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Congrats, Republicans: It’s safe to drink Bud Light again. The nation’s best-selling beer has improbably come under fire by the rightwing, all because they dared team up with a trans TikTok influencer. Kid Rock recorded an angry video. So did Dan Crenshaw, whose contribution backfired hilariously. But it looks like the boycott is coming to an end, probably after someone realized Anheuser-Busch, the lager’s parent company, is a big GOP donor.

As per The Daily Beast, on Saturday the Twitter account for the National Republican Congressional Committee dropped a fundraising post that trashed the light beer.

“Thanks to Dylan Mulvaney, we can all finally admit that Bud Light tastes like water,” they tweeted. “With our new koozie’s, you can make sure no one confuses Bud Light with real beer ever again.”

Alas, the post was not long for this world. Shortly after going live, it was quietly deleted. Ditto the fundraising page, which went further detailed their animosity towards the beverage.

“‘This Beer Identifies as a Water’ Koozie Claim your LIMITED-EDITION Koozie!” the page once read. “Woke companies making you feel like drinking?” the fundraiser continued, using Bud Light’s iconic blue writing. “Then this limited-edition koozie is perfect for you! Just chip in $10 to CLAIM YOUR LIMITED-EDITION KOOZIE!”

No explanation has been given for the posts’ removal, but one GOP operative told The Daily Beast they had a sneaking suspicion about why. Anheuser-Busch isn’t some progressive company. Indeed, in 2022 alone they gave the NRCC $464,505.

“I assume they backtracked because they realized they were biting the hand that feeds them, and as soon as word gets around about that, why would anyone else give them big money in the future?” the operative speculated.

“Bud Light has some idiots in their marketing department who thought this was a good idea,” they continued. “The NRCC has some idiots in their marketing department that thought their response was a good idea. Maybe the ultimate lesson here is to stop letting the marketing geniuses make decisions and run things.”

Now that the NRCC has likely concluded that they like donations more than they hate trans people, perhaps others on the far right will fall in line. Heck, even Don Jr. thinks the boycott is dumb.

(Via The Daily Beast)

After a delightfully entertaining Play-In Tournament, the 2023 NBA Playoffs began for real on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, where the 76ers played host to the Brooklyn Nets in the East’s 3-6 matchup.

Early on it was clear that the Nets’ plan was to make everyone but the MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid beat them, as they sent hard doubles at Embiid every time he touched the ball early in the game. The goal was to make Embiid make the right read and make the other Sixers knock down shots, and Embiid and the supporting cast were happy to oblige all night. Embiid would eventually get rolling, finishing the game with 26 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three blocks, but he was patient in getting his, happy to move the ball along once the double team arrived and let the Sixers take advantage of a Nets defense in rotation.

That is only effective if other guys are hitting shots, and after being a fairly pedestrian three-point shooting team in the regular season, the Sixers caught fire in the opener. Philadelphia knocked down 21-of-43 three-point attempts on the night, with six different Sixers hitting multiple threes in the game. Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey were a combined 6-of-8 from deep, while James Harden led the way with a 7-of-13 night from beyond the arc, as he put up 23 points alongside 13 assists, picking apart the Brooklyn defense from the perimeter with 17 of those points coming in the first half.

On the other side, Mikal Bridges was doing his part to keep the Nets in the game, scoring 23 in the first half on his way to a 30-point night as he continues to shine in a lead role in Brooklyn.

After taking an 11-point lead into halftime, the third quarter saw more of the same, with the Sixers offense relying on the three-point barrage to keep the Nets at arm’s length, as they fought valiantly to stay in touch. However, in the fourth quarter the floodgates opened a bit thanks to a 10-0 Philly run, that saw Paul Reed get involved (11 points off the bench) to push the lead out to 20.

Brooklyn wouldn’t completely fold, but they just did not have the firepower to keep up with Philly, particularly given the Sixers’ dominance on the offensive boards — 14 for Philly, 5 for Brooklyn — that gave them a number of second chance opportunities. When coupled with 19 Nets turnovers to just eight from the Sixers, Philadelphia ultimately put up 19 more shot attempts than Brooklyn did on the night, which is just too big of a difference for any team to overcome, even with the Nets boasting a strong field goal (55.7) and three-point percentage (44.8). In the end, the Sixers cruised to a 121-101 win, easing their way into the playoffs with a relatively low-stress win.

Moving forward in the series, the Nets will have to figure out how to balance their efforts in doubling Embiid with being better in getting back to assignments, not only to contest on shots but also to box out on the glass, as their scrambling rotations allowed Philly’s wings to dart in for a ton of offensive boards. Offensively, Brooklyn will have to cut down on turnovers, particularly if they’re operating at this level of a disadvantage on the glass to limit the shot differential between the two teams. Otherwise, Bridges looked great and they got a strong performance from Cam Johnson (18 points) in support. Spencer Dinwiddie needs to be better and Seth Curry (10 points on 4-of-5 shooting) should probably be more involved to try and take advantage of the space they can create on the perimeter against the bigger Sixers.

For Philly, they probably won’t be able to bank on this level of three-point shooting all series, but they also figure to be much better in the paint moving forward. They were oddly dreadful finishing at the rim and shot just 21-of-46 from inside the three-point line on the afternoon. Still, Embiid being as patient as he was, while also figuring out ways to stay involved by going quick off the catch sometimes before the double could arrive was a very good sight to see.

Given how many times he was doubled, finishing the game with just two turnovers is a very good showing for him and a good sign for the Sixers moving forward considering plenty of other teams will look to blitz and trap him as well.

Harden’s finishing is maybe the biggest concern, as he was just 1-of-8 from inside the three-point line, which will be something to monitor going forward. Still, he was spectacular at everything else and if he can be anything close to this effective from the three-point line, the Sixers will be a very tough cover. Tobias Harris’ 21-point outburst was also a welcome sight for the Philly faithful, as he hasn’t always gotten off to great postseason starts, so him looking as comfortable as he did being more involved offensively with the attention given to Embiid is important for the Sixers moving forward.

It’s that time of the year again; hundreds of thousands of people flock to the California desert to show out in their best outfits, sample some amazing eats, and, of course, see a line-up of incredible artists at Coachella. Now that he dust has (literally) settled on the grounds, let’s look back on the highlights of Coachella 2023 Day One, which highlighted era-defining artists Blondie and Blink-182 while bringing together some of the current innovators like Bad Bunny and Metro Boomin.

Bad Bunny closed out the night with a bang, and I’m not just about the fireworks during his main stage set. The Puerto Rican rapper drew the largest crowd of the night, and for good reason. While the moment was historic — Bad Bunny is the first Latin solo artist to ever headline the festival — he made sure to highlight the roots of Reggaeton music and credit the artists who made his success possible like Celia Cruz, El General, and Tego Calderón. On top of that, his show-stopping stage design cleverly nodded to the viral concert he performed on top of a gas station late last year. Bad Bunny performed all the hits during his set, like “Moscow Mule,” “Yo Perreo Sola,” and “Después De La Playa.” He even brought out Post Malone for an acoustic set, but technical difficulties made it nearly impossible to hear him.

Bad Bunny is far from the only artist who brought out surprise guests on stage. One thing about Coachella is always true: if an artist has a collaboration, they’re going to use their Coachella set as an excuse to bring that artist out to perform. Metro Boomin’s closing set at the Sahara stage is perhaps the biggest example of that. A massive stage floated down from the ceiling that housed Metro’s main DJ equipment, with Metro himself dressed as a superhero (cape included). John Legend appeared below, kicking the set off with their Heroes & Villains track “On Time.” From there, Future joined Metro for several tracks like “Superhero,” “Serve The Bass,” and “Thought It Was Drought.” Don Toliver was next, delivering “Too Many Nights” with Future. 21 Savage also took the stage for a couple tracks like “10 Freaky Girls” and some highlights from Savage Mode 2, while also giving Metro his flowers by naming him the “greatest producer of our generation.” Finally, after teasing his appearance on Twitter, The Weeknd pulled up and the crowd went wild. He delivered his After Hours track “Heartless” and gave us a taste of upcoming music with an unreleased track. Finally, The Weeknd closed out the set with fan-favorite “Creepin,” where Diddy made a brief and unexpected cameo.

Blink-182 was another major highlight from Coachella day one, and perhaps the only major artist who didn’t bring out any surprise guests. Instead, they themselves were the surprise guests. Blink-182 was announced as part of the lineup just a few days ago, reuniting on the stage with their original lineup of Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker for the first time in nine years. And in the years since, each three members have come a long way; Mark Hoppus beat cancer, Tom Delonge discovered aliens (kinda), and Travis Barker married a Kardashian. Joining together on stage, though, it felt like no time had passed. Mark and Tom were continually cracking “your mom” jokes like it was still the ’90s. To their credit, their set did feel like it transported the crowd back to their 1999 inception, playing all the early tracks like “The Rock Show” and “What’s My Age Again.” They closed out their set with three back-to-back greatest hits, “I Miss You,” “All The Small Things,” and “Dammit.”

Countless other artists on Coachella 2023’s day one lineup made their memorable mark on the weekend. Gorillaz, who recently dropped the album Cracker Island, used their stage time to highlight collaborators. They invited Thundercat to the stage to perform their recent album’s title track, Del The Funkee Homosapien for their iconic hit “Clint Eastwood,” and UK rapper Slowthai for “Momentary Bliss.” Artists who couldn’t make it to the stage were replaced massive holograms, like Tame Impala singing his part on “New Gold” and Snoop Dogg firing off his verse in “Hollywood.” Indie-pop trio MUNA was also a highlight of the day. The group dedicated their set to their young queer and trans fans while performing a soon-to-be released song and bringing out the members of Boygenius to sing “Silk Chiffon.” Top Dawg Entertainment rapper Doechii brought the heat to the already sweltering day with an impeccably choreographed set. New Zealand breakout songwriter Benee drew a massive crowd for a mid-day performance where she brought out Gus Dapperton for their quarantine-era viral hit “Supalonely.” Finally, Philly band Soul Glo made good on their hard-core genre label by opening up a mosh pit and delivering a riotous and riveting set.

Follow along with Uproxx’s Coachella 2023 coverage here. Check out a few more photos from Friday below.

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

Bad Bunny

Blink-182

The Chemical Brothers

Gorillaz

Soul Glo

Doechii

Muna

HBO has long threatened to flood the market with scores of Game of Thrones spinoffs and prequels. So far they’ve done one. There’s allegedly a Jon Snow series in the offing. Last week, though, they announced they were finally doing a third. It’s called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight. It’s a clunky title, to be sure, what with the double dose of “knight.” But it could have been worse, at least according to its creator, George R.R. Martin.

As per IndieWire, Martin took to his blog to share some details about the latest Song of Ice and Fire prequel. That included addressing the name.

“The working title will be ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.’ Whether that will be the final title, I can’t say for sure… beyond saying that no, it won’t be called ‘Tales of Dunk & Egg’ or ‘The Adventures of Dunk & Egg’ or ‘Dunk & Egg’ or anything along those lines,” wrote Martin. “I love Dunk and I love Egg, and I know that fans refer to my novellas as ‘the Dunk & Egg stories,’ sure, but there are millions of people out there who do not know the stories and the title needs to intrigue them too. If you don’t know the characters, ‘Dunk & Egg’ sounds like a sitcom. ‘Laverne & Shirley.’ ‘Abbott & Costello.’ ‘Beavis & Butthead.’ So, no. We want ‘knight’ in the title. Knighthood and chivalry are central to the themes of these stories.”

Martin also begged fans to chill about how slowly it takes for these shows to go from rumor to completion.

“Way back in the summer of 2016, when HBO first started thinking about ‘Game of Thrones’ spinoffs, I pitched them two ideas: the ‘Dance of the Dragons,’ which in due time became ‘House of the Dragon’… and ‘Dunk & Egg’,” Martin wrote. “That was seven years ago. (I can hardly believe it myself). The lesson there is that development takes time. I see all these stories on the net about other spinoffs being killed or abandoned… no idea where they get this stuff… and it just makes me shake my head. The Nymeria show is still in development. So is the Sea Snake show. Just had a great week on that one, working with writers. And there are others, both live action and animated. How many will get the greenlight like Dunk & Egg? Impossible to say.”

There are three Dunk and Egg novellas, which are prequels to the events in the still-uncompleted Song of Ice and Fire saga, published between 1998 and 2010. They follow a squire, Dunk, who takes up the armor of the late knight for whom he squired. On his travels he adopts his own squire, name of Egg. Just as you have to patient for Martin’s next Ice/Fire doorstop, keep your cool while HBO writes, casts, and makes their next prequel.

(Via IndieWire)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band closed out their North American tour leg last night, in none other than the home state of the Boss at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Given the location and it being the last city on their tour, Springsteen also included some surprise setlist changes, opening with “Local Hero” instead of the traditional “No Surrender,” which he had chosen for the earlier dates of the tour.

“I’ve got a true story I want to tell you,” he says in the clip, gesturing to the horns section to start the track.

According to Rolling Stone, last night marked the second performance of that song since 2003, with Springsteen last playing it in 2013. If the pattern continues, that means fans will likely hear it again in…2033.

They also performed a cover of “Jersey Girl” for the first time together since 2016, keeping with the local theme.

Springsteen’s European leg of the tour starts in about two weeks. However, the Boss won’t be gone for long. He’s set to kick off another North American tour in August, starting in Chicago, with dates that will run through December 2023. More information on all upcoming tour dates is available here.

Check out Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing “Local Hero” and “Jersey Girl” above.

Well, well, well. It appears that after fans spotted Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello kissing at Coachella that there’s a high probability that these exes got back together. Earlier in the night, during the first day of the festival, the pair had been spotted being seemingly cordial — before smooching in another video later Friday evening.

After the video dropped, people on social media freaked out with different reactions.

“SHAWMILA IS BACK, THANK YOU GOD,” one person wrote.

Others are a little suspicious. “Lmaooo someones releasing music soon. It’s this same two step every time. Same formula. Nothing new,” someone wrote.

The two musicians originally broke up in November 2021 and remained friendly throughout last year. “Hey guys, we’ve decided to end our romantic relationship but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever,” they wrote in the initial joint statement. “We started our relationship as best friends and will continue to be best friends. We so appreciate your support from the beginning and moving forward.”

Given they were together for two years, it seems their “best friends” status has once again shifted into something more.

Check out the clip of Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello above. Continue scrolling for some more reactions below.

Given their range of collaborations with artists, it was not surprise that Gorillaz had a lot of special guests for their Coachella set Friday. The band kicked things off by bringing out Thundercat, who played “Cracker Island,” the title track off their most recent album.

Shortly after, Damon Albarn brought out Peven Everett for “Strobelite” and Jamie Principle for “Hollywood.” After a brief interlude in which the band played “Andromeda,” Albarn brought out Bootie Brown to perform “New Gold.”

For one of Gorillaz’s best-known songs, “On Melancholy Hill,” Albarn dedicated it to his daughter, Missy.

Brown returned later in the show to play “Dirty Harry.” Next up was Slowthai, who dropped by to perform “Momentary Bliss,” one of Gorillaz’s songs from their record Song Machine.

The band closed out with some classics, with Del The Funky Homosapien playing “Rock The House” before returning for the closer, “Clint Eastwood.”

In between, De La Soul did “Feel Good Inc.,” giving the crowd a chance to hear all their favorite Gorillaz standards.

“Dave would’ve loved being out there,” one fan who uploaded the performance noted, referencing the late Trugoy.

Check out some clips from Gorillaz’s Coachella set above.

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

After months of speculation over which artists had accepted to play at King Charles’ upcoming coronation, the official lineup has been revealed, with Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Take That, and Andrea Bocelli accepting the offer. According to Rolling Stone, they’ll be accompanied by “bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, singer Freya Ridings, and composer-producer Alexis Ffrench.”

The event will take place on May 7 at Windsor Castle in England. It will be broadcast on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2, and BBC Sounds, and it’s described as something that “will celebrate a new chapter in the nation’s history, with themes of love, respect and optimism, celebrating the four nations, their communities and the Commonwealth.”

“I am excited to be performing at the Coronation Concert, and helping to shine a further light on the British Asian Trust’s Children’s Protection Fund, whose work includes on-ground initiatives to fundraising, with the aim to find solutions to child trafficking,” Perry said in a statement.

“To share the stage with the other performers at the coronation concert is a once-in-a-lifetime event and it will be an honor and a celebration,” Richie added.

According to a past article from the publication, a number of large artists had turned down playing Charles’ coronation, including Adele, Harry Styles, and Elton John, the latter of which cited scheduling issues. (However, John had also been a close friend of the late Princess Diana.)

“The royal family has faced a number of PR disasters in recent times, and anyone performing at the show would have to consider whether there would be a backlash from appearing amongst their fans,” Simon Jones, a publicist, explained to them why many wouldn’t appear.

An epidemic of mass shootings, some at schools, didn’t stop the National Rifle Association from holding their annual convention. Nor did it stop the majority of prominent Republicans from either showing up to deliver defiant speeches or recording videos of same. Among them were the previous president and his veep, who haven’t been on great terms since the former almost got the latter murdered during an event Trump blamed on Pence. Both were present, albeit not at the same time, which got pretty awkward after Pence got booed.

Pence appeared earlier on Friday, and when he came out, he found himself having to withstand an avalanche of boos, presumably from MAGA die hards, whose animosity for him hasn’t dwindled after he was nearly hung on Jan. 6. Pence took it in stride, joking, “I love you, too.”

Later Trump took the stage, delivering one of his rambling, pissy soliloquies, in which he tried to blame mass shootings on — who else? — transgender people, threatened mass deportations if re-elected, and once again dropped “the n-word” (no, not that one). He took a few seconds to address his former number two, albeit cryptically.

“I hope you gave Pence a good warm approval,” he told a crowd that booed him. He then called him “a nice man” and a “good man” before delighting in saying their treatment of him was “very rough” and “a big news story.”

“I don’t know what you did, but you made news today with with the introduction you gave!” he said, almost certainly knowing what happened.

Trump also dragged his other 2024 Republican rivals, some of whom were participating in the same convention. He gloated about how Nikki Haley was dragging in the polls, predicted Greg Abbott wouldn’t run, and bragged that he was trouncing Ron “DeSanctis” — another of his lame nicknames for the Florida governor when he already has a good one. The message was clear: The Republican, who won’t do anything to curtail historic gun violence in America, are in disarray.

(Via Mediaite)

Many actors have big roles they famously turned down, and Toni Collette is no exception. The beloved actress, who can currently be seen in Mafia Mamma, was one of the performers considered for the lead in Bridget Jones’ sDiary, along with such luminaries as Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett, Emily Watson, and Rachel Weisz. She actually turned it down, but does she mourn for an alternate timeline in which she played one of the more iconic roles of the aughts? Not really.

As per Insider, Collette appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, which allows people to call in over Zoom to ask guests questions. During one call, Collette was asked if she felt bad about turning down the role, which she did in part because she was busy with her Broadway debut, The Wild Party, which also featured Mandy Patinkin and Earth Kitt.

“I don’t regret anything,” Collette replied. “I think there are no coincidences. Anything that’s meant for you in life is meant to happen. I have no regrets — life happens as it’s meant to. But that is true, yeah.”

It’s not the first time Collette was asked about the move. Late last year she spoke about it in an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment.

“I wasn’t available, but sometimes I think about that, and I think, I don’t know, that character’s so similar to Muriel,” she said, referring to her starmaking role in Muriel’s Wedding. “It might’ve been too close. And I try not to repeat myself.”

So don’t even bother thinking about what could have been had Renee Zelwegger not clinched the role, which she resurrected back in the teens. All’s good.

You can watch Collette’s Andy Cohen appearance below.

(Via Insider)