Category: Worldwide

Someone might want to check on David Mamet. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright behind Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-Plow, and American Buffalo shared some pretty shocking opinions about what he believes are the unconscious motives of the people who dedicate their lives to teaching our kids—and with Fox News of all places.

As NBC News reports, Mamet sat down with Fox News’ Mark Levin on Sunday, presumably to push his new book, Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch, in which (according to the publisher) the celebrated writer “calls out, skewers, mocks, and, most importantly, dissects the virus of conformity which is now an existential threat to the West.” And if going against the norm is what Mamet thinks is most needed right now, he certainly chose a bold hill on which to prove his point when he claimed that, whether they know it or not, all teachers have a natural predisposition toward pedophilia.

(No, that’s not a typo.)

“We have to take back control,” Mamet said. “If there’s no community control of the schools, what we have is kids being—not only indoctrinated, but groomed, in a very real sense, by people who are, whether they know it or not, sexual predators. Are they abusing the kids physically? No, I don’t think so. But they’re abusing them mentally and using sex to do so.”

“This has always been the problem with education,” Mamet continued, digging an even deeper hole for himself. “Is that teachers are inclined—particularly men, because men are predators—to pedophilia.”

Come again?

But really: What in the actual f*ck?

While Mamet laid out these accusations as seeming facts, he neither cited any sources nor provided any other proof for just how he came to these conclusions. Of course, it didn’t help that Levin just sat there sort of nodding his head as if all of this made perfect sense and was in no way inflammatory—or insane.

NBC News spoke with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who described Mamet’s comments as “a repulsive demonization of the very people who have been the lifeline to our kids.” NBC also reached out to Mamet via his lawyer, but had not received a response.

(Via NBC News)

Move over, Mark Wahlberg. Step aside, The Rock. Legendary singer/songwriter/actor/ philanthropist/all-around badass Dolly Parton has let the world in on her daily routine, and it’s the kind of schedule that would make some of the world’s biggest action stars sweat.

Insider’s Anneta Konstantinides recently sat down with Parton, who shared that at approximately 3 a.m., while the rest of us mere mortals are likely still fast asleep, the 76-year-old 9 to 5 star is busy getting sh*t done.

“I don’t need a whole lot of sleep,” Parton said. “I go to bed pretty early, but even if I’ve been up late—it’s just kind of like a little clock inside of me that says ‘it’s 3 o’clock!’” Parton assured Konstantinides that she gets enough sleep, she just doesn’t need as much of it as the typical person, which is likely a trait she inherited from her father. “I’m like my daddy,” she said. “He was always up early, even if he had to go to bed late.”

But don’t for a second think that the two-time Oscar nominee is just sitting around sipping coffee. She’s working—even if she’s still lounging in bed. “I do some of my best work there,” Parton says.

On the weekends, Parton—who just launched a new line of Southern-style desserts with Duncan Hines—can often be found in the kitchen, where she loves to cook up a big breakfast to enjoy with Carl Dean, her husband of 55 years. While Wahlberg is throwing back protein bars or sitting in cryo chamber recovery, whatever that is, Dolly and Carl are feasting on scrambled eggs, French toast and bacon, or biscuits and gravy.

The always down-to-Earth star also shared that she doesn’t waste time or money on any exhaustive or expensive skincare routines. (She credits her flawless skin to never having spent much time in the sun in the past.) And that when she’s not at home writing soon-to-be-iconic songs, funding COVID vaccines, or fostering a love of reading in kids around the world through her Imagination Library charity, you might just find her and Carl headed for the border; they’re suckers for a Taco Bell meal, and Dolly has made it clear that she’d love to see their pizza make a comeback. If anyone can make it happen, it’s Dolly.

(Via Insider)

While it’s been a good long while since Rihanna dropped her last album, 2016’s Anti, but in recent years, she has regularly offered brief updates on it. Now, she’s back with another as she noted her approach to the project has changed.

In a new Vogue profile, Rihanna noted, “I’m looking at my next project completely differently from the way I had wanted to put it out before. I think this way suits me better, a lot better. It’s authentic, it’ll be fun for me, and it takes a lot of the pressure off.”

As for balancing that album with everything else she always has going on, Rihanna said, “Balance is one of my biggest challenges and always has been. And now there’s another human being coming into play, it changes what that means again. Still, I have businesses that aren’t going to run themselves. My mom handled the three of us with not even close to the amount of resources that I have, so I can absolutely do it. What it looks like? I’m not sure.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, she also revealed that Anti is her favorite album of hers, calling it her “best album to this day.”

Check out the full interview here.

Donald Trump has joined the likes of Grand Funk Railroad and Foreigner by opening for Kid Rock. The authority-defying “Only God Knows Why” singer’s “Bad Reputation” tour kicks off with an awkward special message from the former-president, who said, “Hello, everyone. I love you all. I know you’re having a great time at the Kid Rock concert tonight. Quite frankly, he’s amazing. All of you in attendance are truly the backbone of our great country. Hard-working, God-fearing rock-and-roll patriots.” Trump also makes a joke about Kid Rock’s mediocre golf game, which probably killed at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse (pro tip: watch out for the flying poop).

The Late Show host Stephen Colbert couldn’t resist mocking Trump for his new gig. “The former president of the United States of America is opening for Kid Rock ― on a Wednesday!” he cracked. “I have not seen anything this embarrassing since Jimmy Carter introduced KISS. He wanted to send the KISS Army to free the hostages.”

Kid Rock visited Trump while he was in the White House, along with Sarah Palin and fellow right-wing rocker Ted Nugent, and the former-president even asked for his advice on “what we should do about North Korea.” In a rare moment of simulation-breaking introspection, Kid Rock responded, “What? I don’t think I’m qualified to answer this.”

You can watch Colbert’s monologue above.

Just when you think Marjorie Taylor Greene couldn’t possibly make a bigger ass out of herself, there she goes and embarrasses herself yet again. While it’s hard to know whether the Georgia congresswoman really is as dumb as she seems or is simply willing to go to incredible lengths to keep her name in the headlines, we do know that she’s constantly outdoing herself. And this week has already proved to be no exception.

While Greene made headlines last week for waging a war with Jimmy Kimmel after reporting him to the Capitol police—the same force she voted against awarding congressional medals and to whom she infamously referred to as the “gazpacho police”—she’s got enough fight in her to take on more than one media personality at a time, and is now accusing NBC News’ Scott Wong of misquoting her to fit his own preconceived narrative, as Mediaite reported.

The problem is, in her pathetic attempt to exonerate herself and prove that Wong—like so many other members of the press—only reports “a twisted sound bite” of what she says to them, she attached a video of their interaction. What it showed was that Greene was accurately quoted, and that some of the additional interjections she made that didn’t make the final edit of Wong’s piece made Greene sound like an even worse human being, if that’s possible.

While Greene—who has regularly expressed pride in the “work” she did on January 6th and sadness for the way the arrested rioters from that day are being treated—did concede that the attacks on the Capitol were “horrible” and “a terrible experience,” she also really double-downed on the misguided notion that people no longer care about what happened on January 6, 2021.

“Why don’t you care about things that people actually care about instead of continuing on with this, OK?,” Greene suggested to Wong. “Go ask about BLM and antifa rioters. See if they’re rotting in jail.”

Somehow, in one succinct tweet meant to paint herself as a victim, Greene managed to make herself seem like even more of a monster. Which is its own kind of accomplishment.

(Via Mediaite)

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars, may think it handed down the punishment of the century by “banning” Will Smith from The Oscars for the next 10 years, but not everyone agrees.

On Tuesday, The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah weighed in on Smith, Chris Rock, and The Great Oscar Smackdown of 2022, and he’s not so sure that Smith’s punishment fits the crime. In fact, he’s pretty sure the decision to prevent Smith from attending the Oscars ceremony for a full decade is actually something to be envied. As Noah explained:

When I first read the headline, I thought this was the worst punishment ever… But then I got into the details and I realized he gets to keep his Oscar and he can still win Oscars even though he’s banned. So in many ways, this isn’t a punishment. Yeah, this is a favor.

Will Smith doesn’t have to go to the ceremony. He doesn’t have to get dressed up, he doesn’t have to sit through a bunch of boring awards that he doesn’t care about—oh, Best Punctuation in a Digital Recycled Film. Kill me! He doesn’t have to pretend to be happy when he loses. I wish I could get banned from the Emmys. I WISH! Every year I have to go and act like I might beat John Oliver. It’s a nightmare!

Noah also thinks that the Academy should have involved Rock in deciding the punishment. “Because if Will was still going to the Oscars, that’s at least four hours where Chris Rock knows where he is. Now he could be anywhere.”

Over the weekend, SNL “Weekend Update” anchor Colin Jost shared a similar opinion on Smith’s so-called “punishment,” and suggested that a more appropriate measure would have been to force Smith to host next year’s ceremony.

You can watch the full Daily Show clip above (beginning around the 2:55 mark).

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
2020’s Queen Of Da Souf may have been Latto’s official major-label debut, but it’s on her new album, 777, that she finally arrives. The Clayton County rapper gets an effective redo on her first impression thanks to a timely name change and the world reopening post-pandemic. She makes the most of it on her latest LP, which presents a polished and poised new version of the instantly compelling artist she was on her debut.

You’d be forgiven for not even noticing when Queen Of Da Souf dropped in August of 2020. The world was five months into a global lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID, but that state of affairs also prevented many of the emerging artists who released music that year from being able to spread their art, as well. Despite having strong, deeply-rooted records such as the Gucci Mane-featuring “Muwop” and the Lil Baby collaboration “Sex Lies” on it, Queen Of Da Souf was unable to gain much traction outside of Latto’s previously established fanbase.

It likely didn’t help that she was hampered by her unseemly stage name at the time, Mulatto, which evoked accusations of colorism. Despite not choosing the name she was saddled with as a child performer in her native Georgia, she was forced to field uncomfortable critiques and conversations about intent and perception. Now free of that particular burden, she can direct the focus where it ought to be: on the music.

As much focus as there is likely to be thrown onto big pop swings on the album like the lead single, “Big Energy” – which is her most successful song to date – where Latto continues to shine is in the songs that most heavily draw from the Southern influences of her hometown. Atlanta’s preferred emphasis on booming 808s and snickering snare drums is often the lane in which Latto finds herself most comfortable. On tracks like “Soufside,” “Stepper,” and the pair of title tracks, Latto swaggers and shines, projecting the essence of hip-hop’s foundation of braggadocio.

“It’s Givin” is a standout, stripping down the lush instrumentation on her more radio-ready material to offer a throwback to the skeletal drum machine productions of the late ‘80s. Likewise, “Wheelie,” which reunites Latto with fellow ATL staple 21 Savage, gives her the room to stretch her legs and strut her confident, unapologetic sex rhymes. However, her biggest risks tend to be the ones that pay off the most; on “Sunshine,” she goes to church with Lil Wayne and Childish Gambino, outshining her collaborators on the lush, organ-driven inspirational. It’s by far the most interesting song on the album, even when Gambino can’t help but stick his foot in his mouth by recalling Latto’s old moniker in reference to his own kids.

Fortunately, the other collaborators on the project, like Lil Durk and Nardo Wick, manage to stick to the subject matter at hand. It’s disappointing that she chooses to be part of Kodak Black’s ongoing image rehabilitation campaign (it’s probably only a matter of time until he finds a way to publicly embarrass her with this bet), but Durk and Wick largely do what they’re expected to do. Still, it’s Latto’s show, and like the fond diminutive she’s floated for her growing fanbase, she hits the jackpot, earning her spot in rap’s upper echelon. Whether boasting and bragging on the party joints or turning inward on tracks like “Sleep Sleep,” Latto makes one hell of a second first impression.

777 is out now via Streamcut and RCA Records. Get it here.

Yesterday was a big day in Britney Spears news as the pop star told the world she is pregnant with her third child and first with fiancé Sam Asghari. Aside from that bombshell news, another interesting takeaway from the Instagram post Spears used to share the news was that she referred to Asghari as her “husband.”

This comes a few days after a recent post, in which Spears shared photos of Asghari and wrote, “Trust me I know the beauty in where I am and it’s much appreciated … so here’s me shooting pics of my HUSBAND [ring emoji] !!!! I have to do big letters cause that what my sister has always done on her gram.”

While it’s possible Spears has been calling Asghari her “husband” prematurely out of excitement over their engagement, Spears’ word choice has sparked speculation she and Asghari actually got married in private. Comments on the aforementioned Instagram posts include, “Wifeney ?,” “Enjoy this beautiful moment and your time with your HUSBAND,” and multiple others suggesting Spears and Asghari sign a prenuptial agreement.

Meanwhile, after Spears’ pregnancy announcement, Asghari shared a painting of two lions with their kitten and wrote, “Marriage and kids are a natural part of a strong relationship filled with love and respect. Fatherhood is something i have always looked forward to and i don’t take lightly. It is the most important job i will ever do.”

Spears and Asghari got engaged in September 2021 after four years of dating.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has had a grand time spreading Covid misinformation over the past few years. His combativeness on several subjects is at the point where Jon Stewart’s pointing out his “confusion enema” response to being called out on falsehoods. And one major point of contention that specifically applies to Tucker (in the Covid context) has been his refusal to clarify whether he, like his Fox News colleagues and Rupert Murdoch, actually did get the jab.

Carlson’s stood so firmly against making that reveal that, when quizzed, he pushed back at New York Times reporter Ben Smith with a question about his sex life. Carlson’s also been strangely obsessed with wanting to talk to Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend about reportedly swollen testicles (as an alleged vaccine reaction), and so, it’s quite something that Tucker has actually come forward to tell the world whether he’s walking his talk, so to speak.

As The Daily Beast reports (as part of its Source Material newsletter), Carlson recently spoke at the Awaken megachurch in San Marcos, California, where he bragged about skipping “the first three” doses, and he doesn’t intend upon starting with the fourth, and the crowd went wild. Here’s more:

Audio provided to Source Material by the nonprofit investigative outfit confirmed Carlson’s remarks, which further included him citing having grown up “next to the Salk Institute in La Jolla” as evidence that he is “obviously” not opposed to vaccines. “I’ve had like a million of them,” he said, but regarding the COVID shots, Carlson added of its proponents: “I look at these people, like, this just does not make sense at all. And I have no idea what’s up here, but whatever you’re telling me it’s just not true.”

Well, there you have it. As the Times of San Diego detailed, Tucker spoke at this engagement on April 2, and people paid up to $5,000 for a ticket to watch him speak. Now, is he actually telling the truth at all? God only knows, and perhaps literally.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Jared Leto adores two things about his chosen roles: intense makeup transformations and method acting. In Morbius, he got to do both, so that seems like he’d be having the time of his life. As our own Mike Ryan confirmed with director Daniel Espinosa, however, what transpired didn’t sound like much fun for anyone. Leto held up production to hobble around on crutches (and then be pushed in a wheelchair) instead of walking to the restroom like the able-bodied adult that he is.

And in the aftermath, we’re hearing about what other actors think of method acting. It’s going to be an obligatory topic soon (whether Leto is mentioned or not), and so far, Mads Mikkelsen (who famously portrayed a cannibal without eating anyone, imagine that) has come out against what he deemed “pretentious” method stuff. And Guardians of the Galaxy 3 actor Will Poulter (who’s playing Adam Warlock) is coming out on the right side of history, too. As Poulter (who portrayed a horrific racist in Detroit but obviously wouldn’t even think of going “method” in such an atrocious way) reacted in an interview with The Independent, method actors can turn “inappropriate” if they don’t watch out:

“When it comes to an actor’s process, whatever that is, so long as it doesn’t infringe on other people’s and you’re being considerate, then fine. But if your process creates an inhospitable environment, then to me you’ve lost sight of what’s important. Method acting shouldn’t be used as an excuse for inappropriate behavior — and it definitely has.”

As Collider notes, too, Jake Gyllenhaal (who’s actually no stranger to going method) used his recent SNL monologue to illustrate how the practice has reached heights of ridiculousness. Yup, in other words, going method for bathroom breaks has pushed the whole concept too far. Time for a reset. Someone call Daniel Day Lewis.

(Via The Independent)