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It doesn’t take much to get Donald Trump fired up. Just the slightest irritant, and he’s off the to all-caps races. It’s a dynamic that his team reportedly played into during the highly controversial CNN town hall where the former president was basically given free rein to spew so much rage-filled misinformation that he may get himself sued for defamation. Again.

According to a new report, Trump’s team kept the former president good and agitated by constantly showing him tweets from Democrats “as if psyching up a boxer in his corner or egging on a bully” during the town hall. Naturally, one of those tweets came from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Via Axios:

Among the tweets Trump was shown was one by Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who posted 23 minutes into the town hall (before the first commercial break at about 8:40 p.m. ET):

“CNN should be ashamed of themselves. They have lost total control of this ‘town hall’ to again be manipulated into platforming election disinformation, defenses of Jan 6th, and a public attack on a sexual abuse victim. The audience is cheering him on and laughing at the host.”

The tactic clearly worked as Trump easily trampled moderator Kaitlan Collins with a constant barrage of election fraud lies and continued smears of E. Jean Carroll, who had just defeated Trump in court the day before. Although, firing up Trump may have worked a little too well. After the night was over, even Fox News couldn’t believe that CNN dropped the ball so badly on fact-checking the former president. It was like letting a bull loose in a China shop, but the bull also reads Twitter.

(Via Axios)

Vladimir Putin is nowhere near close to a coveted win in his war on Ukraine, and he recently presided over a Victory Day parade that included one sad little tank. Beyond the death and destruction of the war itself — and so many lives erased on the battlefield — Russia’s economy is in tatters. Basic goods are lacking, to put things mildly, and the nation’s sorry attempt at a McDonald’s imitation has not won over fans of the real deal.

Still, Putin’s propaganda machine is urging everyone to look at the bright side of things. That includes the country’s record-low unemployment as boasted about by a Russian State TV talking head, Dmitry Kiselyov. He’s a staunch Putin ally, of course, and he urged everyone to be thrilled about a Russian labor shortage as evidence of a strong economy. According to Business Insider, he totally did not disclose that this is almost completely the case because of Putin’s war. Not only have so many Russian men been recruited, but plenty of others have fled to other countries to avoid being drafted. It’s a grim reality, looking at the numbers:

In March, the country was losing an estimated 776 soldiers a day, which dropped to 568 in April, according to UK intelligence.

Around 300,00 men were drafted into the Russian military last September, and a new wave of mobilizations is considered likely amid continued setbacks. Added to that is Russia’s already declining and ageing population.

Not ideal. In other Putin news, the Russian president has huffily banned top officials from leaving their jobs until his Ukraine war concludes. This news follows word of two more top Russian officers losing their lives on the battlefield over the weekend.

(Via Business Insider)

American Idol has had some major moments this season, from Katy Perry going viral for delivering good news to Ed Sheeran and Alanis Morissette guesting to King Charles III And Queen Camilla popping up on an episode. They had another big show last night (May 14), which featured a performance from The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey.

On yesterday’s episode, Bailey delivered a performance of the iconic “Part Of Your World.” She wasn’t live in studio, but instead, Bailey took the stage at Disneyland in the dark, surrounded by blue, bioluminescent-looking lights for a gorgeous-looking pre-taped performance. It’s easy to see why people cried at her audition.

Bailey took to Twitter to share the video and offer some insight about what the performance was like, writing, “first time singing part of your world live since filming [crying emoji] [wave emoji] thank you @AmericanIdol for giving me the chance to do so on stage at disneyland ..singing vocals in freezing cold weather at 3am while park is closed is no joke but we did it! only 11 more days until you all can watch the film !”

Watch Bailey’s American Idol performance above.

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

Yesterday (May 14) was Mother’s Day, and late last night, Janelle Monáe shined a light on her mom, specifically on her reaction to the NSFW “Lipstick Lover” video that has taken over the internet in recent days.

In a video shot the day before the “Lipstick Lover” video release, Monáe is on a video call with their mother, showing her the clip. After it ended, her mother reacted, “Oh-ho… that’s cool. Only thing, though: Are you gonna be able to show that nude booty all the time on the… like, on the YouTube?” Monáe responded, “Yeah, they said we could!”

Monáe then asked if her mom had any last-minute thoughts on the video before its release, and she responded, “Well, would be nice if you had a man’s butt up there.” She added, “It’s a nice song. If people don’t get hysterical about the booty so bad, if they just listen to the lyrics of the song, it gonna go triple.” Monáe asked what she meant by “triple” and after trying to find the right words, their mother said, “Triple golden.”

Wrapping up the convo, Monáe asked if her mom enjoyed the video and she replied, “Yeah. I just was hoping that big booty go away for a second.”

It’s a delightful video, so check it out above.

The Age Of Pleasure is out 6/9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.

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

This wasn’t quite the penultimate episode of Succession, but that’s coming next week, and before then, you’ll receive another Report Card from Brian Grubb. First, we’ve coming up on “Election Night,” and the first one without Logan Roy at the helm. Somehow, they still haven’t buried the guy (wait for it next week), but tensions were high for this episode, to say the very least.

Election night was absolute chaos with a malfunctioning touchscreen, a fire in Milwaukee, another fight between Shiv and Tom, and Greg letting it slip to Tom that Shiv is colluding with the Bleeding Swede, which is especially interesting information to land after the horrible scorpion-snake fight. And that doesn’t even account for the “wasabi in my eyes!” scene. Alright, so it was lemon, but that’s still not a good time.

Who had the worst night? I’m gonna go with Shiv. Between Tom accusing her of “sort-of killing” Logan and him kind-of not believing that she’s pregnant, and Kendall finding out about her deal with Matsson, mannn. She’s gonna need even more therapy than she could probably use on a regular day.

Overall, people were so damn nervous while watching the chaos unfold.

That damn touch screen got things started on the wrong note:

Then there was the amped-up tension of Shiv revealing her pregnancy to Tom on Mother’s Day and Tom questioning if she was even telling the truth.

‘Twas quite an evening. Next week: Logan’s funeral!

HBO’s ‘Succession’ airs on Sunday nights at 9:00pm EST.

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers are still waiting for their breakthrough to the Conference Finals. Despite having a 3-2 series lead on the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals this year, the Sixers blew a chance to seal things in their building in Game 6 before getting run out of the gym in Boston in Game 7, sending Philadelphia to an offseason where there will be a number of questions.

First and foremost is the question of James Harden’s future, as he can hit unrestricted free agency if he does not pick up his player option, and for months, there have been rumors about a potential return to Houston. In the aftermath of the loss on Sunday, Embiid was asked about Harden, and made clear that he is still of the belief that the pair can accomplish great things with one another.

That second part of the quote in which Embiid says he and Harden “can’t win alone” has gotten a lot of attention in the aftermath of the game, but Embiid’s main point was that everyone, himself included, needs to keep working to get better. Both Embiid and Harden struggled mightily in the Game 7 loss to Boston, as they combined to shoot 8-for-29 for 24 combined points.

It’s been three years since Ben Simmons became the focal point of the Philadelphia 76ers collapse in the conference semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, with his decision to pass up an open layup becoming the final and defining moment of his tenure in Philly.

After sitting out the start of the following season, Simmons was traded for James Harden, with the Sixers believing pairing Joel Embiid with an elite offensive guard would push Philly into the contender tier. In the two seasons since, Philadelphia has continued to struggle in the postseason, with Sunday bringing a new low point as Jayson Tatum put up a Game 7 record 51 points to help Boston blow out the Sixers, 112-88.

Harden was particularly brutal on Sunday, scoring nine points on 3-of-11 shooting, disappearing in the second half almost completely. Given the Sixers biggest issue with Simmons was his lack of impact on the offense late in games, it has been notable how Harden has not been able to fill that role consistently enough to elevate the Sixers beyond the second round ceiling that seems to exist for them. As the fourth quarter wound down and most non-Celtics fans were changing the channel, there was one man still absolutely dialed in on the action: Ben Simmons.

This is some tremendous trolling from Simmons, who is just cozy as can be on his couch, wrapped in a blanket with a glass of wine, taking in his former team’s latest collapse. What makes this funnier, at least to me, is that Simmons has done almost nothing positive for the Nets since being traded, so it’s not as though his career is thriving outside Philadelphia. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy seeing his former team in the mud right alongside him — in fact, that’s what hating is all about — and Sunday clearly brought a bright spot in Simmons’ offseason thus far.

The Boston Celtics are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals thanks to an historically great afternoon by Jayson Tatum. After overcoming an awful start to Game 6 by coming alive down the stretch and carrying the Celtics to a big win in Philadelphia, Tatum exploded for 51 points in Game 7 in Boston to give his team a 112-88 win.

Tatum’s night set a new NBA record for the most points scored in a Game 7, breaking a record Steph Curry set earlier this postseason in a win over the Sacramento Kings. There was nothing that the 76ers could do about the All-NBA wing, who had 25 points at halftime, seemed like he was incapable of missing from three, and repeatedly attacked Joel Embiid in the pick-and-roll with the league MVP having no answer for him.

The record-setting bucket came in the fourth quarter, when he again was checked by Embiid. Tatum had him isolated but decided to just pull up from deep, and his effort didn’t even touch the rim.

On the whole, Tatum’s 51 points came on 17-for-28 shooting with a 6-for-10 clip from behind the three-point line. He added in 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and no turnovers in 42 minutes of work. With the win, Boston earned a ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will play the Miami Heat.

If someone told you, back in the days of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, that Simon Pegg would a) become a part of the Mission: Impossible series and b) make pals with Tom Cruise, you might not have believed them. And yet both have come true. Pegg joined the series over a decade-and-a-half ago, with Mission: Impossible III. But what do the British comedy legend and the guy who saved movies talk about? And what don’t talk about?

For one thing, they don’t avoid discussing him being the biggest actor on the planet. “We joke about it. I mean, I always make fun of him for it, you know, about the things that he can access,” Pegg said during an appearance on BBC’s Desert Island Discs (as caught by Deadline). He added that Cruise “kind of appreciates the ridiculousness of it sometimes.”

Pegg describes they’re friendship as “just very simple and amiable,” adding, “It’s always been a very easy relationship. I think you realise, when you meet the person rather than the thicket of mythology that’s built up around them, it’s a different experience. I mean, he loves [the fame] and he really relishes it, it’s all he knows. It energises him and spurs him on.”

There is something Pegg won’t bring up with him though: Cruise’s scientology. Discussing that aspect of his life, Pegg says, would “abuse my privileged access that I get to him.”

During the radio appearance, Pegg also discussed his struggles with alcohol. He went to rehab shortly before filming the fourth Mission: Impossible, but while shooting the third — after suffering a mental health episode — he found himself hiding his addiction from others on-set.

“You become very sneaky when you have something like that in your life,” Pegg recalled. “You learn how to do it without anyone noticing because it takes over. It wants to sustain itself and it will do everything it can to not be stopped. But eventually it just gets to a point when it can’t be hidden, and that’s when, thankfully, I was able to pull out of the dive.”

The probably super-long Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One will be released on July 12. It will likely not feature Pegg doing crazy stunts, but who knows.

(Via Deadline)

Monaleo quickly rose through the ranks in the rap scene thanks to the success of her single, “Beating Down Yo Block.” The Houston-based musician maintained her rising star status with follow-up songs like “We Not Humping.” Quickly after, the musician hit the road with fellow southern entertainer Flo Milli for her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Tour.

Now, Monaleo is ready to deliver her debut album, Where The Flowers Don’t Die, to fans. Slated to drop on May 26, the project will feature tracks “Ridgemont Baby,” “Ass Kickin,” and “Beating Down Your Block.” Although the recording artist is on strict physical restrictions as Monaleo is ready to give birth to her first child with her partner and fellow rapper Stunna 4 Vegas, that didn’t stop her from penning a touching message about the album on social media.

Uploading the record’s official album cover, Monaleo captioned the post, “My first ever body of work. Wow. I worked tirelessly to put this project together before my due date. This project is the embodiment of resilience, tenacity, and strength. I fought through physical challenges, hormone imbalances, and prenatal depression for the sake of producing good art. I’m so proud of myself for preserving and seeing this through to the end.”

The musician continued, “I’m currently on bed rest, but I can’t wait to see y’all. The most important goal for me with this project right now is for it to reach who it needs to and touch the listeners the way it touched me, curating it. Open your ears and your hearts and prepare for a roller coaster of emotions.”

Closing the post, Monaleo wrote, “This is real and raw. Thank y’all for the continued support. Thank you to my entire team, family, and friends for being with me every step of the way. I hope y’all enjoy .”

Where The Flowers Don’t Die is out 5/26 via Stomp Down. Find more information here.