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Ever since Fox News abruptly canned Tucker Carlson, the former primetime star has had an ally in Megyn Kelly. They’re both alumni of the conservative news network who were burned in different ways, so it makes sense. Now she’s taking her support/hatred of her former home to a new level by telling him to drag their butts into court.

On Friday, it was reported that Carlson was eager to get back on the air. Only problem? He has a contract with Fox News, which doesn’t expire until January of 2025. There’s a chance he may remain without a show for the next year-and-a-half — all while being paid, of course. But Kelly thinks he should consider other options.

“Tucker should walk away & forfeit the pay. Let Fox take him to court over the sole issue of silencing him for the rest of the election season (!)-the man they fired & smeared relentlessly while he stayed silent,” Kelly tweeted. “See how their dwindling audience repays them for that.”

If Carlson took Kelly’s advice, it would be yet another blow to the beleaguered network. They’re still reeling from a massive settlement to Dominion Voting Systems (with more 2020 election-related lawsuits still on the docket). Since Carlson’s firing, the once-mighty 8pm time slot has taking a walloping in the ratings. It’s still not publicly known what drove Fox News to kick their biggest star to the curb, despite many theories being floated — some more convincing than others.

But for now, it’s been nearly two weeks since Carlson has been oft-dangerous spreading nonsense to millions.

(Via Mediaite)

The New York Knicks enter Game 3 of the Eastern Conferences Semifinals with a chance to go up 2-1 in the series, which is a sentence that few would have seen coming as they slogged through the first month and a half of the regular season. They’ve gotten to this point despite a pair of a starters, Julius Randle and Quentin Grimes, dealing with injuries through the first few weeks of the playoffs, which makes the play of the team’s other crucial rotation players even more important.

Jalen Brunson has carried the torch as New York’s offensive initiator, evan as he’s dealt with his own ankle injury. Mitchell Robinson owned the glass and paint against the Cavs, an example of a player starring in his role. R.J. Barrett has been a steadying presence for the Knicks, bolstering their defense, connecting their offense, and playing with a consistent, cool confidence.

This would not have applied to the majority of Barrett’s season. While sentiment became a little too low on Barrett over the course of the year, frustration over his play was understandable. His season was marred by inefficiency, large stretches of inconsistency, an outright flatlining of his jumper, and a regression in his defense and decision-making.

The nature of this was maddening, as Barrett frequently operated on extremes. One game, things are forced, whether it be poor shot selection or a myriad of head-scratching turnovers. The next game, he’d be too tentative, with his offensive production lacking as a result. Open shots were hesitated on and the half-court offense gummed up — on/off splits are not a tell all of player impact, but it’s notable that the Knicks were outscored by -12.3 points per 100 possessions with Barrett on the court per Cleaning the Glass, by far the worst mark in New York’s 9-man rotation (Brunson, the next lowest, was at -0.2). His defensive slides were either the wrong or just not there at all. His presence, or lack thereof, was felt regardless of offensive performance.

And then, you get to the playoffs, where Barrett has seemingly figured things out.

Over his last five games — easily one of the best stretches of his career considering the moment — Barrett is averaging 23.2 points on supreme efficiency (61.6 percent true shooting). He’s 36.7 percent from deep on high volume and generating easy points with his strength, driving to the line 6.4 times per game. Playing against two of the top-10 defenses in the league during the regular season in Cleveland (first) and Miami (seventh), has made Barrett’s play even more impressive.

New York’s offense isn’t set heavy. Much of what they do is built off of the principle of drawing a double team/forcing help, and then making a defense pay for doing so. It’s simple, but with a roster built to Tom Thibodeau’s preferences, it led to the third-most efficient offense in the league in 2023, per Cleaning the Glass. Barrett can be prone to hesitation, forced shots, and struggling to make consistent reads in and around multiple bodies, which doesn’t jive with how Thibs wants to do things. But during the playoffs, a switch has flipped, and he’s looked much more comfortable doing all of this.

He’s been adept at finding his own offense within the flow as an off-ball complementary scorer, operating well attacking the gaps in Miami’s zone.

It seems small, but that step or two into his drive and eventual deceleration into the floater is found money. The lack of hesitation and planned attack is what makes the play so deadly from him.

He’s been aggressive in finding open pockets, relocating as a shooter, and letting it fly with a quickness.

As noted by Mark Jones during a broadcast, it seems notable that Barrett has changed his shooting pocket (i.e.: where he starts his shooting motion) and it’s become much more of a straight up and down rhythm rather than the cross-body approach he’d gone with prior. It’s difficult to time a jumper without watching up close and in practice, but the snappiness and comfort in his release has been apparent, especially compared to how rigid his shot has been in the past.

During game one against the Heat, Miami switched early and often to try and negate dribble penetration. In the past, Barrett’s shot selection tendencies and reads have been inconsistent against switching, but he put together one of the finest halves of his career to open the series. He was patient in seeking and destroying size mismatches in pick-and-rolls with Robinson, which the Heat largely did not switch. If there wasn’t an advantage to be had, he moved the ball and moved himself. He blew up the switch pocket when the Heat overplayed Brunson’s drive game.

While Barrett did force a few shots in the second half and overall offense died down, the process was still good. Sometimes you still miss shots! How he adapted when the defense reacted was huge — remember this for later.

The Cavs put two on the ball regularly on Brunson to try and slow down his interior attacks, and the Knicks opened up their offense with Barrett as a screener.

Jarrett Allen didn’t have his best series as a defender, but Barrett did his job to put him in a bind: leave one of the best rim finishers in the league (Robinson) wide open/guarded by a small, or close hard to the corner.

Again, that lack of hesitation is so pivotal. Efficacy, quickness, and confidence are the eternal blend that create shooting gravity. The first round series was an immaculate display of gravity in real time, as the Cavs initially were keen to let Barrett shoot, a sensible gamble headed into the matchup. Even without making many, it was enough in tandem with his quick trigger that forced Cleveland into defending him to the three-point line. Misses matter — are you putting the fear of god in the defense, making defenders adjust to constant pressure?

In Game 4 against the Cavs, Barrett missed two straight threes from the same corner, off the same play ghosting into the empty side. That’s what made the next part so fantastic to see play out.

As Barrett turns his shoulders and scans, he can see Caris LeVert short closing, approaching with chopping steps rather than a hard flyby. He feints inside with the in and out, freezes LeVert, and swiftly attacks baseline, going inside hand to beat the roaming Allen to the rim.

This single play was the culmination of a series of work and reps, bending the defense just enough with consistency, and attacking correctly even when given a minimal window.

While his reads haven’t been perfect (no one’s are), they’ve been consistently positive, and that’s been the largest driving force of his success. His driving has also been crucial. Incredibly strong for his size with a solid first step, Barrett has made strides literally and figuratively by working in a few extra gears in his transmission, he’s leveraged more control of the tools that made him a top-5 pick.

He’s been methodical in seeking out first contact out of ball screens, determining when and where he’ll do battle in the intermediate areas of the court. It seems a minor adjustment, but it’s done wonders in helping him create some cleaner looks around the rim, essential considering he’s not an overwhelming vertical athlete. Craft, patience, and those additional pivots and stutter steps are gigantic in Barrett creating better looks in the restricted area.

Watch how he uses his shoulders and stride length changes coming out of the slot.

By changing his pacing in his strides, getting a hand on Gabe Vincent early, and timing his own drive with Robinson’s roll, he’s able to get the most of his size and extend into an undeterred finish around the rim. This is leaps and bounds ahead of the line drives that would oft be smothered by defenses. There have been signs and indicators of a budding ability to change pace during Barrett’s career, but this recent stretch has been inarguably the most consistent. Even with poor finishing numbers in the first two games against Cleveland, the process was still clear and positive.

He’s noticeably making progressions, feeling out the game and the defense, and letting it come to him rather than barreling in and reading after. Rather than hitting the gas with his defender on his hip, Barrett’s head is up, sees Bam Adebayo step up, knows Robinson is rolling undeterred, and throws up the lob.

When the Cavs tried to adjust with quicker rotations in Game 5, opting to hard hedge and switch to take away Barrett’s open threes while also stifling Brunson’s drives, Barrett showcased his reads.

The second Barrett is turning, he’s met by his new defender (LeVert). This is a scenario in which we would’ve seen him freeze up or get tunnel vision more often than not. Not anymore! First he scans the slot, which is covered. Then he sees Darius Garland moving and rotating, finds Immanuel Quickley wide open, and throws a skip pass to the corner.

He’s timing his own drives with his roller to manipulate the weak side tagger and paint the corners/slot with a quick kickout.

There’s room for improvement in his deliveries, but it’s hard to not grin in watching this development from Barrett. He’s not making the sexy plays, just the right ones. Barrett has long been capable of doing the difficult, but struggled to find consistency in the routine. For him to put together a stretch of meaningful play at the highest level while consistently doing the small things means more for his future and potential than can be described in a sentence. And as a reminder, he turns 23 in June, making him the third-youngest player on the Knicks’ roster.

The playoffs can bring out the best in a player. They can also, unfortunately, bring out the worst. By feeling the game, doing the simple things that he’s struggled to execute, and becoming just what the Knicks need, Barrett is making sure that his best is on display.

Gayle has received a lot of online negativity since breaking through with “ABCDEFU.” The furor inspired “Everybody Hates Me,” her angsty yet empowering March single. She recently revealed to Teen Vogue the reaction she received from Taylor Swift after telling her about her ordeal. It also seems to have inspired her new single, “Don’t Call Me Pretty.”

Gayle is among Swift’s openers on her The Eras Tour, so she’s been exposed to real-life positive reinforcement — brought to tears during one of her opening sets because she couldn’t believe her “dream come true” was really happening. “Thank you for paying attention,” Gayle told the audience at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

In “Don’t Call Me Pretty,” Gayle doesn’t care about anyone’s outside opinion, especially someone she describes in the opening lines as “a good friend but a bad idea.” She dropped the single and an accompanying video on Friday, May 5.

The video captures Gayle enjoying a carefree afternoon at an amusement park and the zoo. As Gayle issues a warning to someone from her past who she regrets blurring boundaries with, she approaches a sign, warning, “DANGEROUS ANIMAL DO NOT CROSS.”

“I don’t wanna be pretty to you,” she belts in the guitar-fueled chorus. “I don’t wanna be nice / I don’t wanna be the girl that kept you warm for the night / Oh, no, not anymore, anymore.”

Gayle is disgusted that this person would “tell me I should smile more” and dismisses “all your little compliments” because she’d rather they “own up to your part in this.”

Ultimately, she appears to get the last laugh. Her uninhibited lyrical expression is illustrated in the video by screaming on a rollercoaster and smiling in a photo booth with her bandmates.

Watch the “Don’t Call Me Pretty” video above.

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

Kevin Costner’s had an eventful week. For one, Yellowstone — the show that gave him his biggest hit in ages — is coming to an end. The Paramount Network smash will film one more batch of episodes to wrap up its fifth season in August, though it’s unclear if its star will even be in it. For another, Costner is getting divorced. Do these two life changes have anything to do with each other? Doesn’t look like it.

On Tuesday, Christine Baumgartner, whom Costner married in in 2004, filed for divorce. But a source told People the split “has nothing to do with Yellowstone,” adding, “The two situations are unrelated.”

For months, rumors that Costner was leaving the show that revitalized his career have swirled, though it’s been tricky for anyone to confirm specifics. There’s been plenty of drama, too. Back in April, fans of the show rebelled after neither Costner nor creator Taylor Sheridan showed up as scheduled to a Paleyfest event in Los Angeles.

At least this won’t be the end of the Yellowstone franchise. Along with those prequels, there’s a new series starring Matthew McConaughey in the offing, and it might wind up being the original show’s official sequel. In the meantime, Sheridan himself is raking in the dough using his own ranch as the set for the shows he himself created — a savvy way to game the system if we ever heard one.

(Via People)

The Writers Guild of America strike is still in its first week, but its impact has already been seismic. Late night chat and sketch shows, including SNL, were the first to go dark. Audiences won’t notice any blip in movie releases for a good, long while, but one thing’s for sure: Anyone stoked for Marvel’s long-in-the-works new Blade film with Mahershala Ali will have to wait even longer — if it ever arrives at all.w

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel has shut down pre-production on their attempt to bring their bloodsucking antihero back to the big screen. The film, which was announced back in 2019 and has endured one hiatus after another, almost got there: It was set to start principal photography next month. But with thousands of Hollywood writers now on the picket lines, demanding things like fair pay and regulation over the use of AI technology, that isn’t happening.

That doesn’t mean a new Blade, with or without its two-time Oscar-winning star, will never happen. Marvel plans to restart pre-production when the strike ends, whenever that is. When/if it arrives, it will be the second big screen stab at the character, who was iconically played by Wesley Snipes over three films. Back in 2021, Snipes had shown support for the new film.

This latest iteration even reunited Ali with True Detective creator/writer Nic Pizzolato, who had been recently hired to pen the script. Another new hire was X/Pearl star Mia Goth. Alas, as one insider said, “time simply ran out.”

The WGA strike began last Tuesday after negotiations with the major studios and streamers came to an impasse. Given the long list of demands by the WGA — and the studios/streamers’ intransigence on several key items — it’s been predicted that this won’t end any time soon.

(Via THR)

Ckay detailed the intense rise of his seminal track “Love Nwantiti” as Uproxx’s January 2022 cover star, and the Nigerian further explained his relatively new stature as a global artist for Uproxx’s How I Blew Up in August 2022.

Ckay ostensibly has the world at his fingertips, but his desires remain simple. Look no further than the first line of “Hallelujah” featuring Blaqbonez, his latest single: “I just wanna make love and money.”

Ckay released it alongside an official lyric video and another video that finds him completely unbothered in a bathtub full of cash:

“See me, I come from nothing / See me, I come from trenches,” Ckay sings in the first verse of “Hallelujah.” Later in the infectious Afrobeats song, he boasts, “I been hot for like 4 years, and they wonder if I’m done yet / People be like rice for my concert / Welcome, welcome the new converts.”

The arrival of “Hallelujah” was also marked with side-by-side photos juxtaposing the modest home Ckay had in 2014 and what his hard-earned wealth has afforded him in 2023:

As an Uproxx cover star, Ckay said, “I see music as art. I don’t really see it as a product. Art comes from where you are in your life and the timing of making the art. It comes from your essence and your experience as a human being.”

Listen to “Hallelujah” above.

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

On Saturday, King Charles III was formally crowned at Westminster Abbey. It was, as promised, a lavish to-do, as befitting a monarchy that’s ridiculous in more ways than one. There were over 2,000 guests from around the world. There were throngs of spectators and thousands of troops. There were hats. There wasn’t Ed Sheeran. And there was the coronation regalia, which included such funky items as scepters and what many on social media thought looked like an iconic item from an iconic Monty Python film.

That item was the Royal Orb, one of the flashier things handed to Charles during his coronation. According to Vox:

It was made in the 17th century, and it symbolizes the sovereign’s power over the Christian world. It’s topped with a cross and divided into three sections with bands of jewels, symbolizing the three continents known at the time of its manufacture.

But what many online chuckleheads saw was the “holy hand grenade of Antioch,” a weapon employed during a key scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It’s what Graham Chapman’s ever-flustered King Arthur and gang use to fell the Rabbit of Caerbannog, a creature that looks like a typical woodland critter…until it’s approached, at which point it can brutally dismember people with shocking swiftness.

And so, while many were celebrating the coronation of the 13th monarch in British history, others were quoting one of the most quotable films in British history.

Others were simply helping make the words “the holy hand grenade of Antioch” trend.

Anyway, Anthony Bourdain wouldn’t have been amused by any of this.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s coronation took place on Saturday, May 6, at Westminster Abbey in London. Katy Perry and Lionel Richie were among celebrities in attendance (as relayed by Vanity Fair).

Perry, Richie, and Andrea Bocelli were announced as performers last month after The Daily Mail reported that the likes of Adele and Ed Sheeran were “unable to perform.”

Ed Sheeran cleared up the reason behind his absence.

“I want to clear something up actually because there was loads of stuff in the press that I turned down the coronation, and no one ever asked me — ever,” Sheeran told SiriusXM’s The Morning Mash Up (as noted by People).

He added, “I assume if they went online and went, ‘What’s Ed doing on May 6?,’ they would’ve been like, ‘Oh, he’s playing in Dallas.’ I think that’s what happened, but obviously, [the] press had the negative story of loads of people turning down the coronation. But I never ever turned it down.”

Sheeran noted he was “excited to tune [in]” because the coronation is “historic.”

The UK-born global pop star is scheduled to begin the North American leg of his Mathematics Tour tonight, May 6, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Sheeran also recently revealed dates for his Subtract Tour in support of his album by the same name, which arrived on Friday, May 5.

– (Subtract) is out now via Asylum and Atlantic. Find more information here.

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

On any other night of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, Phoebe Bridgers joining Swift for the live debut of “Nothing New” would have been the prevailing takeaway. With everything Swift pulled during her first of three Nashville shows last night, May 5, it’s a footnote.

The headline from Friday’s tour stop is that Swift announced Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) will be her next re-recorded release due out July 7. There was also an alleged Matty Healy sighting, which is relevant because The Sun claimed earlier in the week that Healy and Swift are dating and were “ready to go public with their romance in Nashville.” Oh, and Bridgers used her first night as one of Swift’s The Eras Tour openers to bring out her Boygenius band members Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus.

But back to Bridgers with Swift. The two performed “Nothing New (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault],” their collaborative track from Swift’s 2021 re-recorded album, Red (Taylor’s Version). Of course, this came within the Red era of Swift’s sprawling three-plus-hour set.

Red (Taylor’s Version) is the most recent of Swift’s re-recorded albums. Swifties have been convinced for months that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) would be next, especially after Swift dropped Easter eggs in the video for her Midnights track “Bejeweled” last October.

The evidence became almost undeniable when the wristbands handed out for The Eras Tour lit up in purple at the end of last Sunday’s (April 30) show in Atlanta. Once Swift confirmed Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) mid-show in Nashville, the city’s John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge turned purple.

“It fills me with such pride and joy to announce that my version of Speak Now will be out July 7 (just in time for July 9th, iykyk) I first made Speak Now, completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20. The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness,” Swift posted across her socials.

Her post continued, “I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing… and living to speak about it. With six extra songs I’ve sprung loose from the vault, I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) with you on July 7th.”

Swift and The Eras Tour is scheduled to be in Kansas City, Missouri on July 7-8.

So, while Bridgers’ song with Swift is titled “Nothing New,” it felt like everything was new in Nashville on Friday night. Catch up on it all below.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is out 7/7. Find more information here.

For one reason or another, NBA players getting hit in the nuts seems to be at an all-time high during the 2023 playoffs. On Friday night during Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinal series between the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns, Nikola Jokic became the latest player to have to deal with a shot below the belt.

Jokic came up to set a screen on Cameron Payne, who was guarding Jamal Murray. Nothing unusual happened here — Payne ran into Jokic, while Murray decided to go to his left instead of using the screen — but as Payne bumped into the former NBA MVP, his left arm got acquainted with Jokic’s groin, which led to the big fella hitting the deck in some serious pain.

Interestingly, unlike some other nut shots we’ve seen this postseason, Payne benefitted from this getting reviewed by the officials. Prior to this getting reviewed, Payne was hit with a technical foul for the contact with Jokic. But after the review, that ended up getting rescinded, and Payne was only called for a personal foul on Murray for the contact that happened after he ran into Jokic. Regardless of the penalty, we must insist that NBA players stop hitting each other below the belt.