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If Donald Trump has the best words, then Ivanka Trump has the best ideas. And it turns out that one of her dad’s most memorable photo ops—the one where he tear-gassed a group of peaceful protestors so that he could walk across the street from the White House and stand in front of the historic St. John’s Church holding up a Bible—was all Ivanka’s doing, too. At least that’s what Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, asserts in his new book.

According to Vanity Fair’s Bess Levin, whenever the former president made some of his biggest missteps, Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner—who was reportedly nicknamed the “Slim Reaper” for his ability to turn almost anything he touched into a total clusterf**k—were often right there orchestrating the catastrophe. And this includes that blasphemous church selfie, in which the president simply stood outside the church but never even peeked inside (possibly out of fear that he might explode into a ball of hellfire). As Levin writes:

According to the Religious News Service, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’s book offers a “detailed account” of the 45th president’s “infamous Bible photo op at St. John’s Church in June 2020,” which, it turns out, was reportedly Ivanka’s idea. For those who need a refresher, in June 2020, at the height of racial-justice protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Trump, concerned about media coverage of his retreat to a White House bunker, had peaceful protesters tear-gassed so he could make his way to the nearby St. John’s church. There, he held up a Bible and posed for photos while telling reporters, “we have a great country” and vowing he would “make it even greater, and it won’t take long.”

If either Trump—the blonde one or the orange one—thought this would instill a sense of peace, they couldn’t have been further off. Even Mariann Budde, the diocesan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, was appalled at the sacrilege, tweeting: “The Bible teaches us to love God and our neighbor; that all people are beloved children of God; that we are to do justice and love kindness. The President used our sacred text as a symbol of division.”

An anonymous senior White House official who witnessed the tear-gassing of peaceful protestors so that Trump and his cronies could make their way to the church, told Axios: “I’ve never been more ashamed. I’m really honestly disgusted. I’m sick to my stomach. And they’re all celebrating it. They’re very, very proud of themselves.”

Ivanka has not yet commented on what part she played in the photo gaffe seen ‘round the world. But considering that this is a person who refused to let the Secret Service assigned to protect her and her family use any one of their SIX bathrooms—and instead made them rent a toilet at the cost of $3,000 per month (a bill we taxpayers footed, of course)—it’s hard to imagine she’d see anything wrong with it. Even with the benefit of hindsight.

(Via Vanity Fair)

Veteran indie band Band Of Horses were set to make their return after five years in early 2022, but like many other bands right now, they’re being put behind schedule thanks to some vinyl factory delays. Their new album Things Are Great was set to drop in January but it’s now been pushed back until March. To make up for the delay, Band Of Horses shared a video for their recent, breezy single “In Need Of Repair.”

Directed by Zach Tavel of the studio Easy Pete, Band Of Horses’ “In Need Of Repair” video features a lot of casually gruesome scenes, like someone gouging out their eyeballs and another person cutting off their tongue. Explaining his vision behind the visual, Tavel said he shot the video on 16mm film and shared his inspiration:

“As soon as I heard ‘In Need Of Repair’ I knew I wanted to do a video for this song. It’s got that big sweeping chorus and the sort of lyrics that really lend themselves to a powerful and emotionally striking music video. But I thought it would be more fun to do the opposite of that by bringing In Need Of Repair’s central metaphor to life with a tongue-in-cheek, surface-level interpretation of what the song is talking about: a series of people who physically repair themselves in order to fix specific problems and suffer ill consequences as a result, because, as the song says, ‘it’s not enough.’”

Explaining the reason for changed release date, Band Of Horses founder Ben Bridwell explained that there’s been some unavoidable vinyl delays. “We were so excited to put our record out on January 21 this year, but given the current supply chain issues, we had to shift it about a month later so we could make vinyl,” he said, explaining the new release date is March 4, 2022. “It was important for us to make sure our fans could listen to our music in whatever format they like. On par with the times, and life, gotta just roll with the punches. In the whole scheme of things, a tiny bump in the road and we just love you.”

Watch Band Of Horses’ “In Need Of Repair” video above.

Things Are Great is out 3/4/2022 via BMG. Pre-order it here.

A couple months ago now, Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) announced Covers, a new album consisting of, yes, cover versions of other artists’ songs. (This release is not to be confused with her 2000 covers album, The Covers Record.) That’s set to arrive on January 14, but ahead of then she has offered a couple previews of it today. One is her rendition of Billie Holiday’s “I’ll Be Seeing You” and the other is “Unhate,” a reimagining of her own song “Hate.”

Marshall also shared a video for the cover, which sees her singing the track in a low-lit bar. Marshall says of the song, “When people who you love have been taken from you, there’s always a song that holds their memory in your mind. It’s a conversation with those on the other side, and it’s really important for me to reach out to people that way.”

As for “Unhate,” the new recording sees Marshall updating the song (originally from 200s’s The Greatest) to have a crisper, less lo-fi aesthetic and more fleshed-out instrumentation.

Aside from those tracks, Covers includes renditions of songs by artists like Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey, and even Dead Man’s Bones, the duo consisting of Zach Shields and actor Ryan Gosling.

Listen to “I’ll Be Seeing You” and “Unhate” above.

Covers is out 1/14/2022 via Domino. Pre-order it here.

If you felt the entire internet suddenly brace itself, that’s because Chris Pratt has written another Instagram post about his wife, which did not go so great the last time. In honor of Katherine Schwarzenegger‘s birthday, the future Mario churned out another one of his gushing posts. Although, his wording seems to be a little more careful after stirring up controversy back in November when many people felt that Pratt treats Schwarzenegger like she’s a “possession” while also voicing concerns about how his conservative Christian faith treats women.

Here’s what Pratt wrote to celebrate Schwarzenegger’s birthday, and while it is still heavy on the religious overtones, he notably shies away from equating her with a baseball card again. Probably a good call. Via Instagram:

Happy Birthday Honey! You are such a wonderful wife, mother, step-mother, and life partner. I simply can’t imagine how lost I’d be without you. You’re beautiful, tough as nails, reasonable, deeply thoughtful, extraordinarily smart, you’re a complete boss, eternally driven and you communicate like no other. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being so instrumental in my growth over the past few years. We fit so perfectly into each other’s lives that our Union is a daily reminder that God is looking out for us. Navigating the odd circumstances of our world is a task I cannot handle alone. And I’m so grateful I don’t have to. Your commitment to helping others is contagious. I’m just so grateful for the harmony you continually bring to our household. I love you so much honey. Happy Birthday!

So far, Pratt’s latest post hasn’t stirred up any controversy after being up for nearly 24 hours. However, the Guardians of the Galaxy star has a fair number of detractors online, which has earned him the title of “Worst Chris.” It’s a nickname that’s been around for a while, but last year, it kicked off a prominent wave on social media that prompted Schwarzenegger to publicly defend her man.

“There’s so much going on in the world and people are struggling in so many ways. Being mean is so yesterday,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “There’s enough room to love all these guys. Love is what we all need not meanness and bullying. Let’s try that.”

A wife that’s not afraid to battle it out with social media trolls, the worst of the worst? No wonder Pratt can’t stop gushing about her.

(Via Chris Pratt on Instagram)

During the heart of the pandemic, New York governor Andrew Cuomo wrote a book about how great he is. American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic is the story “of how he took charge in the fight against COVID-19 as New York became the epicenter of the pandemic, offering hard-won lessons in leadership and his vision for the path forward,” according to the official description. Since that unearned act of hubris, Cuomo has been accused of deliberately miscalculating the number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19; faced allegations of sexual harassment from multiple women, leading to his resignation as governor (although not before attempting to defend himself by sharing a montage of himself touching and kissing people); and his brother, Chris, was fired from CNN for digging up dirt on his brother’s accusers.

And now he has to return the money he made from his book.

Andrew M. Cuomo was ordered to turn over roughly $5.1 million in proceeds from his 2020 pandemic memoir within 30 days, after a state ethics board found that he had run afoul of state ethics laws. The board, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, directed Mr. Cuomo on Tuesday to relinquish the money to the state attorney general’s office, and authorized the office to enforce the collection.

“It is ordered that by no later than 30 days from the date of this resolution, Gov. Cuomo pay over to the attorney general of the State of New York an amount equal to the compensation paid to him for his outside activities related to the book,” the resolution reads. It is not known where the money will be distributed, but as long as it doesn’t end up in a bank account for someone with the last name “Cuomo,” it’s an improvement.

(Via the New York Times)

Ex-President Trump’s constant claims of voter fraud have been sort-of confirmed, but don’t tell MyPillow guy Mike Lindell yet because the call’s allegedly coming from the house (or rather, coming from within Trump’s own ride-or-die base). All of this is happening while, in come states, Trump supporters are going door to door in an attempt to find evidence of “voter fraud,” and well, it ain’t happening, unless one counts what’s going down in Florida.

Click Orlando is reporting that three Trump supporters (Jay Ketcik, Joan Halstead and John Rider, who all live in the census-designated area of “The Villages,” a retirement community) have been arrested and charged with voter fraud after they allegedly cast multiple ballots in the 2020 presidential election. And it seems as though the voter fraud in question took the form of absentee ballots in states other than Florida:

Ketcik, 63, is accused of voting by mail in Florida in October 2020 while also casting an absentee ballot in his original home state of Michigan, court records show. Halstead, 71, voted in-person in Florida but also cast an absentee ballot in New York, prosecutors allege. Ketcik and Halstead turned themselves in to the Sumter County jail on outstanding warrants, court records show.

Rider, 61, was arrested by Brevard County deputies at the Royal Caribbean cruise ship terminal at Port Canaveral on Dec. 3, according to court records. Details of the accusations against him were not immediately available, but prosecutors indicated he also cast ballots both out-of-state and in Florida.

Via the relevant Florida statute, voter fraud in Florida is considered a third-degree felony, which carries up to five years behind bars. It’s worth pointing out that it’s unclear exactly who these Trump supporters voted for, but they’re, uh, Trump supporters, so there’s that.

Here’s the Click Orlando News 6 news clip (including mug shots), as tweeted by Ron Filipkowski.

Although this story is far from over with more details to come (including whether Gov. DeSantis will take action), people are pointing out the irony on Twitter with jokes (including one about Trump’s Village People dancing) and more.

Also, what is going on at The Villages?

(Via Click Orlando)

Burna Boy and Wizkid are, at this point, probably indisputably the most prominent and recognizable Afro-fusion artists in the US. If you ask any music fan to name a Nigerian artist, the odds are pretty high that one of the two (or Davido) will be the first names mentioned. While Burna became the first Nigerian artist to headline Madison Square Garden, Wizkid’s “Essence” is widely regarded as one of the biggest songs of 2021. So, when the two decide to collaborate, it’s always special.

Picking up where they left off with their January collaboration “Ginger,” Burna and Wizkid reunite for the upbeat “B. d’Or,” which is named for the Ballon d’Or (“Golden Ball”) soccer trophy for extraordinary male players. Produced by P2J, the same name behind the dominant “Essence,” the track incorporates beatboxing within its propulsive, tropical sounds as the two artists compare themselves to past winners of the prestigious trophy like Lionel Messi, asserting that they’ve earned similar levels of recognition.

Wizkid and Burna are set to headline Afro Nation, the biggest afrobeats festival in the world, in Portugal next July along with Megan Thee Stallion, solidifying their claim as the biggest afrobeats artists in the world — and when there’s a trophy for that, you can bet they’ll be the ones taking it home.

Listen to “B. d’Or” above.

It’s a big year for movies made about recent NFL events, as the movie about Kurt Warner, American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story, comes out this week and on Tuesday the first trailer dropped for Home Team, an upcoming Netflix film about the year Sean Payton was suspended from the New Orleans Saints for the bounty scandal (which I’m sure will not be exactly touched on strongly in the movie) and coached his son’s middle school football team.

Starring as Sean Payton is Kevin James, which is certainly an interesting casting choice, but since this is a Happy Madison production there were only so many choices for a leading man and Adam Sandler and David Spade must’ve been busy — have no fear, though, Rob Schneider makes his contractually obligated appearance as a weirdo. The trailer shows Payton learning he’s being suspended for the year and then showing up at his son’s practice to see a team of misfits and goofballs in desperate need of some leadership, with coach Taylor Lautner at the helm desperately trying to create a functional football team.

It’s just a two-minute trailer, but you can see that this is going to play the hits for a Happy Madison movie, with kids getting hit in the butt by footballs and an entire team projectile vomiting because of Rob Schneider’s homemade energy bars. It also will apparently try to tell a touching story of a father and son who don’t spend much time together getting to know each other in between slapstick routines. You can see it for yourself on January 28 on Netflix.

Prolific indie four-piece Big Thief are no strangers to an album roll out seeing as they dropped two full albums in 2019 alone. But for their 2022 release, which has the mouth-full of a title Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, Big Thief are combining two albums into one with a 20-track double LP. Giving another preview of the release, the band share two new singles.

After announcing Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You with the tracks “Time Escaping,” “Change,” “Certainty,” “Sparrow,” and “Little Things,” Big Thief share two more songs, “No Reason” and “Spud Infinity.” Both songs are joyous in their own way. “Spud Infinity” features some funky percussion and was a family affair as lead singer Adrianne Lenker’s younger brother, Noah Lenker, playing the jaw harp. The former single, “No Reason” opens with the triumphant cacophony of shimmering acoustic chords and the tender melodies of a lofty flute.

The flute heard on “No Reason” was actually a happy accident. The band was in a recording session in the Colorado Rockies when they heard the lovely sound of someone playing the flute from a nearby lookout tour. Upon inspection, the flutist in question was Richard Hardy, who has been credited on countless records over the past 30 years, including some of Carole King’s music. Big Thief invited Hardy to sit in on some of their sessions, which resulted in the wistful flute heard on “No Reason.”

Listen to “No Reason” and “Spud Infinity” above.

Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You is out 2/11 via 4AD. Pre-order it here.