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Kanye West has always shown his distaste for the paparazzi. Back in 2013, the rapper was sentenced to two years of probation, 250 hours of community service, and a restitution payment for attacking a photographer outside of Los Angeles International Airport. He’s currently under investigation for punching a photographer in Los Angeles. But Kanye is looking to heal the rift between celebrities and paparazzi, as he revealed during a conversation with a group of photographers shortly after he arrived at Miami International Airport on Saturday.

“Right now y’all get to shoot us without having to pay,” he said. “Imma change that. I’m not saying it in a negative way. It’s just like, right now, it’s just really one-sided. You guys can follow us, you guys can stand [outside] a hotel at any given time—you don’t give us any percentage of what you’re making off of us, off of our kids, and I’m gonna change that.”

“We all gotta make money together … It can’t be a one-sided thing. That’s why it feels vulture-like,” he continued. “Look, if I’m just with my kids, I say I don’t want you to shoot me, then that’s just something y’all gotta respect as a man ’cause if we can get that money together, but we gotta have a conversation. I’m gonna make sure we get our rights. We’re very important. We’re real people, also.”

Recently Kanye demanded a final edit approval on his upcoming Netflix series, Jeen-Yuhs.

It was the aughts all over again on last night’s SNL. Not only was Will Forte, who left the show in 2010 after eight seasons, hosting for the very first time, but he had some guests. Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe, both of whom joined Forte in the movie version of MacGruber as well as its new show, came by to bring the popular sketch back to where it was born. But that wasn’t all Wiig did: She joined Forte to bring back another, even weirder sketch.

For the first time since a 2009 episode hosted by Seth Rogen, Forte and Wiig dusted off Clancy T. Bachleratt and Jackie Snad, the only country music duo who dare sing songs spaceships, toddlers, Model T cars, and jars of beer. As show host Jeyner Keeblerely (Kenan Thompson) put it, those are “the four things they know best,” before letting them rip to treat viewers to the “ear caviar” that is such unsettlingly strange songs as “Salad Bar Boogie” and “Pool Trip Tango.”

It’s the kind of surreal end-of-episode sketch that used to be Forte’s, uh, forte. But since he was the host, it was smack dab in the middle of the episode, which leaned into Forte and Wiig’s brand of eccentric, goofy humor.

You can watch the two tear through strange songs in the video above.

In the summer of 2021, Lorde returned with Solar Power, her first album in about four years. It went on to be her third consecutive top-five album after it debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. It was another instance of the singer taking her time between albums, which she detailed in a past Vogue interview. Lorde’s third album also marked a first for her as an artist, namely that it was the first where she received the proper credit she deserves for her artistic contributions.

During a recent interview with Euphoria‘s Hunter Schafer on the A24 podcast Divine Frequency, the pair discussed Lorde’s “Solar Power” music video, which she co-directed alongside Joel Kefali. “I had written all the treatments and helped produce it, because I was super, super involved. It was so much fun to be on that set,” she said. Schafer then asked if she had ever directed before prior to the video.

“It’s that classic thing for young women, where you’re like ‘I think I do this thing but I’ve never been credited with it and no one’s ever talked to me about it’, whether that’s music production, video directions or graphic design,” Lorde replied. “It takes a second to be like, I know what I’ve contributed to this and my credit should reflect that. It’s definitely been a process for me, figuring out how to voice that. So (the ‘Solar Power’ video) is my first time being called a director.”

Lorde later revealed that she’s filmed “six or seven” videos for Solar Power and only four have been released: “Solar Power,” “Mood Ring,” “Leader Of A New Regime,” and “Fallen Fruit.”

You can listen to Lorde and Schafer’s full Divine Frequency episode here.

Last summer, Jay-Z filed a lawsuit against photographer Jonathan Mannion and his company Jonathan Mannion Photographer LLC for using Jay-Z’s name and image without his consent. Mannion shot the cover for Jay-Z’s classic 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt and the rapper claims that he’s been using the photos to make “thousands of dollars” selling prints and merchandise over the years. When Jay asked Mannion to stop, the photographer requested “tens of millions of dollars,” prompting the lawsuit. The two attempted to reach a settlement, but neither party was able to reach an agreement. Now the lawsuit will go to trial.

“Plaintiff Shawn Carter and Defendants Jonathan Mannion and Jonathan Mannion Photography LLC participated in a mediation before the Honorable Terry Friedman (Ret.) on January 5, 2022,” court documents obtained in the lawsuit read, according to HipHop-N-More (via AllHipHop). “The parties were unable to reach an agreement to resolve this case.” As a result, a trial date for July 22, 2022 has been set in order to bring the matter to court.

This comes after he, Big Sean, Fat Joe, Killer Mike, Meek Mill, Yo Gotti, and more rallied in support of a proposed New York State bill that would prohibit rap lyrics from being used in criminal trials. Bill S.7527/A.8681 — “Rap Music on Trial” — was proposed in November and it passed through the Senate earlier this week.

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

While things have not been great for current president Joe Biden, they’re not so hot for former president Donald J. Trump either. To the surprise of no one, the probe by the New York State attorney general’s office into the Trump Organization uncovered “significant evidence” of fraud. That doesn’t only jeopardize the big dog himself but also some of his children, namely Ivanka and Don Jr. Now people are wondering whether Trump will throw his kids under the bus. One of his former allies not only knows the answer but he even knows which one he’d pick to serve time over the other.

As per Insider, Michael Cohen — Trump’s former lawyer, who even went to jail for him — went on MSNBC and lent his expertise to the question on many minds: Would Trump cooperate with authorities to save his children from prison? Cohen’s answer (with a chuckle): “Not a chance.” He added, “Donald cares only about Donald, more than he would care about his children.”

Cohen also told a story he told last summer, which shed some more light on Trump’s paternal instincts. “You may recall that there was the district attorney’s case here for Trump Soho where it was either Don or Ivanka was in very big trouble as a result of lying about the number of units that had been sold,” Cohen recalled. “And Donald said it to me – I mean I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t said directly to me – he goes ‘if one or the other has to go to prison, make sure that it’s Don because Don would be able to handle it.’”

Trump is infamous for demanding absolute loyalty in others while refusing to do the same, and if what Cohen alleges is true, then that includes his own flesh and blood as well, even the one for whom he was gross and pervy thoughts.

You can watch Cohen’s MSNBC appearance in the video above.

(Via Insider)

It took over a decade, but Will Forte’s MacGruber — the MacGyver send-up he debuted as a recurring SNL sketch, and which he turned into a movie in 2010 — is back, this time as a Peacock show. So when Forte returned to the program that made his name, it was inevitable he’d bust out the character again. It was classic MacGruber, which is to say the bite-sized sketches that always end with the easily distracted special ops agent failing to defuse a bomb, but somehow not killing himself and his unlucky companions.

But this time there was a twist: MacGruber got really into internet misinformation. In the first sketch, he outs himself to his teammates (Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe) as an anti-mask anti-vaxxer, complete with a fake vaccine card that’s actually a Sizzler napkin. The next time we see them, he’s caught COVID, which he’s treating with Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine, and other nonsense treatments. By the end, he’s gone full alt-right, donning QAnon Shaman attire and refusing to believe that the ticking time bomb represents real time.

Over his eight seasons on SNL, Forte played — and “killed” — MacGruber some 27 times, joined by the likes of Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Betty White, even the real MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson, himself. Luckily when he left the show, he took MacGruber with him, though it’s nice to see him back in his native habitat.

You can watch the sketches in the video above.

For the first time in 2022, James Austin Johnson busted out his celebrated Trump impersonation, which helped make him a name online and eventually land him his SNL gig. It’s a very different take on the former president than the one Alec Baldwin busted out for years, nailing his stream-of-consciousness rants and gravelly voice. And when he brought it back for the new year, he made sure to do it while tipping a hat to the word game that’s taken the world by storm.

That would be Wordle, the daily online contest in which users try — and hopefully not fail — to guess the day’s five-letter word. In SNL’s cold open for their Will Forte-hosted episode, Johnson’s Trump appears on The Ingraham Angle, hosted by Fox News’ Jan. 6 texter Laura Ingraham (Kate McKinnon). And he uses Wordle as a guide as he runs through one of his serpentine monologues. He starts talking about boosters, somehow connects that to John Mayer and Jason Momoa and then magically brings it back to his favorite subject: himself.

The sketch also features Aidy Bryant’s Ted Cruz, who advises his Texan constituents to book their tickets for their February Cancún trips no; Pete Davidon as Novak Djokovic, the unvaxxed Serbian tennis player who was booted from Australia (McKinnon’s Ingraham: “I never thought I’d use ‘deported’ in a bad way”); Ego Nwodim’s Candace Owens. “To quote the only words that Martin Luther King Jr. ever said: ‘I have a dream.’ That’s it. End of quote,” she said. “It’s my greatest honor to fight for African Americans, no matter how many times they ask me to stop.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Francis Ngannou (17-3) earned a unanimous decision victory over Ciryl Gane (10-1) to retain the UFC heavyweight crown Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California at UFC 270. Despite being seriously hampered, fighting on a torn MCL and an injured ACL, Ngannou battled valiantly and managed to outlast Gane in a statement championship title defense.

Gane was quick on his feet early, moving around the Octagon before rushing in to push Ngannou against the cage. The champ was patient, landing a flurry of shots, then following Gane as he escaped out. Gane continued to strike and move, connecting on a few kicks to the midsection while moving out of the champ’s range.

Gane continued to chip away with slight kicks to the leg and midsection early in the second. Ngannou, with two knee wraps, looked a little stuck in the mud as the quicker Gane refused to be a stationary target. Gane continued to frustrate Ngannou, and the crowd, with his movement, but he kept scoring points on the judges’ scorecards.

In the third, Ngannou jumped in much more aggressively, attacking with pace and eventually catching a kick from Gane, picking him up and bodyslamming him to the mat. From side control, Ngannou moved into mount then took Gane’s back. Gane moved out and back to his feet before Ngannou earned another takedown, but Gane was right back to his feet again. At the end of the round, Ngannou earned yet another takedown in a true statement round for the champ.

The fourth saw Ngannou’s pace slow significantly, while Gane continued to chip away with slight leg kicks and a few body shots. The champ earned another big takedown, moving to take Gane’s back. Gane found his way back to his feet before Ngannou took him down again, thwarting any transition attempts from the challenger and taking control of the bout.

With the margin of error razor thin headed into round five, Gane shifted his gameplan slightly and opened with sitting down on his punches. Gane caught a leg kick early in the round and put the champ on his back. From this back, Ngannou earned a gigantic reversal and found his way on top, but the challenger attempted to put him in a leg lock. Ngannou survived and took Gane’s back before moving into half guard, where he held the position through the final buzzer.

Ngannou, whose UFC contract has now expired, won the heavyweight belt after knocking out Stipe Miocic in March 2021 and may not ever fight in the Octagon again. Gane’s rise to the championship fight came on the back of an unbeaten UFC record and three consecutive wins in 2021, with decision victories over Jairzhino Rozenstruik and Alexander Volkov, before knocking out Derrick Lewis in the interim title fight in August.

Two fights couldn’t seal one of the UFC’s best rivalries in recent years and Dana White was eager to sign off on the trilogy bout between Brandon Moreno (19-6-2) and Deiveson Figueiredo (21-2-1) at UFC 270. Their third fight in just three years, Figueiredo retained the flyweight belt in their bout fight thanks to a majority draw, Moreno claimed the title with a submission victory in their second, and on Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Figueiredo earned his championship back thanks to a 48-47 decision victory.

A slimmer Figueiredo opened the bout the more aggressive of the two, walking down Moreno and chopping the champ down with counter leg kicks, sending him to the mat twice in the first round. Figueiredo earned a takedown and took Moreno’s back, but the champ easily found his way back to his feet. Confident in his approach, Moreno put his power on full display in the second round, stuffing takedowns and exchanging bombs from his feet. Figueiredo appeared to stun Moreno momentarily, only for the champ to come back with a big right of his own just before the end of the round.

In the third, Figueiredo earned a takedown again in the third, but couldn’t capitalize on the ground. Figueiredo sent Moreno stumbling backwards, but it was Moreno again hurting the former champion with a heavy-handed shot. A short left hook stopped Figueiredo in his tracks, hurting the challenger again. Figueiredo continued to chop Moreno with outside leg kicks and the champ appeared to Figueiredo yet again with a big right hand. Toward the end of the third, Figueiredo sent Moreno fast first into the mat with a quick, counter right overhand, then locked in a front choke as time in the round expired.

Figueiredo found his rhythm with short outside leg kicks over and again throughout the round as Moreno was clearly compromised by the pain of his leg. Moreno appeared to take control back over the fight toward the end of the round, walking down Figueiredo before the challenger clinched him against the Octagon. Moreno fought his way from the cage, continuing to stand in and toss big shots.

To open the fifth, Moreno locked in a body lock and pressured Figueiredo to the ground. The challenger quickly found his way back to his feet and midway through the round sent the champion stumbling backwards with a big right hand. Moreno moved even further into counterstriking in the final two minutes, patiently waiting for Figueiredo to toss something before moving forward with a flurry. The final 30 seconds of the fight saw Moreno and Figueiredo throw everything they had remaining to give the judges any further incentive to sway the card one way or another.

With another fight going to decision, it’s hard to imagine White going another direction than Moreno-Figueiredo IV, but at some point, you’ve got to give other challengers a shot at the belt. We’ll see where the UFC goes in the months to come.

Despite getting the 1-seed in the NFC, having home field advantage until they’d reach the Super Bowl, and a pretty subpar game by the San Francisco 49ers’ offense, the Green Bay Packers were one-and-done in the 2022 NFL playoffs. San Francisco went up to Lambeau Field and picked up a 13-10 win on a blocked punt for a touchdown and a pair of field goals by Robbie Gould, including one that went through the uprights as time expired.

The loss marks the end of a weird season for Green Bay. Despite their brilliance on the field, that did not receive a ton of focus for a stretch of their season. That’s because star quarterback Aaron Rodgers made headlines for a number of comments about COVID-19, its vaccine, cancel culture, and a whole lot of other stuff.

Rodgers did not play well in the loss. The Niners defense deserves a ton of credit, but his numbers were subpar — 20-for-25, 225 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions — and down the stretch, Green Bay’s offense totally stalled out.

As a result of his performance in the loss and the controversy he stirred up earlier this year, football fans hopped onto Twitter and got off a ton of jokes at his expense. Unsurprisingly, basically all of them were callbacks to his COVID comments earlier this year