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Life in Ukraine is a horror show these days, but life in Russia ain’t no walk in the park either. Beyond frivilous matters like the non-McDonald’s situation, economic matters are dire following an unceasing stream of sanctions meant to put the screws to Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, it’s not unheard of for a prominent oil exec to mysterously fall to his death after criticizing Putin’s imperialistic attacks on Ukraine, and Putin’s own troops are reportedly shooting themselves to earn a ticket out of Hell.

The Daily Beast now reports, though, that the Kremlin’s pretending like everything is great. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declared (to RBK TV via the Beast) that “2022 is the year of unity in our society,” and although opinions run rampant on the war, he predicts “[t]he absolute consolidation of our society around President [Vladimir] Putin.” However, the citizenship of Russia’s largely opposed to Putin’s invasion, which has led to Russian citizens being arrested while protesting the brutal, civilian-killing conflict. Meanwhile, The Daily Beast reports that Russians are leaving the country while the getting is good, and the exodus is notable:

His comments seemed to be all the more jarring in light of a new report by Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service that warned of a massive “outflow” of Russians since the beginning of the year. In the first half of 2022, a total of 419,000 Russians left the country—more than double the exodus seen a year earlier in the same period, according to Rosstat data. The population size has thus shrunk to 145.1 million.

Six months have passed since Putin first waged war on Ukraine. The Russian president’s troops have been candid about being in the dark regarding their mission, and some of them even went into mutiny mode while threatening to blow away their commander as the war kicked off. And there’s also still no sign of Putin locking down the war as a whole with President Zelensky’s country coming together in real unity against “those Russian sh*ts,” although as time has worn forth, it’s becoming clearer that even Russian troops want nothing to do with this war.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Lil Nas X has a new apple of his eye (or perhaps an existing one that he now has the opportunity to publicly yearn for): Roger, the wise-cracking alien from long-running animated series American Dad.

Yesterday, a post from the perspective of Roger shared on the American Dad Twitter and Instagram accounts read, “Save a horse, ride the guy who wrote Old Town Road or however the song goes. [cowboy emoji] Who else is planning their perfect fit for #Montero? #AmericanDad.” That captioned an image of Roger holding a Lil Nas X concert ticket and admiring a poster of the shirtless rapper.

Nas shared that and wrote, “i’ve finally peaked in life. i’m tryna bring roger backstage ngl [drooling emoji].” On the Instagram post, he wrote in three separate comments, “oh my god [crying emoji] [hearts emoji],” “pleaseeeee,” and, “roger please let me smash.”

Now is a great time for American Dad to be receiving this sort of attention, as yesterday (September 5), it just returned with its first new episode since March. The show, which debuted in 2005, is one of the longest-running scripted prime time television series in US history; The latest episode is the series’ 330th.

As for the Long Live Montero Tour, that kicks off tonight (September 6), so check out the dates here.

While many Americans spent their Labor Day enjoying the last breaths of what we incorrectly deem the final day of “summer,” Donald Trump was busy binge-posting to his own TRUTH Social and doubling down on his demands to be reinstated as president.

Why? Your guess is as good as ours — and probably as good as Trump’s, whose desperate pleas for someone (anyone?!) to somehow decree that he is once again President of the United States are all a little nebulous.

As Mediaite reports, Trump’s most recent complaints are being directed at the Department of Justice and the FBI, who he claims have been “caught in a massive and determinative Election Rigging Scam,” and now he’s just waiting for them(?) to rectify their wrong by throwing Joe Biden’s belongings out onto the front lawn of the White House.

The former (current?!) president was so taken with his own theory that he posted it twice in a row for all 4 million of his TRUTH followers to see:

Trump’s social media rampage marked at least the second time in one week that he was back on his rigged election bullsh*t. Last Monday, Trump posted a message to TRUTH explaining that, essentially, Hunter Biden’s laptop is the reason he lost the 2020 presidential election. Therefore, he should be declared the winner — or, at the very least, another election should be held. Which definitely seems like something that would or could happen.

By Tuesday, Trump seemed to have calmed down. And just wanted to know (in a totally non-ironic way) “Why are people so mean?”

As Mediaite wrote, “the only president to leave office and then return to the presidency was Grover Cleveland, who defeated Benjamin Harrison in the 1892 presidential election without the assistance of the Department of Justice.” Ouch!

(Via Mediaite)

It’s been just over 20 years since Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his acting debut (not including wrestling promos). The Mummy Returns isn’t a cable classic like the original movie, but it was a box office hit ($435 million) and more Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz being extremely hot is a good thing. It also inspired a Fraser- and Weisz-less prequel, The Scorpion King, that’s mostly remembered for its early 2000s-ass CGI, but it was Johnson’s first lead role, and eventually led him to becoming one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Would that have been possible with Fraser?

I mean…

Over the weekend, The Whale premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where beloved star Fraser got emotional during a six-minute standing ovation for the Darren Aronofsky film. The clip caught the attention of The Rock, who tweeted, “Man this makes me so happy to see this beautiful ovation for Brendan. He supported me coming into his Mummy Returns franchise for my first ever role, which kicked off my Hollywood career. Rooting for all your success brother and congrats to my bud Darren Aronofsky.”

First off, it’s very funny that The Rock is “buds” with the director of Requiem for a Dream, mother!, and The Wrestler (The Rock vs. The Ram at WrestleMania 39?). Also, Johnson would later “replace” Fraser as the star of the Journey to the Center of the Earth sequel, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Would he be in or out for The Whale 2? They say three is a trend, so The Rock better start his all-burgers and -pancakes diet plan now.

This past weekend’s massive, 50-song Taylor Hawkins tribute concert was an emotional ride (especially for Dave Grohl). Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor was feeling that, too, as he told his audience at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Saturday (September 4).

In a TikTok video shared by Nine Inch Nails, Reznor says to the crowd:

“By chance, did any of you happen to catch the tribute to Taylor Hawkins today? I thought, ‘I’ll tune in.’ I knew Taylor. He was a really sweet guy. I knew a lot of friends were playing it. I started watching it, and three hours later I’m still watching, and I’ve got tears in my f*cking eyes. It got me thinking about… if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth checking out, ’cause it’s really well done. It’s very touching and sincere and it got me thinking about… you know, in my life these days, I try to be mindful of what’s happening right now and appreciating what’s happening right now, instead of worrying about tomorrow. I sound like an old person saying this sh*t, don’t I? But, I am grateful to be sharing this moment with you guys, and it really is a privilege, and I’m going to remember this. This is one of those good memories, so thank you.”

Check out the video below.

Britney Spears, to put it lightly, has been through a lot. Between her conservatorship and her current family drama with her ex-husband and her children, her faith has been tested, so much so that she now says she doesn’t “believe in God anymore.”

In a now-deleted audio recording (as transcribed by Page Six) shared on Instagram last night (September 5), Spears concludes by saying of the four-month mental health facility stay she regularly mentions, “God would not allow that to happen to me if a God existed. I don’t believe in God anymore because of the way my children and my family have treated me. There is nothing to be believe in anymore. I’m an atheist, y’all.”

Most of the rest of the near-three-minute post is Spears talking about her sons, reacting to her son Jayden speaking on 60 Minutes Australia recently, “Jayden, as you undermine my behavior just like my whole family always has with, ‘Hope she gets better, I will pray for her.’ […] Pray for what? I keep working so I can pay off [my mother Lynne Spears’] legal fees and her house. Do you guys want me to get better so I can continue to give your dad $40,000 a month? Or is the reasoning behind you guys deciding to be hateful is because it’s actually over in two years and you don’t get anything?”

She continued, “It saddens me not one of you have valued me as a person. You’ve witnessed how my family has been to me and that’s all you know. Like I said, I feel you all secretly like to say something’s wrong with me.”

Did you ever think that Ozzy Osbourne would be following in the footsteps of Ed Sheeran? Well when Osbourne takes the torch as the NFL’s season opener halftime show performer on Thursday night (September 8th), he’ll be looking to upstage Sheeran’s NFL Kickoff 2021 performance. All comparisons aside, playing at halftime of the Rams vs. Bills game is a big deal for the Prince of Darkness. Ozzy hasn’t performed on stage since 2019 when he joined Post Malone and Travis Scott at the AMAs for their track “Take What You Want.”

The stakes will be doubly high at SoFi for Osbourne, as his 13th album, Patient Number 9, comes out the next day, September 9th. It’s a devilish choice by the NFL and the Rams to have Ozzy on the field to kick-off the season, especially considering he moved away from Los Angeles this year to head back to England. But the Super Bowl Champion Rams are embracing the unique atmosphere that Osbourne will provide in his multi-song performance.

Osbourne was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2020, but it hasn’t slowed his drive as an artist one bit. Along with the upcoming album, he launched a popular NFT series of “CryptoBatz” and says he has been able to avoid getting COVID because Satan helped him avoid it. “Being a devil worshipper does have its good points!” he said.

The NFL’s Kickoff opener between the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills will be televised via NBC at 5:20 p.m PT on Thursday, September 8th. More info here.

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

Something about Cobra Kai never fails to make me feel giddy. More than any other 1980s revival out there, this The Karate Kid followup series manages to both harness nostalgia and carry endless appeal to the younger generation. A prime example of this balance occurs very late in the fifth season (coming to Netflix on September 9), in which a character declares, “Youth is not a liability. It is the greatest power.” From there, the show cuts to a perfect scene set to a 1980s anthem, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” which obviously carries special significance in and of itself. Yes, I want to talk about this scene after you watch it. For now, I will only tell you that this scene will make you feel chills and laughter while thanking the streaming gods that this show still exists.

Also, this season has so much Chozen. Chozen is a hoot! Yet mostly, this installment follows up on the heels of the Season 4 finale, in which Evil triumphed over Good. Granted, this happened because Evil cheated, but that’s the brilliant thing about Cobra Kai: it keeps us invested in hoping that the baddies suffer, whether they’re cartoonish or nuanced. And let’s just say that cartoonish is more fun when it comes to Evil, and this show knows it. After John Kreese showed a softer side, creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg knew that we still needed the overarching dichotomy to exist. So, they had Stingray help Terry Silver frame Kreese, and he’s clearly not doing so great these days. He’s in prison, where his greatest joy is trading Jell-O as a commodity. And the Miyagi-do is in disarray while Daniel LaRusso really needs to learn to stop fretting over karate and enjoy a damn mai tai, if only for a moment.

Back in the Valley, we see the stakes and appreciate them for what they are. Human cartoon man Terry Silver’s days as King of the Karate Valley could be numbered, or not. Terry Silver is straight-up villain, so that’s how Season 5 sets up a slightly different tone because with Kreese and Johnny and Chozen, there were always shades within their antagonism. With Silver, there are no redeeming qualities to be seen, so it is on with former foes teaming up for the common cause. Fortunately, the show still excels at keeping things light (and not stressing us) even while occasionally treading into some heavier themes (those somehow almost always involve poor Miguel). Amid the drama, the show has taught us both teens and adults should randomly break out in karate fights (on beaches, in malls, on balconies, and wherever) for our entertainment.

That is to say: Cobra Kai Season 5 is more of the same for this franchise (but with some extra Evil), and that never gets old. Bullied kids will periodically rise up/fall and become bullies before realizing the errors of their ways. Johnny Lawrence remains the most lovable idiot while beefing with the past. Daniel LaRusso’s still completely mucking things up in his quest to save the karate youths from themselves, and from Terry Silver, and speaking of which, this franchise’s greatest villain really pulls out the stops. He’s got a sh*t-ton of new senseis working underneath him, and he’s rolling in dough and brainwashing followers. I’m really surprised that he doesn’t have a pet tiger. He must be stopped — the very soul of karate evidently depends upon it.

The underdogs never, ever give up here, which is a heartening constant in this universe, but there’s also this inevitabily: Watching senseis behaving badly never ceases to be funny. And it’s not as though this show goes overboard in that regard, it hits just right while poking fun at how the adults on this show consider karate to be the most important thing in the world. It’s more important than work and school, and those grownups consistently receive their comeuppance. Yet there are tweaks, because training montages are now less frequent, and the fight scenes are a little more epic, which is a nice change-up, and even though there’s a vast ensemble cast, everyone moves as if in unison and the amount of time devoted to each character actually feels authentic. Even the show’s worst character receives screentime that feels earned this year. That actually might be the show’s finest accomplishment.

Do we have a crane kick this season? Yes, we do. And there’s a profound few moments in which the character whose life was arguably ruined by that kick (the show’s totally speaking to that crane-kick oral history) reflects on how it transformed everything for him, decades ago. I love how this show never forgets about those touches, and those unspoken moments that shaped how the franchise’s O.G. characters got pasted into destinies, which they’re changing (for better and worse) during this show.

Here’s where I have one quibble with this season. I’ve already talked about how all of the Chozen scenes are delightful. He’s a sprinkle of comic relief, and the show also digs into his psyche to show us (more) about how a fateful “honk!” transformed his own path in life. All of the time spent on him (and boy, he gets an intense fight scene) is well-invested stuff, but there’s a stumble in how this show drew from the past this season. Bringing The Karate Kid III‘s Mike Barnes went a step too far. He’s a weak character and a distraction and we really could have used more of Elizabeth Shue’s Ali instead. Yet that slip-up only adds up to about 2% of the entire season. And the rest of it feels like a genuine pleasure to watch, without any guilt about enjoying everyone getting so hyped up about karate. “Miyagi-do forever!” as even Andrew Garfield once exclaimed. And if you don’t like it? No mercy.

Cobra Kai returns to Netflix on September 5.

More drama from tonight’s Don’t Worry Darling screening at the Venice Film Festival: Harry Styles may or may not have spit on his costar Chris Pine. Who saw this coming?

That’s right. In addition to the saliva he and Nick Kroll exchanged via a quick kiss on the mouth during the movie’s standing ovation, the “As It Was” singer was caught possibly spitting on Pine. A video captures Styles going to sit in his seat next to Pine but pausing for a moment. Spit vaguely appears to come from his mouth and hit Pine’s hand. Pine’s expression changes for a moment, to something resembling disbelief, and he stops clapping and then laughs. However, nothing is clear. It’s hard to say. It wouldn’t exactly be unexpected considering all that’s happened with this movie and its chaotic cast.

The internet is obviously having a field day with Spitgate. One user wrote, “the ‘i did not spit on that man’ notes app apology harry styles will soon be forced to tweet is already shaping up to be an all-timer.” Another wrote, “the don’t worry darling drama is getting more and more absurd like what do you mean harry styles [spins wheel] spit on [spins wheel] chris pine.”

The Weeknd has reached world-dominating levels of fame, especially after unveiling Dawn FM earlier this year. But he, real name Abel Tesfaye, is also a nice person; in July, he flew a 6-year-old superfan out to his concert after they missed a postponed Toronto show. He showed more of his goodness over this past weekend.

A fan’s mom tried to reach Tesfaye on Twitter in order to get her daughter, a cancer patient, to meet him. “My daughter wants to meet her favorite artist @theweeknd and go to his concert,” she wrote in a tweet. “I want to make that happen for her, she deserves the best of the best. she’s kicking cancer’s butt and still being a light in this world. help me make it happen for her. #AbelMeetKatana.”

She added, “My sister already got us floor seat tickets to see Abel in Los Angeles on Sept 2nd. Katana’s birthday is September 9th. It would be the biggest present I could possibly give her to meet her favorite artist and see him live. She wants to go with me so badly.”

According to her TikTok, it happened! She posted a clip of the wholesome interaction as the kid asked the superstar, “Are you going to sing on the stage?” and he answered, “Yes, I’m getting ready to sing on the stage.” Watch the video below.