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Josh Hawley is looking at legal repercussions for his now-infamous fist-pump photo during the January 6 failed MAGA coup, but not for the reasons you might think. The failed insurrection is still considered a noble cause in Republican circles, so naturally, Hawley has been leaning into his fist-pump moment for his re-election campaign. More specifically, he’s selling a coffee mug that says “Show Me Strong” along with the January 6 image, but there’s just one small problem: He doesn’t have the rights to the photo.

The rights to the fist-pump photograph taken by Francis Chung belong to E&E News, which was recently purchased by Politico back in December. According to The Hill, Politico has issued a cease and desist to Hawley’s campaign instructing them to remove the image:

“We do not authorize its use by the Hawley campaign for the purpose of political fundraising, which the campaign has been put on notice of by legal counsel,” a spokesperson for Politico told The Hill on Monday. “We are eagerly awaiting a response, but in the interim again respectfully ask that the campaign immediately cease and desist unauthorized use of the image.”

Interestingly, this is not the first controversy caused by the fist-pump coffee mug. Back in February, Hawley’s campaign was ruthlessly mocked on social media for claiming the mug is “Made in America” when in fact, it’s made in China. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before we find out the thing is made of lead and asbestos, or Putin has one sitting on his desk. Could go either way.

(Via The Hill)

After accumulating some impressive features over the past year, including “City Of Gods” with Alicia Keys and Kanye West, and clearing up some legal issues related to his arrest for carrying an unregistered firearm in April, Fivio Brooklyn rapper Fivio Foreign is preparing to release his debut album, B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). However, it appears he didn’t think the album would be all the way ready by its March 25 release date, so on Sunday, he announced it was being pushed back, although he promised this would be the final delay.

“My album gon’ be pushed back,” he said in a video posted to Instagram. “I pushed it back one more time. This is the last time though, for sure. It was March 25, now it’s April 8. It ain’t really a reason or anything, I just wanted to make that sh*t perfect. I want it to be the perfect album. That sh*t is going to be viral. Stay tuned, that sh*t gon’ be viral. April 8.”

One person who likely won’t be happy to see the album drop is New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has been on a one-man, anti-drill rap campaign, saying, “We are alarmed by the use of social media to really over-proliferate this violence in communities.” However, drill rap mainstays like Fivio maintain that they are only recounting the state of violence they see, not causing it themselves.

In any case, B.I.B.L.E. is now due 4/8 via Columbia Records.

Famous singer Lizzo has to spend a lot of time advocating for herself, and she does for others, too. Most recently, she took the stage at the Austin Convention Center for SXSW to talk with radio host Angela Yee. The focus was mainly on her forthcoming Amazon Prime streaming series Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, but she, being an international star, had a lot to discuss, and she used her platform to bring up the pressing issues that have been going on in Texas, both where SXSW is and where she grew up.

According to Rolling Stone, Lizzo spoke on Texas governor Greg Abbott’s decision to treat gender-affirmative childcare as child abuse: “I’m proud to rep Houston but I’m not proud to rep Texan politics right now. There are very regressive laws being passed. They’re taking away the right for young children to have a chance to live authentically as themselves. It’s a violation of human rights. Trans rights are human rights.” She also weighed in on the restrictive abortion law: “We got a lotta ugly babies y’all need to be handling instead of y’all being in people’s homes and telling them what to do with their bodies and being all up in their uteruses. The abortion ban is atrocious as well. Mind your business. Stay out of my body.”

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

Tory Lanez is once again under fire for unauthorized sample use on his ’80s-themed album Alone At Prom. This time, it’s the estate of George Michael who wants a song removed, saying “Enchanted Waterfall” uses part of “Careless Whisper,” arguably Michael’s signature hit. Even worse, the estate claims that they already rejected his request to use the sample flouting the estate’s wishes in releasing the song anyway.

“It was brought to our attention that the song ‘Enchanted Waterfall’ by the artist Tory Lanez incorporated an unauthorized sample of ‘Careless Whisper’ written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley,” reads a statement given to Variety. “Requested permission for this use had been declined in June 2021 so we took immediate action on behalf of the writers, in collaboration with our publishers Warner Chappell Music, to prevent further exploitation as we will not tolerate any unauthorized use of any songs within the catalogs of George Michael and/or Andrew Ridgeley.”

The song has since been removed from Spotify but is still up on Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube. It’s the second time Lanez has been taken to task over this album after Madonna called him out via Instagram for sampling her song “Into The Groove” on “Pluto’s Last Comet.” While Variety‘s report doesn’t cite a lawsuit being filed just yet, it certainly wouldn’t help the embattled Canadian singer to receive another suit, as he’s already being sued for foreclosure on a Miami condo and facing criminal charges for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.

Just in time for its season premiere on Hulu, The Kardashians has dropped a new trailer that catches everyone up on the reality TV family and issues a surprisingly blunt (and The Godfather-esque) warning: “Never go against the family.” In the drone-shot heavy preview, naturally, Kim Kardashian is front and center and hints at her budding relationship with Pete Davidson amid her divorce from Kanye West. (An interesting reveal considering Kim had recently told Variety that Davidson won’t be in the first season, but that doesn’t mean his presence won’t be felt.)

The rest of the family get their fair share of screen time, too. Kourtney Kardashian and fiancé Travis Barker are front and center while Khloe Kardashian and her messy relationship with Tristan Thompson are also in the mix. Kendall and Kylie Jenner are, of course, along for the ride. However, it’s towards the end of the trailer where we see a new side of the Kardashians. As the sisters meet to commiserate over the people who keep traumatizing them, Kim is shown taking an aggressive stance on the phone.

“We have all of the time and all of the resources to burn them all to the f*cking ground,” Kim says before the trailer cuts to Khloe and momager Kris Jenner warning Scott Disick to “never go against the family.” Considering the ongoing drama with Kanye that has been playing out in public, it’s an interesting choice to see Kim and her family actually lean into the power of their vast media empire.

The Kardashians premieres April 14 on Hulu.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been making headlines lately for his surprise baby and breakup with Grimes and his rather terrifying brain-implant initiative, but he’s diving into international relations now, or so it seems. Musk (age 50) decided to begin the week by throwing down a “challenge” of “single combat” against Vladimir Putin (age 69) with the “stakes” being Ukraine. Meaning that Musk desires to physically fight the Russian president, one on one, with the prize being a war-torn country.

Yep, Musk tweeted in both Russian and Ukrainian, and he added, “Do you agree to this fight?”

While people wondered whether the heck he had thought this through, Musk offered, “If Putin could so easily humiliate the west, then he would accept the challenge. But he will not.” He then assured his followers, “I am absolutely serious.”

Let’s just say that there’s a lot of commotion here. On one hand, Elon Musk has found a way to make the Russian invasion of Ukraine all about him. On the other hand, people are doing the pick-your-fighter thing, and it’s as absurd a decision as one would expect. On one hand, there’s martial arts experience. Putin has famously done some judo moves in public, and Elon, well, he did this.

But also, there could be flamethrowers involved.

Let the deluge of fittingly outrageous responses begin.

And here’s a relevant question: what has Elon actually done here?

Whether or not Musk means well here is up for debate. He recently tweeted an unsavory meme, which suggested that Netflix couldn’t wait to make a love-story film about this war. The tweet carried anti-trans vibes, and Musk also tweeted a meme that’s still open for interpretation but could suggest that people hop too quickly on the various “I Stand With” bandwagons. He also quoted Agatha Christie for unknown reasons, so the jury is out on whether Musk would actually step into the ring, should Putin decide to go for it.

While the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has “rock” in its name, the institution observes important figures across the broader music landscape, not just in guitar-driven music. For example, when the 2022 nominee class was announced in February, it included artists like Eminem, Eurythmics, and Dolly Parton. Now, though, Parton has actually taken herself out of the running: In a social media post shared today, Parton said she decided to “respectfully bow out” because she doesn’t feel she “earned” the nomination.

Her post reads:

“Dolly here! Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right. I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.

I do hope that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will understand and be willing to consider me again — if I’m ever worthy. This has, however, inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do! My husband is a total rock ‘n’ roll freak, and has always encouraged me to do one. I wish all of the nominees good luck and thank you again for the compliment. Rock on!”

Aside from her renewed rock aspirations, Dolly may also be eyeing dipping her toe into hip-hop, as she recently discussed a potential Cardi B collaboration.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

DL Hughley isn’t bothered by Kanye West’s threats against him. Instead, the stand-up comedian had nothing but jokes for the musician after West claimed “I can afford to hurt u” on Instagram. Kanye, who almost assuredly has no clue what the term “leftist” even means, also posted questioning Hughley’s residency in Calabasas, suggesting that he’s willing to confront the comic at home. However, Hughley’s responses asserted his disdain for the idea while also taking shots at Kanye’s mental health.

“Ain’t no way in hell I’d ever be scared of a dude who wears #IKnowWhatDidLastSummerBoots!!” Hughley jabbed, referring to the knee-high quasi-galoshes that Kanye has been making most of his public appearances in lately. The comedian also taunted West for lashing out at Pete Davidson, joking, “It’s just too bad that you acting like a nut won’t stop #Pete from bustin one!!”

However, some fans thought Hughley went too far when he mocked Kanye’s mental health. Kanye previously revealed a bipolar diagnosis and has deplored commenters blaming his unusual behaviors on his disorder, which is exactly what Hughley did. “Ain’t it weird that #Kanye supposedly has all these goons who will kill for him, but not one of them will get his prescriptions filled?” he wondered. “Here’s a thought while you’re on your way to kill me in Calabasas, how about somebody drop by CVS and pick up his Xanax!”

While it’s true that DL likely crossed a line taking those digs at Kanye’s condition, Kanye threatening the comedian is certainly no better — nor has Kanye’s behavior over the past couple of months been acceptable. But getting him to see reason will be that much harder if he’s on the defensive about his diagnosis rather than understanding that people are actually worried about him. Hopefully, he can get the help he needs and understand that having bipolar disorder is no excuse to lash out the way he has.

Time passes, new shows rise and fall, but the collection of shows that have, to differing degrees, benefited from Greg Daniels’ direct influence — SNL, The Simpsons, The Office, Parks And Rec, King Of The Hill — might outlast us all. It’s why I joked with Daniels in our recent chat, calling him the Omega Man of pop culture. And while he demurred and landed on “luck,” it’s impossible to deny the skill. Daniels knows good TV, but most importantly, as he tells us, he knows that “a good TV series gets more and more interesting, the more you’re into it.”

Daniels is very much in the nurture stage when it comes to Netflix’s Space Force and Amazon Prime’s Upload as they step into crucial second seasons where the forcefields of hype and hope can lose their power. In the interview below, we discuss changes to Space Force, finding the right formula with the young cast of Upload, King Of The Hill in modern times (though the show is not yet confirmed to come back), and refinding his love for TV comedy through working with his kids.

Having seen all of Space Force‘s second season, there are some differences that you can pick up on from season one. When did you start to feel like you wanted to make some changes?

Well… I’d say we started working on season two right when we finished shooting. So it was before it aired. And we kind of rolled into it with the writers and we did about 10 weeks and right when I finished shooting, Steve [Carell] especially felt that we had maybe made a mistake in terms of our cinematographic approach. Because early on we were like “Okay, we want to make sure that everybody knows this isn’t The Office, that they shouldn’t be expecting Michael Scott, the character. So we won’t shoot it anything like The Office, we’ll shoot it in a very big, you know, cinematography-heavy way, like a Stanley Kubrick way. Right? And the only problem with that is in order to achieve it, it’s very hard to improvise, right? Because you’re pretty much shooting one camera only and there’s a lot of time between shooting that and then the next guy’s scene. So it kind of breaks up the improvisational patterns.

And so at the end of shooting, Steve was like, “Wow, that was exhausting, and I didn’t get to play with all these amazing actors that we’ve assembled. We’ve got to do something closer to how we did the old show.” So that really drove a lot of it. And then of course there was also just a feeling when we sort of summed up what we had that was working really well, it was we managed to assemble this great cast of series regulars. So let’s figure out a way for them to gel more, have more time with each other, have more variety of relationships amongst them. And it was kind of similar, I think… a little bit like Parks and Recreation. Because in Parks and Recreation, the situation brought all these people together. They had to fill in a pit. But then after a while, you’re like, “Oh, well Chris, Pratt’s doing really well, except he’s only supposed to be this guy who’s hanging out with Anne at her house and we never go to her house. So what if he had a shoeshine stand inside the same set?” And you know, you try different things to kind of turn their attention back into the group so that you can really tell stories that involve all of your main players. So that’s what we did with the story breaking. And then we knew it was going to be pretty different anyway because there was a different administration and Space Force had been kind of like the pet project of the last president and then a different party president was coming in. So you assume, “Well now they’re going to be on the outs with this administration.” So that was just our thinking.

With Upload, I think last time we talked, we had discussed whether there was a show bible and an overall plan for it. Did that change at all? Any big changes as far as where you think you’re going to wind up with it? Because the ambition with that show keeps growing, I think.

Yeah. It’s a pretty different process than Space Force. They’re very different. And Upload, I did have the advantage of shooting a pilot like a year before season one and then doing re-shoots in season one. It was a more deliberate approach and it’s a different type of cast. It’s a cast of newcomers and they’re really fun, but it’s a different experience. And I have a loose idea of where it’s going because in pitching it back in the day, it was in a book project first and so I had really worked out an awful lot. And when I went to pitch it in 2014, I had like two seasons worth of stories in my little thing that I would slap on their desks as I walked out after pitching, you know, “Look at this, see how well worked out it is”.

And we definitely have used a lot of the ideas from that. But we haven’t completely followed it because at the time I didn’t know who any of the cast was going to be. And for instance, in the pilot, you really see Luke and Alicia pop in the pilot. And then I was like, “Oh okay, this is what the ensemble is. It’s Nathan and Ingrid and Nora, but it’s also Nathan’s best friend and Nora’s best friend, they’re part of it.” So they got way more screen time than ever was considered in the early drafts, right? And so I have definitely an endpoint in mind for Nathan and Nora. But how many episodes it takes to get there can be adjusted. And if I come up with something better, I’m going to use it.

How’s it been to work with your son, Owen Daniels [who has popped up as an actor on both shows]?

It’s great. I have to say he’s come up with so many of the big moves in Upload and he wrote the last episode of season two and a lot of big storylines. And after The Office, I was so sort of spent, I really felt like I did what I had to do. You know? I came here and I can’t imagine having a more fun experience and it was a complete perfect cast, exciting story of like starting out in the wilderness and somehow bringing it to a successful conclusion. And I don’t know, it was just like everything you would want out of a TV experience. And my son was writing screenplays and I worked with him on one of his screenplays and I kind of refound the joy of comedy writing. You know what I mean? Because right after The Office I was like, “I don’t know what I’m going to do, I’m done.” And then I just was like, “Oh yeah, this is just fun. It’s just fun to have good characters that make jokes.”

And so I really got a lot out of working with him. And he was working down the hall from the Upload mini room season one, even before season one, before the pilot we had a mini room. And he would kind of stick his head in and make jokes and then go back to working on his stuff. And the writers at that time were like, “He would be funny to be the elevator operator or the waiter.” And it seemed like it was a good idea because that character was going to be an extra for a lot of it. And I didn’t know who I was going to get, who would be willing to stand in the background and be an extra in every scene? So I went with him and he’s done a good job. He’s very funny. It’s been really fun to work with him. And the writing staff generally likes writing for him.

And you’re working with your daughter, Haley Daniels, on My Mom, Your Dad, right?

Yes.

That’s a game show, right?

That is not a game show. It’s a reality show. It’s a dating show.

IMDB needs to get their shit together.

Do they say game show?

I think it says unscripted game show. [It says game show, reality TV]

No, no, no game show at all. No prizes other than love.

That’s a pretty good prize.

Big prize. Yeah. My daughter loves reality shows. She works for Illumination and she is 26 and she loves reality shows. And we were watching Love Island together and we started joking around about if the characters on Love Island were not incredibly fit 20-year-olds, but rather 50-year-olds like me. You know? That was sort of the beginning of the process. And having done a mockumentary, a couple of mockumentaries and worked with a lot of reality show camera people and tried to imitate reality shows, they were something that I thought could be done well. I don’t look down my nose at them at all. And anyway, we had a really good time doing it and you should check it out. It’s on HBO Max.

No disrespect, but no I won’t. [Laughs] I can’t stand unscripted shows.

[Laughs] Okay!

I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why it is. I just don’t get it.

This does not feel like a normal one. It’s got a comedy twist in it. What happens is the single parents in their fifties are nominated by their kids in their twenties. And what they don’t know is that the kids live down the road in a different house, observing everything through hidden cameras and manipulating the dates to try and prevent somebody who they don’t like to become their stepfather. And it’s got a lot of humor in it. But I won’t try and convert you.

If King Of The Hill does come back, is there any concern at all about how it lands in a 2022 world where maybe there are some people… I just wonder how that show hits with people that are maybe, what’s the word, ruralist? Maybe. There might be some ruralism or some anti-ruralism in the culture now with politics being what it is. Has that crossed your mind at all?

Ruralism is something I’ve never heard before, that’s quite interesting.

I think I might have just made it up, honestly. It’s entirely possible.

Yeah. Listen, I think that when we did the show back in the day it was in a context of Hollywood not really respecting that kind of character. So it was sort of in a ruralist context, maybe.

Would you say that has improved or degraded further?

I don’t know. I’m very much into Yellowstone right now. It’s an interesting sort of tricky show. I kind of feel like it’s kind of like a Western Sopranos, is how I would describe it. But it’s a different perspective than you mostly get. And I think people like that it’s a different perspective without being a crazy perspective or anything.

‘Space Force’ is available to stream on Netflix and ‘Upload’ just dropped on Amazon Prime

At the 75th annual British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) yesterday, last year’s Licorice Pizza was up for a couple of awards. Alana Haim was nominated for Best Actress In A Leading Role for her character Alana Kane, but that was taken home by Joanna Scanlan for After Love. Licorice Pizza did, however, win Best Original Screenplay, but screenwriter and director Paul Thomas Anderson wasn’t in the audience. So Haim and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, who contributed a score to the movie, took the stage to accept the award with a charmingly awkward speech.

“Wow, Paul is going to be very excited to win this,” Greenwood, who is more used to a guitar than a microphone, uttered, “not least because it means I’ve been forced to give an awkward and inarticulate speech on his behalf, which he will find very funny.” The two go on to rave about all of Anderson’s talents, with Greenwood noting, “If he didn’t sing like a donkey, he’d probably be doing music as well.” It ends with Greenwood saying, “He’s gonna be very happy to see this, and should we run away?” Haim replies, “Please!”

Greenwood was nominated for Best Original Score for his contributions to The Power Of The Dog, but lost to Hans Zimmer for Dune.

Watch Greenwood and Haim’s full speech above.