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The Los Angeles Lakers are officially heading to the playoffs after an overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. It required a comeback from 15 points down, and an Anthony Davis “brain fart” was the only reason things got to an extra period, but ultimately, the Lakers were able to set up a first round showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2-7 series.

The Lakers won the season series over the Grizzlies, 2-1, with one of their games making headlines for a kerfuffle between Shannon Sharpe, who was sitting courtside at Crypto.com Arena, and a few Memphis players as they made their way into the locker room at halftime. Basically, the teams know one another pretty well, something that LeBron James hammered home during his postgame media availability before he made clear that he hasn’t “thought about Memphis one minute.”

“Really good team, very well coached, very well balanced,” James said when asked his thoughts on the Grizzlies.

It was at this point that the future Hall of Fame inductee listed seven separate players on Memphis — Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Tyus Jones, Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks, Xavier Tillman, and Luke Kennard — and said something about them. It could have been a breakdown of their game, a note about something they have accomplished in their basketball playing career (ex: he mentioned that Kennard scored more career points than him while he was a high school student in Ohio), or whatever else popped into his brain as he ran through things.

After doing all of this, he kept a straight face as he told the press, “Obviously, I haven’t thought about Memphis one minute.”

It’s been a whirlwind ride for the Streaming Wars over the past few years, to say the very least. In 2020, HBO Max was born after a rebranding from both the HBO Go and HBO Now platforms, and as everyone knows, the world is a very different place now. With economic upheaval ongoing and a restructuring into Warner Bros Discovery, the service has now absorbed even more content and is now reportedly poised for another shift.

Surely, the idea of thinking up a new name wasn’t an enjoyable task, but what will apparently be rolling out as a rebranding is a head scratcher.

Word rolled out this week (without a definitive confirmation so far) that HBO Max and Discovery will join streaming forces and be known simply as “Max.” This will be a place where people can not only stream HBO prestige series and ratings juggernauts like House of the Dragon and Succession but also [deep breath] MILF Manor and Dr. Pimple Popper. It’s a bit wild to think about, and “Max” makes me think of Cinemax as well, which does at least suggest the old regime, albeit with a very adult connotation.

Yet the reported new name is also overall a bit confusing because the “HBO” is the most recognizable, event-TV-focused piece of the equation. The rebranding, if this report is true, would be virtually erasing (from a brand perspective) the highest-quality content from the label. Let’s just say that no one can figure out why the “HBO Max” part needs to be changed at all. In other words, “Max” might be breaking what isn’t broken.

People will probably still keep saying “HBO Max” for quite some time. However, one user wondered, “Did Elon buy this company,” which might be a harsh, but that’s how the Internet (i.e., the audience) might see things.

We should find out soon whether “Max” is really the new label. The streaming realm is a strange place!

Lizzo is the queen of compliments. The “Special” singer has made it a habit to publicly compliment other musicians she’s fond of, including SZA, Adele, and Beyoncé. Now, in a newly resurfaced clip, the songwriter didn’t hold back from showing love to the rock band Nickelback.

In the video, which dates back to 2019, Lizzo sat down with CBS Music to play a game of Jam Or Not A Jam. On the docket was the band’s 2001 song “How You Remind Me.” After being asked to put the song in one of the respective categories, Lizzo quickly says, ‘I think that this is a jam.’ But she didn’t stop there.

Well, it looks like Nickelback has finally seen the clip. To return the praises to the singer, they reposted it on Instagram, with the caption, “Thank you @lizzobeating for the kind words!”

Taking it a step further, adding, “Open invite any show any time… maybe see you in Houston this summer?”

During the segment, Lizzo asked, “Why do people not like Nickelback? I feel like Nickelback gets way too much sh*t,” referring to some of the hate they receive for their style of music. However, Lizzo believes it for another reason, “[Is it] because he [singer Chad Kroeger] had a curly blond perm? That’s the only reason they get sh*t because this is an amazing song.”

Kroeger also received a subtle compliment, as Lizzo said, “it has a beautiful climax,” in reference to his vocal build-up as she mimicked his singing style.

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

Now that the Super Mario Bros Cinematic Universe is a success, it’s time to stop focusing on Jack Black as Bowser and start focusing on the real star: Wario. While Mario gets all of the love and the posters and an entire theme park, Wario is better for a few reasons. One, he wears pink overalls, which shows he’s more fashionable than his counterpart Mario. He also has a weird little mustache that looks like a bunch of Ws were copied and pasted all over his face, and that makes him more interesting right off the bat. He also has a bike, so you know he values the great outdoors.

So now that we’ve established he’s the much cooler and more evil alternative to Mario, it’s time to decide who will voice him in the next Super Mario Bros. Movie installment, should he choose to appear. He’s a very in-demand character, after all. But who has the confidence to wear his vomit-green shoes?

Fans are already going to town with their dream casting choices, and while a majority of fans (and Jack Black himself) have suggested Pedro Pascal, there are other actors that would be just as fun. The people have decided that Danny DeVito, Patton Oswalt, and even Tim Robinson should be thrown into the mix, alongside some fan casts of Waluigi:

While most people have been picking their favorite actors, other dedicated Mario fans believe that Charles Martinet, the original voice of Mario, should return for Wario (and Waluigi, for that matter). He is the original, after all.

On the other hand…..maybe we should let them play themselves. It’s the right thing to do!!! They are real characters with real feelings!

Whatever happens, whoever ends up playing him needs to at least grow an intricate mustache in order to really get into character. Even if it’s just a voice role.

Elon Musk sat down for a “rare interview” with the BBC where the embattled CEO of Twitter admitted that running the social media platform has not been a picnic. However, despite several months of very public and evident turmoil, Musk claims that Twitter is doing “reasonably well.” That said, he probably wouldn’t be opposed to selling the social media platform if someone really wanted to buy it. (Why? Do you know somebody?)

You can watch a clip from the interview below where Musk argues that buying Twitter was the right thing to do even though the site is now worth less than half of the $44 billion he paid for it:

Via BBC News:

Asked whether he had any regrets about buying Twitter, the world’s second richest man said the “pain level has been extremely high, this hasn’t been some kind of party”.

Talking about his time at the helm so far, Mr Musk said: “It’s not been boring. It’s been quite a rollercoaster.”

It has been “really quite a stressful situation over the last several months”, he added, but said he still felt that buying the company was the right thing to do.

Despite saying the site is doing much better, Musk claimed that he continues to sleep in his Twitter office, and sometimes on a couch in the company library that nobody uses. Probably because the boss sleeps on it. He also admitted that he should tweet less.

“Have I shot myself in the foot with tweets multiple times? Yes,” Musk said. “I think I should not tweet after 3am.”

(Via BBC News)

Matty Healy of The 1975 has made several headlines over the course of the past few months. While on The 1975’s At Their Very Best tour, the band’s lead vocalist has done everything from making out with fans, to getting tattoos, to eating raw meat on stage. But off stage, Healy has become known for his rants on social media. In one of his rants back in February, fans believed he was mocking Yungblud.

During a performance in Adelaide, Australia last night (April 12), Healy revealed that he is deactivating his social media accounts. When asked by a fan in the audience why he chose to do so, Healy simply replied, “The era of me being a f*cking asshole is going to come to an end.”

After Healy declared the end of an era, the audience responded with cheers.

He continued, saying, “I perform all the time, and it’s my job, and I love doing this, but I can’t perform off the stage anymore as I just want to be a bloke.”

This isn’t the first time Healy has deactivated social media. Back in 2020, he explained via Reddit that he had stepped away from social media, and that he was happier without it.

“I’m a much better person when I am not actively engaged with social media,” said Healy. “I’m more present and the people around me whom I love feel more cared for. I’m genuinely a happier person.”

Wheel of Fortune has seen some unlucky contestants over the years, but nothing like Justin. The poor guy was drawn to Bankrupts and Lose a Turns like a moth to a flame, or me to an old-school Pizza Hut.

Justin, a school principal from Kansas City, Missouri, landed on a Bankrupt early in the episode that aired on Tuesday. No big deal. But then came his second Bankrupt, and his third. “Justin, Justin! Go to the principal’s office,” host Pat Sajak joked. Little did they know...

During the Final Spin, Justin’s bad luck continued and the Final Spin was actually not so final. He landed on yet another bankrupt, and had to spin again since a money-making wedge was needed at that point. He was astonished and completely hid his body behind the wheel. After a moment alone Justin emerged. He begged: “Just make it $5,000, Pat, we’ve got this. This is darksided.”

Justin spun again. Guess what? Lose a Turn. “You’re doing this on purpose at this point,” an incredulous Justin accused Sajak. “I can feel it.”

Even the Wheel of Fortune Twitter account had to remark on his bad luck. “Don’t worry, we spoke to the wheel after the show and asked it to apologize to Justin for its behavior today,” the tweet reads.

Needless to say, Justin did not win the episode (six “bad” spins will do that), but he did win the hearts of Wheel of Fortune viewers. Which isn’t as good as a trip to Hawaii, but it’s something.

(Via the Sun)

Blackpink is one of the three main headliners at Coachella this weekend, alongside Frank Ocean and Bad Bunny. Just a few years earlier, they made history as the first female K-pop group to play the festival — even more of an achievement now that they’re at the top of the lineup.

Given the honor, each member of the band spoke with Billboard about how they felt about the opportunity.

“We’re so excited and honored to be able to return to Coachella as headliners,” Jennie said. “We had the best time in 2019 and can’t wait to experience the energy of the audience again. There are some nerves, but more than anything, we’re just ready to have fun.”

“I think performing for Coachella in 2019 was a moment that really woke us up as Blackpink — to be motivated, to dream on and dream big,” Rosé added. “But we never expected anything as big as being the headliner of a festival we’ve all grown up admiring and hoping someday we could find ourselves in the crowd of.”

Jisoo also reflected on just how far Blackpink has come in four years, noting that she’s hoping for the best during their headlining set.

“2019 Coachella was full of fascination and excitement, but we have no clue how 2023 Coachella will be,” she said. “We try all the time to show a new side of ourselves for each stage to repay the love from Blinks. It is an honor to perform as a headliner for Coachella festival; we want to show our improvement as Blackpink on stage — and will — so, stay tuned.”

“Our motto is to enjoy every stage and moment, ‘as if it’s the last,’” Lisa added, explaining goals to be “interacting with the audience by energy and doing our best while performing.”

Fans can expect to catch Blackpink playing both weekends at Coachella.

Donald Trump, the first president to be impeached twice, gave his first interview on Tuesday night about becoming the first president to be indicted. So many historic firsts! The interviewee: Tucker Carlson, who called Trump “sophisticated” and “remarkable,” and fawned all over him during the chat.

That’s what Carlson thinks of Trump on TV, at least. In private, he’s not a fan, as revealed in texts that were made public in court filings by Dominion Voting Systems. “We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait,” he wrote to an unknown Fox News employee. Carlson also said of Trump, “I hate him passionately,” and on the day of the Capitol wrote, he called the then-president a “demonic force” and a “destroyer.”

None of that came up during the interview on Tuesday. CNN reports:

Carlson sat silent as Trump rambled and ranted his way through the sit-down, making a number of eyebrow-raising comments on a host of topics that were never challenged by the right-wing talk host. Carlson made no effort to press the disgraced president on any of the issues that an actual news anchor would. Instead, Carlson sang Trump’s praises. “For a man caricatured as an extremist, we think you’ll find what he has to say moderate, sensible, and wise,” Carlson told his audience. At another point, Carlson mocked the “Neo-con media establishment” for suggesting Trump is a “dangerous lunatic.”

You can watch a highlight (?) from the interview below, assuming you can see it through the tears in your eyes over the sight of Mr. Trump.

(Via CNN)

If you’re a big fan of rum, there’s a good chance you spend most of your time sipping dark rum exclusively. That’s not surprising as maturing in charred oak imparts various flavors like vanilla, caramel, spice, and oak. There are seemingly countless dark rums well-suited for sipping neat or on the rocks like your favorite whiskey. But (as you know) before your favorite dark rum was aged, it began its life as a white rum. While it doesn’t have as many nuanced flavors imparted by spending months or years in charred wood, it still has its place in the spirits world as both a sipper and mixer.

And while there are tons of bottom-shelf, bargain white rums on the market, there are also plenty of complex and high-quality white rums waiting to be enjoyed. Some are great as a base for your favorite tiki cocktails and others are perfect for sipping neat or on the rocks. The throughline is that they all deserve more attention.

To find these sugar-cane-based diamonds in the proverbial rough, we once again went to the professionals for help. We asked a few well-known bartenders to tell us the best and most underappreciated white rums they pour and mix with. Keep scrolling to see all the bottles you need to stock up on this spring and into the summer.

Ten To One Caribbean White Rum

Erin Birmingham, bartender at Le Salon Cocktail Bar in Brooklyn, New York

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $35

The Rum:

Ten To One White is a blend of Caribbean rums that nods briefly to several distillations methods and lets some of that Jamaican funk shine through. I love using this in a shaken raspberry daiquiri.

Tasting Notes:

This is a very fruity rum with a ton of pineapple, ripe tropical fruit, and light peppery spice flavors that make it a highly flavorful, mixable rum.

Diplomatico Planas

Cosimo Bruno, beverage curator at Daxton Hotel in Birmingham, Michigan

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $30

The Rum:

A surprisingly underrated white rum that I’ve been enjoying lately is Planas by Diplomatico. This aged (the color is filtered out after resting in oak) white rum is fresh and smooth while delivering a complex taste for an elevated beverage experience.

Tasting Notes:

The fresh and tropical aromas lead into a fruity and silky finish with any cocktail.

Captain Morgan White Rum

Robbie Robinson, bartender at Gallery Bar at The Ballantyne in Charlotte, North Carolina

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $15

The Rum:

Captain Morgan White is actually a pretty underrated white rum. I think mostly this has to do with it being overshadowed by Captain Morgan Spiced rum. If anyone asks for Captain Morgan, they are looking for the flagship spirit.

Tasting Notes:

Captain Morgan White has a little vanilla, cola, and a bit of citrus on the nose. The palate is consistent with sweet sugar, vanilla, a touch of caramel, and hints of banana throughout.

Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum

Austin Jacobs, bartender at The London West Hollywood in Beverly Hills, California

ABV: 63%

Average Price: $26

The Rum:

My favorite white rum is Wray and Nephew overproof rum distilled in Jamaica. It has such a nice, funky, molasses flavor for a light rum, and at 110 proof it’s not scared to hold up as the backbone in even the most elaborate cocktail. It really is a treat.

Tasting Notes:

A funky, nutty sweetness is followed by caramelized bananas, pineapple, vanilla, and gentle spices. For such a high-proof rum, it’s surprisingly flavorful.

Clairin Le Rocher White Rum

Thomas Muscolino, director of beverage innovation at Landmark Hospitality in Plainfield, New Jersey

ABV: 46.5%

Average Price: $45

The Rum:

Clairin Le Rocher is a highly underrated white rum. It is a Haitian rum produced with organic sugarcane juice. A purely agricultural spirit, it is one of the purest expressions in the world. Seek it out if you’ve never tried it.

Tasting Notes:

For a white rum, it’s surprisingly complex and flavorful. There are notes of banana, pineapple, grass, wood smoke, and spice.

Siesta Key Silver Rum

Michelle Taglieri, bartender at The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Florida

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $20

The Rum:

My personal local favorite (and overall favorite) is the unmatched Siesta Key Silver Rum. This small-batch rum does the trick when it comes to quality. We often use it to support our local community, and it mixes perfectly with fresh juice or a traditional rum and Coke.

Tasting notes:

This rum features subtle hints of butterscotch and almond. It’s a great mixing rum but works as a slow sipper on the rocks as well.

Trois Rivières Cuveé de l’Océan White Rum

Alex Barbatsis, head bartender at The Whistler in Chicago

ABV: 42%

Average Price: $40

The Rum:

Trois Rivières Cuveé de l’Océan is a white rum from Martinique. It’s distilled from sugar cane grown in close proximity to the ocean and aged for six years using oak barrels that have been exposed to ocean air makes for a briny finish that is amazing as a sipper or in any number of rum cocktails, especially a funky daiquiri.

Tasting Notes:

This funky, flavorful, and earthy rum has flavors of toasted vanilla beans, coconut, pineapple, candied almonds, and gentle spices that work perfectly in a mixed drink or on the rocks.

Hard Truth White Rum

Drew Russ, head bartender at Venteux in Chicago

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $19

The Rum:

Hard Truth is a highly underrated white rum that deserves much more attention than it gets. It’s surprisingly balanced for a rum and great to throw in a mai tai, other tiki drinks, or your favorite tropical cocktail. Distilled with molasses and pure cane sugar, it’s fermented and distilled at a low proof to keep its sweetness intact.

Tasting Notes:

Molasses cookies, vanilla, caramel, and stone fruits make for an amazing base for a fruity, tropical rum-based cocktail.

Denizen White Rum

Mario Flores, beverage director at Maple & Ash in Chicago

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $20

The Rum:

Denizen White Rum is a fantastic one with a really good price point. It packs great notes of oak and vanilla, and I personally love using it for daiquiris. It’s aged for three years, creating nuanced, complex flavors great for slow sipping or mixing.

Tasting Notes:

This rum is propelled by flavors of toasted coconuts, pineapples, raw sugar, vanilla, grass, and mango.

Myer’s Rum Platinum White

Keith Meicher, beverage director at Sepia in Chicago

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $15

The Rum:

Myers’s Platinum White Rum is my pick. It’s cheap, mixable, and always available.

Tasting Notes:

This charcoal-filtered white rum is known for its flavors of banana, vanilla, and sweet molasses.