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The GOP’s prediction of a “red wave” sweeping the 2022 midterms turned out to be less of a tsunami and more of a disappointing ripple, one that signals Republicans might be more out-of-touch than they thought when it comes to the issues everyday Americans care about.

Of course, instead of questioning whether gutting abortion rights and platforming candidates with a track record of killing innocent puppies was the right move for the future of their party, right-wing pundits are looking for an easy scapegoat and the obvious choice is Donald Trump. After plenty of Trump-backed candidates underperformed in their respective races, even the Mar-a-Lago retiree’s staunchest supporters are now jumping ship. One such turncoat is Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany who suggested that the MAGA mascot should “put it on pause” when asked about Trump’s plan to run again in 2024.

When asked if she thought Trump should delay any presidential announcements he was planning for after the 2022 Midterms, McEnany replied, “I think he needs to put it on pause. Absolutely.”

When asked whether Trump should head to Georgia to boost support for his favored Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, McEnany responded with an ominous, “I think we’ve got to make strategic calculations.”

But, when it came to cheerleading Trump’s emerging Republican rival Governor Ron DeSantis, who easily won his reflection in Florida this week, McEnany was surprisingly candid.

“Gov. DeSantis, I think he should be welcomed to the state,” she said. “After what happened last night, you’ve got to look at the realities on the ground, and Herschel Walker, we’ve got to win the Senate.”

It sounds like the GOP may have a new golden boy. We can’t wait to see how Trump handles the news.

(Via RawStory)

Anitta opened about the reason why she twerked on Spanish politician Isabel Díaz Ayuso during a performance last week. In an interview that was released last night (November 8), the Brazilian superstar said didn’t know who Ayuso was at first.

Anitta went viral over the weekend thanks to her performance at the Los40 Music Awards on Friday night. While performing her global hit “Envolver,” she went out into the audience to dance with a few people in the front row. Anitta later twerked on Ayuso, the president of the Community of Madrid. The move was first seen as a possible queer statement by Anitta, who is openly bisexual. Ayuso is a conservative politician who previously said that she would repeal parts of Madrid’s LGBT law if she could.

In an interview on the Spanish program La Resistencia, Anitta explained what really went down with her performance. She said that her publicist suggested to her to dance with the people in that part of the audience where Ayuso was sitting. Anitta also revealed that she confused about Ayuso’s title as president of the Community of Madrid, thinking that she was the president of a Facebook community.

“I liked her very much, but I’m afraid I didn’t fully understand who she was until they showed me the madness that had unfolded [afterward],” Anitta said.

Anitta followed Ayuso on Instagram and the politician returned the favor. Next up, Anitta will host the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards on November 17 alongside Luis Fonsi, Thalia, and Laura Pausini.

Self-proclaimed “Emo-Afrobeat star” CKay has shared the video for his sensual new song, “Mmadu.” The track has been lauded as a fan-favorite from CKay‘s album, Sad Romance, which was released this past November, and on the song, he sings of a building urge to get intimate with his flame.

“I want you, I need you, whoa-whoa / I see through your see-through, whoa-whoa / You drive me crazy like a chauffeur / When I see you, I want to do you,” he sings on the track.

In the song’s accompanying video, CKay is seen in a resort eating dinner with a beautiful woman. The two are later seen enjoying intimate moments in the city of Lagos in bed, imagining they are the only two around.

“The inspiration, simply put, was sexual tension,” said CKay in a statement. “It’s more sensual than my previous videos. It makes me feel a mixture of sensuality, love, and sadness. An exciting mix of emotions. Very few songs make me feel like that.”

The video was directed by Ahmed Mosh, who Ckay said can capture emotion well.

“He also brings the beauty out of African aesthetics in a way very few can,” said CKay.

Check out the video for “Mmadu” above.

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

American single malt whiskey has officially arrived. Up until recently, the style still felt niche and very craft-driven, but that’s no longer the case. Jack Daniel’s just dropped their 2022 Special Release and it’s a Twice Barreled American Single Malt. Yes, the company best known for fruity/sweet Tennessee whiskey (bourbon and ryes) has gone all-in on America’s love of single malt whiskey.

While this sounds like a one-off to jump on a bandwagon, Jack Daniel’s team is truly all-in on the American single malt market. Earlier this year, they released their TripleMash, which was blended with their American single malt. Now, we have this year’s Special Release of American single malt whiskey at cask strength. Next year, Jack will release another American single malt with the exact same single malt whiskey proofed down to 45%/90 proof and at a price closer to $30 for everyday drinking/mixing.

Below, I’ll be taking a deep dive into what’s actually in the bottle. This is all about figuring out how good this stuff actually tastes and, in turn, whether it’s worth seeking out to add to your November bar cart. Let’s dive right in!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

• We Put A Whole Bunch Of Bourbons To A Giant Blind Test And Discovered Some Absolute Gems
• The Affordable Vs Expensive Blind Bourbon Bottle Battle
• We Blind Tasted Classic Bourbons And Were Shocked By The Winner
• The Best-Known Basic Bottles Of Bourbon, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States

Jack Daniel’s Twice Barreled 2022 Special Release American Single Malt

ABV: 52.85%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

This brand-new whiskey from Jack Daniel’s is made with a 100% malted barley mash bill. Those grains are milled and mashed with Jack’s famed cave spring water right in Lynchburg, Tennessee. That mash is then fermented with Jack’s own yeast and then distilled before the long process of charcoal mellowing/filtration. The hot juice is run through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal and is then filled into new American white oak barrels for a several-year rest. Finally, those barrels were vatted and re-barreled in Olorosso sherry casks for a final maturation before bottling as-is at cask strength.

Tasting Notes:

Light milk chocolate powder malts greet you on the nose with soft leather, a hint of cedar, fresh gingerbread, a hint of fresh wicker canes, oatmeal cookie dough, a whisper of spearmint, and some sweet ice tea powder. The palate opens up with a sense of sour red fruit with a rich vanilla foundation that leads to woody spices with a mild essence of pine sap and saddle soap before a vanilla white cake sweetness and soft mouthfeel kick in. The mid-palate expands toward higher ABV buzziness with a note of almond shell and coconut shell next to Mounds bars and fresh leather on the finish with a fleeting sense of cream soda just kissed with orange-chocolate syrup.

The Bottle:

This special release is in Jack’s classic limited edition bottle. It’s a nice decanter with a blue label that really stands out from the usual Jack Daniel’s subtle labeling. Overall, this is an eye-catching bottle of something very new.

Bottom Line:

This was very much a bourbon drinker’s American single malt. The maltiness came through on the nose mostly with the palate presenting a deep and very American whiskey flavor profile. I can see drinking this is an easy sipper without question. I also see it as a solid cocktail base for a single malt old-fashioned or even a snappy Sazerac.

Ranking:

89/100 — In the grand scheme of things, this is very good whiskey. While I wanted a little more maltiness, this was still well-flavored, balanced, and had great depth.

The pandemic ruined a lot of things, like Uber Pools and the general feeling of safety in a crowd, but it also took away the one thing Steven Spielberg really cares about (besides aliens that look like raisins): the movie-going experience.

Sure, Tom Cruise resurrected movie theaters this summer, and Nicole Kidman created her own cult out of every AMC Theater location, but that wasn’t enough for Spielberg, who says that outlets like HBO Max and Disney+ ruined movies by having them go straight to streaming, even when movies theaters were not open.

The director spoke with The New York Times about how the movie industry could survive the next wave of streaming. “The pandemic created an opportunity for streaming platforms to raise their subscriptions to record-breaking levels and also throw some of my best filmmaker friends under the bus as their movies were unceremoniously not given theatrical releases,” Spielberg explained.

This was prevalent in the summer of 2020, when big-budget movies like Tenet and Black Widdow weren’t given that theatrical release window they were promised due to …everything. This caused a very upset Christopher Nolan to stop making movies with his longtime collaborators at Warner Bros. His next film, Oppenheimer, will be his first movie not to be released with WB in over 20 years.

Spielberg continued to explain the issue with streamers who began to overcharge for their services when there was, quite literally, nothing else to do. “They were paid off and the films were suddenly relegated to, in this case, HBO Max. The case I’m talking about. And then everything started to change.”

The director’s latest film The Fablemans hits theaters this weekend, and even though Spielberg wants you to see it in a dark room with a hundred other strangers, he won’t force you to. But he will judge you. “When you’re first starting out, and a streaming service gives you a chance to direct your first movie, of course, the streaming service is going to call the shot, but I don’t know anybody that wouldn’t like their movies to be shown on a big screen,” Spielberg explained. “I don’t know anyone that would say, no, I’d rather it be shown on an iPad or in a living room.”

The Fablemans will triumphantly hit theaters on November 11th. Or you can watch it on your iPad at a later date, eventually.

(Via The AV Club)

Charli XCX is executive producing and supplying the tunes for comedian Benito Skinner’s newly-announced Amazon show, Overcompensating. The series will also be produced by A24 and feature Skinner as the star.

Compensating‘s premise centers around an Idaho football player who “struggles to accept his sexuality in college, finding himself overcompensating as he tries to convince himself of something he’s not,” per The Hollywood Reporter.

“AH!!!!!!!!!! Been waiting to share this for the past 2 years…” Skinner captioned the news on Instagram. “I am so proud of this project and can’t believe all the incredible people I get to make it with. It’s hard to describe what a dream this is but I just want to say thank you for supporting me!!! I LOVE YOU and I know you are going to love this show it’s my baby and my favorite thing I’ve ever written @a24 @strongbabyproductions @amazonstudios @charli_xcx.”

While the series is still in development and doesn’t have a release date, Charli and Skinner previously collaborated when he appeared in her “New Shapes” music video. She has also had a significant business partnership with A24, as her song “Hot Girl” appeared on the soundtrack for the studio’s 2022 movie, Bodies Bodies Bodies.

Charli and Skinner are also executive producing the series alongside Jonah Hill, Scott King, Serrano and Searle, Scooter Braun, James Shin, Scott Manson, and Kyle Vinuya.

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

This week People’s Party with Talib Kweli has special guest Ron Funches on deck. Funches is comedian, writer, and voice actor who we’ve all seen (or heard) in shows and movies like Portlandia, Bojack Horseman, Adventure Time, Harley Quinn, Drunk History, and many more. Giggle Fit is his latest comedy special and he, Kweli, and co-host Jasmin Leigh have amazing discussions about his career-long journey toward that project.

The trio also discusses the tragic loss of Jak Knight, who passed away recently by suicide. In a somber moment, Funches reflected on the loss the LA comedy community suffered and reflected on how many comedians and people, in general, are suffering in silence.

“When I was 28 I was on the road in Oregon struggling,” he notes, comparing himself to Knight. “This guy had TV credits and writing skills. To see him not be able to enjoy his 30s and 40s feels like such a big loss to me. A good evolution in the voice of Black comedy…I would have never guessed that he was struggling.”

Co-host and comedian Jasmin Leigh was also close to him and noted:

“Mental health is just such a problem in comedy. Your life is in shambles but yet your job is to get on stage and make people laugh. Those other people don’t know to take the time to realize that you are not laughing at yourself. There are so many people hurting right now.”

For more real wisdom from one of the fastest rising comedic minds, peep Ron Funches on People’s Party with Talib Kweli and co-cost Jasmin Leigh on YouTube and listen on Luminary.

As the Republican Party comes to grips with the midterm election results that failed to produce a “red wave,” Meghan McCain has joined the chorus of GOP members who are putting the blame squarely on Donald Trump. The former co-host of The View blasted Trump in her latest Daily Mail column where she highlighted that his MAGA acolytes like Dr. Oz suffered stunning defeats while more moderate Republicans like Ron DeSantis and Brian Kemp sailed to victory.

“Nearly every major MAGA candidate and Trump-disciple lost or is likely to lose, with the exception of JD Vance in the Ohio Senate race,” McCain wrote before going hard on Trump for being an albatross around the GOP’s neck:

There is a simple and easy conclusion to draw from this. Trump’s MAGA is cancer and it is killing my party. And this should be the final nail in his coffin. President Trump is no kingmaker, in fact, he is the opposite. He seems to have a knack for picking losing candidates. That may be because it is more important to Trump, the narcissist, that candidates suck up to him, kiss his ring and vomit up his talking points, instead of running sincere campaigns that connect with voters in an authentic way.

Adding insult to injury, McCain backed DeSantis as the future of the Republican Party and joined others in saying the midterm elections will only boost his chances of beating Trump in the 2024 primary.

“It has poured rocket fuel on his presidential ambitions,” McCain wrote. “But as of Wednesday morning, President Trump is mere days away from an expected announcement of his third run for the White House. We can see two clear pathways ahead. One leads to success and the other to failure for the GOP.”

(Via Daily Mail)

We’re living in the golden age of artist-led music festivals. Regardless of what you’re music stylings tend to favor, there’s now something for every palette on the music festival circuit. In the past 3o days alone, we’ve seen Deftones put on another edition of their rock and rap Dia De Los Deftones in San Diego, Lil Wayne made sure that Lil Weezyana came back to his hometown of New Orleans, and Porter Robinson’s Second Sky dreamworld fest went down in Oakland for the second time. Now Snail Mail is scoring one for the indie rock heads with Valentine Fest coming to Lindsey Jordan’s hometown of Baltimore next year.

Named after Snail Mail’s latest album, Valentine (and the wildly popular self-titled lead single), Valentine Fest is happening across five nights from February 10th through February 14th. The lineup will be different each night, with Jordan bringing on surprise acts to each bill. Baltimore’s Ottobar is a 350-capacity venue, so the handful of shows will be an intimate affair.

“It’s been almost five years since I’ve played my hometown,” Jordan said in a statement, “So we’re playing five nights of shows, leading up to Valentine’s Day, with a surprise band (or two) every night, curated by me. We tried to do this last year, but had to cancel for surgery! Feels worth the wait 🙂 I’ll see you at the Ottobar :)”

Tickets for Valentine Fest go on sale Friday, November 11th at 10 a.m. ET here. Also check out Snail Mail’s remaining tour dates with Turnstile here.

Earlier this week, Dwight Howard announced he is joining Taiwan’s Taoyuan Leopards after spending 18 years in the NBA. Most recently, he made 60 appearances with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021-22, marking his third stint with the franchise. In 2019-20, he played a role in Los Angeles winning its first title since 2010. As free agency came and went, Howard remained unsigned, leading to his decision to venture overseas for the next step of his playing career.

Speaking with Shannon Sharpe on Sharpe’s show, “Club Shay Shay,” Howard made clear he was interested in re-signing with Los Angeles, though it obviously never manifested.

“I woulda been willing to go back to the Lakers,” Howard said. “I’ve been willing to go back. They told me, every time, we’re not gonna give nobody over 30 a contract, a multiple-year contract. So I’m like, dang, I just helped y’all win an NBA championship. Y’all could give your boy a mil or two, give me a mil. I don’t want a whole bunch of minutes, give me 20 minutes, let me ball out.”

The Lakers elected to sign Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant to support Anthony Davis at the center spot. They also inked Wenyen Gabriel to a deal last spring and picked up his 2022-23 team option. Gabriel has largely held down the backup five minutes this season, especially as of late. Bryant underwent thumb surgery in mid-October and has yet to suit up for Los Angeles.