Streaming on Twitch is not easy. It requires a severe amount of dedication, effort, and a little bit of luck to make a living wage of some kind doing it. One streamer based in the United Kingdom named SquidGame, whose real name is Lydia Ellery, has been at it for years now. She’s been slowly building up a community and has reached the status of Twitch partner. She’s also been uploading gaming content on her YouTube channel for 10 years now under the names “SquidGaming” and “SquidGame.”
Unfortunately for Ellery, many people who have never heard of her have been attacking her online as of late because of her username in light of Netflix’s hit show Squid Game. Ellery recently talked to BBC News about how the explosion in popularity for Squid Game has been leading to her being harassed, having her Instagram account banned, and losing out on job opportunities.
“I’ve received a lot of hate from the fans and I’ve been turned down for work because of it [the name],” she told the BBC.
…
“I started getting abusive messages from people. People were getting angry with me because they were mega fans… and thought I took the account from the show.
“I had to turn off notifications on my Instagram because it was just constant. My phone has been flooded.”
Ellery’s situation with her account name is getting so bad that she’s considering changing her username on all her social accounts, in part because it’s making her job more difficult. When someone uses a search engine to search “SquidGame,” they used to find her Twitch channel. Now, they’re directed to the TV show. It’s hard enough to build up a community on Twitch, but having to compete for attention from an extremely popular Netflix TV show is too much for anyone that isn’t in the class of extremely popular streamers like Ninja or TimTheTatman.
Looks like I might have to change my handle after all. I’ve lost 2 amazing presenting opportunities because people don’t want to hire me with my “squid game” handle. This is really getting me down now.
As the investigation into the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust continues, the attorney for the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is now suggesting that a disgruntled employee deliberately sabotaged the gun used by Alec Baldwin. Jason Bowles made the morning talk show rounds on Wednesday where he attempted to seed a theory that someone slipped live ammunition into the film’s props without Gutierrez-Reed’s knowledge. Here’s what he told TODAY via The Daily Beast:
“We know there was a live round in a box of dummy rounds that shouldn’t have been there,” Bowles added. “We have people who had left the set, who had walked out because they were disgruntled. We have a time frame between 11 and 1 approximately, that day, in which the firearms at times were unattended, so there was opportunity to tamper with this scene.”
Ammunition was kept in a prop truck on set, according to Gutierrez-Reed’s second attorney Robert Gorence, who said the vehicle was “completely unattended at all times, giving someone access and opportunity.”
According to Mediaite, Bowles repeated the claim on Good Morning America, but he also took the extra step of highlighting the fact that Assistant Director Dave Halls was the last person to touch the gun before it was handed to Baldwin, and then Bowles said this:
Somebody put that live round or live rounds in that box. When you do that, you can only have bad intentions because you’re going to confuse the rounds if you’re the armorer and they appear very similarly. The dummy rounds look like a regular live round…We’re afraid that could have been what happened here, that somebody intended to sabotage this set with a live round intentionally placed in a box of dummies.
Adding an interesting wrinkle to this new narrative is the fact that Baldwin has begun pushing back against numerous reports, and remarks by the Sheriff’s department, that the Rust set was “unsafe.” Baldwin recently retweeted a Facebook post that called the growing reports of a dangerous work environment “bullsh*t.”
QT is getting into the NFT business. On Tuesday, as reported by The Wrap, the two-time Oscar winner (and noted fan of women’s feet) shared that he’s partnering with Secret Network to auction off seven totally uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction as non-fungible tokens.
According to the official press release: “Each NFT at auction contains ‘secret’ content viewable only by the owner of the NFT, a groundbreaking and unique feature enabled by Secret NFTs. The secret content itself is one-of-a-kind, has never been seen or heard before, and will include: the uncut first handwritten scripts of Pulp Fiction and exclusive custom commentary from Tarantino, revealing secrets about the film and its creator. The public metadata of the NFT—the ‘front cover’ of this exclusive content—is rare in its own right: a unique, never-before-seen, public-facing work of art.”
The owners of these NFTs will be the only people able to access the content.
While 1992’s Reservoir Dogs brought Tarantino to Hollywood’s attention as a director, it was 1994’s Pulp Fiction that was his breakout film. The indie movie redefined the rules of cinema, and ended up grossing more than $210 million against a $10 million budget. It also earned a slew of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Ultimately, Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avary ended up taking home the statuette for Best Original Screenplay.
Now, more than a half-dozen lucky film fans will get the chance to not just experience, but own, Tarantino’s original, uncut vision for the film. “I’m excited to be presenting these exclusive scenes from Pulp Fiction to fans,” Tarantino said in a press release. “Secret Network and Secret NFTs provide a whole new world of connecting fans and artists and I’m thrilled to be a part of that.” You can learn more here.
We regret to inform you that JFK Jr. did not show up in Dallas on Tuesday—nor did his father, mother, or any other long-deceased member of the Kennedy clan (not Joseph, not Kick, nope on Bobby or Michael, and most certainly not Ted). This miraculous event, in which John F. Kennedy Jr. was reportedly not only going to reveal that he was indeed still alive, but was also planning to “declare” Donald Trump president again. (On who’s authority? That part didn’t seem to be worked out yet.)
According to the Daily Beast, this blessed even was expected to occur around 12:30 p.m.—approximately the same time JFK was assassinated while riding in his open-top car in Dallas. (These folks are aware that didn’t happen until November 22nd, right? Never mind—don’t answer that.) The entire event was livestreamed, and as the magic hour approached, hundreds had gathered to chant “God Bless America!” and “JFK!”
They were undoubtedly disappointed when this Q declaration turned out to be false, and some began to express skepticism, which the livestream host said would not help the situation and that they needed more faith. But most of the group didn’t let a little thing like reality keep them down for too long. Instead, they quickly shifted gears—and locales—to a Rolling Stones concert being held in Dallas for later the same day, with the idea that that’s where the Kennedys would be. Because if there’s any place one might expect the always-impeccable Jackie to reemerge, it’s definitely a Stones concert.
Then the rumors began to grow beyond the Kennedys; word was that a whole slew of dead celebrities would be coming back to show themselves, including Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Kobe Bryant, and Debbie Reynolds. How did such a random assemblage of names come to be? Who knows! It’s QAnon!
The crowd in Dallas represented a splinter faction of a splinter faction within the larger QAnon movement, and one that’s been denounced by some of QAnon’s leading figures as a scheme meant to embarrass QAnon believers. But the willingness of hundreds of people to travel to Dallas from as far away as New York and California demonstrates QAnon’s persistent popularity nearly a year after “Q”—the mysterious figure behind QAnon—last posted.
John F. Kennedy Jr. has long been an obsession for a faction of QAnon supporters, even as their beliefs that JFK Jr. faked his 1999 plane-crash death and will return to run as Donald Trump’s vice president have faced ridicule from other QAnon believers. On Tuesday, the conspiracy theorists were drawn to the site of the Kennedy assassination by claims made by obscure channels on the social media app Telegram with names like “Negative48” and “Whiplash347.”
Unfortunately, in addition to being an obsession, JFK is also sort of their Great Pumpkin.
It’s been nearly half a year since Lucy Dacus released her reflective third studio album, Home Video. So far, the singer has brought her music to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series, and several festivals across the US. Now gracing her fans with yet another late-night TV performance, Dacus takes The Tonight Show stage for a soaring performance of her fan-favorite track “VBS.”
For her set, Dacus turned the Fallon stage into a cathedral with faux-stained glass windows and church pews. The stage design mirrors the theme of “VBS,” which chronicles the singer’s experience attending vacation bible school when she was young. Dacus’ rendition of the track itself showcases her playful humor and moving vocals.
Ahead of Dacus’ showstopping performance on late-night TV, the singer recently decided to use her North American tour to give back. Ahead of her Texas shows in September, Dacus announced that all the proceeds earned from her performances would be donated to abortion funds following the state’s ban on abortion after only six weeks. “all the money I make at our upcoming shows in Texas will be going towards abortion funds [just so you know], if you’re not cool with that don’t come.” She wrote, following up with: “if you are cool with that (and are vaccinated) Austin and Dallas are sold out, but Houston and San Antonio are not, come thru and bring extra $ cause I’m gonna figure out a donation situation.”
Watch Dacus perform “VBS” on The Tonight Show above.
Six-year-old Julian Worsham of Beaverton, Oregon is like a lot of other first-graders: he loves Super Mario and Taekwondo. But he has achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, and goes to a school that wasn’t built for kids his height.
“He’s born into a world that just, in some ways, is not built for him,” Julian’s father, Brett, told WHAS11.
His mother did a walk-through before his first day at school to make sure he wouldn’t run into any problems because of his height but forgot to check the cafeteria. [We] “noticed that where the food was, was right at his head,” Heather told the Beaverton School District. Then, to make things more of a struggle, he had to carry his tray outside to the lunch benches.
The school made him a makeshift cart out of an upside-down milk crate on wheels to help him transport his lunch from the cafeteria to the benches.
“When I saw it I thought, ‘Wow,'” said Enedelia Mottram, who’s served lunch for the school district for 18 years. “I just wanted to help Julian, because I mean his head barely reaches the lunch line. He can’t see anything.”
That night, she talked to her husband, James, a metalworker, to see if he could come up with something better. He got his team together at Wright Manufacturing in Portland to create a new cart that allowed Julian to transport his lunch tray and see over the counter.
James told the Beaverton School District that he wanted to make something that Julian would be “proud to push around.”
James and his team put together a badass cart with adjustable, handlebar grips just like a motorcycle that has a stool inside so he can reach the countertop. It is adorned with flames and a personalized license plate that says, “JULIAN.”
Julian’s parents were blown away by the care and creativity that was put into creating his cart.
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“They took the time to get those license plates with his name, which is just like, they just really put a lot of heart into it. So when I saw it, the first thing I saw was actually a picture of James and his team who made the cart and I cried. It’s just such a sweet thing,” Heather said.
Julian loves the license plate and the flames and is now able to grab his lunch and get out to the benches in style.
“He’s independent now,” said Mottram. “Before, a staff member [would] have to be there to help him,” she said.
Heather hopes that the story will inspire others to reach out and help other people in need.
“There’s just wonderful people in this world that, you know, they have their eyes open. They’re seeing needs that need to be met and they’re meeting them. So I hope that other kids can get their needs met through this,” she said.
With today’s prevalence of social media, it’s hard to imagine a celebrity who decisively stays off popular platforms like Instagram. Some artists like Lorde keep their accounts active but remain radio silent until they’re ready to roll out a new era of music. But other artists like Jay-Z managed to stay off Instagram altogether — until now. The rapper officially rejoined the platform this week to promote his upcoming work and was able to reach a major milestone: He’s now the only person followed by Beyonce on Instagram.
In less than 24 hours after Jay-Z relaunched his Instagram account, he’s already racked up nearly 2 million followers. One of those followers includes his wife, Beyonce — though he has quite a long way to go until he can compare to Beyonce’s follower count, which is at over 216 million. It will come as no surprise that Jay-Z reciprocated Beyonce’s follow and she is also the only person he’s following on the platform as well.
Jay-Z’s reason for rejoining the platform is quite simple. He’s there to promote his upcoming film, The Harder They Fall, of which he is the executive producer. It marks the first time the rapper has posted on the social media platform in nearly six years. Jay-Z did give Instagram a go back in 2015, but he promptly deleted his account just 14 hours later after he reportedly posted a photo of himself with Michael Jackson. It’s been almost 14 hours since Jay-Z relaunched his account, so it’s looking like it will have a greater longevity this time around.
“That’s why we have all these reboots of teen shows from the ’90s. Get a new idea, Hollywood.” – A wise cheerleader.
You gotta respect the Saved By The Bell Season 2 trailer for calling itself out as part of the non-stoppable trend of reboots, revivals, revamps, and re-everything on TV. The first season proved to be surprisingly appealing and accessible to a younger, more culturally diverse audience, all while delivering some drama for the messed-up adults, who are all somehow still hanging out around or working at Bayside High School (yes, that’s odd). Zack “Attack” Morris returned as the terrible Governor of California, and Jessie and Slater and Kelly are all back. On a more somber note, expect this season to feature a tribute to the late Dustin Diamond (as reported by Variety and according to executive producer Franco Bario), who thanklessly portrayed Screech, back in the day.
The trailer, though, sticks with its usual peppy tone while including pointed mention of how much Slater and Zack think their lives suck, and of course, they turn it into a competition. And Jessie is going through a divorce, which means that Slater is way too excited. Yeah, don’t do that again, guys. They’re totally gonna do it again, right? Here’s what’s going on with the students, via the synopisis:
Bayside High gears up to compete in the Southern California School Spirit Competition. Daisy is determined not to get sidetracked by “Bayside nonsense,” but when a cute new student is elected student council VP, she finds herself in way over her head. Mac sees the competition as a way to finally step out from his father’s shadow. Jamie leans on Lexi in the wake of his parents’ divorce while Lexi struggles to be a more understanding girlfriend; Aisha seeks a new outlet after football is canceled; DeVante finds love with a rich Bayside girl, and Slater and a newly single Jessie grow closer despite their tumultuous romantic past.
Saved By The Bell returns to Peacock on November 24.
Black women in music have long been considered R&B and hip-hop to fit the music industry’s expectations of ‘urban’ marketing, but current acts are pushing back against the standard and broadening pop music through inclusivity. For artists like Victoria Monet, Chlöe Bailey, Normani, and others, Black female singers are redefining pop music through sheer confidence in their songwriting capabilities, production, and visual aesthetics — proving that there’s room for more than one woman at the top.
As history tells it, Black female artists who play fair weren’t always the norm. For women in the music industry, there’s pressure to stay relevant amidst newers acts in the face of ageism, sexism, body dysmorphia, and aggressive online targeting. Prior to her untimely death in 2001 — and before the social media era — Aaliyah was arguably the standard for R&B-turned-pop experimentation, trading baggy jeans for hypnotic maturation on her final, eponymous album. 2001’s Aaliyah was a masterclass in Y2K futurism and dulcet, self-assured vocals that would influence fellow millennial pop artists and the next generation of progressive Black female artists.
Molded by Aaliyah’s impact are a slew of Black female vocalists including Kehlani, Normani, and Tinashe — the latter who’s been outspoken about genre barriers for Black women. In a 2017 article in the LA Times, the singer Tinashe leaned into unfair comparisons amongst each other:
“It creates this competitiveness, even among fan bases,” Tinashe added. “People feel they can’t be a fan of Kehlani and me. It’s confusing, like why not be fans of whatever you like? Why does there need to be this rivalry approach? We don’t do that with male artists.”
Defeating critiques that Black women belong on rhythmic and urban charts, Tinashe made a grand return to the pop sphere on her sultry 2019 effort Songs For You, released shortly after her leave from RCA Records. As her first album as an independent artist, Songs For You reached #1 on the iTunes Albums chart upon its release, the second independent artist to do so since Frank Ocean released Blonde in 2016. Helmed with critical acclaim for its pop experimentation and largely considered her best album to date, Tinashe took Songs For You into the virtual world on VR platform Wave in livestream concerts at the beginning of the pandemic last year.
In August arrived Tinashe’s fifth studio album 333, where the singer further explored VR, alternate realities, and spirituality in music and visuals for singles “Pasadena” and “Bouncin’.” Through a streak of daring eclecticism and a history of collaborations with electronic producers Kaytranada, Wax Motif, and MAKJ, Tinashe eschews naysayers who limit her to R&B, pushing boundaries of the pop genre.
Dispelling recent allegations of a rivalry with Tinashe over a seductive photoset is one-half of vocalist sister duo Chloe x Halle, Chlöe Bailey. Adding an umlaut to her forename and blonde highlights to her already-signature locs, Bailey dismissed skeptics with her long-awaited debut solo single “Have Mercy,” which was released in September. Lauded for its upbeat production and being a curve-embracing anthem, fans drew comparisons between Chlöe and mentor Beyoncé, who signed Chloe x Halle to her company Parkwood Entertainment in 2015. As fans await Chlöe’s next single, “Have Mercy” has already made rounds on televised performances from last month’s 2021 MTV Video Music Awards to The Tonight Show, making Chlöe pop’s next breakout star.
Controversy surrounded Chlöe’s debut performance at the 2021 MTV VMAs after Normani voiced her disappointment with the telecast for allegedly choosing Chlöe to be the only Black woman to perform that night. In 2019, Normani graced the VMAs with a high-energy performance of “Motivation,” and sought to return to the awards show following the release of her latest single “Wild Side.” After fans petitioned for Normani’s appearance at the show, the singer delivered with a cameo by Teyana Taylor in a sultry homage to Janet Jackson’s 2001 concert performance of All For You track “Would You Mind.”
Once a member of girl group Fifth Harmony before they disbanded in 2018, Normani is on her second act. Poised to release her upcoming solo debut with multifaceted potential, the singer spoke with Allure about being an all-encompassing artist:
“My purpose in this work that I do is for other people that feel like they have Black women figured out. There’s so many layers to us, there’s so many textures, there’s so much that we’re capable of doing,” Normani says. “Yes, I can throw ass. But I can also give you a proper eight-count, and I can do ballet, and I can do contemporary dance. If I want to sing this pop ballad, then you’re going to love it! While you see my Black face!” Period.
Like Normani, Victoria Monét was once in a girl group, but later carved her own lane as singer-songwriter for a decade prior to releasing her 2020 debut album Jaguar. A longtime collaborator and songwriter for Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét entices listeners through her unapologetic soundscapes of femininity, self-love, and sensuality. While Jaguar was largely an homage to 1970s funk and disco, Monét reintroduced the throwback era to Gen-Z fans, especially in her Jaguar live session that premiered in March.
Becoming a DIY internet sensation for her 2018 meme-inspired visual “Mooo!,” pop act Doja Cat has led the crusade of oddball artistry since her humble SoundCloud beginnings. Landing a joint deal with RCA Records and Kemosabe Records in 2014, Doja Cat’s rise to stardom wasn’t instantaneous, instead having to refine her rap-fueled spunk to craft a mainstream sound. By 2020, her sophomore album Hot Pink shot to No. 9 on the Billboard 200 despite being released a year prior, thanks to her viral dance-worthy smash “Say So.”
As host of the 2021 MTV VMAs — and even taking three Moon Person trophies home — Doja Cat’s third album Planet Her exemplifies celestial pop, celebrating womanhood and diverse instrumentation from urbano to dancehall. Still embracing her online antics, Doja Cat hasn’t had to compromise her personality for stardom, recently becoming the new face of PepsiCo for its 50th anniversary.
Through charisma and sleek full-packed quality, the new generation of Black female acts continue to uphold pop by changing the tides of the genre with determination. The future couldn’t be more exciting.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
If there are two things we know that Drake loves, it’s basketball and women. So it makes sense that he’d like to combine the two in his hometown with a franchise of the WNBA. Drake, who already has a role as ambassador for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, made his case on Instagram in the wee hours of the night, posting a single-frame Instagram Story reading, simply, “@WNBA, I need a Toronto team.”
This poses all kinds of fascinating possibilities. Would Drake be the owner? Would he want an ambassador role like the one he has with the Raptors? What would the team’s name be? You have to hope it wouldn’t be dinosaur-themed, as the Raptors’ entire concept came from the popularity of the original Jurassic Park the year of the team’s inception.
Furthermore, how would this affect the league as a whole? You’d think adding just one team would unbalance the season schedule quite a lot, so how many teams would be created in an expansion? Would there be an expansion draft? How would the talent in the W, which just went through a dramatic upheaval after solidifying a new CBA, be redistributed to provide parity?
For now, this is all just speculation and spitballing, but it would sure be fun to find out that the (much-needed) expansion is actually in the works. It’d probably be even more fun to see the self-declared Certified Lover Boy sitting courtside, cheering on favorites like Candace Parker, Chiney Ogwumike, and Aja Wilson, bringing some well-deserved publicity to the WNBA.
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