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On Friday the world learned about the mysterious death of Aleksei Navalny, one of Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics. For more than a decade, the activist and opposition leader had been one of the largest thorns in the side of the Russian president, enduring multiple arrests, even a near-fatal poisoning. His death immediately struck many as fishy, and after authorities belatedly provided an alleged cause of death, things only got fishier.

Per Reuters, Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila, said that she was told her son had died from what they called “sudden death syndrome.”

What is “sudden death syndrome”? Is it even a real medical term? It is, sort of. According to Medical News Today, it’s an “umbrella term for many biological scenarios leading to quick-onset and unforeseen mortality.” That could include a variety of cardiac syndromes that cause cardiac arrest or death.

And yet, given that Russian authorities had had a habit of jailing Navalny — he died in a penal colony in the Arctic — some weren’t exactly buying the alleged cause of death.

Some medical practitioners called BS on “sudden death syndrome.”

There were, of course, morbid jokes.

Navalny’s mother had braved Arctic temperatures to journey to the penal colony where her son had died. Though she was given the alleged cause of death, the body, she was told, had been moved to a nearby town. When she arrived there, she was told the morgue had been closed. Said morgue later claimed it did not have his body, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.

News of Navalny’s death came as tensions arise between the U.S. and Russia. The House, as lorded over by MAGA Speaker Mike Johnson, has been refusing to vote on a bill that included further funding for Ukraine, one that had been passed easily in the Senate. What’s more, fired Fox News star Tucker Carlson made a big deal out of a whirlwind trip to Moscow, which included a much-maligned sitdown with Putin that even Putin himself thought was a waste of time.

(Via Reuters)

There was never just one moment in my family when we “found out” that my dad was an addict.

I think I always knew, but I never saw him actually drinking. Usually, he downed a fifth of vodka before he came home from work or hid tiny bottles in the garage and bathroom cabinets.

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My name is Ashley, and I am the child of an addict. As a kid, I cried when our family dinner reservation shrunk from four to three after a man with glassy eyes stumbled through the door. I didn’t guzzle the vodka, but I felt the heartbreak of missed birthdays. I feel like I should weigh 500 pounds from all the “I’m sorry” chocolate donuts. I had to grow up quicker, but it made me into the person I am today.

I spent many years shouting into journals about why this was happening to me. But this is the thing that no one will tell you about loving someone who has an addiction: it will force you to see the world through different eyes.

Here are some things I’ve learned:

1. When your family’s yelling about burnt toast, they’re probably also yelling about something else.

My family yelled about everything — and nothing — to avoid the messy stuff. We all handled my dad’s addiction differently. My brother devoured sports. My mom took bubble baths. I slammed doors and slammed boyfriends for not understanding my family’s secrets.

Regardless of the preferred coping mechanism, everyone feels pain differently.

2. Your “knight in shining armor” can’t fix this.

Boyfriends became my great escape when I was young. But when I expected them to rescue me from the pain I grew up with, it never worked out. No matter how strapping they looked galloping in on those white horses, they couldn’t save me or fix anything.

In the end, I realized that I had to find healing on my own before I could build a strong relationship.

3. “Don’t tell anyone” is a normal phase.

When my dad punched holes in the wall, my mom covered them up with artwork. I wanted to rip the artwork down to expose all the holes, especially as a bratty teenager. But eventually I realized that it wasn’t my choice. My parents had bills to pay and jobs to keep. I’ve learned it’s common to cover up for dysfunction in your family, especially when it feels like the world expects perfection.

4. Friends probably won’t get it, but you’ll need them anyway.

Bulldozed by broken promises, I remember collapsing on a friend’s couch from the crippling pain of unmet expectations. I hyperventilated. Things felt uncontrollable and hopeless. My friend rubbed my back and just listened.

These are the kinds of friends I will keep forever, the ones who crawled down into the dark places with me and didn’t make me get back up until I was ready.

5. You can’t fix addiction, but you can help.

When I was a teenager, I called a family meeting. I started by playing a Switchfoot song: “This is your life. Are you who you want to be?”

Let’s skip to the punchline: It didn’t work.

It wasn’t just me. Nothing anyone did worked. My dad had to lose a lot — mostly himself — before he hit that place they call “rock bottom.” And, in all honesty, I hate that label because “rock bottom” isn’t just a one-and-done kind of place.

What can you do while you wait for someone to actually want to get help? Sometimes, you just wait. And you hope. And you pray. And you love. And you mostly just wait.

6. Recovery is awkward.

When a counselor gave me scripted lines to follow if my dad relapsed, I wanted to shred those “1-2-3 easy steps” into a million pieces.

For me, there was nothing easy about my dad’s recovery. My whole family had to learn steps to a new dance when my dad went into recovery. The healing dance felt like shuffling and awkwardly stepping on toes. It was uncomfortable; new words, like trust and respect, take time to sink in. And that awkwardness is also OK.

7. I still can’t talk about addiction in the past tense.

Nothing about an addict’s life happens linearly. I learned that early on. My dad cycled through 12-step programs again and again, to the point where I just wanted to hurl whenever anyone tried to talk about it. And then we finally reached a point where it felt like recovery stuck.

But even now, I’ll never say, “My dad used to deal with addiction.” My whole family continues to wrestle with the highs and lows of life with an addict every single day.

8. Happy hours and wedding receptions aren’t easy to attend.

My family will also probably never clink glasses of red wine or stock the fridge full of beer. I’m convinced happy hours and wedding receptions will get easier, but they might not. People get offended when my dad orders a Diet Coke instead of their fine whisky.

Plus, there’s the paranoia factor. Surrounded by flowing liquor, I hate watching my dad crawl out of his skin, tempted to look “normal” and tackle small talk with people we barely know. I’ve learned that this fear will probably last for a while, and it’s because I care.

9. If you close your eyes, the world doesn’t just “get prettier.”

With constant fear of the unknown, sometimes our world is not a pretty place. I remember watching the breaking news on 9/11 and feeling the terror of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers as if I was there.

My dad numbed the anxiety of these dark days with vodka, but this didn’t paint a prettier world for him when he woke up the next day. I’ve dealt with the fear of the unknown with the help of boys, booze, and bad dancing on pool tables. Life hurts for everyone, and I think we all have to decide how we’re going to handle the darkness.

10. Rip off the sign on your back that reads: “KICK ME. MY LIFE SUCKS.”

Sometimes I look in the mirror and I see only my broken journey. In some twisted way, I’m comforted by the dysfunction because it’s kept me company for so long. It’s easy to let the shadow of my family’s past follow me around and choose to drown in the darkness.

But every day, I’m learning to turn on the light. I have to write the next chapter in my recovery story, but I can’t climb that mountain with all this crap weighing me down.

11. It’s OK to forgive, too.

Some people have given me sucky advice about how I should write an anthem on daddy bashing, or how to hit the delete button on the things that shaped my story.

Instead, my dad and I are both learning to celebrate the little things, like the day that he could change my flat tire. On that day, I didn’t have to wonder if he was too drunk to come help me.

I can’t forget all the dark nights of my childhood.

But I’ve learned that for my own well-being, I can’t harbor bitterness until I explode.

Instead, I can love my dad, day by day, and learn to trust in the New Dad — the one with clearer eyes and a full heart. The one who rescues me when I call.

This article was written by Ashley Tieperman and originally appeared on 04.27.16

Last week, Uproxx cover star Paramore was named the ambassador of this year’s Record Store Day. But they’ve been using their fame to do more than make music. From blasting politicians to shedding light on behind-the-scenes industry atrocities, Paramore doesn’t mince their words. On February 15, House Republican Caucus Chair of Tennessee Jeremy Faison learned this hard way.

State officials were set to honor the band, from Tennsessee, with a resolution for their contributions to music. According to The Tennessean, Paramore has refused the honor in solidarity with musician Allison Russell. Initially Russell, was also set to receive an honor but the resolution was blocked at the last minute.

Williams expanded in a statement on their decision to turn away the honor. “Paramore will not accept any acknowledgment or honor from the TN House until Allison Russell is given the same recognition,” Williams wrote. “The blatant racism of our state leadership is embarrassing and cruel. Myself, as well as Paramore, will continue to encourage young people to show up to vote with equality in mind.”

Fans began questioning Representative Faison’s objection to Russell being honored, especially considering both Paramore and Russell had pulled in significant wins at the 2024 Grammys ceremony. In the eyes of Williams and others, race played a factor in his decision.

“For those that don’t know, Allison Russell is an incredibly talented musician and songwriter,” said Williams. “Her music spans genres with strong ties to the Folk/Americana scenes. You might have seen her on the Grammy stage performing with the great Joni Mitchell. Oh, she is also Black. She’s a brilliant Black woman.”

Allison Russell has not released a statement of her own. Instead, she reposted Williams’ statement on her official X (formerly Twitter) page in agreement.

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

If you built a time machine, journeyed back even two years, and told whoever you found that a movie based on Barbie, the beloved if sometimes controversial doll line, would Hoover up eight Oscar nominations, they wouldn’t believe you. And yet here we are. Greta Gerwig and her cowriter/now-husband Noah Baumbach thought way outside the box, and somehow Mattel and Warner Bros. let them put it on-screen (with some battles, of course). But while their screenplay is among those up for prizes, Gerwig missed out on Best Director (again) and star Margot Robbie was snubbed, too. Lots of people freaked out. One of the film’s supporting players did not.

That person is Helen Mirren, who is never seen on-screen, doing narrator duties instead. Entertainment Tonight caught up with her Thursday, asking her if she was also incensed that it didn’t get 10 Oscar noms. She was not.

“You can’t get upset about things like that, honestly,” Mirren said. “What is fantastic is that Barbie was the highest-grossing film that Warner Brothers has ever had in their lives and do you remember who won best film of the year before last?”

The answer to that, of course, is Everything Everywhere All at Once, which also took home a slew of other trophies, including for Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. It also made a ton of money, if nowhere near the haul amassed by Barbie. Still, point taken.

Not that Mirren wouldn’t have minded Barbie getting even more AMPAS love.

“I mean, of course I would have loved to have seen Greta [be nominated], and I think she should win best [director]. It’s so difficult, it’s not a running race, you know, you can’t — Christopher Nolan’s work on Oppenheimer was spectacular, extraordinary. But for me, Greta’s work was so out there, it was so brave, it was something we’d never seen before,” she explained. “I just love the fact that the audience responded the way they did.”

It’s worth noting that both Gerwig and Robbie have seemed pretty chill about being left out. Both are nominated anyway, Gerwig for Adapted Screenplay, Robbie for Best Picture, since she’s one of the producers. But if Gerwig, who became the fifth woman ever to be nominated for Best Director (for Lady Bird), is snubbed a third time, then we riot.

The Oscars go down on March 10.

(Via ET)

The Yeehaw agenda prevails. Over a decade into her career, Beyoncé continues to tap into different pockets of creatives. After her internet-breaking Super Bowl LVIII commercial sent fans into a frenzy by dropping two new singles, “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” off Renaissance Act II. Nearly a week after the records’ release, they’re gearing up to add another professional notch to Beyoncé’s already impressive resume.

According to Rolling Stone, “Texas Hold’ Em” earned Beyoncé her very first country music chart placements. The outlet reports that “Texas Hold ‘Em” is projected to come in the No. 54 slot on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart following an account of 1.1 million impressions on airwaves.

Beyoncé’s devoted superfans, the Beyhive, are to thank for this accomplishment. On February 13, a supporter took to X (formerly Twitter) to share that Oklahoma-based radio station KYKC did not have the record in rotation because, as they wrote: “We do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music station.”

Shortly after receiving an influx of stings from the Beyhive, the station had a change of tune. It appears other stations have since jumped on board. The pivot from her electronic-centered offerings on Renaissance to the foot-tapping bango serving on her forthcoming Renaissance Act II seems like a stark jump, but at this point of Beyoncé’s career, she isn’t here to play it safe.

Before he was president of the United States, Donald Trump was a serial failed peddler of dumb goods. Trump Steaks. Trump Vodka. Trump Ice (that is, bottled water). Trump: The Game. His own airline, Trump Shuttle. His cycling race, Tour de Trump. And, of course, there was that second Trump presidential term. But did you know about PrivaTest? What was PrivaTest? That was Trump’s line of urine tests, which people were recently shocked to learn was a thing.

Per Mediaite, on Friday MSNBC host Alex Wagner reflected on his very bad legal day, which found him ordered to pay nearly $355 million, plus interest, after being found liable for fraud. To Wagner, it was yet another in a long line of Trump failures.

“Trump stuck his name on everything from to golf courses and apartments, to vodka and steaks,” Wagner said. “There was even a Trump urine test because why not? If Trump was involved, it was good business – even if it was a urine test.”

Wagner was soon joined by colleagues Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell, the latter of whom was particularly taken aback to learn of this factoid.

“First of all, on your trip down Trump memory lane, I thought that I had nothing to learn,” O’Donnell said. “Then came, I learned tonight, about the Trump urine tests… I had no idea that he was that interested in–”

“Urine,” Wagner said.

“I know there are people in the audience who are still processing that and I wanted to help them with it and move on to this,” O’Donnell added.

Can one still purchase a Trump urine test? You sure can. On eBay it’s currently listed for the low low price of 500 clams. To box claims it’s a “unique metabolic test that measures your body’s cellular function to determine which vitamins, minerals & phytonutrients it needs to achieve optimal health.” Those who use the Trump urine test are instructed to take their collected urine and “FedEx the test FREE to our lab” to “Receive your personal Lab Report.”

Anyway, the guy who once hawked this is the frontrunner for the GOP ticket. For a third time. Despite having a very broken brain.

(Via Mediaite)

Christopher Nolan, like his fellow “Barbenheimer” auteur Greta Gerwig, can pretty much do whatever he wants next. But what will that be? Yet another World War II picture? Yet another, very serious comic book movie? Maybe one of those noodly one-offs that transcend time and space and audience’s brain power? Maybe he could do an entry in a franchise he loves: the Fast and Furious movies. Right now it appears he’s still hashing that out. But perhaps one day he’ll tackle a genre he hasn’t tackled before: the horror movie.

“I think horror films are very interesting because they depend on very cinematic devices,” Nolan said during a conversation with the British Film Institute, as caught by The Hollywood Reporter. He went on to describe the power of a genre often written off by critics:

“It’s really about [provoking] a visceral response to things. So at some point, I’d love to make a horror film. But I think a really good horror film requires a really exceptional idea — and those are few and far between. So I haven’t found the story that lends itself to that. But I think it’s a very interesting genre from a cinematic point of view. It’s also one of the few genres where — the studios make a lot of these films — and they’re films that have a lot of bleakness, a lot of abstraction. They have a lot qualities that Hollywood is generally very resistant to putting into films, but that’s a genre where it’s allowable.”

Of course, in a way Nolan has already made a horror movie about the scariest subject of all: worldwide destruction thanks to the creation of the atomic bomb.

“Certainly Oppenheimer has elements of horror — which I definitely think is appropriate for the subject matter,” Nolan allowed. He also pointed out it contains other genres:

“The middle of the film is very heavily based on the heist genre, and the third act of the film is the courtroom drama. And the reason I settled on those two genres for those sections is they are mainstream genres in which dialogue and people talking is inherently tense and interesting to an audience. That’s the fun thing with genre — you get to play with a lot of different areas whereas in different type of film you really wouldn’t be allowed to.”

Nolan’s right: Horror films are great showcases for flashy direction. They’re also stellar for slipping in subversive and/or troubling ideas, which Nolan is also all about. In fact, why hasn’t Nolan directed a horror movie yet? Perhaps because a Christopher Nolan horror movie would be too terrifying for audiences.

(Via THR)

INDIANAPOLIS — Tyrese Haliburton is everywhere this weekend. It’s not a surprise, as the NBA world has descended upon the city where his rapid ascent to superstardom has occurred. Long viewed as one of the most exciting young talents in the league, Haliburton earned his first All-Star berth last season and has spent the 2023-24 campaign building on that. Now, it’s undisputed that he’s one of the league’s premier guards, something that was confirmed when he was the top vote getter in the Eastern Conference backcourt among all three voting blocs: players, fans, and members of the media.

His individual success has beget team success for the Pacers, which are looking to earn a postseason berth for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign. At the break, the team is 31-25, good for sixth place in the East, and made a run to the final of the inaugural In-Season Tournament, where Haliburton emphatically announced on a national stage that he is as good at being a floor general as anyone else in the Association. All of this is coming to a head on Saturday and Sunday, where he’ll compete in the Three-Point Contest and the All-Star Game in his city.

Prior to that, Dime caught up with Haliburton via his partnership with Starry to discuss being an All-Star in Naptown, this season for the Pacers, the intricacies of keeping everyone happy as a point guard, the main event of WrestleMania XL, and much more.

What do you got going on with Starry this weekend?

Here at NBA Crossover, really excited about it. Get to spend some time with fans, they get to shoot for cash prizes all weekend. So, really cool that I get to be here and be seen. Obviously, I’m also doing the Starry Three-Point Contest. So, that’s exciting as well.

Have you been doing any sort of like preparing for the contest? Are you getting out there and showing fans a thing or two?

Yeah, I’m gonna try to get out there and shoot a little bit. They have time slots for practice for the Three-Point Contest, so, I usually knock mine out in the morning before I got all my obligations. Today, this morning, did my Three-Point Contest yesterday morning, tomorrow morning I’ll do my practice. Just want to be prepared.

Moneyball rack, where you going to put it?

Last corner, always.

Why always?

Just because I want to know how my rhythm is going into the last one. Mentally, know if I absolutely need all these five, I gotta lock in. I like it to be the last rack because that’s where I can have some confidence there.

So obviously, that’s Saturday — Sunday is the main event, your second All-Star Game. Was it as cool hearing this time that you were going to be in the All-Star Game as it was last year when you found out you were in it for the first time?

Yeah, for sure. It never gets old. I don’t ever want this to get old, this feeling, there’s nothing like it. It’s a complete honor. And this year, I was number one in fan vote, and same with players and the media. So, I think that just goes to show the work that I’ve been putting in and I think that the respect from the media and the fans means the world, but even more so my peers showing that respect, as well, means the world to me. So, definitely a really exciting moment for me.

How does it feel knowing all that happened for the All-Star Game in the place where you play? Like, you represent the city and you are going to be going out there as a starter in the city that, you put that jersey on every single day.

Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s an amazing feeling. It’s amazing that I didn’t have to pack a million things this weekend and I can just, if I got to run a quick audible on an outfit, it’s easy to do. So, that’s nice to be home and still have my daily routines and still get to eat food from my chef and all those good things. So, it’s nice that he’s home. Obviously, that means all eyes are on me, I gotta be on point with a lot of things. But that’s nothing, I’m just excited to be here.

I mean, I’m probably what your 10,000,000th interview like this today? It stretches you thin, but at the same time, I imagine it says a lot that you’re the guy who’s getting the chance to do all this.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, it’s all part of it, part of the business. It comes with the territory, you know? So, I don’t complain ever, it’s all part of it. And honestly, I would rather this than the opposite, you know what I mean? Like, I’d rather the attention be on me than nobody cares about anything I do, you know? So, it’s definitely exciting.

This has been a really great year for you and for the Pacers. Now that you have a chance to sit back, kick your feet up, decompress and look back on this first half of the year, what have you been happiest about? And where do you want to see you guys really lock down and focus on this last stretch?

I’ve been happy about the energy we’ve played with. Happy that I think nobody saw us as the 6-seed this year, nobody would have possibly imagined that for us. So, it’s cool that we’re there. But in this last year third of the season, we just want to lock in on being better defensively, get stops when we need to. It’s just growing our synergy — we lost Buddy [Hield], who is one of our core guys when it comes to our offensive principles. And him being gone, other guys have to step up to fill that void that he left. And then adding Pascal, I’ve been on a minutes restriction since we got him back, so just trying to get our rotations down right. How do we play off each other the right way? Keep growing that way so we can make a playoff push here soon.

Obviously getting Pascal is gigantic — he’s a guy who had been linked to you guys for a bit. What stuck out from that first day, that first practice, that first game when you got a chance to get on the floor with him?

I just think about our first conversation in the meal room, just talking about our expectations, what we expect from each other. Even the phone call — we had a phone call sometime before he got traded about the possibility of it happening, and I just could tell that he was very authentic, in his words and his aspirations and stuff like that, wanting to win. And that means the world to me, because that’s all I want.

You mentioned wanting to win. You guys are in a playoff spot right now, but you almost got a little bit of a taste of it earlier this year, In-Season Tournament.

Yeah.

You’re the rare team that, you’re waiting to break through to the playoffs, but you also got that playoff feeling of going as LeBron, going against Giannis, going against these guys. How does something like that help you as you’re trying to make this push, and you’re getting ready for the thing that you all play for at the end of the season?

I think it makes me hungrier, playing in that. I wish every game felt that way, I think that’s why we had a little … I would bet as a group, that’s why there was a little bit of a drop off after the In-Season Tournament. Because those games, there was so much energy in them and so much intensity and everything involved in those games, you want it so bad. And then you just go right back into the regular season with some games — we played in, I think, Detroit right after, no fans were there! So, I think it just makes us want to play in front of that environment again, we’ve seen what our city does and how they rally behind us in big games, so I think that, out of anything, that just makes us want to play in those even more.

What is it, “In 49 states it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana”? When you have something like that tournament run, can you really feel that it’s just a little bit different here in Indiana?

Yeah, for sure. No question. Me and KG had a good conversation on his podcast where he just kind of alluded to, yeah, Indy’s a small market, but the best part about it is it’s the Midwest — friendly people, when I’m going to the gas station, somebody’s coming up to me, high fiving. Wherever I’m at, they’re coming up, showing love, whatever. People just want to see us do well. And I think the cool part about Indy is everybody’s invested in the team. Obviously, we have a lot of good things going on, the Colts have a lot of stuff going on, we’re both young and up-and-coming groups. So, I think it’s a great time to be an Indy sports fan.

You guys have such a great team and so many pieces that fit really well around you. As the point guard, it’s a “heavy is the head that wears the crown” thing. How do you make sure you keep your teammates involved on every single possession? Can you feel, you know, “I haven’t gotten Aaron a jumper?”

Oh, for sure.

So, how do you feel that? What does that feel like it, and how do you just have that inherent sense of knowing “I gotta get him the ball, gotta give him the ball, let him do his thing”?

I think that’s the main job of the point guard. I was always told being the point guard of a team is like being the mom of the household. My mom’s job was she kept all her kids happy, kept us all fed, kept us all good. So, I feel like that’s part of my responsibility, having feel and understanding, oh, this guy hasn’t got a shot in a little bit. Let me run a play for him.

Some guys, they don’t necessarily care about their shots, they just want to feel involved. So, they want a play where they can just touch the ball. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but it’s the truth. Some guys just want to be involved, so I just got to figure that out. That’s the balance and that’s what I always tell the young point guards that I’m around — not in the NBA, high school kids or whatever. Your job is to keep everybody happy. You see he’s starting to get frustrated about something, go talk to him, get him the ball one time, see what he does. Those are all important things, I think very valuable things of being a point guard.

Is that something that you’ve always kind of had? That inherent sense that inherent feel? Or is that something that, as you’ve grown as a player from high school, to Iowa State, to Sacramento, and now Indiana, you’ve had to develop a little bit?

I feel like I developed it when I was really young. I feel like that was the time, especially because when we were young, in our area, we were the best team around. So, we just used to beat everybody, and so coach would always leave me in at the end of the game with the end of the bench guys so I could just pass them the ball and give them shots. And I think I’ve always … my whole life, there’s always just been a big enjoyment in seeing all my teammates eat. The kids who don’t really get to play in the big games, seeing them score and feeling good about that when we’re playing well. So, I think that’s just been a part of my life.

Nice. Let’s talk about professional wrestling.

Yes, please!

What has been just this last, like, month or two been like as a fan of the product? It’s never been better.

Yeah, it’s become more mainstream than than ever, and I think that’s cool. I got people in the locker room coming up to me, asking me about it. Just did the Pat McAfee show yesterday, we talked about it. It’s becoming more mainstream than ever and I think that’s really cool and very enjoyable for me as a fan of the product — not only the surface level but I feel like I’m a, what’s the word they use? A mark. I feel like I’m a little bit of a mark. I love wrestling.

As a fellow mark, same. What do you want to happen in the main event of WrestleMania?

Okay, so, what I want. I wanted The Rock to turn heel, it looks like we’re getting that [ed. note: this interview was conducted before The Rock turned heel on Friday night’s edition of SmackDown]. I want him to go back to the Hollywood gimmick. I want night one to be Seth and Cody versus Rock and Roman — that seems where we’re going right now. And night two, still get Cody-Roman, and then Seth versus insert opponent there. Probably Drew McIntyre, Drew probably makes the most sense. Or Sami Zayn. I want Chad Gable versus Gunther more than anything.

Same!

I don’t want … it seems like they’re kind of building up Sami to be in that that role, and that’d be cool to see him win the title. But I want Gable to take the title out of anyone.

I am so happy we got a Chad Gable mention.

Yeah.

He’s, like, the best guy nobody talks about.

For sure, he’s amazing.

Donald Trump has a lot be angry about. On Friday the former was handed a crushing defeat in his civil fraud case, with him ordered to pay nearly $355 million plus interest — a number that could wipe out whatever cash he has left. On top of that, he’s banned from doing business in his home state of New York for three years. And yet he still found time to rail against far smaller issues than his many legal woes.

Per Mediaite, mere minutes after the ruling came down, Trump took to his rinky-dink Twitter clone to torch what he claimed were AI-generated images of him golfing, one of which shows a gigantic gut.

“The Fake News used Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to create the picture on the top left,” Trump wrote. “These are despicable people, but everyone knows that. The other pictures are me hitting Golf balls today to show the difference. Sadly, in our Country, Fake News is all you get!”

During much of his life in the public eye, Trump has had two sartorial styles: suits with really long ties (though sometimes he’ll go tie-less and maybe add a MAGA hat) and way too loose golf clothes. When decked out in the latter, he sometimes doesn’t look so hot, and there’s been much concern over his health given his ceaseless yen for McDonald’s.

It’s worth noting that we’re in the midst of an election year where AI imagery is getting scarily close to looking legit. Get ready for Trump to claim everything, including his massive brain farts during rallies, are simply fakes even when they’re terrifyingly real.

(Via Mediaite)

Ryan Murphy had a superior 2022 on Netflix. He had simultaneous top-streaming shows in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and The Watcher, both of which were somehow renewed, despite the second story certainly being envisioned as a limited series.

Regarding the first show, an anthologized format will next transform the season into Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story. As for The Watcher, the subject matter of the continuation isn’t as obvious from the title. Will there be a New Watcher, or will the Old Watcher still be The Watcher, or will there be Copycat Watchers (like Scream 2)? Heck, maybe everyone will be The Watcher, similar to the ending of John Wick 2, in which Mr. Excommunicado needed to run, fast. Let’s parcel out any clues about the second season so far:

Plot

The first season of The Watcher, although being ultimately very watchable, infuriated some viewers, given that the show — as with the reality-based case — did not explicitly identify who was terrorizing the Brannocks (based upon the Broaddus family) with sinister letters. The show did, however, show Bobby Cannavale’s character start to lose his mind, and then Naomi Watts’ character grew faux-menacing by fake-claiming to be “Watching” the incoming occupant of the home. That was part of the fictionalized ending, which differed from IRL, wherein the Broadduses departed their “dream home,” never to be Watcher-ed again.

Murphy’s twist on the story saw Jennifer Coolidge’s realtor swoop in and purchase the palatial estate for herself. She swiftly finds herself terrorized with her poor dog paying the ultimate price. This, presumably, rules out the possibility that she engineered the entire mess as The Watcher. Additionally, it also paves the way for her life inside the home to be the focus of a second season. Will that happen, or could the show further fictionalize the plight of the Brannocks by having them stalked in their future home, too?

On the possibility of the second scenario, Naomi Watts stayed mum while speaking to Entertainment Weekly:

“I know they said yes to the next series, but I haven’t heard anything more,” Watts says in an interview for her latest project, a leading role in the new season of FX’s Feud anthology series … To be honest, we left the house, so I don’t know if we’ll be coming back,” she says. “I don’t know what the plan is there, so I can’t give you a straight answer, I’m afraid.”

Cast

Since Naomi Watts hasn’t revealed whether she will be back, there’s no way to predict whether the Brannock family will be at the center of another terror, so we cannot predict who will star in the second season. It does, however, seem likely that Jennifer Coolidge’s realtor could crossover into another season and be the connecting thread, like she was in The White Lotus. However, her character might not make it out of that second season alive here, either. (Are the Evil Gays the collective Watcher?)

Release Date

Ryan Murphy has his hands in several other different projects, but that’s also business as usual for him. If his usual workaholic ways have their way, The Watcher could return in late 2024 or early 2025.

Trailer

No trailer yet, fellow Watchers. Still, here’s a reminder that a dumbwaiter in a house can harbor surprises.