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Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is one of those classic novels that feels almost too renowned and familiar to make into a movie for fear of it being bad. Listen, it’s happened before, and you want to make sure these things are in the right hands. So when Judy Blume hopped on to produce a movie based on one of her most celebrated novels, things became promising!

The classic coming-of-age story about sixth-grader Margaret Simon is really coming to theaters. She’s portrayed by Ant-Man’s Abby Ryder Fortson as she and her family move from the big city to the suburbs where she begins to learn about all the fun preteen topics that were rarely talked about in novels at the time, like pads, periods, and doing exercises to help make your chest grow. The ’70s were a wild time!

Rachel McAdams stars as Barbara, Margaret’s mother, while Kathy Bates plays grandma Sylvia. Benny Safdie (!!) also stars. As per the official description:

11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is uprooted from her life in New York City for the suburbs of New Jersey, going through the messy and tumultuous throes of puberty with new friends in a new school. She relies on her mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), who is also struggling to adjust to life outside the big city, and her adoring grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates), who isn’t happy they moved away and likes to remind them every chance she gets.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret hits theaters on April 28th. Check out the trailer above.

As the controversial racketeering trial against Young Thug and his YSL crew proceeds, more observers are sharing their opinions on everything that has happened in the case so far. The latest is Harlem rapper Jim Jones, who shared some of his thoughts during an interview with Atlanta’s DJ Univercity on the latter’s podcast. Specifically, he called out the members of YSL who accepted plea deals in exchange for their freedom ahead of the trial; they include Gunna, YSL co-founder Walter Murphy, and Young Thug’s brother, Unfoonk.

Faced with the possibility of incurring double-digit prison sentences due to their connection with YSL Records, these members accepted so-called “Alford pleas,” in which they maintained their innocence and did not offer up any specific information, but pled guilty to lesser counts (mainly racketeering) and had their sentences commuted to time served, allowing them to leave Fulton County Jail without bond. This means they are obligated to appear in court if called as witnesses but reserve their ability to exercise their Fifth Amendment rights. Unfortunately, this can make it appear that they agree YSL is a gang — which is, of course, the prosecution’s whole strategy in extending these offers.

It can also give the appearance to outside observers — especially those not particularly well-versed in criminal law — the impression that they “snitched” in order to avoid longer sentences. Each member to accept a plea has maintained that their cooperation was limited to pleading guilty and that they won’t testify if subpoenaed. That didn’t stop Jim Jones from criticizing them and comparing their circumstances to his own brushes with the law.

“From where I come from, taking a plea when you have co-defendants is really not the thing you supposed to do,” he said. “If you up against a case by yourself and sh*t like that, that’s something different. But when you’re taking a plea it’s a touchy thing.” He continued, “I can say this: None of my n****s took a plea. They all in jail right now doing the time. They accepted what they did, they accepted who snitched on them, they accepted it all, and they all sat down and did their time… Nobody tried to take a plea, nobody tried to go around. N****s even went to trial — they did everything they could but do that.”

You can watch the full interview above.

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

Shakira‘s highly-anticipated collaboration with Bizarrap arrived last night (January 11). The Colombian superstar name-checks her ex Gerard Piqué and seemingly his current girlfriend Clara Chía Marti in the explosive video for “BZRP Music Sessions #53.”

Bizarrap is the most-streamed artist on Spotify from Argentina. The producer has over 35.2 million monthly listeners on the platform. Last year, Residente released his J Balvin diss track “BZRP Music Sessions #49” with Bizarrap. Now Bizarrap is teaming up with Shakira as she goes in on Piqué. Shakira and Piqué announced their split in June of last year after the soccer star reportedly cheated on her with Marti.

In “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” Shakira howls throughout the chorus while revisiting her “She Wolf” persona from 2009. Piqué has gotten dragged online since the news of his split from Shakira. In Spanish, she sings, “I understood it’s not my fault that they criticize you.” Shakira then evokes Piqué’s name in some clever wordplay with the Spanish word “salpique.” “I only make music, sorry if it splashed (salpique) you,” she sings. Shakira then apparently calls out Marti’s first name Clara in some wordplay with the Spanish word “claramente” (clearly).

Shakira also seemingly touches on her alleged tax evasion claims in Spain. “[You left me with] the press at my door and a debt with the Treasury,” she sings in Spanish. The most striking line of Shakira’s empowering kiss-off anthem is when she sings about channeling her heartbreak into her music. “Women no longer cry / Women get paid,” she belts out in Spanish.

Paramore‘s new album arrives next month and the singles so far, “This Is Why” and “The News,” have been explosive. They’re back today with “C’est Comme Ça,” a track that continues the pattern of snarky and relentlessly infectious dance anthems.

“I’m trying to get un-addicted to a survival narrative,” Hayley Williams said about the song in a statement. “The idea of imminent doom is less catastrophic to me than not knowing anything about the future or my part in it. The guys and I are all in much more stable places in our lives than ever before. And somehow that is harder for me to adjust to.”

The theme of stability in the song is ironic considering the sonic chaos. Against Interpol-like riffs and a new wave rhythm, Williams deadpans acerbic lines in an almost Dry Cleaning fashion: “I’m off caffeine on doctor’s orders / Said it was gonna help to level out my hormones / Lucky for me I run on spite and sweet revenge / It’s my dependence on the friction that really hinders my progression.” For the chorus, she sings in frivolous French and it sounds like a call to get up and dance.

Listen to “C’est Comme Ça” above.

This Is Why is out 2/10/2023 via Atlantic. You can pre-save it here.

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

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a nine-minute video to “reach my dear Russian friends” and educate them on “terrible things you should know about.” The Austrian action-movie icon and former California governor relayed what his Nazi father had experienced during World War II as a cautionary tale. Predictably, Russian state TV did not like it. But, Schwarzenegger won’t be silenced as the war in Ukraine rages on.

Ukrainian rap group Kalush Orchestra shared the video for their single “Shchedryi Vechir” on Wednesday, January 11, and it begins with a voiceover from Schwarzenegger: “And that is a great message for all Ukrainian people, especially now in this very, very difficult time. That everyone can have a dream, and you can make this dream become a reality.”

Kalush Orchestra’s YouTube description of the video further contextualizes, “Yo, when we were in the US on tour, we shot a video for one of our songs. We didn’t even think that it would be such a cool video. We used to run through these streets in the game [Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas], and now we made our own interpretation of Shchedrivka there, + visited Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

The end of the video features a cameo from Schwarzenegger simply saying the song’s title, which translates to “Generous Evening.”

Kalush Orchestra has contributed significantly to their home country during this horrific time, according to their Instagram post from December 30.

The group summarized a “very productive” 2022, which included raising 60 million in Ukrainian hryvnia and spreading Ukrainian music across “half the world.”

Watch the “Shchedryi Vechir” video above.

Now that all the controversies surrounding Don’t Worry Darling have passed (I will not be recounting them), let’s focus on what matters: Florence Pugh!

Whether it’s Midsommar or Little Women or The Little Drummer Girl (which you should really watch), Pugh has proven time and time again that she’s one of the best actresses of her generation. She’s also been outspoken about “vulgar” body-shaming trolls.

In an interview with Vogue (the second time she’s been on the cover, a prestigious honor for anyone but especially someone who’s only 27), Pugh discussed the nipple fiascos she’s found herself in. “I’ve never been scared of what’s underneath the fabric,” she said. “If I’m happy in it, then I’m gonna wear it. Of course, I don’t want to offend people, but I think my point is: How can my nipples offend you that much?” Pugh continued:

“It’s very important that we do this. I know that some people might scoff at me saying that, but if a dress with my breasts peeking through is encouraging people to say, ‘Well, if you were to get raped, you would deserve it,’ it just shows me that there’s so much more work to do.”

You can read the rest of the profile here. And enjoy a new “Cooking with Flo”!

(Via Vogue)

In 2022, Rufus Taylor, member of The Darkness and son of Queen drummer Roger Taylor, was one of the drummers given the honor of performing with the surviving Foo Fighters members at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts. (That’s part of the reason why some fans think he should be Foo Fighters’ new drummer going forward.) Now, he admits all the star power on the bill left him extremely nervous before rehearsals.

In a recent MusicRadar interview, Taylor said:

“I was sh*tting myself a little bit going into the rehearsals, because I knew that it was gonna be a room full of the best drummers in the world, like Omar Hakim, Dave [Grohl], and Stewart f*cking Copeland, all these monster players. Obviously, I know Dave, but Stewart and Omar, all those guys — me and Taylor used to talk about them all the time. So now I suddenly have to go in and play a nine-minute solo in front of them! I still hadn’t mapped it out in my head. I didn’t know what was gonna happen. But it all kind of went really smooth in the end.”

He also noted about how he feels Hawkins’ influence in his own drumming, saying, “When I was touring with The Darkness in the States, there were a lot of times immediately after [Hawkins’ death], I would do these flams and little fills here and there and I’d go, ‘Oh my God. I stole that from him years ago.’ I’ve always been doing it and I never thought about it. It was very weird. But seeing the Foos guys — they are like family to me — seeing them in rehearsals and then doing what my guy always did was quite surreal. But I had to just think, ‘If he was in the room, would he be proud? What would he say?’ He would just be egging me on, I know it. So that kind of thought got me through it. But yeah, it was nerve-wracking.”

Check out the full interview here.

Earlier this week, social media went wild over a report that suggested the Biden administration was considering a ban on gas stoves following a lengthy study on hazardous methane emissions, which may cause asthma in children. Naturally, Fox News immediately picked up the story, and in less than 24 hours, “Biden wants to take away your gas stove” was already a whole thing. However, as these things often go, the situation was blown way out of proportion.

On Tuesday, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, the chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission had already issued a statement making it clear that while the health effects of gas stoves were being studied, there was no plan or even authority to ban them from homes. Via Gizmodo:

“Research indicates that emissions from gas stoves can be hazardous, and the CPSC is looking for ways to reduce related indoor air quality hazards,” Hoehn-Saric said. “But to be clear, I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so.”

So that should be the end of that, right? Nope. Enter Meghan McCain (and her new M3GAN profile pic.) On Wednesday night, the former The View co-host proceeded to blast liberals for sparking the gas stove oven debate.

“In an era just absolutely filed with tornadoes of dumbass news cycles – the current left wing ‘you shouldn’t own a gas stove virtue signal’ may ACTUALLY take the cake for dumbest,” McCain tweeted.

In McCain’s quasi-defense, there were several people on social media who did latch onto the health and environmental concerns highlighted by the CPSC. Turns out folks are concerned about how much methane gas they or their children are breathing in. Wild! That said, by Wednesday it was already made clear that a gas stove ban was never on the table, and it was Fox News who is still having an absolute field day with the topic.

As always, McCain was ruthlessly mocked in the replies:

(Via Meghan McCain on Twitter)

Just last month, a paparazzi asked Judge Judy what she thinks of Justin Bieber’s evolution since he used to be “scared to death” of her because of his old bad behavior. She said she hasn’t talked to him in a while, but she’s “seen him since, and he looks wonderful, and he seems happy.”

Actor Colin Farrell, though, has a different perspective on Bieber’s past mischief — he doesn’t think it was bad to begin with.

Talking about his own troublesome antics during an actors roundtable conversation for The Hollywood Reporter, Farrell used Bieber as an example of people being overly dramatic about what celebrities do: “When I hear, like, years ago, ‘Justin Bieber threw eggs at his neighbor,’ I’m like, he deserves a medal if that’s all he’s doing. ‘He raced a car on Ocean Drive.’ Like if that’s all he’s doing, that kid is trying the best he can to be a good human being.”

The peak of Bieber’s messy past was when he was arrested in Miami for drag racing and DUI in 2014. On the seven-year anniversary in 2021, he wrote, “My encouragement to you is to ‘let your past be a reminder of how far god has brought you. Don’t allow shame to ruin your ‘today’ let the forgiveness of Jesus take over and watch your life blossom into all that God has designed you to be.”

Watch the full roundtable above.

Iggy Azalea went scorched-earth when The Athletic‘s Tashan Reed tweeted in October, “The combination of Allegiant Stadium trying to make BBQ and Iggy Azalea performing at halftime is gonna make me depressed.” After Azalea completed her performance at halftime between the Las Vegas Raiders and Houston Texans, she replied, “f you think you’re depressed now I’ll spare you the tears you’d cry knowing what my paycheck was to come and jiggle a lil ass.”

The humorous exchange might have been an appetizer for what Azalea has in store for us this Friday, January 13.

Earlier this week, Azalea was asked when she’s planning on dropping new music. “Music?… summer,” she tweeted back. “Scandalous sh*t?… Friday.”

We haven’t heard from Azalea since 2021’s aptly titled album The End Of An Era, which she implied at the time would be her final musical output. However, last August, she changed her mind.

“A year ago I was willing to walk away from music because I was tired of the negative energy it attracted,” Azalea tweeted on August 8, 2022. “But what I’ve learned is that even when I’m minding my business, y’all gonna be negative AND nosey. So if I can’t have peace, neither can you. I’m coming back. Cry about it.”

More recently, Azalea opened on Pitbull’s Can’t Stop Me Now Tour and reportedly sold her master recordings and publishing catalog for “an eight-figure sum.”