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Vladimir Putin’s regime is serious about silencing government dissenters, to the point where his biggest Russian critic, Alexei Nalvany, will probably never see the light of day again. Nalvany has been jailed for nine years, and that’s obviously a lot worse than what happened to local officials who recently moved to give Putin the boot over his ongoing, near-failure of a war in Ukraine. Still, none of it is great.

The plot to overthrow Putin hatched itself in Smolninskoye, a district near St. Petersburg (Russia’s second-largest city), where the officials sought to put an end to the country’s economic turmoil, which has been largely wrought by the war, along with the resulting overall pariah status faced by Russia. Lawmaker Dmitry Palyuga blamed the dismal war for “harming Russia’s security and its citizens.” In response, the Kremlin brought the hammer down by summoning the officials to police headquarters, and punishment is now in the works. In short, the lawmakers’ district council will soon be no more, and financial repercussions are on the table: Via Reuters:

A group of St Petersburg local politicians who called for President Vladimir Putin to be sacked over the war in Ukraine faces the likely dissolution of their district council following a judge’s ruling on Tuesday, one of the deputies said. Nikita Yuferev said the judge decided that a series of past council meetings had been invalid, paving the way for it to be broken up by the regional governor.

Another council member, Dmitry Palyuga, said the same court then fined him 47,000 roubles ($780) for “discrediting” the authorities by calling for Putin’s removal. Court officials could not be reached by telephone for comment.

The war is, of course, still playing more than six months after Putin drop-shipped his troops into Ukraine. These days, they’re disguising themselves in order to flee Ukraine without detection, and even Russian State TV propagandists are calling the war a “failure” and urging Putin to abandon ship. So, will this local council eventually come back into existence? Hopefully, we’ll (eventually) receive an answer.

(Via Reuters)

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story wasn’t a hit when it was released in 2007 (it earned well under its budget at the box office), but since then, it’s become a bit of a cult favorite. The hilarious movie is a music biopic parody and stars John C. Reilly as the titular character, with notable cameos sprinkled throughout. Jack White has a memorable moment portraying Elvis Presley, and in another hilarious scene later in the movie, Cox goes to India to visit The Beatles, played by Paul Rudd (John Lennon), Jack Black (Paul McCartney), Justin Long (George Harrison), and Jason Schwartzman (Ringo Starr).

Walk Hard is an over-the-top movie and in line with that, Rudd, Black, Long, and Schwartzman’s portrayals of The Beatles were similarly exaggerated and caricature-like. That didn’t stop them (most of them, anyway) from being nervous about the parts, though.

Long was on The Tonight Show yesterday and the movie was mentioned. Fallon asked Long is he was nervous about the part and he said, “I was because it was, you know… the stakes couldn’t be higher. It’s The Beatles. If you like music, you love The Beatles.”

He also noted they only had a day to prepare for filming, so Long called Paul Rudd to tell him he was nervous about the role and Rudd felt the same way. So, the two got together and watched Beatles videos to get ready for shooting. Later, they got a call from Schwartzman, who revealed he was feeling nervous, too.

As for how Black was feeling about it, he had no nerves at all, although he did show up to set speaking with a Scottish accent instead of a British one. Black ended up doing fantastic in the movie, though, so Long’s takeaway from all of this was that he, Rudd, and Schwartzman were overthinking it.

Check out the interview, which also features Long impersonating each Beatle, above.

Last night (September 13), Britney Spears, as she often does, shared a video of herself dancing. This one was different, though. Partway through, she starts crying but continues to dance and smile through it. In the post’s caption, Spears explained that the tears don’t signify any sort of “breakdown,” but rather something productive.

Spears wrote, “It’s been a while since I’ve cried on camera [single tear emoji] !!! It’s not a breakdown assholes, it’s a release that I’ve needed for a very long time now !!! Spiritual experience for sure !!! I think I need to do that way more [rose emojis] !!! Psss… bawling.”

This comes shortly after Spears made waves on Instagram by sharing a post referencing “fat people,” in which she noted, “I wish I could have chosen the nannies for my children … my dancers … I mean if I had Christina Aguilera’s dancers I would have looked extremely small … I mean why not talk about it ??” She followed that up with a clarification last night, writing, “By no means was I being critical of Christina’s beautiful body, it is what it is !!! I flew to see her show once and the main thing I noticed was the difference of our people on stage !!! By no means did I even mention Christina, look at my post !!! I was inspired by her show and she is a beautiful woman of power … Thank you @xtina for inspiring me !!!”

Britney Spears got herself into a bit of social media trouble recently: A couple nights ago, she took to Instagram to share a quote that read, “I found there was only one way to look thin: hang out with fat people.” Her caption read in part, “I wish I could have chosen the nannies for my children … my dancers … I mean if I had Christina Aguilera’s dancers I would have looked extremely small … I mean why not talk about it ??”

The post was met with swift backlash and there were reports that Aguilera had unfollowed Spears on Instagram. Now, Spears has again taken to the image-sharing platform, this time to clear the air.

Last night (September 12), Spears posted an illustration of two fairy-like creatures and wrote, “By no means was I being critical of Christina’s beautiful body, it is what it is !!! I flew to see her show once and the main thing I noticed was the difference of our people on stage !!! By no means did I even mention Christina, look at my post !!! I was inspired by her show and she is a beautiful woman of power … Thank you @xtina for inspiring me !!!”

She went on to say that the post was just a “projection” of her own “insecurities,” writing, “To be honest, I’m not trying to be critical of anybody. What I posted is a projection of the insecurities I deal with all the time as a result of how my parents and the media have treated me … I would never intentionally body shame anybody because I know what it feels like … I struggle with this because of how I feel about myself, not because I hate how anybody looks … I feel like my family knew I was insecure and people were trying to purposefully feed into this insecurity by not letting me have a choice in the people who were on stage with me. I appreciate you all being understanding with me as I figure out this new life I’m living !!!”

Find Spears’ post below.

Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the last great movie stars, but lately he’s been primarily known for something else: His relentless obsession with very young girlfriends. To take one from David Wooderson, he gets older, they stay the same age, although the star of Blood Diamond likes them a bit older than McConaughey’s character did. His cut-off appears to be 25. He’s now 47. And hot on the heels of yet another DiCaprio love life joke at this year’s Emmys, here’s one from a legend of both music and psychic infomercials.

Dionne Warwick — who’s had a late career resurgence as an excellent Twitterer — took to social media Tuesday to drop her contribution to DiCaprio discourse. “I just heard about Leonardo DiCaprio’s 25 year rule,” wrote the top shelf Burt Bacharach cover artist. “His loss. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

The reason people keep talking about DiCaprio’s dating history? Late last month, he had yet another romantic split with yet another 20-something. Camilla Monroe, whom the actor dated starting when she was 21, had just turned 25 when he called it quits. Amidst an avalanche of jokes — which in the past DiCaprio himself has seemed to find funny — Monroe added her own, albeit with a bit more of an edge to it. And now she has one of the top-selling female artists of all time on his back. But we’ll bet dollars to donuts that it won’t be long before he finds someone who was born after Titanic was released.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Game 2 of the 2022 WNBA Finals brought sky-high stakes on Tuesday evening. The Connecticut Sun aimed to even the series after losing Game 1 on the road, while the Las Vegas Aces eyed a stranglehold on the series with the potential for another home win. While it wasn’t a complete onslaught, the Aces led for the lion’s share of the evening, eventually finishing off a 85-71 victory to climb within one win of a title.

In the early going, there was an amusing moment when the Aces seemingly forgot which basket to defend. That allowed the Sun to make a wide-open layup to open the evening, and it was a back-and-forth affair in the first quarter. The Aces took control with a late 9-1 run to end the quarter, grabbing a 23-15 lead behind 10-of-18 shooting and only one turnover.

Las Vegas built its lead to 14 points, with stars at the forefront. Reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum were quickly able to compile double figures in scoring, and the Aces were able to play off the home crowd in Las Vegas.

Connecticut did have its best run of the evening down the stretch of the first half with the help of repeated defensive stops. The Sun used a 12-4 spurt to slash the deficit back to six, though a beautiful set from the Aces beat the buzzer and gave the home team an eight-point edge at halftime.

Neither team shot well from long distance before halftime, combining for a 2-of-15 mark, but Las Vegas converted nearly 52 percent of overall field goal attempts and 9-of-10 at the free throw line. Wilson was the star with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and that continued a season-long theme.

The Sun started well after halftime, scoring seven straight points. That push brought Connecticut within a single possession with plenty of time remaining.

Then, Aces do-everything guard Chelsea Gray exited the game with an apparent ankle injury, signaling potential trouble for Las Vegas. However, the Aces immediately stretched the lead back to double figures before Gray was able to return, pouring cold water on Connecticut’s optimism.

Las Vegas then scored nine consecutive points between the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, putting space between the two teams on the scoreboard. The Aces led by a 72-54 margin, the largest spread of the series to that point, and Connecticut was in a desperate position.

In the closing period, the Aces led by as many as 20 points, and the Sun were never able to make a credible push. Wilson set a new franchise record for scoring in the WNBA Finals with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and both Gray (21 points, eight assists) and Plum (20 points, seven assists) had outstanding nights. As a team, Las Vegas enjoyed real success on both ends of the floor, and the pre-series favorites looked the part over the course of a comfortable win.

The series will continue with Game 3 on Thursday evening in Connecticut, with the Sun needing a win to avoid elimination. All hope is not lost for the Sun, but the Aces are certainly rolling, and Game 2 was a clinic in myriad ways from Las Vegas to instill further confidence in the team’s ability to close things out on the road.

A few days ago, Nav released his new album Demons Protected By Angels, which included features from Babyface Ray, Bryson Tiller, Don Toliver, Future, Lil Baby, and more. In a quick talk with HipHopDX, he revealed the moment he realized he’d made it as a rapper — which happened to be while he was on some psychedelics.

“When I took mushrooms, I looked at myself from a third person perspective,” he said, “and I was like, ‘Yo I f*ck with you dude. Dude really do this sh*t. Dude really take care of his mom, his family, everybody else. Boys is straight.’ What? I’m real!” Sounds like he had a good trip.

Nav also revealed in a different interview recently that he and Drake collaborated on a song that didn’t make the cut for Demons Protected By Angels. “We did a song. I feel we could’ve done a better song and the timeframe was just not good, it didn’t work out,” he said. He added, “He’s such a big artist that I didn’t want to put the song on the album and have it take away from anything else on the album. You know, take away life from all the other moments.”

Doja Cat’s latest album Planet Her was one of the biggest releases of 2021, overflowing with hits like “Woman,” “Get Into It (Yuh),” and “Kiss Me More.” Though it may be hard to follow up, fans have been begging for a new LP. Lucky for them, the rapper discussed that very subject today in a new interview.

While speaking to CR Fashion Book, she said, “We just have so many ideas and making those ideas consistent is the challenge right now. I can’t really tell much. I just know there’s a lot going on.” Then, she divulged that she’s been inspired by rave music. “I’m very into this ’90s German rave kind of vibe right now and it’s really fun. I know that’s kind of the trend at the moment but I loved that stuff as a kid and now that I can express it (obviously, I couldn’t buzz my head and wear a furry bra and have a belly button piercing back then), I’m sort of embracing that. That’s kind of a hint to the album. Rave culture, not house.”

In May, Doja revealed to Elle that the record will be “predominantly rap.” She added, “There’s some really cool stuff that I got sent from friends. They’re all working on beats, and I’m giving them notes and they know what I want, so I’m excited.”

The summer was partly devoted to the blockbuster Jan. 6 hearings, in which a bipartisan House committee meticulously laid out damning evidence about Donald Trump. As the season winds down, it’s the Justice Department’s turn. Merrick Garland and team have sent out a flurry of subpoenas to Trump World cronies. Perhaps that’s why Mike Lindell had his phone seized by the FBI in, of all places, a Hardee’s.

As per The Daily Beast, the My Pillow guy and relentless cheerleader for 2020 voter fraud claims he’s never been remotely able to back up was stopped while in the fast food chain. “They took my phone,” he told the publication. “The FBI did!”

Lindell is claiming the feds were looking for information on fellow election fraud conspiracy theorist Dennis Montgomery.

In a separate video, Lindell denounced the FBI, continuing the GOP’s unexpected turn into ACAB advocates.

“What we’ve done is weaponized the FBI. It’s disgusting,” Lindell said. He also claimed that he didn’t have a computer, that everything was on the phone that is now in the hands of the feds. He also held up a letter of the search warrant, telling people that he was told not to show it.

Did social media have jokes about the My Pillow guy getting his phone seized in a Hardee’s? You bet your ass it did.

It’s yet another Mad Libs misadventure from the creatively accident-prone pillow salesman, who recently shuttered his last MyPillow brick-and-mortar store, which was apparently a thing. In the meantime, kudos to Hardee’s, who haven’t had this much publicity since at least the Reagan administration. May they go the way of Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

The WNBA Finals are not the place you expect there to be significant mental lapses by either team, but after a hard fought Game 1 win, the Aces opened Game 2 with a team-wide blunder on the opening tipoff.

Jonquel Jones won the tip over Kiah Stokes, but instead of tapping it backwards as most do, she flicked the ball forward towards Alyssa Thomas, who corralled it as the Aces ran the other way. The problem was, that was the Sun’s end of the floor and Thomas was able to very calmly jog into the paint and lay it in with not a soul around her, giving Connecticut an early 2-0 lead.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw something like this happen in a professional basketball game, much less a Finals game (on a team’s home floor), but the Sun, which can have some offensive lulls and struggles, certainly weren’t going to turn down a freebie to open the contest. The good news for Las Vegas is they quickly bounced back from the blunder, opening up a 21-14 lead on Connecticut after the first eight minutes of the game, but if this game does end up coming down to a single bucket at the end in favor of the Sun, the very first score of the game will be memorable.