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NBA YoungBoy Found Not Guilty Of Federal Gun Possession Charge

YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy; neé Kentrell Gaulden) has been on trial in Los Angeles on a federal gun possession charge this week. The case stems from an arrest in Los Angeles where a FN FNX .45 caliber pistol was found on the floor of the Mercedes Maybach that the “Late To Da Party” rapper was driving around in March of 2021. But today, NBA YoungBoy has been found not guilty of these federal gun charges.

The case saw some advancements this week that were both favorable for the Baton Rouge rapper’s not guilty ruling. First off, the lyrics to his songs like “Gunsmoke” and “Lonely Child” were deemed inadmissible in court. He mentions FNs in the music, which refers to the Fabrique Nationale Herstal maker of the pistol found in the car. YoungBoy’s defense successfully argued, “Even if Mr. Gaulden is familiar with various models of guns and sings about them, it does not mean that he knew this particular gun was secreted on the passenger floor of the Maybach when police attempted to pull his car over to arrest him.” Then, and more importantly, YoungBoy’s defense attorneys cited a lack of fingerprints on the pistol.

As Rolling Stone reports, it was in fact the aforementioned combination of factors that NBA YoungBoy’s attorney, Andre Belanger, cited in his closing arguments, along with the fact that the rapper wasn’t aware that the gun was in the car. He elaborated that it wasn’t just YoungBoy who had access to the car, there were no witnesses linking YoungBoy to the gun that day, and ultimately, that he had no intent to possess it.

“[NBA YoungBoy] was acquitted and walked out the courtroom saying he was never guilty of this,” Belanger told XXL. “I am grateful we could challenge what little evidence they had before 12 people. This verdict shows the power of a jury and the ability to check government power.”

Meanwhile, NBA YoungBoy still has to stand trial in Louisiana for a separate gun charge stemming from an arrest in September of 2020.

YoungBoy Never Broke Again is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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The Russo Brothers Think That Hating On Marvel Movies Is ‘Juvenile’

Back in 2008, when the first Iron Man movie came out, Hollywood didn’t realize what they had done.

Marvel would continue to put out movies like Captain America and Thor, which were huge box office draws at the time, but the numbers were nothing compared to where they are now. For example, the opening weekend of Thor in 2011 brought in $65 million in the US, while the latest installment that has been out for a week has already passed the $144 million mark domestically. Conclusion? These movies are… pretty popular!

Of course, as the saying goes, you don’t get to $144 million in opening sales without making a few enemies… or something like that. It’s common to roast the MCU at this point, as studios pour money into elaborate CGI and cameo after cameo. Many well-liked and respected directors have blasted the franchise for this, and now the Russo Brothers have chimed in on the debacle.

The duo has worked on four MCU titles, including the mega-hit Avengers: Endgame, and they don’t quite understand why people have so many issues with them, as the franchise clearly has many fans. Or maybe it’s all just that one guy who just keeps buying tickets.

As Anthony Russo points out in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “The overwhelming success of [Marvel] movies has caused them to represent something that has become ‘other,’ or maybe not attainable to some others for whatever reason. Not every movie has to be liked globally.”

Meanwhile, Joe had a longer, strongly-worded explanation for why Marvel has been getting hate: because so many people like them.

When I was 19, I used to love U2. And then they started getting some commercial success, beyond their MTV early days, where they were the biggest band in the world. And I was like, “I hate U2. I’m sick of U2. They’re so ubiquitous!” That was just my ego trying to define myself against the masses. Then, 10 years later, I was like, “I fucking love U2. Why did I do that?” I outgrew it. It feels like a very juvenile conversation. The whole thing feels sad and cynical and pessimistic. You’re talking about movies that 10-year-olds are weeping over and begging to go see. They’ll remember for decades that they were there with their grandfather. Like, give me a f*cking break

Joe also adds that fans need to get used to it. After Disney+’s successful first quarter, The Russo’s don’t see the streamer stopping anytime soon. “I also think, too, that Disney’s gone very conservative. Post-[Bob] Iger, they seem to be in IP management mode. You’re going to get all the Star Wars and all the Marvel you can handle for the next decade. They’re all changing.”

Whether or not the hate is justified, it’s obvious that the movie industry has had a disastrous few years, so many it’s not so bad to get people back in their reclining AMC seats, even if it’s just a bunch of hyped-up kids. That’s all Tom Hanks wants, anyway!

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

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The Weeknd Flew A 6-Year-Old Superfan Out To A Concert After They Missed A Postponed Toronto Show

Last week, thousands of The Weeknd fans were upset to learn that his show at Toronto’s Rogers Centre was postponed last-minute. The reason was due to a nationwide outage impacting Rogers Communications, which meant that some essential venue operations were a no-go. The Weeknd wrote at the time, “I’m crushed & heartbroken. Been at the venue all day but it’s out of our hands because of the Rogers outage. Operations and safety are compromised and I tried my absolute best.”

There was one fan who took the news particularly hard, as a young boy, donning a slick After Hours-era red suit outfit, was photographed crying outside the venue. The Weeknd himself saw this, shared the photo, and tweeted, “can someone please find him for me?”

The boy is 6-year-old Phoenix Prince, whose father, Blake Prince, later told CBC, “Phoenix was getting attention with his suit. We had a breakdown moment. He got upset over the fact the show was postponed and somebody captured a picture.”

It turns out The Weeknd ended up coming through for Phoenix. Last night, he performed in Philadelphia and flew Phoenix and Blake out for the show, where Phoenix met The Weeknd, got his red jacket signed, and spent some time checking out backstage and other behind-the-scenes areas.

Sharing some photos from the day, Blake wrote on Instagram, “I wouldn’t be able to put this last week into words if I tried. We are forever grateful for this moment in time. We are beyond thankful to Abel and his beautiful crew for their friendship, hospitality, generosity and for spending day with Phoenix and I today. He will cherish this experience forever. Thank you a million times over.”

Check out the photos below.

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Deandre Ayton’s Extension Reportedly Means The Suns Lack ‘The Assets To Be Competitive For A Kevin Durant Trade’

The Phoenix Suns were reportedly one of the two teams Kevin Durant gave to the Brooklyn Nets as a preferred destination when he requested a trade. There were rumblings that the Nets would want Devin Booker back in a deal to send Durant to Phoenix, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who thought the Suns would entertain that idea.

As such, the belief was Phoenix would put together a package that revolved around restricted free agent big man Deandre Ayton. But on Thursday, that plan went up in smoke as he signed a 4-year, $133 million offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers, which the Suns promptly matched. This means that Ayton cannot be traded until Jan. 15, 2023, and he has veto power over trades for a year.

During a SportsCenter hit on Friday, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Phoenix now finds itself in a position where it might not have enough to meet Brooklyn’s reported sky-high asking price for Durant.

“For Phoenix, it really leaves them probably without the assets to be competitive for a Kevin Durant trade,” Wojnarowski said. “Again, Deandre Ayton can’t be traded until January 15, and again, not without his consent, and Devin Booker, who I think the Suns have no interest in trading, he can’t be traded, anyway, for a full year because of his new contract extension. So, I think ultimately the Suns are probably left short of what it will take to pry Kevin Durant out of Brooklyn.”

The Suns could put together a package involving Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder, and a bevy of draft capital, but as Wojnarowski notes, that does not seem to clear the bar Brooklyn set. Perhaps that changes as we get closer to the season if the Nets become ultra motivated to move Durant, or Durant starts to stir the pot in an effort to get moved. There’s also the chance Durant plays for the Nets to start next season and the Suns offer the aforementioned package with Ayton once Jan. 15 rolls around.

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Missy Elliott Celebrates 25 Years Of ‘Supa Dupa Fly’ With A Hilarious TikTok Compilation

Gather your trash bags, headpieces, shades, and hoop earrings because it is time to commemorate a classic. Today (July 15) Missy Elliott posted an enthusiastic tweet celebrating 25 years of one of her biggest records ever, “Supa Dupa Fly.” However, she didn’t want to enjoy the moment alone and included a video compilation of scenes from the video and TikTok users performing their own renditions in the tweet.

The legend said in her emoji-heavy caption, “25 Years old TODAY! SUPADUPAFLY” What a Milestone Let me go put on my blow up suit since y’all out here rocking these trash bags.” While humorous, it is a great opportunity to remember all that the Virginia artist has provided to the game.

Though she has nothing left to prove, Missy has been sure to still maintain a presence. She appeared on David Guetta’s “Trampoline” back in March, which also featured BIA and Doechii. Back in 2020, she shared two singles, “Why I Still Love You” and “DripDemeanor” featuring Sum1. In 2021, she received a well-deserved star on Hollywood’s Walk Of Fame and shared some encouraging advice with Doja Cat about her artistry. Missy truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

Check out the hilarious TikTok compilation of “Supa Dupa Fly” above.

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

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Jim Jordan Refuses To Apologize The 10-Year-Old Child He Accused Of Lying About Being Impregnated By A Rapist

Jim Jordan is not the type of guy to apologize, no matter how in the wrong he may be. So it’s hardly surprising that he seems dead-set against apologizing for or to a 10-year-old rape victim he (and other repugnant human beings) accused of lying.

On July 8th, while signing an executive order that would give women more access to abortions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s unprecedented overturning of Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden remarked that “Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim — 10 years old — and she was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life.” The story set off a viral firestorm, with anti-abortion activists and conservative media members doubting the veracity of the president’s claim. Jordan’s comment on the matter, which came via Twitter, was simply that Biden was lying (as usual), and that no one should be surprised.

Jim Jordan gross tweet
Twitter

When, on Wednesday, The Columbus Dispatch reported that a 27-year-old man had been arrested for the rape of this little girl, and admitted to raping her on at least two occasions, Jordan tried to quietly backtrack by deleting his original tweet — again, the one in which he called a child rape victim a liar — and declaring that her attacker “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

When CNN’s Manu Raju asked Jordan about the original tweet and whether he would apologize to the victim, the Ohio congressmonster claimed that “he was never questioning the girl’s story.” As The Daily Beast reported, Jordan said he was only “reacting to a headline that he saw,” which… huh?! What definition of “lie” is Jordan using?

When Raju asked Jordan why he then deleted the tweet, he again tried to sidestep his complicity in publicly shaming the victim of a brutal sexual assault by explaining that he hit the delete button “because we learned that this illegal alien did this heinous crime.” Raju kept pushing, however, and asked if Jordan would be apologizing to the girl or her family, but Jordan shot back that he “never doubted the child.” Jordan also refused to say whether he believes the victim — who is, again, a child herself — should have been forced to carry her baby to term.

Raju wasn’t the only person to take Jordan to task. During a House hearing on Thursday, California congressman Ted Lieu poignantly took aim at his “Republican colleagues” for “smearing” the girl. While Lieu didn’t name names, he also didn’t have to.

​​https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1547604239647551488

(Via The Daily Beast)

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Why Do Some People Care So Much About Doja Cat DMing Noah Schnapp For Joseph Quinn’s Contact Info?

Today, Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp confirmed in an interview with Variety that his character on the show, Will Byers, is canonically gay and in love with his best friend, Mike Wheeler, who’s played by Finn Wolfhard. Exactly no one was surprised. If you say you are, you’re in worse denial than Alexander the Great (ba-dum-tss). But I can’t help but suspect that the timing is a little… too convenient. After all, Schapp has spent the last week on Twitter’s trending topics for another awkward romantic entanglement, and something like this seems like just the tidbit to get everybody to stop talking about that.

Unfortunately for Noah, he’s failed because I was already working on this essay and I’ll be damned if I have to delete a draft because someone out there in the Stranger Things audience can’t read a blinking, bright red sign three feet in front of their faces. The other failed love connection to which I refer is, of course, the somehow controversial DM from Doja Cat to Schnapp asking him to throw her a lob to Joseph Quinn, who plays metalhead rebel Eddie Munson in the show’s recently debuted fourth season. If, for some reason, you have been kept enviably out of the loop for the past week, here’s a recap:

Last week, Schnapp posted an amusing TikTok about his encounter with the “Kiss Me More” singer, sharing a screenshot of their DM conversation in which Doja asks him to tell Quinn to “hmu.” When Noah advises Doja Cat to DM Joseph directly, she asks for just a tad more help, since she can’t seem to find him online. Noah obliges, directing her to Joe’s Instagram. All’s well that ends well, right? Well, it seems Doja Cat took issue with Noah sharing the screenshot, calling his video “socially unaware and wack” during an Instagram Live a couple of days later.

Maybe Doja felt embarrassed, or maybe she just wanted the kid to reconsider sharing screenshots of private conversations without permission — a concept much of the internet has had trouble grasping in recent years, to be fair. She did preface her statement by allowing that Schnapp is just 17 years old and therefore prone to missteps, but despite her asking folks to “be chill about it,” this is, again, the internet we’re talking about here. It didn’t take long for the Twitter Hot Take Machine to decide that Doja was the villain in this story and spent a few days castigating Doja for DMing a 17-year-old in the first place, resulting in the loss (supposedly) of 200,000 followers, and an apology from Noah Schnapp himself.

And now, here’s my hot take:

Absolutely no one should care about any of this. To be blunt, Doja Cat’s romantic life is no one’s business but hers unless she says otherwise (hence, her reaction to Noah sharing that screenshot). But once the thing was out there, it could have and should have just remained a funny story confined to a slow news day’s blog posts and perhaps maybe a quirky story for Doja and/or Noah and/or Joseph to share at parties. Instead, it’s become a referendum on … something. To be fair, in cases of outsized backlashes like this one, you can usually backtrace the inception to pop music stans and their endless, petty power games about whose fave is the best.

And Doja Cat has certainly put herself in those crosshairs before. It’s a rule of the internet that once you’ve had one manufactured Twitter scandal, you are certain to accumulate more for as long as you remain famous enough to have stans (and stans who hate your stans. It’s a whole headache, to be honest). She could have ducked this whole situation entirely had she just done the same thing she did in the first place and contacted Schnapp privately about the breach of etiquette. But, honestly, people, let’s all just relax. We live in a very online society that grows increasingly online by the day. DMing one person to get another person’s info is probably a thing that happens quite a bit, we just don’t hear about it because those people aren’t famous (and nobody shares the screenshots).

We don’t have to have opinions on everything, and certainly not on some celebrity’s misfired attempt to get their crush. There are far more important things going on in the world right now (to wit: A growing housing crisis, cripplingly rising inflation, a baby formula shortage, shortages of dozens of other products as supply chains continue to be interrupted, the looming end of bodily autonomy in the US, and oh yeah, that pandemic that still hasn’t fully gone away). Maybe I’m just an old man shaking his fist at the sky here, but the strangest thing about this situation is that we aren’t devoting all this passion toward addressing those real problems.

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A DC Cop Has Reportedly Corroborated Some Of The Wildest Claims About Trump’s January 6th Motorcade Meltdown

Ever since Cassidy Hutchinson testified before that January 6 committee that Donald Trump allegedly tried to grab the steering wheel from his driver and choke a Secret Service agent during the Capitol assault, the former president and his MAGA throng have been working overtime to discredit the damaging tale. So they’re probably not going to be thrilled that a Washington D.C. cop has reportedly corroborated the heated moment in the presidential SUV.

According to CNN, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department who was in Trump’s motorcade has already met with the January 6 committee and recounted what he saw that day. While details were not given, CNN reports that the officer provided details that corroborates Hutchinson’s testimony:

Hutchinson said that she heard a secondhand account told to her by then-White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato that Trump was so enraged at his Secret Service detail for blocking him from going to the Capitol on the day of the insurrection that “he reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel” and “then used his free hand to lunge towards” his Secret Service lead agent Robert Engel. Hutchinson testified that Ornato told her the story in front of Engel and he did not dispute the account.

While the Secret Service has signaled that Engel will “deny parts of the story,” the January 6 committee has reportedly been “engaging with the driver” in an effort to compel further testimony about the heated exchange.

News of the Metro police officer coming forward to the committee arrives just days after a mic drop moment where Liz Cheney revealed that Trump has been referred to the Department of Justice for alleged witness tampering. Needless to say, these hearings are not going well for the former president, who apparently can’t stop watching them. The guy knows good TV.

(Via CNN)

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Report: The Jazz Want ‘At Least Six First-Round Picks’ And ‘New York’s High-Impact Young Guys’ For Donovan Mitchell

Throughout the week, trade reports and discussions involving All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell have heated up significantly, with the New York Knicks emerging as the leading suitor for the 25-year-old. Initial news indicated Utah is prioritizing draft capital as the bedrock of any return for Mitchell and The Athletic’s Tony Jones emphasized that sentiment.

“I had a really good source tell me that the Jazz have asked for at least six of New York’s eight tradeable first-round and all of New York’s high-impact young guys,” Jones said on a recent radio appearance. “So, that would be Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, Miles McBride. The Jazz do not want to take back RJ Barrett in a deal because they don’t wanna pay him. They wanna go young.”

Earlier this week, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer and SNY’s Ian Begley reported Utah’s interest in Barrett was unclear, whereas Jones has now confirmed the organization’s lack of intrigue because of hesitancy in paying him, given he’s eligible for a lucrative extension this summer and new contract next offseason.

“When you look at a timeframe, I think that both are sides saying nothing’s really imminent yet,” Jones said. “But there’s obvious been some significant talks on both sides.”

Mitchell is a three-time All-Star who enjoyed arguably the best season of his career last year, averaging 25.9 points, 5.3 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on 57.2 percent true shooting.

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The Polaris Prize 2022 Shortlist Includes Destroyer And Charlotte Day Wilson Up For Canada’s Best Album

For the last fifteen years, the Polaris Music Prize has awarded the best album of the year by a Canadian artist. Previous winners have included Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, Caribou’s Andorra, Kaytranada’s 99.9%, and perhaps the most controversial decision, when Feist’s Metals beat out Drake’s Take Care in 2012.

As of late, the Polaris Prize panel of Canadian journalists and music industry professionals that vote on the award have done an excellent job of selecting the music that best encompasses Canadian identity and representation. Recent winners in Lido Pimienta, Jeremy Dutcher, and Backxwash illustrate that. Now the 2022 field has been narrowed down to a shortlist of 12 nominees that include Charlotte Day Wilson’s incredible Alpha, Destroyer’s enduring Labyrinthitis, Pierre Kwenders’ shape-shiftin José Louis And The Paradox Of Love, and more.

The winner will be crowned and awarded a $50,000 cash prize (about $38,000 in US dollars) at the Polaris Music Prize Gala in Toronto on September 19th. Check out the entire Polaris Music Prize 2022 shortlisted albums below.

Charlotte Day Wilson — Alpha
Destroyer — Labyrinthitis
Hubert Lenoir — Pictura de Ipse : Musique Directe
Kelly McMichael — Waves
Lisa LeBlanc — Chiac Disco
Ombiigizi — Sewn Back Together
Ouri — Frame Of A Fauna
Pierre Kwenders — José Louis And The Paradox Of Love
Ombiigizi — Sewn Back Together
Ouri — Frame Of A Fauna
Shad — Tao
Snotty Nose Rez Kids — Life After