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This is truly the finest headline of the year. After news broke that Vietnam has banned Barbie over a map in the film depicting what looks like the “nine-dash line,” which China uses on maps to lay claim to disputed territory, Warner Bros. has released a public statement trying to calm the waters.

Enter, Diplomat Barbie.

As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, the movie studio behind the goofy Margot Robbie-starring toy adaptation said, “The map in Barbie Land is a whimsical, child-like crayon drawing. The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the real world. It was not intended to make any type of statement.”

Please, please don’t get mad about the doodles.

It’s unclear whether this statement will placate the Vietnamese censors into allowing the film to play there or convince The Philippines not to make a similar move for the same reason.

But for a moment, imagine that you’re the art department for Barbie, charged with making a map that looks like a kindergartener drew it. It’s a delightful task in what has already been a color-filled gig. You scribble some boats and wave-like squiggles. You try to empty your mind completely to make random-enough shapes to turn into continents. On a whim, you fill some empty space next to “Asia” with a few dashes.

Now, you’ve caused an international scandal that will cost the company whatever it might have made in Vietnamese theaters.

Also, there are only 8 dashes there. What a time to be alive.

(via The Sydney Morning Herald)

Candace Cameron Bure is pushing back against a recent TikTok video that claims the Full House star tried to have a queer character “removed” from the Netflix spinoff Fuller House. According to Miss Benny, who played the first gay character on the series, she was allegedly informed that she was in danger of being pulled from the show because “one of the Tanner sisters” was “very publicly not for the girls.”

“I remember I got sat down by the writers and the studio to basically warn me how this person allegedly was trying to get the character removed and not have a queer character on the show,” Miss Benny alleged in the TikTok video. She also claimed to have been warned about the person in question’s fanbase who may “target” her.

While Benny doesn’t call out Bure by name in the video, she did include the hashtag #candacebure, which prompted a statement from the actress denying the accusations.

Via PEOPLE, Bure issued a statement:

“I never asked Miss Benny’s character to be removed from Fuller House and did not ask the writers, producers or studio executives to not have queer characters on the show,” said Bure, who played DJ Tanner on Full House and its Netflix revival. “Fuller House has always welcomed a wide range of characters. I thought Miss Benny did a great job as ‘Casey’ on the show. We didn’t share any scenes together, so we didn’t get a chance to talk much while filming on set. I wish Miss Benny only the best.”

Bure’s anti-LGBTQ stance is no secret. After accepting a position as Chief Creative Officer for the ultra-conservative Great American Family network, Bure kicked off a wave of controversy after she said in an interview that the channel’s Christmas movies would only feature “traditional marriage.” She was then called out by actors like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and even her longtime Full House co-star Jodie Sweetin appeared to throw shade at Bure by siding with Jojo Siwa during their brief feud.

(Via PEOPLE)

Iconic Texas magazine Texas Monthly — perhaps most famous for its stellar feature reporting and end-of-the-year Bum Steer awards for the biggest losers and villains in the Lone Star State — is prepping its first documentary feature.

According to Deadline, the TV and film production arm of the magazine is working with director Deborah Esquenazi to chronicle the case of James Reyos, a gay Apache man who has spent 40 years trying to clear his name and regain freedom following a murder conviction. The Innocence Project is now working with Reyos, and he got a new trial back in March. Esquenazi’s documentary will look deeply at the case as well as Reyos’ battle for his freedom.

“Deborah’s nuanced and deeply journalistic approach to filmmaking is an excellent fit for Texas Monthly as we dive deeper into the world of documentary storytelling, and the rich layers of the James Reyos story made this project a very appealing one to collaborate on with this team,” said Texas Monthly‘s executive producer for TV, film, and podcasts, Megan Creydt.

Added Esquenazi, “There is no better collaborator than Texas Monthly for a film like this. The Odessa Police Department—which reopened this case on its own—uncovered new forensic evidence in 2022, and it has been thrilling to film the collaboration between Odessa’s police department, the District Attorney’s office, and the Innocence Project of Texas clinic at Texas Tech University to do what might have once been unthinkable: reinvestigate a cold case, together, that might finally exonerate an innocent man who has been fighting for his life since the early 1980s.”

Who knows. It might be true crime we can actually feel good about watching.

(via Deadline)

Kanye West is about as provocative as they come these days, but there was a point in his life, years ago, when swiping the microphone from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was considered a relatively major controversy for him. Fast-forward to present day: Taylor Swift just released her latest re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). One of the previously unreleased “From The Vault” songs is a Hayley Williams collaboration called “Castles Crumbling,” and Swifties are convinced the song is about the West situation.

One fan on Twitter theorized, “‘they used to chant my name now they’re screaming that they hate me’ oh my god she wrote castles crumbling after the VMAs when she thought she was getting booed… she thought everyone hated her… i’m gonna jump off a bridge #SpeakNowTaylorsVersion.” Another wrote, “i just realized that castles crumbling is about what happened after the vmas when she thought everyone was booing her.. ‘my frozen friends watched my reign end’….’used to chant my name now now they’re screaming that they hate me..’”

Swift hasn’t addressed this, but Williams recently said of Swift, “Taylor was the first industry friend I ever made and hung out with outside of work things. When Speak Now dropped, I bought my friend’s record (as you do!) and listened to the whole thing in my first car, sitting still in the driveway. It’s my favorite Taylor Swift album for so many reasons.”

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

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

(And Just Like That… spoilers will be found below.)

People are watching And Just Like That… even if they’re not universally loving it (as suggested by the 30% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes), given what it’s done to some Sex And The City characters. This includes Miranda Hobbes, who is a shadow of her former ass-kicking-attorney self while following Che Diaz to the ends of the U.S. and essentially doing nothing but losing her phone on the beach while Che Diaz tries to be great. And mind you, I kind-of enjoyed Che as a character and how they didn’t care about being liked. Yet a little bit of them goes a long way, and man, there’s a lot of Che Diaz in Season 2.

On a related note, what the show did to Steve was one of several reasons why I semi-jokingly likened Season 1 of the spinoff to a secret horror show. “Aw, geez, poor freaking Steve Brady” was how I non-eloquently described the situation, but Steve might be living his best life now.

This is an improvement because the Steve situation was not great. He was suddenly a shouty mess and pathetic doofus. Still, his biggest offense was to kill Miranda’s sex drive by washing his hands in order to avoid giving her a UTI. As well, he was newly partially deaf (the affliction found inspiration from David Eigenberg’s real-life experience, though the execution was not kind), and this apparently made him annoying. Mind you, he was still the same stand-up guy who will deftly take apart plumbing to rescue Carrie’s ring. He was relegated to, as I previously wrote, being that horror movie character who “would have been the first character knifed by a serial killer, right after he dutifully and thanklessly set up everyone’s tents in the woods.”

Well this week, the writers finally let Steve Brady have his day in the sun. As Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe has aptly phrased things, Steve is now the displayer of a “Revenge Bod.” I think people liked it, too.

The bod was always there, most likely, just hidden away well. Yet the shirtless aspect is now happening while Che and Miranda’s relationship is starting to disintegrate. Please please please do not let Steve take Miranda back again. He deserves to be treated so much better! Dang it, now I’m all invested in this show again. Nice work, HBO Max.

And Just Like That…‘s second season is currently progressing on Max.

Teen music journalist Jazlyn Guerra — aka Jazzy’s World — has landed her fair share of big-name interviews. Over the last few years, she’s spoken with Jay-Z, J. Cole, Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar, and Nicki Minaj, to name a few. But what happens when the burgeoning star reporter meets one of the personalities who paved the way for her particular brand of on-the-spot artist interviews?

Well, now we know, thanks to “Nardwuar vs. Jazzy,” in which the Human Serviette gets interviewed by — and interviews — the kid journalist, leading to one of the most wholesome discussions in the business. Jazzy even dresses up as Nardwuar, complete with his signature plaid pants and matching bonnet. Nardwuar actually credits the look to Sebastian Bach of the ’90s hard rock band Skid Row, who stole his skullcap one day.

The two journalists go back and forth about the craft and their origins, from Jazzy’s Panamanian roots to Nardwuar’s punk band, the Evaporators. And of course, Nardwuar lavishes Jazzy with lots of gifts, including unusual chip flavors, a J. Cole double LP, and more. Jazzy even sings a little of her own theme song (someone get her into the studio, immediately!).

You can watch the full interview above.

In May, it was reported that Rihanna and ASAP Rocky‘s baby’s name is RZA, after the Wu-Tang Clan member. RZA has finally responded to this news — and of course, it’s with excitement.

The rapper told CNN that it’s “a great honor to know that there’s another generation that’s not even of my own household that feels the strength and the inspiration of that name.”

He continued, “RZA [isn’t] only a name, it’s a title. So it’s an honor and I salute her and ASAP and their family. All the blessings in the world from me.”

Rumors are still circulating that the pair are married, especially after ASAP Rocky dedicated his performance of “DMB” to Rihanna during a performance in Paris, describing her as “my beautiful wife in the motherf**king building! I love her.”

She recently revealed that she has stepped down from her position as the Savage X Fenty CEO. “It’s been beautiful to see our vision for Savage X Fenty impact the industry at such an incredible magnitude over the last five years. This is just the beginning for us, and we’re going to continue to expand in ways that always connect with the consumer,” she said.

Jack in the Box is, without a doubt, stoner food. Curly fries? Those weird tacos that are repulsive to think about but delicious to eat? Oreo f*cking milkshakes? All stoner food! If you’re ordering those completely sober, you’re not doing it wrong, but you’re not doing it right either! Jack in the Box knows this, it’s why they have a whole category of combos known as ‘Munchie Meals,’ and now they’ve teamed up with the most stoned stoner of all time: Snoop Dogg for a celebrity-branded Munchie Meal known simply as ‘Snoop’s Munchie Meal.’

Conceptually speaking, I love it! I loved it before I even knew what was in it! As soon as I saw the first Snoop’s Munchie Meal poster on the JiB window as I was driving by, I immediately bookmarked it in my mind as perfect work material. I cover a lot of different areas at Uproxx, fast food, cannabis, tequila — but never before have two of my beats overlapped so perfectly. So I couldn’t just try the Munchie Meal, I had to try Snoop’s Munchie Meal the way it was intended to be tried: completely stoned.

So I did just that, I picked up Snoop’s Munchie Meal, took a handful of hits of this weed through a Pax 3 vaporizer, and recorded my initial thoughts as I ate each element.

The weed in question is CBX’s Blewtooth, an Indica strain with 30% THC content that is no f*cking joke. I have a lot of thoughts about the different elements, but I’ll begin each with my initial stoned impressions, which I recorded into my phone.

Before we do that, a bit of info on Snoop’s Munchie Meal: The meal is available now at participating Jack in the Box restaurants nationwide until August 6th and sells for $14. That’s a lot of money for a single meal from Jack in the Box, but this meal features four different items and is easily shareable between two people, so our best advice is to split it unless you’re incredibly hungry (or high).

Snoop Dogg’s Munchie Meal

Spicy Sauced And Loaded Chicken Sandwich

Stoned Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

It’s a hot dog! Oh, no, I’m wrong, it’s a chicken strip in a hot dog bun. Why is it so creamy? Why does it smell so damn sour? Have I made a horrible mistake? Nothing about this makes me want to eat this… thing, even after being stoned out of my mind. Or maybe it’s because I’m stoned. I can keep talking if it means not having to eat this thing.

Biting into it, there is a lot going on. It’s dry, as you might expect a chicken strip in a hot dog bun to be, but JiB loads it up with white cheese sauce, Good Good sauce, and Ranch which helps to make it more palatable but very salty and tangy.

Bacon bits provide a smokey top note and as a whole the sandwich ends with a lingering spicy finish.

Sober Thoughts:

There is a lot going on with this Spicy Sauced and Loaded Chicken Sandwich, which as far as I know, is a menu item exclusive to this meal. Props to JiB for making something new for Snoop’s Munchie Meal!

I like that this sandwich (yes, I consider a hot dog a sandwich, even if said hot dog bun has a chicken strip inside of it) presents itself as what it is — it’s spicy, sauced, and loaded. I was too stoned to notice that the sandwich also has some of JiB’s regular fries thrown in between the bun. A nice touch, even though I didn’t notice.

Crunchy Taco

Stoned Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Snoop Dogg and JiB could’ve given me a box of these and I would’ve been happy. Sick to my stomach, but happy! What can I say about the JiB Taco that hasn’t already been said? It’s weird, features some sort of mystery meat that I’m not sure is even technically meat, there is a slice of American cheese in here, which somehow feels insulting at this very moment, and features a weird watery taco sauce along with lettuce that tastes like it has straight up been microwaved, which is to say, warm, flavorless, and slime-y.

Do I actually like these things? Yes, one thousand times yes. Biting into this greasy taco I’m reminded that it just hits a spot like no other cheap taco in fast food. Aside from, you know Taco Bell. And Del Taco. F*ck it, give me all the bad tacos, I’ll eat them all!

Sober Thoughts:

I don’t know why I said a box of these would make me happy, it wouldn’t have. JiB’s Crunchy Tacos are impossible to look at fondly when you’re of sober mind. Everything in me tells me, don’t eat that taco. Just to be clear, the Munchie Meal only comes with one taco, not two, and I still think one is one too many!

I’m sure I’ll order JiB’s tacos again in my life, but if I have the option to pick anything on this Jack in the Box menu, this would be my last choice and if I was eating this meal sober I think I’d ask if I could substitute it for something else.

Curly Fries

Stoned Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Hell yea! Onions, garlic, black pepper, fun shape, I love curly fries. Couldn’t have chosen a better side to these other two indulgent menu items.

Sober Thoughts:

I was too stoned to remember to take a photo of the curly fries and the taco. Don’t do your job high, folks! We all know what curly fries look like though, so I’m not too broken up about it. These were great, and hands down one of JiB’s best menu items.

Every munchie meal should come with an order of curly fries!

Baked Brownie

Stoned Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Holy shit, this is a straight-up hot brownie that feels freshly baked. Contrary to its name, it is not a “baked brownie,” in the sense that this brownie isn’t high. Why doesn’t every fast food restaurant have hot brownies on hand? The chocolate chips are melted and the brownie is moist and packing waves of rich chocolate-y goodness.

The perfect way to close out this Munchie Meal, the most munchie worthy!

Sober Thoughts:

I’m pretty sure JiB just threw this brownie in a microwave, I don’t know why I thought because it was hot it was freshly baked. It was a damn good brownie though.

The Bottom Line:

Snoop Dogg’s Munchie Meal doesn’t disappoint, it delivers on the concept, this is perfect stoner food.

It’s way too much food though, I think when you’re stoned and you have the munchies, your eyes tend to be bigger than your stomach. Even high out of my mind, I found eating the entire meal incredibly difficult.

So I think this is perfect to share, but if you’re stoned and flying solo, you’re probably better off picking up a large order of curly fries, and that delicious brownie.

Find your nearest Jack in the Box here.

After MF DOOM’s cause of death was revealed earlier this week, St. James’s Hospital in Leeds has issued an apology to the late rapper’s family for giving him substandard care. According to The Guardian, the Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust, which operates St. James’s, said there were “missed opportunities” to properly treat his allergic reaction to a blood pressure drug he’d been prescribed.

DOOM’s wife Jasmine Dumile said that DOOM had been going through a litany of health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart failure, and kidney failure, and that after taking a drug prescribed for blood pressure, his lips, tongue, and throat swelled. On October 23, 2020, he was given adrenaline, steroids, and oxygen, appearing to improve, then rapidly deteriorating. After being put on a ventilator, he died on October 31.

During an inquest into the incident, the assistant coroner who examined DOOM said the hospital’s care plan was “not sufficiently detailed” and that when the rapper said the swelling was getting worse, a review should have taken place. While that may not have prevented his collapse or death and his adverse reaction to the drug was rare, the doctors should have noted that allergies were more common in people of African-Carribean descent and smokers — both of which applied to DOOM.

The chief medical officer of Leeds teaching hospitals NHS Trust, Dr. Hamish McLure, apologized to DOOM’s wife, who was following the inquest via video link. “I would like to offer our sincere condolences to Daniel’s family, friends, and fans at this difficult time,” he said. “I apologize that the care he received was not to the standard we would expect. Following his sad death we undertook a serious incident investigation and the report has been shared with Daniel’s family. As a result, we have put in place a number of actions and the wider learning from what happened is to be used as a teaching topic in a number of different clinical specialties. We also support the coroner’s recommendation for clearer national guidance and awareness in this area.”

Everything Taylor Swift touches turns into diamonds. Even her current tour, The Eras Tour, is on track to become one of the highest-grossing live music experiences. These accomplishments are certainly worth celebrating, but for the Grammy-winning singer, it’s truly all about making impactful songs. That’s at the core of Swift’s song “Castles Crumbling” with Paramore leader Hayley Williams.

Initially written for the entertainer’s 2010 album, Speak Now, the song was ultimately tucked away in Swift’s vault of goodies. Thanks to the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Verison), the song is finally seeing the light of day with a new recording. “Castles Crumbling” is a moment of reflection where the ladies examine their meteoric rise to fame and all of the pressures that come with this sudden spike in popularity.

As the pair sings, “And I feel like my castle’s crumbling down / And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground / And you don’t want to know me, I will just let you down / You don’t wanna know me now,” you can’t help but to turn your attention to Swift’s massive Swiftie army. While they’ve poured endless support into the musician, what would their divestment look like? According to Swift, it is all only as solid as sand.

While the track marks Swift and Williams’ first musical collaboration, they’ve maintained a longstanding friendship over the past decade. After Swift revealed that the song would make the album’s rerecording, Williams took to Instagram to pen a note to her friend, writing, “Taylor was the first industry friend I ever made and hung out with outside of work things. When Speak Now dropped, I bought my friend’s record (as you do!) and listened to the whole thing in my first car, sitting still in the driveway. It’s my favorite Taylor Swift album for so many reasons.”

Listen to the full song above.

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

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