Category: Worldwide

Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she was swatted for a sixth time on Monday night. The ultra-MAGA congresswoman, who recently lost a sizable chunk of cash investing in Donald Trump’s Truth Social, wrote on Tuesday morning that whoever is behind the prank is trying to engineer a deadly outcome.

“I was swatted for the 6th time last night,” Greene tweeted. “Swatting is a very serious crime. The caller wants to have their victim murdered by police. But it is also a giant abuse of police resources and time, which is another reason it is a serious crime. God bless my local police.”

“Swatting” involves calling the police and reporting a false crime at a residence in an effort to provoke a SWAT team response. Greene was first targeted by the prank back in August, and police reportedly confirmed the suspect’s motive: Punish Greene for her anti-transgender stance. It was an unusual twist because swatting is predominantly used against left-leaning targets. Although, it does have a history of being used as a very, very stupid prank amongst streamers.

Greene’s case is also an interesting juxtaposition because swatting hopes for a deadly overreaction from police, and the odds of that happening are very good. Especially when minorities are involved. However, Greene is a white lady from Georgia, so she’s fine and still tweeting things like “God bless my local police” after suggesting they could’ve just killed her. We live in a neat world.

(Via Marjorie Taylor Greene on Twitter)

Ye, also known as Kanye West, was dropped this morning by Adidas due to antisemitic comments he had made. Over the weekend, in Los Angeles, West’s hate speech remarks were used by people on signs above a freeway, with many online calling companies to take a stance. In early October, after West had already debuted shirts bearing “White Lives Matter” at Paris Fashion Week, the rapper took to Twitter to spew hate — that has since gotten him banned from both there and Instagram. In the weeks since the posts were made, companies have dropped West as a client to stand with the Jewish community.

“I can say antisemitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what? Now what?” West previously said on a now-removed episode of Drink Champs.

West being dropped from his Adidas deal, which sold his Yeezy shoes, will cost $250 million. The company’s statement reads, “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.” They are ending production of all Yeezy-branded products and immediately stopping his payments.

He was also dropped by Balenciaga, where West had been a longtime fan of the company, following Paris Fashion Week. The luxury designer brand told WWD, “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.”

Another fashion-related powerhouse, in the form of Vogue‘s Anna Wintour, was reported by Page Six to have cut ties with him in the magazine’s future issues. West previously (and controversially) posted remarks about Gabriella Karefa-Johnson after she critiqued his fashion show. Vogue spoke out in a statement in her defense.

MRC, a production studio, was creating a documentary about West — one that has since been shelved. “This morning, after discussion with our filmmakers and distribution partners, we made the decision not to proceed with any distribution for our recently completed documentary about Kanye West,” MRC executives shared in a statement to Variety. “We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.”

Yesterday, West was also dropped by his talent agency, CAA, according to The Los Angeles Times. A statement by the agency has not been released.

Meanwhile, Netflix, which made a West documentary on the streaming platform previously, said they are not removing it, according to Page Six.

HBO’s House of the Dragon season one ended with an instantly iconic shot. Maybe not as iconic as the final shot in the first season of Game of Thrones (less dragons and nudity, at least), but Princess Rhaenys, I mean, Queen Rhaenys staring into the camera full of fury after learning about the death of her son Lucerys is plenty memorable.

And we partially have Matt Smith to thank for it.

Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenys) told British GQ that they were “nervous” to shoot the final scene “because by that point, there had been so many kinds of mountainous shapes in the landscape of that episode. I wanted to find clarity with a new kind of earth-shaking piece of news. But I actually had the most beautiful day of shooting.” D’Arcy also credited “f*cking genius” Matt Smith (Daemon) for suggesting “the idea that Daemon should give Rhaenyra the news while we’re both walking away from camera, towards the fireplace.”

They continued, “It was a sublime choice, and I could see it instantly. We’ve sort of touched on it, but I think losing a child, losing her son, it reframes grief immediately.” Add this to the list of reasons why Smith is so damn good on House of the Dragon.

(Via British GQ)

The James Corden/Balthazar situation may have found a resolution. The Cats star and outgoing late-night funnyman has been dragged for his reported behavior regarding an egg-yolk omelette. This all began when famed New York restauranteur Keith McNally issued a public statement to the effect of banning the “tiny cretin” for being the “most abusive customer” that has ever graced a chair in Balthazar. This apparently led to a private apology, to which McNally was good with acknowledging bygones, and then Corden told the New York Times‘ Dave Itzkoff that “I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level” while also suggesting that this is a “silly” subject that is “beneath all of us.”

McNally then issued another statement to call Corden a liar (and demanded an apology to the Balthazar staff), and on Monday night, Corden publicly addressed the matter for the first time from the stage of The Late Late Show With James Corden. He didn’t waste any time (as you can see above) broaching the subject and explained his lack of public response as this: “Whenever these sorts of moments come my way, I like to adopt quite a British attitude.” He added, “Never complain, never explain. It’s very much my motto.”

Corden continued to discuss the situation while explaining that he reacted “in the heat of the moment” due to his wife being allergic to a dish that had accidentally landed at his table. The host admitted that he “made a sarcastic, rude comment about cooking it myself.” And from there, “It’s a comment I deeply regret.” Corden called his own behavior “rude” and “ungracious,” and here’s more:

“I didn’t shout or scream. I didn’t get up out of my seat. I didn’t call anyone names or use derogatory language. I have been walking around thinking that I hadn’t done anything wrong, right? But the truth is I have. I made a rude comment and it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”

Corden further explained that he adores Balthazar, including “the food, the vibe, the service,” and as noted above, he denies having screamed at the server (it was previously reported that he yelled, “Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!”). Ideally from there, peace can be achieved, although the egg-yolk omelette detail remains a head scratcher.

It’s only been a few days since Taylor Swift’s Midnights was released but it’s already one of 2022’s biggest albums: It’s Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day and it could debut as one of the fastest-selling albums ever. It turns out Swift is pretty blown away by all of this considering her (apparently advanced) age.

Swift was on The Tonight Show yesterday and after Jimmy Fallon rattled off some of what Midnights has already achieved in just a few days, Swift noted, “I’m beside myself, really.” After noting that this album is more autobiographical than her last few, she continued, “The fact that the fans have done this — the breaking of the records and the going out to the stores and getting it… it’s like, you know, I’m 32, so we’re considered geriatric pop stars. They start trying to put us out to pasture at age 25. I’m just happy to be here!”

Elsewhere on the show, Swift indicated that she’s eager to get back on tour again, considering she hasn’t had a proper tour since supporting Reputation with a 2018 trek. She said, “I miss it, I really miss it. I miss, you know… when you write songs and you’re proud of the songs and you have the fans reacting, the most potent way that you can see them react is when you’re looking into their faces. Do you know what I mean? I miss that a lot. I really miss that connection.”

Check out the interview above and below.

Bob Woodward, of All the President’s Men fame, has been working for the Washington Post since 1971. But it took until Donald Trump‘s presidency for him to be “as stunned as I’ve ever been as a reporter.”

On Monday’s episode of CNN Tonight, Woodward “shared audio of Trump telling him — during recorded interviews for his 2020 book Rage now released separately as The Trump Tapes — what he told his youngest son Barron Trump during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic,” according to the Huffington Post. In the recording from March 19, 2020, the former-president said, “I said, it came out of China, Barron. Pure and simple. It came out of China. And it should’ve been stopped. And to be honest with you, Barron, they should’ve let it be known it was a problem two months earlier… The world wouldn’t have a problem. We could have stopped it easily.”

As host Jake Tapper pointed out, Trump knew in January 2020 that the coronavirus was “deadly stuff,” but he chose to do nothing about it because “I wanted to always play it down… I don’t want to create a panic.”

Over one million people have died from COVID-19 in the United States alone.

After listening to the recording from the March 2020 interview for a second time, Woodward thought, “My God, Trump is conning not just me but his son and he is laying out, ‘Oh this could have been fixed, the Chinese could have done something about it.’ Donald Trump could have done something about it by being honest and warning the public that he as president has constitutional and moral responsibility to do.”

You can watch the CNN interview above.

(Via the Huffington Post)

Between May and November 2018, Taylor Swift embarked on the Reputation Stadium Tour. To date, that is her most recent tour, despite having released four albums since then: Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and most recently, Midnights. It looks like she is actually planning a trek in support of the new album, though.

Swift was a guest on The Tonight Show yesterday, where she and Jimmy Fallon had a lengthy conversation. During it, Fallon made note of how long it’s been since she’s toured and noted that fans would love to see her hit the road again. Swift enthusiastically responded, “I think I should do it,” which got major cheers from the studio audience.

Fallon pried for more info, asking, “Are we talking sooner than later?” Swift didn’t show her hand, though, answering, “You know, I should do it.” Fallon came back, “When it’s time, you’ll let us know,” to which Swift responded, “When it’s time, we’ll do it.”

She added, “I miss it, I really miss it. I miss, you know… when you write songs and you’re proud of the songs and you have the fans reacting, the most potent way that you can see them react is when you’re looking into their faces. Do you know what I mean? I miss that a lot. I really miss that connection.

Check out Swift’s Fallon interview above and below.

In the wake of Kanye West’s antisemitic comments, the rapper has a lot fewer people in his corner. So far, Balenciaga said they’re done working with Ye, Anna Wintour and Vogue made a similar declaration, his talent agency (CAA) dropped him, and an already-completed documentary about West was scrapped. Now, West has lost perhaps the biggest fish of all: Adidas has officially ended its professional relationship with him.

The company said in a statement (as CNBC reports):

“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness. After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products, and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”

Adidas has faced pressure to sever ties with West recently, particularly after Ye said on the Drink Champs podcast earlier this month, “I can say antisemitic sh*t and Adidas cannot drop me.” The company faced increased pressure over this past weekend after neo-Nazi demonstrators placed a banner over the 405 highway in Los Angeles that read, “Kanye is right about the Jews.”

Taylor Swift has been going all-out with the release of her new album Midnights — the merch is plentiful, the deluxe version is already out, and an “Anti-Hero” video arrived as well. Another video came today, this time for the song “Bejeweled.”

She announced the video during her appearance on The Tonight Show, telling Jimmy Fallon the idea behind the video: “Basically, I was thinking of midnights — the concept — and I was like, ‘Where do we hear about midnights a lot? We hear about it a lot when we talk about the Cinderella fairytale.’ So I was like, ‘What if we did a little twist on a Cinderella story and I could cast my friends, my best friends, the Haim sisters — what if they played the step sisters?’” And then she added that Laura Dern would be the stepmother.

She previously described the music videos as more than just videos. “Those projects are the ‘Midnights Music Movies,’ the music videos that I’ve made for this album to sort of explore visually the world of this record,” she said. “And I love storytelling. I love songwriting. I love writing videos. I love directing them. And this was a really fun opportunity to work again with the cinematographer Rina Yang, who was my collaborator on the All Too Well 10-minute short film.”

Watch the video above.

After the Celtics and Jazz lost in the early slate on Monday, the Blazers were one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NBA when they got going at home against the Nuggets.

Denver took control early and maintained a six-point lead going into halftime, but found themselves suddenly down by 13 after the third quarter thanks to an absolute onslaught from Anfernee Simons and the Blazers offense. Portland out-scored Denver 44-25 in the third quarter, with Simons contributing 22 of those points as he made his first eight shots of the quarter, including six threes in a row that had the Moda Center crowd in a frenzy.

Simons started with a layup and a pull-up from the deep midrange, but once he knocked down his first three from way outside, there was simply no stopping him.

By the end, he was knocking down hilarious contested looks as the Nuggets couldn’t do anything to bother his shooting rhythm, as he came flying around screens and pulled up from just about anywhere inside halfcourt.

It was the kind of shooting streak we’ve come to expect from Damian Lillard, but Simons showed he keeps that thang on him too — and also why the Blazers were willing to trade CJ McCollum to open the door for Simons to take the starting role alongside Lillard. Portland’s 3-0 start has been one of the surprises of the first week of the season, but if Simons can start putting up big outings alongside Dame with the attention he commands, they’re going to be a handful night in and night out.