Category: Worldwide

Ted Cruz has lost track of what he believes. Last week, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Capitol insurrection, Cruz—who has spent the last 12 months regularly downplaying the events of January 6th—suddenly decided to condemn that day’s riots as a “violent terrorist attack.” But when Tucker Carlson criticized the Texas senator for his bold assertion, Cruz quickly folded then popped up on Fox News to raise the white flag and admit that what he had said was “frankly dumb” while Carlson berated him.

That 24-hour about-face could have been the end of it, had Cruz simply chosen to slink off back to his cave while the rest of the world labeled him a “sniveling coward” and compared him to Reek from Game of Thrones. Instead, the unofficial ambassador of Señor Frog’s Cancun has decided to double-down on his previous treatment of January 6th as anything but a “violent terrorist attack” by declaring it a false flag operation.

As Raw Story reports, Cruz is doing everything he can to become a VIP member of Club MAGA once again, most recently by spending some time chatting with Sean Hannity on Tuesday night. When the topic turned to the Capitol coup, Cruz broke out a popular conspiracy theory that the events of that day were a false flag operation, claiming that insurrectionist Ray Epps was an FBI informant. As Cruz told Hannity:

“I asked FBI [official Jill Sanborn], ‘Is Mr. Epps an agent of the FBI? Is he an informant of the FBI?’ And she stonewalled, refused to answer. We know the FBI put him out on the list of people they wanted information about, and then magically he disappeared. There needs to be transparency, and the Biden administration needs to fess up—is this a politicized law enforcement operation that is targeting the enemies of the president? And did they actively encourage and solicit illegal conduct?”

It was the second time that Cruz pushed this idea on Tuesday, having made the same general assertions earlier in the day during a legislative hearing, writes Raw Story. The January 6th House select committee issued an unequivocal response to Cruz’s suggestions on Tuesday, stating:

“The Committee has interviewed Epps. Epps informed us that he was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on Jan 5th or 6th or at any other time and that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency.”

People on Twitter had some thoughts about Reek Cruz, with many of them attempting to remind him who the president was on January 6, 2021 (hint: not Joe Biden).

(Via Raw Story)

After putting out many of the best movies of 2021, including The Green Knight, Zola, and Red Rocket, A24 has another big year ahead. 2022 will see the release of Disappointment Blvd., Ari Aster’s mysterious follow-up to Hereditary and Midsommar starring Joaquin Phoenix; the awesome looking Everything Everywhere All at Once; After Yang, from Columbus director Kogonada; and X, which I can only describe as, what if The Texas Chainsaw Massacre… but with porn stars.

The 1970s-set horror film follows “a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives,” according to A24. There’s no Leatherface (although Leatherface should appear in non-Massacre movies; he’s been typecast for too long), but X does have creepy weirdos in a middle-of-nowhere Texas house — and plenty of violence. And sex, obviously.

X was written and directed by Ti West, who also made The House of the Devil, In a Valley of Violence, and The Innkeepers, and stars Mia Goth (Suspiria), Jenna Ortega (Jane the Virgin), Martin Henderson (The Ring), Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect), and Scott Mescudi (a.k.a. rapper Kid Cudi). It comes out in theaters on March 18.

Sarah Palin, who even the most trolled person on Twitter has an issue with, is suddenly everywhere. If she’s not stating that she’d only get vaccinated “over my dead body,” she’s threatening to run for office again or accusing Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of wanting to “pound” sex into people’s heads. The former-Alaska governor also filed a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times over a 2017 editorial that, she claims, falsely linked her to the 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that wounded Rep. Gabby Giffords.

The case will go to trial, and when it does, Palin would really prefer if the jury didn’t see her perform “Baby Got Back” while dressed as a bear on Fox’s The Masked Singer.

Sarah Palin wants jurors to be barred from seeing footage of her appearance on The Masked Singer in her defamation case against the New York Times that may go to trial in the coming weeks. In a court filing in the Manhattan federal suit Monday, the former GOP vice presidential candidate listed a number of proposed exhibits she wants hidden from the jury because they could cause “unfair prejudice and confusion,” among other issues.

The exhibits she wants dismissed (due to “unfair prejudice and confusion; improper character evidence; and hearsay”) include “Masked Singer Video – Dancing and Rapping” and “Masked Singer Video – Reveal,” as well as “Palin Instagram Account” and “Sarahpalin.com – Online Store.” You can’t buy a copy of her Masked Singer episode on the website, but you can purchase a used DVD of Sarah Palin’s Alaska for $2.12.

Boy, it sure would be a shame if you were to watch Palin on The Masked Singer, the footage of which I’m definitely not posting below.

If anything, Sir Mix-a-Lot should be suing her.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter and the New York Post)

Amy Schneider, who was already the winningest woman on Jeopardy! before passing the $1,000,000 mark on Friday, keeps on cranking. On Tuesday might, the Ohio native scored her 30th win, and there’s no sign that she’ll be knocked down anytime soon. To that end, she sat down with NPR to discuss her winning streak, and there’s plenty of useful tidbits in here, including how those GOP trolls aren’t actually as bad (at least online) as Amy expected them to be.

Amy revealed how “[i]t really is a much smaller percentage of negative feedback that I’ve been getting,” as well as her believe that “as anyone should on the internet, I stay out of the comment sections.” That’s the truth, and Amy opened up about the song (and it’s the same one I once used before running races with much less success) that she uses to get herself ready to roll. In addition to years of prep, the song is working:

“To sort of pump myself up before each game … standing at the podium, I kind of run through the lyrics of Eminem’s Lose Yourself,” she said. “It’s so fitting to the moment because I really do have to lose myself in the moment, like he says.”

From there, Amy also took to Twitter to discuss how she prefers to unwind, post-game: bath bombs. It looks like she’s on the mend from having a cold, too, and Amy also opened up about the strict, early-morning Covid-19 testing regimen for contestants during these strange times.

(Via NPR)

Things between Britney Spears and her sister Jamie Lynn don’t seem to be great right now, as Britney recently unfollowed her on Instagram. Now, Jamie Lynn herself has addressed her and Britney’s relationship while promoting her new book Things I Should Have Said in a new Good Morning America interview today. Furthermore, some think one of Britney’s latest Instagram posts is a response to the GMA appearance.

In a clip teasing the interview that was shared yesterday, Jamie Lynn tearfully acknowledges her and Britney’s strained relationship and says, “I love my sister.” After that teaser was revealed, some interpreted Britney’s next post as being a response hinting that she will write a memoir of her own, as she shared a photo of a typewriter and captioned it, “Shall I start from THE BEGINNING???”

During the interview, Jamie Lynn said she was “happy” when she learned that her sister’s conservatorship had come to an end and noted that she “took no steps to be a part of” the conservatorship. She also said she “went out of my way to make sure she had the contacts she needed to possibly go ahead and end this conservatorship,” later adding, “I did take the steps to help, but how many times can I take the steps without, you know… she has to walk through the door.”

In another clip from a more emotionally charged part of the interview, Jamie Lynn tearfully says of her and Britney’s relationship, “That love is still there, 100 percent. I love… I love my sister. I’ve only ever loved and supported her and done what’s right by her, and she knows that, so I don’t know why we’re in this position right now.”

This wouldn’t be the first time Britney has seemingly responded to Jamie Lynn and her book: Shortly after Jamie Lynn revealed her book’s title in October 2021, Britney posted on Instagram, “Psssssss also great news … I’m thinking of releasing a book next year [winking emoji] but I’m having issues coming up with a title so maybe my fans could help !!!! Option #1 … ‘Sh*t, I really don’t know’ Option #2 … ‘I really care what people think’ [laughing and shrugging emojis] !!!!” What do you guys think ????”

You’ve got to hand it to Miley Cyrus — nobody does a come back quite like her. When she pivoted to rock in 2020 with Plastic Hearts, it was about as epic a return as any artist has made, and these days, fans are clamoring for more. After her impressive NYE performance and hosting gig with Pete Davidson — where she soldiered through a major wardrobe malfunction — Miley has been working on new music. Likely the first item on her list is recording a studio version of “You,” a song she performed live on New Year’s Eve that her listeners have been clamoring for a recorded version of ever since.

And even though she might be in her rock phase now, that doesn’t mean Miley has abandoned her interest in hip-hop. It seemed she did, a few years ago, when she decided to throw the entire genre under the bus, but now she’s definitely back in the mix. She posted a series of photos on Instagram today with her Bangerz collaborator, Mike Will Made It, and his proteges, Rae Sremmurd. Also pictured? Tobias Jesso Jr. and Bibi Bourelly. This new record is definitely going to be interesting! Keep your ears out for new music coming soon.

The Weeknd started teasing his new album as long ago as last year’s Billboard Music Awards, but it wasn’t until last week that the project finally dropped. Now that Dawn FM is here after months of cryptic teasers, Abel is giving fans even more than they bargained for — the project is a whopping 16 tracks long (!), seems to all but confirm his relationship with Angelina Jolie, and features an appearance from fellow famous Canadian, Jim Carrey.

Not only that, but earlier this week the R&B superstar also let fans know that 2020’s After Hours and Dawn FM are part of a brand new trilogy, mirroring an album release technique that set Abel apart very early in his career. While we wait for more info on what the third installment will be, tonight Abel let listeners know they’d be getting brand new “alternate world” versions of a couple of new tracks. He shared new versions of both “Sacrifice,” his collaboration with Swedish House Mafia, and “Take My Breath Away.”

Technically billed as remixes, the songs also bear that “alternate world” label, which might indicate that there’s an alternate version of every song on Dawn FM. Guess we’ll have to wait and see! For now, check out a new version of “Sacrifice” above and “Take My Breath Away” below.

Kodak Black has made headlines for many reasons. He’s a rapper, so he’s often in the news for his music releases. He got in trouble with the law early on in his career, so details about a potential sexual assault and battery case have been reported on many times, as have his charges for grand theft auto and child neglect. Lately, Kodak has even garnered attention for insisting it he’s the one who warrants a Verzuz battle with Jay-Z… which plenty of listeners will consider to be more off-the-mark behavior.

But tonight while watching the Florida Panthers play the Vancouver Canucks, Kodak and his fiancé, Mellow Rackz, caught the attention of fans at ​the FLA Live Arena for a different reason. Namely, for around of twerking that was intense… it seemed like it might be more than just dancing. Although a different clip posted later showed Rackz dancing up on him in a way that seemed to indicate there was no foul play involved, plenty of fans — and then, of course internet commenters — had already assumed that Kodak and Mellow got bored watching the game and decided to get it on.

Hey, even the most sex-positive among us can agree, that whatever two consenting adults want to do is all well and good, but it probably shouldn’t happen in an arena setting. Looks like that wasn’t the case here, but the internet had a field day anyway. Check out some of the reactions below.

The Washington Wizards defended their home court against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. Washington, which entered the game with five losses in its last eight games, picked up a 122-118 win in regulation to move to 21-20 at the halfway mark of this season.

According to a new report by Shams Charania of The Athletic, the game featured some fireworks that fans did not get to see. Charania reports that, during halftime, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got into it with one another, with both players throwing punches, teammates needing to keep them from going at one another, and an “increased security presence to ensure the tension did not escalate again.”

Sources said Harrell became upset with Caldwell-Pope for not passing him the basketball on a play before the first half concluded, and the two started jawing during the walk to the locker room. As the two exchanged words, Harrell and Caldwell-Pope took swings toward each other — with neither connecting — and became entangled before teammates separated them, sources said.

Caldwell-Pope and Harrell are not first-time teammates, as the pair were members of the Los Angeles Lakers alongside one another last season and joined the Wizards in the trade that sent Russell Westbrook to L.A. On the night, Caldwell-Pope had 16 points, while Harrell contributed 12 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.

In the summer of 2020, Lil Wayne released his beloved 2009 mixtape, No Ceilings, to streaming platforms. It arrived without the original three skits that once appeared on it. Seven songs were cut as well, presumably due to Wayne’s inability to clear samples. Now Wayne plans to bring another one of his famed mixtapes to streaming platforms: Sorry 4 The Wait.

Sorry 4 The Wait was the first mixtape Wayne shared after he was released from prison in late 2010 following an eight-month stint on an attempted criminal possession of a weapon charge. Wayne’s ninth album, Tha Carter IV, was originally supposed to be the first one he dropped after his release from prison, but it faced numerous delays. As a result, Wayne shared Sorry 4 The Wait as an apology for those repeated delays.

Sorry 4 The Wait is composed of remixes with Wayne trying his hand at tracks like Beyonce’s “Run The World (Girls),” Drake’s “Marvin’s Room,” Adele’s “Rolling In Deep,” Miguel’s “Sure Thing,” and more. It features 12 songs, so it remains to be seen if Wayne and his team will be able to clear all of the necessary samples to keep the mixtape in its original form.

You can pre-save Sorry 4 The Wait on Apple Music and Spotify here.