The Republican National Convention kicked off this week, and it seems the GOP may be running out of songs to play at their events. Many musicians have barred the party from using their music and most recently, Neil Young sued Trump after years of denying him permission to play his music at rallies. Now, Leonard Cohen’s estate is doing the same after the RNC used two covers of his infamous track “Hallelujah.”
According to Consequence Of Sound, both Cohen’s label and his estate promptly denied the RNC’s request to use the song. Brian J. Monaco, president and chief marketing officer of Sony/ATV Music Publishing said that “on the eve of the finale of the convention, representatives from the Republican National Committee contacted us regarding obtaining permission for a live performance of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’. We declined their request.”
A legal representative for Cohen Estate, Michelle L. Rice echoed Monaco’s statements, saying the family was disappointed the RNC went against their wishes. Rice claimed they are “exploring legal options” after the family was “surprised and dismayed that the RNC would proceed knowing that the Cohen Estate had specifically declined the RNC’s use request, and their rather brazen attempt to politicize and exploit in such an egregious manner ‘Hallelujah’, one of the most important songs in the Cohen song catalogue.”
Rice continued to say if the RNC had requested a different song, specifically his posthumous Grammy-winning track “You Want It Darker,” they “might have considered approval of that song.”
Cohen now joins a large list of musicians who have disallowed Trump to use their music. Among Cohen and Young are artists like The Rolling Stones, Linkin Park, Tom Petty, and the Village People.
It’s been a historic week around the NBA, as teams and players staged an unprecedented walk-out to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake. For the past 72 hours, all the attention has been on the ongoing meetings and negotiations between the players’ union and the Board of Governors about how put more tangible efforts toward social reform.
After agreeing to plan, the playoffs are set to resume this weekend, starting with a three-game slate on Saturday that was originally scheduled for Thursday. The rest of the league business is back on the table as well, as the coaching carousel is in full effect with the Bulls, Pacers, Pelicans and Sixers headlining the most coveted openings around the league.
Many familiar names have emerged in rumors in recent weeks, but according to the latest report, the Sixers have their sights set firmly on Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue, who apparently has set something of a steep asking price for his services as he jockeys his way back into a heading coaching position.
Lue is the prime candidate for the 76ers coaching job. He’s also a candidate for the New Orleans Pelicans and Brooklyn Nets, and is monitoring the Chicago Bulls’ coaching vacancy.
While he wants $7 million per season, Lue could settle for $5 million to $6 million. The Sixers still owe Brett Brown around $10 million on the final two years of his deal after firing him Monday.
But Lue isn’t the only candidate. Pompey has reported previously that both Lakers assistant Jason Kidd and Rockets development coach John Lucas have expressed interest in the job, as well, either of whom could potentially present compelling cases if Philadelphia decides Lue’s price is prohibitive.
Lue’s championship pedigree with the Cavs in 2016 has made him a top target for several teams in the market for a new head coach, including the Pelicans, who recently parted with Alvin Gentry after a lackluster showing in Orlando and who boast one of the most exciting young stars in a generation in Zion Williamson.
The NBA Playoffs are set to resume on Saturday, when the three Game 5s that were initially scheduled for Wednesday will be played following the players refusing to play in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
After meetings between players — and later players and owners — on Wednesday and Thursday they agreed to return to the court, pending an agreement with ownership and the league on how they can further impact change and social justice. The end result of that was a social justice coalition, the league promising to buy ad time and put out PSAs on voting during the playoffs, and turning every team-owned arena into a voting location.
The Saturday and Sunday television schedule was finalized earlier on Friday, and later in the evening the league announced its Monday schedule, pending the outcome of Saturday’s action, with TNT handling all of Monday’s potential action.
If the Blazers get a stunning win in Game 5, that Game 6 with the Lakers will be the nightcap on Monday, with OKC-Houston Game 6 before it. Miami-Milwaukee Game 1(or Milwaukee-Orlando Game 6), will be the early game, with its tip time dependent on if the Lakers and Blazers are playing or not.
Earlier this week Saweetie announced that a remix to “Tap In” was on the way with fresh verses from DaBaby, Jack Harlow, and another special guest who has now been unveiled as multi-platinum musician Post Malone.
While DaBaby and Jack Harlow’s bars play over Dr. Luke production and a Too Short “Blow The Whistle” sample, Posty takes the song into an entirely different direction that allows for him to comfortably add his signature melodic touch.
In an exclusive interview with Uproxx, Saweetie explained why she chose Post Malone, Jack Harlow and DaBaby to be on the remix for “Tap In.”
“‘Tap In’ is such a Bay Area anthem and I already did an all-girl anthem for the ‘My Type’ remix,” Saweetie said. “I come from a family that’s predominantly men and I wanted to put on for the boys in my family as well. It’s a woman’s anthem but I wanted something for the guys to get they bop on to or get they dance on to.”
Speaking of dance, fans can look forward to a video for the remix of “Tap In,” featuring Saweetie taking it back to her days on the Aztec Diamonds drill team at San Diego State University. Back in July, she posted a throwback clip of her dancing during a game hinting that she just might do it again.
“For the concept of the video I wanted to do something that I used to do in college,” she said of the “Tap In” remix’s forthcoming visual. “I used to be on the majorette drill team and it really opened my eyes to the dance world. I love to dance and I wanted to make a special content video for the ‘Tap In’ remix which is why I went back to my dancing roots.”
The dance took her four days to learn so make sure to tap in to the video when it comes out, too. And for fans wondering where Saweetie’s next project is, she gave us an update for that too: “The status of ‘Pretty B*tch Music’ is, working.”
Listen to Saweetie’s “Tap In” remix featuring Post Malone, DaBaby and Jack Harlow above.
Saweetie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
MTV is gearing up for this year’s VMA ceremony and the event is one of many awards shows that have been forced to find creative ways to adapt to the still-ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It was originally reported that the VMAs were to take place at Barclays Center, but after New York City’s cases continued to rise, MTV instead opted to hold the event outdoors with little to no audience members.
In order to create buzz around the essentially virtual event, MTV has been re-airing a handful of past VMA shows. The network broadcasted their 1999 ceremony this week, and people online proceeded to lose it over some of the very dated outfits on the red carpet.
The VMAs are known to be an opportunity for musicians to showcase some of their most outlandish looks. How could anyone forget Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress? The 1999 ceremony was no different, with eye-catching outfits from musicians like Lil Kim and NSYNC.
While much of Twitter was focused in the outfits, the 1999 VMAs also featured some iconic performances. Britney Spears wooed the crowd with a mashup of a few of her iconic songs and the Backstreet Boys turned heads with a “Larger Than Life” performance.
While this year’s event won’t see Britney Spears or NSYNC performing their hits, MTV has still curated a lineup of some of today’s hottest musicians. Artists like Ariana Grande, BTS, DaBaby, Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus, and The Weeknd will take the stage to showcase their recent hits. The VMAs airs on 8/30 at 8 p.m. EDT on MTV. You can watch it here.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Many animal-loving kids grow up thinking they want to be veterinarians, imagining that working with cute and cuddly critters all day long must be a dream job.
But the reality of being a vet isn’t a whole lot different than the reality of being a doctor for humans. You have to have about the same amount of schooling, but you have to know about the biology of many different species. And while helping animals can certainly be rewarding, the truth is that a lot of a vet’s job isn’t all cuddles and cuteness.
Veterinarian Tracy Lee Richardson shared a story from particularly hard day on Facebook to help people understand what vets go through.
“I always post pictures of puppies,” she wrote. “So many of you might think that my job is all rainbows and butterflies. However in reality, it can be the exact opposite.
Today I had to euthanize a very sick dog. During the process, the owner had his son on FaceTime who started to sing a song that he had written for the dog. It was absolutely beautiful. Tears immediately ran down my face, almost in sync with his guitar. I sat in the room with the other family members and just cried my heart out with them.
Unfortunately, that’s not the hard part. I had to eventually leave the room, finish crying in the bathroom and then recompose myself to head into the next exam room. I was praying for my next patient to be a new puppy to brighten my spirits, but it was another sick dog on the brink of euthanasia as well.
This is a HUGE reason the suicide rate is extremely high in my profession. So please always be kind to your veterinarian and veterinary staff. Our jobs are much harder than we give off.
I absolutely love my job. I do not regret becoming a veterinarian, but there are just some days it sucks.”
Many people may not realize that the suicide rate for veterinarians is high. In fact, female vets are about 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Some of it is the depressing nature of the euthanasia aspect of the job. But in addition to compassion fatigue, vets are also often mistreated by their patients’ owners. People don’t like having to pay for medications or services for animals, and vets report consistently being asked to have fees waived. When you’re dealing with huge medical school debt and then have customers get angry because they don’t want to pay you, it’s rough.
So be kind to your vet and their staff. They’re likely dealing with a lot more stress than we realize.
Fifty-seven years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, thousands of people returned to the same location for the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks.
The day’s events took on added importance after an officer from the Kenosha, Wisconsin Police Department shot Jacob Blake on Sunday, sparking protests throughout the country.
The event featured speeches from the family members of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, and Blake as well as keynote addresses from Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III.
The event was organized by the National Action Network as a call for police reform and racial justice. Lines for the event extended for several blocks as organizers took temperature checks for all attendees to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
COVID ENTRANCE PROCEDURE FOR THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
TEMPERATURE CHECKS ✅
WRISTBANDS ✅
HAND SANITIZER ✅… https://t.co/MInBdQMrAW
“We’ve come to bear witness, to remain awake, to remember from where we’ve come and to carefully consider where we’re going,” King said according to the Associated Press. “Whether you’re here in person or watching on (television networks), thank you for joining us for this March on Washington.”
“We’re taking a step forward on America’s rocky but righteous journey toward justice,” he added.
“We didn’t just come out here to have a show,” Sharpton said. “Demonstration without legislation will not lead to change.”
The late Democratic representative John Lewis, who passed away earlier this month was referenced several times during the event. Sharpton paid homage to Lewis’ call for people to get into “good trouble” to fight injustice, saying, “”we didn’t come to start trouble, we came to stop trouble.”
“Black lives matter,” Sharpton said. “And we won’t stop until it matters to everybody.”
Rev. Al Sharpton explains why we still have to say ‘Black Lives Matter’ https://t.co/npSGTT3QPV
Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris sent over a taped message to the event.
She said that if Civil Rights leaders from the ’60s march were in attendance today they would, “share in our anger and frustration as we continue to see Black men and women slain in our streets and left behind by an economy and justice system that have too often denied Black folks our dignity and rights.”
“They would share our anger and pain, but no doubt they would turn it into fuel,” Harris continued. “They would be lacing up their shoes, locking arms and continuing right alongside us to continue in this ongoing fight for justice.”
One of the emotional high-points of the event was a speech by George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, who said he wished “George were here to see this right now.” His sister, Bridgett Floyd, said, “we have to be the change.”
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, spoke at the #MarchOnWashington demanding racial equality. Watch the full… https://t.co/vkzQIknGlR
Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, shared words of encouragement with the audience. “Even though we’re going through a crisis, even though it looks dark, I want to tell you to be encouraged,” Fulton said. “Don’t stop saying Black lives matter, don’t stop protesting.”
Later in the evening, the Movement for Black Lives, a group of over 150 organizations that make up the Black Lives Matter movement, will hold a virtual Black National Convention.
The convention will unveil a platform to enact laws inspired by the central themes of this summer’s protests, investments to education, healthcare, housing, and social services as well as police reform.
The NBA’s postseason will apparently get back on track this weekend after labor unrest following another police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wisconsin earlier in the week. Saturday’s proposed resumption of the NBA playoffs comes after a series of meetings with players, coaches and the NBA’s Board of Governors to determine steps to take regarding racial unrest and systemic injustice and how the league and its players can use their stance to create change.
And one of the league’s most prominent fans apparently also played a role in resolving the situation. As The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Friday, former president Barack Obama was contacted by LeBron James and a group of players that sought his advice on how best to handle the situation.
Former President Barack Obama spoke to James, National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul and a small group of players late Wednesday evening, advising them to play and utilize the opportunity to contextualize action they want in order to play, The Athletic has learned.
James, Paul and others wanted to seek the guidance of the 44th President of the United States (2009-2017), and on the call broached forming a committee for player action that they want Obama involved in, sources told The Athletic.
That stance was reversed on Thursday, as the parties involved came together to work toward an agreement to resume playing with social justice initiates agreed upon. It’s unclear from the report just what Obama said or what role he played in determining the outcome here, but it’s another key detail to the situation that appears to be at a more productive and fruitful point than it was just a few days ago.
The Hulu version of High Fidelity will not get a second act, and now that fans know what a second season of the show (based on a movie based on a book) would have been about, they’re even more upset about its cancellation.
This week brought news that the Zoë Kravitz-led romantic comedy (of sorts) would end after a single season, which was devastating news to the fans who loved the show about a woman named Rob exploring failed relationships and looking for love in New York. The show was a modern retelling of the Nick Hornby novel of the same name, leaning on the source material but recreating it for a new era of relationships and exploring the female and LGBTQ aspect of said relationships that varied the original’s themes enough to make it feel fresh.
After news of the show’s cancellation, feelings grew worse when fans learned what the show would have become in its second season. As Stereogum reported, the second season was poised to take the show — which was already a significant departure from the book and movie of the same name — in a very different direction. Namely one that focused a lot more on Cherise, who fans loved as the hidden gem of a rock star waiting to be discovered.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kingsley Ben-Adir, who played Rob’s ex (Mac), lamented the cancellation of the show and the loss of Kravitz’ chance to tell a compelling story that was just getting started. He spoke eloquently about how “heartbreaking” it is to lose representation of a “normal” Black couple on TV. But he also revealed that Rob’s relationship turmoil was set to take a backseat to another story in Season 2:
Annoyingly, Season 2 was really gonna be a Cherise-focused season. She [Da’Vine Joy Randolph] was gonna become the lead of the show, and the story was leaning toward being about where she’d come from, her heartbreaks and her family background. And they stopped it just as that was about to happen.
That was another dagger to the hearts of fans who fell in love with Cherise, with Joy Randolph effortlessly playing a role Jack Black made tough to top in the movie. Fans flooded Twitter with lamentations on Friday as the interview spread.
the fact that we could’ve had not just a single episode but an entire season centered on Cherise makes Hulu’s cancellation of High Fidelity even more disappointing!!https://t.co/QfqqwB84uG
Season 2 of “High Fidelity” could’ve been about Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s character starting a band and telling us about her heartbreaks, season 2 of “High Fidelity” could’ve ruled https://t.co/xx671us0Xi
As many pointed out, some of the show’s best writing in Season One came from when it shifted perspectives to another character, which makes the news that we would have further explored Cherise and her perspective all the more upsetting.
Look, it’s not my fault. When I started a column for Uproxx Sports premised on NXT and AEW Dynamite sharing one night, I didn’t know they were going to be on different nights for weeks on end. Last week, AEW was on Saturday, which happened to be when NXT was having a TakeOver. This week, AEW was on Thursday night, and next week NXT’s on Tuesday. I’m just trying to keep up. Welcome to Wednesday Night’s Alright (plus sometimes other nights, too) on Uproxx Sports.
Shocking Departure: Karrion Kross
Karrion Kross apparently separated his shoulder in the match with Keith Lee at TakeOver XXX, so he had to open this week’s NXT by relinquishing the NXT Championship. Of course, Kross doesn’t talk like regular people talk, but he managed to convey what had happened, and that even though he might enjoy the pain of his injury, he knows NXT won’t let him defend, so he has to go heal up. It’s impressive how much they managed to keep him in character for this segment, but it was still impossible to avoid feeling a little bad for the relentless pitiless monster with the separated shoulder.
As for the title, William Regal filled us in later that a new NXT Champion will be decided in an hour-long, four-way Iron Man Match between Johnny Gargano, Finn Bálor, Adam Cole, and Tommaso Ciampa. So somebody who’s been NXT champion before soon will be again, and it won’t be Keith Lee because he lives on Raw now. This should be a fun match, and will almost certainly last longer than an hour because two guys will be tied. That’s how these things go.
Runners Up
It looks like Cody is going to be taking time off to sell his kayfabe injuries from last week’s beating at the hands of Mr. Brodie Lee and the Dark Order. Cody’s obvious really important to AEW, but I think it’s a good move to keep him out of sight for a while. It will give other performers more room to shine, especially without those weekly 20+ minute TNT Championship Open Challenge matches.
NXT’s Jake Atlas will also have to be off TV for a while after what Tommaso Ciampa did to him, but let’s save that for the next section…
Nefarious Heel Behavior: Tommaso Ciampa beats Jake Atlas to a pulp
Tommaso Ciampa beat Jake Atlas like Atlas was a sewer juggalo and Ciampa was Vengeance. He squashed him in the ring, and then destroyed him outside of it, culminating with Jake’s face being driven into the underside of the ring. And then Ciampa just sat there while medics scurried around hoping to save Jake’s career.
So with this return, Ciampa’s Face/Tweener time is done, and this is the return of the absolutely brutal “Sicilian Psychopath” Ciampa. And this is Ciampa who’ll be sharing a ring with Gargano, Cole, and Bálor on Tuesday. I don’t know that he’ll win that match, but it will definitely be twice as violent just by him being there.
Runners Up
The long-simmering tension between the Young Bucks and Hangman Adam Page started to come to a head this week, when Hangman grabbed Nick Jackson’s ankle and stopped him from doing a springboard that would have kept Matt from getting pinned by Trent. The only reason I didn’t put this above Ciampa is that I’m not convinced Adam Page is the heel. Interfering in a match to make your friends lose because they’ve been annoying you lately is absolutely a heel move, but the Young Bucks so often seem like jerks in their interactions with Page, and didn’t come off any better later in the show when they confronted Hangman about his actions.
It looks like Santos Escobar has a loaded lucha mask, which is a pretty weird way to cheat when you’ve just recently decided to wrestle maskless, but I appreciate the innovation.
Disappointing Women’s Booking: Shotzi Blackheart and Mia Yim barely get started
Shotzi got to run over Robert Stone with her tank again, which I think everybody except Stone can enjoy. Then she had an impromptu match with Mia Yim, which was just starting to get really good, and then ended after like three minutes. The NXT women were also in the main event with a strong match this week, so I can’t complain about that division in general. But I really did want to see Shotzi and Mia really go at each other for a while.
Runners Up
Not to be outdone, AEW also had a supremely short women’s match, but of course it was the only one on their show. That was the handicap match with Big Swole taking on Rebel/Reba and Penelope Ford, who were fighting on behalf of Britt Baker. By winning the match, Swole won the right to whatever kind of match she wants with Doctor Baker at All Out, by which time Britt’s expected to be healed and cleared for in-ring action. That should be a good match, and I’m looking forward to it. This match was short and sloppy, and Rebel’s wrestling in particular is what it is, and what it is is not great.
Best Promo: Jon Moxley
I’m sorry, but there’s no denying it: Jon Moxley is cool. I don’t know how he does it either. Yes, on one level he is a kind of pug-faced 30-something man with thinning hair. But somehow, at the same time, he’s Cry-Baby. He’s the Leader of the Pack. He’s the Fonz. He can just slouch lazily in a chair while MJF energetically fumes at him, and Moxley seems like the coolest guy in the world. Compared to MJF, he’s Chris Isaak.
So it’s even better when Moxley outsmarts his opponents. Like here, when he is forced to sign a contract for a title match in which he won’t be allowed to use his finishing move, the Paradigm Shift, but he’s added an extra page to everyone’s contract, so now Moxley gets a run at Mark Sterling, MJF’s lawyer, and can Paradigm Shift him as much as he wants. So whatever happens at All Out, Moxley at least gets to have fun next week.
Runners Up
The Dark Order had a whole segment where they had a mock funeral for Cody, and then Brodie Lee formally introduced Anna Jay as a member of the group, and “the Queenslayer” which is an impressive if ambitious title for her. I will never pass up a chance to listen to Brodie Lee talk.
The Order came back later to offer a job to Anna Jay’s partner in the recent Women’s Tag Team Tournament, former NXT Superstar Tay Conti (apparently WWE only copyrighted the “nara”). So if Tay’s going to be in the Dark Order, surely that must mean she’s signing with AEW? And if there’s any reason at all for her and Jay to stay a team, doesn’t that imply that the women’s tag division is going to be a thing going forward (and hopefully have belts?). Don’t mind me, I’m just getting my hopes up out loud.
Candice LeRae showed up to talk about Tegan Nox and whether or not they’re still friends. In contrast to psychos like Ciampa and cult-leaders like Brodie, I really enjoy the human scale of Candice’s villainy. She and Johnny aren’t world-conquerers and you probably couldn’t even call them “evil.” They’re just bad people. Petty jerks who take their failings out on others and don’t let things go. They’re all of us, on our worst days.
Best Match: Imperium vs Breezango
Breezango deserved this. Those two guys aren’t just funny and handsome, they’re genuinely great wrestlers, and them being champs is awesome, as was this match. Imperium have no sense of humor and like hurting people, which makes them perfect villains for Chaotic Good heroes like Breezango. Fandango did great work here as a Face in Peril, and Tyler got the most out of those hot tags. But in the end, it was Fandango who got the pin. I’d like to see these two hold the belts for a little while, and build up some new teams along the way.
As for Imperium, they’re no doubt returning to NXT UK when it comes back next month, and will probably take those Tag Titles sooner or later.
Runners Up
Santos Escobar had a great Cruiserweight Title Defense against Isiah “Swerve” Scott, with all the excitement you want from that division, plus added tag team run-ins. Then there was the ending, with Escobar putting on a lucha mask and delivering a head butt, which I’m sure we’ll get more on soon.
The strongest match on AEW Dynamite was the Young Bucks vs the Best Friends, which was one section of the Tag Team Gauntlet. This was where Hangman Page grabbed the ankle, but it was a lot of fun even outside of that drama bomb.
Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley also teamed up to take on Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez in the Main Event of NXT, which was another really excellent match, with plenty of “real team vs people who don’t like each other” storytelling. The Robert Stone Brand also got involved, with Mercedes Martinez pulling Ripley off the apron and into the steel steps. It’s clear that Rhea’s going to have to deal with Robert Stone (and presumably fight Mercedes) before she can go on to accomplish anything else, because they’ll never stop bothering her.
That’s all for this week. Next’s week things still aren’t normal, schedule-wise but at the very least this column should be out on Thursday again.
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(@AnnetteReid247) 
(@siberiakicks) 
an entire season
centered on Cherise makes Hulu’s cancellation of High Fidelity even more disappointing!!
