Category: Worldwide

A billboard in Louisville, Kentucky’s Irish Hill neighborhood calling for justice for Breonna Taylor has been defaced by vandals. The vandals splashed red paint on the image of Taylor’s face, making it look like a gunshot to the forehead.

No one is sure of the vandals’ intent, but the defaced image of Taylor has turned the billboard into an even more powerful reminder that the officers involved in her murder have yet to face justice.

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via WTKR News 3

Taylor, a Black emergency medical technician, was killed when three officers opened fire on her in her apartment. Only one officer has been fired for the incident.

The plainclothes police were serving a “no-knock” narcotics warrant which took her boyfriend, Kennet Walker, a registered gun owner, by surprise. Assuming that the intruders were attempting to rob them, Walker opened fire and shot one of the officers in the leg.

The police returned fire killing Taylor. No narcotics were found in the apartment.

Walker was cleared of all charges in the incident. Taylor’s murder has led to countless protests over the past five months. But, according to Kentucky officials, the incident is still under investigation.

Last week, Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, met with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, to discuss the investigation into the killing.

“One hundred and fifty days,” Palmer said at a news conference. “Every day is still March the 13th.”

Palmer was asked what she learned from the attorney general about the probe.

“Just that he wants to have the right answer at the end of this,” Palmer said. “He doesn’t want to rush through it. So for me, I’m trying to accept that and be patient with that. Because I definitely want him to come out with the right answer.”

The defaced billboard was one of 26 placed in Louisville by officials from O, Oprah Winfrey’s magazine, to keep the investigation top-of-mind with the community and pressure officials for justice.

“Demand that the police involved in killing Breonna Taylor be arrested and charged,” the billboard reads.

It also has a quote from Oprah Winfrey: “If you turn a blind eye to racism, you become an accomplice to it.”

Winfrey isn’t the only celebrity keeping Taylor’s death in the public eye while the investigation drags on.

Some of the Los Angeles Lakers donned striking, red MAGA hats as they left the Disneyland Hotel on Tuesday. The hats had the “Great Again” portion Donald Trump’s notorious slogan crossed out and “Arrest the Cops who Killed Breonna Taylor” scrawled in white beneath it.

Lakers star LeBron James explained the meaning behind the hats, telling reporters that Taylor “had a bright future and her life was taken away from her and there’ve been no arrests and no justice, not only for her but for her family. And we want to continue to shed light on that situation, which was unjust. That’s what it’s about.”

Movies. Clothing stores. The big company potluck. Karens have ruined so much for us. The name “Karen” was one of the top 10 names for girls born in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, peaking as the third most popular girl’s name in 1965. This means that most Karens we know are middle-aged or older — and we can all imagine that wrinkled face and short, highlighted hair. They’ve taken so much from the world — but one hero is trying to give some of that back.

Domino’s Australia has offered to give pizza to anyone named “Karen” who isn’t a “Karen”. The company said in a Facebook post: “CALLING ALL (MASK WEARING, LAW ABIDING) KARENS. It’s a tough time to be a Karen.”

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“Karen the nurse, Karen the teacher, Karen the mum, Karen the neighbour, Karen the mask wearer — we’re all in this together, but a vocal minority who believe rules and laws don’t apply to them have given the name “Karen” a bad rap this year”.

“At Domino’s, we know there’s plenty of Australians named Karen that aren’t, well, “Karens”. Let us know if you’re one of them by completing the form via the link below. We may send some pizza your way!”

The post is full of comments from people named “Karen”, actual “Karens”, and grateful citizens alike, and the Domino’s Australia team has been putting in some serious work with their funny replies (one comment from them says that their pizza is a better cure than therapy for PKSD, or “post Karen stress disorder”). We’ll just have to wait and see (and hope, and pray) if this juicy offer makes any Karens out there tone down the anger. One thing is clear though: they can take our liberty, they can take our manager, but they’ll never take away our pizza.

In June 1945, Europe was reeling from a deadly, devastating world war. Peace had been achieved in the west, but world leaders knew that they had to take immediate action to build a better world and prevent another deadly conflict.

So, delegates from 50 countries gathered in San Francisco and committed to working towards progress by signing the UN Charter. Since that day, there have been tremendous gains: global life expectancy is now 72, global hunger has decreased, and before the pandemic, global extreme poverty was the lowest in recorded history.

The UN has been tackling poverty and world hunger for decades, but how much do you know about their work and impact?

We are at a pivotal moment and it will take global action and effort from everyone in order to recover better. Learn more about how the UN is working towards sustainable development, full equality, and the eradication of poverty and global hunger as part of UN75.

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are the faces of “WAP,” but there are usually more people involved behind the scenes. One of those is Evan LaRay Brunson, one of Cardi’s engineers. In a new interview with Grammy.com, he breaks down how the hit song came to be, saying that it actually started in 2019 without much fanfare.

The piece notes, “Before ‘WAP’ satiated a summer thirsting for an anthem, it was an afterthought.” It goes on to say how Brunson remembers Cardi recording the song’s first verse “a year ago” before moving on to something else. However, having more time to review banked material during the pandemic is what got the song finished. Brunson notes, “We had that song since last year. Since COVID-19 happened, we were going over songs, and she was like, ‘I like this.’ She caught the vibe again and laid the second verse down.”

The piece also reports that according to Brunson, Megan first got involved with the track in April or May, after Cardi’s stylist suggested adding Megan to the track. The stylist then got in touch with Megan’s stylist and made the connection that would eventually yield “WAP.”

Brunson also explained his role in Cardi’s creative process, saying, “I’ll just pick her brain about her emotions; what mood she’s in. She’s always in drama, so I try to write things down whenever she says some crazy, spontaneous thing. Then, I’ll go through beats and go, ‘This fit that and fits that.’ Then I’ll start it, send the pack over to her and she’ll immediately listen to the ones I started and go through the whole pack.”

Read the full feature here.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

There’s still apparently plenty of Tiger King juice to be milked in the future, not only by Netflix but by Discovery, which is spinning off a series about Carole Baskins’ missing husband. Nic Cage will also portray Joe Exotic in some sort of scripted series with a network to be determined, and there are rumors that Netflix itself might be growing close to greenlighting a Season 2 of the ridiculously popular docuseries that started it all. And no one seems to be deterred by the saga’s frontman, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, sitting in jail without a pardon (at least so far).

Joe Exotic’s old wildlife zoo (Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, now run by Jeff Lowe), though, will be shifting gears. As CNN reports, the park’s exhibition license was suspended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the privately-owned area shuttered “immediately” and “for the foreseeable future.” The zoo’s Facebook page confirmed the closure while adding that the area would be used “as a private film set for Tiger King related television content for cable and streaming services.”

However, that’s not the end of the ruckus. According to The Wrap, Lowe is claiming that he is the party who contacted the USDA and decided to “voluntarily forfeit” the exhibitor’s license, and that the license was only suspended after he made that move. The Facebook post in question also claims that Lowe has been “contemplating this for weeks,” and he’s getting his lawyers involved while accusing the USDA of having yielded to pressure from PETA.

In other words, more drama in Tiger King land. Maybe the Minions can really get involved now.

(Via CNN, Deadline & The Wrap)

We’ve got to give it to Nike, they absolutely dominated SNX DLX this week — snagging all five of the top spots in our roundup. This is the second time in SNX DLX history that Nike has accomplished this feat, despite Adidas dropping a brand new Yeezy this week and Reebok unleashing a Question Mid that is definitely worthy of a look.

Sorry to those other brands but Nike truly deserved this win. They had a phenomenal week.

On the apparel end, UNIQLO has dropped a new tech-focused face mask, and Palace and Supreme have started to unload pieces from their Fall 2020 collections. Let’s dive into the best sneaker and apparel drops of mid-August!

Nike Dunk Low Samba

You’re going to have to accept the fact that the chances of you getting lucky and being able to scoop up this pair of Dunks are slim at best. Originally a Nike Japan-exclusive when it dropped in 2001, the Samba is a fan favorite of Dunkheads everywhere and it’s finally getting the global release it deserves this week at 7:00 am PST on Nike SNKRS — which means everyone from hardcore sneakerheads to bots are going to be flooding the app trying to score a pair to flip on the aftermarket.

It’s a shame, but that’s the nature of the modern sneaker world!

The Dunk Low Samba features a leather upper in hyper blue with silver and red overlays, clean white laces, and a large wrap around swoosh. Even 19 years later, it’s still a pretty clean look.

The Nike Dunk Low Samba is set to drop on August 21st for a retail price of $100. Pick up a pair through the Nike SNKRS app or atmos.

Air Jordan 3 Laser Orange

A Jordan for Laker fans — and just in time for Kobe Day — this Air Jordan 3 in Laser Orange is a no-brainer pick up unless, you know, you don’t like dope Jordan colorways. Featuring a white tumbled leather upper with laser orange accents on the sockliner, midsole, and tongue, and an elephant print mudguard, Nike just dropped one of the best AJ3 colorways of the year like it wasn’t a big thing.

Moves like this are why Nike won the week.

The Air Jordan 3 Laser Orange is set to drop on August 21st for a retail price of $190. Pick up a pair through the Nike SNKRS app or select Nike retailers.

Atmos x Nike Air Max 950

This week Japanese retailer atmos will drop a Japan-inspired Air Max 950 that takes some design cues from the Air Max 95. Featuring a white upper with a neon undertone and a Japanese flag heel stamp, the Air Max 950 has a small red swoosh at the heel, the Air Max 95’s signature lines across the upper and sits atop a sleek blacked-out midsole.

The Atmos Nike Air Max 950 is set to drop on August 19th for a yet to be announced price. Pick up a pair exclusively at atmos.

Air Jordan 12 Indigo

A beloved SB Dunk colorway, a Kobe-inspired AJ3, a Japanese Air Max 95 inspired 950, AND a new Air Jordan 12 in a luxurious Indigo colorway? Come on Nike, summer isn’t over yet, just what else do you have in store for us?! This AJ12 features an Indigo blue leather upper, matte-finished silver eyelets, and a pristine white mudguard which adds a bit of welcome brightness to the whole thing.

If you’re a Jordan 12 fan, there is no way you don’t love these.

The Air Jordan 12 Indigo is set to drop on August 22nd for a retail price of $190. Pick up a pair through the Nike SNKRS app or select Nike retailers.

Nike Space Hippie 01 Wheat White

We’re big fans of Nike’s new sustainable Space Hippie line of sneakers and from the looks of it, the brand shares that love because fresh colorways of the line’s silhouettes arrive on a regular basis like the drops are on a fixed orbit. This week brings a White Wheat makeup of the Space Hippie 01, which features an earth-toned stitched swoosh and the Space Hippie’s 50% recycled material construction.

Simple but sick.

The Nike Space Hippie 01 in Wheat White is set to drop on August 20th for a retail price of $130. Pick up a pair through the Nike SNKRS app.

Supreme Fall/Winter 2020 Collection

The Supreme Fall Winter 2020 collection will begin to drip out this weekend as the brand unleashes the first drop of their extensive jacket, t-shirt, tops, sweats, pants, accessories, bags, and hat offerings. We’ve chosen to put a particular emphasis on the jackets — despite a raging heatwave in California, where I am writing this — as we quickly approach the fall season and temperatures start to drop (everywhere but here).

From box logo hoodies, to puffy pink GORE-TEX down jackets, to sleek MA-1 bomber jackets, to Piet Mondrian inspired fleece sweaters, if you’re going to layer up this season, you can’t go wrong with Supreme.

Supreme’s first drop of its Fall/Winter 2020 collection is set to release on August 20th. Shop the first drop at the Supreme webstore.

Palace Fall 2020 Week 3 Drop

If you’re still feeling the heat of summer and you’re looking for some lighter offerings, Palace is dropping a whole lot of graphic t-shirts in multiple colors, as well as some lighter pullovers and crewnecks in its week 3 drop of the Fall line.

As part of this drop, Palace tried to put a heavy emphasis on denim, dropping a trucker jacket, a pair of straight-leg jeans, and a pair with a graphic print of jeans. Yes, a pair of jeans with a graphic print of jeans. It’s just as ugly as you think it is, but we’ve included it just for laughs.

The Week 3 Palace Fall 2020 drop will be shoppable on the Palace webstore beginning on August 21st.

UNIQLO AIRism Mask

Okay, shockingly basic design aside, UNIQLO’s new AIRism mask is actually pretty damn dope. The mask is composed of three layers and is designed to provide adequate filtration even after multiple washes. In addition, the masks are covered in a moisture-wicking material to keep sweat off your face — which will help prevent breakouts, a new issue anyone who wears masks for hours a day is well acquainted with — and overall boasts a UPF 40 rating, which blocks 90 percent of ultraviolet rays.

UNIQLO claims the masks have self-deodorizing antimicrobial fabrics and come in small, medium, and large face sizes, making it one of the most flexible face masks currently in the game.

Best of all — the mask is $9. While we’d love for some color — any color — with the price point and the tech-forward construction, UNIQLO is setting the standards for what facemasks should do and how much they should cost.

The UNIQLO AIRism Mask is set to drop at all UNIQLO locations stateside beginning on August 24th. Shop the masks at the UNIQLO online store.

With only a few days left until the launch of DC FanDome, the online event is keeping the momentum going with a brand new trailer that promises big reveals from major blockbusters.

Hosted by Aisha Tyler, the latest trailer showcases the actual DC FanDome where virtual panels for DC Comics’ growing slate of TV, film, and video game projects will roll out for fans. One of the biggest highlights is confirmation that The Batman director Matt Reeves will be on-hand with a first-look at the highly-anticipated Batman film starring Robert Pattinson. The new footage also pumps up previously announced appearances from James Gunn to show off The Suicide Squad, The Rock with an update on Black Adam, and The Flash director Andy Muschietti. And, of course, the cast of Wonder Woman 1984 will be on hand as the film prepares to (theatrically) barrel into theaters in October.

In a bit of scheduling news, DC FanDome will now be split into two days after fans voiced concerns with the virtual event’s jam-packed itinerary. Via Entertainment Weekly:

After fielding criticism from fans who felt that the programming offered was too much to handle in one day, DC Fandome will now debut the Hall of Heroes programming on the first day and feature a second on-demand experience three weeks later for another 24 hours of content. Plus, virtual attendees will be able to access the event across all mobile platforms in addition to desktop at DCFanDome.com.

What does that mean? In a nutshell, DC FanDome will go down as scheduled on Saturday, August 22. However, fans will get another chance to relive the event on September 12 where all of the content will be available on-demand. Users can also make their own custom schedule of panels to watch in any order.

However, this move does seem to signal that the virtual panels will not be available on YouTube, so if you’re hoping to catch a glimpse at DC Comics’ upcoming slate, you might want to set aside some time on Saturday, or get ready to wait a few weeks for the on-demand experience.

(Via Warner Bros. Pictures)

By taking down the 8-2 Las Vegas Aces and putting the clamps on MVP candidate A’ja Wilson on Tuesday night, the Chicago Sky reminded us why they remain so fearsome heading toward the WNBA playoffs. The Sky, led by reigning Coach of the Year James Wade, held Wilson to 11 points on 12 field goal attempts and took down Wilson and the streaking Aces with a mix of brilliant team basketball and clever scheming.

It’s no small feat to contain Wilson. Despite an old-school style, Wilson has one of the best face-up scoring games in all of basketball. She combines tremendous shooting touch with incredible ball skills and a surprising first step to get to her spots basically any time she wants. Basketball fans have been watching her do this since she was competing for championships at South Carolina and through the first three years of her WNBA career.

But here’s the thing about Wilson. She’s left-handed, and pretty reliant on her strong hand. Even through seven years of competing at the highest levels in basketball, Wilson’s lefty creativity still catches opponents off guard. But not the Sky. Chicago deployed the combination of the bruising Stefanie Dolson and the longer, quicker Azura Stevens to get Wilson out of rhythm, take away the left hand, and force her into contested jump shots rather than at-rim finishes.

Wilson was off to the best start of her career as an interior scorer heading into this matchup against Chicago, and Wade’s game plan showed how aggressively he wanted to take that away. The clips above show how Dolson and Stevens both sacrificed proper defensive positioning to take away Wilson’s ability to drive left. Both defenders are quite different but each is agile enough to execute this admittedly simple game plan, and it threw Wilson all the way off.

And while the Aces came out early bombing away from three, that’s not their identity. After jacking five triples in the first few minutes, Las Vegas took just 13 the rest of the way. This was also a game in which Las Vegas tried to run more offense through All-Star Kayla McBride, who is having quite a poor season so far offensively. That’s important long-term for McBride and the team, but against Chicago, she was still out of rhythm, unable to take pressure off Wilson when the Sky jammed her post-ups.

Most of the night, McBride was the one player Chicago wouldn’t leave to come double Wilson, and they were pretty diligent about that. The Aces just weren’t active enough to make them pay by involving McBride in action off the ball, and McBride herself didn’t do enough cutting to take advantage of lapses like this one.

This has been the Aces’ story all season. Nobody except Wilson and veteran wing Angel McCoughtry have consistently scored the ball. The Sky are just the first team to have the personnel and game plan to make them pay for their over-reliance on those two for offense.

When Las Vegas did try to mix things up and initiate offense through someone other than Wilson, they found some easy buckets.

Here, McCoughtry brings the ball up, and head coach Bill Laimbeer calls for an off-ball screen by McBride that frees up Wilson cutting toward the hoop. Stevens loses Wilson and the All-Star gets inside for her only easy bucket of the night.

The other way the Sky took advantage of Las Vegas is by limiting its own turnovers and playing good transition defense. The Aces are near the top of the WNBA in transition offense and play at the quickest pace in the league by average length of possession, but Chicago limited them to just four points off turnovers in this one, with both of those buckets coming off live-ball turnovers by point guard Courtney Vandersloot. The rest of the time, Las Vegas just didn’t have their usual fast-break juice.

The game nearly turned when the Aces made a late run. After entering the fourth quarter down 6, Las Vegas made several key free throws that put the game back within reach with less than a minute to go. Then, the Aces got an incredible pull-up three from McBride to get within two.

McBride nailed two free throws a moment later to tie the game. That could have made Chicago curl up into a ball and play for overtime, but what it really did is set Wade up for yet another masterful sideline out-of-bounds play.

While having Vandersloot, the best passing point guard in the WNBA, is an advantage Wade can boast against every coach he faces, what stands out in this play more than anything is Wade’s understanding of personnel. Just like he realized that Dolson was more capable of moving Wilson off her spot while Stevens would need to rely on positioning and recovery, he uses his players’ strengths to attack Las Vegas perfectly.

In the clip above, Wade can be heard calling for his team to make sure Wilson is the target on the double-drag screen Vandersloot operates with Dolson and Stevens. Sure enough, Wilson gets smashed by Dolson’s pick:

This play can’t be appreciated without remembering the last sideline out of bounds play that won Chicago a big game, back during the opening weekend of the WNBA season. That play also hinged on a killer screen from Dolson, but was a “hammer” action in which both bigs set back screens for the guards, and Vandersloot found Allie Quigley for a game-winning corner three.

Flash back to last night, and Wade smartly used Quigley as a decoy, with McBride racing out to contain her when she initially gets the ball. With two players cleared out to the weak side, it’s three-on-three for the Sky with a bunch of space to operate. Dolson knocks Wilson — the Aces’ only rim protector — out with that big screen, and that allows Stevens to waltz into the paint for a layup that should never have been so easy.

Whether it was using size and speed to take Wilson out of the game or a beautifully concocted out-of-bounds play to seal the win, Wade and Chicago showed that their chemistry, depth and fit are the reason why they remain a contender for the 2020 title, even if they lack the traditional star power of the WNBA’s best.

Megan Thee Stallion found an inventive way to thank fans for showing her music some love. After she and Cardi B broke the internet with their scandalous “WAP” video, the song debuted No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart and was certified Gold in just a week’s time. To celebrate the single’s success, Megan announced she is partnering with Twitter and Cash App for a huge giveaway.

Megan took to Twitter to thank her fans for supporting her viral hit. Now, the rapper wants to “celebrate all the powerful women out there” with a series of cash giveaways. Megan asked fans to drop their Cash App usernames to enter to win money from a pool of $1 million. “how can some $ help you or a woman you know right now?” she asked.

This isn’t the first time Megan has generously given back to fans. At the onset of the coronavirus, the rapper told her fans in need to drop their Cash App info so she could help pay their bills. Almost immediately, Megan began sending deposits of $215 to various followers who later expressed their gratitude.

Check out Megan’s generous giveaway above.

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

In a welcomed bright spot during a turbulent year, Sacha Baron Cohen was recently spotted filming in California as Borat, which has led outlets to speculate that the actor is working on a sequel to the 2006 comedy classic.

TikTok user “alexandheir” captured a film crew pulling a car with Cohen behind the wheel as the Kazakhstan journalist. The footage was shot in Long Beach and doesn’t contain much except for Cohen struggling with his outfit, but it is definitely some sort of Borat scene being filmed.

You can watch the video below:

As of this writing, there’s been no announcement or reports of a Borat sequel in the works, but the secretive nature of Cohen’s guerrilla style filmmaking could easily explain that. The element of surprise plays a significant role in the comedy of Borat, which uses a “Candid Camera” approach for laughs.

However, while a sequel is one possible explanation, Cohen has been busy in recent months pulling pranks on unsuspecting marks. In June, he punked a far right 3 Percenter rally and “tricked” the crowd into joining in a racist sing-along while disguised as a country singer. The stunt was a surprise appearance from Cohen in the middle of a pandemic, which led to Variety noting that his Showtime series Who Is America? hasn’t been formally renewed or canceled.

While Showtime refused to comment on the status of Who Is America? after the 3 Percenter prank, it became clear that Cohen is up to something. A few weeks later, the cops were called on the actor after he dressed in a “pink transgender outfit” and attempted to lure Rudy Giuliani into a prank interview in New York.

It’s now a few weeks after the Giuliani incident, and Cohen has been spotted again, but this time as Borat. So the clues are heavily pointing to the actor reviving the character for this Showtime show, but again, anything is possible.

(Via alexandheir on TikTok)