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As Ron DeSantis continues to escalate his feud with Disney, even Fox News is having hard time backing the Florida governor’s latest crusade despite the network seemingly throwing its weight behind DeSantis after the disastrous 2022 midterm elections.

On Wednesday, Larry Kudlow and his conservative guests expressed their concerns with DeSantis taking on Disney, which they called “anti-capitalism.” In a blow to DeSantis’ ego, they also said the governor was no match for returning CEO Bob Iger, who has continued to make an ass of DeSantis at every turn.

Via Mediaite:

“I just want to observe that Governor DeSantis is close to making a fool of himself with his Walt Disney obsession,” the host said. “This has been going on now for months and months and months. And I would argue that it is unseemly, number one. A governor should not come crashing down on, if not biggest, one of the biggest businesses.”

Radio host Mark Simone agreed with Kudlow and took things even further by claiming that Trump would’ve handled the situation better. Ouch.

“He can’t debate and he can’t negotiate,” Simone said. “Donald Trump would be in a room with Disney working this out. DeSantis’s problem was, it was easy to slap Disney around. They had that dumb CEO. But he’s gone. [Bob] Iger is here. And DeSantis is no match for Iger, who’s 10 steps ahead of DeSantis on every move.”

Kudlow then questioned DeSantis what the Disney feud says about putting the Florida governor in the White House.

“I don’t like woke anymore than anybody else,” Kudlow said. “But it’s not good for a governor of a state because it suggests maybe as a president he would be attacking business. And that’s what the lefties do, not what the conservatives do.”

It looks like the Disney spat is a pudding cup that DeSantis should’ve kept his fingers out of.

(Via Mediaite)

The Los Angeles Clippers went into their first round series against the Phoenix Suns without the services of star wing Paul George, who has not played since mid-March due to a knee sprain. With the series shifting to Los Angeles and the Clippers taking one of the first two games off of the Suns, the team announced on Thursday afternoon that they will play Game 3 without their other star wing in the fold.

According to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, Kawhi Leonard will have to miss the game due to a right knee sprain.

Not long after the report, the Clippers made it official and said that Leonard won’t be able to go in Game 3. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Leonard hurt his knee in Game 1 and is considered day-to-day ahead of Saturday, when Game 4 between the two sides will take place.

It goes without saying, but having to beat Phoenix with both Leonard and George sidelined will be a tremendously difficult task for the Clippers. Leonard has been magnificent over the first two games in the series, as he’s mixed his usually destructive defense with production on the other end of the floor. So far in the series, Leonard is averaging 34.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and six assists on 54.5 percent shooting from the field and 60 percent shooting from three.

It’s the unexpected death episode that all other unexpected death episodes are now compared to (especially if they’re on HBO).

Ten years ago this June, the Lannisters sent their regards in the Game of Thrones episode “The Rains of Castamere,” colloquially known as “The Red Wedding.” While promoting his new show, Citadel, Robb Stark actor Richard Madden was asked to reflect on the season three shocker.

“I still have fond memories of that whole experience,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “I mean, not that particular scene, but the whole experience I have fond memories of. It’s nice to be back into recurring series drama where you get so much time to tell a story, and the you get these huge payoffs like [the Red Wedding.] Three seasons deep, we got to have this horrible death with characters that you’re invested in. I think that’s our ambition [with Citadel] too, to create a huge world and get to know these people well.”

If any of your friends are getting married on the 10-year anniversary of the Red Wedding, you, uh, might want to say you’re busy that weekend.

Citadel, which also stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Stanley Tucci, and Lesley Manville, premieres on Amazon Prime Video on April 28th.

(Via Screenrant)

Frank Ocean’s Coachella 2023 performance from last weekend has received criticism. Even Ocean himself wasn’t fully satisfied with the show, as he later said in a statement, “It was chaotic. There is some beauty in chaos. It isn’t what I intended to show but I did enjoy being out there and I’ll see you soon.”

That statement, by the way, was part of the announcement that Ocean was pulling out of his headlining performance at the festival’s upcoming second weekend.

Not everybody hated Ocean’s performance, though. Justin Bieber wrote of it, “I was blown away by Frank Oceans Coachella performance,” adding, “It made me want to keep going and get better as an artist.” Now, Bieber collaborator Benny Blanco has also weighed in and he agrees.

A TMZ reporter caught up with Blanco yesterday (April 19) in Beverly Hills, and when they brought up the backlash Ocean has faced, Blanco said of the performance, “I loved it. It was incredible. […] So inspiring on so many levels. Incredible. One of my favorite shows I’ve ever seen.” He also called the set the “best performance of the weekend.”

Blanco seemed unaware of the criticism Ocean was facing, as he noted, “I don’t read the internet.” The video ends with Blanco avoiding questions about Ocean’s canceled second-weekend set and whether or not he should have “sucked it up” and performed through his injury.

The criminal charges against Alec Baldwin over the accidental shooting death on the set of Rust are reportedly about to be dropped. The actor was accused of involuntary manslaughter after a gun discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Charges against Baldwin are set to be dismissed, but they could resume at a later date.

Via Deadline:

Recently appointed special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis are expected to be filing paperwork soon, perhaps even today, to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter claims against the multi-Emmy-winning actor without prejudice, we hear. That means, as they are set to investigate further into what actually went down that terrible day on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set near Santa Fe, this case could be resurrected in the future.

According to Deadline, the now ex-Rust armorer Hannah Guttierez-Reed still has a charge for involuntary manslaughter standing against her in Hutchins’ death.

The dismissal of Baldwin’s charges arrive after his legal team successfully argued in February that he was being erroneously charged under a New Mexico firearm law that didn’t exist until well after the Rust shooting occurred. That argument led to a downgrade in Baldwin’s criminal liability, which will reportedly be dismissed within the next 24 hours.

(Via Deadline)

Nick Cannon has been making plenty of controversial headlines as of late for being the father of 12 kids. He was recently asked if he would want to have a child with Taylor Swift, to which he enthusiastically responded, “Absolutely, I’m in. Let’s go! That’s the one! I’m all in.”

He was a guest on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast on Tuesday, April 18. He shared an even more headline-worthy fact — he claims that even when protection is used during intercourse, his body somehow renders it useless.

“I’m gonna be honest,” he began, “I got some super sperm or something, ’cause I’ve practiced birth control, and people still got pregnant.”

He also sparked conversation earlier this month for saying he’s not impressed by rap music. “So when people make fun of me, I don’t care — anybody can do that. I’m not impressed by anybody who can rhyme words together. TikTok has proven anyone can do it,” he said. He added, “I commend and salute all poets and storytellers. Those are the greats. But just being able to put some words together over a beat, anybody could do that. Literally, Dr. Seuss has turned us all into rappers.”

Listen to the podcast episode below.

Only Murders In The Building has managed to do what so many shows have tried and failed to do, and that is making a show that both you and your parents not only enjoy but also understand. It’s like Hulu designed a show in a lab in order to appeal to both millennials (because of Selena Gomez and the true crime plots) and baby boomers (thanks to Martin Short and Steve Martin and sometimes Nathan Lane), while also managing to pull in some Gen Z fans (because everyone loves Paul Rudd). For season three, though, the show manages to go above and beyond by bringing in Meryl Streep. Now everyone has a reason to tune in!

Gomez announced via Instagram that season three of the murder comedy has finally wrapped, which means we are likely just months away from Meryl Streep making her grand return to television that we’ve been waiting for since Big Little Lies season two. Maybe this time Martin Short will be the one throwing an ice cream cone at her head.

“Well we wrapped season 3 of @onlymurdershulu -I’m not sure I have enough words to explain just how beautiful this season has been.” Gomez wrote in the caption, which is accompanied by the cutest photo ever to be seen with human eyes.”It has been deliriously hilarious, challenging and for me, an absolute dream. I’ll post more soon. But I’ll I leave it with the woman I adore, look up to and love.”

Season two of the hit series brought in various guest stars, like Rudd, Cara Delevingne, Amy Schumer, and Jane Lynch, while season three added Streep into the mix. While her role has not been disclosed, we can only expect that she will either cause chaos or help stop it. Hopefully, it is the former.

(Via Instagram)

Today is 4/20, which means a number of things. It’s Killer Mike’s birthday. Snoop Dogg is in full celebration mode over the annual weed holiday. Earlier this month, Elon Musk promised that today would be the day that Twitter removed legacy verified blue check marks. Those are the ones public figures like celebrities, politicians, and journalists had before Twitter switched to its current model of paying for blue checks. Well, Musk has delivered on his promise.

The check marks used to make it immediately clear if an account belonged to a notable person, but now that is no longer the case. Look on the official Twitter accounts of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Jack Harlow, and you’ll notice that all three no longer have the blue checks they had yesterday. In fact, that should be true of pretty much any previously verified musician and celebrity you can think of (unless they’re paying Twitter Blue subscribers). Yes, even Pope Francis.

This wasn’t any sort of surprise. Aside from the aforementioned warning, Twitter tweeted yesterday, “Tomorrow, 4/20, we are removing legacy verified checkmarks. To remain verified on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: twitter.com/i/twitter_blue_sign_up.” Musk also replied to the tweet, “Tomorrow is shaping up to be quite the day!”

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

The Sacramento Kings are up 2-0 on the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, but the Kings took an L when E-40 was controversially ejected from Game 1 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, April 15.

The following day, E-40 released a statement explaining that he felt he “was subjected to disrespectful heckling” and was met with “racial bias” when Golden 1 Center security “assumed that I instigated the encounter and proceeded to kick me out of the arena” (as reported by Shams Charania):

E-40 issued another statement, this time alongside the Kings, on Wednesday, April 19, and it was determined “that there was a miscommunication regarding the circumstances” and clarified that E-40 “did not stand excessively from his ticketed courtside seat.” Here it is in full:

But today, April 20, E-40 had the final word. He dropped “Front Row 40” along with a video directed by Jae Synth. The visual finds E-40 reclaiming his rightful place courtside. “Front Row 40, four-seat Earl / Feet on the wood, me and my girl,” the Bay Area icon raps as footage cycles through of E-40’s past front-row adventures.

E-40 boasts about people saying “they watch the games just to see what I’m gonna wear” and “text me and say they see me on the Jumbotron.” Of course, the video wouldn’t be complete without a clip of Steph Curry dapping up E-40.

It’s likely that E-40 will be in attendance to root on his Dubs in Game 3 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, but it sounds like 50 Cent might be a game-time decision. The Warriors will need all the juice they can get from their home crowd; they’ll be without Draymond Green, who was suspended for tonight’s Game 3 after stomping on Domantas Sabonis in Game 2. The game tips off at 7 p.m. local time.

Watch “Front Row 40” above.

Despite repeated backfires, Ron DeSantis is refusing to back down from his efforts to punish Disney for challenging his “Don’t Say Gay” bill last year. The situation reached a boiling point earlier this week when DeSantis threatened to build a prison near the Walt Disney World resort. That development arose from DeSantis’ being outsmarted by Disney in a humiliating legal clause that stymied the Florida’s governor attempt to take control of the special district where the park resides.

However, DeSantis has reportedly entered uncharted waters by attempting to nullify Disney’s legal maneuver retroactively, which is raising several constitutional concerns about how a governor can just ignore contracts.

Via The Guardian:

Now, in a move Democrats say is unconstitutional, lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a measure handing the DeSantis loyalists retroactive power to nullify the agreement by amending a land use law relating to special taxing districts.

And in its own separate meeting the same day, the new board laid out its plans for Disney, including a huge increase in taxes and building low-income housing on land adjacent to its popular theme parks.

Meanwhile, Disney has been prepared for DeSantis to lash out. CNBC reports that the entertainment giant has instructed lobbyists to keep a close eye on any land deals made in or around the special district where Disney World sits. Those lobbyists are to “start aggressively working against” any such bills, and they may be successful as some state Republicans are reportedly not on board with DeSantis mounting a war against Florida’s biggest source of employment and tourism revenue.

(Via The Guardian, CNBC)