Donald Trump has a checkered past when it comes to donations. In the past, he’s raised millions off his often cash-strapped supporters, only to use it to line his own pockets. Last week he even asked them to give him money after his private plane crapped out. Now reports have emerged that he offered small donors the chance to dine with him — and then never picked a winner.
As per The Washington Post, the former’s president’s PAC sent out numerous emails giving regular folks, not the unimaginably rich, a rare opportunity. “Contribute ANY AMOUNT RIGHT NOW to be automatically entered to have dinner with President Trump in New Orleans,” one e-mail read, complete with a picture of Trump hanging in the city’s famed French Quarter. “We’ll cover your flight. We’ll cover your very nice hotel. We’ll cover your dinner,” it read. “All you have to do is enter.”
The dinner would have taken place last weekend, when he attended a function at which he pitched a bizarre and childish idea of how to turn Russia and China against each other.
Alas, it was not to be. No winner was chosen, no small donor was booked into a swanky hotel, and no one wined and dined with Trump except for big time Republican donors, who cut him large checks.
A spokesperson for the former political leader who now lives in resorts blamed the kerfuffle on an “administrative error,” claiming the winner was “not properly notified.”
But karma can be a bitch, even for someone who’s spent most of his life avoiding punishment. When Trump boarded his private plane to head back to Mar-a-Lago, a malfunction forced them to turn back, at which point he was given another air vehicle. And then once again, Trump, a self-professed rich guy who was once leader of the free world, asked his supporters for money.
Last year, Pooh Shiesty, born Lontrell Williams, was charged with discharging a firearm during a violent crime and robbery after he allegedly shot a man in the buttocks. During the incident, which occurred in October of 2020, the man, 28-year-old Brandon Cooper, was allegedly shot by Williams when they met up to exchange weed and sneakers. Cooper was later indicted with seven others for allegedly forging checks. After the indictment, Williams accepted a plea deal that helped the rapper avoid a life sentence, the prosecution and defense agreeing that eight years in jail would be a fitting sentence for Williams.
However, as per a new report from Rolling Stone, Williams’ lawyer Brad Cohen is now fighting against the recommended eight-year prison sentence. On Friday, Cohen filed paperwork that claimed “ballistics and forensic evidence” proved that Williams did not shoot Cooper in the buttocks. Cohen also argues that since his client pleaded guilty to only a single count of firearms conspiracy, it’s not fair that a pre-sentencing report submitted to the court suggests that he was involved in a “robbery/shooting.”
“The government wants this court to believe Mr. Williams, with a net worth of $3,449,446, planned a robbery, then committed a robbery, and then shot a known drug dealer who knew him well and could easily identify him,” court documents read. “All over a few hundred-dollar drug deal for personal use, while he was driving a lime green McLaren that he rented from the alleged victim.” It adds:
Mr. Williams possessed over $40,000 in cash and was driving a vehicle valued at over $200,000. It would be illogical for Mr. Williams to stage a robbery by two other individuals over something so minuscule as a bottle of liquid codeine with a retail value of a few hundred dollars, at most, when any damage done to the McLaren in the process would have cost thousands of dollars to repair.
Cohen notes that medical records show the bullet that struck Cooper “entered the left buttocks near the top of the muscle and exited at the lower part of the muscle” with “the angle being that of a downward slope.” As a result, Cooper believes that it “simply would have been impossible for the wound to occur with Mr. Williams being the shooter.”
Williams’ sentencing date is set for April 20.
Pooh Shiesty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Alec Baldwin may have returned to work recently, but the accidental shooting on the set of the Western Rust is still far from resolved. The actor has been claiming that he does not bear any responsibility for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed with a prop gun he was wielding (though he claims he didn’t fire it). He’s also suggested that those suing him, including Hutchinss widower, are merely going after those with the deepest pockets. His actions have met severe pushback from the lawyer representing Hutchins’ estate.
Baldwin had quietly reached out to Matt Hutchins, who was married to Halyna, and told him that he had wished to complete the film and give the profits to his family. That did not go over well. Brian Panish, an attorney representing Hutchins’ estate, slammed Baldwin in a statement provided to Deadline:
Alec Baldwin once again is trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions before and on Oct 21st that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins, as demonstrated by today’s arbitration demand for indemnification from the Rust production company. Baldwin’s disclosure of personal texts with Matt Hutchins is irrelevant to his demand for arbitration and fails to demonstrate anything other than Hutchins’ dignity in his engagement with Baldwin. It is shameful that Baldwin claims Hutchins’ actions in filing a wrongful death lawsuit derailed the completion of Rust. The only action that ended the film’s production was Baldwin’s killing of Halyna Hutchins.
Quavo’s basketball skills are undeniable and he’s certainly one of the better ballers when compared to the musicians around him. During last year’s, NBA All-Star Weekend, Quavo absolutely showed out during a pickup game with Jack Harlow against 2 Chainz and Lil Baby. More recently, Quavo became a playable character on NBA2K22, which was certainly a cool moment despite him not being happy with his player rating. Now, Quavo wants to show his basketball skills on the big screen and he’s hoping to do so through an upcoming film with Jack Harlow.
During a recent run-in with TMZ, Quavo made it clear that he wants a role in the upcoming White Men Can’t Jump reboot, which Jack Harlow is set to star in. While Harlow is set to play the role of Billy Hoyle (originally played by Woody Harrelson), Quavo wants a shot at playing Sidney Deane who was originally played by none other than Wesley Snipes. “I think they need to call me, so me and Jack Harlow can do it,” Quavo said. “I need to play Wesley Snipes’ role.”
Quavo also took a moment to show support for Harlow’s upcoming role by calling him “amazing,” and saying that “he can do everything.”
You can hear Quavo’s comments about the White Men Can’t Jump reboot via TMZ here.
Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Kanye West has been making some moves lately. He recently released a pair of music videos for “Eazy” and “Hurricane,” with the former taking aim at Pete Davidson once again. He’s been promoting his Stem Player, which he exclusively released Donda 2 on. Additionally, he and NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown are “extremely serious” about buying the Denver Broncos. Long story short, there’s a lot on his plate and now, he’s bringing in some help to make sure his visions become reality. According to Variety, West has hired Jason Lee, owner of the pop culture website Hollywood Unlocked, as his head of media and partnerships.
The move comes after West and Lee sat down for an extensive interview earlier this year. During their conversation, West spoke about getting divorced from his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, punching a fan, why he bought a house near Kim, and more. “I think after the interview on Hollywood Unlocked, it was clear that we had an aligned vision for leveling the playing field in media,” Lee said about his new position. “Ye voiced a vision for a company he was building, and that media was an arm of that, and he felt I could be an asset.”
He later added, “Ye is a genius — in tech with Stem Player, in product and fashion with Yeezy, Gap, and Balenciaga, with Donda Academy and Donda Sports, and in all things culture. My goal is to amplify those stories and inspire the next generation with all that amazing work.”
The move comes after Jason Lee found himself in some controversy last month when he incorrectly reported through Hollywood Unlocked that Queen Elizabeth II had died. Despite clarifications that she was still alive, he doubled down on the report before later apologizing. “Although I’ve never been wrong when breaking a story because this involves The Queen this is one time I would want to be,” a statement from Hollywood Unlocked read. “And based on Wednesday’s report from the Palace, I can say my sources got this wrong and I sincerely apologize to The Queen and the Royal Family.”
You can view a post from Jason Lee about his new position above.
Madonna‘s 1998 hit “Frozen” got an update courtesy of Canadian EDM producer Sickick, and eventually, an official release of the remix with a guest Afrobeats verse from Nigerian star Fireboy DML. But the road to the remix of her old ’90s hit was paved with TikToks. The producer’s new version quickly became a viral hit on TikTok when he released it back in 2021, and after seeing the song pick up traction, an official remix came out in December of last year. Never one to leave anything on the table (and always quick to take credit for inspiring current trends), Madonna followed that first new version up with another, featuring the Fireboy DML verse, which came out earlier this month. The video for the new version dropped today, sparking even more interest, you can watch it up top.
Now, snippets from the new versions of the song are a quite popular sound on TikTok, and no one has been happier to repost them than Madonna herself. Let’s back up for a second though, and go over the song’s history, because it was quite popular back in the day when it first came out. As the first single for Madonna’s seventh studio album, Ray Of Light, the song just had its 24th birthday, as it was released on February 23, 1998. Aside from critical praise, the song went No. 2 and became her sixth single to do so. It also went No. 1 in UK and plenty of other European countries, too.
Looks like this new version of the song might be headed back up the charts. Check out some of Madonna’s TikTok videos featuring the remixed version, and for good measure, check out the original ’90s video at the bottom.
Megan Thee Stallion just released “Sweetest Pie,” her anticipated collaboration with Dua Lipa. It comes after she released “Flamin Hottie” and teamed up with Shenseea for “Lick.” The combination of Megan and Lipa is just the latest example of some of the most popular women in music joining forces for a new song. Both Megan and Lipa have held top-2 positions on the singles chart and top-5 positions on the albums chart. Furthermore, they both have Grammy awards to their name. Despite this, there are still double standards that they face in the industry and it’s something they spoke about recently.
On a recent episode of Dua Lipa’s At Your Service podcast, which Megan guest-appeared on, Lipa agreed with Megan’s previous comments where she spoke about “rap being a male-dominated ecosystem.” “I feel like that about the music industry in general,” Lipa said. She later added, “There’s this beautiful moment coming into music – as a whole – where female musicians are seen to lift each other up. And I think that’s really beautiful and important.”
Next, Lipa asked Megan if she thinks this “reflects the different standards men and women are held to in this industry.” Megan replied, “I feel like when you think about women doing anything – in general – you think about ‘catty.” [If] it’s five girls in a room, what is the ‘catty’ factor of it all? But that’s what we’ve been taught for so long.” She added, “I feel like boys definitely play a big part in that… in the industry, too.” Both Megan and Lipa pointed out the differences in how men and women are judged when they do live performances with Megan calling it a “crazy double standard.”
“But I feel like we are girls, right, and sometimes I just have to take it as everybody knows that we are superior,” Megan said. “So they expect us to arrive as the superior beings that we are. I feel like we get critiqued so heavy because everybody just knows that women are the shit. So they are looking for us to be the shit all the time.”
You can listen to the At Your Service episode with Megan above and check out other episodes from the podcast here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Bilingual crooner Omar Apollo is gearing up to release his sophomore album, Ivory, and he recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to give fans a taste of what’s to come. Following up his major label debut, Apolonio, Omar is back already with a brand new song cycle. This isn’t his first time appearing on Jimmy Fallon either, he performed “Go Away” back in 2021, and now he’s back with an even more clear picture of his next project.
The Mexican-American singer-songwriter premiered the new track with his live performance on late night TV, and also shared a studio version of the song as well, which you can check out below. “Killing Me” is the fourth single Apollo has shared off his upcoming album, following “Invincible,” which features Daniel Caesar, a previously released single called “Bad Life,” which is his second collaboration with Kali Uchis, following up their past song together, “Hey Boy” off Apolonio, and finally, the album’s first single, “Go Away.”
It’s really quite compelling to listen to Omar’s music, because aside from his beautiful vocals, the effortless way he switches between English and Spanish is even more impressive. And with Latin pop and reggaeton making a huge impact on mainstream pop music, it couldn’t be a better time for his breakout. Watch the live, retro performance of “Killing Me” up top, and look out for Ivory coming out April 8 via Warner Records.
Gregg Popovich has officially won more regular season games than any other coach in NBA history. The San Antonio Spurs beat the Utah Jazz on Friday night, 104-102, marking the 1,336th time that Popovich won a game. With the win, he broke a tie he had atop the list with legendary coach Don Nelson and moved into the No. 1 spot all time.
While this is an accomplishment that exists right at the intersection of excellence and longevity, anyone who has ever seen Gregg Popovich talk about himself for more than a half second knows that he hates being celebrated. And despite the fact that everyone knows this, Popovich was mobbed by his players after the game — after giving him a little space, Jakob Poeltl hugged him and started jumping, at which point everyone else joined in.
Popovich smiled, which is nice, but during his postgame press conference, the legendary Spurs coach made clear that he didn’t like this, and there will be hell to pay.
“Yes, they know how much I enjoy that sort of thing,” Popovich said as the room laughed. “And I’m gonna bring them all in and have ’em run suicides before the game tomorrow.”
He said the exact same thing after the Spurs gave him a water bottle bath in the locker room.
Sometimes the word “cheap” gives off a really negative feeling. It can make us feel like the quality isn’t there. It can feel like the worst possible iteration of a certain product. But cheap doesn’t necessarily mean bad. And that’s particularly true in the beer world where cheap often means crisp, refreshing, easy-drinking, and always there for you.
Sure, you can spend $25 on a four-pack of 16-ounce tallboys of the hottest milkshake IPA or barrel-aged this-or-that beer, but what happens when you simply want a beer that’s not going to challenge you at every sip? That’s where an $8 six-pack of crispy, delicious, no-frills lager or pilsner comes in.
Instead of simply strolling through our neighborhood grocery or beer stores to find these bargain bangers, we asked a few well-known brewers, craft beer experts, and brewing professionals for help by calling out the “cheap” beers they actually like to drink. Let’s see what they picked.
Montucky Cold Snacks is a great cheap beer. They do the beer right. And if you are thirsty, it delivers a crisp and inoffensive lager in a useful format.
PBR is the only beer I would buy that’s around $1 per beer, and I’ve been drinking it since I started out as a beer drinker. I’m not embarrassed to go to a bar and order that beer. That’s also where Randy Sprecher got his start as a brewer in the 1980s before he founded Sprecher Brewery in 1985.
Belikin Beer from Belize is a great cheap beer. Technically this beer would be categorized as a tropical style lager or pilsner and is the best lager you will find in the Caribbean. Because it’s an all-malt beer, it has a little more body and malt sweetness relative to most of the other Caribbean beers, which are often brewed with sugar as an adjunct.
Miller High Life — it’s the damn champagne of beers after all. It’s cheap, crisp, refreshing, and crushable. It’s also the kind of beer that’s always there and always tastes the same decade after decade. It’s pretty hard to beat when discussing cheap, reliable beers.
I think Old Style is the best “cheap beer” available in the Midwest. The krausening method gives it a clean finish. It’s highly carbonated and refreshing, and the sweetness is in perfect harmony with the bitterness. The sign of a quality dive bar in Chicago is the giant Old Style sign hanging off the front of the building.
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale isn’t the cheapest beer, but it’s a lot less expensive than most craft beers. This beer is a top-fiver for pretty much every brewer in the U.S. because it’s classically delicious, widely available, and, best of all, affordable. Beautiful whole cone hop flavor and rounded maltiness for $10 a sixer? Come on.
Narragansett Lager is my pick. If you’re going to go less expensive, you might as well drink ‘Gansett and support a great brewery. It has more malt and hop flavor than any macro brew but is still light enough to meet your easy beer-drinking days.
Your dad and grandpa’s favorite beer has been made the same way since 1960. It’s always cheap, crisp, malty, and sweet. It tastes like beer tastes in your imagination. It’s a no fills, crushable, and memorable beer. There’s a reason it has a cult-like following.
While bock beers have close ties to spring, you can grab a bottle of this crushable 4.4 percent ABV banger any time of the year. This Texas-made classic is known for its sweet malt backbone and brightly floral hops. It’s refreshing all year long.
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