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Candace Owens has been having an eventful week. Not only did Jesse Watters give her the opportunity to go bananas over Minnie Mouse temporarily ditching her “iconic” dress to wear (the outrage drill keeps going), but her name has popped up in relation to Justice Breyer’s recent announcement of Supreme Court retirement. In the aftermath of this news, President Biden confirmed his intent to nominate a Black woman as a replacement justice, and that’s somehow led to right-wingers tossing out the Daily Wire host’s name on Twitter.

Not that this could actually happen, given that Owens did not graduate college for that journalism degree that she pursued, meaning that she also didn’t go to law school, which is a prerequisite for serving on the highest court in the land. Yet Candace, whether she’s trolling or not, heard about people mentioning her name, in jest or not, and she wants everyone to know that she is flattered to be ending. “What an honor,” she tweeted.

If “America” is people who are far-right and think that Twitter is a way to nominate a justice, then sure, but that’s not how these things roll. There’s probably no way to know for sure if she’s serious, short of her appearing on Tucker Carlson’s show to talk about it (and that could happen), but regardless, people sure are enjoying this tweet. Justice Troll doesn’t have a nice ring to it, but perhaps Owens believes that if a reality star can become president, then anything is possible.

Of all the many rap beefs in the history of hip-hop, none has been as brutally dissected — and deadly — as Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac’s East Coast/West Coast spat. Things reached a head when Tupac dropped the supremely insulting “Hit ‘Em Up” in June of 1996, which besides being lyrically pointed at Big, Puff and Mobb Deep, rode samples of two Junior Mafia tracks in “Get Money” and “Player’s Anthem.”

While Biggie got his shots own shots in over the years (“Who Shot Ya?” came out months after Tupac was shot at Quad Studios in November of 1994, although Biggie never admitted it being pointed at Tupac), there was more in store from Biggie that never fully materialized the way he ended it to. In an interview with The Art Of Dialogue, Junior Mafia member and Biggie’s cousin, Lil Cease, shed more light on the epic beef and what might have happened if things went as planned:

“Big wasn’t gonna put forth a full effort into a whole full song dissing Tupac… Big was kinda more like just sprinkling on it,” Cease said of “The Ugliest,” a J-Dilla produced track that featured Busta Rhymes. Biggie delivered the verse, “And the winner is, not that thinner kid / Bandanas, tattoos, my fist never bruise / Land still cruise, Frank White paid his dues.” While Tupac wasn’t name-checked, it was clear who the lyrics was pointed at, and the diss was strong enough for Busta to not put the song on the album it was earmarked for, The Coming, but this was hardly the epic shot that Biggie thought he could take with a little help.

Cease says the original plan was for Nas and Busta to do the heavy lifting on the diss which could have really lit a fire under the beef. But that’s not how it went down.

“It’s not a diss if you don’t say their name. Ya gotta say somebody’s name if you wanna call it a ‘diss record’” Cease says. “If you’re just throwing subliminals, that’s only for that man to hear and figure out ’cause you’re gonna say something that only he would understand like, ‘Alright, he’s talking about me.’ Big didn’t say his name… It was for Busta Rhymes’ song at that. The song never came out — supposed to been Busta Rhymes, Nas and Big. It was produced by Q-Tip. But everybody never did their verse after Big did his. Nobody laid the verse on it, so the song kinda just pushed away. ”

Nevermind that Cease confuses Dilla with Q-Tip as the song’s producer (Tip was famously J Dilla’s manager), but had Nas and Busta joined Biggie in the spat, “The Ugliest” could very well have topped “Hit ‘Em Up” as the piece de resistance of the Tupac/Biggie beef.

Watch a clip of Lil Cease’s interview below.

It makes a lot of sense Amy Poehler – who, whether she’d admit this or not at this point, has had an incredibly important role to play in comedy on television over the last, now, 20 years – would want to make a documentary (Lucy and Desi which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival) about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. After all, those two were, in almost every way imaginable, trailblazers of the medium. Without Ball and Arnez, television might look very different. And as Poehler points out, it’s not just that Ball was leading a show — then, later, her own production company, as a woman, before anyone else was doing that – she was doing it so early, what she was doing was trailblazing for anyone. And then there’s the whole aspect of Ball headlining a show with her own husband, a Cuban immigrant, in the 1950s. And Poehler’s right, by design, the show really doesn’t address that or make a thing about it. It’s just: here it is. What they did really is remarkable.

And the things that Poehler has decided to include take on even more importance when you think it through that these are, as someone who has also lived this career, a few decades later, some of the same obstacles she’s no doubt had to deal with. And then there’s Lucille Ball, paving the way. As Poehler mentions, her current production company has a couple of series and a couple of movies cooking at once. At one point Desilu was producing 30 shows.

Ahead, Amy Poehler explains why she wanted to make a documentary on, not just Lucille Ball or I Love Lucy, but the relationship between Ball and Arnez. And, also, when you get going on classic television, you never know where you might wind up, so there’s a lot more Three’s Company and Little House on the Prairie discussion than you might expect. (To be fair, Lucille Ball did appear on Three’s Company.)

I think the last time I spoke to you was for Sisters…

I was doing a little IMDB quiz, I just found out that we said the F-bomb 60 times in that movie. Exciting!

Is that any kind of record?

For my daily usage, no. But for a film, sure. I like your background by the way. It’s very MacGyver.

Oh no, it’s embarrassing.

It’s very MacGyver. Or MacGruber.

Yes, with my The Great Muppet Caper poster.

I love that movie. “Phil, this is Gil. Gil, this is Jill.”

And Fozzy and Kermit are twins in that movie. It’s amazing. No, we just moved and I don’t have a great background right now. We moved one block and it never ends…

You have to bring it box by box.

And it’s the stupidest thing to even try that. Then we had to get a moving company anyway.

Right!

So, I am curious, what were your first memories of Lucy and Desi? As a kid, when did you start watching them?

I was trying to think about that, because I feel like I Love Lucy, specifically the show, it felt like it always existed. It was always there. And I was like, when did first hear about it? I think, to be honest, a lot of me getting to know Lucile Ball, the actress, happened on The Carol Burnett Show, which was as a show that I definitely watched when I was growing up with my mom. And I Love Lucy was on, but it was in black and white and it was the show my parents watched. So I was like “SNL, baby!” And it wasn’t until I was an adult that I was like, oh, okay. I started a real relationship with I Love Lucy and really saw what Lucy was doing there, which was incredibly grounded acting.

And it’s so interesting that show, people ask why is the show is still being talked about 60 years later? And I think there are two reasons: I think, because the way it was shot on film, it’s really watchable still. It’s not in Kinetoscope and you can actually bear to watch it. It looks quite good. But Lucille’s performance is still very, very grounded. She’s acting everything very sincerely. It’s not bananas, even though the situations are bananas. She’s still grounding it somehow. So to answer your question, it was always around, it almost felt like it came with the TV when you got a TV.

Well, in the ’80s when I would get home from school, it’s not like you can just pull up anything you want. It was just like if a rerun of Hazel was on, I was watching reruns of Hazel.

People don’t even know that you had to get up to turn the channel. Imagine you having to get up and walk across a room to look at your next TikTok video. Imagine having to get up every time and swipe at your TV to watch the next video. It was horrifying.

I actually remember my first experience with Lucy. My favorite show as a little kid was Three’s Company. Remember when she came on and introduced all the clips from the previous seasons? She’s like, “Hello, I’m Lucille Ball. There’s no better show on TV than Three’s Company.”

First of all, we may have talked about this, John Ritter…

Yes, I love John Ritter.

And John and Lucy were friends. And Lucy proves a couple of theories and, boy, do I love my theories proven. One is that talented people are usually easy to work with and Lucy was strong and opinionated, but she showed up and she loved to work hard. She didn’t come and not know her lines and not care. And she really recognized talent. I know she loved John Ritter. She would watch Mary Tyler Moore and tape her show. She loved Bette Midler. She was obsessed with Carol Burnett. She was like, “They have it. They’re a star. That kid is talented.” Oh my gosh, I would’ve loved that. I mean Three’s Company! Wow.

I still watch it when it’s on.

Yeah, my new comfort show, which is not comedy, is Little House on the Prairie.

Wait, really?

That one can put you right to sleep. The sound, the clipping of the horses and the whistling of the wind and the blizzard that’s going to kill everyone?

Are you seeking it out on cable or is it streaming?

It’s on my DVR. It’s DVRed it.

I’m glad we’re putting in the legwork for Little House on the Prairie and Three’s Company. Check them out if you haven’t seen them, everyone.

[Laughing] Have you guys heard of Succession? You should check it out, it’s great.

And if you like Succession, you will love Little House on the Prairie. Michael Landon has a Logan Roy thing going on. I am sure the good folks at ABC gave Lucille Ball a lot of money to go on there to talk about Three’s Company. But I don’t think she would’ve done it if she didn’t like the show or were friends with John Ritter. So if she’s saying that, I remember going, well, I need to check out this Lucy show.

Well, one of the challenges for this doc, which is a little different than like, “let us show you the world of competitive handball and we’ll tell you everything about it.” These are people that people really feel like they know, but what they know is a very two-dimensional Halloween costume version. They almost know the impersonations of the people before they know the people, right? They see Gilda playing Lucy or they see, it’s this interesting thing where Lucy and Desi became very two dimensional, flattened and quite bloodless over the years….

Or the Weird Al song…

Yes. And I wanted to remind the viewer that these were passionate, very passionate, sexy, power couple, total outsiders, total mavericks, came into the business with tons of experience, so we’re quite confident in what they would say yes and no to. And came from a generation where their trauma was put in a suitcase and put in the attic and let’s get to work. I mean, it’s very interesting how they both had these really interesting early lives, but used it. So, that was my goal is that you walk away being reminded of them as people and not symbols or geniuses or icons even, which is like, what is that? What does that word mean?

Another interesting thing your film does is point out how important their production company was. I’d watch reruns of Star Trek and it was made by Desilu Productions. They created so many other shows.

I mean, here at Paper Kite, our production company, we have, right now, we have a couple of shows on the air and a couple of films in development. They had 30 shows at one point! Shooting at the same time! Lucy was adamant about keeping Gene Roddenberry working on that show. Everyone was like, “This kid, what is this wackadoo show?” So, yeah, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek were made by Desilu.

And whatever happened to those two shows? We don’t ever hear about Star Trek or Mission: Impossible anymore.

[Laughs] Totally. What I find very interesting is the way in which everybody wanted to put Desi and Lucy in these boxes. That, in fact, they did a lot of different things and they were true multi-hyphenates and even they wanted to put themselves in boxes, even then Lucy was of a generation that probably wouldn’t call herself a writer or director or even a feminist. Those were things that weren’t important to her and didn’t feel like when she tried them on they were right. But, with perspective, it’s like she was the first female head of any production studio and ran it really well. And whether or not she felt like that was her true essence, she did it really well. It’s just interesting, they were so adhered to their time, the ’50s and ’60s and ’70s. And the other thing is, people think when people are off a TV show, they just fall off the cliff. And Lucy did so many shows after I Love Lucy.

A lot of them got in the syndication. Sometimes they’d play like Here’s Lucy, or whatever.

And Vivian Vance is playing a divorced mom.

Right. In retrospect, that is crazy that they went with that at that time. But they did.

One hundred percent. And so there’s all this stuff that you look back now… And also, the fact that Desi and Lucy as a couple on TV was completely groundbreaking, that he was a Cuban immigrant, married to a woman, he was able to push back a lot of gatekeeping to be so successful. And the show was not about how that was weird. The show wasn’t like, can you believe these two?

No, not at all. It’s just like, no, we’re together. And here we go.

The show is like, okay, they’ve been together so let’s meet them there rather than where did they meet and how could they: he’s this; she is this. I mean, it’s just really wild.

It’s kind of crazy this documentary doesn’t already exist about them before you did it? At what point did you decide, well, I should make this?

Well, Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, Lucy and Desi’s daughter who is incredible in this film and so helpful – we really use a lot of Lucy and Desi’s real words in the film. We really want to hear from them. So we use them a lot. She had done a documentary about her family, and I know that there’s been a lot of I Love Lucy tales of that show. But I agree that I think that what was missing was this feeling of their long partnership and how that was the middle of all of this other stuff. And I just think that people, they tended to pull all of the aspects of I Love Lucy apart without paying attention to that.

Right. I’ve seen where it’s just like here’s why I Love Lucy is important. I understand that. But I want to see more about them and that’s what you do.

And sometimes with documentaries about comedy either there’s a lot of time spent with funny people saying that the other person… there’s a lot of time telling us what we already know, which is, “they were funny.” Or a lot of time is spent being like, “but they were also very sad.”

That’s true.

Which is true. No one’s all fun. And no one’s all sad, hopefully. So I kind of felt like I was hoping that we’d go in on the angle of rupture and repair, which is this idea of we invite people into our homes and television, as you know, it’s like the most intimate medium. And then we watch this pattern of things going wrong and things getting fixed over and over again – while we’re in the middle of our own families where things are going wrong and not getting fixed. So to watch their journey – as lovers, as partners, as in some aspect at certain points, adversaries into friends – is this very healing journey. I think that combines all of the things that they did.

You mentioned their daughter where she talks about Desi and Lucy’s last conversation together before Desi died, when they told each other they loved each other. I had never heard that before. Have you heard that before? Did you know that?

You know what? It was so special. Not only because the story is beautiful, which is that Lucy and Desi, up until the very end of Desi’s life and soon after, Lucy’s, remained connected. Which is kind of what we very much want. But when Lucie [Arnaz Luckinbill] tells the story about her parents at the end of their lives, watching the show together and laughing? It’s like, I can’t explain it other than it’s what you would want for your own parents. Or what you would want for yourself or what you feel like life is supposed to be is this moment where you get to look back at the laughs that you had and the things you made together one last time. And when Lucie was telling that story, there were two things: I was so grateful that she was being vulnerable and allowing us to know that story. But also it was just, to me, it’s what that beautiful sadness that comedy has, that loving two sides of the coin, the salty and sweet of all of it is so satisfying to be around. So, yeah, I couldn’t believe that story.

Before we go, you mentioned my background. But you’ve got the Pawnee city seal behind you.

I know! I have the Pawnee seal!

That’s better than the nonsense going on behind me.

I remember where I came from, sir. That’s for sure.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Celebrities need to file restraining orders all the time due to harassment from stalkers, but a recent incident involving a Taylor Swift fan came very close to putting someone in harm’s way. An obsessed fan reportedly crashed his car into her NYC apartment building, severely damaging the front door and endangering passersby.

The incident went down Thursday morning, according to a report from TMZ. Police responded to a 911 call about a car crash outside of Swift’s NYC home, and they arrived to find a drunken fan. Apparently, the man drove the wrong way down the street outside Swift’s home, put his car into reverse, and rammed his vehicle into the building’s front door, striking a nearby fire hydrant. The man then reportedly got out of his car and ran up to the building’s intercom. He began yelling into it before trying to rip it out of the door while mumbling some words about wanting to see Swift.

Police eventually arrived on the scene to apprehend the man and take him to a nearby hospital. Per TMZ’s report, the fan is facing potential charges for driving while intoxicated and criminal mischief. It’s unclear whether or not Swift was in the building at the time of the car crash, but police told TMZ the man announced he wouldn’t leave the scene until he spoke with Swift herself.

In the first half of 2021, it was revealed that Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, along with Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner, had formed a new band called The Smile. Smiles are just what they inspired earlier this month when they shared their debut single, “You Will Never Work In Television Again.” Now they’re back with another new song, “The Smoke.”

While the first single was a relatively straightforward rocker, the new one is more in line with the alternative feel of Radiohead’s music. The first minute or so of the tune is all rhythm, with drums and bass setting the groove before Yorke’s vocals come in, after which the atmosphere gets filled with some brass, guitar, and other sounds.

Meanwhile, the band is preparing for a trio of live shows at Magazine London on January 29 and 30. In-person tickets naturally sold out, even after the band made more available beyond the initial offering, but fans have multiple options to check out the livestream of the concerts: Tickets to watch the presentation at home are available, and the show will be streamed at some independent venues and theaters across the UK, Europe, and the US. More information is available on the band’s website.

Listen to “The Smoke” above.

After Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon‘s embarrassing attempt to push NFTs during Monday night’s episode of The Tonight Show, you’d think celebrities would steer clear of the crypto controversy for a moment. But, nope, here comes Gwyneth Paltrow diving straight into NFT waters. The Goop entrepreneur and retired MCU actress got in on the Bored Ape action on Thursday by promoting the NFTs on her Twitter account.

Unlike Reese Witherspoon, Paltrow’s enthusiasm for NFTs has so far been tame, but that didn’t stop the dunks from furiously flying in as people reacted to the wellness guru getting in on the scheme. We’re talking about a woman who claimed a year into a pandemic that she popularized people wearing masks. Not to mention, the time she said she invented yoga. When you think about it, it’s actually amazing that Paltrow waited this long before hawking crypto. Although, in fairness, she was busy selling vagina scented candles that or may not be at risk of explosion.

“It’s really incredible that Gwyneth Paltrow would soil her good name by getting involved in an ugly scam designed to fleece total imbeciles,” MKupperman sarcastically tweeted. “Who could have predicted it?”

“Cannot express how on brand it is for Gwyneth Paltrow to be into pyramid schemes,” tweeted another user.

You can see the ongoing avalanche of dunks on Paltrow below:

(Via Gwyneth Paltrow on Twitter)

A new project from Frank Ocean has been on the horizon for years. Remember when he hinted at a new LP with his 2019 songs “DHL” and “In My Room“? Yeah, that never happened. Ocean’s fans were probably excited to see the musician’s name trending on Twitter Wednesday evening, presuming it be news about Ocean’s next release. So one can imagine their disappointment when they instead found a cover of “Swim Good” by none other than Megan Fox’s blood-drinking fiancé, Machine Gun Kelly.

Machine Gun Kelly has been very prolific when it comes to his own music, after having dropped his well-received Tickets To My Downfall and announcing yet another Travis Barker-produced album. But this week, the musician decided to take on Oceans’ Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape fan-favorite “Swim Good.” Machine Gun Kelly said it’s one of his “favorite” songs, and infused some of his now-signature pop-punk style into the cover. He also recorded a video to accompany the cover, which sees him wistfully singing the song against an ocean backdrop.

While Machine Gun Kelly was overjoyed to share the rendition, Ocean fans didn’t quite feel the same way. Sharing their disappointment about the cover on Twitter, people absolutely dunked on Machine Gun Kelly while taking it upon themselves to apologize to Ocean for his cover.

Listen to Machine Gun Kelly’s cover and see how Ocean fans reacted above.

YoungBoy Never Broke Again — aka NBA Youngboy — has had his fair share of run-ins with the law, and according to TMZ, his latest resulted in three arrests. YoungBoy’s home in Texas was raided on Tuesday by Harris County SWAT officers with a warrant connected to a November shooting. Three men — Carleon Gallien, Daryl Brown, and Roymellow Williams — were arrested on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated robbery for allegedly shooting a 20-year-old man in the body and head while robbing him.

In addition to the arrests, police confiscated pistols, long guns, and AR-15s from the property, which could spell trouble for YoungBoy, a convicted felon. Although he was not arrested, YoungBoy pled guilty to aggravated assault with a firearm in 2017 after being arrested for a 2016 incident where he allegedly shot at a group of people on a South Baton Rouge street. In 2018, he was arrested for kidnapping thanks to a video of him dragging his then-girlfriend through a hotel room hallway. While he was given a suspended sentence, in 2019, he violated conditions of his parole by consorting with felons and posting on social media, and last year, he was arrested again on a federal warrant after leading officers on a foot chase in March.

It’s been a while since some odd Texas conservative lady has stirred up trouble for a local school, so meet Michelle Evans, a Republican candidate for the Texas State House of Representatives. On Sunday, the GOP candidate responded to an already debunked right-wing claim that litter boxes are being placed in Michigan school bathrooms to accommodate “furries” and raised the stakes by throwing another wild rumor in the mix.

“Cafeteria tables are being lowered in certain @RoundRockISD middle and high schools to allow “furries” to more easily eat without utensils or their hands (ie, like a dog eats from a bowl),” Evans tweeted on Sunday.

Like the litter box claim, Evans’ wild rumor was quickly shot down by the Round Rock school district, who was understandably baffled by the whole thing. Via Texas Monthly:

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, Round Rock ISD’s chief of public affairs and communications, told Texas Monthly, “This is not happening. Our tables don’t even have the option of lowering.” She added, “You win the award for strangest media question of the year!” When reached for an interview about her tweet, Evans said she had “no comment” and was “merely relaying information” that she received from another parent. She promised to put other parents and students who could speak to her claim in touch with Texas Monthly. As of press time, we have yet to hear from anyone who could offer firsthand knowledge of what Evans described in her post.

Evans’ random furries claim arrives just a few months after Texas resident, Kara Bell, went viral for screaming about how she’ll never have anal sex during a school board meeting on banning the book Out of Darkness from the district libraries. However, unlike Evan’s furries panic, people actually took Bell seriously, and the book was banned from the district as well as others across the country. Apparently, the secret ingredient is butt sex? Texas is weird.

(Via Texas Monthly)