Category: Viral

Many hoped things would chill out for Megan Thee Stallion, who last month was involved in a shooting incident with Tory Lanez. However, new rumors started floating around about her past. In an Instagram post, Megan’s ex Karim York alleged details of an abusive past with an unnamed ex-girlfriend. Given that he concluded the caption with the words “P.S. Megan and I are still great friends,” many believed that anonymous woman to be Megan herself. As a result, Megan took to Instagram Live on Monday to clear up the air.

“I just saw some bullsh*t talking about…and I know who it is,” she said on the livestream. “They antagonize me everyday online. They pick with me every goddamn day. They always making up stories about me and now I feel like I have to really start doing something about it.” Megan would then go on to play a recorded phone call between her and York where he denies that his post was about her. On the phone call, York can be heard saying “I am not talking about you,” proving that the rumors were indeed false. “He is not talking about me,” she says. “He is in another argument with some other b*tch.”

Megan went on to deliver a strong message to her viewers. “Stop lying on me,” she said. “That n**** not talking about me. Stop putting n****s on me. Stop making stories up. F*ck y’all because I’m going to hit you with the facts every time you tell a lie.”

Meg Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In late August, Sotheby’s announced that one of their auctions, which included a number of iconic hip-hop artifacts, would take place at their New York location on September 15. One of the major pieces up for auction was The Notorious B.I.G.‘s famous “King Of New York” plastic crown, which he wore in a 1997 Rap Pages magazine photoshoot. The crown was set to be auctioned for $200,000, but today it’s confirmed that the crown sold for more than double the price, nabbing a whopping $475,000.

Another major item that went up for auction was a collection of Tupac’s handwritten high school love letters, which sold for $60,000. Other items sold at Tuesday’s auction include a pair of Salt-N-Pepa “Push It” jackets, which sold for $19,000, Slick Rick’s diamond eye patch ($20,000), Fab 5 Freddy’s gold and diamond MTV ring ($28,000), and a complete run of Source magazine ($26,000).

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Queens Public Library‘s hip-hop programs and Building Beats, a music-based non-profit that specializes in DJing and production.

In a Reuters interview prior to the auction, Sotheby’s senior specialist Cassandra Hatton spoke about Biggie’s King Of New York crown, saying, “I think that crown is one of the most recognizable symbols of hip hop, 20th century culture. Everybody around the world recognizes this crown. You see it on T-shirts. You see it on coffee cups and prayer candles. It’s huge.”

The Miami Heat outlasted the Boston Celtics in a memorable Game 1 battle on Tuesday evening. With the win, Erik Spoelstra’s team slides into the driver’s seat against the slightly favored Celtics, while Boston is left to nurse its wounds in advance of a pivotal Game 2 on Thursday.

To that end, here are three key takeaways from the opener as the series progresses.

1. This is going to be a fun, long series

Game 1 was truly a back-and-forth affair in every sense of the word. The Celtics opened with a 12-3 start and, in the early going, Boston was firing on all cylinders.

Jayson Tatum had it going, hunting mismatches and letting it fly with impunity.

Boston led by as many as 13 in the opening period but, after a 17-4 run by Miami midway through the second quarter, a highly competitive contest began to take shape.

The Heat used a 30-12 overall run to take a six-point lead and, fittingly, Boston returned the favor by knotting the game at the halftime break. From there, the Celtics zoomed again, using a 9-0 run capped by a Marcus Smart three-pointer in transition to take a 65-61 lead in the third quarter.

Later in the third, Boston enjoyed another run, outscoring the Heat by a 13-2 margin to close the period and taking a 12-point lead to the fourth.

From there, though, it was all Miami. The Heat made their first push to slash the lead to four, including Bam Adebayo finishing with a flourish.

That proved pivotal in allowing Miami to stay in touch and, in short, the Heat saved their best for the big moments in this spot. First, Butler delivered a three-pointer for the lead with 22 seconds remaining in regulation.

After an away-from-the-ball foul on the inbounds, the Celtics tied the game on a free throw from Tatum and they retained possession with a chance to win it. Boston strung together a broken possession, however, with Tatum forced to launch an ill-advised shot that allowed the Heat to survive and force overtime.

In the extra frame, it was push-and-pull again, with the Celtics leading early and Miami delivering another 7-0 run. Kemba Walker knocked down a step-back jumper for the lead with 23.2 seconds left, but it was Butler that answered on a three-point play that ultimately proved to be the game-winner.

Finally, Adebayo sealed the game with a one-in-a-million block on Tatum that will go down on his highlight reel when his career ends some day.

This was a game that had virtually everything, and the entertainment value was off the charts. Both teams have adjustments to make, and they have top-flight coaches to make them. Both teams also have star power and talent all over the floor. Miami owns a 1-0 lead, but this looks to be a (very) long series.

2. Kemba Walker must be better for the Celtics

To begin positively, Walker came up big in the overtime period, converting a pair of wildly important jumpers with the game in the balance.

Before that, though, it was an adventure for the All-Star point guard, and Boston just needs more. The Heat provide opportunities for Walker to cook in this series, deploying a small handful of perimeter players that don’t qualify as elite defenders. However, Walker finished the night just 6-for-19 from the floor and 1-for-9 from three and, given his defensive challenges as a small guard, that kind of shaky production is hard to overcome.

On the bright side, the Celtics nearly won this game twice without much from Walker, and that is probably a good sign for Boston moving forward in the series. Still, Boston needed some genuine heroics from Brad Wanamaker to make that a reality and, for as much as Walker’s struggles aren’t sustainable, neither is Wanamaker playing at this level.

Wanamaker, who was on the floor defensively in place of Walker in crunch time, finished with 11 points, six assists, and five steals. He should be lauded for his effort and, throughout the postseason, the veteran guard has given Boston a nice jolt. Still, Walker has to be the star-level player that he has been in the past in order to pave the way for a Celtics victory, particularly if Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro continue to shine for Miami. Hey, on that note…

3. Have a game, Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro

The Heat are led by Butler and Adebayo. That is indisputably true, as both players are genuine stars. In this game, that was still the case in many ways, with Butler producing the biggest bucket of the night on the way to a trademark 20-5-5 performance and Adebayo saving the game with a clutch block in the midst of an 18-point, nine-rebound, six-assist evening. With that out of the way, this was really the night of Dragic and Herro for Miami.

Dragic led the Heat with 29 points (on 11-for-19 shooting) and he added seven rebounds and four assists for good measure.

Herro “only” scored 12 points, but he contributed 11 (!) rebounds and nine assists while knocking one of the bigger shots of the evening when Miami was teetering at the end of regulation.

Oh, and the rookie guard delivered a memorable, on-point bounce pass in overtime that drew a lot of attention.

Dragic has been fantastic in the postseason, recapturing his All-Star form and occupying a notably larger role for the Heat. That comes at a perfect time for Miami, as he can take pressure off Butler as a primary creator while giving the Heat more juice off the dribble, attacking the rim and finding shooters when needed.

As for Herro, he has been a spark plug throughout the season, spacing the floor as a more-than-effective shooter and doing a lot of little things. This was an outlier in terms of his rebounding and assist totals, but Herro made several winning plays in this one. Furthermore, it was crucial that the Heat got something from their supporting perimeter players and, on a night when Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn didn’t provide all that much, Miami needed everything they could get from Herro.

Moving forward, the Heat can rely on Butler and Adebayo to be stars and, at this point, it would be surprising if Dragic tailed off given the way he’s playing. If Miami continues to get this kind of production from at least two of their non-stars, however, they could build off an already solid starting point of a 1-0 series lead.

Heather Cox Richardson didn’t set out to build a fan base when she started her daily “Letters from an American.” The Harvard-educated political historian and Boston College professor had actually just been stung by a yellow-jacket as she was leaving on a trip from her home in Maine to teach in Boston last fall when she wrote her first post.

Since she’s allergic to bees, she decided to stay put and see how badly her body would react. With some extra time on her hands, she decided to write something on her long-neglected Facebook page. It was September of 2019, and Representative Adam Schiff had just sent a letter to the Director of National Intelligence stating that the House knew there was a whistleblower complaint, the DNI wasn’t handing it over, and that wasn’t legal.

“I recognized, because I’m a political historian, that this was the first time that a member of Congress had found a specific law that they were accusing a specific member of the executive branch of violating,” Richardson told Bill Moyers in an interview in July. “So I thought, you know, I oughta put that down, ’cause this is a really important moment. If you knew what you were looking for, it was a big moment. So I wrote it down…”

By the time she got to Boston she has a deluge of questions from people about what she’d written.

---

“It was clear that the readers wanted to know more,” she said. “They seemed to want to know the answers, so I wrote again…And I’ve written every night since because questions just poured in, and people flooded me with questions about what was going on. And who were the players? And how was this going to play out? And what were the laws, and why should I have any hope that this was gonna turn out in a good way? And this was just something that really was sort of reader-driven, not driven by me at all. And I think that’s probably why it’s had such staying power.”

For a year now, Richardson has synopsized the day’s political news in a way that only a historian can. She places everything into the big picture of American history while also offering facts and details that help readers understand the significance of what’s happening at the moment.

Prior to her letters, Richardson was best known as an academic for the five books she’s written, including “How the South Won the Civil War,” and “To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.” Now, everyday Americans love her for her informative daily Facebook posts.

In an age where people build personal social media brands around being sensational, entertaining, or the loudest voice in the room, Richardson’s concise, historical, fact-based, no-drama posts are an unlikely way to form a following, but here we are. In 2020 there are still a whole lot of us who are desperate for a steady, knowledgeable voice of reason and sanity, and Richardson’s posts have have become lifelines of knowledge and hope for the nearly 600,000 readers who follow her Facebook page.

Part of Richardson’s appeal is her clear love of the topic. “I take our government extraordinarily seriously,” she told Moyers. “I have lived with American politics really since I was about 21, and maybe earlier because I was really first aware of the world during Watergate. And I care deeply about our traditions, about our heritage, about democracy. I’m happy to criticize it, because I always want it to be better, but I take that stuff really seriously.”

Another part of her appeal is that she is able to take the rapid pace of the news cycle, the constant craziness of our political climate, the complex patterns of history, and the way each of those things intertwines, and then condense it down into a 1200-word, easy-to-read “letter” that anyone can digest.

Having a political historian providing context is a huge gift, especially in the era of Donald Trump as president. While he clearly tramples over political and democratic norms—which some love and some hate—it’s not like we haven’t seen politicians like him before. In fact, his tactics are straight out of an autocratic playbook.

“It’s not just that he’s good at reading an audience, and it’s not just that he himself might have a short attention span,” Richardson told Moyers about Trump. “If you continually change the subject, you continually stay one step ahead of the story, you can do a couple of things. First of all, you can control the narrative, because by the time people have fact-checked you, you’re already onto the next story. Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s developed that tactic really carefully. Because the media simply couldn’t catch up with the stories, by the time you fact-checked ’em, they were fourth-page news. And there was the first-page story of something else outrageous. So it’s partly to control the narrative, but it’s also something I think more nefarious with this particular president. And that is that, if you, as Steve Bannon said, ‘flood the zone with expletive–’ what you do is, you keep your audience off guard all the time. They never know what the truth is. They never know what’s coming next, and they don’t know how to answer to any of it. And it’s a game of psychological warfare, if you will. But if you keep knocking people around enough, eventually what they will do is simply say, ‘I don’t care. It’s too much for me. Everybody’s lying. I don’t know what’s real. Just make it all go away.’ And when you do that, the way is pretty clearly open for an autocrat to step in.”

Richardson eloquently explains some of the realities—or alternate realities—that have so many of us baffled in the disinformation age. One of her areas of expertise is how politicians and political parties deliberately construct narratives to create their own reality; it’s something she’s spent a lot of her research time studying.

But the main draw to Richardson’s letters is how well she distills and contextualizes everything the way a history book would—only she does it for us in real time.

Writer Elly Lonon summed it up perfectly:

“Honestly, if democracy were a tv series, Heather Cox Richardson would be that little blurb that runs before the actual show starts. You know, ‘Previously, in Democracy…’ and then the summary so you remember where you left off and what you’re supposed to be paying attention to.”

It is definitely worth a click to follow her on Facebook.

She also hosts fairly frequent Facebook Live History & Politics chats in which she answers reader questions about things in the news. Her video from today addresses the I.C.E. whistleblower complaint about COVID handling and mass hysterectomies in an I.C.E. detention facility, gives some history of eugenics and poverty and wealth in the U.S., and explores whether or not there will likely be another coronavirus stimulus bill. It’s a worthwhile way to spend an hour.

It’s long been fashionable to diss the Star Wars prequels, but it’s worth noting that each film at least opened to decent reviews and boffo box office before their reputations plummeted. But there’s one element that was never, ever popular: Jar Jar Binks, the Rastafarian-esque alien who was intended as comic relief and was instead greeted as a distracting annoyance. You won’t find too many Jar Jar defenders — that is, with the noted exception of another prequels star, Liam Neeson.

As caught by IndieWire, the Oscar-nominated actor recently appeared on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM radio show, and he spent some of his time defending The Phantom Menace, in which he played Jedi master and mentor Qui-Gon Jinn. He saved some of that energy for Ahmed Best, the actor who played Jar Jar in cinema’s very first all-motion-capture performance. The furor over the character — which was such that his role in the sequels was greatly reduced — drove Best to consider suicide. That was deeply unfair, Neeson said, and it may have even robbed us of a great and diverse career.

“I know a lot of fans and critics didn’t like it and my lovely friend Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks, came in for a lot, a lot of criticism. To the point where it really hurt his career,” Neeson told Cohen. “And I have to say when I was making that film, he was probably one of the funniest guys and talented guys I have ever worked with. I remember calling my old ex-agent at ICM and said, ‘I think I just worked with the new Eddie Murphy.’ I still believe that.

“Truly, he is one of the funniest guys,” Neeson added. “He had all of us in stitches — including George Lucas. And then bam, the film comes out and he’s attacked, personally attacked by fans and critics for whatever reasons.”

Neeson added that he remains “very proud” of The Phantom Menace, adding, “I got to be a Jedi, got to play with those wonderful lightsabers and stuff, it was terrific. It really was. I liked the movie. I’m proud of it. I’m proud to have been a part of it.”

Anyone who would like to give The Phantom Menace — and its two follow-ups, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith — can do so on their current home on Disney+. Surely they’re a better watch than the instantly disliked The Rise of Skywalker, which didn’t even enjoy the luxury of decent initial reviews.

(Via IndieWire)

ESPN’s Maria Taylor is a rising star in the sports media world, with a prominent role in the network’s college football coverage and host duties for NBA Countdown. On Monday evening, Taylor worked alongside Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler in ESPN’s annual Week 1 Monday Night Football doubleheader, doing quality work as a sideline reporter.

During ESPN’s broadcast of Steelers-Giants, Dan McNeil of Chicago’s 670 The Score sent out a now-deleted (and horrific) tweet criticizing Taylor’s choice of outfit. Many came to Taylor’s immediate defense in the aftermath, with Taylor also responding in kind.

Just one day after the tweet came to light, McNeil was fired from his radio post.

“For each one of us our words have power,” Rachel Williamson, senior vice president and market manager of Entercom Chicago, said in announcing the decision. “For our brands and on-air personalities that is amplified and brings increased responsibility in how we chose to use our voices.”

“Last night’s tweet, and its degrading and humiliating tone to a fellow female broadcaster, was unacceptable,” she continued. “We have the best teams in Chicago, and we must hold ourselves to high expectations to continue to be leaders in our organization, our industry and our community. We apologize to all who were offended by Dan’s words, especially Maria.”

This was the correct action from Entercom, as McNeil’s comment was deplorable in nature. On Tuesday evening, Taylor’s colleagues on NBA Countdown stood alongside her with a public display of support, including the presentation of flowers by Jalen Rose and Jay Williams.

Taylor then acknowledged and thanked her colleagues, choosing to look to the future in uplifting fashion.

Sadly, this likely won’t be the last time that a misguided person attempts to tear down a woman in the sports media world but, in this instance, McNeil got what he deserved in the form of a pink slip and Taylor continues to shine.

Meek Mill is currently hard at work on his upcoming fifth album, the follow-up to his 2018 release Championships. That project became his second No. 1 album and gave him his second-highest first-week sales total with 229,000 units. The Philly rapper recently went on YouTube to hype his forthcoming album, freestyling over an Othellobeats-produced beat for little over 90 seconds. The beat is filled with soul and Alvin and the Chipmunk voice samples, both of which are very fitting for the Philly rapper’s sound.

Meek’s freestyle is one of a number of releases he’s shared throughout the year. He began 2020 by joining Roddy Ricch for their Nipsey Hussle tribute track, “Letter To Nipsey.” Soon after, Meek returned with “Believe,” his first-ever collaboration with Justin Timberlake. And in the heat of the Black Lives Matter movement earlier this summer, Meek sampled Donald Trump for his politically-focused single, “Otherside Of America.”

Outside of music, Meek took to the big screen for the Will Smith-produced film, Charm City Kings. He also co-signed a pair of open letters which called for police reform.

Check out the freestyle in the video above.

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

The past week has been quite eventful for Kanye West. The rapper discovered a “fake employee” on his payroll, claimed Bernie Sanders refused to meet with him, and revealed he is considering legal action against Sony and Universal. Now Kanye has taken to Twitter to call on three of hip-hop’s biggest heavyweights to join him to “get free.”

“We need Me J Cole Drake Kendrick all in a room 2gthr … it’s time to get free,” West wrote in his tweet. “We will not argue amongst each other while somebody we don’t know in Europe is getting paid and putting that money in a hedge fund.” His tweet comes less than a day after he claimed he was “the new Moses” while calling the NBA and music industry “modern day slave ships.” In another tweet, he also proclaimed that his children would own his masters.

This is not the first time Kanye has mentioned J. Cole and Drake in tweets in the last few days. He recently retweeted two videos of Drake, one that showed him rapping The Fugees’ “Ready Or Not” as a child and another from the OVO Festival in 2016, which found the two rappers performing “Pop Style” together. Kanye also demanded an apology from Cole and Drake in a now-deleted tweet. “I need a public apology from J Cole and Drake to start with immediately,” he wrote. “I’m Nat Turner… I’m fighting for us.”

We’re in the midst of another Jane Austen revival but with a twist: The movies based on the pre-Victorian novelist’s works really lean into how funny they are. Unlike the tonier adaptations from the ’90s (the Emma Thompson-led Sense and Sensibility, et al.), these new ones — 2016’s Love & Friendship, this year’s Emma. — are lighter and sillier, comedies first and period pieces second. So it’s good news that Sarah Snook, one of the breakout stars of the funny-dark Succession, will get to star in her own, hopefully also super funny Austen outing.

As per Deadline, Snook — who plays sly and sarcastic Siobhan “Shiv” Roy on the much-loved HBO show — will headline Persuasion, the last Austen novel published and the second of two released posthumously after her untimely death. It was previously filmed in 1995 in a version featuring the likes of Ciaran Hinds and Fiona Shaw. Here’s Deadline’s description of Austen’s plot:

The novel tells the story of Anne Elliot (Snook) who, many years after refusing the proposal of young naval officer Frederick Wentworth, finds herself navigating the waters of English society when Wentworth returns from war a wealthy and decorated Captain. As Anne ponders missed opportunities, she must consider her own regrets and unwavering, possibly unrequited love.

There’s no word yet on who will be joining Snook, but it should be nice, albeit a touch surreal, to see her playing someone who deserves to do well romantically and otherwise. Will it wind up as funny as watching Snook watch Jeremy Strong rap? You’ll have to wait god knows how long to find out. Then again, you only have to wait a handful of days to see whether or not she wins an Emmy.

(Via Deadline)

The 2019 NBA Draft sent a good deal of talent into the NBA, most notably a pair of budding stars from the top two picks in Rookie of the Year Ja Morant in Memphis and Zion Williamson in New Orleans.

While those two made the most headlines, they certainly weren’t alone in having an impact in their first year in the NBA, and on Tuesday, the league announced the 10 rookies that earned All-Rookie team honors. Morant was a unanimous selection to the first team, while Kendrick Nunn from Miami followed closely behind with 98 first team votes, and Morant’s Grizzlies teammate Brandon Clarke at 92 first team votes.

First Team All-Rookie

Ja Morant
Kendrick Nunn
Brandon Clarke
Zion Williamson
Eric Paschall

Second Team All-Rookie

Tyler Herro
Terence Davis II
Coby White
P.J. Washington
Rui Hachimura

Herro fell just one point shy of Paschall for the fifth spot on the first-team All-Rookie, but the Heat swingman will surely settle for a second team spot and being the only member of either All-Rookie squad still battling it out in the playoffs. R.J. Barrett and Matisse Thybulle were the two rookies that fell just shy of a spot on the second team, 13 and 19 points behind Hachimura respectively.

There will certainly be some debate about who should’ve ended up where — P.J. Washington, in particular, had a strong case for a first team spot — but overall the 10 players seem to be the right ones, even if the ordering has room for conversation.