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With the sheer amount of division beer manufacturer Anheuser-Busch caused with their latest advertisement campaign, you’d swear we stepped back into the prohibition. After a Bud Light campaign featuring trans activist and TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney went live, musicians Kid Rock and Travis Tritt lashed out against all brands linked to Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch.

In response to Tritt stating that the company would be removed from his performance rider, The Offspring is here to pick up whatever alcoholic beverages the country singer leaves on the table. In a post shared on Twitter, guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman wrote, “We are going to be adding [Anheuser-Busch] products & Jack Daniels to our hospitality rider just to piss off a bunch of dimwitted bigots who fear what they don’t understand.”

Noodles ensured that he knows that he isn’t the only one, writing, “I know a sh*t ton of artists who feel exactly the same. (And we all drink A LOT).”

This isn’t the first time The Offspring and Travis Tritt have been on opposing sides. Back in 2021, the band kicked out their drummer for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine. On the other hand, Travis Tritt refused to play venues with a COVID-19 restrictions in place.

As for where the brand stands, in a statement shared with Billboard, Jack Daniel’s stood by its Glamp campaign. “Jack Daniel’s is made with everyone in mind, including the LGBTQ+ community,” said a spokesperson, adding, “As a longtime champion of the LGBTQ+ community, Jack Daniel’s celebrates individuality and living life boldly on your own terms.”

Billie Eilish fans were right when they suspected that the “Bad Guy” singer was hinting at a collaboration with Labrinth, who’s most known for doing the Euphoria soundtrack. “Never Felt So Alone” came out today, and the song proves the pair’s dark chemistry.

Labrinth typically creates unsettling, brooding atmospheres, which Eilish’s voice sounds perfect within. It makes sense that he, real name Timothy Lee McKenzie, talked about being a fan of Eilish in an interview with Eddie Francis on Apple Music 1’s New Music Daily show, according to Billboard.

“I’ve been a fan of Billie for a long time,” McKenzie revealed. “I think she’s an amazing artist. I remember Noah [Cyrus] was doing some of the same shows Billie was in that time, and everybody kept on coming back talking about this Billie Eilish girl.”

“Then I think the first time I heard her on a record was ‘Bury a Friend,” he continued, adding that he’d met Finneas years prior. “And I was just like, ‘This is a sick record.’”

So naturally, he thought Eilish would fit on “Never Felt So Alone.”

“Once I started piecing the song together, I was just like, “Do you know what? I think this is the moment where I think Billie would be a sick addition,’” he said. “When we spoke, she was like, ‘Lab, I’ve been listening to your music for years.” I was like, ‘What?’ It was like, ‘Billie? What? You?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, been a fan.’ She was like, ‘I love this song as well, so I would love to do it with you.’”

The Star Wars franchise is about to get a whole lot bigger. On Friday, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced a slate of three new live-action films while speaking at London’s Star Wars Celebration. According to The Daily Beast, the three movies — collectively — will span the entire Star Wars timeline.

Daisy Ridley will return as Rey in what is likely to be the first of the three films to arrive and the first Star Wars movie since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. In what will be a huge step forward for the space opera’s cinematic universe, the still-untitled film is set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel), making her the first woman and the first person of color to helm a Star Wars feature. James Mangold (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) and Dave Filoni (The Mandalorian, Ahsoka) will direct the other two features.

According to a press release:

James Mangold’s movie will go back to the dawn of the Jedi, while Dave Filoni’s will focus on the New Republic, and close out the interconnected stories told in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and other Disney+ series. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s film will be set after the events of Rise of Skywalker, and feature Daisy Ridley back as Rey as she builds a new Jedi Order.

It’s big news for Star Wars fans, who have come to expect a fair amount of discord from their Star Wars headlines in recent years, as more than a dozen writers and directors have been hired and fired (or walked away) from the franchise. Kennedy’s announcement seems like a step in the right direction.

(Via The Daily Beast)

It’s 10 things day! Officially the best day, this week and every week.

While these roundups of joy may initially come across as light and fluffy, they serve an important purpose. We all need a respite from the troubling headlines and negative news that bombards us each day. The “information age” can be tough to navigate, as it’s so easy to get bogged down in all the things we wish we could change, but that don’t have easy or quick fixes. Maintaining hope is vital to fighting the good fight, and finding positivity to keep our energy up is neither a small nor insignificant thing.

Stories of human triumph, compassionate connection, impressive ingenuity—and yes, even entertaining animal antics—can serve as fuel to keep us going through difficult or dark times. We hope these offerings will lift your spirits and remind you that there’s good to be found all around us.

Hope this week’s list brings a smile or 10 to your face!

1. Cat interrupts girl’s opera singing to perform a ‘meowpurra’ of his own

I don’t care what anyone says, that cat is singing.

2. Pediatrician and father of seven explains why 8-year-old girls are the very best humans

@dr_mikem

I think all kids are great ( obviously) but there is no doubt that 8 yr old girls embody all of the best human qualities. #kidsrock #pediatrics #pediatrician #pediatriciansoftiktok

It’s true. If we all acted with the magnanimity, empathy and compassion of 8-year-old girls, the world would surely be a better place. (And yes, he also explained what makes 8-year-old boys awesome, too. Read the full story here.)

3. 106-year-old tattoo artist becomes the oldest Vogue cover model and her story is something

See on Instagram

Swipe through the slides to learn about the extraordinary Apo Whang-Od.

4. Witness the magical land art of Andy Goldsworthy, made just with nature itself

u201cAndy Goldsworthy is an artist that produces site-specific sculptures and land art using natural materials, ephemeral and transient because it returns back to nature . Here are some sycamore leaves around tree roots and Sumach leaves art nnud83dudcf8Andy Goldsworthyu201d

— Science girl (@Science girl)
1680807660

Incredible what some perfectly placed leaves can do for the imagination. See more of Andy Goldsworthy’s work here.

5. Trevor Noah and Roger Federer made what might be the greatest tourism ad ever.

Not only is it enjoyable to watch, it’s also incredibly effective. Who doesn’t want to take a train ride through Switzerland after that? See more from behind the scenes of this fabulous collaboration here.

6. Mom creates epic Tokyo Alley Market sleepover space ever for her daughter

See on Instagram

Cardboard Queen, indeed. Wow.

7. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the amount of disciplined training it takes to do something like this

u201cThis took 17 years of training to accomplish ud83cudff9 nnI started gymnastics when I was 6 u263aufe0fnu201d

— Shannen ud83cudf49 (@Shannen ud83cudf49)
1680576682

The things humans can do when they put their minds to it. Dang.

8. Watch this student’s family react as he finds out if any Ivy League schools have accepted him

Young Zimbabwean guy getting his university letters
by u/Studog in MadeMeSmile

The culmination of years of hard work—and clearly some joyous support from his family.

9. Michael Che played a hilarious prank on Colin Jost during SNL’s ‘Weekend Update’ and they can’t keep it together

The worst thing for a comedian is to have your jokes bomb, so Che asking the audience to limit their laughter during Jost’s segments totally got him. (Thankfully, it’s all in good fun with these two, who are always playing jokes on one another. Read the full story here.)

10. May we all find something we love as much as this guy loves trains.

@francis.bourgeois

56098 and 50007 at Shawford Station and then Leamington Spa Station! @GB Railfreight #trains

Francis Bourgeois has gained a huge social media following for his child-like passion for trains. He’s downright giddy, every time. A delightful reminder to find something you love and go all in on the joy it brings you.

If you enjoyed this post and want to get these roundups delivered to your inbox each week, sign up for The Upworthiest newsletter here.

Becoming a grandparent is a really big deal. It’s almost like a promotion of sorts, especially because grandparents get to spoil their grandkids silly and send them on their way. It’s just another way to expand on the love you have for your own child, and if the baby is lucky, they’ll get amazing grandparents that build a special bond with them.

Lila Chirico’s dad is one of those guys who was simply born to be a grandpa. So much so that his co-workers wanted to share in his excitement of preparing for his first grandchild. His daughter is pregnant with her very first baby and the grandpa-to-be couldn’t be happier.

Chirico was able to capture the adorable moment when her father’s co-workers surprised him with a “grandpa shower.” If you’ve never heard of a grandpa shower, no worries. It’s something his co-workers came up with to shower the soon to be grandfather with joy and more baby items than he could imagine. His reaction was priceless.

“The ladies at my dad’s work threw him a ‘grandpa shower.’ He’s worked in the same department for over 30 years,” Chirico shared via text overlay.

As he’s about to round the corner to his surprise grandpa shower, you see one of his co-workers behind him jumping up and down in excitement. The granddad-to-be’s face beams when he sees all of the bags and boxes of baby stuff, including a bib set that reads, “My grandpa loves me more than baseball.” Chirico concludes that grandpa showers should become a thing, and I couldn’t agree more.

See his reaction below:

Cats are underappreciated geniuses in so many ways…why not add singing into the mix?

Folks on Reddit were delighted by a video of a girl singing opera and getting unapologetically interrupted by her cat, who then ended up completely stealing the spotlight by belting out a few notes. Yep, a total diva move that only a cat could get away with.

The clip is so hilarious that we didn’t want you missing out.

Even the girl can’t stay mad as kitty starts to make those weird little chirps (you know, the alien noises cats make when they see a bird) set in perfect tempo to the accompaniment. Her mood quickly goes from “Excuse me?” to all out cackling.

Watch:

Singing girl is interrupted in the most adorable way.
by u/SnorkinOrkin in MadeMeSmile

Like, seriously…that cat is definitely singing, amirite?

Viewers on Reddit had a field day in the comments.

“I love cats. Such perfectly broken creatures,” one person wrote.

Another added, “It sounded like the cat was actually trying to meow along with the tune of the song! So cute! Clever cat!”

And of course, fellow cat owners couldn’t help but relate. One shared, “As a singer with cats, they love singing. I have an audience whenever I practice.”

Many were hellbent on figuring out how kitty was able to seemingly sing on beat. One person made a valid guess, writing, “I think she’s playing a YouTube karaoke track and there’s some kind of bouncing icon above the words that the cat is focusing on, that’s why the cat is so in sync 😂”

One helpful Reddit user noted that the singer has a TikTok channel (@maura.music) filled with even more opurra—or should we say meowpera?—duets with her cat, who we can now lovingly call Max.

Check out this one:

@maura.music Warming up those vocal chords😌#OperaCat #catsinger #catsoftiktok #musictok #operatok #catduet #catcomedy #OperaSinger ♬ original sound – maura music

Thanks, Max. You truly are a star. (And your human is pretty talented, too.)

Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi has declared April as Confederate Heritage Month in the Magnolia State, marking the 30th year of this ridiculous and wrong “tradition.”

If you’re wondering how the state’s leadership justifies something so backwards in 2023, here are the three reasons listed for recognizing Confederate Heritage Month in the official proclamation:

1) April is when the Civil War, “the costliest and deadliest” war ever fought on American soil, began. (Um, y’all know the Confederates were the ones who started this costly and deadly war, right?)

2) State law designates the last Monday in April as Confederate Memorial Day, “to honor those who served in the Confederacy.” (To honor those who did what, now? Served in the Confederacy? So you’re not merely memorializing those who tragically died fighting for a wrong-headed, racist cause, but you’re “honoring” anyone who “served” that cause? Interesting.)

3) The state wants to “honor all who lost their lives in this war” and “reflect on our nation’s past” and “gain insight from our mistakes and successes” and something about “lessons learned yesterday and today,” and striving to “understand and appreciate our heritage,” and no, none of this makes any sense whatsoever. (If reflection and insight lead you to still honor the Confederacy, you haven’t learned a daggone thing, folks.)

First of all, if there’s any question about what the Confederates in Mississippi were fighting for, they made it crystal clear in their own official declaration of reasons for secession. Right up top, the very first reason Mississippi listed:

“Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the world.”

Alrighty then.

And if that’s not clear enough, in that same document, Mississippi’s list of grievances with the United States government included that “it advocates negro equality, socially and politically,” and “it denies the right of property in slaves, and refuses protection to that right on the high seas, in the Territories, and wherever the government of the United States had jurisdiction.”

Kinda puts a kink in the whole “the Confederacy was about states’ rights, not slavery” argument, eh? Is this the Confederate heritage being honored this month? If not, what is it, exactly?

And let’s talk about this idea of “heritage.” Mississippi is 145 years old. The Confederacy lasted a whopping four years. Four years is the time between two World Cup finals and less than half the lifespan of “The Office”—hardly something that constitutes a “heritage.” Mississippi still talking about its “Confederate heritage” is like someone in their 50s still talking about their high school glory days, only infinitely more embarrassing.

The Confederates were losers, both literally and figuratively. They were on the objectively wrong side of a war, which they themselves initiated, and they lost. There was no glory in fighting a bloody, costly war in order to maintain the institution of slavery. There was no honor in officially documenting racist beliefs about Black people and enlisting troops to kill fellow Americans in defense of those beliefs.

The fact that the Confederates believed so deeply in their cause that tens of thousands of them were willing to die for it doesn’t make it right or OK or honorable. It actually makes it worse. Creating a mythology that there was some kind of righteousness in their fight might may make their descendants feel better, but it’s fundamentally dishonest. They were on the wrong side of a war that shouldn’t have been fought in the first place.

Any time Mississippi puts its racist history on display like this, people say, “Well, it’s Mississippi, what do you expect?” I get the impulse, but we should reject that knee-jerk response, wholeheartedly.

First of all, it’s not “Mississippi” doing this. Mississippi has the highest percentage of Black residents in the country. In the 1920s, Mississippi actually had a Black majority. Yet the state has elected an unbroken string of white governors—65 of them—since its founding. Does that seem a teensy bit…statistically unlikely, all things being equal?

Of course, things have never been equal in Mississippi, which is the whole point here. It’s not “Mississippi” clinging to the Confederacy like a security blanket, it’s the people in power in Mississippi. Specifically, it’s the white politicians who have maintained power through decades of voter suppression tactics, ranging from poll taxes and literacy tests to sneaky legislative structures to blatantly violent intimidation, that have disenfranchised the state’s Black voting population.

Does anyone seriously think “Confederate Heritage Month” represents the overall will of the Blackest state in the union? Let’s call it what it is—an exercise of Mississippi’s steeped-in-racism power structure and a not-so-subtle way of saying, “We’re still in charge here.”

As for what we should expect from Mississippi’s leadership? Better. We should expect better, more, sooner and faster. The state has shown, in the removal of the Confederate flag from its state flag and the willingness to change school names to stop honoring Confederates, that it is capable of letting go of heroic fantasies about the Confederacy. This is a conscious choice it is making, which shouldn’t go unchallenged.

If the state wants to demonstrate that it truly has “gained insight” and “learned lessons” from the past and “understands its heritage,” it should stop recognizing the Confederacy with words like “tradition” and “honor” and acknowledge the tragedy and horror that it caused. It’s way past time to be honest about that history and stop pretending “Confederate heritage” was ever something to celebrate or take pride in.

Trina did not come to mess around. The rapper — who recently collaborated with Latto and GloRilla — brought her songs to her NPR Tiny Desk Concert with a whole crew to give a gorgeous performance.

“This first song is dedicated to my mom,” she said, prefacing “Mama.” “Without her, there would be no me. And she’s the reason I’m standing here right now for you guys, so I want you to just enjoy.”

Harmonizing backing vocalists provided an enchanting backdrop for her flow about gratitude: “Mama, I wanna thank you / For sharing your blessings upon me / Taking time to understand the lady I wanna be,” she raps.

It only got better from there: “I wanna introduce you guys to the baddest b*tch,” she said before launching into the salacious “Da Baddest B*tch,” proving her range.

After those songs, she played “Single Again,” introducing it with a thoughtful speech: “Now, I wanna dedicate this song to all my single people, all my single ladies in the building. If you single, you came here today ain’t got no ring on your finger, just out here doing on your own, out here single, living your life to the fullest — I dedicate this song to you.”

“Here We Go” came afterwards, with the finale being “Nann N****.”

Watch her full performance above.

Three years after Pop Smoke’s (real name Bashar Barakah Jackson) tragic murder, the case is nearing a close. Revered as one of the driving forces behind New York’s drill music scene, the late rapper’s vocals continued to be used on tracks as recently as Tyga’s song “Sunshine,” released last summer. Initially, five people were investigated in connection to his death, but only four were formally charged.

Now, according to the Associated Press, one of those men has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He previously pleaded guilty in Inglewood juvenile court to the charge of home invasion robbery. It is unclear if his four-year and two-month sentencing in a juvenile facility includes the voluntary manslaughter charge. But what is known at this time is that the judge preceding over the case “declined to apply the two years and eight months he has already spent in the juvenile hall toward his sentence.”

At the time of the slain, the defendant was just 17 years old (he’s 20 now), so his name was not released to the public. Neither was the identity of his co-defendant, who was 15 years old. The two other parties charged were Corey Walker (19 years of age at the time) and Keandre Rodgers (18 years old).

In the court testimony retrieved by the Los Angeles Times, a detective shared that Jackson was “in the shower when masked robbers confronted him. During a struggle, one attacker, who was 15, pistol-whipped the rapper and shot him three times in the back.” Before fleeing the scene, they stole the rapper’s diamond-studded Rolex watch, which they later sold for $2,000.

Elijah Wood had no idea what he was signing up for when he said yes to a guest starring role in season two of Showtime’s Yellowjackets. Literally.

Showrunners Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson reached out to the Lord of the Rings star to gauge his interest in playing opposite Christina Ricci’s neurotic, true-crime-loving misfit Misty Quigley once scripts were finished, but they couldn’t let Wood actually see anything in writing. (He wasn’t an official cast member and they’ve got Lindelofian plot secrets to protect.) They could only tease a name: Walter Tattersall. And a vague outline of who his character was before meeting Misty and getting swallowed whole by the central enigma fueling the survivalist drama.

But that was enough for Wood. The show had already checked the boxes needed to claim him as a fan.

“It’s very much my kind of show,” Wood tells Uproxx. “It dabbles in genre. It’s got potential supernatural elements to it. There’s a mystery at its core. The timeline between the past and the present, and how the past informs the present, is just so rad, and unique.”And then, there was the most important hook.

“But also, I love Melanie Lynskey, she’s a friend.”

For most of season two, Wood acts opposite another former co-star in Ricci with the two Citizen Detectives sizing up one another’s sleuthing skills in a quirky, slightly sinister will-they-won’t-they way. (By that, we mean will they kiss or kill each other.)

We chatted with Wood about his own love of true crime, being the comedic relief of season two, and his advice for dealing with genre fandoms.

How did the showrunners convince you to come on board this season?

Basically, it was a leap of faith, but it was an easy leap. They described Walter as this odd citizen detective [who] would team up with Misty, a favorite character of mine from the first season. And getting a chance to work with Christina was really exciting because we’d worked together when we were kids, in the nineties. It was an easy ‘Yes.’ I was really chuffed, genuinely, to even be asked to play in the sandbox, because it’s really a first for me. I’ve never watched a show, and then been asked to participate in a subsequent season of the show.

Did they clue you into any of the mystery driving season two?

I think I’m at liberty to say that the driver for Walter and Misty this season is just locating Natalie, trying to figure out where she’s gone, and ultimately, what has happened to her, which opens a whole Pandora’s box. And then, that there would be a potential coming together of a lot of the characters at the end of the season, which is really an exciting notion. My experience, for the most part, was just working with Christina. We were on our own little journey throughout the course of this season that ultimately comes to a head at the end.

How does the relationship between Misty and Walter evolve over the course of the season?

Misty’s an eccentric that can’t function in the world. She tries to, but it doesn’t quite work. The description to me of Walter initially was that he had similar eccentricities but has figured out how to make it functional. In that way, they’re a really interesting pair. They complement each other. That was really exciting. Then, just the nuts and bolts of who that person is, and where we would be going, that was enough for me to be excited. This season feels darker, maybe more fucked up than the first season.

Walter and Misty are both internet sleuths who take things a little too far, especially this season. What’s behind their obsession with the Citizen Detective message boards?

I think the draw is our collective interest in true crime. Blend that with the internet, and it provides an armchair hobby for people. They can commiserate, can discuss a certain unsolved case, come up with a variety of ideas of what they think may or may not have happened, and collect evidence. Basically, it’s hobbyist, which I completely understand. I’ve been interested in true crime for a long time, and I’ve devoured documentaries over the years, and podcasts and documentary series. I get it, I understand the pull that has.

Again, you put that into the realm of a message board, or an online community, where information is shared, there’s a sense of excitement of following a trail, and figuring out what could have happened. Potentially, you could make a difference, and I think that’s where the appeal comes from. I think that’s certainly where Walter is. I would say Walter might take it a step further.

Right. Like in episode three. Which is all I’ll allude to.

There’s a great deal of researched knowledge, some of which may not have totally been field tested. When you jump into something with a great deal of enthusiasm, you think you have all the answers. I feel like all of us have experienced this on some level in our lives, where we feel like we know what we’re doing, and then we get into a situation, and we’re like, ‘Fuck, we actually don’t know what we’re doing,’ but you play it off. That’s a little bit Walter. He’s in over his head, but he actually knows his shit. I don’t think that he’s really been able to field test it in quite the way that he’s going to with this journey that they’re on.

The last time you worked with Christina was in the 90s on a movie called The Ice Storm where you had to make out at the bottom of a pool while your mom was present. You said that was one of the most awkward experiences of your career. Were things less awkward this time around?

[Laughs] It was less awkward than that, undoubtedly. Christina is incredible. Working with her has been the easiest, and the most fun and rewarding experience. She is a fucking pro, man. She’s a finely tuned instrument as an actress, and it is a joy to work with because she knows her character so well. For me, acting opposite her makes my job so easy because she’s so skilled.

There’s also a lot of humor in their back-and-forth relationship, especially early on in the season.

Which is also one of the fun aspects of being asked to come and play Walter — it’s this sideline comedy section of the show. There’s quite a lot of darkness and the stakes are really fucking high for a lot of the characters throughout the series, both in the past and in the present. What was lovely about what we got to do this particular season is play a lighter duo, a relationship journey that ultimately ends where everyone is headed, but it definitely felt like the comic relief of the show, which was really fun. We didn’t have to deal with a great deal of heaviness, or darkness. It was just relative silliness.

We’ve talked to Melanie Lynskey about giving advice to the younger actors on this show. You’ve defended some of The Rings of Power cast amidst backlash from LOTR fans. What’s your advice to younger actors having to deal with fame in the time of social media?

Social media wasn’t even a thing! There was no Twitter, there was no Facebook. It was pre-Friendster. This idea that you would have an online presence, and have a direct line to both positive and negative responses from fans, and just people in general, that was just not something that we had to face at all. Now we’re dealing with racism and shit online in response to casting choices. It really is ridiculous. They had to deal with that as they were just about to celebrate their experience making something on this scale, having had this really incredible experience working together in New Zealand. Many of them are part of something on this scale for the first time, and before it even comes out, there’s all this negative response.

What’s the advice? I was going to say to not give it much attention, but it’s hard if you’re the folks that are the target of that criticism. I don’t really look at comments. That’s just a personal rule. I don’t really give a shit what anyone has to say. I just think it’s a slippery slope because if you start paying attention to what everyone has to say about you, it gives it weight. It’s almost like conflating schoolyard behavior to a much larger, more hurtful scale, and it’s a bummer. I think taking yourself off social media is a good idea, I think not paying attention to it, and I think focusing on the work.