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Parenting ain’t easy, and more to the point, putting up with other parents can be even more difficult. That’s especially been the case with the Delta variant taking over, and that’s turned already contentious school board meetings into ground central for the anti-mask-and-anti-vax crowd to vent their rage. This wasn’t the exact reason for a Texas Christian woman recently making a weird speech about never putting anything in her butt, but there’s no logical reason for that happening, either, so it’s just safe to say that there’s (collectively) a whole lot of crazy going on in school-board meetings.

On MSNBC’s The 11th Hour, Brian Williams played a montage of the wildest right-wingers who’ve taken over the school-board meeting discourse lately, and hoo boy. He capped the whole mess off with the now-notorious Matt Baker, a dreadlocked California right-winger from Ocean Beach, who took over a San Diego Board of Supervisors to shout about Nazis, accuse Fauci of being pure evil, and yell about how “your children and your children’s children will be subjugated.”

It’s a wonder that Matt Baker can even calm down and sleep at night, but Williams had a zinger for him that ran along the lines of Steve Martin’s “Ah yes, I remember my first beer.” Here’s Williams’ variant: “Perhaps you remember your first edible.”

Well, people were caught off guard by the deadpan remark, which caused some Twitter double-takes and laughter emoji aplenty.

Of course, one of the funnier aspects of the remark involves Williams misstating the effects of gummies. Matt Baker probably could actually use a gummy to wind down?

Williams had to have known what he was doing here. Well played.

Lizzo recently showed love for BTS with an impromptu freestyle the other day, but now she has expressed her admiration in a more professional environment. BBC Radio 1 is in the midst of its “Live Lounge” Month, and as the latest guest, Lizzo performed a cover of BTS’ No. 1 hit “Butter.”

For her performance, Lizzo emphasized the funky elements of the song and put a delightfully engaging spin on the song.

Before the performance, she also offered praise for BTS and spoke about why she chose to cover “Butter,” saying, “I’m really a sucker for people who make positive music. I have dedicated my artistry to making positive music and BTS does just that. The word has fallen in love with them because they are so sweet and pure, and they’re good-hearted. I wanted to bring some more positivity into the world via their song. It’s a great song, too. It’s so funky. I hope we do it justice.”

Meanwhile, fans were also treated to an appearance from Sasha Flute, as Lizzo calls her instrument, as she busted it out while performing “Rumors.”

Watch clips from Lizzo’s performance above and listen to her full “Live Lounge” visit here.

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

“Go f*ck yourself.” That was Howard Stern’s message to Joe Rogan and all the other “idiots in this country” who refuse to get vaccinated.

“I heard Joe Rogan was saying, ‘What are you busting my balls [for]? I took horse de-wormer and a doctor gave it to me.’ Well, a doctor would also give you a vaccine, so why take horse-dewormer?” Stern said on his radio show. He continued, “We have no time for idiots in this country anymore. We don’t want you. We want you to all, either go the hospital, and stay home, die there with your COVID. Don’t take the cure, but don’t clog up our hospitals with your COVID when you finally get it. Stay home, don’t bother with science, it’s too late. Go f*ck yourself, we just don’t have time for you.”

Stern made those comments last week, but they’re making the rounds on social media today, causing a rift between his and Rogan’s fans. It’s an old media (radio) vs. new media (podcasts) divide — with fart jokes. “Howard Stern evolved into a compassionate adult human being who understands the responsibility of his platform. Joe Rogan still hasn’t gotten to Fartman, yet,” author John Pavlovitz tweeted, while another Twitter user wrote, “[Howard] clearly is envious of Rogan as Rogan is the hot radio guy now. Something Howard used to be. A long, long time ago.” Rogan might have the world’s most popular podcast, but most people seem to be taking the side of the guy who’s pro-getting vaccinated instead of pro-horse dewormer. As Stern put it, “f*ck their freedom.”

Meanwhile, the pro-Joe camp thinks Stern is jealous:

As for everyone who doesn’t listen to Stern or Rogan:

In what might be the most prominent recent example of successfully reaching across the aisle, all of the major TV network late night hosts put their ratings and network competitions aside to highlight the fact that climate change is about to kill us all.

On Wednesday night, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee, James Corden, and Jimmy Fallon put on a united front and dedicated their programs to the topic of climate change. But as The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “Despite the serious subject matter, this is late night—and as such, there were jokes.”

Indeed there were, and they started even earlier in the day. In a statement announcing the event, dubbed Climate Night, Kimmel flatly explained his reason for wanting to participate: “I don’t want to die.” The eco-conscious Fallon, meanwhile, asked that “In the interest of recycling, please use whatever Jimmy Kimmel said.”

Each show dedicated a portion, if not the bulk, of its program to discussing the importance of understanding climate change, and doing everything we can right now (or yesterday) to lessen the severity of its effects—unless, of course, you like the idea of regular 150° days as the new normal… in December.

Over on ABC, Kimmel reminded viewers that climate change is not a political issue, despite the most public of idiotic climate change deniers being members of the Republican party. Like the always-quotable Ted Cruz, who once moronically opined: “The problem with climate change is that there’s never been a day in the history of the world in which the climate is not changing.” He also welcomed Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a professor of political science at Texas Tech University.

On NBC, Fallon kicked the night off with a visit from Dr. Jane Goodall, while Meyers’ “A Closer Look” segment talked about Bernie Sanders and the other progressive members of Congress who are working to get a $3.5 trillion spending plan approved that would address climate infrastructure and the increasing number of devastating wildfires, floods, and other catastrophic events.

On CBS, Colbert was “proud to dedicate one entire night of my show to the climate, so I can say I wasn’t part of the problem, I was 1/365th of the solution,” while Corden pulled in a major with a visit from Bill Gates (who likely prayed ahead of time that Jeffrey Epstein’s name would not be mentioned).

On TBS, Bee promised to do her part by powering the episode with her quads:

While over on Comedy Central, Noah welcomed teen dynamo Greta Thunberg as a guest, and also highlighted some of the lesser talked about effects of climate change—like decreased sex drives leading to smaller populations:

The unified event was planned as part of Climate Week NYC, which is happening right now. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the idea of bringing all of television’s late night hosts together belongs to Steve Bodow, The Daily Show’s former showrunner, who said that, “Late-night hosts reflect our national conversation even more than Russian Twitter bots set it—so this incredible group of shows coming together makes a statement about the scale and urgency of the world’s hottest problem.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Dave Grohl has had a lot of fascinating experiences in his life, so many so that he’s chronicling them in a new memoir, The Storyteller. Unfortunately, a particularly peculiar incident isn’t going to make the book, because it just happened a couple days ago: Foo Fighters performed with a bunch of gigantic mascot characters on stage.

On September 21, San Francisco tech company Salesforce started its three-day Dreamforce conference, and Grohl and company played an 11-song set for those in attendance. All the while, the band was joined by three of the company’s mascots (as portrayed by people in gigantic costumes): Astro, Einstein, and Ruth.

During the show, Grohl both admired the characters’ enthusiasm while expressing concern for their well-being given the warm day. Between songs, he said, “I’m going to break it down, because I know you’re f*cking dying in that suit right now. Einstein, are you okay?” He late added, “Just when I thought life couldn’t get any f*cking weirder. You need to chill f*ck out, Einstein. You’re going too hard, brother.”

This performance is arguably almost as strange as the anxiety dreams Grohl recent said he has about playing concerts: “I’ve always had these live-performance anxiety dreams. They’re usually Nirvana-related. Like, Kurt’s still alive and we’re doing a show, and I’m so excited that people get to see this once again. And I walk onstage and my drumsticks are the size of telephone poles. And then the audience just kind of begins to scatter.”

Check out some footage of the concert below.

When it comes to the music industry and social media, one of the best things about this new era is how it lets fans connect with artists. Normani is definitely a pop star who uses the platform in this way, frequently engaging with her fans on Twitter and keeping up with everything that’s being said on social media. So today when fans were spitballing about who should make up the new crew for a remake of the modern “Lady Marmalade” — which featured Lil Kim, Mya, Pink and Christina Aguilera — the former Fifth Harmony star was clearly on board when her name got mentioned.

Quote tweeting a fan’s suggestion of Normani, Ariana Grande, Dua Lip and Megan Thee Stallion, all Normani could write in response was a series of exclamation points. So, it’s safe to say she’s excited at the prospect. And honestly, thinking about these other women, it seems like they’d probably be interested, too. The fan who came up with this foursome should get a production credit if this ever does happen, I’m just saying.

And Normani and Megan Thee Stallion were recently hanging out together, plus Megan has mentioned before she’d love to work with Dua Lipa. Now we just need Ariana to carve out some time during her new stint on The Voice and this is a go.

Last year, Gorillaz returned to the music scene with their seventh album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez. Now, the band’s lead vocalist Damon Albarn is stepping out on his own again for his second solo album, The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows. The project is locked in for a November 12 release date, but Albarn has already been dropping singles, including the fourth, “Royal Morning Blue.”

The track is much more upbeat than the previous new ones Albarn has released so far. In a press release, he noted that the song was created during a trip to Iceland after he gained inspiration from the wintry oceanside that surrounded him. He added that it was “directly inspired by the view from Albarn’s position at the piano looking out over the sea, [and] captures the wonder of rain turning into snow before his eyes.”

He continued, “That’s why the song opens with ‘Rain turning into snow,’ because it’s that moment, that feeling. In all the darkness that we have experienced, that was such a beautiful, positive thing.”

The release of “Royal Morning Blue” comes after Albarn shared “Polaris,” “Particles,” and “The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows.”

You can can hear the new track in the video above.

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows is out 11/12 via Transgressive Records. Pre-order it here.

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

Melvin Van Peebles was the second Black filmmaker ever hired to direct a movie by a major film studio. Called by some the “Godfather of Black Cinema,” he was also a pioneer of independent film, who broke free of the very studio system he’d infiltrated so he could do what he wanted. He wrote books, recorded albums, even staged a Tony-nominated Broadway musical. And on Wednesday, he passed on at the age of 89, having led a long, fruitful, and game-changing life on his own terms.

Like James Baldwin, Van Peebles was an African-American who went to Paris, hoping to find the success that eluded him at home. After writing a string of novels, he got the chance to turn one of them, La Permission, into his feature directorial debut. The Story of a Three-Day Pass, released in 1967, Hollywood flew him out. The story is they were expecting the next (white) French auteur. They were shocked when off the plane stepped a Black American.

Though the first major studio movie directed by an African-American was Gordon Parks’ The Learning Tree, in 1969, Van Peebles’ Watermelon Man, from 1970, was the second. A savage satire, it concerned a white bigot who awakens one day to find he’s Black. Columbia Pictures wanted him to cast a white actor, put him in Blackface, and have a happy ending, in which he magically switched back. Van Peebles insisted on putting Godfrey Cambridge in whiteface, if only for the opening stretch, and having him instead evolve into a passionate Black nationalist.

Van Peebles was quickly disillusioned with Hollywood. So he sank his own money into his next film: Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, an borderline avant-garde exploitation movie about a wrongly accused Black man, played by himself, fleeing the racist police who framed him. “Rated X by an all-white jury,” read the promos, designed by Van Peebles himself, and it became a runaway hit, in turn inspiring the Blaxploitation genre.

Soon Broadway beckoned, as well as the record industry. Throughout he gave people what he wanted to give them, not what they wanted. That often meant that his work was ignored during release, only to inspire others later. By the ‘80s, he even branched out into another industry: He became an options trader on the American Stock Exchange, all while still pursuing theater and film.

His son Mario followed in his footsteps, becoming both an actor and a director, including New Jack City and Baadasssss!, in which he played his father as he made Sweet Sweetback.

“Somebody once asked me, ‘Melvin, how’d you get to the top?’”, he once said. “It was simple. Nobody would let me in at the bottom.” His passing — mere days before the release of a lavish box set by the Criterion Collection, arriving September 28 — was met with widespread mourning by the filmmakers let in the door he helped kick down.

And by others.

The Minnesota Timberwolves fired their president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas on Wednesday, a rather stunning move given training camp is set to begin in a week.

The statement from Wolves owner Glen Taylor was succinct, to say the least, and didn’t even include the typical token compliment to the person you’re firing on their way out. That, along with the timing, seemed to indicate that this decision was precipitated by something worse than just your typical executive getting fired for poor performance. Late Wednesday night, we got far more detail into what went down and why Rosas was let go immediately from The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania, who published a detailed report about how the Wolves came to this decision.

This was the culmination of a months-long investigation into complaints about the working environment under Rosas in the front office, which showed internal dysfunction and frustration about long hours and what was felt to be a lack of input into decisions. Executive VP of basketball operations Sachin Gupta, who has now taken over on an interim basis and could be the full-time hire, not being allowed to take a job with the Rockets for more money but the same title was among the examples cited as leading to complaints about Rosas’ leadership style. There was also his handling of firing Ryan Saunders and hiring Chris Finch almost immediately without a complete search, as well as frustrations from agents about promises not kept and Rosas’ handling of player and agent relationships.

In summation, it appears to have been compounding issues that led to “dysfunction,” as The Athletic put it, but part of the reason for his immediate ouster was an affair he had been having with someone in the Timberwolves offices that came to light recently.

In recent days, the organization discovered that Rosas, who is married, had a consensual intimate relationship with a member of the organization, The Athletic has learned from multiple sources. It made several people within the organization uncomfortable, sources said. While this was not the reason for Rosas’ dismissal, it certainly impacted the timing.

CBS Minnesota had reported likewise earlier in the evening that an “inappropriate relationship” had contributed to his firing on Wednesday, and while The Athletic’s report quotes a source as saying the decision was “performance related,” it certainly seems to have accelerated the decision to let him go.

In total, Rosas’ downfall in Minnesota seems to have followed a path many executives have, where promises of a family environment are met with a reality of cold business decisions made that rub longtime members of an organization the wrong way and, when coupled with a lack of on-court success, that dysfunction builds to a place where something like an extramarital affair in the office is enough to tip the scales completely.

The Golden State Warriors, along with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, will be among the NBA teams where players are beholden to local regulations requiring the COVID-19 vaccine to go to work. While the league as a whole does not have such a policy for players, those in New York and San Francisco won’t be able to practice or play in home games if they are not vaccinated, as the NBA told teams that they were, indeed, a part of those local mandates.

In Brooklyn, Sean Marks said this week that there are a couple of Nets who, right now, wouldn’t be eligible to play because of the vaccine mandate, but expected everyone to be “allowed to participate” by the time camp starts — it wasn’t totally clear if he meant those players would be getting the vaccine or if they were trying to work something out with the city regarding the mandate. For Golden State, however, they are less confident that they will be at a full roster for camp, per a report that emerged on Wednesday night from the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Rusty Simmons.

There’s increasing concern among the Warriors about the early season availability of starting small forward Andrew Wiggins, who has declined to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to NBA sources.

Wiggins was open last year about not wanting to get the vaccine — it should be mentioned he said he wouldn’t get it “unless I’m forced to” — but with a mandate in place that would not allow him to go to practice or play in home games at the Chase Center, that decision now has a significant impact on a Warriors team that will already be starting the season with Klay Thompson out as he works back from an Achilles injury. Per Simmons, the team has gotten Wiggins to speak with doctors about the vaccine, its effectiveness, safety, and importance, but Wiggins has remained “unmoved” about getting it.

With the season rapidly approaching, Wiggins will have a decision to make. That’s also the case for the Warriors, as the already shorthanded squad will need to find a replacement for one of their top players for 41 games if he holds onto his stance. Beyond that, it’s hard to see how a player who isn’t at practices or home games could jump in for road games only, but this is a situation the Warriors and Wiggins will have to navigate should he continue to turn down the vaccine that 212 million Americans have received at least one dose of so far.