Category: Worldwide

Lindsey Graham’s known for dancing back and forth on his support for ex-President Trump, and naturally, the far-right isn’t happy that the senator from South Carolina distanced himself from the Big Lie. It also didn’t bode well for Graham with the QAnon crowd when Graham was recorded while praising President Biden (although he took that gushing back). Fox News host Tucker Graham was horrified and angry while goading Graham as too ‘fraidy-cat to appear on this show.

As for Marjorie Taylor Greene, well, you can imagine how upset she’s been at Graham. The congresswoman from Georgia was so very angry (according to Business Insider) that Graham wouldn’t support Trump pardoning the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. And this week, she raged against Graham for a over half an hour because she believes that she’s sold out to Joe Biden. She didn’t quite dox him (by giving out his personal number), but she did instruct her followers to call his office.

According to federal lawyer (and Ron DeSantis detractor) Ron Filipkowski, Greene raged for a full 38 minutes and considered it an emergency podcast to do so. Remember when lawmakers didn’t podcast or tweet? Yeah, those days are over. Here’s Marjorie directing far too much energy at her perceived enemy:

One might wonder whether Greene actually has any supporters who will follow her instructions, but she did win her recent primary, so she may very well win the midterm election, too, which means at least two more years. Lindsey will be thrilled.

Seth Meyers has had enough of Ted Cruz’s BS. Not that he’d expect any less from the Texas senator, mind you. But on Monday night, Meyers tore into Cruz for attempting to stir up drama where there absolutely is none.

While the lamenting how “the endless bad faith and lying from the Republican party just keeps getting more exhausting,” Meyers cited Cruz specifically, explaining how:

Texas Senator Ted Cruz recently tried to blame the Biden administration for rising electricity prices in his state, tweeting: ‘The impact of President Biden being beholden to the Green New Deal radicals in his party has electricity costs through the roof in Texas.’

Two things: First of all, Texas has its own power grid where electricity is generated and used only within state lines. So Texas’ electric grid is separate from the rest of the country—you know, the way [Cruz] becomes separate from the rest of [the] country every time there’s a crisis in [his] state.

While it’s entirely plausible that Cruz is so out-of-touch with his own state that he wasn’t aware of that whole power grid thing, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. So Meyers is leaning heavily toward Ted Cruz: Liar—in large part because of the second point he wanted to make, which is that “Democrats, much to the dismay of progressives and anyone who doesn’t want the planet to turn into a climate changed-induced apocalypse, have NOT passed the Green New Deal. This is yet another reminder that the Democrats should do more stuff because whether they do or not, Republicans are going to attack them for it. They don’t care if it’s true. Ted Cruz is going to b*tch about how Biden outlawed red meat and took his guns away while he flips with the butt end of his AR-15.”

You can watch the full clip above, beginning around the 0:25 mark.

Pusha T released his new album It’s Almost Dry in April. Since then, he’s been promoting it with music videos and late-night television performances. The rapper is back with more of the latter: On Friday, he went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform the track “Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes.”

The performance is charismatic and bright, with a kaleidoscope of colors bouncing off of him. His confidence is obvious; it’s what he’s known for. Before the release of It’s Almost Dry, he called it an “untouchable body of work,” mentioning that having Kanye West and Pharrell Williams as producers gave it a kick. He said, “I had the best of both worlds in regard to production. In regard to two people who actually understand who I am and they like two different things from me.” He added: “Just from that aspect, I feel like this body of work is untouchable because it doesn’t lean too heavily on either side. It’s like you get the whole spectrum — probably my most well-rounded body of work.” He’s definitely allowed (and right) to flex: It’s Almost Dry was his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart.

Watch his performance of “Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes” above.

Thursday brings a big milestone: the first televised hearing for the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But if you’re a Fox News devotee, that will be news to you: As per Deadline, the much-watched right-leaning network will not be airing it during its primetime hours.

The hearing, which kicks off nearly a year of inquiry into what led to the events of that fateful day, is scheduled to start at 8 pm on Thursday. It will be aired on CNN and MSNBC, but also on the top three major networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Fox News, meanwhile, will be business as usual, devoted to Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham, all of whom have slammed the committee (and in the case of the former, aired a bizarre doc series floating tinfoil hat conspiracy theories).

The hearing won’t be completely ignored in the Fox News building. Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum will be anchoring coverage over at Fox Business, which receives a fraction of the main channel’s viewership. Meanwhile, the main channel, a network spokesperson said, “will cover the hearings as news warrants.”

Then again, perhaps Hannity and Ingraham will discuss the show at least a little bit, especially given that they were texting Donald Trump’s then-chief of staff Mark Meadows, begging him to get his boss to do something, anything about his violent supporters.

Since July of last year, the committee has been patiently amassing a treasure trove of information. They’ve dodged Trump’s desperate attempts to stop them, talking to just about everyone, including willing former Trump staffers. Even the ex-president’s oldest son reportedly took a break from wacko videos to do some squealing.

(Via Deadline)

In January, former Disney star Demi Lovato held a funeral for their pop sound. It was quite obvious that they would be turning to heavier music, which they’ve expressed interest in before. Today, Lovato has officially announced their new album Holy Fvck, which will be out next month.

The lead single, “Skin Of My Teeth,” is set to arrive this Friday. It was produced by Warren “Oak” Felder and written with Alex Niceforo, Keith Sorrells, Laura Veltz, and Lil Aaron. This LP follows last year’s Dancing With the Devil… The Art of Starting Over, which featured an Ariana Grande collaboration on the devilish “Met Him Last Night.”

“The process of making this album has been the most fulfilling yet, and I’m grateful to my fans and collaborators for being on this journey with me,” Lovato said in a statement. “Never have I been more sure of myself and my music, and this record speaks that for itself. To my Lovatics who have been rocking out with me since the beginning and those who are just now coming along for the ride, thank you. This record is for you.”

Check out the album art for Holy Fvck below.

Holy Fvck is out 8/19 via Island.

Dave Chappelle has been pushing a lot of people’s buttons recently, but this is some straight-up do-goodery: As per Deadline, the comic is planning to give all the proceeds from one show to the victims of one of the (many) recent mass shootings.

On Sunday, Chappelle came to Buffalo, New York for a last-minute show. The event was held mere weeks after a gunman, who believes in the far-right “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory peddled by the likes of Tucker Carlson, killed 10 Black people and injured three more at a supermarket in the city’s East Side neighborhood. That is indeed what brought him there.

“He said, and I’m paraphrasing, ‘I came here to Buffalo to recognize the victims and for these families,’” said Kevin Sweeney, the director of marketing and communications for the venue he performed at, Shea’s Performing Arts Center.

At the end of his set, Chappelle informed the audience that all the proceeds from the sold out show, in a venue that seats over 3,000, would go to families of the victims of the massacre.

Chappelle’s set comes about a month after his own brush with violence, in which a man stormed the stage at one of his shows and tackled him before being quickly detained.

(Via Deadline)

Kacey Musgraves can sometimes stir up a conversation — whether it be through subtweeting the Grammys or doing a naked SNL performance. Most recently, it’s because of a complaint she made about American Airlines from her Twitter account. Read it below.

Just ended my travels to/from my show in Spain on the most intense and honestly f*cking awful flight on @americanair.

It’s extremely rare for me to want to come to a social-media platform to complain about something like this. I know there are way bigger things going on in the world at the moment. But I truthfully just don’t want anyone else to have my experience.

I wish it were as simple as complaining about the broken seat that wouldn’t recline for 7 hours overnight or there being no wifi. But it was the appalling and shockingly hostile behavior of a certain male employee (the flight’s chief purser) that I will be filing a massive complaint against along with many other passengers that were subject to his extremely overblown, unnecessary aggression and erratic behavior. He made me feel unsafe and upset to the point of crying and I witnessed another passenger he also made cry. The female flight attendants on board vocalized their own disbelief, and struggles with him as well.

@americanair, I will be going through the proper channels but I need to make it extra known that you have a liability on your hands with this man.

Though some are praising her for bringing attention to the issue, most are criticizing her for using her privileged platform to get an employee fired rather than communicating this information to American Airlines through less controversial means. The airline’s Twitter account did respond to the country-pop star, telling her to check her DMs.

Though Stephen Curry generated 29 points and Jordan Poole produced a handful of memorable shots, the Golden State Warriors dominated Game 2 against the Boston Celtics largely on the defensive end. The Warriors held the Celtics well below a point per possession in the game and, as usual, Draymond Green was in the center of the resistance for Golden State. However, a great deal of attention, both during and after the game, was paid to something that did not happen with Green, as he narrowly managed to avoid an ejection despite a spat with Jaylen Brown late in the first half.

Green played 35 minutes as the anchor of Golden State’s defense and, in the hours after the final buzzer, everyone had to have a take on what transpired. Many took the side of agreeing with Green staying on the floor, if largely due to the quality of play dipping if one of the series’ most prominent players would be sidelined. Patrick Beverley was seemingly in the camp but, as the ESPN analyst indicated on television on Monday, he still needs to walk the tightrope to avoid punishment as an active NBA player.

This is a masterclass from Beverley, as he acknowledges to ESPN’s Vince Carter at the end of the clip. In the grand scheme, Beverley doesn’t actually say much at all here, which was perhaps the point, but he did manage to compliment the officials and speak to just how difficult the job actually is. That is quite rich from Beverley as a player who is very regularly chirping at those same officials, but it is easier to stay level in the comfort of a studio than in the midst of a playoff game.

Beverley probably would not have been in any danger of league discipline unless he said something really wild in this spot. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but it’s hard to blame him for staying out of the fray and being safe in this particular area.

French Montana, who recently released the single “Alcatraz,” has just officially announced his sixth studio album, Montega, which is duef in just a couple of weeks on Coke Boys Records. It’s produced by the popular rapper and his collaborator Harry Fraud.

Montega will follow his last album They Got Amnesia, a success with a deluge of features, including “Mopstick” with Kodak Black, “Handstand” with Doja Cat and Saweetie, “Panicking” with Fivio — the list goes on, featuring Rick Ross, John Legend, Pop Smoke, Drake, and more. That album came out in November last year, which shows that his grind never stops.

Around that time, Montana also made a claim that his line of work is even more difficult than others. “You’re better off making it in the NBA than Hip Hop,” he said during an appearance on Hot 97’s Ebro In The Morning. “NBA, they got like what, 28 teams … 15 players on every team? And that’s in the hundreds. You talk about Hip Hop, you can’t even name 10 people that’s hot every couple months. The odds … anybody can do it if it was easy.” He added, “So you talkin’ about trying to make it? Your hustle gotta be relentless. Can’t take no for an answer, you gotta be up when everybody sleep.”

Check out the album art for Montega below.

Montega is out 6/24 on Coke Boys Records. Pre-order it here.

Last week, the beloved actor Ray Liotta passed away. He was only 67 and seemed to have at least another couple decades of exciting work ahead of him. Liotta is perhaps most famous for starring in Goodfellas, whose director, Martin Scorsese, released a brief but impassioned statement honoring him. The legendary filmmaker elaborated in a piece published by The Guardian, in which he expresses remorse for only having directed him once.

“We had many plans to work together again but the timing was always off, or the project wasn’t quite right. I regret that now,” Scorsese wrote. He continued:

“When I watched Ray as the divorce lawyer in Marriage Story – he’s genuinely scary in the role, which is precisely why he’s so funny – I remember feeling that I wanted to work with him again at this point in his life, to explore the gravity in his presence, so different from the young, sprightly actor he was when I met him.

“I wish I’d had the chance to see him just once more, too – to tell him just how much the work we did together meant to me. But maybe he knew that. I hope so.”

Scorsese wrote about how Liotta had first blown him away in Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild, in which he plays the ex-convict ex-boyfriend of Melanie Griffith’s character. “Halfway through the picture, he walked in and more or less took it over. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him,” Scorsese wrote. “But Ray’s role in Something Wild was finite, and I wondered if he could carry a whole picture.”

He also wrote about fighting to make Liotta the lead in Goodfellas, a big production made at a time when Scorsese wasn’t exactly popular with Hollywood execs. During the shoot, Liotta’s adopted mother, who raised him, was on death’s door. He got the news before they filmed the scene where the characters played by Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and himself bring a big suitcase of money to Paul Sorvino’s Paulie — a jubilant moment filled with laughter. Scorsese told him to go see his mother straight away, but Liotta was adamant they shoot the scene first.

“Laughter and tears, tears and laughter … they were one and the same,” Scorsese wrote. “Ray did the scene so beautifully, and then he left to be with his beloved mother. It was a rare experience.”

You can read Scorsese’s entire tribute at The Guardian.