Category: Worldwide

Like many other major festivals, iHeartRadio‘s 2021 event is vying to make a return this fall. The Las Vegas festival has invited some of today’s biggest stars to take the stage, including Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Lil Baby.

This year’s two-day event officially runs from September 18 to 19 and takes place at Vegas’ massive T-Mobile Arena. Along with Eilish, Lipa, and Lil Baby, some of the other artists invited to the stage include Olivia Rodrigo, DaBaby, The Kid Laroi, Saweetie, Yungblud, 24kGoldn, Addison Rae, Coldplay, Maroon 5, Florida Georgia Line, Cheap Trick, Nelly, Journey, Weezer, Sam Hunt, All Time Low, Conan Gray, Tate McRae, Khalid, and more.

In a statement about the 2021 festival, iHeartMedia’s Chief Programming Officer Tom Poleman said the event is slated to be a “historic” one. “This year’s Festival will be historic for many reasons,” Poleman said. “Not only will it be the first time all of these artists are together on the same stage, but also because it’ll be in front of a live audience. We’ve all been waiting for this moment — live music is back, and we’ll be celebrating like never before.”

Tickets to iHeartRadio’s 2021 festival are on sale 6/25 at 11 a.m. PST. Get them here.

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

The Dallas Mavericks are entering a critical offseason with Luka Doncic as their clear present and future as a superstar, but with plenty of uncertainty around him with regards to the roster. Tim Hardaway Jr. is a free agent, trade rumors are swirling about Kristaps Porzingis given his struggles in the postseason, and overall the roster needs upgrades to become a real contender in the West.

Early in the week, a bombshell report dropped in which much of the blame for Dallas’ internal dysfunction was laid at the feet of pro gambler turned executive Haralabos Voulgaris, calling him a “shadow GM” and with many examples of him apparently overstepping his role and becoming far more powerful in decision-making within the organization than maybe anyone, including GM Donnie Nelson. It wasn’t hard to figure out who was likely one of the chief sources in that story, as Nelson would understandably be one of the most frustrated individuals about a shift of power as described in The Athletic’s piece, but what came next was something no one expected.

Nelson, who has been with the Mavs since 1998, has “parted ways” with the organization as of Wednesday, leading them into their most critical offseason in years with a new top priority of finding a new GM.

It is hard not to see this as, at least in some way, tied to that internal dysfunction, but the decision reportedly came before the story ran.

All of this is to say, Dallas has some serious work to do internally to figure things out, but they now get a chance to reset with a new GM and, possibly, more shakeups in their front office structure before they get into a very important draft, free agency, and trade season.

Ever since Harley Quinn co-creator Justin Halpern revealed that DC Comics prevented the already raunchy animated series from showing Batman performing oral sex on Catwoman, naturally, social media has been having a field day with the topic all week. But just when it seemed like the memes were coming to a dull roar, Val Kilmer has entered the chat.

Making him the first Batman to weigh in on the “Does the Dark Knight go downtown?” debate, Kilmer showed he’s aware of the conversation by tweeting out a GIF from Batman Forever on Wednesday with the caption, “Does he or doesn’t he…?” And while that seems like Kilmer is leaving the question open-ended, the GIF does anything but.

“We could give it a try. I’ll bring the wine,” Kilmer’s Batman says to Nicole Kidman’s Chase Meridian in the erotically-charged rooftop scene. Of course, that would suggest that Kilmer’s Batman has never performed the sex act before, but he’s open to it. Or maybe — possibly… probably — we’re reading too much into this.

Anyway, the topic has produced a non-stop parade of reactions as people still can’t handle Halpern’s anecdotes about DC’s objections to showing Batman pleasuring Catwoman.

“We had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman. And DC was like, ‘You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that.’” Halpern told Variety. “They’re like, ‘Heroes don’t do that.’ So, we said, ‘Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?’ They were like, ‘No, it’s that we sell consumer toys for heroes. It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.’”

(Via Val Kilmer on Twitter)

I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m skeptical of the majority of CBD products on the market. I’ve written about why before, but it basically comes down to three key factors:

1. CBD is unregulated by the FDA, which means that manufacturers can misrepresent what’s actually in the product by putting whatever they want on the label. According to this report from Leafreport, only 42% of brands test almost all of their products for potency and share their third-party lab results with consumers. From the same report, only 13% of brands tested almost all of their products for purity — checking for microbial content, pesticides, or heavy metals.
2. There is no consensus on what constitutes a “therapeutic” dose of CBD for aiding in the treatment of a variety of ailments. Many products on the market have what I like to call a “token dose” — a minimal amount of CBD is included so whoever is making the product can say it’s there. But low level doses likely don’t have have a measurable effect on the body. (CBD in the legit gummies, for example generally has at least 20mg CBD/ serving)
3. Sourcing in CBD is an issue when it comes to quality. CBD that utilizes American-grown hemp or marijuana and is full or broad-spectrum is considered the best. (Here are some other shopping tips, for anyone who wants to dive deeper on this topic.)

That’s not to say I hate CBD. I’m just skeptical. In fact, I’m usually hesitant to say “yes” to even receiving CBD samples unless I have a satisfactory answer to the questions above. But when I heard that there was a new queer, femme, and Black and Latinx-owned CBD line, called Xula, from one of my favorite cannabis healers and personalities, Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey… Well, my ears instantly perked up.

I’m a devotee of Aggrey’s book, The Art of Cooking With Weed Butter, and a longtime follower of hers on social media. To me, she’s an anti-influencer influencer — one gets the sense that she walks the walk, along with talking the talk. She seems genuine and devoted to her study and practice of using medicinal herbs, including cannabis. Once the dosing and sourcing checked out, I knew that if any CBD product were to work, there was a good chance it would be Xula’s.

I was right. Xula’s products worked for me, particularly for my period aches and pains. I used the Uff! Moon + Womb oil during the first day of my cycle, which is when I experience heavy cramping and general lethargy. I was genuinely shocked to find that, within 30 minutes or so of ingesting the oil, my cramps had subsided. I also applied the Uff! Touch + Soothe balm to my midsection. Both products contain high doses of CBD and CBG — which are said to have anti-inflammatory properties — as well as passionflower, mugwort, black cohosh root, ginger root, lemon verbena, and lemon.

I couldn’t believe how well it worked. I was not alone.

“With our formulas, we had the theory behind it, we worked with the herbalist, and with my background studying cannabis for a few years, we thought, ‘This should really work for cramps,’ or for any of the other things we had formulations for,” Xula co-founder Karina Primelles told me. “But actually seeing the experience side, we were like, ‘Oh my god, this actually works!’ We sent initial formulas to friends and family members. As the feedback started to roll in, we were like, ‘Okay! we actually figured it out!’”

Both Primelles and Aggrey noted that the “only negative feedback” they received was that the Uff! oil tasted bitter, which is true. But it only lingers for a moment and the benefits outweigh whatever temporary discomfort there is. A strong ginger flavor helps, too.

As for the results, my personal response was so strong that I pressed Primelles to explain why Xula worked when so many other menstrual remedies have failed me.

“With that formula, CBD itself is said to help. There is a lot of research about CBD’s analgesic effects” she said, referring to how CBD is considered to be a treatment for pain management. “With cramps, specifically, it’s really interesting because there are these compounds called prostaglandins, which enhance contractions. There have been studies that have shown a correlation with women whose bodies produce a higher level of these compounds, they also have a higher level of cramps. CBD can inhibit production of those compounds.”

Both Primelles and Aggrey had a goal of making “specific products tailored towards specific ailments.” To do this, they identified specific combinations of herbs and other plants with the goal of getting their future customers more in tune with plant medicine in general, not just cannabis.

“Where we saw this opportunity was, how do we use cannabis, and CBD specifically, as this entry point to take that medicine more seriously?” Primelles noted.

In the case of the Uff! formula, to give an example, the duo consulted a variety of healers with decades of practice, including Indigenous healers who have strong cultural ties to using said plants medicinally. They settled on plants that are anti-inflammatory, cooling, and increase circulation.

There are other worthy products in the Xula line-up besides the Uff! formulas. I enjoyed the Mhm! Moon + Mood formulas as well — feeling like they gave me back a little pep in my step that I was otherwise missing at that time of the month. I am also a regular CBD oil-taker, which I use to treat anxiety, and found that the Ah! Calm + Clarity blend allowed me to chill out without feeling too tired, a tricky balance for any anti-anxiety remedy regimen in which most active ingredients also put me to sleep.

Beyond simply making CBD products that actually work, which can feel like a bit of an anomaly in the wider CBD market, it’s also notable that Xula is founded and owned by two non-white women in an industry where CEOs and founders are frequently white men with significant capital backing. Both Primelles and Aggrey are based in Mexico, where they met and developed their mutual love and education of medicinal plants, including cannabis.

Regarding their brand identity and how it intersects with their personal identities, Aggrey says she and Primelles have gone back-and-forth over how exactly to position their products.

“We had this conversation where we said, ‘Okay, do we want to talk about being queer, Latinx and Black-owned? Or do we want to talk about high-grade, organically grown, small-batch?’” she said. “It has been a little bit of a struggle because a lot of people just want to talk about it being queer, Black or Latinx-owned and not as much about how we are crafting a really special product.”

Primelles also points out how this has been a natural advantage for Xula. “We were also talking about how we don’t want to be the dominant, or common, kind of founder. When you’re not the dominant form, it gives you the space to see things differently and, consequently, produce different products. It shows in the things we vibe with, the content we produce, and the products we think about creating. In a sense, that’s a blessing or an advantage in having that perspective.”

“Inclusivity comes from this idea of when everyone is represented it’s better for the collective. It’s not just ‘We’re the minorities and we want to be included!’” Mennlay added. “We have something special and unique to offer. This should be the norm, this should be the standard and this is why: look what we can bring to the table!”

If this is what the future of plant medicine looks and feels like, sign me up. Xula has turned me back into a CBD believer.

The past three presidential administrations have been a game of ping-pong for LBGTQ+ students’ rights. During his term as president, Trump rescinded Obama-era protections for transgender students, and now the Biden administration is undoing that Trump-era guidance.

An announcement from the U.S. Department of Education today clarified that transgender and gay students are protected from discrimination under Title IX.

“Today, the Department makes clear that all students — including LGBTQ+ students —deserve the opportunity to learn and thrive in schools that are free from discrimination,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

“The Supreme Court has upheld the right for LGBTQ+ people to live and work without fear of harassment, exclusion, and discrimination – and our LGBTQ+ students have the same rights and deserve the same protections.”

Last year, the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that allowed transgender students to compete in sports according to their gender identity, arguing that state laws that allowed their participation were discriminatory against cisgender students.

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a 13-page Notice of Interpretation explaining the guidance.

“OCR has long recognized that Title IX protects all students, including students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, from harassment and other forms of sex discrimination,” it reads. “OCR also has long recognized that Title IX prohibits harassment and other forms of discrimination against all students for not conforming to stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity. But OCR at times has stated that Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination does not encompass discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. To ensure clarity, the Department issues this Notice of Interpretation addressing Title IX’s coverage of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in light of the Supreme Court decision discussed below.”

The Supreme Court decision in question is the 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia decision, in which the Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because they are gay or transgender. That decision determined that discriminating against someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity was ultimately discriminating against them “on the basis of sex,” which is a violation of the Civil Rights Act.

The back-and-forth interpretations of Title IX have understandably been a source of consternation for families of LGBTQ+ students. The Equality Act would create a more solid legal backing to anti-discrimination policy, explicitly protecting people from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and enshrining those protections into law. That bill has been passed in the U.S. House of Representatives but has yet to be taken up by the Senate. The bill would require 60 votes in the Senate to pass, and it’s been unclear whether it would receive that much support.

In the meantime, having this Title IX guidance from the current administration will give LGBTQ+ students some peace of mind that their rights are acknowledged and protected in schools—at least for the next few years.

Before earning four Grammy Awards, over a dozen nominations, and an Oscar, HER has been perfecting her artistry since a very young age. Along with making a name for herself with her moving music, the singer is also known for her ever-present sunglasses. In fact, some people apparently don’t recognize her without them.

HER recently chatted with Variety for their cover interview. During the conversation, HER spoke about her decision to take on a moniker, sport shades, and appear only as a silhouette on the cover of her debut project:

“Honestly, the reason I wanted to be HER is because I felt people tended to focus on the looks of things instead of music — listening with their eyes and not their ears. It was a social media time of the whole package: ‘This is what an artist should be; this is what a woman should be.’ So when I first released music, I wanted to be a silhouette — these truthful stories were what I wanted to show, not me.”

The singer added that when she walks around her Brooklyn neighborhood, “people don’t recognize me without my glasses. Sometimes I feel like Clark Kent.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, HER described the ups-and-downs of starting her career at such a young age. “It was tough, honestly,” she said. “I would leave school for a few days every month or every other month to travel to New York, and I’d be doing independent study in the studio. There were a lot of sacrifices made, especially by my parents.”

But even with the sacrifices, HER always knew she was striving to make it big. “I’m thankful I was able to go to school, but honestly, I’d be sitting in class like, ‘I can’t wait to get back to New York and work toward my future,’” she added. “Everybody else was thinking about the weekend, but I was thinking about the next ten years.”

Check out HER’s full conversation with Variety here.

When the original Space Jam premiered in 1996 one of the elements that made it so iconic for kids of the era was its accompanying soundtrack, which is widely regarded as one of the best-produced film soundtracks of all time. Its eclectic collection of hip-hop, R&B, and pop artists was a hit, highlighting the increasing popularity of rap and its influence over the basketball world. So, naturally, for LeBron James’ sequel, Space Jam: A New Legacy, the bar is rather high — both for the film itself and for its soundtrack, which will likely be instantly compared to its groundbreaking predecessor.

Today, exactly one month before the film’s release — the soundtrack drops one week before — Warner Bros. pictures introduced the soundtrack’s “starting lineup” with a fun reveal video showing which of today’s stars have earned placement on what will undoubtedly be one of the more listened to soundtracks of the year. The video also shows off each star’s relative level of hoop skills and let’s just say it’s a good thing LeBron has the Looney Tunes on his team because some of these passes are looking rough.

Of course, stars like 24kGoldn, Aminé, Anthony Ramos, Big Freedia, Brockhampton, Chance The Rapper, Cordae, Duckwrth, G-Eazy, John Legend, Jonas Brothers, Joyner Lucas, Kash Doll, Kirk Franklin, Leon Bridges, Lil Baby, Lil Tecca, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Wayne, P-Lo, Saint JHN, Salt-N-Pepa, Saweetie, Symba, and White Dave are here to rap or sing and not hoop — although Dame D.O.L.L.A. is in there, pulling double duty as he also plays one of the villainous Goon Squad players in the movie.

The New Legacy soundtrack is due 7/9 via Republic Records and WB Watertower Music. The film itself hits theaters 7/16.

Watch the reveal video above.

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

After being absent from The View for two days, which led to some eerily calm discussions and Whoopi Goldberg actually having a good time, a noticeably under-the-weather Meghan McCain returned on Wednesday where she attempted to bring her trademark fire-and-brimstone to the G7 Summit.

During a long rant about how no American president since Ronald Reagan has stood up to Russia, and that she doesn’t think Joe Biden’s meeting with Vladimir Putin is a good idea, McCain blasted the G7 for not expelling Russia over human-rights violations “especially while Alexei Navalny is sitting in a Russian prison simply for seeking democracy.”

There’s just one small problem with McCain’s rant. The G7 is called the G7 because Russia was booted out seven years ago, and Joy Behar relished the opportunity to correct McCain, who blamed being sick for her mistake. Via The Daily Beast:

“Well, since I’m not an expert on Russian international information, but I do know one thing and that is that Putin was kicked out of the G8 which is why it is now the G7. He is not in the G7 at this point,” Behar boasted.

“That’s correct. That was my mistake. Sorry. That was my mistake, Joy,” McCain conceded before seemingly blaming the faux pas on her being “very sick.”

“I apologize. You’re right,” she added.

“That’s fine,” Behar responded. “Happy to correct you!”

You can watch McCain’s rant at the 1:40 mark below, and/or Behar swooping in with the correction at the 5:36 mark:

(Via The View on Twitter)

I guess my biggest issue with Dave, the FXX comedy that returns for its second season this week, is that I sound like a lunatic whenever I try to explain it to someone. This is a problem, generally, but also for me specifically because explaining shows to people is kind of my job. And yet, whenever I recommend the show to someone and they say, “Hmm, what’s it about?” I begin doing this deranged verbal lambada…

Well, okay… it’s this comedy about an aspirating rapper and he… do you know who Lil Dicky is? Okay, you don’t, you’re not online that much. Okay. So he’s this guy who makes like jokey rap songs, and he’s playing a thinly-fictionalized version of himself, and the character has like outsized self-confidence and an embarrassing urological situation, and there are so many famous musicians making cameos. It’s really childish and gross — there’s a ridiculous CGI diarrhea scene in the first season — but also really sweet and thoughtful. It’s good. There are a million dick jokes. But it’s sweet. And good. It’s good.

None of which is incorrect, I suppose. It is all of those things. And really much better than you’d expect if you focus too hard on the “YouTube joke rapper with a urological condition who finds himself in awkward positions a lot, occasionally due to explosive bowel movements” part of it. The first season caught me completely by surprise. It was this silly little show full of childish goofs and then suddenly it started examining mental health and anxiety and getting deep, in a good way, with the childish goofs still sprinkled in. By the end of the finale, I found myself wondering if it was the best show I watched all year. It was a journey. So, in the interest of professionalism, I’ll try to explain it again.

Dave is about a guy named Dave, played by a guy named Dave (Dave Burd aka Lil Dicky), who is starting out a career as a rapper named Lil Dicky (stay with me). He has a hype man named GaTa (played by his real-life hype man GaTa), and a roommate/manager named Mike (whose real name is Andrew Santino, not Mike), and he has this deeply rooted belief that he’s going to be the greatest rapper of all-time. This outsized self-esteem, coupled with a handful of physical and psychological issues (both Daves, real and semi-fictional, are neurotic messes when dealing with people and/or stress), results in about three of four different kinds of comedy, ranging from gross-out belly laughs to awkward cringe to heartfelt little rom-com moments. It’s a lot at once and it still somehow works.

Did that help? Was that any better? I don’t know. I guess what I should have said was just something like “Dave is kind of like Curb Your Enthusiasm if Larry David were an aspiring rapper with a surgically repaired penis.” And I wouldn’t have been far off. I know this because the show’s co-creator, Jeff Shaffer, also worked on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm and said this to GQ in a recent profile of Dave, the real person, not the character or the show:

The flipside of his neurosis is stratospheric confidence. The co-creator of Dave, Jeff Schaffer, remembers the first time he met Burd: “He’s talking to me, a stranger, about how he’s going to be so huge. He’s telling me he’s going to be the biggest entertainer in the history of entertaining. And I’m like, Oh, he’s delusional. This is great. I love this.” Schaffer, who’s also worked on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, adds that he sees “a lot of Larry” (that would be David) in Burd.

Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. This is good. Now I can get into season two. The first season followed Dave’s rise, with his joke raps becoming viral crazes as his personal life fell apart. He split with his long-term girlfriend and dealt with the issues one deals with as they achieve the kind of fame that does not immediately come with a paycheck. He bumped into a slew of celebrities, assorted Kardashians and Justin Bieber and Young Thug and Macklemore and Charlamagne tha God and more. The second season picks up from there, with him signed to a label now and living in a beautiful rented mansion and cavorting with more assorted Kardashian/Jenners and Biebers, as you can see here.

But also, as you probably guessed, chaos. The fancy house has pest control problems and Dave has crippling writer’s block on his new album and he’s struggling in the wake of his breakup and more. The second season premiere starts with Dave in Korea attempting to film a music video for a song that ends up being super culturally insensitive and he offends a slew of people in the process, including real-life K-Pop star CL, who continues the show’s impressive run of cameo appearances. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shows up later in the season, too. It’s a whole thing.

If the first season of Dave was a revelation, a shocker of epic proportions both in the quality of the story and the lengths the show will venture to for a laugh, then the second season is a continued journey on that upward path. The surprise of it all is gone for the most part because we already know the show is good, but it’s also still there a little bit because… well, the show is still good, even now that it’s showed us all its hand. That’s not nothing. It’s not easy to continue success after a big splashy debut, especially when your show starts with a premise that looks this thin at first glance. But Dave appears to be pulling it off through the first few episodes of season two. I mean this in the best possible way, but I can’t believe how well it all works. It’s a good show. It’s good. I swear.

Which brings me to my conclusion. I will try to sum everything up in three simple bullet points:

• I think you will like Dave if you haven’t seen it yet, and I think you will like season two if you liked season one
• It is kind of like Big Mouth in the way it balances the tender moments with the grosser stuff and, yes, I do like that this is becoming its own genre now
• Please do not ask me to explain Dave in person because I did not even do a great job here with the benefit of time and an actual editor helping me

Thank you.

The second season of Dave premieres on FXX on Wednesday, June 16, with each week’s episode dropping on Hulu afterward

The official plot summary for The Suicide Squad describes the film as being a “superhero action adventure” with “a collection of the most degenerate delinquents in the DC lineup.” That’s not inaccurate, but I prefer director James Gunn’s unofficial summary.

Gunn told Entertainment Weekly that he thinks of The Suicide Squad as being “a war-caper movie with sh*tty supervillains.” I’ve seen a lot of war movies. I’ve seen my fair share of caper movies. But rarely have I seen a war-caper movie, let alone one with Harley Quinn, John Cena as the anti-Captain America, and a shark voiced by Rocky. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check, considering what happened the last time I was excited for a Suicide Squad movie, but too late: The Suicide Squad sounds great.

It was a lot of fun to film, according to star Margot Robbie.

“The first set we shot on was this beach,” the Birds of Prey actress said. “It was so amazing. Palm trees. An ocean with a wave machine in it. Pyrotechnics. Special effects. Explosions everywhere. It was like being in a proper, crazy war movie.” I’ve always said Dunkirk could have used more giant starfish monsters.

The Suicide Squad hits theaters and HBO Max on August 6.

(Via EW)