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Software developer Angie Jones’ recent girls trip revealed that America still has a long way to go when it comes to race.

To most, that’s not surprising. But what’s unique is how the specific experience Jones and her friends went through revealed the pervasive way systemic racism still runs through our culture.

Jones is the Senior Director of Developer Relations at Applitools, holds 26 patented inventions in the United States of America and Japan, and is an IBM Master Inventor.

On July 27, she tweeted about a flight she took with nine other Black women and they all sat in first class. “People literally could not process how it was possible,” she wrote. “Staff tried to send us to regular lines. Passengers made snide remarks. One guy even yelled ‘are they a higher class of people than I am?!'”

this weekend I went on a girls trip. 10 Black women flying first class. People literally could not process how it was possible. nnStaff tried to send us to regular lines. Passengers made snide remarks. One guy even yelled “are they a higher class of people than I am?!”nnStay mad.

— Angie Jones (@Angie Jones)
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Jones and her friends were the targets of racism that ranged from the seemingly unconscious — people who assumed that Black people don’t sit in first class — to the blatant — those who were seriously bothered that Black people were being treated as having a higher status.

It’s interesting that she didn’t mention anyone saying “good for you” for succeeding in a world that often holds people of color back. Instead, she was greeted with incredulity and jealous rage.

There are a lot of white people who can’t stand the idea of a Black person being elevated above them. It’s disturbing that in 2021 there are still some who will admit it publicly.

Jones’ tweets inspired a lot of people to share their stories about the racism they’ve experienced while flying first class.

Jones’ tweets also angered some people to the point that they denied her story. To which she responded, “To those saying I’m lying, you’re a huge part of the problem,” she wrote. “You tell yourself a notable person is lying (for what reason, I cannot figure out) before you believe there are actual racists in…America.”

pic.twitter.com/EkhqeU58yg

— Mr. Skilling (@Mr. Skilling)
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One Twitter user came up with the perfect retort to the person who asked, “Are they a higher class of people than I am?!”

fuck I wish I would’ve thought to say this!!!

— Angie Jones (@Angie Jones)
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fuck I wish I would’ve thought to say this!!!

— Angie Jones (@Angie Jones)
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This article originally appeared on 07.29.21

On Friday, October 27, Taylor Swift’s latest re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) dropped across all digital streaming platforms. On Saturday, October 28, it has already smashed one platform’s documented history.

In a post shared to Spotify’s official X (formerly Twitter), the streamer revealed the news. “She’s done it again!” read the note. “On October 27, Taylor Swift became the most-streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history, and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2023 so far.”

So far this year, Swift has already entered the history books for her The Eras Tour earnings, box office profits from the supporting concert film, and now her latest re-recording joined the long list of accomplishments.

Before its release, Swift took to Instagram to share a note about the record. “The ‘1989’ album changed my life in countless ways, and it fills me with such excitement to announce that my version of it will be out October 27,” wrote Swift. “To be perfectly honest, this is my most favorite re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 ‘From The Vault’ tracks are so insane. I can’t believe they were ever left behind. But not for long.”

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic Records. Find more information here.

Spider-Man is so popular he’s been played by three live-action actors and even inspired an animated series, in which there’s an entire multiverse of them. And yet in each of them his origin story is the same: Peter Parker or Miles Morales or Spider-Ham is bitten by a radioactive spider. But what if he hadn’t been? What if he became a web-flinging do-gooder by other, maybe less ridiculous means? That’s what would have happened had Marvel dug David Fincher’s threatened version, which they did not.

In a sprawling interview with The Guardian (in a bit teased out by The AV Club), the director of Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac, and the new hitman saga The Killer recalls being one of the filmmakers who got to pitch their take on Spidey back when Marvel and Sony were rolling out their first big screen iteration. It didn’t go so hot. For one thing, he wanted to skip the whole spider bite aspect.

“They weren’t f*cking interested,” Fincher recalled with a laugh. “And I get it. They were like: ‘Why would you want to eviscerate the origin story?’ And I was like: ‘’Cos it’s dumb?’”

Perhaps, but it’s also evidently not something one messes with, which he gets. “That origin story means a lot of things to a lot of people,” Fincher said, “but I looked at it and I was like: ‘A red and blue spider?’ There’s a lot of things I can do in my life and that’s just not one of them.”

Instead the gig went to another iconoclastic filmmaker, Sam Raimi, who kept the “bitten by a spider” jazz and launched a franchise that couldn’t even be killed by a cheerfully ridiculous montage where Tobey Maguire’s evil Peter Parker does a Tony Manero-style dance through the streets of New York City. Still, one can dream of what could have been.

The Killer, meanwhile, is now in select theaters. It hits Netflix on November 10.

(Via The Guardian and The AV Club)

On Friday, October 27, Kanye West‘s daughter North took to her official joint TikTok page (shared with her mother, Kim Kardashian) to reveal her Halloween costume to the world. In a series of videos, she be seen cheerfully dancing in a replica of her father’s famous Dropout Bear (more commonly referred to by fans as the Graduation era bear), to the strains her father’s 2007 songs “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” featuring Jeezy and “I Wonder” off his album Graduation, as well as Estelle’s 2008 song “American Boy,” in which West is featured.

From the leatherman jacket, blinged-out Jesus piece, and a luxury gold watch, North nailed the nostalgic look.

Kanye West’s love for fashion pre-dates his Adidas or Gap collaborations. However, once he found success following his breakthrough single, “Through The Wire,” he ushered several trends into hip-hop, including preppy chic. The Dropout bear is a symbol from that era.

During an interview with Fake Shore Drive in 2021, the symbol’s creator, Sam Hansen, spoke about the mascot’s inspiration. “I’m a Polo head, and I knew Kanye was also, so I was like, yo, we could flip this bear on some Polo sh*t but make it a little more sporty,” said Hansen. “And so I have this sketch. I remember just kind of, like, on a piece of paper, putting sad eyes and sketching out and making it look more collegiate and putting a thick stroke around it, and that’s what we did. … We took the head off the picture of the cover and turned that [into the logo].”

In August, the world was shocked by the news that Lizzo was being sued by three of her former dancers over accusations of sexual harassment and fostering a hostile work environment. Although the “Bad Day” singer maintains her innocence, she’s decided to keep a low profile, with minimal public appearances unrelated to work. There have been countless unsubstantiated nuggets of information to come out, but for the most part, due to the case being an ongoing legal matter, not much has been known until now.

On Friday, October 27, Rolling Stone obtained a new motion filed by Lizzo’s representatives. According to the outlet, Lizzo, via her team, has reportedly asked the courts to dismiss the sexual harassment lawsuit, citing the anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute.

“Plaintiffs missed flights, arrived late and hungover to rehearsals and drunk to performances, entered into consensual sexual relationships with male crew members on tour, exhibited a rapid decline in the quality of their dancing and professionalism, and ultimately conspired to make and disseminate an unauthorized recording of a creative meeting with Lizzo and the dance cast,” read the filling.

The documentation continued, “Plaintiffs had it all, and they blew it. Instead of taking any accountability for their actions, Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit against Defendants out of spite and in pursuit of media attention, public sympathy, and a quick payday with minimal effort.”

The accusers have spoken to news outlets and appeared on televised programming, such as Today, to discuss their allegations.

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

It’s been about a year since Elon Musk officially bought the social media service formerly known as Twitter. So much has changed, and not for the better. Gone are the blue checkmarks that used to designate noted users. Back are the anti-Semites and a certain criminally charged former president. Advertising revenue has plummeted, forcing Musk to try one kooky idea after another to save his investment. His next alleged harebrained scheme? Making it another dating app.

An insider told Insider that during a company call on Thursday, Musk announced he plans to add a “fully fledged” mating component in 2024. How will that work? Details are fuzzy, but never second guess Musk when it comes to actually implementing ideas that sound terrible (and, when finished, are).

Turning the ex-Twitter into a hook-up joint isn’t the only ambitious-yet-dodgy idea Musk has cooked up. He’s been saying he wants to turn it into an “everything app,” where one can do banking. Some have sworn they wouldn’t trust the guy whose yen for self-driving cars has resulted in horrific accidents with their money.

Buying Twitter hasn’t exactly worked out for Musk. At one point he lost so much money on the purchase that he forfeited his claim as the world’s wealthiest person. But as per a recent Forbes round-up, he’s back on top. Forbes credits his success to Tesla and Space X — though, suspiciously, not that entity called “X.”

(Via Insider)

Based on the influx of viral videos, the Weekends With Adele Las Vegas residency show is quite the musical experience, with the “Easy On Me” singer putting her best foot and designer gown forward at every performance. On Friday, October 27, she unveiled her Halloween spirit early with a Morticia Addams-inspired stage look.

In January,during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Sam Smith laughed off the conspiracy theory that they’re Adele in drag. Fans hoped Adele would feed into it for the holiday. Instead, she went for the next best thing. In videos and photographs captured by concertgoers, Adele traded her coiffed blonde waves for a bone-straight jet-black do.

That wasn’t the only thing different about Adele’s appearance. For the stage makeup, she recreated the beloved fictional character’s vamped smokey eye look and dark lipstick.

Halloween 2023 falls at the beginning of the work week, so many celebrities are rolling out their looks ahead of time. That include Uproxx cover star Chlöe, who took to her official social media pages to post steamy photos of her dressed as Game Of Thrones villain Daenerys I Targaryen. If you’re still looking for last-minute costume inspiration, Uproxx has you covered. Click here for our suggestions.

This week the majority of the world learned a new, very boring but very powerful name: Mike Johnson. He’s the new Speaker of the House, and after four Wile E. Coyote-esque attempts to replace the historically ousted Kevin McCarthy, he initially seemed like a sensible choice. Turns out he wasn’t. The clean-cut guy with the generic name is a MAGA die hard who was against certifying the 2020 election. He’s an ultra-Christian who believes America isn’t a democracy but a “Biblical republic.”

Speaking of, he’s also a fan of anti-sodomy laws. On Friday’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the host focused on that aspect during his opening monologue. After joking that House Republicans “finally found someone who fits the glass slipper,” Maher joked that he was a fan.

“Oh, boy, do I like this guy,” Maher sarcastically told the crowd. “Super duper, super Christian. I mean, super Christ-y. The and and probably the worst of the election deniers. So the Republicans have really found their sweet spot, loves Jesus, hates democracy.”

After cracking that Johnson is so extreme in his abortion views that he believes “life begins at insurrection,” he turned to his LGBTQIA+ views. Johnson, he says, “absolutely hates gay sex, especially when he’s having it.” He added, “He wants to actually criminalize gay sex because it makes it hotter.”

Maher continued:

Oh, this is a beaut, this guy. He is written in favor of reinstituting sodomy laws. Sodomy laws? That’s laws against anal and oral. I. I’ve never understood this about the Republicans. If you’re so against abortion, why would you be against the two places to do it where you can’t get pregnant? Right. Well, I think this is actually a giant gift to the Democrats because, I mean, oh, wow, forget about Republicans coming after your Social Security. Now they’re coming after your anal! Finally, something to get the young people to the polls.

On the plus side, voters famously pounded the GOP last year over their extreme positions on issues like abortion. Surely appointing a hard-liner like Johnson won’t do them any favors next year. What’s more, as Kevin McCarthy learned, it’s really easy these days to depose a House Speaker.

You can watch Maher’s Johnson take in the video above.

(Via Mediaite)

Movies are really long these days. Avatar: The Way of Water was almost as long as Titanic. Oppenheimer was only slightly shorter, as was Avengers: Endgame. All three gobbled up money like it was going out of fashion. Audiences, perhaps used to binge-watching TV, clearly aren’t opposed to endless cinema. But it seems one movie may have broken them.

Per Variety, some theaters have been adding an intermission to Killers of the Flower Moon. The latest from TikTok star Martin Scorsese runs a whopping three hours and 26 minutes. That’s a few minutes shorter than The Irishman. But that film was largely seen at home, over Netflix. People could pause for bathroom and snack breaks, or just to stretch their legs. And so some venues have been pausing the film around the two-hour mark.

When the Flower Moon team caught wind of this, they weren’t happy. After all, if Scorsese and his team intended for there to be an intermission, they would have added one.

“I understand that somebody’s running it with an intermission which is not right,” said Thelma Schoonmaker, Scorsese’s longtime editor. “That’s a violation so I have to find out about it.”

After one theater in Colorado showed the epic docudrama with a break, they were reprimanded by Paramount and Apple Original Films, who distributed the film. They then nixed their intermissions.

Alas, moviegoers were reportedly happy to get a break.

“Everybody was really into it because it’s a longer movie, and they’re like, ‘I wish we would have had it for Oppenheimer,’” one anonymous person told The Hollywood Reporter (though it’s unclear if this is the same Colorado theater). “People could come out, order another drink, stretch their legs, go to the bathroom and not miss anything.”

They added, “People were big fans of it. We were going to keep doing it going forward with longer movies, but now it doesn’t seem like an option.”

But some respected Scorsese and team’s intent. “Outside of the debate of whether or not there should be an intermission, or whether or not that creative or artistic choice should have been made,” a theater manager said, “Paramount has done exactly what all movie lovers hope studios would do, which is help create a director’s vision onscreen in exactly the way that the director wants it to be seen.”

Scorsese has yet to comment on the intermissions. But he’s clearly unmoved by people carping about long movies in the age of binge-watching.

“People say it’s three hours, but come on, you can sit in front of the TV and watch something for five hours,” he recently told The Hindustan Times. “Also, there are many people who watch theatre for 3.5 hours. There are real actors on stage, you can’t get up and walk around. You give it that respect, give cinema some respect.”

Killers of the Flower Moon is now in theaters.

(Variety and THR)

The ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike has led to some big shake-ups in the movie release calendar. In another timeline, Dune: Part Two would have been released this month. (Instead it will drop in March.) Disney, meanwhile, bumped two its big releases a year each. Their weirdly controversial Snow White redo will now be out on March 21, 2025, while Pixar’s Elio moved from March 2024 to June 13, 2025. Another smaller film, meanwhile, has disappeared from the calendar entirely (for now).

Per Entertainment Weekly, Magazine Dreams, an indie drama that wowed critics when it hit Sundance earlier this year, has gone from a December 4 release to what the company labeled “unset.” Why? It could possibly have something to do with its star, Jonathan Majors.

Earlier this year, the acclaimed actor was arrested in New York City after an alleged incident with his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari that turned violent. According to the allegations, the two were in a taxi cab when Jabbari saw a text message sent to Majors that read, “Wish I was kissing you right now.” After Jabbari grabbed his phone, Majors allegedly violently pried the phone from her hands, twisting her forearm and causing what was described as “substantial pain.” He’s also been accused of hitting her right ear, resulting in a laceration. Majors was subsequently charged with strangulation, assault, and harassment

Majors has denied the allegations, claiming it was Jabbari who attacked him.

At the time of his arrest in March, Majors had major supporting roles in two big movies: Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He also played variants of his Marvel baddie Kang the Conqueror in the second season of Loki, which began airing earlier this month. The producers of the latter spoke about how it felt “hasty” to remove the actor from the show considering the case had not yet concluded.

Disney has not publicly addressed whether putting a pause on Magazine Dreams’ release has anything to do with Majors’ legal woes.

(Via EW)