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Detective Rudy is on the case.

On Tuesday, a jury ruled that Donald Trump must pay $5 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll for sexually abusing her in the 1990s and then defaming her by calling the allegations “a Hoax and a lie.” Rudy Giuliani hopped on Newsmax to discuss the verdict later that evening, but not before sending one of his underlings to Bergdorf Goodman, where the incident took place, to do some research.

“I think it’s a blip, and I think it’s completely absurd. You know, today I sent Ted, my colleague over to Bergdorf. Do you know there hasn’t been a rape in Bergdorf dressing room in 32 years?” the “freak show” attorney asked Greg Kelly.

Kelly, who is no stranger to utter weirdness, looked befuddled by this remark. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” he said, sounding confused. “What do you mean by that? 1990, wait, 32 years ago was 1991.” Giuliani replied, “Yeah. We went and interviewed the people at Bergdorf and asked them, has there ever been a rape here? And they said, ‘No, there’s never been a rape here. I’ve been working here for 32 years.’” In the best journalism in Newsmax history, Kelly asked, “Did Ted just — I mean, look, I know that this did not happen, but did Ted just ask some guy who was standing there? I mean, how did you…”

Here’s how Rudy replied:

“No. No. No. Please, we asked the employees has there ever been a rape here? ‘No.’ We went and looked at the dressing room. To do a rape in Bergdorf is like doing it in the open. You might as well do it in the open. It’s totally ridiculous to think that a man like Trump, who was very well known, the minute he walks into Bergdorf, everybody’s all over him. It’s totally ridiculous to think that this rape took place.”

So, there you go. It never happened because some guy named Ted accosted a random Bergdorf Goodman employee. Another brilliant legal strategy from America’s Mayor.

(Via Mediaite)

Barbz, rejoice: It appears new Nicki Minaj music may finally be on the way.

Over the past few days, Nicki, whose real name is Onika Maraj, and her fans have been celebrating her accomplishments over the years, using the #OnikaWinsAgain hashtag.

Through the hashtag, you’ll see the loyal Barbz recalling iconic lines of the rapper’s, as well as some of her most memorable red carpet looks.

Now, it seems like Nicki is just about ready to reward the Barbz for their dedication.

Nicki has released several standalone singles over the past couple years, including “Seeing Green” and “Fractions” from the 2021 reissue of her 2009 mixtape, Beam Me Up, Scotty, as well as her 2022 No. 1 pop hit, “Super Freaky Girl.” However, it’s been almost five years since she released her fourth studio album, Queen.

But it looks like we may finally have an update as to when we can expect it.

Today (May 10), she teased that the album, which fans have nicknamed “NM5,” will arrive this year.

“NM5 is the best thing that will come out of 2023 & will raise the bar to new & unreachable heights,” Nicki said in a tweet. “NM5 tour will be hailed as “genius”. That’s it & that’s all.”

With recent features on tracks like Ice Spice’s “Princess Diana,” as well as Kim Petras’ “Alone,” as well as the launch of her “Heavy On It” record label, it appears a new era of Nicki may soon be upon us.

Coca-Cola® and Warner Music Group’s WMX is on the road to uncover music’s new diamond in the rough. The Coca-Cola® Transformation Team’s talent search inspired by Coca-Cola® Move has led them to Puerto Rico’s own Eduardo María.

Hailing from Mayagüez, Eduardo blends his classically-trained background with cultural elements into his songwriting, stage presence, and production style to deliver an emotionally dynamic final product. Sticking to the series’ “the transformational power of music” mission for his The Eye one-take in-studio performance, Eduardo lets his heart bleed in front of the camera.

Performing his original song, “Dilo,” a song inspired by a past romantic relationship, Eduardo channels the track’s sensual nature. On-screen, the musician oozes confidence, but he confesses, “I’m nervous. I have the jitters! But it’s more like when your adrenaline is running, and you don’t know if you’re nervous or actually excited.”

As soon as the crew begins recording, the pressure melts off of Eduardo as he knocks the performance out of the park. Fellow artists Kallitechnis and San Cha proudly cheer him in the background.

Speaking on his experience, Eduardo shared, “I definitely grew — getting more in my body and getting the feedback from the team. It gives you a glimpse of what your future will be. It has transformed me. It has connected me more to myself. “

This video highlights how much preparatory work goes on behind the scenes to birth the high-stakes The Eye performances. Watch the full video above.

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

Rap and wrestling have seen increasing crossover in recent years, with artists like Snoop Dogg and Bad Bunny participating in WWE events and rappers like The Rock trying their hands at rocking the mic. With all this mixing between the two entertainment industries, it’s no wonder that wrestlers are now picking musicians for their dream matchups.

In an interview with Billboard, the reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions said they would love to wrestle “WAP” rappers Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were asked about their dream match, replying, “I would love to see Cardi and Meg The Stallion. I think Meg would be incredible. They’ve also been so active with us on Twitter and just responded to different things. Those two would be interesting to see in the ring. Us versus Cardi and Meg. Make it happen.”

Morgan even suggested a few types of matches for the two rappers. “I’m not gonna go easy on them, though,” she said. “They look like they could take the titles: an Extreme Rules Match, Last Woman Standing Match. Let’s do all of it.”

Such a match probably isn’t completely out of the question; Cardi has long enthused about her wrestling fandom on Twitter and the two rappers were pretty pumped to try out football training, so it’s clear they aren’t afraid of a little exercise. The matchup would be physically equal as well, as both pairs include a statuesque powerhouse (Rodriguez is six feet tall while Megan is 5’10”) and a pocket-size firecracker (Cardi and Morgan max out at 5’3″).

The rappers’ hectic schedules would likely make such a match improbable, but stranger things have happened and hey, if they’re into it, it could result in as entertaining a match as Bad Bunny’s recent blowout with Damian Priest in Puerto Rico. Put it on the books!

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

It seems like everyone is talking too much about the various car stunts in the upcoming Fast and Furious installment and not enough about the leaders in the car prank industry: the Gemstone family. Luckily, they will return in June for another round of chaotic shenanigans, all in the name of Jesus (and excessive hairspray).

Season three of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones will begin its Sunday service on June 18th, though by that time, you’ll have to stream it on MAX if you miss it on television, in case you weren’t paying attention. The season will bring back the insane Gemstone family, led by John Goodman, Danny McBride, Adam Devine, and Edi Patterson while adding Steve Zahn into the mix. The series will also hop aboard the growing trend of race car driving in the media by having the siblings operate dangerous vehicles. It’s just another day working for the Lord.

Here is the official longline for season three:

When the spoiled Gemstone children finally get their wish to take control of the Church, they discover leadership is harder than they imagined and that their extravagant lifestyle comes with a heavy price.

Now that we got that out of the way, here’s what you’ve all been waiting for: Baby Billy wearing….this:

The Righteous Gemstones returns June 18th. Check out the trailer above.

MIAMI – will.i.am needs to eat. He’s been pulled into TV live hits, quick meetings, meet and greets, and plenty of selfies, and he hasn’t had time to sit down to collect his thoughts. He puts an order in at the Mercedes compound in the team village and should have just enough time to enjoy that before heading out to the track for driver intros and a chance to showcase his new track, “The Formula” with Lil Wayne, marking a pivot for F1 that feels almost two decades coming.

While those driver intros — much more NBA All-Star Weekend than traditional motorsports — still are taking a little bit of getting used to, it’s the culmination of something will.i.am has seen as the future of F1 since his first in-person race experience in Singapore in 2008. F1 is hitting its stride in the States, which means more American-style pageantry and a general shift toward personalities that took a huge step forward in large part thanks to Netflix’s Drive To Survive series. As Max Verstappen (who ran a perfect race, starting near the back due to a fluky qualifying session on Saturday, but still managed to pass fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez to win the Miami GP) mentioned during a short Q+A in Heineken’s Paddock Club, he often can’t do much more than go from training or track to hotel and back. Going out to dinner is a challenge now.

But all the drivers, despite the frustration, would agree this is ultimately good for the sport, and the opportunities to do more and more off-track have them reaching superstar status usually reserved for Oscar winners and first-name footballers.

There’s still more room for F1 to enter and disrupt the zeitgeist, and that’s where will.i.am comes in. As artist in residence for the sport, “The Formula” is just one component, and he sees chances to drop not just more songs into the mix, but add his cultural expertise and futurist perspective. It’s a project that seems uniquely suited for will, who has made his career on being not just in the moment, but creating the next moment in the studio, in business, in AI, and elsewhere.

UPROXX Sports had a chance to speak with will.i.am about the road to working with F1, where the sport can go moving forward, and what’s next.

Martin Rickman: How did the F1 opportunity come about for you?

will.i.am: There’s some opportunities that come to you, and then there’s opportunities that you materialize. So I had the idea to connect dots that people didn’t see, and those dots that people didn’t see are that F1 has amazing events that happen before the race. Friday’s crazy and the night is amazing, no matter what city you go to. Friday is the practice run. The party on Friday night is always the best. Saturday is qualifying. The party on Saturday is insane. Sunday is the race, and it’s like a moving freaking festival circus in the form of a race. But what the people see when it’s broadcast is just the race.

Just the race.

They don’t see the arts and the culture that’s happening in and around the races. And they fly artists out to perform at these parties, the local promoters. But that’s not captured in the broadcast.

No. That’s just for the people who are able to be at those.

Right. So I was like, “Hey, why don’t we do like an artist residency concept where one of the artists gets selected, they make an album, they release singles around key locations and videos?” In this case, me and Lil Wayne for the Formula. Me and J Balvin for a song that’s going to come out in the next couple of months. And then an album right around the end of the season in Vegas. And then the last song and video for Abu Dhabi in the race. And you repeat next year. And I pitched this concept to F1 CEO Stefano [Domenicali]. I attend the Harvard Business School. He was speaking. So I flew out to Mexico. He’s like, “Oh, I have to go to Boston and I’m speaking at Harvard.” I’m like, “I go to Harvard.”

You’re here right now.

And so he’s like, “Well, let’s meet up.” I was like, “Okay.” So from Mexico flying back to Boston is when I was like, “Whoa, I’m going to pitch him an amazing idea. Let me get this idea in order.” So I pitched him the vision at Harvard Business School.

Amazing. And so obviously he was into it, and then it led to it actually happening. Because nothing happens overnight. You work on things for years sometimes to make these things happen.

So it took from November the second until — here we are, May 5, May 8 — to get everything and the deal done, make the songs, shoot the video, record the orchestra, film the orchestra, film the video, film the part of this video for “The Formula” on the Saudi track. And all the activities, all the organizing strategy, finalizing on notes and edits all happened on FYI.

And for people who aren’t familiar yet with FYI, the app that you’ve been developing for the past three years, was this a good pilot opportunity for you to utilize the project, kind of in real-time, and then be able to continue to test everything that you had been working on?

So the first pilot, we knew the power of it by working with ITV, to do The Voice this year. And Mercedes, I worked with Mercedes very closely, the car that I made last year that I launched here [in Miami], we used the product for that. So we’ve stress-tested it and put it to work. But this is the first time it’s at this scale, though.

For F1 specifically for you, what was your introduction to the sport, and what is it about that sport that is so interesting? Is it that connective tissue between art, culture, music, fashion, sport, and all that? Because you live at that nexus, but you’ve always also lived at the nexus of the future of all of these things. And I feel you’re constantly thinking about that stuff before anyone else is.

The first race I’ve been to was 2008. So I went to Singapore. Black Eyed Peas did the show there. And then from there I was like, “Whoa, this is something else. What is this? This is not like any other sport.” And I knew about it even before then because I introduced Lewis [Hamilton] to Nicole [Scherzingerback] in 2007. That’s like a year. So 2007 when I introduced Lewis to Nicole, and 2008 we played Singapore and then, boom, we were rocking from there.

In terms of the future of sport and of this sport specifically, where do you see it heading? And do you think that the progress that’s been made, not just with Drive To Survive, with the opportunities you have for artists in residence, the parties, all those other things that are coming through, where can it go from here? Because it still feels like there’s an opportunity to kind of open the door up to more people, but also collaboration and creativity in those things.

Let’s take basketball as an example. Basketball in the 80s was not fashion and culture. It was just a sport. But Jordan and Nike brought a whole new vibrancy to wearing basketball shoes out in the world. Right?

It’s not just performance. It becomes something else.

Yeah. Lifestyle and culture. So I think F1 is on its route to that because, if you think of fashion, I wouldn’t say that this sport has done that crossover of that yet but it’s on its way to do that. It’s on its way to impact that level of culture. I think Lewis is a big major factor on how it crosses over to the world of fashion like basketball has.

How important has it been to be able to sit at these tables with other people that maybe you haven’t had the chance to talk to yet, but you wanted to, whether it is Sergio or someone like that to work towards those next things you want to do?

Networking is great, but I don’t want to be that. You want to be careful that you’re not that guy. I don’t want to be that guy where it’s like going to tables because people, they want their space. They’re here with their folks. So it’s a balance. Taking the opportunity when people want to introduce you to people, but I also want to give people their space.

Spoilers for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 follow below.

Florence Welch doesn’t have an on-screen role in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, but she still has a strong presence in the movie. The film ends with Rocket playing Florence + The Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over,” which leads to the Guardians having a cathartic dance session to the 2008 classic. Welch had herself a joyful cry while watching the scene for the first time.

Aside from being a nice moment in the movie, the scene has also brought some renewed interest to the song, as the Spotify charts show.

The movie hit theaters on May 5, and a few days later, “Dog Days Are Over” started setting new personal bests. On Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart for May 8, the track made its first-ever appearance on the chart, debuting at No. 183. On the latest daily chart, for May 9, the song rose to No. 163. Meanwhile, on the daily US chart, “Dog Days” debuted at No. 186 on the May 7 chart and currently sits at No. 128. Globally, the song was streamed a combined 2.2 million times on May 8 and 9.

Next week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart will reflect listening data since Guardians was released, so it remains to be seen if the film will land the song back on that chart.

Ed Sheeran, after recently releasing his new album Subtract, has officially kicked off his The Mathematics Tour. The opening night was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on May 6. Sheeran played for around two hours. From there, he will be continuing to hold concerts at dates across North America.

Throughout the concert, Sheeran also swapped between solo performances and being joined by a full band during select parts of the show, as setlist.fm indicates.

While Sheeran’s next tour date is in Houston on May 13, fans who are either going to that one or other dates on The Mathematics Tour might be wondering what songs to expect, as he is playing selections across all of his albums — a fittingly titled tour, considering his preference for naming records after math symbols.

Continue scrolling for Ed Sheeran‘s Arlington setlist.

1. “Tides”
2. “Blow”
3. “I’m a Mess”
4. “Shivers”
5. “The A Team”
6. “Castle on the Hill”
7. “Don’t” / “No Diggity”
8. “Eyes Closed”
9. “Give Me Love”
10. “Boat”
11. “Salt Water”
12. “Own It” / “Peru” / “Beautiful People” / “I Don’t Care”
13. “End of Youth”
14. “Overpass Graffiti”
15. “Curtains”
16. “Galway Girl”
17. “Thinking Out Loud”
18. “Love Yourself”
19. “Sing”
20. “Photograph”
21. “Perfect”
22. “Bloodstream”
23. “Afterglow”
24. “Shape of You”
25. “Bad Habits”
26. “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You”

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

Baby Tate and Saweetie team up in the colorful video for the remix of Tate’s 2016 single “Hey, Mickey!” The original found Tate lamenting a love interest’s noncommital ways with a twist on Toni Basil’s 1981 hit. After the original went viral on TikTok, Tate tapped Saweetie to add her own flippant verse. Meanwhile, the video, which appears to be set in a Polly Pocket-like miniature universe, sees the two rappers clubbing and taking a plush road trip in the back of a pickup truck.

Baby Tate is a few months removed from the release of her mixtape Mani/Pedi, which featured fellow Atlanta mainstays 2 Chainz and Kali, and contained highlights like “Ain’t No Love” and “S.L.O. (Slut Him Out).” Since the tape’s release, she’s teamed up with R&B legend Babyface on his 11th studio album Girls’ Night Out and clapped back at yet another misogynist diatribe against women rappers — something that’s become a bit of a calling card for her.

Meanwhile, her partner-in-rhyme Saweetie has been plugging away at finishing her debut album Pretty B*tch Music; but in the meantime, Saweetie has made it a point to be as visible and productive as possible. She popped up at Coachella to assist fellow baddie Latto, appeared on That’s My Jam with Will.I.Am to sing a medley of West Coast classics, and headlined her own Super Bowl concert in Roblox.

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

The Ted Lasso Power Rankings are a weekly analysis of who and/or what had the strongest performance in each episode. Most of the list will feature individual characters, although the committee does reserve the right to honor anything from animals to inanimate objects to laws of nature to general concepts. There are very few rules here.

Season 3, Episode 9 — “La Locker Room Aux Folles”

HONORABLE MENTION: Jamie Tartt (we already heard him say “poop-eh” once before so I had to deduct some points here); Keeley (heartbent, diarrhea of the thumbs, etc.); Sam (I liked when he gave Jamie the finger); Higgins (what if the final episode of this show is Higgins on a cruise and nothing else happens?); baklava (one of those desserts I never think about until someone else has it and then I’m like “oooo baklava”); Rupert (snake); Dani Rojas (a sweet man); Jade (I really thought Rupert was going to hit on her right in front of Nate); Trent Crimm (the chapter of his book on the Isaac-Colin stuff from this week will be gold on his press tour); seagulls (few things in life more devastating than buying a funnel cake at the beach and having a seagull swoop down and pluck all or part of it right out of your hands); Jean-Claude Van Damme (did the splits twice in Timecop); Bumbercatch (fittest guy on the team)

10. Nate (LAST WEEK: 9)

I don’t know what to make of Nate. He seems… happier, which is nice. The man is just a giant cauldron of insecurity and self-loathing and it all bubbled up and over the surface to turn him into a kind of anti-Ted, for a while, with the black outfits and the spitting and all of it, like a villain in a movie for kids. I half-expected him to show up one week with a white cat in his lap or a shark tank in his office. But things are turning around now. He blew off Rupert and the babes on Guys’ Night. He seems to like hugging Jade a lot. This is progress for Nate.

None of this should be super surprising. Ted Lasso is not a show that gets revenge on its villain by hitting them with bricks. It runs on a more “even your enemies are humans” kind of energy, which can be weird when all you want to see them do is fall down an open manhole. Your mileage may vary on how satisfying that all is. I’m just glad he’s not doing the spitting anymore. I did not enjoy that.

9. Ted (LAST WEEK: 6)

Think about this sequence of events:

• Ted skips a press conference for family stuff and his assistant coach fills in and starts shouting at the media about famous guitarists
• The captain of his team runs into the stands to assault a loudmouth fan
• He skips the press conference after the game and has a different assistant coach face the press

We know how this all played out internally, how Ted remained calm and the team sorted things out and Roy matured a little bit (I said “a little”), but it all must have looked just hilariously chaotic from the outside. Picture, like, the coach of the New York Knicks doing exactly this and then Stephen A. Smith going on television to yell about it. The vein in his forehead might explode.

8. Isaac (LAST WEEK: Unranked)

I am glad that he wants to support his friend Colin and I understand that it’s all a little strange for him but you really cannot be running into the stands to punch loudmouth goons in the face, even if it is all just very satisfying.

7. Coach Beard (LAST WEEK: 1)

This is the first week in the history of these Power Rankings where Coach Beard does not take the top spot. It’s a decision I do not make lightly. I suspect he will be back up there next week and the week after that. But I slide him to number seven this week for three primary reasons:

• Things are rarely going great when you are shouting at a room full of reporters about rock guitarists
• Joe Walsh over Jimmy Page, in England, might get your home vandalized
• I wanted to shake things up a little

I lied earlier. I did make this decision lightly. I pretty much just sat here and thought “I should put Beard at, like, seven this week” and then I chuckled a little bit to myself and now here we are. None of this has any scientific merit. I stand by it. Mostly.

6. Ted’s friend Stevey Jewell (LAST WEEK: Unranked)

GOOD NEWS: His favorite team, the Denver Broncos, won back-to-back Super Bowls during the formative years of his life, which has to be thrilling. I have seen my favorite teams win two titles in my life (2008 Phillies, 2018 Eagles), and that was a very good time that almost makes up for me watching them get to a championship final and lose like five or six times. I’m suddenly very jealous of Stevey Jewell. And angry. Which is pretty on-brand given the Phillies/Eagles thing I mentioned earlier.

ON THE OTHER HAND: The young man ate so much cheese dip that he did thousands of dollars of damage to his toilet. Twice. That’s… it’s just not ideal, Super Bowl victory or not.

5. Rebecca (LAST WEEK: 5)

Slotting her all the way up at five only because I imagine it was pretty cathartic for her to yell at Roy about something — the press conference, in this case — after he dumped her best friend for no good reason way back at the beginning of the season. I’m glad she got that off her chest.

4. Mae (LAST WEEK: 2)

I have said this before but I will say it again now because I still believe it with all my heart:

• You could do a Ted Lasso spinoff just about Mae’s pub
• You could follow multiple timelines, like her starting it years ago and running it today and all the people who have come through the pub over the years, including creeps who are rude to Clare
• I like to imagine she did all the construction herself

I lied again. I don’t actually know if I believe that. Mae might be a character that works best in small doses, and I don’t know if there’s enough action there to sustain a full series. But I really do like thinking about it and typing it and I had this visual of her in a hard hat and tool belt just pounding away on things with a hammer and I wanted to share it with you. Worth it, really.

3. Colin (LAST WEEK: Unranked)

I mean… good? Good for Colin?

This one is tricky. It’s nice that his big secret isn’t weighing him down too too much anymore and it’s nice that the team was supportive about it all, but I have to imagine there are healthier ways to reveal your sexuality to a room full of your friends and coworkers than “somebody yoinked your phone out of your hands and discovered you are gay and then got all fired up when some dipshit fan yelled the f-slur at the team and he charged into the stands to fight the fan at halftime and the whole team was very lost and confused about it all and you felt pressured to explain the truth if only to provide context.”

So, yeah. Good for Colin. I’m glad there’s progress on this front. I hope it makes him more comfortable in the long term. But it all seems very stressful.

Also, not really relevant to the rest of this, but I need to start calling people “boy-o.” Might try it out this weekend.

2. Roy (LAST WEEK: 10)

Roy’s week, in bullet point form:

• Blew off the one press conference and got yelled at by his boss about it
• Loudly insisted to a full locker room that he does not have a hairy ass, which is another one of those anecdotes I would like to see slipped into Trent’s book at some point
• Had a nice little conversation with Isaac about anger and lashing out and bottling stuff up, which is kind of like the pot and the kettle talking to each other about what color they are
• Went back and did the press conference after that whole fiasco and yelled a little at reporters before telling a kind and nice/sad story about how people usually aren’t jerks for no reason and how it’s generally nice to cut people some slack and give them space and love them to pieces instead of casting them aside for a bad decision made in a dark moment

He’s a good man. As good a man as you can be when you also have a history of headbutting people and things that upset you. It’s a sliding scale.

1. Will Kitman (LAST WEEK: Unranked)

He’s a sweet boy.