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As Donald Trump stares down a damning indictment over his mishandling of classified documents, a common refrain is that the former president has no one to blame but himself. Throughout the entire process, Trump rebuffed the government’s requests to return the documents stored at his golf clubs in both Florida and New Jersey. That refusal prompted the infamous raid of Mar-a-Lago and a public spectacle that now includes photographs of documents stacked ceiling high in a bathroom.

However, a new report claims that Trump dug his own hole even deeper thanks to taking the advice of some guy who’s not even a lawyer. According to The Washington Post, Trump’s legal team attempted to broker a settlement with Attorney General Merrick Garland that could’ve avoided the prosecution of a former president. Hell-bent on keeping his “boxes,” Trump reportedly rebuffed legal advice and opted to battle it out with the Department of Justice due to the advice of a right-wing activist with no legal training:

Trump time and again rejected the advice from lawyers and advisers who urged him to cooperate and instead took the advice of Tom Fitton, the head of the conservative group Judicial Watch, and a range of others who told him he could legally keep the documents and should fight the Justice Department, advisers said. Trump would often cite Fitton to others, and Fitton told some of Trump’s lawyers that Trump could keep the documents, even as they disagreed, the advisers said.

The Post reports that several of Trump’s advisors blame Fitton for filling the former president’s head with false hopes of keeping his “boxes,” which put Trump in the crosshairs of one indictment and possibly another in New Jersey.

(Via The Washington Post)

There’s only one head coach in the history of the Denver Nuggets who has led the team to an NBA championship, and unsurprisingly, he’s having some fun in the aftermath. Michael Malone appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday to discuss the team’s 5-game series win over the Miami Heat, and at one point, he was asked about how the conversation following their Western Conference Finals win over the Los Angeles Lakers focused on the team that got swept.

Malone ended up giving a pretty good answer — he specifically pointed out the discourse following Game 1 of the series, which revolved around L.A. figuring things out by having Rui Hachimura guard Nikola Jokic — but before that, he cracked a joke at the expense of LeBron James.

“Well, a really good question, and speaking of the Lakers: I just want you guys to know, this is breaking news, I’m thinking about retiring, so don’t tell anybody,” Malone said at the 14:14 mark of the above video. Malone, of course, stressed that he was kidding, largely because he doesn’t want the Kroenke family to start looking for a new coach and that he’s not going anywhere.

In the aftermath of the Lakers getting swept, James was complimentary of Jokic and the Nuggets, but also dropped a few hints that he’d consider retiring this offseason. Over the next few days, reports began to circulate that those aware of James’ situation would be stunned if he actually did call it a career.

In February, President Joe Biden proposed the Junk Fee Prevention Act, to eliminate the “junk fees” that make concerts (as well as flights) so expensive. “For example, we’re making airlines show you the full ticket price upfront and refund your money if your flight is canceled or delayed,” he said at the State Of The Union. “Baggage fees are bad enough — they can’t just treat your child like a piece of luggage. Americans are tired of being played for suckers.”

According to NPR, Live Nation and Ticketmaster will pledge to get rid of junk fees, which will be starting in September. Instead, the full prices will be shown upfront. “Today’s voluntary actions demonstrate that companies both big and small recognize the importance of providing consumers with honest, up-front all-in pricing, rather than tricking them with surprise fees at the end of checkout,” the White House said. “It is also just a first step towards addressing junk fees in the economy.”

This is a big feat for Taylor Swift fans, who sued Ticketmaster following the Eras Tour fiasco.

In March, Live Nation’s President and CEO, Michael Rapino, responded to Biden’s proposal by sharing that the company was aiming to “relieve a lot of the stress [and] the consumer’s perception that there’s this magical extra fee added on.”

After pleading not guilty to over three dozen federal counts stemming from his handling of classified documents, a.k.a. leaving a bunch of top-secret boxes by the toilet, Donald Trump celebrated (?) by going to the famous Miami restaurant Versailles. He posed for photos and yelled “food for everyone!” at one point, seemingly promising to cover the bills for his supporters. But not only did Trump not make good on his offer — he didn’t order anything.

The Miami New Times reports, “A knowledgeable source assures the New Times that Donald Trump’s stop at Versailles totaled about ten minutes, leaving no time for anyone to eat anything, much less place an order.” He probably stormed off after learning that there isn’t a taco bowl on the menu.

Inside the bakery, Trump supporters fawned over their man, regaling the soon-to-turn-77-year-old with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” a day early and holding a group prayer. Former MMA fighter Jorge Masvidal, sporting a University of Miami ball cap, hailed Trump as “everybody’s favorite president of all time” after embracing the former leader of the free world.

Versailles didn’t post a photo of Trump on its Instagram page, but the restaurant’s Yelp has been overrun with comments about the former president’s visit. “The food is good but your political theater is a disgrace. I won’t support a business that celebrates a villain,” reads one, while another goes, “Food is good, but not worth betraying your country.”

At least the food is good.

(Via the Miami New Times)

Nikola Jokic capped an all-time great run in the NBA playoffs by leading the Denver Nuggets to the first championship in franchise history earlier this week. Unsurprisingly, this meant that Jokic was named NBA Finals MVP, and while there were plenty of players on the Nuggets who performed well in their series against the Miami Heat, it would have been the shock of all shocks if anyone else took the award home.

Actually, scratch the last part of that sentence, because “took the award home” doesn’t quite apply to Jokic. The two-time league MVP sat down with Malika Andrews of ESPN in the aftermath of the win and actually revealed that he lost the trophy, which he last saw in the office of the team’s equipment manager, Sparky Gonzales.

“I really don’t know,” Jokic said about the trophy’s location after Andrews noted that he’s the first Finals MVP to not bring it into a post-Finals interview she’s conducted. “I left it in Sparky’s room and it’s not there anymore. So, I don’t know. But hopefully it’s gonna arrive in my house.”

After the interview aired, Andrews was able to add a bit of clarity to the whole thing, saying that Gonzales actually has the trophy and it will be in Jokic’s possession by the time the team holds its championship parade.

Finally, there’s a thing for Jokic to look forward to with this parade that he clearly does not want to attend.

Pharrell was introduced as Louis Vuitton’s next Men’s Creative Director on February 14, stepping into the role previously held by the late Virgil Abloh until his November 2021 passing. Louis Vuitton shared in a press release at the time that Pharrell’s first collection in his new role would be showcased during Men’s Fashion Week in June. Now days away, Pharrell just laid a megawatt breadcrumb.

“LOUIS VUITTON MEN Spring-Summer 2024,” Pharrell captioned an Instagram photo showing him posing in front of a larger-than-life photo of Rihanna, presumably the face of the campaign.

In the photo, Rihanna is strutting effortlessly with a coffee. She’s draped in duffel bags, framing her bare pregnant stomach. (She and ASAP Rocky are expecting their second child, as revealed during her Super Bowl LVII Halftime performance.)

Predictably, notable people are gushing over Rihanna in the comments section. Lindsay Lohan simply left a hearts-as-eyes emoji, while Busta Rhymes commented with eight crown emojis. Sam Smith also went the emoji-only route, with a red heart and fire.

Complex relayed that it had “reached out to Louis Vuitton reps for comment on the Rihanna campaign” and will update accordingly.

Upon Pharrell’s appointment in February, Louis Vuitton had plenty to say.

“I am glad to welcome Pharrell back home, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton, as our new Men’s Creative Director,” Louis Vuitton Chairman and CEO Pietro Beccari said in a statement. “His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter.”

The upcoming The Boys spinoff, Gen V, is looking to explode a few heads at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and it looks like the show already started with Homelander. The massive fan event unveiled a new poster for Gen V as it tweeted that “Vought-approved” badges have started shipping out. The poster features a headless Homelander statue that’s still smoldering, and the official Twitter account for the college-based spinoff played dumb about the decapitated Supe.

“Not sure what happened to our Homelander statue??” the Gen V account tweeted.

The official The Boys account also got in on the act. “Homelander’s never looked better,” The Boys handle tweeted.

While plot details about Gen V are being kept closely under wraps, Amazon has confirmed that the series will be based on a group of college-aged Supes who are preparing to become the next generation of corporate-produced “heroes” in the mold of Homelander. A statue of the ultimate Supe was seen in the first look teaser for Gen V, and judging by its current headless state, the next generation is either not a fan of Antony Starr’s character, or even more reckless and dangerous than their corporate handlers were expecting.

San Diego Comic-Con takes place July 20-23, 2023.

(Via Gen V on Twitter)

Tupac is one of the most esteemed rappers in hip-hop history, which can sometimes overshadow the fact that in the years leading up to his death, he was working on a flourishing acting career. His first starring role was in 1992’s Juice, which had a cast featuring Omar Epps, Samuel L. Jackson, and LaTanya Richardson Jackson. The latter two have been married since 1980, and in a recent interview, Samuel looked back at the time LaTanya came down on Tupac for swearing.

On Sway In The Morning, Samuel told the story: “My wife was on that film, she was the chubby kid’s [Eric ‘Steel’ Thurman] mom. I guess ‘Pac was walking through a room one day and he was cussin’ somebody out. My wife grabbed him and was like, ‘Young man, you see all these women sitting in here? You can’t be in here cursin’!’ Everybody in the room was like, ‘[shocked gasp].’ And he looked at her and was like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am.’ […] Everybody in the room was like, ‘Do you know who that was?’ She was like, ‘No! I have no idea who he was, but he shouldn’t have been cursing in front of all these women in this room.’ From that point on, every time he saw her, he was like, ‘Hey mom, how you doin’?’”

Check out the video above.

The first The Walking Dead spinoff, Fear The Walking Dead, has lasted for eight seasons, and it’s almost time to put a fork in that zombie’s head. The Walking Dead: The World Beyond ran for two seasons as planned, and we’re about to see a trio of new spinoffs arrive in the next year or so.

The first entry, AMC’s The Walking Dead: Dead City, will arrive with an initial six-episode season that premieres on Sunday, June 18. The series will reunite a non-dream-team, Maggie and Negan, for a Manhattan mission that manages to be a thrilling throwback despite the franchise and the characters’ baggage.

From there, we should expect news about release dates for the other two in-process spinoffs, the Daryl In Paris show and the Rick and Michonne series. In other words, fans of the original series have plenty to look forward to in the coming months. Hopefully, both Daryl and the audience will learn how he mysteriously washed ashore in France, and maybe we’ll find out why Rick was unable to escape CRM control for all these years.

Before that happens, Maggie will drag Negan some more, as he damn well deserves, and good on her.

AMC’s The Walking Dead: Dead City premieres on June 18.

Kid Cudi has a lot on his plate right now. The rapper shared his new single called “Porsche Topless” to kick off a new era. An album, a clothing line, and a movie are apparently on the way as well. Today (June 15), he announced the lineup for the second annual Moon Man’s Landing festival.

Taking place on August 19 at Cleveland, Ohio’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the festival will have Lil Uzi Vert, Coi Leray, $uicideboy$, Bashfortheworld, Siena Bella, and Chelsea Pastel. Find ticket information here.

Last year’s festival had Playboi Carti, Haim, Toliver, Dominic Fike, Pusha T, Jaden, and 070 Shake.

In September, Cudi said that he was stepping back from music to focus on other things. “I think I’m going to take a step back from the Kid Cudi stuff and focus a lot more on developing my own things,” he said. “Writing — whether it’s movies or TV shows — producing things, putting stuff together. Just really getting my production company [Mad Solar] up to a place where, in the next three or four years, we’re a household name. I really have goals. We’re off to a great start with the documentary, X, Pearl, and now, Entergalactic. I mean, we have four bangers so far, so I just want to see what else we can do and keep going.”