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Wiz Khalifa recently did an interview with DJ Superstar Jay in support of his newest album, Multiverse, where he revealed who his dream Verzuz opponents would be. The discussion, which happens around the 14-minute mark, brought up the popular series.

He picked two rappers who he thought would make a fun competition: Lil Wayne and Kid Cudi.

“Wayne – I think that would be really fun,” Wiz said. “Because Wayne’s a really dope performer, so it’s like, me and him going back and forth, performing bangers – that shit would be hard. And we both smoke hella weed. I think that would be more like a concert than a VERZUZ.”

As for why he picked Kid Cudi, he shared some sweet words about the fellow rapper. “He’s somebody who is like me…” he added. “We’ve got a multifaceted audience, and then he’s got some classic, like, core stuff – the same way that I do.”

Fans in the comments on the video interview also had some thoughts about the potential pairings.

“He really does smoke the best weed to think that. Him VERZUZ tyga or rocky would be cool tho,” one wrote.

Another named all the hits that Wiz has had, from “Black And Yellow” and “See You Again” to “Young, Wild And Free” as evidence for his Verzuz impact.

“those just his most mainstream sh*t lmao y’all tweaking thinking wiz can’t at the very least hang,” they commented. “the only difference is wayne is a little more versatile and has a couple extra years on his résumé!  I don’t think y’all give wiz the credit he deserves culturally.”

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

For the second time this season, Tua Tagovailoa will miss time due to the NFL’s concussion protocol. Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel confirmed on Wednesday morning that Tagovailoa suffered his second concussion of the season during the team’s 26-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day, and as a result, Teddy Bridgewater is slated to start against the New England Patriots this week.

Tagovailoa last entered the league’s concussion protocol following a scary injury that he suffered against the Cincinnati Bengals which led to him being stretchered off the field. He suffered another head injury the week before during the Buffalo Bills, and although he stumbled off of the field, Tagovailoa remained in the game.

While it is unclear when Tagovailoa got hurt against the Packers, videos on social media show that he hit the back of his head against the ground while getting taken down in the second quarter.

Tagovailoa remained in the game and spoke to the media after. According to Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN, Tagovailoa began to show symptoms on Monday and self-reported them to the team’s doctors. As a result, an official investigation has been opened into the matter as part of the standard operating procedure for concussions.

Bridgewater has completed 61.7 percent of his pass attempts this year for 522 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Miami plays New England and the New York Jets to close out the season in a pair of games with major AFC Wild Card implications. It is unclear if Tagovailoa will be cleared in time to play against the Jets, while McDaniel would not say if the team had plans to shut him down for the remainder of the year.

Former “Blue’s Clues” host and Millennial icon, Steve Burns, 49, made an appearance at Steel City Con in Monroeville, Pennsylvania earlier this month and he had no idea the surprise he was going to get. According to TMZ, Brandon Ragland, 25, stopped by his booth and showed him a photo that brought both men to tears.

It was a shot of Ragland taken in 2000 when he was just 4 years old, hanging out with Burns, who was his favorite TV personality. At the time, Ragland had stage 4 cancer in his kidneys and lungs so he was able to meet Burns through the Make-a-Wish program. The Make-a-Wish experience also included a shopping spree at Toys “R” Us and tickets to see “Blue’s Clues Live.”

After seeing the photo, Burns’ eyes lit up and he said, “I remember this and you!” Burns then told Ragland he remembers he was a bit of a wild child that ran all around the New York City restaurant where they met.

The two then took a reunion photo and both burst into tears. “This made my entire year and I’m so glad you’re here,” Burns told Ragland.

“I could hear his voice crack and get choked up, so I instantly just started to do the same,” Ragland wrote on Facebook. “I thanked him for not only being there today, but meeting me all those years ago.”

“One of the nicest and most genuine people I’ve had the pleasure to meet,” Ragland continued. “I think he might have been more moved than I was over the whole ordeal.”

The great news is that Ragland has been cancer-free and in remission for 23 years.

Burns left “Blue’s Clues” in 2002 for a career in music and voiceover acting. As a musician he’s worked with Steven Drozd from The Flaming Lips and composed the theme song to “Young Sheldon.” He also remained part of the “Blue’s Clues” family, working as a mentor to the show’s current host, Joshua Dela Cruz. He even appears on the show from time to time.

Most of Burns’ post “Blue’s Clues” work has been behind the camera, leaving many who loved him as a child to wonder what happened to him. He addressed his sudden departure from the show in September 2021 by appearing in his “Blue’s Clues” outfit on Nick Jr.’s Twitter account.

u201cSo about that time Steve went off to collegeu2026 #BluesClues25u201d

— Nick Jr. (@Nick Jr.)
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“You remember how when we were younger, we used to run around and hang out with Blue and find clues and talk to Mr. Salt and freak out about the mail and do all the fun stuff?” he asked on the video. “And then one day, I was like, ‘Oh hey, guess what? Big news, I’m leaving. Here’s my brother Joe, he’s your new best friend,’ and then I got on a bus and I left and we didn’t see each other for like a really long time?”

Burns then gave a heartfelt “thank you” that brought countless Millenials to tears.

“I guess I just wanted to say that after all these years, I never forgot you. Ever. And I’m super glad we’re still friends,” he said.

Air travel is a hot mess right now, especially with Southwest Airlines apparently in a system-wide meltdown. Thousands of flights have been canceled. Passengers are stranded at airports across the country. Checked bags are nowhere to be found. People are complaining of hours-long customer service lines and no one answering phones.

All of this is immensely frustrating, of course. No one likes having their plans changed without warning and having to scramble to problem-solve on the fly. Traveling is already stressful as it is, especially during the holidays, which is all the more reason to follow the one hard and fast rule for when your travel plans get disrupted.

Be kind to airline employees.

No matter what happened to cause the flight delays or cancelations, none of the desk personnel, gate agents, flight attendants, etc. in the airport or the customer service reps on the phone had anything to do with it. It’s not their fault, they’re not to blame and taking out frustrations on them is both unhelpful and unkind.

I’ve seen a surprising number of people complain to gate agents about a flight being canceled due to weather and outright demand they do something to fix it. If one flight is canceled due to weather in an area, they most probably all are, so demanding a fix to an unfixable problem will only lead to more frustration for all involved.

But even when the problem is something like the current Southwest situation, where it’s clearly not just weather but a bigger issue with the airline itself, it’s still not the fault of the individual airline employees at the airport or the person on the other end of the customer service line who are trying to help. They know passengers are frustrated and they are too. Tensions are high all around. But sometimes there’s simply nothing they can do, and no amount of ranting at them is going to change that.

u201cRemember to be kind to #Southwest airline employees. It is not their fault that their company failed. nThey are just as angry as you are. They have been sworn at for days, some even assaulted by being spit at. nWe are better than that.nI know we are.n#SpreadKindness #Humanityu201d

— Orlando Ribbons (@Orlando Ribbons)
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Airline employees are in the business of getting people where they’re supposed to go. They have no desire to keep anyone stranded in an airport. It’s not fun for them to have to deal with the logistical nightmare of trying to get thousands of tired, cranky customers and their luggage to the correct places. And if you’re stuck someplace due to a canceled flight, there’s a good chance some airline employees are stuck there as well. Southwest crew members report being stranded at airports and unable to get through to their own company. There’s simply never a reason to berate or abuse an airline employee for a flight delay or cancelation.

Passengers can make the argument that they paid the airline money to get them to their destination at a certain time, and the airline isn’t fulfilling its end of the bargain. If it’s the airline’s fault the flight was canceled, most airlines have policies in place for compensating passengers. But weather delays and cancelations are no one’s fault. They just happen. That’s part of the risk of airline travel. And while a flight being canceled due to weather is a bummer, it also keeps people safe.

The current Southwest debacle is another story, but even in that case, it’s no individual employee’s fault. The issues that led to a deluge of canceled Southwest flights start way up the chain, not at the poor person standing in front of the computer at the airport terminal trying desperately to mop up the mess. It’s understandable that people would be upset, but let’s make sure that emotion isn’t unleashed on powerless parties. Vent those frustrations into a strongly worded letter to the company or in a social media post or on a call to a sympathetic friend. Don’t take them out on the Southwest employee who is not only drowning in the flood but probably also wondering whether they’re going to have a job next month.

If you’re stuck at the airport try your best to thank the employees. I just said thanks to the Starbucks manager here and she almost cried. She said her crew has been working nonstop – it’s never ever been this busy or chaotic. Be kind to the airline employees. Not their fault.

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) December 27, 2022

The same goes for any employee at the airport. Anger and frustration are understandable and patience has its limit, but taking it all out on airline or airport employees only makes things worse. A little kindness and empathy can go a long way. The more we can put ourselves into other people’s shoes and treat others the way we would want to be treated in the moment, the better off everyone will be through all of this.

Patrick Xavier Clark, the 33-year-old Houston man accused of shooting and killing Migos rapper Takeoff on November 1 of this year, appeared in court on Tuesday (December 27) as his attorneys moved to have his bond lowered from $1 million to $300,000, according to ABC News. It was set at $1 million after a successful bid to have it reduced from $2 million. Clark’s lawyer feels the $300,000 figure is more appropriate, as the accused’s family can put a home up as collateral to secure his release.

However, prosecutors argue that Clark has hidden some financial assets and constitutes a flight risk if released from jail. This belief stems from a jail phone call in which Clark allegedly claimed that he could pay the $2 million. Of course, should he receive the lowered bond and have a bondsman issue a bond for him, if he does flee, it’ll cost his family their house.

Houston police identified Clark as a suspect using footage from the incident in which he can allegedly be seen holding a gun and firing it, while fingerprints place him at the scene. He also apparently searched for his name online the next day, which could suggest he expected or feared he would be associated with the shooting somehow. Meanwhile, ABC News drew criticism this week after its year-in-review program used a photo of Quavo mislabeled as his nephew Takeoff.

While he may be a self-proclaimed certified lover boy, rap superstar Drake receives plenty of hate in the sports world. Whether he’s pissing off Barcelona soccer club fans or scarring Argentina soccer club fans after playing a bet on the team to win the world cup, it seems the Drake curse, at least in sports, is real.

After attending his hometown team, the Toronto Raptors game versus the Los Angeles Clippers, the curse streak continued. Following their loss at home, the opposing team took to social media to rub it in.

On Instagram, the basketball team shared a clip in which the “Jimmy Cooks” rapper cheerfully greeted the Clippers’ shooting guard Norman Powell and former Raptor-now-Clipper Kawhi Leonard. In the caption, the team wrote, “Kawhi and Norm with a fan.”

Despite being a fan of the pair, the sport, and even having his own recreational league, Drake didn’t take kindly to not being mentioned by name. After the post was uploaded, he quickly jumped into the comment section to write, “Win a ring,” referring to the franchise’s lack of championship wins. In contrast, the Raptors took home their first championship ring in 2019 — ironically, with Kawhi starting at small forward. He left for the Clippers the next season.

Only 52 films have grossed over one billion dollars at the worldwide box office. The latest member of the exclusive club that includes blockbusters both good (The Dark Knight) and may God have mercy on us all (2010’s Alice in Wonderland): Avatar: The Way of Water. Everyone has tulkun fever!

James Cameron’s visually-stunning sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all-time crossed the $1 billion mark on Tuesday, becoming the sixth fastest movie to do so. The only movies to reach the milestone quicker: Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Jurassic World.

In just two weeks, The Way of Water has already passed the global box office tallies of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($800 million), The Batman ($770 million), Thor: Love and Thunder ($760 million), and Minions: The Rise of Gru ($939 million)… Outside of North America, Avatar 2 has enjoyed the strongest turnout in China with $104 million, followed by France with $60 million, Korea with $55.4 million, Germany with $41.5 million, and India with $39.2 million.

Avatar: The Way of Water is already the third highest-grossing movie of 2022, after likely Best Picture nominee Top Gun: Maverick and the instantly forgotten Jurassic World: Dominion, and will keep adding to its total. It could continue to top the box office throughout a slow January, unless M3GAN makes $60 million in its first week (as it should).

The lesson, as always: don’t bet against James Cameron.

(Via Variety)

Kodak Black is tapping into the Latin music market with Anuel AA. The Puerto Rican superstar teamed up with Black and Ñengo Flow for his swaggering “Sufro” video that was released yesterday (December 27).

On his latest album LLNM2, or Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren 2, Anuel AA teamed up with multiple American rap stars. Kodak Black features on the searing “Sufro.” Anuel AA returned to his Latin trap roots while blending in salsa music with sample of Gilberto Santa Rosa’s classic “Me Volvieron A Hablar De Ella.” In his guest verse, Black represents his Haitian roots by rapping a bit in Creole. Ñengo Flow rounds out the collaboration with his fiery verse.

In the video for “Sufro,” Anuel AA performs the song on top of a convenience store. He later parties with Ñengo Flow and Black, who proudly represents and waves his Haitian flag. Other hip-hop stars who feature on Anuel AA’s album include Lil Durk in the song “1ro” and DaBaby for their collaboration “Wakanda.”

Anuel AA’s album includes a whopping 33 tracks. French DJ David Guetta joined him on “Vibra.” Anuel AA’s wife, Yailin La Más Viral, featured on two songs. She teamed up with Anuel AA, Jowell y Randy, and De La Ghetto for the track “La Máquina.” Last week, Ñengo Flow released the song “Gato De Noche” featuring Bad Bunny.

Prepare your resolutions, it’s almost 2023. This also means that Ryan Seacrest is preparing to freeze his butt off in Times Square for another installment of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which is a relatively wholesome affair compared to what took place on CNN last year. For reference’s sake, Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper knocked back shots, and Andy got pretty darn messy. He went on a series of rants, including the following choice selection about Bill DeBlasio.

As Variety reminds everyone, Cohen also let loose on “Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers that are performing behind us,” which was apparently not lost on Seacrest. Granted, he doesn’t mention Cohen by name, but while speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Seacrest expressed support for how new CNN CEO Chris Licht made the call to cut back on the on-air boozing.

Here’s what Seacrest had to say while alluding to that drunken insult:

“I don’t advocate drinking when one is on the air. I don’t know how that started as a tradition, but it’s probably a good idea [to scale back], CNN. There’s some pretty respectable people or at least one, right? I think there’s a serious journalist and then a friend of mine who has a lot of fun, but it’s probably a good idea…. I think they had something to say about my show at one point, which was I’m sure from the alcohol because, I don’t think they would say what they said about our performers if they weren’t drinking.”

Interestingly enough, Variety‘s original reporting on Licht’s decision did specify that a few hosts (including Cohen and Cooper) would still be allowed to drink (“Anderson Cooper will still be able to imbibe during primetime hours — along with his co-host Andy Cohen — while the duo holds forth in Times Square”), and the cut-back was aimed more at offsite celebrations. That presumably means that Don Lemon won’t be getting wet and wild this year on Bourbon Street, which previously led to an on-air piercing and a faux proposal to Brooke Baldwin.

In other words, we may see more Tipsy Cohen rants after all? We’ll find out soon.

(Via Variety & Entertainment Weekly)

Ciara has dropped some catchy bops this year. With songs like the catchy “Jump,” and the kiss-off anthem “Better Thangs” with Summer Walker, Cici had some hits on her hands. This New Year’s Eve, Ciara will close out the year with a couple of performances of Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve.

Of course, fans can expect her to perform her hits from this year during her set, as she revealed to People.

“It’s been amazing to see the love from my fans for my newest song with Summer Walker called ‘Better Thangs,’ so they’ll definitely get a taste of that,” she said. “And then obviously I put out my song ‘Jump’ before that and so that’s a lot of energy that’s in your face nonstop. So there will be that, a little taste of that too.”

Also in the interview, Ciara teased some new music, of which fans will also get a preview during her performances.

“I’m also going to give my fans something new,” she said. “They’re going to get something exclusive the night of New Year’s, so I can’t wait. Let’s just say that it’s going to be winning energy.”

Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve airs Saturday, December 31 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.