GoneTrending

It has now been nearly a year since Russia launched its attack on neighboring Ukraine. While Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin cronies led the Russian president to believe it would only be a matter of weeks until they could overpower their neighbors to the west, nothing has quite worked out the way Russia planned.

In recent weeks, intercepted calls to home to Russia have suggested that many of Russia’s soldier fatalities have been the result of friendly fire and/or drunken commanders. And Putin himself has admitted that Russia’s military leaders are not doing a great job of providing soldiers with their most basic necessities. Just last week, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky even suggested that Putin might not even be running the show anymore, as some people suspect that he is dead.

Whatever the case, it’s an embarrassing situation for Russia all around, as the country has long touted itself as a global tough guy you wouldn’t want to mess with. And now, as The Daily Beast reports, even the country’s plan to gain the upper hand by bringing in a private corps of 50,000 mercenary fighters has gone totally sideways. Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization, has reportedly brought in approximately 50,000 Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine — several of them coming from Russia’s prisons. But it’s estimated that only 10,000 of those recruits are still alive and/or fighting.

The Moscow Times reported that Olga Romanova, the head of Russia Behind Bars, said: “According to our data, 42,000 to 43,000 [prisoners] were recruited by the end of December. Now they are, most likely, already over 50,000. Of these, 10,000 are fighting at the front, because all the rest are either killed… or missing, or deserted, or surrendered.”

While the Russian soldiers who claimed the town of Soledar in recent weeks are reportedly mostly Wagner soldiers, that victory was said to have come “at an extraordinary cost,” according to White House officials.

Zelensky, too, confirmed this when he remarked that, “The area near Soledar is covered with corpses of the invaders. This is what madness looks like.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

(Spoilers from The Boys will be found below.)

Who would have thought that it would be possible to feel slightly sorry for The Deep by the time that The Boys Season 3 rolled around? Chace Crawford’s character began as a sexually assaulter of a Supe, who then fell into a cult and came back and worked towards some form of twisted redemption. Then Homelander, who’s also rape-y and even more malignant, made The Deep eat his true love, Timothy The Octopus, while the little critter was still alive. Here’s how that looked if you wanted a refresher.

This was only one of a handful of situations that made Crawford believe that he might never work again, but the Timothy thing hit The Deep where it counts. Is it no wonder that he might be hitting the weights hard for his Season 4 arc? Crawford seems to be into it even as The Deep has some sh*t to work out. Witness the Instagrammed proof:

Yep, The Deep must need to blow off some serious steam. And you know, Crawford is allegedly not welcome at aquariums anymore, either, but I can’t wait for the inner dialogue to arrive because, man, poor Timothy. RIP into infinity.

Things are going from bad to worse for embattled Republican Representative George Santos.

The recently-elected Congressman from New York has fielded a dizzying number of damning accusations by Democrats and the press but now, he’s facing off against members of his own party who aren’t happy he lied about … well, basically everything. And he’s doing it the only way he knows how, by whining on Twitter.

Santos — who maybe embezzled donations, probably took part in a Ponzi scheme, and definitely lied about his drag queen career and his collegiate volleyball record — took to social media to express disappointment with comments about his long (and very weird) con by fellow Republican John Kennedy. The Senator from Louisianna recently slammed Santos in the press describing him “as nutty as a fruitcake” and comparing him to Glenn Close’s deranged and vengeful character who actually boiled a rabbit to get back at her ex in the film Fatal Attraction.

“That is why I called him a bunny boiler,” Kennedy reportedly said. “I don’t know if you’ve seen Fatal Attraction but there are people like that out there.”

We’re guessing Kennedy meant that as a dig against Santos’ questionable mental state, and it seems like the young Congressman assumed the same. He posted on Twitter that he was hurt by Kennedy’s turn of phrase.

“I am saddened that a distinguished senator from the GOP, whom I’ve respected would use such derogatory language against me,” Santos wrote. “Language like that is hurtful and divisive and has no place in Congress.”

The irony that a pathological liar who giddily flashed white power signs during a publicized congressional meeting would be offended by any type of derogatory language is rife, but Santos’ disgust at being compared to Glenn Close makes one really question his drag credentials. Trixie Mattel would never.

(Via RawStory)

Earlier today, Michelle Yeoh received a much-deserved Oscar nomination for her role in the mind-bending hit Everything Everywhere All At Once. It’s been a long time coming: Yeoh has been acting for nearly half a century and steadily built an iconic career in various martial arts films and action roles.

Naturally, a lot of people have been celebrating the achievement, while others are confused at her being called the first person who “identifies as Asian” to be nominated for best actress at this year’s Academy Awards. The wording is pretty important, though.

While Yeoh is being called the first Asian-identifying actor to be nominated in the best actress category, there have been been a few people with Asian ancestry who have secured nominations (and awards). Merle Oberon was first nominated in 1936 after her role in The Dark Angel, though she reportedly hid her ancestry while working in Hollywood. Actress Vivien Leigh also came from western Asian ancestry on her mother’s side, though she also did not identify as Asian.

Despite the confusing phrasing, it’s still an important milestone that has taken much too long to reach. Yeoh’s performance and the subsequent nomination are a win for under-represented minorities in the industry. The actress told The Hollywood Reporter after learning of her nominations, “It’s taken a long time. But I think this is more than me. At the present moment, constantly, all the time, having Asians walking up to me saying, ‘You can do it, you’re doing it for us.’ It’s like, ‘I understand. I totally understand.’ All this time, they’ve not been recognized, they’ve not been heard.”

Hopefully, fellow award shows can follow in the Academy’s footsteps!

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

When Tucker Carlson started promoting the benefits of testicle tanning on his show, in many ways it seemed like the Fox New host had his personal rock bottom. But that was before he admitted how horny he was for the animated Green M&M in the candy company’s long-running commercials.

Last week, M&Ms unveiled some new versions of their colorful classic candy characters in order to make them more inclusive, but all Carlson saw was red — in the form of the Brown M&M, whom he dubbed “less sexy.” Weirdly, no one on the set cut off his mic, so the host kept going, insisting that: “M&M’s will not be satisfied until every cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous, until the moment you wouldn’t want to have a drink with any one of them. That’s the goal. When you’re totally turned off, we’ve achieved equity.”

The real takeaway here is how infatuated Tucker must have been with the Brown M&M that at some point had WANTED to take a tiny piece of candy-coated chocolate out for a drink. And yet he still wasn’t over it by Monday night — and this time even brought the poor old Green M&M into the conversation. The way Carlson sees it, M&M’s attempt to be “woke” is what has led to his lack of lust for the new characters: “In its ad campaigns, Mars set about making its M&M characters as unattractive as possible because when you’re intentionally repulsive, it’s clear that you’ve got the right politics.”

That statement doesn’t really check out, because it would imply that Tucker has the right politics. But Carlson wasn’t done in explaining how the candymaker de-sexified its cartoon candy mascots:

So the Green M&M lost her sexy boots; the brown M&M her stiletto heels. The Orange M&M, meanwhile, became a poster boy for the mental health crisis and would henceforth ‘acknowledge and embrace his anxiety.’ Because America badly needs more neurotic candy.

Then, late last year, Mars went further: The company added obese and distinctly frumpy lesbian M&Ms to promote ‘feminism and body positivity.’ In other words, explained the Mars corporation, it’s good to be fat — have some more M&Ms.

Carlson noted that he first reported on the story last year and had pledged a “deeper investigation” into the matter — because why would a network with “News” in its name dare not to investigate this travesty? But before Tucker and co. could reportedly complete their investigation, “Mars announced that it’s suspending its ad campaign,” Tucker said.

He then went on some nonsensical tear about other people condemning him and his show for attacking M&Ms for being political in the first place. It all got a bit confusing and went a bit off the rails, which you can see for yourself above.

With That ’90s Show now streaming on Netflix, the showrunners are opening up about bringing the original That ’70s Show cast back for the new spinoff. Two of those cast members, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, are currently married in real life, which added an extra layer of fun to their characters reuniting on screen. Or at least that was the intent.

According to co-creator Bonnie Turner, Kutcher immediately returned to his old habit of memorizing his lines in the Forman basement. While the actor was stoked to be back on the show, Kutcher had a bit of a freakout when he fell asleep on the basement couch. Via Buzzfeed:

“He said, ‘When I woke up, it was Mila standing over me, and I opened my eyes. I looked around and I was in the Forman basement with my wife staring up at the [lighting] grid, dressed as Jackie. It was the strangest feeling I’ve ever had. I literally didn’t know [what year] I was [in] for a minute,’” Bonnie recalled.

Having a terrifying moment of being lost in time aside, Kutcher was reportedly so game for coming back as Kelso that he constantly practiced his “Damn, Jackie” line delivery while at home with Kunis.

“I guess Ashton had kept all the old Kelso wardrobe. He was texting me pictures of him in Kelso’s old winter jacket. Then Ashton was sending me videos of him playfully annoying Mila by running around their house going, ‘Damn, Jackie,’” co-creator Gregg Mettler told Buzzfeed. “They were just very excited to return to a place that was so special for them.”

That ’90s Show Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

(Via Buzzfeed)

When it comes to true believers in Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen, there hasn’t been a more dedicated solider in that fight than MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. The embattled businessman claims he’s already spent over $30 million on investigations that voting machines were rigged, but all he has to show for it are multi-billion dollar lawsuits filed by the software companies behind said voting machines. However, the damage didn’t stop there.

While positioning himself for a contentious campaign to become the new head of the Republic National Convention, Lindell recently revealed that his election fraud evangelizing did not boost sales to his MyPillow brand. Instead, it did the opposite, and the company started hemorrhaging money as product was dropped by retailers like Walmart. Via CBS News:

Dominion’s lawsuit claims it’s all been good for his business and that “Lindell has increased MyPillow sales by 30-40% and continues duping people into redirecting their election-lie outrage into pillow purchases.” Lindell says that is not true.

“Now let me tell you the facts about MyPillow. When I tried to get this out to the people, MyPillow lost $100 million in retailers. We are not up 30-40% — we are down. We are down. I had to borrow money,” Lindell told WCCO.

Why it’s wild that Lindell admits he blew a $100 million hole in his MyPillow empire, nothing can beat the fact that there is actually a serious chance he could actually become the new chair of the RNC. According to Vanity Fair, the race is highly competitive, but also a “total sh*t show,” which is fertile ground for a guy like Lindell to take control. And all it cost him was roughly $130 million and the complete destruction of his once lucrative pillow brand.

(Via CBS News)

After years of waiting, there will finally be a second season of Invincible, Amazon’s superhero comedy from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. The animated series, based on the hit comic book franchise, follows young Mark as he learns the ins and outs of being a teenager who also happens to be the son of the super-powerful Omni-Man. As Mark discovers his own powers, he also learns that being a superhero is a lot less fun (and a lot bloodier!) than people expect.

Season two will pick up after the events of season one when Omni-Man and Mark had their devastating showdown after Mark realized what type of guy his dad really is. Spoiler: he’s a bad one who killed the Guardians of the Earth in cold blood. But he might not be gone for good!

The good news is that the key cast is returning for another round, including J.K. Simmons as Noah/Omni-Man and Steven Yeun as Mark/Invincible. We also got another look at Seth Rogen’s Allen the Alien in the season two teaser that was released earlier this month. Also appearing in season two will be Sandra Oh, Gillian Jacobs, Mark Hamil, Jason Mantzoukas, Zachary Quinto, and Mahershala Ali.

As for when the episodes will premiere, there hasn’t been a confirmed date, though “late 2023” seems to be the aim. After all, there is a lot of stuff to do in order to make a TV show, which Mark explains in the meta-trailer: “I’ve been busy writing, designing, storyboarding, voice acting, key posing, in-betweening, cleaning up, color slapping, comping the whole thing, and all that for, you know, roughly thousands of shots. So, it’s kind of a lot.” It’s been almost two years since season one concluded, so the wait will likely be worth it…or we will have to deal with the wrath of a really mean dad. Either way, it will be good!

Season one of Invincible is available on Amazon Prime.

Rudy Giuliani is not in a good place, mentally-speaking. And no, it doesn’t have anything to do with his own cognitive abilities, nor the fact that his license to practice law has been revoked. Nor is it because his ex-wife successfully sued him to pay some overdue country club fees. No, Rudy’s pissed because he wasn’t successful in pushing The Big Lie hard enough — and now has to live with the fact that Joe Biden is in the White House not just because he is the leader the American people choose, but because Giuliani couldn’t find a way to overturn the results of the election (and was the only lawyer even willing to try).

As Raw Story reports, Giuliani took some time out during his Sunday radio show to talk about the 2020 presidential election (yet again) and to lament that he wasn’t able to do more to help Trump win. Especially as he claims that Biden doesn’t “know what he’s doing.”

“I don’t want a senile president, and I don’t want a corrupt president,” Rudy’s co-host, Dr. Maria Ryan, said.

“Well, the American people voted for him,” Giuliani replied. “They knew he was corrupt or at least half of them knew he was corrupt. I wasn’t able to get the message to the other half.”

Wait — is he talking about Biden or Trump?

Rudy went on to say that he holds himself somewhat personally responsible for not getting Trump’s message out to any and all Trump supporters. “And you know the tremendous burden I feel as a result of that,” Rudy said. “I mean, I’m the one who uncovered Biden’s corruption. Nobody knew about it.”

“You can’t put that all on your shoulders,” Ryan said. “That’s ridiculous.”

Has Ryan not met Donald Trump? Taking full responsibility for the L was probably written into Giuliani’s contract.

(Via Raw Story)

Do you know that Donald Trump is running for president again? It’s easy to forget. After all, he hasn’t exactly been campaigning — or leaving Florida much (unless it’s to make things real awkward at a memorial service). But he is, and he’s ready to hold his first big rally in ages, on Saturday in South Carolina. He handily defeated Biden there in 2020, and yet he’s having a bear of a time getting anyone big to join him on stage. It’s so bad his own team has been left stunned.

Maggie Haberman, who at least used to be the mainstream (read: non-Fox News or -Newsmax) reporter Trump talked to most, went on CNN to speculate on why Trump’s team has been coming up empty-handed. It could be because he, as she put it, “has not been running what one would consider a rigorous effort so far.” It could be that his fund-raising may be “struggling,” meaning the purportedly super rich guy simply can’t afford to hit the road like he once did. But that’s not the only rude awakening for Team Trump.

“I think they are also finding, his team, that people are not swelling around him in the Republican Party in these states the way they had believed,” Haberman said. “Now he still has supporters and still has his operation, it’s pretty small. I think they thought they would be able to get all of these people to just show up for him.”

She added, “He’s over and over and over learning the lesson he is not president anymore and for a lot in the Republican Party someone they want to be passed.”

Then again, this is Teflon Don, the guy who’s never had any serious comeuppance for his prolifically dodgy behavior. There’s always a chance he’ll inexplicably, undeservedly bounce back. But for now, the big guy needs a win, and gaming the system so he wins a golf tournament isn’t one.

You can watch Haberman’s CNN appearance in the video below.

(Via Raw Story)