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Last fall, multihyphenate Coco Jones released “ICU,” which proved to be a breakthrough song for her. On the song, she grapples with the idea of leaving a man whom she loves, as she feels she can no longer live with him. Painting painfully relatable imagery through her music, Jones is caught between a rock and a hard place, struggling with the idea of having to let go of someone she loves.

All of these emotions become even more complex on the new remix of the R&B hit, on which Justin Timberlake adds a new verse.

“Since you’ve been gone, everything been a mess / You’ve got a hold on this thing in my chest, babe / But I won’t settle for anything less but you / You know that our chemistry make up the set / So let’s make up, put it to the bed / In the morning, we wake up and do it again,” he sings on his verse.

Fans of Jones, the singer and Bel Air actress, have often praised her ability to craft timeless songs, delivering fresh-sounding vocals on instrument-driven tracks. With the addition of Timberlake, the song maintains a special je ne sais quoi similar to that of early aughts pop-R&B.

You can listen to “ICU (Remix)” above.

Jung Kook is ready for his world takeover. Tonight (July 14), the BTS member has released his new single, “Seven.”

On “Seven,” Jung Kook is happily in love, and details these euphoric feelings over a bouncy, electronic track.

He opens the song, noting the sensual desire to make life easier for a special woman in his life.

“Weight of the world on your shoulders / I kiss your waist and ease your mind / I must be favored to know ya / I take my hands and trace your lines,” he sings.

He then expresses the desire to spend “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday / Seven days a week / Every hour, every minute, every second, you know, night after night” with this person.

Latto chimes in, ready to rock someone’s world as she breaks down the rules of the game.

“Leave them clothes at the door / What you waiting for, better come and hit ya goals / He jump in it both feet / Going to the sun-up / We ain’t getting no sleep,”

Both Jung Kook and Latto have an impressive track record of hits, and as Jung Kook breaks through as a global superstar, and Latto continues her magical pop run, there’s no doubt “Seven” will come out on top as one of the songs of the summer.

You can see the cinematic visual for “Seven” above.

A few notes before we dive into this ranking of villains from the original Justified series:

• This is a reworked and slightly altered version of a post we did way back in 2016 when the series ended
• We are doing it again because the new Justified sequel series, City Primeval, is here and also because we kind of just really like talking about how cool Justified was and still is
• That seems like a good enough reason to talk about various Crowders and Crowes again

Here we go.

29. The Florida Crowes

The less said about the Florida branch of the Crowe crime family, the better, due mostly to Michael Rapaport’s attempt at a Southern accent, which came in at a solid 7 on the Foghorn Leghorn Index. (Note: The Foghorn Leghorn Index only goes to 5.) The nicest thing you can say about any of them is that at least Danny Crowe had the decency to die hilariously by tripping and falling and landing on his own knife while charging at Raylan, which was appreciated and did not go unnoticed.

28. Gary Hawkins

Gary, you incompetent boob. The only scam you pulled off that was worth 1/10 of a damn was convincing someone as attractive as Winona to marry you, and even that involved you getting periodically emasculated by her strong silent ex, who took it upon himself to come over uninvited late at night whenever he pleased, locked doors be damned. It’s a miracle you made it as long as you did.

27. Assorted Crowder Family Members, Disciples, and Henchmen

Lumping everyone together here even though it’s probably unfair to bring Cousin Johnny down to 26 with human anchor Wade Messer. It’s just, I mean, run down the list. Everyone associated with Boyd, from his own father to the lowliest bartender/goon he employed, ended up dead, and sometimes they got smashed in the face with a skillet first. Good help is hard to find.

26. The Harlan Illuminati

The collection of Harlan’s wealthy string-pullers, most notably funeral home director and foreign bride enthusiast Lee Paxton, had a brief moment of glory turning the screws to Boyd before it all went to hell. I will never forgive them for not getting Boyd that Dairy Queen he wanted. It was a pretty reasonable ask, all things considered.

25. The Detroit Mob

Wanted to rank them higher but then I remembered three things: One, Sammy Tonin ended up getting his brains blown out through the front of his face in a grimy dilapidated Detroit warehouse; two, Theo Tonin ended up getting arrested after Raylan and company found him cowering and riddled with bullets inside a crate; three, their racist money man Charles Monroe did that creepy thing where he choked out his girlfriend/maid. No thank you.

24. Picker

Blown to pieces in a Lexington hotel suite via a tiny explosive hidden in a cigarette pack. Worth its own spot separate from the rest of the Detroit mob.

23. Errol

Limehouse’s henchman. Never had his hat completely straight on his head. Always liked him.

22. Doyle and Coover Bennett

The two lesser Bennetts get buried in the 20s, not necessarily through any fault of their own (you could certainly argue for them to be higher and I wouldn’t put up too much of a fight). It’s more just that they pale in comparison to the rest of the Bennett clan. It’s not fair, really. But neither is life.

21. Randall Kusik

Randall was Bartender Lindsey’s meathead bare-knuckler brawler felon husband who wanted to pummel Raylan’s face and start a cockfighting business, in no particular order. He was a big violent psychopath, but at least he was a little fun about it.

20. Tommy Bucks

You know what? Tommy Bucks never got a fair shake. He got gunned down like five minutes into the pilot, depriving us of whatever full backstory he and Raylan had in Miami. I bet they had fun adventures. Fun enough to warrant getting shot in broad daylight in the middle of a high-end Miami eatery, at least. That’s worth something.

19. YOLO

More like YODO, right? Get it? GET IT? Because he died!

…

…

Ahhh, screw you guys.

18. Jay and Roscoe

Hot Rod’s muscle men played by real-life brothers Wood and Steve Harris didn’t have a hell of a lot to do on the show, but their periodic appearances allowed me to envision a world where Avon Barksdale from The Wire escaped Baltimore and started working his way up from the bottom of the Kentucky underworld. That’s apparently enough to get you ranked above characters on the show who actually, like, did things. We ain’t doin’ science here.

17. Avery Markham’s Collection of Mercenaries and/or Hat Aficionados

Ty Walker, Choo-Choo, Sea Bass, and Boon. The first three got shuffled out of Harlan quickly, which was a shame because Garrett Dillahunt and his beard could have made a great big bad if we had more time.

16. Fletcher Nix

Fletcher “The Ice Pick” Nix was the original slick hat-wearing potential foil for Raylan, back when Boon was still terrorizing diner hipsters in Colorado (presumably). It did not end well for him. Justified sure featured a lot of characters who wore hats. This is not really a complaint.

15. Colton Rhodes

Colt gets his own non-Boyd-henchman slot because he was cool and kind of a train wreck and he gave Tim a nemesis for a while and he looked a little like a puffy Mitch Hedberg. You could do a lot worse in a short-term villain.

14. Nicky Augustine

PRO: Played by Mike O’Malley from GUTS. Killed a man in the Wynnebago. Correctly diagnosed Boyd as having an affliction that causes him to use 40 words where four will do.

CON: Murdered on a tarmac after getting outflanked by noted imbecile Sammy Tonin. Yes, Raylan set the plan in motion and watched carefully to make sure it didn’t get screwed up, but still. You can’t get killed by Sammy Tonin and expect to make the Top 10.

13. Avery Markham

Would have been two, maybe three spots higher if Sam Elliott had shown up to the set with a mustache. I will never get over this. Neither should you.

12. Katherine Hale

Katherine Hale had this way of saying the most menacing things but still managing to sound sweeter than cake icing. Also, she killed someone with a handgun hidden in her purse. And she once served cocaine for dessert. Inside a fancy silver dining tray. And then she went out a stole a diamond tennis bracelet she could obviously afford, just for kicks. And she died in a knock-down drag-out motor home fracas. And she was a grandmother.

Katherine Hale was awesome.

11. Mikey

There is no good reason to put Mikey — sorry, Michael — this high. Wynn Duffy’s sidekick and possible lover (?) was basically a roided-out puppy dog whose biggest contribution prior to killing Katherine was informing her that Wynn “loves guac.” But he was a sweet big ol’ lug and I loved him dearly and he had this exchange with Wynn during a game of Scrabble…

WYNN: I’m pretty sure ‘aplex’ isn’t a word, Mikey.
MIKEY: Course it is. ‘I don’t like that guy. He aplexes me.’

… so in he slides at 11.

10. Drew Thompson

Important things about Drew Thompson:

• The character was a drug smuggler who faked his death using an airplane and a mysterious disappearance and then re-emerged as a law enforcement officer in Kentucky, which is cool
• The whole arc was based on a true story that was outlined in a book called The Bluegrass Conspiracy
• That book also served as the inspiration for the opening scene of the movie Cocaine Bear, a film about a bear that eats a lot of cocaine

This is, to use an industry term, extremely good stuff.

9. Quarles

Quarles started his run on the show as a cold and menacing criminal in a perfectly tailored suit and he ended it on a maniacal meth binge that saw his entire life and one of his limbs get torn apart. One of the better and wilder villainous arcs you’ll ever see, and another example of the universal Justified rule that you can tell a character is going to do something wild when their hair starts getting messy. A good rule for the real world, too. Be careful out there.

8. Dewey Crowe

Dewey was a neo-Nazi simpleton pimp and murderer who thought he had four kidneys and would have believed he had 20 if you looked him in the eyes and promised him it was true. And yet… I kinda liked him? It’s complicated. Dewey was the kind of guy who would have grown up to work on the docks and have a family if all his childhood friends grew up to work on the docks and have families, but all of his friends grew up to be racist miscreants, so that was that for Dewey. All he wanted from life was an above-ground pool. Was that so wrong?

7. Arlo Givens

The relationship between Arlo and Raylan is the driving force for the entire show. It’s why Raylan is the way he is, and why he does things the way he does. So Arlo gets points for that, as he does for shouting “GET SOME” at the man who ambushed him in a prison barbershop.

6. Ava Crowder

This might seem a little high for Ava if you only choose to remember her as the woman who went to jail and came out as the world’s worst criminal informant. That’s fine, that’s your right. But me? I choose to remember her as the woman who outfoxed both Raylan and Boyd to temporarily make off with $10 million in stolen money and who kabonged someone in the head with a cast iron skillet for getting lippy at the dinner table. You should never cross Ava.

5. Limehouse

Limehouse was a criminal and a butcher and he took both seriously, sometimes at once, as we saw when he lopped off Quarles’s arm with a swift slice of his blade. He always seemed reasonable, though, like he wanted peace and order in the chaotic life he chose, which is kind of respectable. Also, was extremely cool. Legitimately exciting every time he popped up to talk to Raylan about something. Solid villain here.

4. Dickie Bennett

It’s not that Dickie was some masterful villain. He really wasn’t. He super wasn’t. But he was completely insane and said lots of completely insane things and his hair was a glorious unwashed catastrophe that looked like something a group of fraternity brothers would do to a sleeping pledge. And that GIF up there is him answering a telephone. What an odd but fascinating man.

3. Wynn Duffy

A slimy cockroach who loved women’s tennis, guacamole, surfing, and a nice even tan. He never should have come to Kentucky. He should have been running a criminal enterprise from the penthouse suite of an exclusive resort in Acapulco. He would have been a king. He might be today. It makes sense that the next sequel series follows Raylan, but it wouldn’t be bad to check in on Wynn at some point, too.

2. Mags Bennett

Margo Martindale won a much-deserved Emmy for playing Mags. The character was basically Harlan’s stepmother, caring and protective at times, but also with the propensity to be cruel when it served her interests. Mags was the greatest. Now who wants a sip of her famous Apple Pie?

1. Boyd Crowder

Could it be anyone else? Answer: No, it could not. Boyd became an iconic television villain over the show’s six seasons, full of eloquent speeches and evil intentions, and always with one eye on making some sort of big move. A lot of the credit for that goes to Walton Goggins, obviously, who played Boyd with a gleeful kind of charisma you can’t put on a page, but the words he got to say sure didn’t hurt, either. The scenes with him and Raylan trading seemingly innocent lines that are dripping with nefarious context were always the show’s best. The man was a total sociopath and a self-professed outlaw who killed kind of a lot of people, but he was also a treasure and a delight almost every second he was on screen. And again, yes, his big plan to get out of crime involved opening a Dairy Queen franchise, which was already incredible before Walton Goggins explained it thusly in an interview I did with him a few years later.

In season four of Justified, before things all start going sideways, Boyd develops this plan to get out of crime and go legit. And his plan involves opening a Dairy Queen franchise. Do you think Boyd Crowder would have been a successful Dairy Queen franchise owner?

I think he would have been a very successful Dairy Queen franchise owner, very successful. And that episode in particular, it’s very … All of this shit is very personal to me. I’m a poor kid from Georgia. We’re divided on a lot of things in this country. The one thing that a lot of us aren’t divided on is poverty. And for me, Boyd Crowder was what I wanted to say about rural America and my version of it. And that for him, there was a glass ceiling, and he couldn’t break it. And all he ever wanted was that, was the ability to escape a life that he came from, and to be somebody, and to be respected in a different way, and not through fear and intimidation.

With my story, I participated in kind of all of it. And I said, “We got to say this, man.” Because there was a dude in my hometown whose dad had four Dairy Queen franchises, and he made it. He was a success. And so, to answer your question, as fastidious as Boyd Crowder was, and as great of a compartmentalizer as he was… yeah, I think you would have seen Dairy Queens popping up in places that you never anticipated.

I miss Boyd Crowder a lot. He was the best Justified villain.

We first meet Eugene Kittridge in Brian De Palma’s first Mission: Impossible, in a Prague restaurant right after Ethan Hunt’s IMF team had all been wiped out. As an audience, we think, well, this is Ethan’s boss, he’s safe now. But, instead, we meet this smarmy, cynical suit who, with a whole lot of sarcasm, accuses Ethan of being a traitor – with a whole holier-than-now speech to go along with these accusations. The way Henry Czerny plays Kittridge, he’s never actually the villain, but we sure kind of want him to be the villain. (Ethan, having enough, then blows us an aquarium and runs away.) Kittridge is a perfect character. But then, that was it. Kittridge never returned. In the next film, Ethan’s handler was played by Anthony Hopkins.

Well, that’s until Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. And what’s funny is, after 27 years since we last saw him, Kittridge is basically the voice of the trailer. Once again taunting Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. This time, Kittridge sends Ethan on a job to recover two keys that control The Entity. And whoever controls The Entity controls the world. Kittridge’s relationship with Ethan at this point is basically, look, we don’t like each other, but we both have a job to do. This is a more world-weary Kittridge. One that has to explain what the IMF even is to Cary Elwes’s Director of National Intelligence (which leads to a pretty hilarious exchange when Kittridge explains agents can turn down assignments).

Why has it been so long since Czerny has played Kittridge? As he explains ahead, he was, let’s say, maybe a little too ambitious at the time. After a lunch with then Mission: Impossible producer Paula Wagner, he laid out a lot of ideas for where Kittridge’s character could go. And that was the last he heard about playing Kittridge … until now.

It’s good to talk to you…

My pleasure. If I can save one person from not seeing this on the big screen, then let’s do it.

Yes, people should.

Well, it’s manufactured in that way as a good meal is or a good car is. You look at every square foot of that screen and you will be entertained. So, if you’re watching it on, even a big screen at home with friends, you’re not going to get the same experience. It’s like going to a concert and there are two people. So, get out there! Otherwise, there won’t be cinema, partly – but most importantly, get out there and see this in the cinema because you’ll be blown away in the best way possible.

I’ve been obsessed with Kittridge since the first Mission: Impossible movie.

Awesome.

The first time you meet him in that restaurant. Akvárium? Am I remembering that correctly?

Akvárium, yeah.

What a stylish choice for that kind of situation. So, right off the bat, okay, this guy is interesting.

Brian shot that beautifully. It was very weird, first of all. I’d never had a camera up my nose.

Yeah, there are a lot of Dutch angles in that one.

And you know why, right?

Well, it’s Brian De Palma…

Yeah. So, that was great. That was not standard. The tension that he ratcheted up before that thing blew is, of course, Hitchcockian and Brian De Palma’s strong suit.

It’s interesting, because even from that scene, Kittridge is never technically the bad guy, but the way you play him, you really want to think he is, even though he never quite is.

You’re right. Well, his shareholders are the American people, basically, and the Kittridge you see in the first one is far more impetuous than this one. This one, he’s been through 25 years. We’ll get to it later in the interview, but he’s been through stuff over the last 25 years. And I made choices about where he would’ve gotten that world of wisdom. In the first one, he is new. He’s the new head of the IMF and cocky. And he has his ego hurt when he discovers this kid’s the mole, even though it’s erroneous. And so that Kittridge has been chiseled away at, and a new one has emerged. But his purpose is still the same, and that is to serve the American people as best he can.

I love when Ethan is screaming, “My team is dead!” And then you just sarcastically go, “Yeah.”

I’m glad. And if I may, it’s a carry-over slightly. It’s somewhat similar characters, obviously both Paramount movies, but with Clear and Present Danger…

I just rewatched that a few weeks ago.

You’ll remember, he’s eating a carrot. That was a choice that came through me – the idea that he’s eating a carrot in the window and the bomb fell. He just says, “Boom.” He has that kind of disregard for people who he thinks are bad at that time. He’s a little different now. He’s a little less cavalier about the loss of life.

I love your line in Clear and Present Danger, “Computer theft is a serious crime.”

I’ve had the fortune of having great writers write terrific dialogue for these characters through Paramount. Yeah, for sure, I’ve added a little bits and pieces along the way, and Christoper McQuarrie has been very generous about that. Also. Cary Elwes.

That’s the scene I want to talk, about being world-weary. Kittridge trying to explain what IMF is to Cary Elwes. That is a great scene.

Yeah, it is. He does a great job delivering, it’s three lines, basically. And the way he delivers those, the way those come through him, the nuance is so great. So wonderful. It’s such a treat.

Kittridge explains IMF agents can turn down assignments.

There was an iteration of this whereby the idea of Ethan saying “no” was introduced, and that was tried and put into the mix, and that was a flavor that was removed from one of the courses of the meal, if you will.

I assume McQuarrie has a very different process than Brian De Palma?

They do have extremely different styles. McQuarrie is right there on set. He will encourage. If he has three days to shoot a scene, he will. And not because he’s worried about getting it right, because when he gets in the editing room, he wants as much of what the actor wants to offer in the editing room. He’s brilliant with a camera, clearly. His editor, Eddie Hamilton, who’s been working on it, this is a team that they’re symbiotic practically. But Brian was… I rarely saw Brian. I mean, I wasn’t in it a lot, but Brian was very camera oriented. And wisely so, because his angles, they’re iconic. But McQ does both. But, I was going to say hands-on, but he’s not hands-on, he’s actually quite hands-off.

But, this is coming to mind. If you have a child and they’re a creative child, and you have the time, you want to give them a room in which they can create. We know what the character’s purpose is in this yarn. But, within that, what do you want to explore? And we did versions of the scene between Ethan and Kittridge where Kittridge was more brotherly. He was more fatherly. He was more reprimanding. We went through the plethora, not to get it right, but just to explore what happens if, what happens if, what happens if? I mean, it’s written this way. They want to explore what the dynamic is. And, therefore, you have this terrific reduction, to a certain extent, where only the most juicy flavors they feel are presented to the audience. They love to entertain.

How are you not in all of these? That’s what I’ve never understood.

Well, there’s a story there, too. McQuarrie wanted to bring Kittridge back a couple of movies ago, but it just wasn’t right apparently, or whatever. But, first of all, the first Mission: Impossible was my second Hollywood movie. I played Ritter in Clear and Present Danger, being CIA. And here was this other opportunity. At first, I was working in Brazil when I got the call and I wasn’t feeling well, and I’m not sure if I have the chops to do this, and my rep said, “No, no, you’re doing it.”

That was good advice.

Yes, they said, “You’re doing it.” Okay, fine. Then I just said, “Okay, if I’m doing it, I’m doing it.” And I had just enough time on the way to the UK to stop by the CIA and I got some people to call some people. And because of Clear and Present Danger, they said, “We’ll chat with them. We’ll let them know how things work.” So I spent a day and a half there with these people…

So wait, so as an actor, you can just call the CIA and they let you hang out there for a little bit?

[Laughs] No, no. I had people call people call people.

Oh, I see.

Because they want people to know what they do as well, within reason, of course. So, I did all kinds of homework there. And then I had the script with me, and I didn’t try to show them the script, but I knew the questions that I wanted to ask them about it. And so I went to the UK with all these answers – all these suggestions about what should be done perhaps with this script. And, of course, that was not met in the way I expected it to be met. It was, “Thank you very much, but please keep that to yourself. Great backstory for you. I love that you did that for you.” Very Mission: Impossible.

And so I was a bit shit-grinned about that because I’d gone through the effort. “Okay. Fine.” So, after Mission: Impossible, the first month, I had a lunch with Paula Wagner, who was, at that time, Tom’s producing partner. And I let her know all the things they didn’t do with Kittridge, and what they should be doing with Kittridge in the future, if they had options. And she was very polite, very nice, paid for the lunch. And that’s the last I saw of Mission: Impossible. I burned that bridge.

Wow.

I mean, I don’t know if they planned to do that anyway, because as you know, Ving and Tom are the two tent poles, if you will, from the original. So maybe that was in the works all the time, I don’t know. But I certainly didn’t do myself any favors as a young actor telling Paula Wagner what she missed in this supporting character.

So, I’m trying to go through it in your head a bit. So you do all this research and it was kind of met with, “That’s great, but no.” Then you’re like, “Okay, for the second one here, I have these ideas.” And then the next thing you know it’s, “Anthony Hopkins is now Ethan Hunt’s commander.”

I’m freaking thrilled about that, by the way. Are you kidding? Sir Tony is taking over? Fuck yeah! Let’s see that. Absolutely.

So, when did you actually get the call for this one? You mentioned it almost happened a couple of movies before?

I didn’t know that he was thinking about this, by the way. I had no idea. I got the call 25 years later, almost to the day. January of 2020. I got the first call and I was in Brazil in January of 1995. And I’m doing my errands in Los Angeles. At that time, I was actually shredding my 10-year-old tax documents at this shredding place. A couple of boxes of tax stocks. Very CIA of me. And I got a call from my rep saying they want to bring Kittridge back. And I thought my rep’s got a sense of humor.

I’ve been with him for 35 years, and he said, “No, McQ wants to talk to you about bringing him back.” Oh, well. Okay, sure! So two days later, I’m on a call with Chris McQuarrie. He’s in Venice location scouting on some bridge somewhere. I say, “What do you want to do with the character?” He says, “Well, that’s what I want to talk to you about. I want to develop an arc for him. I have an idea, but would you come and help me with that?”

Oh, so he was more open to some of your research?

Yeah, he’s more open. Yes, he is. Absolutely. He’s more open to what the actor wants to bring, given the genre, given the tone of the scene, given the trajectory of the story. Yes. All within that, thank you very much. But bring it and we’ll see. We’ll see.

And then the trailer hits and it’s basically Kittridge narrating it. After all this time he’s a centerpiece to the marketing.

I know! I was thrilled. I had no idea. And then McQ, when he first played me that, there was a twinkle in his eye. He’s super sweet. So is Tom. They’re profoundly respectful. And I mean, McQ had an idea. They had done the research. “I think bringing Kittridge back won’t be a bad thing for the franchise unless Henry totally screws the pooch, in which case will diminish the character or something.” I don’t know! But the idea of bringing that guy back was, I can imagine… I have all my imaginings! Who cares, but great idea. And they used it well. They allowed me to bring something I think that is interesting for the crowd after 25 years. And they treated him super well in that. When I saw the trailer, I was like, “Come on, man!” What a gift!

‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ is in theaters now. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Just four months after the release of her vulnerable fourth studio album, Mañana Será Bonito, Karol G is back with a triumphant new single. While Mañana Será Bonito detailed the heartbreaking fallout of a tumultuous relationship, Karol’s new song “S91” features her emerging from heartache stronger than ever before.

The song’s title alludes to the Bible verse, Psalms 91, and Karol sings a portion of the song.

“Pues mil caerán a tu derecha, y diez mil a tu izquierda, pero a ti nada te pasará,” she sings, which means, “For a thousand shall fall at thy right hand, and ten thousand at thy left, but nothing shall befall thee.”

In the song’s accompanying visual, Karol is seen in the desert near a set-up of speakers arranged to look like a cross. She is then chased by a group of people and a pack of animated wolves, with a lone panther at her side.

Elsewhere in the video, she is seen running the streets of Paris, as she embraces the bliss and joy of her own company.

The video then closes out with a teaser for a special edition of Mañana Será Bonito called Bichota Season, which is said to be coming soon.

You can watch the video for “S91” above.

No parent ever wants their child to experience something traumatic. All the tips we give them in an effort to make sure they survive an unfortunate encounter are always given with the hope that you never have to find out if your advice works. But sadly, the world isn’t perfect, and some children have to use all of their knowledge to try to get out of a scary situation.

A 6-year-old girl named Ah’lyric found herself in a scary situation where she had to think quickly on her feet. The little girl had been playing outside with her siblings, but when they went inside, Ah’lyric stayed sitting in the stairwell. Shortly after, a strange man attempted to pick her up and take her to the back of the stairs, but she was having none of it.

The little girl fought back just like her mother taught her to do if she were ever in a situation like this one.

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Thankfully, she soaked in her mom’s lessons because fighting back worked. Ah’lyric bit her would-be kidnapper on his arm so hard that he dropped her before angrily slapping her and running away.

“I bit him. He picked me up and then he slapped me,” Ah’lyric told WPLG. “Then he threw me on the floor and started running.”

When the man ran away, the girl ran to tell her aunt what happened. Ah’lyric was also able to give the police a good description of the suspect and confirmed the man on the apartment’s surveillance video, which led to the man’s arrest. This is not a situation anyone wants to imagine their child being in, but it’s important for kids to have an idea of what to do if something like this happens to them.

In 2021, a child escaped potential abduction because she asked the person for a code word that only someone authorized by her parent would know. Some potential kidnappers will either pretend to be a family friend or make up an elaborate story about someone they love being hurt. This can create a sense of trust in children which can result in kids going with the stranger. Some parents have found a way to combat this with the use of code words that only their kids and trusted adults know.

Other kids have escaped potential kidnapping by pretending another adult is their parent or physically fighting back in other ways. One boy saved his younger sister from being abducted by using a slingshot to shoot projectiles at the suspect. His quick thinking saved his sister’s life and marked the kidnapper enough that the police were able to identify him.

Unfortunately, kids have to think quickly when these situations occur and parents have to prepare their children for the possibility of something like this happening. Ah’lyric had the tools to try to save herself, and police in Florida are commending her bravery. Thanks to that 6-year-old girl, one less bad guy will be on the street to harm another child.

There’s a glorious point in adult life when you suddenly realize that other people’s opinion of you doesn’t hold the same sway. You’ve cultivated enough of an authentic tribe and self-assurance that you are truly liberated from caring about how you come across—hopefully without the overcorrection of losing any and all social awareness.

But until that time comes, our adolescent selves will do things that are, as the kids say, totally cringe in order to blend in with a friend group, impress a childhood crush, emulate a beloved celebrity or feel just a little more grown-up. Sometimes these seemingly “cool” behaviors become the detriment of our own health and well-being in the long run, when they lead to addiction with drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. Other times, if we’re lucky, we just wind up with a very embarrassing story to keep ourselves humble.

Which brings us to Reddit user u/Beneficial_Form8563, who asked “What is the stupidest thing you have ever done to try to be cool?”

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As you can imagine, the answers were wild. No matter what outrageous thing each person did, they all left with the same bit of wisdom: Turns out this wasn’t cool after all, I’m much better off just being myself. That’s pretty much the theme of every young adult’s life, isn’t it?

Scroll below for 20 of the absolute best from the comments. And by best, we mean absolutely embarrassing. Enjoy.

1. “When I was 8 my sister had her friends over, all teenagers, and trying to be cool I jumped on the trampoline in front of them and told them I’d do a backflip. I’d never done a backflip so I landed on my neck, bounced off the trampoline and broke my wrist.”

– u/Artemis64z

2. “Wore my pants backwards during the 90s when Kriss Kross was popular, so glad we didn’t have social media back then.”

– u/-Rocjames77

3. “Got pulled over for playing my car stereo too loud. Took the ticket, turned it back up. Took another ticket, turned it back up. Took a third ticket, turned it back up. Spent the night in jail.“

– u/Small_Kick_5912

4. “Tried shotgunning a beer in front of my crush. I sneezed midway through and the beer came out my nose. Hurt really bad.”

– u/Red_Christmas_Lights

4. “In 1st grade, I was very jealous of people with glasses. I wore an old pair of my mom’s sunglasses and said they were prescription…My teacher saw right through it, of course.I kept taking them off to read the chalkboard and she told me to put them back on…

She called my mom and explained the situation. Mom picked me up from school and all I remember is denying it, and then my mom expressed her disappointment that I’d lie to her and to a teacher. So I told kids I switched to contacts (which were barely a thing then, especially for kids).“

via GIPHY

– u/ahhh_ennui

5. “Rubbed poison ivy all over my face. It was the last day of school in 7th grade and since I’d never gotten poison ivy before I was convinced that meant it didn’t affect me. So I started bragging really loudly to everyone around me that poison ivy doesn’t affect me and nobody believed me so I grabbed a bunch and rubbed it all over my face.…

Spoiler alert: it definitely does affect me. That was a rough start to summer vacation.“

– u/thumbingitup

6. “Jumped off the top of the jungle gym to show off to my crush from school…. I was 10 and it was at least an 8 foot fall. Landed on my feet, then my knees, then my hands….so cool, so amazing, wouldn’t do it again.”

– u/GadisRKO

7. “This is so cringe but I pretended to play street hockey when I was in 5th grade because I thought it would make me seem tough. I was about an 80 pound nerdy girl and truth is I just really liked reading cat related magazines and collecting Polly Pockets. I would do things like wear a fake sling for my arm and claim I sprained it playing street hockey 😩”

– u/RhodeIslandRedChick

8. “Did the worm in front of a crush in elementary school one time. No music or anything…That one is a mainstay in my nighttime embarrassing memory replay.”

– u/SithSkate03

9. “Had my mullet cut off but left a rat tail, then had it braided.“

via GIPHY

– u/TrailerParkPrepper

10. “Buying designer clothes and shoes.”

– u/BrilliantMaybe4086

11. “Told someone I had a pet turkey. I have no idea why, I was like six and thought it would be cool. How did I get out of the lie? Well, conveniently Thanksgiving was right around the corner.“

– u/Whickerchair

12. “In second grade I forced my mom to sign “Nolan Ryan” on my ball and took it to school to tell everyone I caught it at a game. It didn’t take long for it to be pointed out that what I had brought was in fact a softball, not a baseball.”

– u/wandering_nobody

13. “When I was in third grade, I told my friends that I met Power Rangers. In a train. In India. South India. During vacation. Cool Max 😎 “

– u/Historical_Love7860

14. “Not as bad as most, but I remember walking 15 – 20 feet behind my parents when we’d go to the mall. Nobody ever caught on that I was with them, right? My wife and I laugh about our kids doing the same thing.“

– u/trashcanfairy

15. “2010. Cringe central. I started rapping at a party.💀💀💀”

via GIPHY

– u/idontkillbees

16. “Write ‘special edition’ with a magic marker on a Lego box.“

– u/Temporary_Ad_5947

17. “In elementary school, I was a pretty strong reader, but I heard some of the cool kids read out loud and have a lot more trouble and stumble over their words. In order to be cool I would imitate their reading style and stutter or act like I was sounding out words any time I had to read out loud.”

– u/James17Marsh

18. “Back in middle school, I thought people who chewed gum look cool for some reason, so I started to imitate the motion all the time, even when I wasn’t actually chewing gum. Started a lifetime of teeth grinding and by the time I was 30…Had to reconstruct some teeth eventually and now I wear a mouth guard even when taking a 20 minute nap.“

via GIPHY

– u/thecynicroute

19. “Somehow I got it into my 14-year-old head that my ticket to the esteem of my peers was to mope around wearing all black, writing and living the most gawd awful angsty poetry… I guess I thought the other kids would consider me some brilliant, nascent philosopher and come for my counsel? Fortunately, I outgrew all that just in time to make a few actual friends in high school.“

– u/zazzlekdazzle

20. “I tried chugging 3 beers at once out of a very large glass to impress a girl. It worked and she was impressed. Then she wanted to show her friends. Beer 4-6 didn’t go down as smooth and I projectile vomited all over her living room furniture. Never heard from her again.”

– u/Snowman4168

A rap icon is getting his flowers in his hometown. Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter’s remarkable journey will be on display in a special exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library.

The Book Of HOV will showcase Jay-Z’s inspiring journey from growing up in Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects to becoming a hip-hop legend.

The exhibition will feature never-before-seen photos of the rapper and entrepreneur, as well as original master recordings, some clothes he’s worn on stage, awards he’s won, along with videos and artifacts from various facets and moments of his professional life. Jay has also donated over 300 books from his personal collection.

The Book Of HOV opens tomorrow (July 14) and is executive produced by Roc Nation. During its run, visitors of the library can collect 13 different special edition Jay-Z-inspired library cards.

“Our goal, with The Book Of HOV tribute exhibition, is to provide a behind-the-scenes look at a Hall Of Fame songwriter and performer, successful business person, and a consequential philanthropist who has never forgotten the lessons he learned on the road to success,” reads a description on the exhibition’s website. “And the borough where his journey began.”

The exhibition will be open to the public and free to attend, however, there will be time limits for guests, as traffic for the exhibition is expected to be high.

Six months after her untimely passing, Lisa Marie Presley‘s cause of death has been revealed. TMZ reports that Presley died due to complications from a bariatric surgical procedure.

TMZ, who received a copy of the toxicology report, which has also been released by the L.A. County Medical Examiner, noted that therapeutic levels of Oxycodone were found in Presley’s blood. Buprenorphine, which is to treat opioid overuse, was also found in her blood.

As opioids often cause constipation, Presley was reported to have suffered a small bowel obstruction, which ultimately led to her death.

The bowel obstruction was in the form of a strangulated bowel, which was caused by adhesion that developed after a gastric bypass procedure years ago.

TMZ also says that there was no sort of drug paraphernalia or narcotics found in Presley’s home on the day she was rushed to the hospital. While at the hospital, Presley was reported to have gone into cardiac arrest.

It was also reported that Presley had undergone a cosmetic procedure months before her death, and was prescribed opioids. She was said to have had a history of overmedicating, and would often forget that she had taken her medications, and then take them again.

In his inaugural Summer League outings, Ausar Thompson often slid into the periphery offensively to spotlight Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, and James Wiseman. When those three sat out Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Thompson filled the void and delivered his most enticing performance to date. As Detroit rallied back from a 17-point hole for a 94-90 victory, the 20-year-old notched 17 points (7-of-14 shooting), nine boards, four steals, three assists (seven turnovers), and two blocks.

Through three games, he’s averaging 12.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.0 dimes (3.3 turnovers), 2.7 steals, and 2.3 blocks. The Pistons selected him fifth overall to be a do-it-all wing and, in spurts, he’s done it all thus far. The scoring efficiency (50.2 percent true shooting and jumper (16.7 percent from deep) remain significant areas for growth. That much has long been evident. The key will be how Thompson assimilates as a connective cog alongside Ivey and Cade Cunningham, the engines of Detroit’s offense, when the regular season begins and this core continues taking shape together.

While that part of his game and fit crystalizes, Thompson should be able to trust in his defensive exploits for immediate contributions. Whether it’s hounding Raptors sharpshooter Gradey Dick, wrangling with ball-handlers at the point of attack, rotating in scramble situations, or closing out to deter shooters, the dude’s been an absolute menace defensively.

The highlights making waves on Twitter are a microcosm of his aptitude. What’s most critical is his possession-by-possession technical consistency; his five stocks per game are far from the lone instances in which he inks his signature. He plays the gaps on the weakside properly, flocks to shooters wielding high-handed, disciplined closeouts, seamlessly slips around picks, and audible coordinates coverages with teammates.

When I spoke with him and his brother, Amen, last month, he said he prefers to play at the point-of-attack defensively. But he’s been excellent off the ball in a litany of manners, blowing up different actions, executing proper duties as a helper, and staying glued through screens.

His preference for the point-of-attack hasn’t disappointed either, though. He can flip his hips to change directions and mirror assignments in a split second, glides over screens to prevent any wiggle room, and eats up space as a lateral mover. On both ends, the speed at which he maneuvers looks like he’s skipping frames. He has a knack for fastening himself to initiators, getting into their bodies and prying the ball out of bounds or into his own hands.

At 6’7 with a 7-foot wingspan and the mobility of a zippy, wily guard, he should become one of the NBA’s more fearsome on-ball stoppers quickly, especially if he plays less upright as he develops. His blend of physical tools and feel are ridiculous, and have been on display through three Summer League contests. Watching him, Cunningham, and Duren (and Isaiah Livers!) defend together over the next few seasons will be joyous.

I couldn’t figure out where this clip made sense in the prior two compilations, but it felt worth including. Thompson’s closing speed, motor, and dexterity are preposterous. From nearly a standstill, he sprints from the corner to the opposite key in ~3 seconds, disrupts Jett Howard’s pass, and helps reverse a fastbreak opportunity into a turnover.

Whew, boy, that’s rad stuff.

As succinctly as he scans and enacts responsibilities defensively, he’s also a masterful processor with his playmaking. The gamut of angles he can whip passes from is astounding. Flanked by Cunningham and Ivey creating advantages and quality play-finishers like Duren, Wiseman, Joe Harris, Bojan Bogdanovic, Livers ,and Marvin Bagley III, Thompson’s connectivity should be quite the asset, particularly in new head coach Monty Williams’ 0.5 offensive scheme emphasizing quick decision-making.

The Pistons finished 27th in transition frequency last season, per Cleaning The Glass. That should be rectified next year. While Thompson’s current scoring limitations will hinder some of his halfcourt facilitating, he’ll persist as a dynamite open floor firestarter. Ivey, Duren, and Bagley’s presence should further prompt an uptick in pace, too. Williams’ playbook excels at granting players touches on the move (think about how Devin Booker was often deployed his first couple years under Williams), so Thompson’s passing and sagacious processing will likely see plenty of chances to exploit shifting defenses, as he’s done in Summer League.

Before Ivey exited the lineup, Thompson didn’t receive many on-ball reps. That changed Wednesday. His screen manipulation and pacing enable him to generate a slew of paint touches out of pick-and-rolls. Some of his efforts were curtailed by poor ball control (hence the seven turnovers against Toronto). Yet he’s hinting at a future in which he incorporates a viable intermediate arsenal and is a relentless, prolific ball-screen slasher.

He knows how to utilize picks, is selective in applying his gnarly burst and teleports from point A to point B. I love how he can rocket right through panicking rim protectors, while simultaneously surveying the court to identify which read is most logical.

Play-linking flashes like these bode well for his future in Detroit, too. Thompson touts a keen sense of space, preps well to maximize himself off the catch, and embraces physicality at the rim. The contrasting leadups and similar results (points) of these off-ball instances are encouraging.

Since last seeing the playoffs in 2018-19, the Pistons’ rebuild has been a slow burn with four consecutive seasons of 23 wins or fewer. Along the way, they’ve accumulated a quartet of promising youngsters in Cunningham, Ivey, Duren, and, now, Thompson, the last of whom is giving the franchise and its fans multifaceted glimpses of why he could be so good on the NBA stage.

Summer League is a time for optimism — subdued or unceasing, rational or irrational. Thompson’s play is surely igniting some of that among his own supporters and the broader Pistons’ fanbase. He provides a distinct skillset to the rest of the core that could soon help this franchise return to an era of winning.