Category: Worldwide

Joe Rogan once praised Howard Stern for being the “motherf*cker [who] opened the door” for all podcasters. Stern might wish he had kept it closed

Last week, the “King of All Media” couldn’t keep it together while discussing the trend of conservative radio hosts being hospitalized with COVID-19 and taking back their anti-vaccine takes on their deathbeds. “It’s really funny when these radio, the radio guys are the best, they’re like four of them died, four of them were like ranting on the air,” he said. “They will not get vaccinated… It was like day after day, they were all dying and then their dying words are, ‘I wish I had been more into the vaccine. I wish I had taken it.’”

Stern wants the vaccine to be mandatory (“Fuck them, fuck their freedom. I want my freedom to live”), while Rogan, the quote-unquote “new Howard Stern,” has been dismissive of the vaccine and treated his recent COVID diagnosis with Ivermectin.

After being roundly mocked for taking literal horse medicine, The Joe Rogan Experience lashed out his critics. “CNN was saying I am a distributor of misinformation,” Rogan said, adding, “I don’t know what’s going on, man.” Howard Stern agrees with that.

“I heard Joe Rogan was saying, ‘What are you busting my balls [for]? I took horse de-wormer and a doctor gave it to me.’ Well a doctor would also give you a vaccine, so why take horse-dewormer?” he said during an episode of his radio show (via Mediaite). He continued, “We have no time for idiots in this country anymore. We don’t want you. We want you to all, either go the hospital, and stay home, die there with your Covid. Don’t take the cure, but don’t clog up our hospitals with your Covid when you finally get it. Stay home, don’t bother with science, it’s too late. Go f*ck yourself, we just don’t have time for you.”

(Via Mediaite)

While we’ve known Netflix’s anime adaptation of the legendary Tomb Raider series has been in the works for quite some time now, the streaming service has done a frustratingly good job keeping all its details under wrap. However, we now know the first cast member tied to the upcoming series, and damn if it isn’t some perfect casting.

According to a Variety report, Hayley Atwell — best known for portraying Peggy Carter across the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in her own television show, Marvel’s Agent Carter — has officially been cast as the voice of leading lady Lara Croft in the upcoming Tomb Raider series. Based on the most recent Tomb Raider video game trilogy developed by Square Enix, the anime takes place shortly after the events of 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, in which Lara Croft travels to Central America prevent a devastating cataclysm from happening.

While Lara Croft has already graced our screens in nearly a dozen games as well as in three films — the first two starring Angelina Jolie and the latest, Alicia Vikander — this series marks the character’s debut into both television and anime. Largely considered one of the most iconic and influential female video game protagonists of all time, this expansion of the franchise is a pretty big deal to fans as well as the future of video game-based films and television at large. Seeing as how successful Netflix’s The Witcher series has done for the service, our fingers are crossed Tomb Raider finds just as much success.

Tomb Raider is set to be executive produced and written by Tasha Huo with dj2 Entertainment founder and CEO Dmitri M. Johnson, Howard Bliss, Stephan Bugaji, and Tractor Pants president Jacob Robinson all attached as producers as well. As of right now, there is no release date or additional information on the series, though it seems fairly likely we’ll be seeing it sometime next year.

Jack Harlow‘s had a busy year. After blowing up in 2020 with his runaway hit “What’s Poppin,” he kept the momentum going this year with the release of his debut album, That’s What They All Say, and an appearance on Lil Nas X’s Montero smash “Industry Baby.” In between, he got to live out his dream, working with Eminem on the remix to the rap vet’s single “Killer” alongside Cordae.

While on the red carpet for last night’s MTV VMAs where he was set to perform “Industry Baby” with Lil Nas X, Harlow gave an interview to Billboard‘s Carl Lamarre, explaining how the big-name collaboration came to be. Although he said, “We didn’t get to meet,” he did confirm that Em left him a message that he may end up sharing on a future project. “We had a phone call that meant the world to me,” he recalled, explaining just how much it meant to him. “I haven’t shared it with the world yet, but I can’t wait until the world hears it. He gave me a lot of props that any artist would love to get. Sometimes, the best gem is just somebody you admire, letting you know who you think you are. He let me know, ‘You’re that. You’re dope.’ I’ve waited a decade to hear that. So it was special.”

Harlow was recently the subject of a funny Twitter trend when fans noticed a resemblance to Murda Beatz. You can check that out here.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

There are a ton of video games. Far too many for any one person to play them all, but we all do our best. The problem is that no matter how hard we try we’re never going to actually play all the games we want to play. Some of them are going to slip through the cracks as more and more games come out and jump to the front of the line, and unfortunately, this happens with some true gems. While great games are getting more recognized these days, thanks to the internet and social media, there are still plenty of games that need more love and attention.

Whether you call them underrated, underappreciated, or overlooked, it really doesn’t matter. These games all fall in the category of those that either didn’t receive enough love when they came out or still don’t receive enough love today. Why they’re on the list is going to vary. It might be because it didn’t sell well at launch and became something of a cult classic, or it could be a game that initially wasn’t well-received but gained major accolades later in life. It could be a game that even now not enough people have played. These are those underappreciated classics that everyone should play.

Psychonauts

While everyone has probably heard of Psychonauts by now, thanks in no small part to the release of Psychonauts 2, when it came out it was the definition of an underrated game. Despite having such a unique premise, with the potential to create any world they wanted through people’s minds, it didn’t sell well. Whether the concept was too weird, the art style off-putting, or people were just tired of 3D platformers, it didn’t catch on with fans until much later in life.

It was those fans that allowed Psychonauts to have such a strong comeback. Over the years it reached cult classic status and formed a very strong and dedicated community. It was the efforts of that community, along with an assist from Microsoft, that allowed Psychonauts 2 to eventually release to much critical acclaim. With the sequel a clear Game of The Year contender in 2021, anyone that wants to experience the original can find it readily available these days in places like Steam or on Game Pass. Give it a go, because it’s a great experience.

Earthbound

Earthbound, also known as Mother 2 in Japan, flopped hard in the United States. A mix of poor marketing and a style that was considered dated at the time led to fans choosing newer games over this very fun RPG. These days, Earthbound has a strong following and is considered one of the best games on the Super Nintendo. So how did a game that initially wasn’t received well, even among critics, turn it around? The setting.

When Earthbound was released it was up against the graphics of Donkey Kong Country, the mechanics of Super Metroid, and the story of Final Fantasy VI, three absolute juggernauts of the era. In comparison was this game that western audiences had never seen before, with “worse” graphics, and a modern setting. When they had the choice of what to play they chose fantasy, sci-fi, and new graphics, not the one about four children fighting dirty cops, road signs, and taxis. However, 27 years later and Earthbound feels timeless. The graphics, while not realistic, are colorful and charming. The modern setting is unique, even now, and the writing is genuinely funny. While it might not have the strongest story in the world, Earthbound is a great time because of its reliance on memorable moments and charm. An underrated masterpiece that even now doesn’t get the mainstream love it should.

The World Ends With You

This is maybe the coolest game on this list. Before Square Enix was focused on milking the Kingdom Hearts franchise for every dollar it could get, they released a Nintendo DS only game called The World Ends With You. Everything about TWEWY is cool from character designs, music, and modern Shibuya setting. The gameplay is unique with the player controlling the top and bottom screens at the same time in combat using different control schemes for each. The story is intriguing and interesting but kinda goes off the rails in that classic Square Enix way towards the end.

Some fans would likely argue that this game isn’t that underrated, because everyone who’s played it speaks very highly of it, but unlike other highly praised Square Enix titles this one just kind of came and went. It didn’t get ported many places, a sequel didn’t come out for 14 years, and it wasn’t until recently that Square Enix seemed to remember this game existed. Even when it finally did receive a port to the Switch it was considered a worse version compared to its DS counterpart. This game is underrated because of its missed potential.

Halo 3: ODST

When Halo 3: ODST came out it was easily the least enjoyed of the Halo games. It didn’t have matchmaking multiplayer, the campaign only takes about six and a half hours to finish, and it cost $60 — a little too much for a game that is really just glorified DLC — but time has helped ODST well. The campaign is one of the best of the main games and the move away from Master Chief to the more vulnerable, but still powerful, ODST’s works great. Firefight was fun at the time, and while it probably should have had matchmaking, many hours were spent with friends trying to unlock achievements.

The best part of ODST though is how it chooses to tell its story. The game begins with a team of ODST’s dropping into what they thought was a raid on a Covenant ship, but after that ship jumps into split space the entire team makes a crash landing and is separated. When the player awakens, as The Rookie, it’s been hours and he has to explore the city to try and figure out what’s happened since he’s been unconscious. These sequences are a mix of stealth, action, and exploration and it works very well together. Of course, this is still a Halo game and when the player finds a clue they’re thrust back in time through a flashback to see what the other ODST’s have been doing in levels that are the more traditional Halo affair. It’s a great storytelling mechanic and very fun, not bad for a game that most people didn’t enjoy when it came out just because of price.

Lost Odyssey

One of the biggest weaknesses of the Xbox 360, and that generation of consoles really, was the lack of JRPG’s. The big focus on the time were shooters with franchises like Halo, Call of Duty, and Uncharted dominating. It didn’t help that one of the most highly anticipated JRPG’s at the time, Final Fantasy XIII, flopped and failed to meet fan’s expectations. For many people, the entire generation went by without a single JRPG worth playing. Unfortunately for those people, they missed out on a gem developed by a legend.

Lost Odyssey, an Xbox 360 exclusive, was written by legendary Final Fantasy director Hironobu Sakaguchi. With the music composed by Nobuo Uematsu this may as well have been a Microsoft-published Final Fantasy game. The results sure felt like one, because this is one of the best JRPG’s from that generation of consoles. The characters are well written, the gameplay is fun, and the story is solid. What’s great about it is that it has a combat system that is extremely accessible making it a fantastic choice for someone that hasn’t played a JRPG before. Unfortunately, while the game sold decently well in the West, it sold very poorly in Japan due to the country’s hesitancy to embrace the Xbox. Despite being such a well made game, Lost Odyssey is rarely mentioned in the conversation of best JRPG’s and that’s a shame because it’s a game that needs more attention.

One of the most effective powers of horror cinema is taking the familiar and turning it on its ear to create a vessel of unease — or even outright terror. What if that seemingly innocent child was actually evil? What if, behind those friendly smiles, your neighbors were plotting horrors? What if the man in the mirror actually wanted to kill you?

In a similar manner, contemporary horror master Jordan Peele has found a new use for the most basic and versatile tool in the fear factory toolbox. While his films put novel twists on familiar frights like ambiguous racism and familial strife, he’s shown an equally innovative propensity for transforming our favorite hits, bops, and jams into the stuff of nightmares.

Like the build of tension over the course of the first act, his initial foray into this terrifying territory was subtle and could be easy to miss. It takes place at the very beginning of his first feature, Get Out. The Academy Award-winning debut was a shock in itself when it was first announced. The funnyman from Chappelle Show heir apparent Key & Peele (a misapplied honor in its own right) was going to do horror?

But then the film opens to the familiar tune of Childish Gambino’s “Redbone,” with its ominous admonition to “stay woke,” and it becomes clear that Peele understood more than anyone expected. Of course, that song is an undeniable favorite, handing Donald Glover a Grammy win for Best Traditional R&B Performance with its nods to the psychedelic funk of Parliament and the Family Stone.

In the context of the film itself, though, it serves two functions. One, to establish photographer protagonist Chris’ hip, contemporary awareness of pop culture, placing him firmly in a demographic of young, urban professionals who would be exactly the type to have the song on repeat. It’s no coincidence that this is also the group most likely to be exposed to the sort of wishy-washy, borderline accidental microaggressions that the film’s plot sends up.

But the second service of the song’s placement is that of the audience’s voice in the film, warning the character to watch out. And reflecting the character’s traditional ignorance to our cries in the darkened theater, Chris ignores the plaintive strains of Glover’s vocals, to his own eventual dismay.

And if that instance was the setup, Peele’s next deft disturbance of the musical status quo established him as an expert in not only the use of music to set the spooky atmosphere of a film’s fiendish setting but also in paying off that setup at the height of the film’s action. This time, the song in question is a Bay Area staple, the 1995 Luniz anthem “I Got 5 On It,” which plays in Peele’s follow up 2019 film Us, both the first act in its original form as the Wilson family drives to Santa Cruz for vacation and at the film’s climax when protagonist Addy faces her doppelganger Red in a subterranean fight to the death.

It’s in the second act that the transformation comes, strangling and stretching and stringing out the well-worn beat into something sinister. But this change didn’t even originate within the film itself; instead, Peele and his collaborators later revealed that it had been added to the scene as a response to the enthusiastic reception it received from fans reacting to its use in the film’s trailer, months before its release. The menacing strings and eerie pauses that had been threaded through the song’s DNA like a malignant viral strain had so unnerved audiences that Peele knew it’d be perfect for use in the film’s climactic scene. He was right.

The tactic proved so effective that it was later revisited in the initial trailer for Candyman in 2020, though the film was only produced by Peele, rather than written or directed by him (Nia DaCosta handles those honors this time around, although Peele contributed to the script, as did Win Rosenfeld, his frequent collaborator). The use of the Destiny’s Child 1999 fidelity challenge “Say My Name” cleverly played on the titular killer’s memorable gimmick — in order to summon the Candyman, you must say his name five times in a mirror.

This time, the evocation of Peele’s signature move is like a composer’s confident flourish at the crescendo of his magnum opus. You could say that it’s a rote device, that it’s a crutch, that it’s even (gasp) a gimmick. But in the hands of a horror hero like Jordan Peele, it’s instead a recognizable trademark, as indelible to his work as the hockey mask is to Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees or Freddy Kruger’s bladed glove in The Nightmare on Elm Street. Peele wields musical cues — from hip-hop to R&B to revivalist funk — the way Leatherface swings his chainsaw or Michael Myers looms with his kitchen knife. He turns a tool made for the purpose of evoking one emotion into a weapon with which he carves through his audiences’ expectations, bringing screams of both horror and delight.

Whenever there’s some trouble brewing in the right wing lately, there’s sure to be Steve Bannon lurking somewhere within the mess. Allegedly, he’s a chief instigator, and he’s certainly the guy who pissed off Roger Stone by getting a presidential pardon after being arrested on multiple fraud counts in connection with a Trump donation fund. He also definitely called for Dr. Fauci’s head on a pike, and he seemingly turned against his pal, MyPillow guy Mike Lindell, for failing to “bring the receipts” on voter fraud.

There’s more, though. According to a New York Times profile of veteran journalist Michael Wolff (who’s got a new investigative book, Too Famous, coming out soon), Bannon was all-up with Jeffrey Weinstein prior to his arrest in his sex trafficking scandal. Via Mediaite, the NYT‘s Ben Smith described portions of the book relating to Bannon as a “media trainer” who “advis[ed Epstein] not to share his racist theories on how Black people learn” in transcripts that were acquired by Wolff.

Yikes, and there’s more via the NYT profile:

“Mainly, Mr. Bannon tells Mr. Epstein, he should stick to his message, which is that he is not a pedophile, Smith wrote. “By the end, Mr. Bannon seems impressed. “You’re engaging, you’re not threatening, you’re natural, you’re friendly, you don’t look at all creepy, you’re a sympathetic figure,” he says.

However, Bannon apparently denied that he was doing any media training at all for Epstein. Rather, he claimed to be making a documentary about Epstein (about his “perversions and depravity” being enabled by the powers that be), which runs contrary to how Smith summarizes events while writing, “[I]n the new book, Mr. Wolff relied on transcripts of what Mr. Epstein appears to believe are practice interviews.” So, what, exactly is the truth? While Wolff is staying mum on his sources, there’s a fair chance that Steve Bannon’s involvement in anything is sketchy.

(Via New York Times & Mediaite)

Norwegian-American multi-hyphenate Okay Kaya — aka Kaya Wilkins — has announced a new covers mixtape, The Incompatible Okay Kaya, arriving in October via Jagjaguwar. To celebrate, the Berlin-based artist has shared its lead single, a minimalist cover of gospel standard “If I Can Help Somebody,” which was originally written by composer Alma B Androzzo and recorded by Turner Layton in 1946. Over the years, the hymn has also been covered by Doris Day, Mahalia Jackson, Joseph Locke, Liberarce, and more. Check out Wilkins’ rendition above.

This is certainly not Wilkins’ first time on the covers grind: She earned some love for her haunting cover of Cher’s “Believe” in 2019, and The Incompatible Okay Kaya will feature covers of Nick Cave (“Into My Arms”) and The Magnetic Fields (“Book Of Love”). The mixtape follows Wilkins’ Jagjaguwar debut, Watch This Liquid Pour Itself, and its companion album, Surviving Is The New Living, which also came out in 2020. which dropped last year. Check out the mixtape’s track list below.

The Incompatible Okay Kaya tracklist:

1. “If I Can Help Somebody”
2. “Zero Interaction Ramen Bar”
3. “Calendar Girl”
4. “Book Of Love”
5. “Dance Like U”
6. Into My Arms”
7. “Psychward”
8. “Fake It”
9. “Without Her”

Listen to “If I Can Help Somebody” above. Look for The Incompatible Okay Kaya on 10/22 via Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.

Reports that MMA’s Conor McGregor tried to take a swing at rapper-turned-rocker Machine Gun Kelly at the 2021 MTV VMAs are greatly exaggerated — at least, according to Conor McGregor. The Irish fighter denied the “rumors” that he tried to hit Kelly in an interview after the alleged incident, throwing shade at his would-be opponent in the process. When asked what exactly happened by an Entertainment Tonight reporter, McGregor said, “Absolutely nothing. I just showed up — and I don’t know, I don’t even know the guy.” He couldn’t resist taking a verbal jab, though, saying, “I only fight real fighters, people that actually fight. I certainly don’t fight vanilla, white rappers. I don’t even know the guy — except that he’s with Megan Fox.”

Of course, that’s not how some sources, including TMZ, reported it — at least initially. Reportedly, when McGregor asked MGK for a photo on the red carpet ahead of the show, Kelly shoved him away, spilling his drink. Supposedly, McGregor threw the drink at MGK before the two were separated by security. However, in an update to the story, it appears nothing so dramatic happened, as instead, McGregor merely approached MGK with his hand out to say hello and was shoved by MGK’s security guard. As he says above, he doesn’t know what MGK said to prompt that response from security, but a photo of McGregor with his arm out was interpreted by fans as him throwing a punch (because apparently, people don’t know what a punch looks like).

The two both made it inside without any further fuss and, as Conor said, he doesn’t fight non-professional fighters, so the odds of an escalation are low — although it looks like MGK may have lost himself a fan, and vice versa.

Last night, the MTV VMAs brought their unique blend of fun, scandal, and quirky ceremony back to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, bringing along a live audience for the first time since 2019. Doja Cat hosted, performed, and wore a truly hilarious sequence of off-the-wall costumes. Olivia Rodrigo threw her own prom. Chloe, Normani, and Teyana Taylor saluted the show’s salacious history while paying homage to their heroes. It felt like VMAs were “back,” for lack of a better term.

But while the fans in attendance seemed to be having the time of their lives, an undercurrent of discontent rippled among those watching from home, eventually bubbling up to the surface on Twitter. Viewers skewered the show for its treatment of hip-hop, which they felt had been reduced to an afterthought by the show’s attempt to cover a wide swath of musical genres and generations. While neophyte performers like The Kid Laroi teamed up with their elders like Justin Bieber (congratulations, you’re old now) and even the aging Foo Fighters got their due, for some, it seemed like hip-hop had been left in cold.

Were it not still summer, that would be a literal assessment. Performers Latto and Saint JHN performed their sets from a pavilion outside the main venue and although each was given multiple opportunities to perform — three songs each — home viewers noted that those performances basically amounted to snippets of each song functioning as advertising bumpers. One only lasted for thirty seconds, which more than one commenter observed was shorter than one of the commercials that followed it.

The only main stage rap performance came from Busta Rhymes, who’s been around as long as the Foo Fighters have and whose most recent mega-hit (“Touch It”) might actually be older than half the audience that attended. That, of course, doesn’t count Doja Cat, whose hybrid pop-R&B sound is often punctuated by secretly impressive raps honed on LA’s indie-hip-hop performance circuit (shout out to Bananas!) or Machine Gun Kelly, who still maintains a penchant for spitting the odd 16-bar missive despite ostensibly making the switch to pop-punk, emo-rock tribute. Lil Nas X may have started as a rapper, but he calls himself a pop star now. While Busta’s performance was lauded (again I ask, does the man even breathe during his “Look At Me Now” verse?), it also highlighted the VMAs’ utter lack of main stage hip-hop from this decade — of which there would certainly appear to be no shortage.

Now, we don’t know all the behind-the-scenes, contractual details. There’s still a pandemic on, and many of rap’s top names have flouted reasonable safety precautions over the past year — even Busta himself, who gave a weird, anti-mask rant just a few months ago and has always at least rapped like an anti-vaxxer, even if he might not really be one (rap is wrestling, let’s not forget). But still, there was a decided dearth of appearances from the likes of Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Lil Uzi Vert, hell, even Lil Wayne (yes, I know, hip-hop has a lot of “Lils” — if you’re still complaining about this in 2021, maybe you aren’t the audience for it. Go listen to Foo Fighters or something).

Even Travis Scott only showed up to accept his award for Best Hip-Hop Video (for “Franchise”), giving a short speech before probably bouncing from the building entirely. Plenty of hip-hop artists and videos were nominated — very few won Moon People, despite their videos’ arguable worthiness. Fans were right to be incensed. However, this is the MTV VMAs we’re talking about here. They’ve almost never given any level of serious thought to rap as a genre or hip-hop as a culture, and as mostly fan-voted awards like Artist Of The Year have shown time after time, MTV’s audience has never quite been as invested in them as much as they have pop megastars like Britney Spears and Taylor Swift (or Swift’s heir apparent, Olivia Rodrigo) — the obvious exception being Eminem, for obvious reasons.

So disappointed, but not surprised, is probably the sentiment that best describes how many of us feel about the show’s treatment of hip-hop — which is, if nothing else, reflective of how mainstream America views the perceived creators and purveyors of hip-hop. It’s just a little more disappointing after so many of the show’s efforts in 2020 to acknowledge Black Americans’ plights, making the progress feel more performative than anything. On the bright side, the ratio of Black performers was greater than it’s been since Busta and Missy ruled the VMAs (and took home a paltry handful of awards in their primes, although Missy was honored with a Vanguard Award in 2019). One of them was a gay Black man, expressing his sexuality unabashedly in a flamboyant performance preceding a win for Artist Of The Year.

That’s how progress actually looks. It’s rarely a straight line, with everything moving forward at once. Maybe we take some Ls along the way. Maybe one thing moves forward while others stay stagnant or suffer setbacks. We shouldn’t be discouraged by this. We shouldn’t overlook it either, because the only way we keep moving forward is by constantly fighting for it. But we should take stock and appreciate the wins too. Black women won last night, even if they didn’t take home as many Moon People as some would have liked. Busta Rhymes, a sometimes overlooked legend, got his flowers. Lil Nas X got to stand in a place no one like him would have just a decade ago, as Billy Porter pointed out in his introduction of the “Industry Baby” performance.

And as for Latto and Saint JHN, they got to play more songs than anyone else. Maybe those in the venue wouldn’t have seen them, but far more people watched the broadcast and got to see two of rap’s rising stars multiple times. Those who watched certainly know who they are now — which, when you think about it, is actually the point of these shows in the first place. We don’t always remember who won which award, but those performances can be the first time we fall in love. Someone somewhere did just that last night — and that’s the first step toward becoming the sort of fan-favorite with a shelf full of Moon People.

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

After delivering a bizarre, rambling speech to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Rudy Giuliani is attempting to set the record straight that he wasn’t drunk during the memorial dinner event because he’s not the raging alcoholic that numerous media reports have made him out to be.

While talking to Meghan McCain‘s new place of employment, The Daily Mail, Giuliani repeatedly denied being drunk while delivering his speech, which included, as all speeches do, threats of ripping off General Mark Milley’s military awards and shoving them down his throat. “America’s Mayor” also made entirely unprompted references to Prince Andrew and randomly proclaimed, “Never had a drink with him, never was with a woman or young girl with him. Ever, ever, ever.”

In a nutshell, the 9/11 speech was peak Rudy, but if you ask him, it was a beautiful moment, people were laughing, and, look, he only had a Scotch beforehand. In his own words, he’s not even sure he “drank the whole damn thing.” He also lashed out at accusations that he’s a drunk. Via The Daily Mail:

‘If I was an alcoholic, I’d be fricking dead by now. It is [a] complete lie. I’m on television all the time. I’m as lucid as you can be. I’m not demented like Joe Biden. I can go before the Supreme Court … I have already many times. I write. I do a podcast twice a week. I do a radio show … five times a week. I answer questions from people constantly. I’m probably one of the sharpest guys you’re ever going to meet. And you want to put me in a court room and I’ll kick the s*** out of anybody. I am not an alcoholic.’

According to Giuliani, rumors of his alcoholism are simply a misunderstanding about his love for Scotch and cigars. “I drink moderate amounts of Scotch,” he said. “I mostly drink Scotch because I like to have it with cigars.” While that may have been a convincing argument, these were the very next words out of Giuliani’s mouth, again, unprompted. “I didn’t have a cigar last night.” Absolutely incredible that this is the legal mind that used to take down mob bosses.

(Via Daily Mail)