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(House of the Dragon spoilers ahead.)

There have been a lot of changes for the House of the Dragon clan. After numerous time jumps and cast changes, we are starting to see just how bonkers this family is. And it’s only the beginning!

At the end of the most recent episode, Viserys’ body has finally succumbed to his zombie-like illness (what was he even sick with, anyway?) but not before he unintentionally stirred up some more drama in the form of a significant misunderstanding. While speaking with Alicent, Viserys, in all his drugged-up glory, confuses Alicent for Rhaenyra, who he was speaking with the night before.

“His dream. The Song of Ice and Fire. It is true. What he saw in the north. The Prince That Was Promised,” Viserys said to Alicent, thinking it was Rhaenyra. “To unite the realm. Against the cold and the dark. It is you. You are the one. You must do this. You must do this,” Viserys adds. But Alicent just hears the words “Aegon” and “The Prince Who Was Promised” and assumes that Aegon is who Viserys was talking about. Only… he was not!

“The intention was that she genuinely thought he was telling her that her son was going to be the heir,” director Geeta Patel told The Hollywood Reporter of the pivotal moment. “The only way to get even close to achieving that was to feel the vulnerability and innocence in Alicent. We had to feel less of the conniving and more of the girl that we grew up with in episode one. The fact that you were even confused makes me feel good because I felt like that was such a high bar for us coming out of Miguel’s [episode seven] when she was hanging out with Larys in the last scene,” Patel explained.

So, while Alicent thinks that The Prince Who Was Promise is Aegon, that isn’t the case after all. Viserys seem to imply that Rhanenyra is the one who must unite the land (the king did confirm her as his heir earlier in the episode), but of course, things can never be that easy, right? So who is the Prince Who Was Promised?

There are a few theories, though many believe that the real Prince is Jon Snow, which connects the two storylines House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. On the other hand, Viserys thought he was talking to Rhaenyra, and he said that she is the one at the center of this big, centuries-long prophecy. Still, after Alicent’s misunderstanding, it doesn’t seem like there will be another big happy family reunion anytime soon. Though that’s probably for the best!

(Via Decider)

The Brenaissance is upon us with Brendan Fraser not only growing emotional over his Venice standing ovation but also becoming visibly moved at news that people are rooting for him. While we await Fraser’s performances in The Whale and (further down the line) Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, there’s plenty of him on the way in HBO Max’s Doom Patrol Season 4. The show will return amid plenty of Warner Bros. Discovery upheaval, and that’s fantastic news, given the show’s cult following and stellar cast, including Matt Bomer as Negative Man and Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane (and her 64 incarnations). And towering above them all is the voice of the Encino Man star, unseen but very much heard (and felt) in one of the most layered voice roles ever.

This Season 4 teaser plays down the dramatic tones of Fraser’s Cliff Steele (and his tragic race-car driver origin story) and chooses to feature his free-wheeling exclamations to herald the return of the DC misfit superheroes. We do receive a “what the yeehaw f–” and a “Daddy’s home, sh*tlickers,” and Fraser fans will not complain. It’s a role where he gets to be angry and harsh and alternately soft and caring. That’s part of the show’s beauty: we get to know these scarred heroes who never wanted their superhuman talents in the first place, but they’re making the best (and worst) of them, and they’ve banded together as an unbreakable freak-force who might save this world:

Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of superpowered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them. Season Four opens with the team unexpectedly traveling to the future to find an unwelcome surprise. Faced with their imminent demise, the Doom Patrol must decide once and for all which is more important: their own happiness or the fate of the world?

Doom Patrol returns to HBO Max on December 8.

Jessie Reyez opened for a portion of her longtime friend Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever World Tour and featured on Kehlani’s Blue Water Road earlier this year, but it’s officially Yessie season now. The Canadian supernova dropped her new album in mid-September, featuring the rueful single “Mutual Friend.” Next up? The Yessie Tour.

Reyez will kickstart her 31-date North American tour this Thursday (October 13) in Miami at The Oasis Wynwood. The trek boasts sold-out dates in Phoenix (October 23), Los Angeles (October 24), Denver (November 3), Chicago (November 8 & 9), Charlotte (November 16), and her hometown Toronto (November 28). A second date was added at Toronto’s HISTORY on November 30. The North American leg will wrap at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom on December 4.

The four-time Juno winner unveiled her UK and European dates last month, beginning in Oslo, Norway, on January 16, 2023, and wrapping at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on January 31. Full dates and available tickets can be found on Reyez’s official website.

Yessie is the follow-up to Reyez’s Grammy-nominated 2020 debut album Before Love Came To Kill Us. The album was welcomed into the world with a star-studded release party, attended by the likes of Drake, Diddy, Yung Miami, Diplo, Ty Dolla Sign, and Uproxx’s October cover star Cordae.

Reyez also recently gave an impressive “El Tiny” performance as part of NPR Tiny Desk’s celebration of Latinx Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15. Watch it below.

This Friday, October 14, Lil Baby is set to release his third studio album, It’s Only Me after a rollout campaign that included the singles “Right On,” “In A Minute,” “Frozen,” and “Detox.” The Atlanta rapper also shared the album’s cover image last month, which features an illustrated rendering of the popular hip-hop Mount Rushmore meme in which all four faces belong to Baby himself — a clever response to last summer’s fan protest of his inclusion over such Atlanta rap mainstays as Ludacris, Outkast, T.I., and more. The album is 23 songs with seven features, and he doesn’t plan on releasing a deluxe version.

Lil Baby kicked off the rollout for It’s Only Me this spring with the cryptic tweet, “It’s Gone Be A Nastyyyy Summer.” He also posted on Instagram, “This Summer Mine.” Since then, not only did he release a steady stream of his own singles but he also appeared as a featured artist in songs from the likes of Ed Sheeran (“2Step“), Future (“Like Me“), 42 Dugg (“U-Digg“), Nav (“Never Sleep“), and DJ Khaled (“Staying Alive” with Drake and “Big Time” with Future). He also dropped the documentary Untrapped: The Story Of Lil Baby detailing his rise to stardom, received an ASCAP songwriting award and a humanitarian award from the Black Music Action Coalition, and features in new ads for Call Of Duty and Beats By Dre.

It’s Only Me is out 10/14 via Quality Control/UMG.

Logan Paul has accused Bad Bunny of potentially exploiting Puerto Rico’s tax laws, during his recent appearance on Philip DeFranco’s YouTube show. Paul, who currently takes advantage of the country’s Act 22 program to own propety, claims Bad Bunny uses the same tax program. (Bad Bunny recently released a documentary about Puerto Rico’s gentrification, which expresses negativity on foreigners using Act 22 to purchase cheap housing in the country.)

“Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican living in Puerto Rico who is privately taking advantage of the same tax program that he is publicly condemning,” Paul said. “I know this and I see things like this and it hurts. There are local Puerto Ricans who know about this. I see this music video that has stuck me in the middle of it surround by context that makes me look like a vulture in Puerto Rico. While I love Bad Bunny, I cannot personally support the hypocritical nature of his exploitation.”

Following his comments on Bad Bunny, Paul pledged to donate back to the local community with funds he’s saved through using the program, although his official donation amount is currently disclosed.

“We’re doing what we can to help,” Paul continued. “And I want to do more as well. And truthfully, I should be doing more.”

Still, those who viewed Paul’s reaction to Puerto Rico and Act 22 had different reactions. “I feel like Logan doesn’t get that what the community wants is not money,” one commenter wrote. “To understand what you have to do to make up for the damage you have done, you have to understand what exactly is the damage in the first place. People are angry because they are being moved out of their homes and their spaces, not becuase you are not paying enough out of your own wallet.”

Watch Logan Paul’s comments on Bad Bunny and Act 22 above.

The Carolina Panthers have gotten off to a dreadful start to the 2022 NFL season, going 1-4 through five weeks, most recently getting drubbed by Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers at home in a 37-15 loss. The loss was emblematic of Carolina’s struggles under Matt Rhule since he took over, as the former Baylor coach was expected to liven up the offense, which has instead flatlined under his watch.

Rhule’s Panthers dropped to 1-27 in games where teams score 17 or more points on Sunday, and on Monday, the Panthers made official the move everyone has been anticipating for nearly a year now, which was to fire Rhule.

Rhule went 11-27 in his three seasons in Carolina, never establishing an identity offensively despite trying out various coordinators and quarterbacks in his tenure. One would expect him to return to the college ranks where he will likely have his pick of the numerous jobs open right now — and likely more to come this offseason — as his style seems more suited to the college game where he can recruit players that fit his specific ideals.

As for where the Panthers go from here, in the interim, defensive pass game coordinator Steve Wilks will take over, who was previously the head coach in Arizona for one season and has been with Carolina in two separate stints. The Panthers won’t exactly be viewed as one of the NFL’s top jobs, as that is reserved for teams with a clear franchise quarterback (or potential one, at the least) and to this point it’s been fairly clear that Baker Mayfield isn’t that guy (and Sam Darnold, currently injured, isn’t either). The one thing that seems like a guarantee is that they’ll stick to the pro ranks to find their next head coach.

Meghan McCain called out conservatives over the weekend for fangirling Kanye West before and after the controversial rapper had his social media accounts restricted for a series of antisemitic posts. Kanye landed in hot water on Instagram after he shared screencaps of a text message exchange where he accused Diddy of being controlled by Jews. After his account was restricted, Ye moved over to Twitter where he vowed to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” The tweet was later deleted by the platform for violating community standards.

In an impassioned statement on Instagram, McCain called out the seriousness of West promoting antisemitism.

“It is a cancer and it is everywhere,” McCain wrote. “It is an existential threat to American life and our Jewish friends and family both in our country and outside of it. I have zero tolerance for this sh*t. Zero.”

In a rare move, the conservative firebrand called out her side of the aisle for embracing Kanye’s antics, which she bluntly referred to as “poison.” Via Instagram:

“Conservatives always claim to hate celebrity but jump and get excited like a teenage girl at a Harry Styles concert any time any of them show our side attention. It is pathetic, we are supposed to be anti celebrity and for the average working men and women – but I guess that went out the window years ago. This man is no icon, he has no wisdom I care to hear.”

McCain ended her post by, again, urging Republicans to reject antisemitism. “Do not look the other way from this statement – it is the public hatred of Judaism and Jews and full f*cking stop there is NO place for this anywhere.”

You can see Meghan McCain’s full statement on Kanye below:

(Via Meghan McCain on Instagram)

There’s turning 18, and then there’s turning 18 when you’re LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. Bronny’s birthday was last Thursday (October 6), but the real celebration of LeBron James’s eldest son came over the weekend. Travis Scott pulled up to help ring in Bronny’s 18th properly.

Footage from the party, relayed by Complex, captured Scott performing a range of his biggest hits, such as “Goosebumps” and “Butterfly Effects.” Bronny and LeBron couldn’t contain their excitement next to Scott, showing off their hops.

The “Sicko Mode” star was the undisputed headliner, but Bronny also welcomed 2022 XXL Freshman SoFaygo to perform his Lyrical Lemonade-boosted smash “Knock Knock.”

LeBron commemorated Bronny’s actual birthday with a loving Instagram post featuring a photo of them at the Ohio State Buckeyes’s season-opener against Notre Dame last month.

“How is this kid 18 years old today y’all!!??!!” the four-time NBA champion wrote in the caption. “I can’t deal with it. I’m so proud of the young man you’ve become kid! Continue to be YOU throughout your journey because it’s simply better that way! And I’ll be right beside you whenever/however needed! Love you Young @bronny!!! Happy Bday.”

The 37-year-old James is about to tip off his 20th season in the NBA and fifth with the Los Angeles Lakers, while the basketball world anxiously waits to see which route Bronny will take to the league.

“My last year will be played with my son,” James said in February, according to The Athletic. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”

With the release of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 right around the corner, Activision released a new ad over the weekend to get audiences hyped up. The “Squad Up” ad features Lil Baby, who calls out a march (“left, left, left-right-left”) as a menacing-looking crew tears up an airstrip with a fleet of ATVs, motorcycles, and jeeps.

Country star Kane Brown keeps the chant going in a packed honky-tonk bar, with Nicki Minaj taking it up in front of a helicopter with an all-girl crew. Even Pete Davidson shows up, playing up his charming slacker image (which fits in nicely with the perception of the actual gamer set which will likely form most of MW2‘s audience upon launch).

There’s just one face missing: That of Cardi B, who recently admitted to turning down millions from Activision for a Call Of Duty campaign as her court dates kept her too busy to make the commitment.

Naturally, fans have turned the coincidence into yet another battleground between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, speculating whether Nicki was Cardi’s replacement. At this point, I’d pay good money to watch a Twitch PPV in which the two rap queens take their teams to war in Call Of Duty to settle the beef with some form of literal competition just so one can be the winner and they can all get over it Tell Megan Thee Stallion to set it up.

Watch the trailer for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, out on 10/28, above.

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

No, The Simpsons did not predict the death of a 96-year-old woman… but if it had, it’s because adult Bart traveled back in time to the late 1980s to tell his family, including his younger self, about the horrors that await them in the future, naturally.

Season 34’s “Lisa the Boy Scout,” written by Dan Greaney and directed by Timothy Bailey, begins with a tried-and-true sitcom plot: Lisa joins the Boy Scouts (not to be confused with the Junior Campers), much to Bart’s dismay. But then, the episode gets “hacked” by Psuedo-nonymous, an “anarchist collective of nameless hacktivists” demanding $20 million in Bitcoin, or else they’ll air never-before-seen, “show-destroying” clips from The Simpsons. It’s a clever concept, leading to fake (?) rejected episode ideas like how there was never was a Lenny, he was just a figment of Carl’s imagination; Martin being a 36-year-old undercover informant with a wife and kids; and Ned converting to Judaism after Homer steals his mustache and uses it as a goatee.

“Lisa the Boy Scout” also reveals how The Simpsons is able to “predict” so many real-life events. One of the hacked clips is from the first episode of the show, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” after Homer surprises the family with Santa’s Little Helper on Christmas. The fuzzy feelings are interrupted by a grown-up Bart, who announces to the “lamewads of the past” that he has “come back in time to reveal the events of the future, so that you can amaze the world with your uncannily accurate predictions.” Like how in 2016, the Nobel prize in economics will go to Bengt Holmström.

Also:

There’s also gas hoarding, pandemics, World Cup results, Disney buying Fox, and how, apparently, everything in the future will be owned by Panda Express. “Ooh, orange chicken,” an excited Homer exclaims. Now there’s one prediction I hope comes true.

You can watch the episode (which is one of the best in years) on Hulu.