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As the 2021-22 NBA season enters its third month, any hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic would be less impactful this season than last have been dashed. Many of the games top stars have found themselves in the league’s health and safety protocols early this season, including some who have had difficult battles with the virus that have kept them out longer than just the 10 days required by league rules.

Currently, the Chicago Bulls are dealing with a number of absences due to protocols, as seven players missed Saturday night’s blowout loss to the Heat due to health and safety protocols, including star DeMar DeRozan, and now the Bulls will be without their other star scorer as Zach LaVine entered protocols on Sunday following his 33-point effort in Miami.

Troy Brown will also enter protocols, bringing the team’s total to nine players currently out.

The Bulls situation is the worst of any team in the league in terms of absences and it’s reasonable to wonder if the league, which has been loathe to postpone any games this season due to COVID absences, should consider whether nine players absent is worthy of rescheduling Tuesday’s game against Detroit if some of Chicago’s players don’t test out of protocols in time to play. The current roster, including those added via hardship waivers, features nine players, which is technically enough to play Tuesday.

He’s challenged Donald Trump and other Republicans. He’s dismantled loony pandemic misinformation conspiracy theories, including those made by coworkers. He’s filed complaints about Tucker Carlson. And now he’s leaving. As per CNN, Chris Wallace — who for nearly two decades has been one of the controversial network’s few independent thinkers — announced on Sunday that his latest show would be his last.

“After 18 years — this is my final ‘Fox News Sunday.’ It is the last time, and I say this with real sadness, we will meet like this,” Wallace said on this weekend’s Fox News Sunday.

Wallace didn’t go into specifics about the shocking move, saying only that he was “ready for a new adventure” and that he wanted “to try something new to go beyond politics to all the things I’m interested in.”

The show will feature rotating hosts until a permanent replacement is found.

Back in 2017, Wallace signed what was described as a “long-term contract” with Fox News, which comes to an end this year. A source told CNN that Wallace simply decided not to renew.

This is arguably the biggest Fox News loss since Shepard Smith departed in 2019. Both he and Wallace were known for not towing the party line, for challenging, not supplicating, Republican lawmakers, and for arguably making bigger headlines than anyone at other, non-conservative-oriented news networks, like CNN and MSNBC. They also tended to outrage Republicans, who took umbrage with someone who calls BS.

(Via CNN)

A lot happened this week, as it always does in our wackadoodle world. Jussie Smollett was found guilty of staging a hate crime. Multiple Trump allies refused to play ball with the committee investigating the lead-up to the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. Someone set the Fox News Christmas tree ablaze. And SNL made sure to cover it all on Weekend Update.

“A jury declared Jussie Smollett really bad at acting,” co-host Colin Jost cracked about one of a number of recent high profile trials. “Smollett was found guilty of charges of staging a hate crime; it was the worst staged hate crime since my all-Christian production of Fiddler on the Roof.”

Jost also joked about another case that almost certainly won’t end with guilty parties being punished. “And in legal news where someone won’t definitely get convicted, Donald Trump is being investigated for fraud by New York Attorney General who wants to dispose Trump on Jan. 7,” he said. He then made sure to note the significance of that date, saying, “C’mon, Jan. 7? That’s the day after his big anniversary!”

Co-host Michael Che made sure to cover the week’s strangest news. “After a tree outside Fox News Channel was set on fire by a homeless man, Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt said ‘This scrooge is not going to get a way with it!’” Che said. “And nothing has ever explained Fox News Channel better than a rich white lady calling a homeless man ‘scrooge’!”

You can watch Weekend Update in the video above.

On Saturday, all corners of the music world applauded Megan Thee Stallion after she graduated from college. The Houston rapper earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health Administration from Texas Southern University and she was all smiles about her new accomplishment. On Instagram, she shared some pictures from the day and thanked everyone for their support. “Meg Thee Graduate [female graduate emoji] I know my parents are looking down on me so proud,” she wrote. “Thank you everyone for all the love today.”

One notable congratulation that Megan Thee Stallion received came from Cardi B, who showed a lot of love to her “WAP” collaborator on Twitter. “Congrats @theestallion all of your hard work paid of!!!” Cardi wrote in her message. “I know your Parents are super proud of you.” Megan replied to Cardi’s message, writing, “Thank you bardi” with three heart eyes emoji.

Megan previously spoke about the importance of finishing school during a 2018 interview with People. “I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud,” she said. “I want my big mama to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed. My grandmother that’s still alive used to be a teacher, so she’s on my butt about finishing school.” She added, “I’m doing it for me, but I’m also doing it for the women in my family who made me who I am today.”

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

There’s a new COVID variant out in the wild (and already some misinformation about it), and while it appears it’s not as dangerous as the last one, it’s still yet another thing to worry about. For the cold open of one of its last episodes of 2021, SNL took on this latest anxiety. Kate McKinnon returned as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s ever-patient, ever-beleaguered top immunologist, to allay some fears and welcome some guests.

“Do people still think I’m sexy? People see me on TV, and they think, ‘Oh, this can’t be good. That Elf on the Shelf got old,’” McKinnon’s Dr. Fauci said. “Most recent data suggests that if you had a vaccine and a booster, you should be pretty well protected. So, if that’s you, I’d like to officially say: Unclench.’”

He was there to answer some questions: “Is it safe to travel?” “Can I still use this as an excuse to get out of of stuff?”

There were some friends, too, among them two disgraced brothers, Andrew and Chris Cuomo, who claimed that they “both lost our jobs because of COVID.”

There were also Cecily Strong as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Chloe Fineman as Lauren Boebert. “The government has been using this fake disease to strip us of our freedom. Do they think we’re dumb?” Strong’s MTG asked.

“Please. Would they give a dumb person a gun?” Fineman’s Boebert added.

“They said the shutdowns were until they found a vaccine. Then, they found a vaccine and said it worked. Then, they said everyone should get it,” Strong said. “Then, people got it, and it saved their lives. If that’s not Communism, then, honey, I might not know what Communism is.”

Eventually Aidy Bryant swung by as Ted Cruz, telling people, “If you’re sick of seeing me, imagine how sick I am of being me.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Pulling off the rare feat of both hosting Saturday Night Live and appearing as the show’s musical guest, Billie Eilish has had quite the weekend so far. Kicking of fher musical appearances with an incredible rendition of “Happier Than Ever’ that transitions from moody living room performance into epic headbanger, she’s got yet another pivot up her sleeve for her second performance of the night. Given the moody, jazzy vibe of Happier Than Ever — a pretty big shift from When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go and its goth-pop attitude — it’s not surprising Billie would want to showcase that sound for her second song selection.

After dropping the self-directed video for “Male Fantasy” earlier this week, she followed up “Happier Than Ever” with a live performance of the song that returns to a well-worn format for Billie and Finneas — sitting on a bed, quietly singing and playing together. After the theatrics of her first song, this subdued moment feels like the perfect cap on a massive night. With the moody lighting from drawn blinds and a solitary plant, the stage is a pretty good ringer for what a creative’s bedroom might look like. Check out the performance above.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably knew that Billie Eilish was pulling double duty on Saturday Night Live tonight — hosting and appearing as the musical guest. And though she already absolutely nailed her first musical number of the night, performing a moody ballad turned headbangerHappier Than Ever, as host, she’s also on the hook for a couple of sketch appearances as well.

And the writers behind this comedy sketch show wasted no time throwing Billie in the deep end, playing a straight-faced hotel employee alongside the extra hilarious Kate McKinnon, as the pair give a rundown of all the, ahem, “amenities,” at the corporate hotel from hell. It’s no surprise these two are working together after the promo skit they did to promote Billie’s episode.

To her credit, Billie does a great job deadpanning alongside one of the best in the business, but sometimes she can barely keep a straight face alongside Kate. Who can blame her?
At one point, Finneas cuts through as one of the most chaotic bellboy/concierges to ever work at a hotel, though his rundown of quirks and flaky promises about procuring drugs for guests will probably feel pretty spot on for most. Check out the sketch above to catch Billie and Finneas in action.

News that Billie Eilish was going to host and appear as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live set the internet alight when it broke, as the double duty nod is a pretty prestigious gig for a teen. Yes, let’s keep in mind Billie is literally a 19-year-old doing things that most full grown adults can’t do. She’s released her second album, Happier Than Ever, a gorgeous left turn for the young pop star, and proof that moody, simmering jazz never goes out of style. As most artists are introduced by the host, and Billie was doing both, her parents did the honors of introing their daughter for her first performance.

And during her first musical appearance on the comedy sketch show tonight, Billie flexed her range, performing the title track off her new record, “Happier Than Ever,” a song that happens to split into a second song halfway through. Starting off as a jazzy ballad about being away from a toxic relationship, midway through, the song explodes into an emotional, almost metal-tinged outburst about how much the relationship in question really did impact the singer. Accompanied by her ever-present collaborator and brother, Finneas on guitar, and a drummer, the song’s transformation was incredible to watch, and further proof that her chops as a performer are above and beyond.

Now back to brunette, after conducting most of the press appearances for this album as a blonde, Billie bursts out of a living room set and headbangs around the stage for the rambunctious second half of the song. It’s pretty epic, even for her. Check it out above.

Charles Oliveira (32-8) submitted Dustin Poirier (28-7) just seconds into the third round to retain his UFC lightweight crown on Saturday night at UFC 269 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Oliveira came blitzing forward in the opening minutes of the fight and got sent on his back with a stiff shot from Poirier. The champ and challenger wasted no time with a flurry of shots, changing levels with kicks, punches, knees, and elbows. Oliveira pushed Poirier against the cage and went for a takedown, but the challenger rolled right through it. Late in the round, Poirier took a big breath in after a third knee to the body. Poirier laid Oliveira on his back with a big right, but couldn’t finish the fight on the ground. With a minute remaining in the round, Poirier continued to pour it on with shot after shot, snapping the champ’s head with a big left and right, but Oliveira showed no slow down as he continued to respond with shots of his own.

The second began much like the first, with Oliveira walking down the challenger and bringing the fight to him. Oliveira attempted to take Poirier’s back, but the challenger slipped out of it. When he did, Oliveira held on to Poirier’s arm, forcing the challenger roll out and allowing Oliveira to move into guard. From the top, he resorted to big ground-and-pound shots with a slew of gigantic elbows. From the ground, Poirier seemed resigned to waiting out the round as Oliveira ran out the clock with elbow after elbow.

In the third, Oliveira slipped an overhand left, found his way to Poirier’s back and jumped on looking for the standing rear-naked choke to earn the victory.

Poirier bet on himself in June, opting for a trilogy bout with Conor McGregor instead of moving directly into the vacant lightweight title picture. His bet paid off, with his second-consecutive victory over McGregor helping him earn his way back into the UFC title picture just two years after his submission loss to former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Saturday night was Oliveira’s first title defense after claiming the lightweight crown at UFC 262 with a TKO victory over Michael Chandler earlier this year. Oliveira won his last nine bouts coming into the main event dating back to 2018, including a dominant decision win over Tony Ferguson in December.

Julianna Peña (12-4) submitted Amanda Nunes (21-5) midway through the second round of their fight to win the UFC bantamweight crown on Saturday night at UFC 269 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Nunes wasted no time chipping away at Peña’s lead leg with a handful of chopping leg kicks within the first two minutes. The first shot of the night sent her on her back, then a lead jab put her down again. Peña worked her way back to her feet, fighting off Nunes from her back. But the champ’s strength was on full display as she worked from clinch back to the ground. Nunes took Peña’s back and worked toward a rear-naked choke, but the challenger escaped to half guard. Peña moved for a kimura out of half guard, controlling the champ’s body from underneath to survive the first round.

Peña remained front-footed in the second, stepping into jabs and throwing hands with Nunes. The champ began to load up with big shots, but Peña continued answering with lefts and rights. Peña hurt Nunes with a jab and the champ looked slightly gassed with each responding shot. Peña pressed Nunes against the cage, took her down and earned the tap with a rear-naked choke.

Nunes entered Saturday night untested in seven years as the most dominant women’s competitor and in the running for the greatest fighter of all time. The two-division champ, Nunes has knocked off Valentina Shevchenko, Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, and Germaine de Randamie. Nunes hadn’t competed since June 2020 before fighting twice this year, with a win over Megan Anderson in June that came just two minutes into the first round.

Peña came into Saturday night’s main event winning her last bout, with a submission over Sara McMann.