which reveals that Eminem is set to sell an NFT on the platform. It’s not clear yet exactly what Eminem is selling, but whatever it is, it will be available on Sunday, April 25.

Meanwhile, Eminem pulled off an impressive feat recently: “‘Till I Collapse” has eclipsed one billion Spotify streams, making it the first ever non-single to do so.

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

There was a lot of celebrating on Tuesday, as the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed George Floyd almost a year ago, ended with him being found guilty on all counts. To many, it was a huge relief, especially considering how rare it is for juries to convict cops. But the feeling was bittersweet, for there’s also an innocent man who shall remain dead, and a rough road for those seeking long-lasting police reform.

Stephen Colbert opened that night’s The Late Show by addressing the verdict, but it was a somber affair, respecting the weight of what just happened, as well as what lies ahead. “After 10 hours of deliberation, a jury in Minneapolis decided that it’s illegal for the police to murder people — that Black lives matter,” Colbert said. He continued:

It’s hard to celebrate, because a man is still dead. But there is a sense of relief that at least this one injustice was not compounded with indifference. It could easily have gone the other way. No matter what you saw on that tape, this nation does not have a great track record on this subject. But at least in this case, this man faces accountability. But justice is a far more difficult goal. America still has a problem of over-policing and systemic racism, but hopefully this is a step toward a future where police being held accountable for their actions isn’t headline material, and a hope that accountability today is a deterrent tomorrow.

Colbert also acknowledged the Black Lives Matters protests that have been demonized by conservative commentators but, in their persistence and their force, helped keep the nation aware of issues that need addressing. “Today is one stop on a journey that began last May, and led to protests calling for that accountability in every town and every city in America,” he said. “But this is just one stop. There is more work to be done. And it’s work that all of us should be committed to, because, as Ben Crump, the Floyd family lawyer, reminded us today, “Justice for Black America is justice for all America.”

You can watch the full video above.

They say never meet your heroes, but Jimmy Kimmel might be sharing a bed with the MyPillow guy as soon as next week.

The Jimmy Kimmel Live host spent much of his monologue on Monday talking about Mike Lindell, the pillow tycoon-turned-sweaty free speech pioneer. He even invited him to appear on the show under two conditions: “Number one, he has to actually come into our studio. I need to see him in person. I want to smell the Knackwurst in his mustache. And number two, I would like to conduct our interview in a bed, surrounded by pillows, just me and Mike, snuggled up side by side in a California king, surrounded by sacks of goose feathers.” Lindell read a transcript of Kimmel’s monologue out loud during his endless “Frank-a-Thon” and agreed to Kimmel’s invitation, “but not the goose feathers,” he yelled. “Goose feathers are bad for you… You need my pillow’s patented fill.”

“I’m going to try to make the whole interview about geese,” Kimmel cracked. Lindell will “absolutely” do the interview; he’ll even bring pillows for the studio audience. “I am excited,” Kimmel said. “I’m not even sure I believe he’s real. I haven’t seen most of my friends for 13 months. I’m gonna be spooning with the MyPillow guy next week.”

You can watch the rest of the clip, including Kimmel comparing Lindell to Saul Goodman (“He had a funny supporting role in one of the most incredible dramas of all-time, but now that he’s got his own show, you really appreciate what a character he is”), above.

Dave Bautista wants to play Batman villain Bane. That’s no secret. He’s dropped hints for years. Back in April 2019, when John Cena was initially reported to be joining James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad relaunch, Collider reported that Gunn wanted to cast Bautista, but obviously, none of the film’s promotion has actually suggested that Bane is making some sort of surprise appearance, and in January 2021, Bautista told Entertainment Weekly that he turned down The Suicide Squad (the role in question isn’t clarified) to star in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead for Netflix.

Still, Bautista has been fanning the Bane flames for years, and apparently Twitter-campaigned for the role in 2018. His obsession has been so great that, as flagged by Collider, Bautista declared at last weekend’s Justice Con that he essentially demanded the role during a Warner Bros. meeting, and they weren’t even casting Bane:

“Oh, it would be Bane all day long. I’ve made no secret about this. I want to play Bane so bad I went to Warner Bros., had an appointment with them, had an appointment with DC, walked in the door and said, ‘I want to play Bane.’ I’m not kidding. They were a little like ‘Woah, we’re not even casting Bane.’ I was like ‘I don’t care, I’m playing him.’”

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with putting one’s desires out into the universe. Manifesting, if you will. And you never know, Bane could surface in some other reboot, relaunch, or reimagining, and Bautista could put his own spin on the role that was embodied by Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises. Until then, he’s still Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy, which ain’t too shabby.

(Via Collider)

What does it take to be ousted from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association? As Phil Berk, a 44-year veteran member and former president of the organization responsible for the Golden Globes, found out this week: a racist email will do it.

On Sunday, Berk sent an email to several of his fellow HFPA members in which he shared an article from Frontpage Magazine, a conservative publication, titled “BLM Goes Hollywood.” The article, which heavily hinted at financial improprieties on the part of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors—seemingly because she bought “a $1.4 million home in the mostly white Topanga Canyon”—described BLM as a “hate group” and its supporters as “race rioters [who] burned buildings and terrorized communities.”

The article’s author really drove his point home when describing Cullors’s home as being “down the road from one of the homes involved in the Manson murders which seems only appropriate since Manson wanted to start a race war. And Black Lives Matter is carrying on Manson’s work.” Berk seemed surprised when his email, which was shared with his colleagues, was met with an immediate backlash.

Gregory Goeckner, the HFPA’s COO and General Counsel, replied:

“Phil—it is not appropriate to circulate material such as this, which many members and staff find deeply offensive, to all members and staff as though it is a matter of Association business. Please do not circulate this type of material again.”

Fortunately, not all of Berk’s colleagues were as measured in their responses. In addition to being called a “racist” (obviously), others described his email as “vile” and one deemed him “a thundering disgrace.” Berk, not quite ready to take his ball and go home, replied that he “only intended to illustrate the hypocricy [sic] that engulfs us I forwarded it as a point of information I had no hidden agenda I now regret having sent it.”

By Tuesday, both NBC (which broadcasts the Golden Globes) and MRC (the parent company of Dick Clark Productions, which produces the broadcast) released statements calling for Berk’s removal, noting that: “While we continue to await the details of HFPA’s upcoming plan for reform, swift action on this front is an essential element for NBC to move forward with the HFPA and the Golden Globes.”

While the organization’s practices have long been questioned by Hollywood insiders, they’ve come under closer scrutiny in recent months. When it was revealed earlier this year that the 87-person group has not one Black member, the organization’s president responded by admitting that there hasn’t been a Black HFPA member in nearly 20 years.

Berk, meanwhile, has been a very public troublemaker for the group. In 2014, he took a “voluntary” leave of absence after publishing a memoir in which he spilled all sorts of dirt on his HFPA colleagues. Even more infamously, he was taken to task in 2018 when Brendan Fraser told GQ about being groped by Berk in 2003. Though the group professed to have launched an investigation into the claim, but they refused to share any of their findings with Fraser and dismissed it as “a joke.” When GQ reached out to Berk in 2018 to ask if he had faced any disciplinary measures over the matter, he replied “Not at all.”

While Berk has yet to issue any personal statement on his parting with the HFPA, something tells us he won’t stay quiet for long.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter, People)

Tuesday was a huge day for Zion Williamson. While the New Orleans Pelicans were unable to pick up a win in their game against the Brooklyn Nets, Williamson made waves earlier in the day by becoming the latest Jordan Brand athlete to get their own signature sneaker, the Jordan Zion 1.

It usually takes players a long time to get a signature kick, but Williamson is obviously someone Jordan believes is going to be a gigantic star, something that is easy to see when you watch his ultra-explosive style of ball. And after the Pelicans’ game, Williamson was asked about his family’s role in helping him get to that point, giving a heartfelt answer about his mother, his brother, and his stepfather for how they kept him motivated and sacrificed to help get him to where he is today.

“All those countless hours in the gym, all those dreams, all the wins, all the losses, the crazy journey, moving a lot, they saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” Williamson said. “I’m just forever grateful for that, I’m thankful for that. At any point, I could have been in a different situation where maybe I wasn’t playing basketball, or maybe I gave up on it, but they stuck with me. I’m forever grateful for that.”

Basketball fans, particularly ones in New Orleans, are certainly grateful for this, too.