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In his new memoir, In Trump Time: My Journal of America’s Plague Year, former Donald Trump advisor Peter Navarro spells out a detailed plan that he concocted with Steve Bannon to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election in an effort to get Republican states to reverse votes. According to Navarro, the plan, which he refers to as the “Green Bay Sweep,” was working “perfectly,” thanks to the cooperation of Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Paul Gosar. There was no sign of violence, and if things continued on track, Mike Pence would have an opportunity to flip the election for Trump. Via The Daily Beast:

This last-minute maneuvering never had any chance of actually decertifying the election results on its own, a point that Navarro quickly acknowledges. But their hope was to run the clock as long as possible to increase public pressure on then-Vice President Mike Pence to send the electoral votes back to six contested states, where Republican-led legislatures could try to overturn the results. And in their mind, ramping up pressure on Pence would require media coverage. While most respected news organizations refused to regurgitate unproven conspiracy theories about widespread election fraud, this plan hoped to force journalists to cover the allegations by creating a historic delay to the certification process.

Naturally, this seems like a whole lot of information that the Jan. 6 House select committee would be very interested in knowing, but according to Navarro, “They don’t want any part of me. I exonerate Trump and Bannon.”

Of course, Navarro also seems to be adamant that the process was going to be “very peaceful,” and that definitely was not the case as the U.S. Capitol building was ultimately breached by MAGA rioters. So he might not be the most credible person in this situation right now. However, it is fascinating to see him openly admit that there was a coordinated effort to overturn the will of the American people, and it would be very strange if the Jan. 6 committee simply overlooked that.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Jeopardy! has been roaring back into regular-play action following the two-week professor tournament, but Monday night’s episode got a little strange. Don’t worry, Amy Schneider kicked overall ass again (she’s up to over $700,000 in winnings, and she’s the current top-earning woman in the show’s history and fourth overall champ), but one question stumped everyone while amusing the hell out of the audience.

Here’s what happened: Ken Jennings was doing his co-hosting thing when he dropped this question: “The stage name of this rapper and actor gets shortened to MGK.” Even Amy drew a total blank, which led Jennings to declare, “Not fans of Machine Gun Kelly, apparently.” This was the case despite the face of MGK (real name Colson Baker) flashing onto the screen, and still, no dice.

Yep, there was “[n]o love” for MGK, and “Ken was livid” is way too funny.

There’s been no word yet from the Blonde Don on the subject, but surely, he will recover from this slight. Heck, not even prolific tweeter Amy has addressed the matter, but hey, you can’t win all the questions. She will return to defend her champ status on Wednesday night. In the meantime, the floodgates have opened over the MGK slight (although some dads and moms out there apparently know the drill).

And here’s a future Jeopardy! champ to help us roll outta here.

Over the course of its 11 seasons, Curb Your Enthusiasm has featured roles for nearly 1,500 actors. While many of them make one-off appearances—often as foils for creator/star Larry David—a handful have become a part of the small but mighty cast of regulars. Yet few have made as lasting an impact as Bob Einstein, who passed away on January 2, 2019, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.

As The Daily Beast reports, friends and colleagues of Einstein—the brother of legendary filmmaker/comedian Albert Brooks (born Albert Einstein)—have repeatedly described him as the funniest person they’ve ever known, and David is no exception. In anticipation of HBO’s The Super Bob Einstein Movie, a new documentary that premieres today, The Daily Beast is sharing an exclusive clip of David and other comedians sharing their memories of Einstein. David could barely contain his laughter just thinking about Einstein, whom he described as “hilarious.”

“He really made me laugh,” David said. “I’m laughing just thinking about it.”

It was David Letterman who first helped Einstein find fame with the character of Super Dave Osborne, an enthusiastic but terrible stuntman who regularly injured himself—and eventually landed his own Showtime series, which ran from 1987 to 1991. But, as Matt Wilstein writes for The Daily Beast, “David is responsible for introducing the comedian to an entirely new generation as the straight-faced Marty Funkhouser on Curb.”

Einstein was known as someone who could surprise even the most seasoned comedians, and make them break, as seen in the clip below (Jerry Seinfeld really didn’t know what was coming, and the laughter was genuine):

You can watch the full clip at The Daily Beast here.

The Super Bob Einstein Movie premieres on HBO tonight at 9 p.m.

(Via The Daily Beast)

As if Alex Jones’s life as a batsh*t conspiracy theorist wasn’t wild enough, it turns out that his domestic life may be just as unruly. Earlier this week, we learned that Erika Wulff Jones, a.k.a. Mrs. Alex Jones, was arrested in Austin, Texas on Christmas Eve on a domestic violence charge. While the details were a bit fuzzy at first, when Jones told the AP that the incident was “a private family matter” and that “I love my wife and care about her and it appears to be some kind of medication imbalance,” it seemed to indicate that the InfoWars founder was the victim of Erika’s outburst. And now, The Daily Beast has gotten a hold of the police report that details just what went down between the couple.

According to The Daily Beast’s Zachary Petrizzo, Erika struck her husband more than 20 times, once with either a shampoo or soap bottle, then threatened to hit him in the head with a 5-pound stone ball, which the police report indicates left Jones “fearing for his life.” Petrizoo writes:

According to the Travis County arrest affidavit, during an initial 911 phone call with police, Jones told an emergency operator that his wife had struck him over the head multiple times and was “holding a polished club in her hand” and attempting to “hit him with it.”

When police arrived at the house, Jones further claimed Wulff Jones had struck him “several times,” while an officer observed the far-right radio host’s hair as “red” and “wet.” Jones later told police that “Erika had hit him with both closed fists and open hands on his head in front of their child,” the affidavit stated.

The incident apparently began while the couple was bathing their child, and Erika accused Alex of cheating on her. From there, things got heated as Erika hit Alex more than 20 times, including once over the head with what was assumed to be a shampoo bottle, as some of the product ended up on his face and caused “burning to his eyes,” according to the report.

“[Jones] stated he tried to get away from her in the master bedroom, and she followed him with a stone ball trying to strike him,” which is when Jones admitted to being “in fear for his life.”

Mrs. Jones was reportedly still pretty worked up by the time police arrived. One officer noted that there was “a strong odor of alcohol” on her breath, and once she was arrested she somehow managed to break free of her handcuffs and began “swing[ing] her fists and kicking” police officers, with at least one of her blows connecting with an officer.

Jones almost seemed proud of the Christmas Eve calamity when he spoke about it on InfoWars on Monday, which he described as “cuckoo.” Several times. As The Daily Beast reports:

Jones addressed the incident Monday afternoon on his InfoWars program, claiming his wife went to “cuckoo world” after mixing up medication she was prescribed following a recent surgery. Jones insisted that she took down two police officers at their Austin home on Friday night after striking him “30 times,” mostly in the back of the head.

“So that’s what happens when someone has a chemical imbalance after surgery and the medication they had mixes together,” Jones said, “and they literally go to cuckoo world, cloud cuckoo.”

“Cuckoo” is indeed one way of putting it. Mrs. Jones was released on bond on Sunday morning. Surely that’s one bath time the Jones’ child will never forget.

(Via The Daily Beast)

In the wake of the tragedy at the Astroworld Festival this past November, Travis Scott, the face of the fest, has come under scrutiny for his role in the deaths of ten people during and following a crowd crush during his headlining set. As a result, a number of his business partnerships have come to an end, including his Cactus Jack seltzer collaboration with Anheuser-Busch, while he’s been dropped from festivals like Coachella in the weeks since. Today, Travis’ brand was dealt another blow, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

In a statement to WWD, luxury fashion house Dior, which had planned a capsule collection collaboration with Travis’ Cactus Jack label, announced that the collaboration has been put on hold for the foreseeable future. “Out of respect for everyone affected by the tragic events at Astroworld, Dior has decided to postpone indefinitely the launch of products from the Cactus Jack collaboration originally intended to be included in its summer 2022 collection,” the statement reads. According to WWD, the collection would have been the brand’s first with a musician, as well as the first time it would allow its logo to be altered. From the looks of things, the brand will likely think twice before signing on for another collaboration, no matter how big the artist’s footprint happens to be.

Until Astroworld, Travis had one of the biggest footprints in music, with partnerships with McDonald’s, Nike, Sony PlayStation, and more elevating a personal brand that was rapidly becoming inescapable. However, with the deaths at Astroworld Fest still fresh in the minds of both businesses and fans, Travis’ immediate future has become uncertain, and a slew of lawsuits could change his fortunes in a hurry.

The year is 1922. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed; the British Broadcasting Company is established; and in Oak Park, Illinois, Christine Tess and Horace Logan White give birth to Betty White. The Hollywood legend turns 100 next month, and she’s ready to celebrate (with a hopefully socially distanced party).

“I’m so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age. It’s amazing,” she told People about turning 100. White was also asked about the secret to out-living the USSR. She credited it to being “born a cockeyed optimist,” which she “I got [from] my mom, and that never changed. I always find the positive.”

As for her diet, White jokes: “I try to avoid anything green. I think it’s working.”

White has been on this chunk of rock we call Earth for 100 years, but she’s never enjoyed a Mountain Dew? That ain’t living, if you ask me.

People also spoke to Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, who only had nice things to say about their The Proposal co-star. “Betty pivots like I have never seen, making it look seamless,” Bullock said, while Reynolds “heard that scripts for Golden Girls were only 35 pages, which makes sense because so many of the laughs come from Betty simply looking at her castmates.” Alex Trebek was right: she should have hosted Jeopardy!.

Fore more on Betty White: 100 Years Young — A Birthday Celebration, click here.

(Via People)

Musicians dominate social media: Four of the ten most-followed Instagram accounts are those of musicians, and that number jumps to five (including three of the top four) when you look at Twitter’s top accounts. BTS tends to have a massive presence on Twitter, as they had virtually all of 2020’s most-liked tweets. Well, this year, it turns out they did even better on the platform: Of 2021’s ten most-liked tweets (according to Wikipedia, with data accurate as of December 15 and updated by Uproxx on December 28 for this post), BTS had eight of them.

The year’s top tweet comes from Joe Biden, who tweeted on January 20 (the day he officially became president), “It’s a new day in America,” a tweet that has 4 million likes and is the third most-liked tweet ever. The second most-liked tweet came from Twitter themselves, who tweeted, “hello literally everyone,” as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp experienced outages on October 4. That one has 3.3 million likes.

After that, the rest of the year’s top tweets are literally all from BTS. Their most-liked tweet is a Jungkook selfie captioned with a kissy face emoji, which has 3.2 million likes. That was also the most retweeted tweet of 2021 site-wide, not just for BTS. Most of their other tweets in the top ten are selfies from various group members, but one standout among those is a video of BTS enjoying Harry Styles performing “Falling” at a concert.

Even outside of the top ten, all of the rest of the year’s top tweets (up to No. 19, where Wikipedia’s data ends for 2021 tweets) are from BTS. Making an appearance in that range is a tweet of photos featuring J-Hope, Jimin, Jungkook, and V meeting Lizzo.

Check out the list of 2021’s top ten tweets below.

1. Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) — “It’s a new day in America.” (4 million likes; January 20)
2. Twitter (@Twitter) — “hello literally everyone” (3.3 million likes; October 4)
3. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “[kissy face emoji]” (3.2 million likes; January 24)
4. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “아미 보고 싶다 ㅜ” (3.1 million likes; April 11)
5. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “[heart with arrow through it emoji] @Harry_Styles [heart with ribbon emoji]” (3 million likes; November 20)
6. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “셀프 염색 🙂 #JJK” (3 million likes; February 24)
7. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “연습 연습 연습!!! #JK” (3 million likes; May 29)
8. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “Love U [purple heart emoji]” (2.9 million likes; November 24)
9. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “focus on army [purple heart emoji]” (2.9 million likes; November 22)
10. BTS (@BTS_twt) — “[thumbs up emoji]” (2.9 million likes; September 20)

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

Adele’s 30 has, by many metrics (like this one or this one), been the biggest album of 2021. Now, it’s starting 2022 on the right foot, too: On the Billboard 200 chart dated January 1, 2022, 30 is No. 1 for the fifth straight/total week. This was thanks to a big week, as the album earned 212,000 equivalent album units in the US during the week ending December 23, which is good for a 16-percent increase from the week before.

30 is now the fourth album released in 2021 to spend at least five total weeks at No. 1, after Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (10 weeks), Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (five weeks each). Speaking of Drake, 30 is also the first album to notch three weeks of at least 200,000 album units in over three years, since Drake’s Scorpion did so in each of its three charting weeks in 2018.

Elsewhere on the chart, Roddy Ricch’s new album Live Life Fast debuts at No. 4, while Vince Guaraldi Trio’s 1965 album A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack achieved a new high at No. 6. Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) also managed to return to the top 10 this week at No. 10, following its release on CD and vinyl on December 17.

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

The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Monday night’s game against the Celtics without four starters as they are dealing with a COVID outbreak that’s put Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, and Jarred Vanderbilt, among others, on the sideline (as well as some assistant coaches).

The Celtics were likewise shorthanded, with Jayson Tatum going into protocols on Monday, but did have Jaylen Brown and Al Horford, and seemed like they would simply outclass the Wolves’ cobbled together roster when they went up 11 after a gutsy start from Minnesota to keep things close. However, the Wolves’ reserves and replacement players refused to roll over and stormed back to a 108-103 win that was among the more stunning of the season.

Leading the way for the Wolves was Jaylen Nowell with a career-high 29 points, as well as 20 points from Nathan Knight (also a career-high) and 11 points, nine rebounds, and six assists from Greg Monroe, playing in his first NBA game in two years. After the game, Monroe reflected on the general insanity of just how thrown together the roster was on Monday by saying he had never even heard of Jaylen Nowell before the game.

It’s a pretty funny quote from Monroe, who also had a very McConaughey perspective on returning to the league two years later, “the game stays the same, just the players change.” Now, Nowell isn’t some first-timer in the NBA, he’s played three seasons in Minnesota and is averaging 6.3 points in 19 games this season, but he has certainly never taken a starring role like he had to on Monday and Monroe has been busy playing in the G League with the Capital City Go-Go before getting the call to return to the NBA and give Minnesota a needed boost on the inside. It was quite the introduction from Nowell, and seeing guys like him take advantage of opportunity and make an impression has, undoubtedly, been the biggest positive of what has been a dreadful month in the NBA with so many absences.

For almost two years, the rules have been the same: You test positive for COVID, you isolate for at least 10 days. Then came Omicron, new, far more transmissible variant (though, it appears, not as dangerous). Omicron has already led to cancelled or greatly modified events. (And, of course, Fox News was quick to spread misinformation about it, too.) Now the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made a big change, but it’s not one you’d expect: They’ve cut the recommended isolation time in half.

As per CNN, the CDC has lowered the time an infected person must hide away from the rest of humanity from 10 days to a mere five. There’s a couple caveats. One can flee back to the world only if they no longer have symptoms. If you still have a fever, give it some more time. A mask is also recommended for at least five days. (Though you probably want to wear one anyway, because you’re not a snowflake who gets mad about wearing a little protective covering over one’s mouth. Think of all the other diseases you may be avoid!)

And what if you’ve been exposed to someone you learn has testing positive for COVID? Well, you isolate for the same period of time: five measly days.

“Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to five days, if asymptomatic, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others,” the organization said in a statement.

What prompted the change? Partly that SARS-CoV-2 transmission tends to occur early on in one’s illness, usually one to two days before symptoms kick in and then for 2 or three days after. That adds up to a charitable five days of removing one’s self from society, so as not to infect others.

The CDC loosened some of their other recommendations, too. If five days of quarantining are not possible, wearing a mask whenever one’s around others should do. However, if you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID and you’re vaccinated and boosted, you don’t need to quarantine at all. But you should still wear a mask. After all, you should probably get used to them for a while still.

(Via CNN)