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Showing pride in how far he’s come in life, Meek Mill proudly proclaimed that he’s “taking things far from being a trench baby.”

Now, the musician is using his platform to impact the youth. In a video uploaded to Meek’s Instagram profile, the recording artists took a moment to offer some sound advice to a few young kids who asked to perform a freestyle for him. After the young boys delivered their original bars, Meek asked the group, “Why are y’all talking all that crazy stuff,” referring to the aspiring rappers referencing violence and guns.

Meek added, “Y’all got to rap about y’all life too, though. Y’all got a good one? I need that good stuff.”

To not discourage them, the entertainer closed with an explanation as to why they need to clean up their raps, “You gotta turn your cuss words down so you could get on Spotify, YouTube.”

Although his music often reflects those rough times, the “Dreams & Nightmares” rapper has dedicated himself to helping those who are growing up in the same conditions that he did. The entertainer has donated millions of dollars to Philadelphia schools and has even posted bail for local women to help reunite them with their families through his criminal justice reform-focused non-profit Reform Alliance.

Watch the clip above.

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

With a $14.52 billion worldwide total, Scarlett Johansson is the highest-grossing actor of all-time. Much of that comes from Johansson’s work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but she’s been in numerous non-franchise movies to break the $100 million mark, including The Jungle Book ($953 million), Lucy ($457 million), and Lost in Translation ($117 million). For her box office success, Johansson regularly commands a $15 million-$20 million salary, but she took a major pay cut to star in Wes Anderson’s new film, Asteroid City.

Variety reports that “she happily earned a paltry $4,131 a week for two months of work on the Focus Features film that shot in Spain.” Based on figures available online, that appears to be the paid scale — the lowest rate a union actor can accept on a project — for a SAG-AFTRA member. It’s how Asteroid City, with a reported budget of $25 million, can afford not only Johansson, but also fellow A-listers Tom Hanks and Margot Robbie.

“I was curious: Who is this person? How did she get here, to be so successful at that time? She’s this star of stage and screen — what drove her there?” Johansson said about her preparation to play actress Midge Campbell, her character in Asteroid City, who Anderson wrote for her. “I like the sort of constraints of Wes’ precision. I think in some ways, it’s more liberating.”

Asteroid City comes out on June 23.

(Via Variety)

When last we heard from Danny Brown, the Detroit rapper was checking himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. In March, Danny told fans he was voluntarily seeking treatment as he had overstepped during a recent episode of his podcast which he’d filmed while drunk. “Alcohol is something I need to be done with cause it makes me hurt the people that care the most,” he admitted.

Well, he’s returned with a new episode of The Danny Brown Show in which he addresses going to treatment head-on. He called the experience “humbling” while saying it gave him a newfound appreciation for his work, especially compared to some of those who were also in the program with him.

“Being in treatment… one thing it did do: It humbled the f*ck out of me,” he said. “It made me real f*ckin’ umm… Just showed a lot of gratitude. I got a cool-ass life, man. Hearin’ other motherf*ckers stories… ‘Cause a lot of these motherf*ckers that’s in there, they had drinking problems, drug problems, they gotta go back to work…. I have one of the best jobs in the f*cking world. I was taking a lot of sh*t for granted.”

It’s good to see Danny focused and grateful ahead of his upcoming tour with Jpegmafia. They may be scaring the hoes, but at least it’ll be for the right reason. You can watch the full episode of The Danny Brown Show up top.

When you spend hours and hours talking on television every day, you are inevitably going to say things that are wrong or dumb or both. It’s just part of the job and why I usually just try to shrug off wild takes as part of the game, because I know that if I were asked to talk non-stop for three hours I would do the same.

However, Tuesday morning was an absolute tour de force from Mike Greenberg, who would not stop saying things that had the rest of the Get Up! panel looking at him like he had three heads. The one that went viral was him talking about how the weather in Miami was partially to blame for the Knicks’ struggles, citing the physical heat (as opposed to the team, the Heat) as sapping their energy and wondering if that was the cause of their lethargic play.

This is a man grasping for something to explain why the Knicks have been as bad as they have been, which I can at least understand — and he keeps citing Jalen Rose as the source of this theory, which, I have a feeling something got lost in translation there. It is very funny watching the rest of the desk watch him fire off this weather theory, but this is mostly run of the mill weird sports television takesmithing.

What took Greenberg’s Tuesday run over the top was his suggestion at the 12-minute mark of the video at the top of this post, where he offers up a suggestion so terrible that the rest of the desk facepalms and laughs at how bad it is.

“That said, I’m gonna say something and duck. I don’t think I even bring LeBron and AD with me to San Francisco to be completely honest with you.”

The groans from the rest of the desk, with Alan Hahn putting his head in his hands and Tim Legler just laughing out loud is truly incredible. Greenberg says he’s being “somewhat facetious,” to which Legler responds “hopefully mostly facetious” while Hahn laughs at how bad an idea this is. Greeny then walks it back to pulling LeBron and Anthony Davis in the second quarter if they’re down, which Legler rightfully blasts noting you can’t just give this Warriors team a win and assume you’re going to take Game 6 back in L.A.

It really takes an incredibly bad take to garner this kind of response from the rest of a morning sports talk show panel, but kudos to Greeny for absolutely letting it rip and providing us with some morning comedy on Tuesday.

Not everyone is perfect all the time (besides the one person we are all thinking of), but especially actors. If you think about it, they spend half of their time pretending to be someone else, so it’s no wonder they start acting up every once in a while. But there is a delicate balance between having a bad day at work delivering dead rats to your coworkers. It’s all about moderation here!

When people think about good and wholesome actors, Tom Hanks often comes to mind, probably because he will always be Sheriff Woody in our eyes. But Hanks is the first to admit that even he can be a bit of a menace on sets. When you’ve been doing this for so long, it’s only natural that you’re going to lose it once or twice.

Hanks has been promoting his debut novel, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, and recently spoke to BBC about the inspiration for his fictional Hollywood-inspired book. A central plotline in the story involved a big-budget movie being put on hold due to one of the actor’s on-set outbursts. While it seems like the opposite of something Hanks would do, he admits that it’s not too far-fetched. “I have pulled every single one of those moments of behavior myself on a set,” Hanks admitted to BBC.

Even though the book is fictional, Hanks said that he is not immune to being hard to work with, especially after long days. “Not everybody is at their best every single day on a motion picture set. I’ve had tough days trying to be a professional when my life has been falling apart in more ways than one and the requirement for me that day is to be funny, charming and loving — and it’s the last way I feel.” Hanks’ recent co-star Pinocchio could not be reached for comment.

There have only been positive stories about Hanks, aside from some one-off anecdotes. Meanwhile, his son Chet is known to attract all sorts of drama and PR mishaps. Again…it’s all about balance!

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Sunny Hostin outed Whoopi Goldberg as the source of the phantom fart noises that have routinely plagued airings of The View. Despite Hostin having nothing but nice things to say about her co-host, and made it a point to note she’s always the first to pick up the check, Whoopi apparently did not enjoy Hostin blowing up her spot.

While appearing on Monday morning’s episode of Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM podcast, Hostin revealed that Whoopi wasn’t thrilled at the situation.

“She didn’t like it,” Hostin told Cohen before explaining how the whole situation was a misunderstanding.

Via Page Six:

The talk show host claimed that she and the other women recently got coasters for their mugs on set. Before that, she alleged that the mugs would make a farting-esque noise whenever they moved –which is what viewers were hearing.

“And so Whoopi, in an effort to kind of cover that up, we have coasters now, was like, ‘Sorry y’all. That was me,’ and I just took her at her word,” Hostin, 54, explained.

According to Hostin, she was confronted by Whoopi after naming her as the farter.

“It just turned into this big thing and so Whoopi said, ‘Why did you tell everybody I fart all the time?’ and I was like, ‘Because you joke about farting all the time and I’m across from the table.’” Hostin said. “I can’t smell it! Whoever smelt it dealt it, so I just had no idea.”

But don’t worry, there’s no bad blood (or gas) between the two.

“Whoopi and I are very close, so she was OK,” Hostin said, putting Fartgate to bed — for now.

(Via Page Six)

While Lizzo recently performed at the 2023 Met Gala and was continuing her 2Special North American Tour, the pop star took to social media a few days ago to announce that she had to postpone a second show after getting strep throat.

“Hello Hartford, it is me. As you know, I canceled my Montreal show ’cause I was experiencing extreme flu-like symptoms,” Lizzo said in the Instagram video. “I tested for COVID and it’s negative. However, I did test positive for strep throat. Though I’m feeling stronger, my body, my throat is still extremely raw and swollen. My lymph nodes are swollen, and the doctors say that it would not be wise to sing while my throat is like this.”

“In the past, I have pushed myself because I always want to bring you guys an incredible show. And I want to bring you guys the best of me,” she added. “And I’m realizing as I mature that this is not the best of me. I need to heal so that I can be the artist that you guys deserve and maintain my body. Still hurts to swallow, still hurts to speak, but it really hurts to cancel.”

In the video’s caption, Lizzo does note that all current tickets will be honored for the new date. Her next show is intended for tonight in Baltimore.

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

It may sound hard to believe since Becky G has been in the music business since her teens, but the Latin pop sensation is about to launch her first-ever headlining tour. The Mi Casa, Tu Casa Tour will kick off this September in Boston, with tickets to go on sale starting May 12 at 10 am local time.

In a statement, Becky said, “[The] ‘Mi Casa Tu Casa Tour’ is about inviting people into an intimate experience with me. My intention is for it to be a place where we can sing, dance, laugh, and cry, all in the comfort of our shared space. I’ve never headlined my own tour before, so I really want it to feel personal and connect with my fans in that way, because we’ll build nuestra casa [our home] in every city, together.”

Becky G made her Coachella debut earlier this year, playing a medley of Selena hits along with her own to pay homage to her influences. She is also appearing at the Baja Beach Fest alongside Wisin Y Yandel, Ozuna, Don Omar, and more Latin superstars.

Check out the dates for Becky G’s Mi Casa, Tu Casa Tour below. Get more info here.

9/14 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
9/16 — New York, NY @ United Palace Theatre
9/17 — Tysons, VA @ Capital One Hall
9/19 — Charlotte, NC @ Ovens Auditorium
9/21 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
9/22 — Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live Orlando
9/23 — Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live Hollywood
9/27 — Sugar Land, TX @ Smart Financial Centre
9/28 — Grand Prairie, TX @ Texas Trust CU Theatre
9/29 — San Antonio, TX @ Majestic Theatre
10/1 — McAllen, TX @ McAllen Performing Arts Center
10/3 — El Paso, TX @ Abraham Chavez Theatre
10/6 — San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre
10/7 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
10/8 — San Jose, CA @ San Jose Center for the Performing Arts
10/14 — Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona State Fair

Bird Box was, at one point, Netflix‘s most-watched original film. Five years later, it’s still number three behind only Red Notice and Don’t Look Up, and one spot ahead of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Considering there’s an entire (sigh) cinematic universe being built around other Netflix titles like The Gray Man, it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for a Bird Box sequel to come out.

Even more surprising: it doesn’t star Sandra Bullock.

Bird Box Barcelona leaves behind Bullock’s mother of two and heads to Barcelona. “After a mysterious force decimates the world’s population by causing all who see it to take their lives, Sebastian and his young daughter Anna must navigate their own journey of survival through the desolate streets of Barcelona. But as they form an uneasy alliance with other survivors and make their way toward a safe haven, a threat more sinister than the unseen creatures grows,” the Netflix synopsis reads. There will still be blindfolds, as you can see in the announcement teaser above.

Bird Box Barcelona, which was written and directed by Alex and David Pastor and stars Mario Casas, Georgina Campbell, Diego Calva, Alejandra Howard, Naila Schuberth, Patrick Criado, Celia Freijeiro, Lola Dueñas, Gonzalo de Castro, Michelle Jenner, and Leonardo Sbaraglia, comes to Netflix on July 14th. Hopefully it doesn’t inspire any more dumb viral challenges.

May 9 is annually known as “Victory Day” in Russia to mark the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany. For the past two such holidays, the mood has obviously been different. Putin’s ongoing Ukraine war isn’t going the way he had hoped, and given that Russian troops have been abandoning tanks in Ukrainian cities, this has only added to the lack of available tanks to hold parades. As well, the leader (Yevgeny Prigozhin) of Putin’s privately-hired army, the Wagner Group, has been trashing Putin over an alleged refusal to supply ammo.

This actually might not be the worst omission, given that Russian troops are said to be resorting to aged ammo that carries the risk of “explod[ing] in your face.” Yet the ammo issue, along with Russia’s poor performance in the Putin-coveted city of Bakhmut, is giving Yevgeny Prigozhin more fodder to drag the Russian president. Before word of this latest verbal attack surfaced, however, CNN reported that Putin’s victory day speech was a self-pitying affair, in which he complained about “Russia being sinned against,” and only one lonely tank — an antiquated one — was there to make the former “superman” look manly:

There was only one tank: a T-34, a model made 89 years ago, before Putin was even born, raising the question of why they decided to include any tanks at all.

The level of hardware on display seemed thin: understandable perhaps for a military being mauled on a wide and relentless frontline. But again, it raises the enduring bind for the Kremlin.

They keep having to prove their strength, their might, yet have little actual might left to do it with. The exercise ends up being one of revealing weakness.

Back to the subject of the Wagner Group: mercenary leader Prigozhin slammed Putin as a “complete a**hole” and “happy grandpa,” via The Daily Beast, which details a 30-minute verbal lashing that included Prigozhin declaring Russian military leaders (rather than Ukraine) to be the “main enemy” of his soldiers. He continued to poke fun at Russian troops for their tendency to “run” away on the Ukrainian battlefield, and he declared that now was not the time for Putin to be marking any type of Victory Day. Oh boy.

(Via CNN & The Daily Beast)