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In ASAP Ferg‘s glitchy, trippy video for “Green Juice,” the Harlem rapper gets digitized into a familiar, green-tinged virtual reality. While it’s not technically the Matrix of the sci-fi action series that will be — ahem — resurrected soon, it’s a close enough simulation (no pun intended — that time) that it’s clear the imagery Ferg’s concept is working to evoke. While he stomps his way through a signature brag-filled verse, The Neptunes’ buzzing, booming production, and Pharrell‘s oddly inspirational chorus make “Green Juice” into a futuristic, chest-thumping anthem.

Ferg’s set to perform the new single for the first time this weekend at Rolling Loud New York, where he’ll also be offering his favorite green juice from Pressed Juicery via UberEats. It’s also a buy one, get one free situation, with each purchase adding the customer into a sweepstakes for exclusive signed merch. Technically, this means he and fellow New York rap staple Styles P will be competing for customers, what with Styles’ Juices For Life pop-up also coming to Rolling Loud this weekend. Will we see the first-ever rap beef prompted by competition for juice territory? Probably not, but it’s still a pretty amusing thought.

Watch ASAP Ferg’s “Green Juice” video featuring Pharrell and The Neptunes above.

It’s Halloween soon, and instead of going as his favorite meat (“hot dog”), Mitt Romney dressed up as Ted Lasso. All Thursday morning, the Republican senator from Utah has been tweeting images and GIFs of himself in costume as the titular coach from the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ comedy. “If you believe in yourself, and have clear eyes and full hearts — you can’t lose,” he wrote, which is a Friday Night Lights reference even though he’s touching Ted’s locker room “BELIEVE” sign. This is frankly unacceptable.

In another tweet, Romney wrote, “Warming up for Halloween weekend with the grandkids,” along with a Ted Lasso quote: “Your body is like day-old rice. If it ain’t warmed up properly, something real bad could happen.” But the weirdest of his Ted tweets has to be the one where he’s giving biscuits to in-the-news senator Kyrsten Sinema, who’s filling in for Hannah Waddingham’s character, Rebecca. “Biscuits with the boss,” he tweeted, while another added, he added, “She’s one tough cookie.”

The GIF is one thing, but the photo is reminding people of… something else.

Even those who weren’t picking up porn parody vibes from Mitt Romney and Kyrsten Sinema’s photoshoot (congratulations to me for the worst opening to a sentence ever) were confused and disturbed by whatever the heck is happening here.

The “Out of Context Ted Lasso” account was not having it.

This is scarier than most horror movies.

Anthony Sampson has understood the value of mentorship since he was a young man. Growing up in Houston, he had a mentor who helped him see the importance of volunteering and giving back to his community. By the time he graduated from college and settled in Dallas, he knew he wanted to share some of that wisdom and experience with the next generation.

That’s why Sampson, an Allstate insurance agent for 38-years, co-founded 100 Black Men of Greater Dallas/Fort Worth more than 20 years ago and is still deeply involved, sitting on the board of directors. The organization matches Black male mentors with mostly young Black men to help them live up to their potential and contribute to society. By building character and producing leaders, 100 Black Men works toward improving the whole community.

“It means a lot to our mentees to see positive examples of Black men,” Sampson shares. “I believe that ‘What They See Is What They’ll Be.’ In fact, it’s our organization’s official motto.”

According to Sampson, strong mentorship can help young people develop the skills they need “to understand how to deal with issues in life from a positive perspective.” To date, the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter of 100 Black Men has mentored more than 1,500 young people.

Kynsington Hobbs is one of them. Now a senior in high school, Hobbs began a mentorship with Anthony Sampson when he was 13. He says working with Sampson changed his perspective of what success can look like in the African-American community, especially for kids who don’t have dads in the picture.

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“Seeing someone like this, a role model, who’s showing you how to do the things the right way—how to tie a tie, for instance, or how to iron your suit pants, just the common things that we would think were normal for the average kid—often gets missed out in the African-American community.”

Hobbs says attending a 100 Black Men conference several years ago helped him truly understand the organization’s motto.

“Just seeing a bunch of successful black men, it really changed my narrative,” says Hobbs.

Jackson Session describes his mentorship with Anthony Sampson with similar enthusiasm. Session first connected with 100 Black Men his junior year of high school when a school counselor recommended he join the organization’s trivia bowl team. He began attending Saturday leadership meetings with Sampson, and eventually asked if he could intern in his Allstate office. Sampson hadn’t hired a mentee before, but he took a chance.

Courtesy of Anthony Sampson

Session credits Sampson with teaching him to present himself professionally and with helping him get a scholarship from the national 100 Black Men of America organization.

“He went out of his way to make sure that I was well-connected and that I was taken care of because he knew that I was serious about my education,” says Session, who is now a sophomore at Howard University, studying finance.

“I think mentorship in general is important because I think that growing up, especially now, we have a lot of outside influences,” says Session. “Having somebody who genuinely cares about you to tell you the right way to get to what you want to do, I think that’s important.”

Sampson is one example of thousands of Allstate agents and employees making a difference in their communities. In addition to supporting agent and employee volunteerism, for almost 70 years, Allstate has supported communities through The Allstate Foundation, which partners with leading organizations and local nonprofits to address some of the most pressing issues facing society. The Foundation’s efforts include empowering youth, breaking the cycle of domestic violence and supporting non-profit leaders, with an overarching purpose of advancing equity.

This Fall, in time for back-to-school season, The Allstate Foundation teamed up with education crowdfunding platform DonorsChoose to launch a new Racial Justice and Representation category on the site, making it easy for donors to help fund teacher’s classroom projects focused on increasing diversity in curricula and creating a more inclusive environment. From buying books written by diverse authors to providing materials for anti-racism education, donors can directly support teachers working toward racial equity. The Allstate Foundation matched all donations to these projects for a total of $1.5 million. These funds support teachers who – like Sampson – are serving as positive mentors helping students succeed.

“Mentorship to me is really engaging with youth that need a path to success,” Sampson says. “If I can get them to dream, I know that a dream will become a goal, and then that goal becomes a reality.”

To support classroom projects that promote racial equity, go to DonorsChoose.

When the deal that allowed Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures to “share” Spider-Man very publicly fell apart after the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home in Summer 2019, there were several headlines about how Tom Holland helped bring both sides back together after making a drunken phone call to Disney CEO Bob Iger. However, according to a new Empire feature on Holland’s upcoming jaunt in the multiverse-spanning Spider-Man: No Way Home, the actor admits that he started “pitching” new Spidey plans with Sony in case the relationship with Marvel was truly over. Via Comic Book:

“On the day that the announcement happened that I would no longer be in the MCU… I just drove over to Amy Pascal’s house and sat with her by her pool, and we sat there for hours, just chatting, and pitching movies. How would we do a film without Marvel? Does Peter Parker fall through a portal, and then he’s in the Venom world? Or do we do a Kraven the Hunter film?”

“It was a nice distraction… because as a young kid I was so in love with Marvel, and I was so lucky to be a part of it that when they took the rug from under my feet, I was not ready to say goodbye yet…,” he added.

Despite Sony and MCU working things out after a brief period of uncertainty, Holland’s dreams of having Spidey face off with Venom and Kraven the Hunter may still become reality. Venom: Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis recently said that a crossover with Spider-Man is in the works, and earlier in the year, Sony cast Avengers: Age of Ultron star Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven the Hunter. Considering those were two of Holland’s big wish-list items, one could surmise that his time as Spidey is nowhere close to an end.

(Via Empire)

So far, the creative partnership between Big Sean and Hit-Boy has been massively fruitful. Beginning with their work on GOOD Music’s 2012 posse cut “Clique,” the duo has put out almost a decade’s worth of hits and fan-favorite bangers, right up to last year’s Detroit 2 and its fiery singles “Deep Reverence,” “Lithuania,” and “Lucky Me.” They kept that momentum this year with “What A Life,” which turned out to be the first single from a collaborative EP the two announced today, What You Expect.

As revealed by Big Sean, the EP will include five new songs, a number he increased from just one new song after a month of chatting up how much he’s enjoying himself just rapping lately. “I had fun doing that LA Leakers freestyle n droppin the What A Life song/video,” he wrote on Twitter today. “it feel good to be active, n just doin whatever the f*ck I wanna do.” Last week, Sean drew attention for delivering a nearly nine-minute freestyle over four different beats, tackling Kanye West’s “Hurricane,” Drake and Jay-Z’s “Love All,” Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek’s “Dear Summer,” and Nardo Wick’s “Who Want Smoke??”

Meanwhile, Hit-Boy is riding high after his pair of successful King’s Disease releases with Nas, which prompted the Queens legend to call the California producer his Quincy Jones.

What You Expect is due 10/29 via Def Jam.

Rising Moroccan-Canadian pop singer Faouzia has positioned herself as one to watch with a handful of strong releases, including 2020 joint track with John Legend, “Minefields.” Now returning for her second empowering anthem of the year, Faouzia makes it clear she’s not willing to change herself for anyone else with the fiery single “Puppet.”

The thumping tune showcases Faouzia’s enthralling vocals over a disco-twinged beat and she sings of breaking free. In a statement about the single, Faouzia explains that she repeats the Arabic word for “freedom” throughout the song, which is indicative of the message behind “Puppet.”

“‘Puppet’ is a song about challenging relationship dynamics as a woman, taking charge, and shamelessly being yourself. I want young girls around the world to know that they don’t need to change who they are for anyone, and that someone that loves you shouldn’t ask you to be someone you’re not. If anyone tries to knock you down, or force you to conform, use that as motivation to stand up taller and only surround yourself with those that want to prop you up and support you. Throughout the song, the word “ حرية” is chanted, Arabic for ‘freedom.’ As the world continues down a difficult path daily, this message is more necessary than ever.”

Listen to Faouzia’s “Puppet” above.

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

As someone who goes to a lot of festivals for a living (more or less), one of the more annoying aspects is getting stuck without service as the venue fills up and trying to access set times on a website I can’t connect to. Fortunately, for Rolling Loud attendees in New York this weekend, the festival has figured out a way to keep set times accessible at a moment’s notice, releasing them as nifty phone wallpapers. Now, all you have to do is turn on your phone’s screen to check when and where your favorite artists are performing.

The festival kicks off today with headliners 50 Cent, JID, and Lil Durk on the Deleon Stage, Punx Stage, and Audiomack Stage, respectively. Meanwhile, the absolutely stacked day-one lineups include stars like Lil Uzi Vert, Gucci Mane, Gunna, Jack Harlow, Moneybagg Yo, and Polo G, with hometown heroes Bobby Shmurda, Joey Badass, Dave East, Young M.A., Smoove’L, CJ, DreamDoll, Stove God Cooks, and Nyck Caution sprinkled in throughout the day (does Fetty Wap count? He’s from New Jersey, not New York, but they’re basically neighbors, right?).

There’s also a site map and an app to help you build your schedule for the day. Check them out in the thread below.

In the midst of two federal investigation and a surge of public outrage, Activision Blizzard — and its CEO, Bobby Kotick — are finally making some concrete changes to the company that aren’t merely canceling BlizzCon and renaming one of their game’s characters. This announcement comes after the videogame empire, famous for owning hit franchises such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush, was ousted for maintaining a “frat boy” culture at their offices earlier this summer, with numerous victims reporting unfair labor practices and sexual misconduct. Since then, many workers have begun to privately sue the company while both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) opened investigations into Activision’s misconduct. In an attempt to restore some hope in the company, Activision Blizzard is now taking action.

In a letter shared earlier this morning, Kotick announced a series of initiatives the company is taking to help reestablish faith in the company after admitting “guardrails weren’t in place everywhere to ensure that our values were being upheld,” chief among these being a massive pay cut for the chief executive officer.

“Over the last decade, as we’ve brought in new companies, grown our workforce, and expanded our business, we believed we had the systems, policies, and people in place to ensure that our company always lived up to its reputation as a great place to work. Clearly, in some vitally important aspects, we didn’t .. In some cases, people didn’t consistently feel comfortable reporting concerns, or their concerns weren’t always addressed promptly or properly. People were deeply let down and, for that, I am truly sorry.”

Following his apology, Kotick announced Activision Blizzard will be reducing his salary to the minimum allowed Under California law for salaried workers: $62,500. In addition, Kotick said he will not be receiving any bonuses or equity grants. This takes Kotick from being the second-highest paid chief executive nationwide — bringing in a whopping $154 million just last year — to one on the lower end of the spectrum.

In addition, Kotick said Activision Blizzard will be implementing a “zero-tolerance” harassment policy while also ending mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment and discriminations claims, meaning employees will now be able to sue the company directly rather than go through a company arbitrator if they feel they are being discriminated against. The company also vowed to increase the percentage of women and non-binary people in its ranks by 50% and be more transparent about pay equity, as well stated it will invest $250 million to advance opportunities for diverse workers. Lastly, Kotick has promised “regular progress updates” with a “dedicated focus on this vital work” will be delivered alongside the company’s annual earnings report and other public disclosures.

Right now, Activision is currently in the process of trying to pay $18 million to settle an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. However, the California regulator has said the “proposed settlement amount is too low and that the agreement includes provisions harmful to victims and its case,” (via The Wall Street Journal). While it’s uncertain just how everything will be resolved, here’s hoping the company’s proposed plan — and some forced accountability — help ensure some justice is dealt.

After a brief tenure from 2018 to 2020, former Fox News personality Abby Huntsman abruptly announced that she was leaving The View to help work on her father’s gubernatorial campaign. While that was the official story, reports quickly began to swirl that Huntsman’s real reason for leaving was because of behind-the-scenes drama at The View that was coming from an odd source: Her best friend Meghan McCain. The two were close allies on the show thanks to their friendship and shared background of being the daughters of conservative politician. In fact, McCain reportedly pushed ABC execs to hire Huntsman, so it was notable that after a short stint, she made a run for the exit.

After fading into the background, Huntsman has returned with a new podcast, I Wish Somebody Told Me, and she’s opening up about leaving the daytime talk show. Right out of the gate, Huntsman confirms that, yes, the show’s workplace environment was her real reason for quitting and working for her father’s campaign was a convenient excuse that popped up at just the right time.

Huntsman then made a very notable remark considering McCain just spent last week promoting her audiobook that dipped heavily into the behind-the-scenes drama at The View. Via Deadline:

“I’m never going to write a tell-all book,” [Huntsman] says, but adds that the “executives in charge” had created an environment that “was all about money and the tabloids… You would see people act in ways that were not okay, that was very much part of the toxic environment of The View, and here we were going on the air criticizing others for toxic culture.”

On the one hand, Huntsman seemingly corroborates McCain’s claim about The View‘s toxicity issue. On the other, Huntsman could also very easily be talking about McCain as the source of that toxicity, which CNN reported back in January 2020. The two reportedly had a falling out after McCain told Huntsman to stop bringing up her children during panel discussions. Of course, Huntsman could clear things up by stating that McCain was not her reason for leaving, but interestingly, she chose not to go that route.

(Via Deadline)

CHICAGO – Something big changed for Alex Caruso in the bubble. It wasn’t on-court metrics, it wasn’t him getting in the “best shape of his life,” and it wasn’t winning a championship (okay, he did do that). It was reigniting a love for golf. The then-Lakers guard, like a lot of guys killing time at Disney World, took full advantage of the accommodations, most notably the course that was available to players pretty much exclusively.

Thankfully he had a willing teacher and partner in Lakers assistant coach Mike Penberthy. Penberthy, who has been dubbed a “whisperer” for his ability to get the most out of NBA guys looking to improve their golf game, transformed Caruso’s approach. The result was knocking quite a few strokes off his handicap and making him as pesky to play against as he is on the hardwood.

Caruso has carried that passion since the bubble, and is settling into his hobbies, his role, and his part as a fan favorite. After inking a $37-million deal with the Bulls, he also picked up his first major apparel sponsorship in golf brand TravisMathew, where he’s being announced as an ambassador on Thursday. While the headband wearing, scrappy defender might not be the first name that comes to mind for fashion, it’s part of a long journey for Caruso, who has gone from G League to reliable contributor in the league. And he can’t go anywhere without being recognized as long as his signature shaved head is showing. (Although he can still hide incognito with a hat on.)

Going from uncomfortable to comfortable is everything to Caruso, who sat down with Dime from Miracle Mile before his photoshoot to talk everything from golf and his fit with the Bulls to his personal style and what NBA players’ group chats are really like.

You’ve been in Chicago now for a minute. How’s the adjustment been? How have the fans been? What has this experience been like so far? Obviously you’re still getting to wear the headband. Some people worried that it wasn’t going to be on when they saw you in a Bulls uniform.

It’s been a nice adjustment. But it has been an adjustment going from Manhattan Beach, California, and LA for four years to living in an apartment in a city-city now. It’s different, but I like it. It’s a change of pace for me. I think it’s good for me. A little uncomfort, get out of my comfort zone, which I think throughout basketball and kind of my life has been a good thing for me. I feel like I grow a lot when I’m uncomfortable in new situations. Fan reception’s been great.

I know Chicago’s a big sports town, a big sports city and they’ve been fiending for good basketball and good sports for a while. So, got off to a good start in preseason [and so far this season], but we’ve got a lot of work to go. We’re excited. We’re excited for sure.

You mentioned that being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Is that kind of how you approach everything? Because it seems like that’s been the case for you is you don’t back down from any challenges. But more specifically in terms of clothing and fashion, it’s not necessarily what some people are known for off the bat.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, everything from fashion to my hobbies, to life for me, it’s just about being comfortable and having fun. Never really stressing too much about either what you’re putting on for clothes, or who you’re now with, or what you’re doing. I’m a real big go with the flow guy. I never really take stuff too seriously. And that’s just been really, really easy for me to push that into all facets of my life.

A big hobby of yours is golf. I know you got to play a lot when you were in the bubble and it really improved your game.

Yeah, my agent [Greg Lawrence] swears it was help from one of the assistant coaches. Mike Penberthy. Former Laker player. And now assistant coach. I played a lot with him and some of the other guys in the bubble. I probably went from like a mid 90s to like a mid 80s guy coming out of there. And he swears by him being like my swing doctor. There might be a little truth to it.

Favorite course you’ve ever played. You have one?

Probably Pebble Beach. I went to play with Greg and my dad and my financial manager, Joe, late August. And I mean, for a golf head, yeah, man. It’s one of the ones I’ve played on video games. I played that.I love golf and I love playing new courses. But this was the first time where I was like a little kid. I was giddy going around the course. I know this whole, like I’ve seen Tiger Woods hit this shot or such and such hit that shot. And then cap it off 18. You know, along the coast, it’s pretty sweet.

With regards to kind of your personal style and aesthetic. Did you pick anything up in LA that you didn’t expect to pick up, wear some stuff that you were a little shocked by? Maybe taking cues from Kuz?

I started getting a little more adventurous in LA, but I think that’s also just me growing up, kind of realizing the kind of taste that I had. Being exposed, obviously, like you said, a lot of my teammates, or ex-teammates and current teammates have very loud fashion choices. I’m a little more reserved. I did start to rock the no socks, little high cut pants. That’s one of my favorite looks, but nothing too crazy. I think, at least in my eyes, I was, like I said, wearing stuff that you’re comfortable in and I like it, I’m going to wear it, and don’t really care if anybody else doesn’t.

That Premier League fantasy league, are you still in that with those guys?

I’m not, no. Didn’t do fantasy soccer this year. It’s hard for me to keep up with that and fantasy football. And watch basketball. There’s just a lot. Also just wasn’t very good at that. That was a big kicker in it too. The hardest part about being an EPL fan was living on the West Coast. Yes. Cause if your team got the early game, it’s 4:30 AM. I missed the 4:30 games. I will not lie to you. 6:30 and after I’ll get up.

How did you get connected with TravisMathew? I mean, other than being a golf fan. What does this line represent for you, and the opportunity to be the face of something like this? Where you’ve had some opportunities, you’ve had endorsements, but a major clothing brand putting their way behind you has got to feel pretty cool.

Yeah. It is. I mean, I’m excited for it. Even outside of them approaching us with this partnership. I just like their clothes. That makes it really easy for me to have this partnership when you back a product, and you actually enjoy it, and wear it, and are comfortable in it. I liked TravisMathew, and was just excited. I remember a couple years ago when I connected with somebody through their socials and was like, “They’re going to send you some clothes.” I was like, “Oh, that’s awesome.” And a couple shirts that I had, I was excited. And now it’s like TravisMathew is pretty much one of the only comfort brands that I wear around the house, out with my friends, pretty much the only hat I wear too. I have a bunch of TravisMathew hats. Too many.

And then, when it comes to comfort wear and athleisure, we’ve seen such a big change in kind of that relationship between guys and what they wear. I mean, not that long ago when you wear stuff, that’s your team warmups. But now you don’t have to sacrifice comfort to have some style.

I think that’s partially why I love it so much. Because it’s formal enough to wear if you need to wear it to dinner, out with some people. It’s a nice outfit. Or, if you just want to hang out with the boys and watch football, you can throw it on. I’ve worn different TravisMathew stuff into games before, I’ve worn it traveling. For me, it’s really diverse, how you can wear it, where you can wear it. And that’s part of the reason why I like it so much.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the new rules on offense. How is that affecting how you’re maybe approaching how you guard guys? Is it going to be a feel-out stage? Because you don’t want to maybe bite too quick if refs haven’t adjusted all the way yet or are still making those foul calls.

It’s a lot of trust. There’s a lot of trust in the system just that they are going to adjust it. Like they say they are. They’ve been really good about it and diligent about it in the past when they have emphasis on rules. So for me, I’m going to keep just doing what I’m doing and keep preparing, and being ready to guard some of these high profile and dynamic players in the league. But hopefully these rules will make it a little bit easier on me, because these guys are already as good as they are. They don’t need any extra help.

With so many moving parts on the Bulls, and so many guys that have come in, new face-wise, do you feel like you kind of have an advantage in knowing your role? In knowing your comfort level in that role? Because of everything that happened in LA, it was next man up every single year with new faces, new guys, and you went out there and you just were Alex the entire time you were in Los Angeles.

Yeah, that’s something that I pride myself in, is just being myself. We talked about off the court, wearing certain outfits and stuff like that. Or on the court, being myself, playing my game, it’s the same thing. Being comfortable. I think I’ve grown a lot as a player while I was in LA, learned a lot from some of the older guys and great teammates and coaches I had. And I’m really just excited to kind of keep pushing myself and see how far I can take my skill set, my game, and continue to be that great teammate and try to win games.

Did you see that meme of Jordan passing the torch to you?

Yeah, I did. That made it to the boys group chat. That’s what I think people understand is that, all this stuff that goes on Twitter, my friends send it to me before I see it on social media. They love it more than everybody else.

This interview has been edited and briefly condensed for clarity. Dime was invited on a hosted trip to Chicago by TravisMathew for reporting on this piece. You can find out more about our policy on press trips/hostings here.