Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Slipknot’s Corey Taylor Was So Eager To Sing The ‘SpongeBob’ Theme Song With SpongeBob Himself (His Voice Actor, Anyway)

The SpongeBob SquarePants theme song poses the question, “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” The question’s answer will always be SpongeBob SquarePants (except for the various times his house was destroyed), but the question’s asker is sometimes different. It was this weekend, at least, when Tom Kenny, who voices the sponge, was joined for a performance of his show’s theme song by Slipknot leader Corey Taylor.

Both were at the Huntington Comic and Toy Convention in West Virginia this weekend, and backed by a full band, Kenny brought Taylor up on stage. After sharing a hug, Taylor noted, “This is the most nervous I’ve ever been in my whole career.”

After some more banter, they got into the song, with Taylor and Kenny trading off lines as the audience chimed in during the parts where it’s just a chorus of kids singing, “SpongeBob SquarePants!” The song is short and simple so the whole thing was over pretty quickly, but nevertheless, it was a fun collision of worlds.

Taylor actually has some previous experience with the song, as he’s covered it live a number of times before this. He sang it at a different convention last year, for example. Here’s another one from 2017.

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

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Michael Oher Alleges He Was Never Actually Adopted, Seeks Share Of ‘The Blind Side’ Profits

In 2009, The Blind Side became a massive hit, grossing more than $300 million at the box office as Sandra Bullock earned an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy. The Tuohy’s were the family that adopted Michael Oher as a senior in high school, helping him get his education and football career on track before becoming a star at Ole Miss and becoming a first round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. At least, that’s how the movie version of events goes.

Oher is now alleging the Tuohy’s used him and never actually adopted him, instead tricking him into signing a document to make Sean and Leigh Anne his co-conservators rather than his adopted parents, giving them the rights to make business deals in his name — including selling his story to make The Blind Side. In a 14-page petition filed in Tennessee court on Monday, obtained by ESPN’s Michael A. Fletcher, Oher and his attorney lay out the rather shocking details of how the Tuohy’s represented to both Oher and the public that they had adopted him, when in fact he had no legal familial relationship to them.

“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher,” the legal filing says. “Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys.”

“Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control,” the petition says. “All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher.”

Fletcher reports that the filing asserts the Tuohy’s and their two biological children made $900,000 total up front from The Blind Side, plus 2.5 percent of the net proceeds from the film. Oher, meanwhile, was given a separate contract — that he has no recollection of signing — that gave away his rights to 20th Century Fox Studios.

It is a bombshell filing that, if proven true, will hopefully see Oher get his rightful proceeds from the film, but what can’t be undone is the emotional distress of learning that the family you though adopted you and loved you had, instead, been using you to profit off of your journey and, in fact, you had no legal standing as a member of the family.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

James Harden And Daryl Morey Were Always Destined For A Messy Ending

For eight years in Houston, James Harden and Daryl Morey made for a near-perfect match as a player-GM pairing. We don’t often think about that specific dynamic in sports, typically talking about how a player meshes with their coach more than a general manager, but, particularly in basketball, having a star who fits the ethos of the head of basketball operations makes the team-building process much easier.

Harden’s abilities aligned incredibly well with Morey’s obsession with efficiency. He was the poster child of modern basketball scoring, almost completely eschewing the midrange to attack the rim or shoot threes, setting the tone for a Rockets team that would do the same as a whole. The pair found a great deal of success in Houston, with Harden hoisting MVP trophies and scoring titles, while the team was a perennial contender in the West, albeit one that constantly fell short of the ultimate prize. That inability to reach the NBA’s summit ultimately led to Morey’s departure from the franchise after The Bubble, with Harden not far behind in demanding a trade to Brooklyn.

Two years later they would reunite, with Harden forcing his way to Philadelphia in hopes that he and Joel Embiid could do what he and Chris Paul (and Russell Westbrook) could not in Houston. However, early on he was not the same James Harden, lacking the same burst he once possessed as he battled hamstring issues. The result was another second-round exit for the Sixers, but one that at least came with some hope that a fully healthy Harden would raise their ceiling.

That summer, Harden and Morey concocted a plan to bring in a couple of old friends from Houston, with Harden taking a pay cut so they’d have the money to add PJ Tucker and Danuel House Jr., hoping to inject a bit more toughness into the Sixers roster. Harden hoped he’d become a Philadelphia sports legend with that act of selflessness, growing frustrated when he wasn’t given the credit he felt he deserved for knocking $15 million off of his deal to improve the team as a whole. That was the first tangible sign this could all go very wrong.

Harden expected something in return for his financial sacrifice. The problem was he was asking that of a team president who is notorious for not caring much about interpersonal relationships when it comes to negotiations. Given how close he was to Harden and how they’d partnered so well for a decade, many — clearly including Harden — thought even the cold, analytical nature of Morey wouldn’t look to squeeze his old friend on their next negotiation. And yet, we have years of evidence showing that when it comes to team-building, the human element rarely comes into play for the former Executive of the Year. And Harden, presumably, knew that.

That has long been considered Morey’s Achilles heel as the leader of a front office. He has thrown together combustible star combinations, showing little regard for the concept of team chemistry and believing that complementary skillsets matter far more than complementary personalities. He has frustrated agents and players in the past, rarely willing to reward past production on a future contract. And therein lay the problem facing Harden this summer. He was expecting to make up what he’d given up on the next deal with someone who handed out deals based on current and future value, hoping their longtime partnership would soften his stance.

The cracks in the foundation started showing as early as Christmas, when Adrian Wojnarowski first reported that Harden was seriously considering a return to Houston this summer. Those reports continued for six months, an effort to push Morey to put the long-term deal that James wanted on the table. However, after yet another second-round exit (where it should be noted Harden was great in two of the team’s wins against Boston) and it became clear the Rockets were moving in a different direction, Harden lost his leverage and Morey was not willing to budge on giving Harden the long-term max deal he was seeking.

Ultimately, we have reached the ending we all should’ve seen coming to this saga. We had a player wanting to be rewarded for his loyalty — after showing he was willing to issue two trade demands in successive years — from a front office led by a man who never rewarded anything but production and projections.

Now, each is trying to apply pressure in the only way they know how. Harden picked up his option and demanded a trade, with the Clippers as his only preferred destination. Morey is dipping back into the same playbook he used with Ben Simmons, looking to drag things into camp and beyond by insisting he won’t trade Harden for a package that doesn’t keep the Sixers in the title contender realm. Harden, for his part, is making it clear he’s got plenty in his bag of tricks to make life miserable for Morey and the Sixers if they don’t trade him, starting by torching Morey publicly on his tour of China.

They were once the ideal pairing of GM and star, but they were also destined for this kind of ending if external forces didn’t intervene. Both men are who they are, for better or worse. Harden, a 33-year-old star who still sees himself as the player he once was, deserving of a full max contract. Morey, a team president incapable of overlooking the signs of decline and potential red flags, even for the player he’s been closest with.

As a result, their relationship is seemingly irreparably fractured, with Harden pledging to never play for a team led by Morey again and Morey, fittingly, being “unmoved” by it all. We shouldn’t be surprised it came to this, but it doesn’t make it any less awkward to watch it play out.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

A Republican Presidential Candidate Tried (And Failed) To Channel Eminem In A Cringeworthy Campaign Performance Of ‘Lose Yourself’

Republicans have been railing against Eminem for over 20 years now, but that apparently won’t stop them from also trying to use his music to appeal to voters. Last year, they were recoiling from his Super Bowl Halftime Show and as recently as last week, Eminem’s anti-Trump stances were being derided on Elon Musk’s zombie Twitter six years after those fans stuck between the two controversial figures weighed with their nostalgia for “The Real Slim Shady” against their racist views.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican Presidential candidate who’s beginning his campaign ahead of next year’s elections, personified that struggle during a rally in Iowa on Saturday, rapping the iconic intro from Em’s most popular song, “Lose Yourself.” It’s… pretty painful to watch, actually. Steel yourself and hit “play” below — but stretch first, because you’re likely to pull a muscle from cringing so hard afterward.

I’m not sure which part is worse: His atrocious mic presence or the utter lack of interest from the crowd. Maybe it’s when he tries to get the lady onstage behind him involved and she snaps back to reality after clearly dissociating through his performance to avoid the secondhand embarrassment. Yike. The question this begs, though, is who is this for? Gen Z doesn’t have much fondness for Em and the fans who grew up with him have loudly moved on in recent years. Boomers hated him from jump, so which voting base does Ramaswamy hope to appeal to?

Meanwhile, the real Slim Shady actually performed the song himself for boxer Terence Crawford’s ring entrance late last month when he fought Errol Spence, Jr. Maybe Ramaswamy is hoping for some of that “Lose Yourself” luck, as Crawford dominated Spence on his way to a technical knockout victory and welterweight championship.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Lorde Set The Record Straight On The Fate Of The Two New Songs She Played Live Recently

Over the weekend, Lorde had the internet buzzing after two new songs were included during her set at Boardmasters Festival. Rumored to be titled “Silver Moon” and “Invisible Ink” according to a setlist, the videos from her performance immediately started circulating.

She also started playing an alternate version of her Solar Power track, “Secrets From A Girl (Who’s Seen It All.)” This, coupled with the fact that the musician had been teasing a new record days earlier, had fan speculation running wild.

“After the show we went swimming.. these times are beautiful and they freak me out and there’s so much to tell you,” she captioned a recent Instagram post. “No this is not the start of anything out there, just want u to know there’s a light on inside me .. show it to you soon.”

However, Lorde has since shut down the possibility of the tracks being on her next album after she commented back to a fan on Instagram.

“Haha I’m serious literally just decided to set these free from my laptop,” Lorde responded. “But they’re not bad eh… Beautiful and fun for fests I thought.”

While it now seems less likely that Lorde will be giving “Silver Moon” and “Invisible Ink” an official release, fans still can watch her performing the songs in some crowd-shot videos below.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

A 9/11-Themed Bodybuilding Competition Led ‘How To With John Wilson’ To One Of The Most Unexpected Moments On TV This Year

Before the premiere of the final season of HBO‘s How To with John Wilson, one of the best shows on TV, host John Wilson told us about how he processes surprising confessions from his interview subjects. “That’s the high that I’m chasing throughout all the work; getting to these real moments with people that we don’t usually have access to in our personal lives or in other media that we watch,” he said. In the latest episode, he had one of his realest — and most shocking — moments yet.

In “How to Work Out,” Wilson, who travels everywhere with a camera and films everything he sees, tries to improve his fitness. “The more you look around New York, the more you notice all the hard work people are doing to maintain their physiques. They make it look effortless, and you’ve never really understood how to do it right,” he said in the opening narration. “So instead of just letting gravity suck you down, stick with me, and I’ll show you how to finally get off your butt and start to work out.”

Wilson, naturally, starts his journey at a gym, which leads him to a meme-making chronic masturbator… and a literal dumpster fire… and a cat show, where he asks a photographer to take semi-nude photos of him… which are later stolen. Somehow, when watching the episode, this all makes sense.

Later on, Wilson attends a September 11th-themed bodybuilding competition where he’s handed a memoir written by a personal trainer who “discovered that a former client of his became one of the 9/11 hijackers.” Wilson meets with the trainer and asks him for his reaction when he found out what happened. “Made me feel proud,” he answered. This was the moment my jaw dropped. “Made me feel good that I’d trained somebody for something committed that they were able to pull it off. We may not agree with them, but they were committed. That’s what I liked about it.” Wilson’s only response:

hbo

Awkward kings stay winning.

How To with John Wilson is available on Max.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Will There Be A ‘Swagger’ Season 3?

(WARNING: Spoilers for Swagger season two will be found below.)

Season two of Swagger came to a close last weekend with its eighth and final episode. For those who are new to the Swagger experience, the series is loosely based on the life of NBA player Kevin Durant as it follows a teenager named Jace Carson who has very realistic dreams of making it to the NBA. The show isn’t only about basketball though. It also incorporates the real experience of young Black men in this country with themes that include pressures from the youth basketball world, friends, families, and competitors, as well as dealings with racism, broken families, abuse, incarceration, and more. All these ingredients combined have made Swagger an authentic show to love, which makes it unsurprising that fans of the show are asking about season three.

Will There Be A ‘Swagger’ Season 3?

As of now, Swagger has not been renewed for season three, but this does not mean that the show will not be given a new round of episodes. In fact, following its inaugural season, Swagger was not renewed for season two until six months after the season one finale. Case in point, we might have to wait a bit for news on Swagger season three, but hopefully, it arrives sooner than later.

Seasons one and two of ‘Swagger’ are available to stream now on Apple TV+.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

‘I’m Better Than You’ Is Just One Of The Things Doja Cat Told Her Haters In A Fiery New Post

Doja Cat has a message for the social media followers who leave nasty comments on her posts. Doja, who has seemingly been on a mission to alienate all but her most loyal fans lately (which, honestly, might not be such a bad strategy), followed up a series of bizarre grid photos with the post on her Instagram, deriding the users leaving “mean comments” and noting, “You still follow me.”

“To all the people in my comments section who are leaving mean comments: I checked your page and you still follow me,” she wrote. “I have a setting on that only allows followers to comment. Also, I’m better than you and you’re so jealous that I’m fly and hot and pretty and you’re nothing like that, you’re nothing of the sort.”

Doja Cat Instagram
Instagram

Doja Cat has long been known for trolling her fans and haters alike, starting with her breakout song, “Mooo!” and continuing right up to last month, when she told users with stan accounts to “get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.” She allegedly lost a quarter of a million followers after that, but her actions certainly track with her statement that she’s no longer doing “palatable, marketable, and sellable” stuff anymore.

Clearly, that includes dropping pop star kayfabe — y’know, the syrupy “I love my fans” act most of them commit to in order to feed the parasocial dynamic that often leads to stalkers showing up at their homes and fans pelting things at them at concerts. More power to her, I say, especially if it means that the music will be stuff that she wants to make instead of just what some label bean counter thinks will sell. Of course, it could all be an inside joke from a known trickster, but either way, thank you, Doja, for making music weird again.

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Timothy Olyphant Revealed Which Hatless Role Left Him ‘Freaking Out Inside’ During His Early Career

Justified‘s Raylan Givens is the role that Timothy Olyphant was born to portray. Granted, Deadwood (as seen above) was a hat-bound precursor to the even more infamous Wild West lawman character that Olyphant has now revived for City Primeval. Many more roles came before, some with hats and some without. Yet one role in particular seems to have intimidated the heck out of the generally laid-back Olyphant, and that would be picking up one of the two “killer” roles (Mickey) for 1997’s Scream 2.

Via ComicBook, this was one of several topics discussed by Olyphant with Josh Horowitz of the Happy Sad Confused podcast:

“That whole movie was overwhelming and exciting, and that’s early. That’s me just trying to keep my head above water and pretend like I’m not freaking out inside. That was quite a job. I was still maybe lying on my resume when I got that gig; I hadn’t done a lot…. Huge opportunity, and I showed up and everybody on that set was people I’d been watching on television and film.”

A few years later, Olyphant picked up the role of a Santa-hat wearing, scuzzed-out drug dealer in Go by pretending that he didn’t care about the role. Many years later, he found his hat camouflage roles, and now, he always appears to be one easygoing dude. The hat helps, no doubt.

Watch him talk about Scream shortly after the 33:00 minute mark.

(Via Comic Book)

Categories
News Trending Viral Worldwide

Kaley Cuoco Was The ‘Secret Sauce’ To ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Becoming One Of The Biggest Sitcoms Ever

The Big Bang Theory ran for 12 seasons. It was one of the 15 biggest shows on television for 10 of them. The CBS sitcom benefitted from nerd culture taking over Hollywood (Iron Man came out during season one), but the real secret to the show’s ratings-dominating success is Kaley Cuoco.

In a new interview with Emmy Magazine (via Screenrant), former CBS executive Nina Tassler discussed how Cuoco saved The Big Bang Theory. “There was so much about the pilot that did work. But there were parts of the script that didn’t work, and we had to recast an actress. [Creator Chuck Lorre] is such an extraordinary talent. He had a great concept and wonderful chemistry between the two leads, so I asked him if he would try again,” she said. Lorre agreed with Tassler. “You’re right, I know I can do better. Thank you for this opportunity, and we’ll figure it out,” he said.

The role of Penny was re-cast with an actress from 8 Simple Rules. “Kaley Cuoco joined the cast, and she was the secret sauce. Chuck and [co-creator] Bill Prady delivered a pilot script, and the rest is history,” Tassler said.

The catchphrase shirts and slot machine industries thank you most of all, Kaley Cuoco.

(Via Screenrant)