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Ever since making the second highest grossing movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation), Joe and Anthony Russo have been able to do pretty much whatever they want. And so they have. They followed Avengers: Endgame up with a crime drama (Cherry), and they followed they that up with insanely expensive thriller (the forthcoming The Gray Man). Both were made for streamers (Apple TV+ and Netflix, respectively), and while they’d prefer if people see their films on the big screen, they also have some big (albeit dubious) words for movie theaters.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter (in which they also slam MCU haters as “juvenile”), the Russos discuss how they think the industry should move away from, as Anthony put it, “the old models,” and “reach audiences that haven’t been engaged before.” They even think studios should embrace streaming even more than they do, and treat the moviegoing experience as more of a luxury.

“A thing to remember, too, is it’s an elitist notion to be able to go to a theater. It’s very f*cking expensive,” said Joe. “So, this idea that was created — that we hang on to — that the theater is a sacred space, is bullshit. And it rejects the idea of allowing everyone in under the tent. Where digital distribution is valuable, other than what I said earlier about how it pushed diversity, is that people can share accounts; they can get 40 stories for the cost of one story.”

It should be noted that the very service that forked over $200 million for the Russos’ latest is currently losing subscribers and, therefore, money. Meanwhile, audiences have started going back to theaters in the kind of numbers seen pre-pandemic. Also, while moviegoing is more expensive than ever, it remains, as it’s been for about a century, one of the cheapest forms of public entertainment out there.

Another “old model” the Russos think should be put out to pasture? The idea of directors as chief authors of the films they make.

“Auteur filmmaking is 50 years old at this point. It was conceived in the ’70s,” Joe said. “We grew up on that. We were kids, it was really important to us. But we’re also aware that the world needs to change and the more that we try to prevent it from changing the more chaos we create. It’s not anyone’s place to reject the next generation’s ideas.”

You can read their full interview over at THR.

Lil Uzi Vert recently announced his Red & White EP which is set to be a prelude to his upcoming project, The Pink Tape. The rapper did not share a release date for Red & White, but many believed it would arrive on Friday. Unfortunately, that day came and went without the project’s release. However, Uzi still managed to treat his fans to new music thanks to the release of his latest single, “Space Cadet.” The record is a high-octane release that broadcasts Uzi’s trademark energy as he flexes his status while professing his desire to blast off into space on his own terms.

The Red & White EP will be Uzi’s first overall project since Pluto X Baby Pluto, his late 2020 joint project with Future. The EP will also be his first solo project since LUV Vs. The World 2, which doubled as the deluxe edition of his 2020 album Eternal Atake. We could be in for some great music on the Red & White EP as Uzi previously said that he would “go back into classic mode” for the upcoming releases he has for fans.

You can listen to “Space Cadet” above.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

If you’ve been enjoying Elon Musk’s rollercoaster Twitter deal-or-no-deal ride, there’s a chance you’ll be enjoying it for quite a bit longer. Last week, the social media giant formally sued the Tesla honcho after he tried to back out of his whopping $44 billion deal to purchase them. They sought a speedy trial, hopefully in September. But now the ever-impish Musk wants to push it back all the way to next year.

As per The New York Times, Musk’s lawyers filed a move on Friday to delay the trial all the way to February. They accused Twitter execs of rushing the court case, calling the affair a “two-month treasure hunt of delays, technical bottlenecks, evasive answers and, ultimately, refusals.” Key to their argument is Musk’s claims of excessive amounts of bots, accusing them of trying to “shroud the truth” about how many accounts are fake. It also gives him and his legal team more time to mount their case.

It’s a sharp rebuke to Twitter, who themselves have accused Musk of having “knowingly, intentionally, willfully and materially breached” their contract.

If the court accepts Musk’s request, that gives him and his frequent dueling partner Donald Trump plenty of more opportunities to duke it out on various social media services.

(Via NYT)

The show opens with Tod sharing great advice on making your own luck he learned from Dr. Christian Busch. Later, why did people look older in the past and should young guys get vasectomies?

Plus, advice for living in ridiculous times and Alison has COVID-19.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeart Radio.

Zendaya is a renaissance woman, beloved as an actress and a singer. But one thing she is not is a cook. Should anyone from The Bear ever seek to enlist her talents, they should check out some of out her recent Instagram stories, where she revealed that a recent attempt at home cooking landed her in the emergency room.

On Wednesday, Zendaya apparently attempted to cook for herself, maybe as a celebratory act after Hoovering up four whole Emmy nominations. She did not go into details about what she was cooking and with what implements. But it appears that she had a mishap, presumably with some sharp knife that did a number on her finger.

One image showed her bandaged-up finger, with a hulking mass of crimson bleeding through the gauze. “See now…this is why I don’t cook,” she wrote in the caption.

Even her P.A. Darnell Appling got in on the action. ““Never a dull moment with @zendaya no pun intended,” he wrote in his own Instagram Stories, adding, “Dear God, help me keep this little heffa safe cause she clumsy as hell.”

Zendaya later posted an image of the aftermath, writing “Baby’s first stitches lol back to never cooking again.”

So Zendaya could never hold her own with the chefs at Chicago’s The Beef. She can still take over Buffy the Vampire Slayer, long as she doesn’t accidentally stab herself with those stakes.

(Via Page Six)

Just when Kodak Black was progressing upward in his rap career, the rapper once again finds himself in legal trouble. According to TMZ, the rapper was arrested in his home state of Florida on a pair of drug charges. Kodak was riding in a Dodge Durango on Friday when officers pulled him over for what they believed was an illegal window tint. Once his car was approached, officers say they smelled marijuana and decided to conduct a search of the vehicle. That search resulted in the discovery of 31 oxycodone pills and $74,960 in cash. Additionally, Kodak’s license and tags were expired.

As a result, Kodak was booked on two drug charges: possession of a controlled substance without prescription and trafficking with oxycodone. The incident comes after the rapper was arrested on trespassing charges earlier this year, but those charges were later dropped. Prior to that, Kodak Black’s criminal record includes a 2019 arrest on weapons charges where he lied on a background check in order to obtain a gun. That resulted in him being sentenced to 46 months in prison, a term that was later pardoned by former President Donald Trump.

Kodak’s other run-ins with the law include a 2018 arrest for grand theft and child neglect, a 2017 arrest for violating his probation and failing to complete an anger management class, and multiple accusations of sexual assault.

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

This weekend is an exciting one for new releases thanks to some projects that were shared with the world. One of them is Steve Lacy’s long-awaited sophomore album Gemini Rights. The project is the follow-up to his Grammy-nominated 2019 debut Apollo XXI and it checks in at a brief yet extremely fulfilling ten songs with guest appearances from Joji and Foushee. Together with the release of Gemini Rights, Lacy shared a message about the project and it earned a special response from one of music’s biggest names.

“Gemini Rights is outttt [crying emoji] this feels so surreal,” Steve wrote in his original message. “I can’t explain it. It’s a new feeling. I think I’ll be able to tell you about it in a couple months. But for now I’ll enjoy this newness. Thank you guys for all the love and support. I promise it doesn’t go unnoticed [bow in a heart emoji].” In response, Kanye West took the moment to praise both Steve and the new album. “Album is beautiful,” Kanye wrote in the comment section. “One of the most inspiring people on the planet.”

The comment from Kanye comes after he and Steve were photographed together at the former’s Donda livestream event last summer. When asked about his time there during an interview with GQ, Steve said simply, “It was cool, it was cool.”

You can view Kanye’s message to Steve in the post above.

Gemini Rights is out 7/15 via RCA Records. You can stream it here.

“Irreconcilable differences” have led to Russell Westbrook and his longtime agent, Thad Foucher, parting ways. In a statement given to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Friday night, Foucher indicated that he and Westbrook disagree on the best path forward for the Los Angeles Lakers’ point guard, with the Wasserman agent hinting that the difference stems from his belief that Westbrook should stay with the Lakers.

You can read Foucher’s entire statement here, but the following excerpt is where he implies that Westbrook wants to leave the team:

“Now, with a possibility of a fourth trade in four years, the marketplace is telling the Lakers they must add additional value with Russell in any trade scenario. And even then, such a trade may require Russell to immediately move on from the new team via buyout.

“My belief is that this type of transaction only serves to diminish Russell’s value and his best option is to stay with the Lakers, embrace the starting role and support that Darvin Ham publicly offered. Russell is a first-ballot Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame player and will prove that again before he is retired.

Foucher has represented Westbrook throughout his NBA career, making this a pretty stunning departure and an even more stunning statement. But despite that, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times reports that Westbrook has never explicitly requested a trade from the Lakers, while Sopan Deb of the New York Times indicated that Westbrook liked a tweet in the aftermath of the news that seems instructive.

Westbrook has one year and approximately $47 million remaining on his contract.

Jak Knight, a comedian known for co-creating and acting on Peacock original series, Bust Down, has died at 28. In addition to Bust Down, Knight was a writer on shows like Blackish and Big Mouth, on the latter of which, he voiced DeVon. Although he proved to be a promising comedian, Knight was very much known and loved within the realm of music.

In 2018, Knight appeared in a live version of Zach Fox’s Bruh podcast, alongside rapper Amine. In one of his most iconic stand-ups, he hilariously detailed Chance The Rapper‘s career evolution and recounts a time when he saw the rapper perform at a music festival while on shrooms.

“I thought I was in The DaVinci Code, directed by Jordan Peele. This sh*t was crazy as hell,” he said in a Comedy Central special.

Following the news of his death, several musicians have taken to social media to mourn the loss of Knight.

“RIP to Jak Knight,” said Flying Lotus, “honestly was my fav comedian these days. Unapologetically bold and hilarious.”

https://twitter.com/flyinglotus/status/1548102870653800450?s=21&t=BpryIJhrGneI5kmTkq98Ew

Producer Kenny Beats also expressed sadness over Knight’s death, tweeting “Rip Jak I’m heartbroken.”
https://twitter.com/kennybeats/status/1548127265745014796?s=21t=BpryIJhrGneI5kmTkq98Ew

Television personality and rapper Steelo Brim, who once had Knight as a guest on his Wine And Weed podcast, said “Truly don’t know what to say but Jak Knight was & is the man. He will be forever missed and loved, lit up every room and was as pure as they come. F*ck this one hurts.

https://twitter.com/steelobrim/status/1548110906957082625?s=21&t=BpryIJhrGneI5kmTkq98Ew

A cause of death has not yet been confirmed for Knight.

Fans of Jhene Aiko and Big Sean are still reeling over those baby bump photos that circulated over Fourth of July weekend. Both Aiko and Sean have remained relatively quiet on social media since news of the pregnancy broke, until today.

Earlier, Aiko took to Instagram to reveal the first official maternity photo.

In the picture, she is seen nude, tastefully covered by shadows of the sun, as an image of the earth appears in the background. Sean commented on the picture thanking fans for their support, and said that he “can’t wait” for the baby to arrive. Their child will be Aiko’s second child and Sean’s first.

So it looks like fans may have to wait a little bit longer for a follow-up to Aiko and Sean’s 2016 collaborative album, Twenty88. Sean confirmed that he and his longtime partner have been working on the album earlier this year, during an Instagram live session with R&B singer Queen Naija. He also confirmed that he is recording music of his own.

“I’m here working on a new album and new Twenty88, me and Jhené,” he said. “Sh*t, we’ve been working on it for a little bit… It’s coming along good, though.”