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The Memphis Grizzlies are the NBA’s hottest team, winners of 10 straight including a win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night at the FedEx Forum.

Ja Morant once again played the starring role in the win, scoring 29 points to go along with eight assists and five rebounds, and he punctuated the win with an and-1 layup to put the game on ice.

After the game, Morant was asked about how he left the little man in the Steph Curry jersey hanging for a hi-five, and he said it was “disrespectful” of the kid to be wearing a Warriors jersey in Memphis, but that he’d be happy to get him one of his jersey for the next time he comes to the game. Those comments went viral, and the Grizzlies decided to take advantage of the publicity on a story a lot of teams would’ve had some trepidation about embracing, and came up with an incredible campaign around it.

On Thursday, the Grizzlies will host a jersey trade-in event at the arena at 5 p.m., in which kids 12 and under can come (with a parent) and trade-in their jersey from another team for a Ja Morant or Jaren Jackson Jr. replica, plus a pair of tickets to see Memphis host the Timberwolves later that night — with 250 jerseys up for grabs.

It’s a great promotion and some savvy marketing from the Grizzlies to do such a quick turnaround from Morant’s comments to execution of a special event — which will also help move some tickets and get more fans in the building for a midweek game against an opponent that isn’t a huge draw.

It’s been over a year since Matt Gaetz, the Trumpist lawmaker and unrepentant Jan. 6 cheerleader, came under federal investigation due to his connection to a sex trafficking ring. Just because it’s been moving slowly doesn’t mean it’s not going to be big. Indeed, Gaetz has already lawyered up, preparing for a “scorched earth” trial. But now things have escalated even further: As per NBC News, an ex-girlfriend recently testified about the case to a grand jury.

The woman, whose name has been withheld from the press, has spent the last few months speaking with prosecutors, hoping to avoid prosecution for obstruction of justice. In exchange, she’s testified whether or not Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old female for money four years back. She’s also addressing claims that he and others violated a federal law prohibiting the transportation of people across state lines to engage in prostitution.

Gaetz has not yet been charged for any crimes, but he denies all claims, calling the investigation a “witch hunt.” Meanwhile, his ex isn’t the only person who’s played ball with the feds in exchange for lighter sentencing. After an old associate, Joel Greenberg, was charged with multiple crimes relating to the trafficking ring, he’s been singing to prosecutors in exchange for pleading guilty.

All the while, Gaetz is pretending as though his life may not be headed straight for the toilet. Last month he was floating some harebrained scheme to make Donald Trump speaker of the House, as though he’d ever want that gig.

(Via NBC News)

Yesterday, TMZ reported that 23-year-old Justin Johnson, a Memphis rapper and the lead suspect in the shooting death of Young Dolph, was detained in Indiana nearly two months after the incident. Johnson was the second person arrested in the shooting; 32-year-old Cornelius Smith was previously taken into custody following a separate incident that involved the same white car that was believed to be the getaway vehicle in Dolph’s murder. During a press conference on Wednesday, U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller revealed that a third suspect has been detained.

That person is 27-year-old Shundale Barnett, who was arrested after he was found in the same car as Johnson and charged with being an after-the-fact accessory to first-degree murder. Miller noted that after law enforcement agencies received over 500 tips after they offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. These tips took U.S. Marshals to Indianapolis, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Hampton, Virginia in search of their suspect.

“It’s a big deal,” Miller said. “We’re proud of the work that everybody you see standing up here has done and even some that you don’t see.” He added, “There are a lot of unseen heroes that participated in the case … I think we are the best of the best. We get results and today’s announcement demonstrates that.”

Johnson faces charges for first-degree murder, criminal attempt first-degree murder, and theft of property between $10,000-$60,000. Smith was previously hit with multiple charges including first-degree murder.

You can watch a video from the press conference above.

Ben Affleck had a pretty great 2021. The actor and Oscar-winning filmmaker has been raking in award nominations, most recently from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, for his supporting turn in The Tender Bar, directed by fellow Batman George Clooney. He also earned raves for playing a hilariously debauched count in The Last Duel, which marked the first time he’d written a screenplay with Matt Damon (and also Nicole Holofcener) since Good Will Hunting a quarter century ago. Speaking of which, the two reflected on their big breakthrough during a sit down with Entertainment Weekly. In it, they wound up correct a big wrong: They finally thanked someone who was instrumental in getting it made: Kevin Smith.

Back then, Affleck had acted in both Mallrats and Chasing Amy, which also featured Damon in a bit part. (Both would soon team up in Smith’s Dogma.) But they weren’t yet hot commodities, and it was Smith who wound up ensuring they didn’t just sell the screenplay but act in it as well.

“Kevin saved Good Will Hunting,” Damon told EW. “We were dead in the water. And we would’ve lost it. It would’ve been made with other people in it, and we’d still be really angry I’m sure.”

“We would have been the writers, but we wouldn’t have been the actors,” Affleck added. “And the whole thing was we wanted to be actors. And he got it to [executive producer] Jon Gordon and got people to believe in it.”

Problem is, after the movie was made and became a huge success, they failed to pay it forward. “I promised him I would thank him if we ever got an Oscar, and promptly forgot,” Affleck said. “And then I told him if I ever win again, I swear to God, I’m going to thank you, and forgot again. So I owe him very much, and he did that. He believed. I remember he wrote me an email at the time and in typical Kevin fashion said, ‘I started your movie on the shitter. And I stayed on the whole time.’”

So there you have it. Without the guy who invented Bluntman and Chronic, you wouldn’t have Damon melting down as the late Robin Williams tells him, “It’s not your fault.”

(Via EW)

The Orlando Magic have had a tough season thus far, currently holding the worst record in the league by 2.5 games at 7-34, including nine consecutive losses. This wasn’t exactly unforeseen as they’re without some key contributors like Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz, and shifted gears into rebuilding mode last year at the trade deadline when they dealt Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic away.

Even for a team that will almost assuredly have a share of the best lottery odds by the end of the season, how they started their game against the Wizards on Wednesday was jarring, as Orlando managed to miss eight shots on their first possession of the game, getting six offensive rebounds in the process before the Wizards finally cleared a board after 59 seconds of the Magic missing.

It’s honestly an amazing possession, because it’s not like Orlando was jacking up awful shots, they were just missing on some decent looks and doing a great job crashing the glass to keep the possession alive, albeit in vain. The box score play-by-play of that opening possession is incredible, as four different starters missed shots (only Gary Harris went without an attempt on the opening possession), with Robin Lopez missing three separate shots.

Their drought, unfortunately, continued for two more possessions and the Wizards, once they finally got the ball, went 3-for-3 to open the game with a 7-0 lead. It only got worse from there as Washington pulled away to a 33-16 lead after one quarter of play, and its safe to say this game won’t help Orlando’s season-long field goal percentage.

With celebrity status comes lots of great things: money, access, power, a platform to speak, and yes, artistic freedom. But it can also bring other, terrible things — like stalkers and obsessive fans. Lana Del Rey has dealt with stalkers before, back in 2018 a stalker even tried to kidnap her, which is a different level of scary.

That incident from the past might be part of why Lana and her team have responded legally to a woman who has been stalking the pop star this year. TMZ reports that Del Rey was granted a restraining order against a woman named Janeen Lee Stratton who has been harrassing her. The woman, who reportedly goes by the nickname “America,” has been continually contacting Lana’s team, including her managers, with requests to meet in person. According to court docs, Stratton believes she is Lana’s “muse” and that Lana communicates with her via songs and dreams.

Stratton tracked down Lana’s private home and trespassed on the property at least three times last month, armed with pocket knives, where she was intercepted by the security guards. After hearing what’s happened so far, a judge did grant Del Rey a temporary restraining order today, and a hearing for a permanent order will take place later in January.

Kanye West was responsible for one of 2021’s most popular albums, Donda. The project had a very dramatic rollout, with West performing unfinished versions of it during livestream stadium shows in Atlanta and Chicago. It arrived at the end of August complete with features from Jay-Z, Young Thug, Playboi Carti, Kid Cudi, Don Toliver, Lil Baby, The Weeknd, and many more. Less than three months later, West returned with its deluxe version, which featured five more songs and additional guest appearances from Andre 3000 and more. Now he’s giving the album a sequel.

Moneybagg Yo posted a screenshot of a text message between him and West after the two were spotted in the studio together. West begins by greeting Moneybagg and commenting on some songs they worked on together in the studio. He then adds, “I got to lock in with you on Donda 2,” before adding, “Money in front of us, bullsh*t behind us.”

The news comes after West shared a video for “Heaven And Hell,” which aired on ESPN during the College Football National Championship game.

You can read the text message conversation above.

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

Earlier this month, Stephen Colbert blew humanity’s collective mind by showing a video of a female orangutan driving a golf cart. Not only was the monkey an accomplished motorist but she drove in style with just one hand on the wheel, looking as cool and confident as any human.

While Colbert joked that the orangutan was in Florida, it was actually part of a menagerie in Dubai belonging to Sheikha Fatima Rashed Al Maktoum, the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.

The orangutan is named Rambo and has been driving various vehicles since she was young.

A YouTube user by the name of SmelfordDip noticed the monkey’s cool one-handed driving technique and something clicked. She drives just like Tony Soprano in the iconic opening credits of “The Sopranos”! So he edited the video to mimic the sequence and added the show’s theme song “Woke Up This Morning” by Alabama 3.

Smelfordip named the video “The Zoopranos” and asks “What if Tony Soprano was [a] monkey?” in the video’s description.

Zoopranos

The only thing that could take this incredible mashup of an unbelievable video to the next level would be to invite Rambo to New Jersey, throw her behind the wheel of a Cadillac, give her a very large cigar and let her cruise the turnpike in a Cadillac.

For nearly all of U.S. history, the only people to have their likeness on the face of U.S. coins were men. In 1979, the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin honored the suffrage activist, Sacagawea was featured on a dollar coin in the 2000s and Hellen Keller got her own Alabama state quarter in 2003.

The U.S. Mint was established in 1792, so in 230 years, we’ve had just three women represented on our coins. But that ratio is about to change dramatically.

On Monday, the U.S. Mint launched its American Women Quarters Program with the release of a quarter bearing the likeness of poet Maya Angelou. It’s the first time a Black woman has been on any American currency. The image shows Angelou with her arms spread wide in front of the wings of a soaring eagle.

Angelou’s long-time assistant told journalist David Begnaud that Angelou “would be over the moon” about the honor.

The coin is the first of 20 that will be released in the next four years, with five women from various backgrounds, careers and institutions being featured each year.

After Maya Angelou, physicist and teacher Sally Ride will be featured on the quarter. Ride made history by being the first American woman in space when she flew in the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983.

Maya Angelou was in the news today because the U.S. mint confirmed that it has starting shipping out quarters with her name & likeness on it.nShe is the first black woman honored this way. nHer longtime assistant told me tonight, u201cshe would be over the moonu201d.nI miss her. Dearly.pic.twitter.com/uDnLKX25LB

— David Begnaud (@David Begnaud)
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The remaining three women for 2022 will be Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to be elected as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation; Adelina Otero-Warren, a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first woman superintendent of Santa Fe public schools; and Anna May Wong, the first Chinese woman to star in Hollywood films and an activist who raised funds and advocated for Chinese refugees during World War II.

“Each time we redesign our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country — what we value, and how we’ve progressed as a society. I’m very proud that these coins celebrate the contributions of some of America’s most remarkable women, including Maya Angelou,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, according to Voice of America.

The initiative initially came from California Democratic Representative Barbara Lee, who has been working on legislation to get it passed since 2017. Lee told The 19th, “I wanted to make sure that women would be honored, and their images and names be lifted up on our coins. I mean, it’s outrageous that we haven’t. Hopefully the public really delves into who these women were, because these women have made such a contribution to our country in so many ways.”

The first coin of the American Women Quartersu2122 Program is hereu2014the Maya Angelou Quarter! Learn about honoree Maya Angelou and #HerQuarter in our press release at https://bit.ly/34pX5vlu00a0. Look for it in your change. @USTreasury @smithsonian @womenshistory @DrMayaAngelou @WCPInstpic.twitter.com/GVUpcnbszq

— United States Mint (@United States Mint)
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Some people have pointed out the irony of having a Black woman on one side of the coin and the country’s first slaveholding president on the other, but that’s perhaps the most honest representation of the U.S. when you think about it. Others have pointed out that Harriet Tubman being featured on the $20 bill has not happened yet, despite the announcement being made nearly six years ago. And due to bureaucratic and anticounterfeit hiccups, we may not see that bill before the 2030 deadline.

Progress can be slow and is rarely perfect, but putting 20 women on quarters in the next four years is a heck of a lot better than our three in 230 years coin record up to now.

Megan Fox and MGK have become one of the world’s most talked about couples in the short time they’ve been dating. Whether it’s Megan’s bonkers quotes about being in love with MGK, his assertion “I am weed” during their first meeting, or the fact that Machine Gun Kelly, born Colson Baker, had a poster of Megan in his bedroom before they were together, this pair continues to take the cake. There’s no one like them — and most of us consider that to be a good thing.

So if you were thinking there was a chance their performance of coupledom was going to end any time soon, guess again. Today Megan shared a video of Colson proposing to her under a Banyan tree, noting that the couple had sat under the tree in July of 2020, around the time their relationship began, and “asked for magic.” She also concludes the proposal caption by noting “and then we drank each other’s blood.” So there’s that. Check out the video and her full caption below.

“In July of 2020 we sat under this banyan tree. We asked for magic. We were oblivious to the pain we would face together in such a short, frenetic period of time. Unaware of the work and sacrifices the relationship would require from us but intoxicated off of the love. And the karma. Somehow a year and a half later, having walked through hell together, and having laughed more than I ever imagined possible, he asked me to marry him. And just as in every lifetime before this one, and as in every lifetime that will follow it, I said yes. …and then we drank each other’s blood. 1.11.22.”