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While the third season of HBO’s neo-western, dystopian sci-fi series Westworld went quietly under the radar, thanks to it airing in March 2020 and making very little sense, the upcoming fourth season seems a little more promising.

The new season will expand the Westworld universe into the real-world universe, as the line between reality and simulations continues to bleed. But new (and old but still new!) faces are slated to make appearances in the season, which premieres June 26th on HBO.

Though her original character Dolores is long gone (supposedly), Evan Rachel Wood has returned as a mysterious new character, as has Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Tessa Thompson, Jeffrey Wright, and season three breakout Aaron Paul. Also returning is fan-favorite James Marsden, who was absent from the third season, but how exactly his character will play out is still unclear, and probably will be until the end of the season knowing how this show operates. Newcomer Aurora Perrineau also stars.

The trailer teases that “maybe it’s time you questioned the nature of your own reality.” Haven’t they been doing that since season one, anyway? As always, there are some poetic lines read over futuristic imagery and some major violence. So overall, a pretty typical Westworld trailer, but now with more New York City shots!

Megan Thee Stallion recently opened up in a Rolling Stone interview about when Tory Lanez shot her in her feet. She talked not only about the pain of the situation, but also the way she felt betrayed by her friends, specifically Kelsey Harris, who she suggested may have taken a bribe to keep quiet.

“I’m like, ‘Kelsey, as my best friend, why would you meet up with the person you saw shoot your best friend?’” she explained. “She said, ‘Megan, y’all wasn’t answering my calls. My back was against the wall. I didn’t know what to do.’ What the f*ck do you mean, ‘Your back is against the wall? You’re the only person in this situation that would clear this up for me.’”

Harris has now come out with a statement on social media, writing, “When people can’t control you, they try to control how people view you,” She posted a video afterwards, saying, “If y’all not catching onto the social media games by now […] then I don’t know what to tell y’all. I knew this was going to happen. This is just the beginning y’all. I know y’all want me to talk. So, like, when it’s my turn. Just know. I’m going to break everything the f*ck down and we going to see who really look bad in the end.”

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Senator Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci got into yet another heated argument during a recent congressional hearing over, what else, the COVID-19 vaccine.

Paul has been picking fights with Fauci since the pandemic began, questioning vaccine mandates, masking policies, and the efficacy of booster shots. He continued to press Fauci on that last talking point in a Senate hearing on Thursday in which Fauci — who recently contracted COVID — participated virtually. The president’s chief medical advisor tested positive for the virus on Wednesday and has been quarantining in his home with mild symptoms.

But Paul didn’t let Fauci’s current health crisis stop him from badgering the infectious disease expert with questions he apparently didn’t want the answers to. First, the Republican senator quizzed Fauci on why booster shots are being recommended for children claiming that there was no evidence they helped defend against COVID any more than an initial two-dose vaccine regimen.

“There are no studies — and Americans should all know this — there are no studies on children showing a reduction in hospitalization or death with taking a booster,” Paul interrupted Fauci, who was trying to explain the assumption scientists have made by studying the effects of the vaccine on children when recommending a booster protocol. “The only studies that were permitted, the only studies that were presented, were antibody studies.”

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1537444750747348992

Paul went on to hypothesize about children receiving up to 10 booster shots — a figure Fauci labeled as “absurd” — before getting to the real bone he’d been wanting to pick about whether scientists were receiving royalties from vaccine manufacturers.

“Here’s what I want to know, it’s not just about you, everybody on the vaccine committee. Have any of them ever received money from the people who make vaccines?” Paul asked as Fauci tried to answer his initial question by disclosing his own meager earnings in royalties over the last five years.

Paul kept interrupting Fauci as he tried to explain the laws in place that protect scientists from having to disclose those financial matters until Fauci, clearly fed-up with the grandstanding, bit back.

“Sound bite No. 1 — are you going to let me answer a question?” Fauci forcefully interrupted Rand’s ranting. Things eventually got so tense between the two that the hearing’s presiding officer had to throw down the gavel, informing Paul he’d gone over his time even after being given an additional couple of minutes and telling everyone it was time to move on.

Watch the full exchange below:

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1537446771432955906

The inexplicably popular Fox News program Gutfeld! has a bit where a monkey doctor named Dr. Monkey gives press conference to clear up misconceptions, like how CDC doesn’t stand for “Container of Dead Chimps” and that “moneypox” is an offensive term.

We live in a society.

I bring up Dr. Monkey not because I’m suggesting that you watch the videos (“Stop the Planet of the Apes. I Want to Get Off!” is much better monkey-based entertainment), but because trying to make sense of right-wing comedy is a losing battle.

Take Lauren Boebert, for instance. When she’s not threatening lawsuits, she’s telling the same fart joke she’s told multiple times. Actually, make that “FART” joke, as in the Floor Action Response Team. The acronym dates back to at least December 2021, when the alleged former-escort was speaking to her rootin’ tootin’ far-right supporters.

“How many of you know that there is substantial legislation that passes the house of representatives without a single member ever voting on it? How many of you know that that happens? It’s unanimous consent, and they try to pass it really quickly — unless there is someone there to object, a whole slew of bills will pass by unanimous consent. And so we have members who monitor the floor. Now listen carefully, we’re called the Floor Action Response Team. Very congressional, right?” she said to scattered applause and muted laughs, adding, “We make things really smelly for them.”

Boebert recently tried again with basically the same joke:

This time, the kicker is, “We like to stink things up in there.” And in that video.

(Via Patriot Takes)

Tom Cruise is, in a word, intense. So it’s no surprise that basically any story coming from the set of Top Gun: Maverick has framed the enigmatic actor as laser-focused and maybe, uh, a little weird.

The latest story comes from Maverick co-star Miles Teller, who appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Wednesday night. As was well-documented, Cruise had very specific guidelines for the filming of Top Gun and insisted that actors got in the cockpits themselves to make movie magic happen. But for Teller, that resulted in him getting very sick.

As he detailed to Meyers, Teller actually broke out in hives and went to see doctors after falling ill during filming of the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 military propaganda classic.

“I’m just like, ‘I’m not feeling too good,’” Teller said on Wednesday. “And I was really hot and I just started itching like crazy. So I get out of the jet, and I’m just covered in hives, like, head to toe.”

Doctors took a look at Teller, and even got his blood tested. Which is when they realized he was having an allergic reaction to the jet fuel powering the multi-million dollar planes.

“My bloodwork comes back,” Teller said. “And I have flame-retardant, pesticides, and jet fuel in my blood.” Teller said. Thankfully production didn’t suffer too much, as Teller got treatment and was allowed to return to filming. And when he got back to set and told Cruise about his illness, well, he didn’t get much sympathy from the original film’s star.

“I go to set the next day, and Tom’s like, ‘So, how did it go, Miles what did they find?’” Teller said. “I was like, ‘Well, Tom: it turns out I have jet fuel in my blood.’ And without even skipping a beat, Tom just goes, ‘Yeah, I was born with it, kid.’”

It’s a pretty great line from Cruise, who I’m sure was actually worried about his film’s co-star falling ill, at least for a little bit. But it certainly adds to the lore of the film, and is yet another example of just how weirdly intense Cruise can be when it comes to stunts, fast cars and even faster airplanes.

Adam Sandler‘s acting career stretches all the way back to the ’80s (Remember when he was Theo’s friend on The Cosby Show?) but the actor/comedian will never forget his biggest break and the “coolest night” of his life: Appearing in his first episode on Saturday Night Live. While promoting his new Netflix movie, Hustle, Sandler stopped by IMDb where he fielded questions about the early days of his career and revealed how Tom Hanks played a major part in his SNL debut.

“First time I appeared on screen, I think it was Tom Hanks,” Sandler said and received a “Ding!” for getting the answer right. “Yes! I remember gasping for air, that I was so scared, and that I was going to faint. And I remember loving Edie Brickell that night. Man, that was just probably the coolest night of my life with just saying, “It’s official, I’m on Saturday Night Live.” Because I was on air.”

Sandler was also tested on the box office receipts for his classic ’90s comedy as well as the first time he performed one of his songs on SNL. He didn’t exactly nail that last one though. Via IMDb:

Which was the first of your films to reach $100 million at the box office?
Waterboy. [DING] I remember The Wedding Singer for like eighty. And then we were like, we got to get in a hundred, man. That’s be fun. We got the phone call. We had a big opening. We did like forty million and we were like, what? Jumping up and down, cranking songs, laughing, and having a good time. I had a very loose night that night…

What was your first song credit on “SNL”?
The first song, was it the Turkey Song? Thanksgiving Song? [BUZZER] Red hooded sweatshirt? [BUZZER] Jason Priestley was a great guy, great guy on that show. I think all of us sang. I don’t really remember how it goes, though.

Sandler was also asked how many movie credits he shares with Rob Schneider, which is honestly, a tough one. Although, Sandler did offer a pretty believable answer. “I would say two hundred.” (It’s actually 23, but 200 didn’t sound too far off, did it?)

(Via IMDb)

After years of speculation as to when she might finally hang it up, Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird announced on social media on Thursday that the 2022 season will be her last in the WNBA.

Bird, who is 41, is in her 19th season and has been one of women’s basketball’s pioneering players dating all the way back to her days at the University of Connecticut in the late 1990s. In a post on Twitter and Instagram, Bird wrote “I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first.”

Few have achieved as much in a basketball career as Bird. She is a two-time NCAA champion, a four-time WNBA champion, and has five Olympic gold medals, as she along with her close friend Diana Taurasi set the record for most golds by one basketball player in the history of the Olympic Games.

Throughout her time in basketball, Bird has played with Hall of Famers that span the history of the women’s game, from Taurasi, Ashja Jones and Swin Cash at UConn to Lauren Jackson, Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart in Seattle. It’s no exaggeration to say Bird played next to just about every great Team USA women’s basketball great over the past two decades.

Bird will retire No. 1 in WNBA history in career games and minutes played, No. 1 in total assists, top 10 in points scored, and top five in total steals.

In recent years, as Bird has neared the end of her illustrious career and questions about her career multiplied, Bird has often made a point of noting that her time as a high-schooler coincided with the creation of the WNBA. As a young athlete, Bird didn’t really know what her future could be in women’s basketball. As she got older and gained notoriety out of Syosset, New York, an hour or two outside of Manhattan, Bird began to set her sights on a professional career. Once she got to the W, she realized the possibilities of the burgeoning lead to the absolute fullest.

Off the court, Bird has been a key part of the WNBA players’ union, an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ+ community alongside her girlfriend Megan Rapinoe, and a key voice in the league’s push for progressive leadership in the U.S. government and beyond. When she entered the WNBA, it was unclear whether the league would survive and what it would mean to be a professional women’s basketball player in the U.S. And while players continue to push for higher salaries, equitable treatment in their workplace, and a greater voice in this country’s sports ecosystem, Bird helped drive the league to the impressive status it has today by using her platform to amplify the work of her colleagues — and take on causes of her own.

It’s no surprise, then, that Bird would strike a nostalgic, joyful tone as she finishes that prolific career. This final year will be about having fun, relishing the small, competitive moments that she has seemingly always cherished. What’s left for her to achieve on the court? Nothing.

Do you have 11 spare seconds to terrify yourself today? Don’t Worry Darling is over three months away from its release date, but it has somehow been the film of the year for… years. That’s probably because of its hot (visually and professionally) cast including Harry Styles, Florence Pugh, bearded king Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, and Olivia Wilde, who is also the director. All posters and trailers so far have delivered an enticing premise, but also kept the story very under wraps. The trailer teased some steamy sex scenes as well as a utopia horror vibe that’s reminiscent of The Stepford Wives.

On Thursday, June 16, Wilde shared an ominous teaser consisting of the most unsettling 11 seconds I have seen in some time. “Welcome to Victory. Only in theaters. 9 • 23 • 22 #dontworrydarling,” Wilde wrote in the caption. The teaser depicts a picture-perfect Palm Springs home. A plane is falling in a clear sky while a romantic but creepy song is playing (the same song featured in the trailer). The video goes out of focus and flips upside down a couple of times. I would go into more detail but I honestly don’t want to watch it again.

Don’t Worry Darling, which was written by Katie Silberman based on a story by Silberman and Carey Van Dyke & Shane Van Dyke, opens on September 23.

Here’s the film’s official plot synopsis:

While the husbands spend every day inside the Victory Project Headquarters, working on the “development of progressive materials,” their wives, including Frank’s elegant partner, Shelley, get to spend their time enjoying the beauty, luxury and debauchery of their community. Life is perfect, with every resident’s needs met by the company. All they ask in return is discretion and unquestioning commitment to the Victory cause.

But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can’t help questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why. Just how much is Alice willing to lose to expose what’s really going on in this paradise?

Conan Gray is set to release his sophomore album Superache next week, following his 2020 debut Kid Krow. The “Heather” singer has just announced that he’ll be bringing those songs to fans on a worldwide tour.

The trek will kick off in Louisville, Kentucky in September and end in Melbourne, Australia in November. Tickets will go on sale next Friday, the day of the album release.

Check out the full list of Gray’s upcoming tour dates below.

09/16 — Louisville, KY @ The Louisville Palace Theater
09/17 — Atlanta, GA @ Music Midtown
09/18 — St. Augustine, FL @ The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre
09/20 — Orlando, FL @ House of Blues Orlando
09/22 — Pittsburgh, PA @ UPMC Event Center
09/24 — Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
09/25 — Dover, DE @ Firefly
09/28 — Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
09/30 — Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Live!
10/10 — Bloomington, IN @ Indiana University Auditorium
10/03 — Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory
10/05 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
10/08 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/09 — El Paso, TX @ The Plaza Theatre – Kendall Kidd Performance Hall
10/14 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/17 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
10/19 — Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
10/22 — San Diego, CA @ SOMA
10/25 — Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
11/13 — Auckland, NZ @ Spark Arena
11/15 — Brisbane, AU @ Fortitude Music Hall
11/18 — Sydney, AU @ Hordern Pavilion
11/19 — Melbourne, AU @ Margaret Court Arena

Superache is out 6/24 via Republic Records. Pre-order it here.

The man with the best rap voice in the business, Meechy Darko of Flatbush Zombies, has announced his solo debut album, Gothic Luxury, is coming on August 26. He launches the first salvo today with the release of the intense, trippy video for the defiant lead single, “Kill Us All.” Over a suitably menacing backdrop, Meechy ruminates on America’s seemingly endless campaign of terror of Black American citizens, from derailing the Black Panther movement of the 1960s to the media framing Blaming people as inherently violent. He isn’t saying much we don’t know but the passion behind his bars makes them all the more poignant.

Gothic Luxury is executive produced by Dot Da Genius and was recorded in the wake of Meechy’s father being killed by Miami police in 2020. “I had no choice but to make this the most personal thing I’ve ever done because fortunately or unfortunately, I’m in an extremely soul-stirring part of my life right now,” Meechy explained in a statement. “Who I was yesterday may not be who I am tomorrow. I’m not who I was last week. There’s no telling who I’ll be next year or the year after, so it’s very important to capture this while I can still feel.”

Meechy is the second member of Flatbush to announce a solo album after Erick The Architect. We’re waiting on you, Juice!

Watch the “Kill Us All” video above and pre-save Gothic Luxury, out 8/26 via Loma Vista Recordings, here.