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A few days ago, Julia Fox confirmed she and Kanye West (aka Ye) had broken up with a social media post. Since then, Azealia Banks has launched a feud with Fox, disputing her version of events.

After Fox’s statement, Banks shared it on her Instagram Story and wrote (as HotNewHipHop notes), “We already know the tea foolia! u came to miami looking for sex work, same lawyer was in contact with ye and it was a weak pr stunt from jump. What did u hustle him for? A bag and some Lucien’s? You absolutely did not come up because if this is how women who ‘always date billionaires’ behave when sh*t goes south, – threatening tell all books…. You can kiss your days as a low rate escort goodbye sis.”

Banks also addressed Fox’s history of drug abuse (which Fox herself has discussed) and called her “a liability” to West.

Later, on her Instagram Story, Fox responded, “I’m open about my issues with addiction because I want to destigmatize it! Not al addicts are ‘junkies’. That is so horrible to say. It’s a real f*cking disease. And I’ve also been open about my recovery journey!!! But nobody wants to mention that right….. If this troll says one more thing about my parenting or my son……….. I was too nice to her cuz I felt sorry for her but now I realize there’s a reason why she spends all the holidays alone. Nobody wants that energy sis!!!”

Banks shared screenshots of an apparent text conversation between her and Fox, as well as a photo that appears to be of Fox taking drugs intravenously. Fox shared alleged text messages of Banks asking her for help buying molly and percocet, which Banks said were not for her.

This morning, in a video on her Instagram Story, Banks addressed the molly and percocet (“MNP,” as she called it), saying she has a friend with medical issues who takes pain medication and sometimes runs out. Banks says she wanted to have sex with him without pain, so she claims that’s why she asked Fox for the drugs.

One of the highlights of Jeen-Yuhs, the new Netflix documentary about Kanye West, is seeing West’s tender relationship with his mother, Professor Donda West. It’s no secret that Kanye considered Donda one of his major anchor points — he named his last album and his non-profit foundation after her — but to watch them share quiet moments together before his ascent to stardom gives viewers a better understanding of just how close they were.

The moment that perhaps best highlights their bond in the first part of the three-part docuseries sees Donda reminiscing about a rap Kanye wrote in high school. Almost instantly, Ye begins to recite it for her, and it doesn’t take long for her to join in, rapping along with the verse as though it were one of Kanye’s hits like “Through The Wire,” “Gold Digger,” “Stronger,” or “Power.” The glimpse into their private world exemplifies how much Donda believed in Kanye’s art — and perhaps reveals part of why Kanye believed in himself so much, even when the recording industry establishment didn’t.

Ye also shows off a truly impressive and hilarious impression of his “big brother” Jay-Z in the episode, which follows him from his humble beginnings as an aspiring rapper and producer for Chicago’s underground hip-hop scene to his eventual signing to Roc-A-Fella Records. You can watch the full episode on Netflix, with parts two and three coming next week and the week after.

As Kanye West tries to work out his marital issues in the public eye, Netflix offers a more pleasant view of the mercurial star as a young, hungry artist in the first episode of the three-part documentary series, Jeen-Yuhs. Shot by longtime Kanye collaborators Coodie + Chike and following the earliest part of his career when he was just a producer on Roc-A-Fella’s payroll being strung along by Dame Dash, Jeen-Yuhs gives a rare glimpse at who Kanye was before the fame, looking up to “big brother” Jay-Z and looking forward to signing his first major-label recording contract.

Before that, though, the documentary gives much-needed background into Kanye’s upbringing, including his close relationship with his mother Donda West, and the underground Chicago hip-hop scene that incubated the rapper’s nascent talents. It follows his invasion of the Roc-A-Fella offices in New York to play his music for anyone and everyone who’ll listen in the hopes of getting Dash’s attention. And it catches Kanye showing off a hilariously accurate impression of Jay-Z before the two rappers ever joined forces to make rap fans Watch The Throne.

Mostly, though, the first episode sets the stage for Kanye’s precipitous rise, reminding us that even the biggest stars often have to start from humble beginnings.

Episode one of Jeen-Yuhs is now streaming on Netflix.

Episode six of the second season of The Righteous Gemstones, entitled “Never Avenge Yourselves, But Leave it to the Wrath,” ended on a doozy: Was Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) really shot to death? The patriarch of the evangelical powerhouse family was beset upon by a group dubbed by Danny McBride’s Jesse Gemstone as the “Cycle Ninjas” — mysterious black-clad assailants on motorcycles who, alas, use uzis, not blades. Eli was shot while driving alone at night along an otherwise deserted road. He could have been left for dead.

So is Eli Gemstone really dead?

The answer, as revealed on episode seven, “And Infants Shall Rule Above Them,” is: Nope. He miraculously made it. The episode opens with Eli safe in a hospital, in a wing his three sometime-screw-up children rented out entirely for him. Eli is comatose and when the episode begins, there’s much anxiety over whether or not he’ll pull through. There’s so much anxiety, in fact, that Jesse, his wife Amber (Cassidy Freeman), his sister Judy (Edi Patterson), and her fiancé BJ (Tim Baltz) wind up in an epic puke-a-thon before the opening credits roll.

Then again, who are the “Cycle Ninjas”? So far it’s unclear. They first appeared in episode four, “As to How they Might Destroy Him,” attempting (but failing) to kill Jesse and Amber. Jesse seems to suspect Junior, but it seems unlikely. With two more episodes left, we’re bound to find a surprising answer as to who would want to wipe out the Gemstone family. Or maybe they’ll save that one for the recently greenlit third season.

Snoop Dogg has been a busy man. On Friday, he released his 19th album, BODR (Bacc On Death Row), and on Sunday, he joined Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, and Anderson .Paak at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. Prior to those events, Snoop revealed that he acquired Death Row Records from MNRK Music Group and the private equity fund that owned it managed by Blackstone investment firm. Days after the acquisition, Snoop revealed his plans to make Death Row an NFT record label.

Snoop shared the news after making a surprise appearance in a devoted Clubhouse room on Monday. “Death Row will be an NFT label,” Snoop said. “We will be putting out artists through the metaverse. Just like we broke the industry when we was the first independent [label] to be major, I want to be the first major [label] in the metaverse.”

Snoop Dogg is also facing some legal problems after he was sued for an incident of sexual assault from 2013. The unnamed woman claims that the incident occurred after she attended one of Snoop’s shows in Anaheim, California.

You can hear Snoop Dogg talk about making Death Row an NFT label in the video above.

BODR is out now via Death Row/Create. Get it here.

When Chris Cuomo was fired from his CNN gig in December, the journalist’s unethical attempts to aid his also embattled brother weren’t the only issue he faced. He’d also been accused of sexual misconduct. Details about the latter have been kept out of the public eye, but now we’re learning that he reportedly made sketchy attempts to silence his accuser.

A new piece by The New York Times (in a bit teased out by The Wrap) reveals more about the incident, which occurred in 2011, involving an anonymous woman who had worked with Cuomo at ABC News. Cuomo had invited the young woman, a temp hoping for a full-time job, to lunch, during which he promised career advice. When she arrived, she found no food. Instead, Cuomo allegedly assaulted her.

Years later, at the height of the #MeToo movement, when figures like Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer were being belatedly punished for their alleged actions, Cuomo rang her up out of the blue:

Mr. Cuomo proposed arranging a CNN segment about the company where she worked doing public relations. The woman tried to avoid any contact with Mr. Cuomo, but CNN ultimately broadcast a segment anyway.

“After years without any substantive communication from Mr. Cuomo whatsoever, Ms. Doe suspected he was concerned about her coming forward publicly with her allegations and wanted to use the proposed segment as an opportunity to ‘test the waters’ and discourage her from going on the record about his sexual misconduct,” Ms. Katz wrote.

This story was recounted in a letter sent by a lawyer representing the woman Cuomo had alleged assaulted to CNN. It arrived less than 24 hours after Jeff Zucker, who up till recently was the president of the network, had effectively assured Cuomo that he’d be back on air after having been suspended for not disclosing how closely he’d aided his brother, disgraced New York governor Andrew Cuomo, against his own allegations of sexual misconduct.

The letter described Cuomo’s actions as an “abuse of power at CNN to attempt to silence my client.” The article goes on to explain how this set of a chain reaction that led to Zucker’s own ouster from the network.

(Via NYT and The Wrap)

After waiting for nearly three years, HBO’s fan-favorite dark comedy Barry will finally return for its third season on April 24th, show co-creators Alec Berg and Bill Hader confirmed during a TCA appearance. “Season three, more than anything, shows the ramifications of [Barry’s violence],” Hader told critics at the Television Critics Association. “Even more bad things happen. Mostly bad.”

The series, starring Saturday Night Live alum Hader, began airing in 2018 and became an instant favorite. Hader stars as an aspiring actor/literal assassin, alongside Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg, Stephen Root, and Anthony Carrigan.

According to HBO’s official synopsis: “While Barry has eliminated many of the external factors that pushed him towards violence, he soon discovers they weren’t the only forces at play. What is it about his own psyche that led him to become a killer in the first place? Season 3 finds Barry and the other characters trying to make the right choice.”

Season three will be comprised of eight episodes airing on HBO and will also be available on HBO Max.

Last year, Hader confirmed that season three was in the works, and that a fourth season was already written, meaning we could spend at least a few more years with Barry Block, if HBO chooses to renew the series again. The show has been awarded numerous accolades, including Emmys for both Hader and Winkler, plus nominations for Goldberg, Root and Carrigan. Overall, the series has a whopping 30 Emmy nominations.

Trey Songz finds himself in legal trouble once again after a woman reportedly sued him for $20 million after she claims the singer raped her. The alleged incident occurred on March 24, 2016 with a woman who was identified in court documents as Jane Doe. According to the documents, which were obtained by TMZ, the woman claims that she was invited to a house party in Los Angeles where she was invited upstairs to have was she believed would be consensual sex. Instead, Trey repeatedly asked her if he could “get that ass” to which she repeatedly said “no.”

The woman claims that Trey’s behavior changed once they got into the bedroom, where he allegedly threw her to the ground, ripped her pants off, pinned her face-first to the floor, and anally rapped her. She says she tried to fight him off but he overpowered her. She also claims that someone walked into the room, and while she hoped this would cause the “brutal rape” to end, the individual quickly exited the room and Trey continued his assault.

According to the documents, the woman was only able to leave once Trey finished. She grabbed her clothes, except for her underwear, and ran outside to her Uber. During the ride, the Uber driver noticed she was in distress and reportedly took her to a hospital, where the police were called and a sexual assault exam was performed. The exam showed “severe anal tearing that could require surgery.” However, she said she did not mention Trey’s name to the police because she was “in shock and fearing for her life.”

The woman is seeking $20 million in damages. Her lawyer, Ariel Mitchell, is representing two other women who have also accused Trey of sexual assault, one in New York and another in Miami. In November, Trey was hit with a lawsuit for sexual assault in Las Vegas,. Last month, he was accused of rape by former UNLV basketball player Dylan Gonzalez.

Trey Songz is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Boston Celtics are rolling right now, winning eight consecutive games to move into the top six in the Eastern Conference. Defense has been at the forefront for the Celtics all season and, while there is plenty of credit to go around, veteran guard Marcus Smart is a key piece of the team’s resistance. On Tuesday, the Celtics appeared to be well on their way to a ninth straight win, building a 24-point lead late in the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers. Unfortunately, the positive vibes were quelled when Smart went down in visible pain and holding his right ankle.

The video shows that Smart was immediately in agony, and it didn’t take long for the Celtics to indicate that he would not return to the game with what the team is calling a right ankle sprain.

Smart will almost certainly receive additional evaluation in the coming hours, and hopefully the injury is not one that will sideline him long-term. The Celtics moved to acquire Derrick White from the San Antonio Spurs before the trade deadline, and that move gives Boston some insurance in the form of a strong defender and ball-handler at the point of attack. Still, the team’s vision includes both Smart and White, and Boston would certainly be weakened if Smart had to miss any extended period of time.

Back in December, Roddy Ricch released his long-awaited second album, Live Life Fast, featuring Future, Kodak Black, 21 Savage, Ty Dolla Sign, Gunna, and more. Alas, listeners were not too impressed with it, only debuting at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 — an underwhelming release, especially when compared to his debut album Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial which spent multiple weeks at No. 1.

During a recent interview with DJ Akademiks, Roddy Ricch responded to the criticism behind the album and said it would’ve performed better if it dropped closer to when its lead single, “Late At Night,” was released. “That song was such a crazy song that people caught on two to three months later,” Roddy said. “If I would have dropped an album within that [time frame] and did whatever I did, I would have dropped and I would have been 180k up.” Roddy also said that he isn’t letting the negative criticism get to him.

“Just because the numbers didn’t align up or the timing or the plan didn’t really fall the way it was supposed to fall, now ni***s got this different narrative of how they wanna play it, but I know what’s going on,” he said. “That sh*t is cool, they can play it however they wanna play it, but I still know I’m an earner.”

You can watch Roddy’s conversation with DJ Akademiks above.

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