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After things were quiet between the two rappers for several months, the beef betweern Drake and Kanye West’s seemed to flare back up over the weekend. It began with the former apparently dissing Kanye on a guest verse on Trippie Redd’s “Betrayal.” “All these fools I’m beefin’ that I barely know / Forty-five, forty-four (Burned out), let it go,” he raps. citing Kanye’s current age. “Ye ain’t changin’ sh*t for me, it’s set in stone / Rollin’ stones, heavy stones (PinkGrillz) / Precious stone, let me make my presence known.” Just a day later, Kanye posted and quickly deleted the address to Drake’s Toronto mansion, which for the record was already public information.

While we wait for the next event in the duo’s longstanding beef, Rick Ross — who has worked with both rappers on multiple occasions — chimed in with his own comments on the back and forth. When asked about the beef during a recent interview on SiriusXM Urban View’s Mike Muse Show, Ross replied, “I love it.” He then shared a portion of a conversation he recently had with Drake.

“He said, ‘Everything is unfolding. I’m about to be as free as a bird,’” Ross recalled. “And he put the caption with the owl. And I just, I couldn’t do nothing but put ‘hahahaha’ because to me, I understand the genius to both of these artists, and I understand this is nothing personal to them. This is two levels of creativity inspiring each other.”

Ross added, “Because they both are right now thinking of the artwork, thinking of the credits, where do we place, what color is this, and to me, it only makes the game that much more genius, that much more valuable.”

Ross also commented on Kanye’s social media antics. “Kanye posted Drake’s address on the Instagram, but who didn’t have Drake address already?” he said. “It’s the only 100 million dollar estate in Canada. So if you don’t understand what’s going on, you would’ve thought that was personal. It really wasn’t. That’s just them getting ready for as Drake said everything unfolding.”

You can watch Ross’ interview in the video above.

In its first 24 hours since being dropped, the maiden trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home became one of the most studied motion pictures since the Zapruder film. There were a lot of Easter Eggs and assorted teases. There were so many that not everyone caught one detail right away: a shot of Wong, Doctor Strange’s sidekick/colleague, getting the hell out of there before things get real. And no wonder: Wong is about to become one of the most overworked characters in the MCU.

In the comics, Wong is an infamously racist Asian stereotype: a man-servant usually depicted getting the Caucasian hero, who’s already co-opting Asian culture, some tea. The MCU’s Wong, played by the excellent English actor Benedict Wong, is not like that. He’s a fellow Master of the Mystic Arts, who is more experienced — and more level-headed — than the main character. He returned for Infinity War and Endgame. And he’s back, sans Benedict Cumberbatch’s Strange, in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. And then, just three months later, he’s back again for No Way Home. In other words, the guy’s gonna need a break.

Wong’s frustration is palpable in his No Way Home trailer cameo. After Tom Holland’s Peter Parker pays a visit to Doctor Strange, imploring him to help him rewrite history, we see Wong seething. “Don’t cast that spell,” he tells Strange. “It’s too dangerous.” But it’s to no avail. And as Strange prepares to unwittingly unleash the multiverse madness that will consume the rest of the movie, you can see him in the background, bags packed and in his hands, ducking into a portal hole to relieve himself of duty.

Again, this is just one of many, many details in the trailer. But once people caught it, they had nothing but empathy for the poor guy. People related to him being tired.

And disappointed that Doctor Strange wasn’t listening to his advice.

He was relatable in general.

And they were more than cool with him sitting this one out.

But maybe Doctor Strange enjoys torturing Wong, which is just mean.

Who knows how much of a role Wong will play in No Way Home. Maybe he’ll return, helping clean up his colleague’s mess. Or maybe, better yet, Benedict Wong himself will get to slip in an appearance and still collect a paycheck, on top of the ones he’ll be getting for Shang-Chi and the in-the-works Doctor Strange sequel. And you know what? Good for Benedict Wong, a fine actor who deserves all he gets.

If you missed Wong’s appearance, feel free to watch the No Way Home trailer again:

This article originally appeared on 02.22.19

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, are a conservative group who aren’t known for being vocal about sex.

But best selling author, blogger, and mother of six, Gabrielle Blair, has kicked that stereotype to the curb with a pointed thread on reducing unwanted pregnancies. And her sights are set directly at men.

She wrote a Cliff’s Notes version of her thread on her blog:

If you want to stop abortion, you need to prevent unwanted pregnancies. And men are 100% responsible for unwanted pregnancies. No for real, they are. Perhaps you are thinking: IT TAKES TWO! And yes, it does take two for _intentional_ pregnancies.

But ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. Period. Don’t believe me? Let me walk you through it. Let’s start with this: women can only get pregnant about 2 days each month. And that’s for a limited number of years.

Here’s the whole thread. It’s long, but totally worth the read.

If you want to stop abortion, you need to prevent unwanted pregnancies. And men are 100% responsible for unwanted p… https://t.co/ztGZExHbsD

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
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That makes 24 days a year a women might get pregnant. But men can _cause_ pregnancy 365 days a year. In fact, if yo… https://t.co/Ie0pll50Rc

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
1536876946.0

But what about birth control? If a woman doesn’t want to risk an unwanted pregnancy, why wouldn’t she just use birt… https://t.co/v7u0VbXQZL

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
1536876946.0

… because of the side effects. And the list of side effects was about 1/3 as long as the known side effects for wom… https://t.co/nWnHuE56kU

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
1536876947.0

But good news, Men: Even with the horrible side effects, women are still very willing to use birth control. Unfortu… https://t.co/5P8F7mjFSw

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
1536876947.0

If we’re talking about the pill, it requires consistent daily use and doesn’t leave much room for mistakes, forgetf… https://t.co/t88w88SkHV

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
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Men can keep them stocked up just in case, so they’re always prepared. Amazing! They are so much easier than birth… https://t.co/d2w41pciAi

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
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Oh. I remember. Men _don’t_ love condoms. In fact, men frequently pressure women to have sex without a condom. An… https://t.co/GAeEp6MYeF

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
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So… there are men willing to risk getting a woman pregnant — which means literally risking her life, her health, he… https://t.co/TaQ7fYQqsG

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
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So it’s not like sex with a condom is _not_ pleasurable, it’s just not _as_ pleasurable. An 8 instead of a 10. Let… https://t.co/YqixY1UgBy

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
1536876950.0

It’s mind-boggling and disturbing when you realize that’s the choice men are making. And honestly, I’m not as mad a… https://t.co/T0amaNx8FZ

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
1536876951.0

But did you further know that men CAN get a woman pregnant without HER feeling any pleasure at all? In fact, it’s t… https://t.co/Y9FWAlsbfT

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
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No matter how many orgasms she has, they won’t make her pregnant. Pregnancies can only happen when men have an orga… https://t.co/KZ9ZoV6iT2

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
1536877057.0

Let’s talk more about responsibility. Men often don’t know, and don’t ask, and don’t think to ask, if they’ve cause… https://t.co/8FQ6Tx9h34

— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom)
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Blair’s controversial tweet storm have been liked hundreds of thousands of time, with the original tweet earning nearly 200,000 likes since it was posted on Thursday, September, 13.

The reactions have earned her both praise and scorn.

Most of the scorn was from men.

But Blair wouldn’t budge.

For other men, the tweet thread was a real eye-opener.

Women everywhere applauded Blair’s bold thread.

When Salem Hospital healthcare workers are feeling stressed, the hospital’s wellness department usually recommends yoga or deep breathing. But a year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, with a new surge of hospitalizations driven by people who refuse to utilize the freely available vaccine underway, healthcare workers are beyond stressed. They’re wiped out, cried out, and burnt out—and yoga and deep breaths just aren’t cutting it anymore.

To give employees an outlet for their frustrations, Salem Hospital set up a “rage room” area where workers can take out their anger by throwing dinner plates at a wall.

A Salem Hospital nurse named Lisa told AP News that she and her colleagues had hoped this Delta wave wouldn’t hit, but it has. “And it’s harder and worse, way worse, than before,” she said. Right now they have 15 patients on ventilators and people dying in the ICU.

She said she has made ample use of the plate-smashing booth.

“We put on safety glasses, and we took plates and we shattered them. And I kept going back. I kept going back, and they told me I had enough turns.”

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That’s right. Our healthcare workers are resorting to smashing plates in a rage room because people’s refusal to get vaccinated is making work hell for them. Throwing a plate at a wall is a far better option than throwing a bedpan at a patient, and controlled acts of destruction may prevent a doctor or nurse at their wit’s end from taking out their anger and exhaustion in an unhealthy way. But seriously? This is what we’ve come to?

Get it together, America. We’re in a global freaking pandemic and we have a readily available vaccine that is very effective at keeping people out of the hospital. This really isn’t complicated.

This new wave of hospitalizations is even happening in Oregon, which has fared comparatively well in the pandemic thus far. Implementing some of the strictest mitigation measures in the nation has resulted in some of the lowest COVID rates in the nation, and vaccination rates overall there are high. But those high rates are a bit skewed by certain counties. Some Oregon counties are still barely pushing 50% fully vaccinated, and combined with low levels of immunity from previous COVID infections (the ironic downside of having managed the pandemic well so far) the Delta surge is filling up hospitals. Since Oregon and Washington tie for the lowest numbers of hospital beds per capita in the U.S., there’s not a ton of wiggle room for a wave of hospitalizations.

Things are even worse for healthcare workers in states with lower vaccination rates. Hospitals are full and they’re filling up with patients younger and healthier than in previous waves. As Charles Fox, MD, chief medical officer for Ochsner/LSU Health System of North Louisiana says, “The new risk factor is, ‘I’m not vaccinated.'”

Remember when we all rallied behind our healthcare heroes when we didn’t know how to help them? Now we know how to help them.

Remaining unvaccinated may be a “personal choice,” but it’s one that affects everyone around you. You are more likely to get COVID, which means you’re more likely to spread it and keep the pandemic raging. If you do get COVID, you’re more likely to be hospitalized, which puts a strain on hospitals and healthcare workers. And when hospitals fill up with COVID patients, that prevents people with other urgent medical care needs from getting help, so your choice impacts them, too.

We have full hospitals and healthcare heroes throwing plates at walls, folks. Give them a break and get vaccinated.

When Kanye is on a roll, there is very little anyone or anything can do to stop him, not even something silly like a birth certificate. In between tweaking his still-not-yet-released album, Donda, and reportedly rebuilding his childhood home inside Soldier Field stadium for the album’s Chicago listening event, he is also working on a legal name change. Though Kanye Omari West certainly has a nice ring to it, TMZ reports that Yeezy now wants to be officially known simply as “Ye.”

Kanye filed the documents for the name change in California, where changes are generally unanimously approved unless they seem designed to enable or commit fraud. That doesn’t seem to be the case here, so likely the transition will go through. Even though plenty of past lyrics double down on the “Mr. West” moniker, that will be a thing of Kanye’s past after this… just like his marriage to Mrs. Kardashian West. Yeah, Kim is still using her married name even though it might not be Kanye’s own legal last name very much longer. Perhaps that’s part of the motivation for the shift? Either way, get used to referring to the artist-formerly-known-as-Kanye as the even simpler Ye. Since it’s been his nickname for years it won’t be too jarring, but if he starts switching back and forth like Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Love, things could get tricky.

Nerlens Noel has had a winding journey through the NBA, once thought to be a core piece of the Philadelphia 76ers Process-era teams, he bounced from Dallas to Oklahoma City to New York, where he’s established himself as one of the NBA’s best rim protectors off the bench for the Knicks.

His departure from Dallas to OKC was, in particular, a rough patch as he had turned down a lucrative offer from the Mavs as a restricted free agent in order to sign a qualifying offer that would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent a year later. A thumb injury derailed his next season and he would end up with the Thunder on a minimum deal that seemed to serve as a cautionary tale to players against risking their future on a qualifying offer.

However, there appears to be some significant behind-the-scenes drama that went on at that time involving Noel and Rich Paul, the head of Klutch Sports, that was previously not public knowledge. On Tuesday, this came to light in a lawsuit filed in Texas by Noel against Paul and Klutch Sports seeking $58 million in lost potential earnings for Paul’s role in luring Noel away from his original agent, Happy Walters, and advising him to take the qualifying offer instead of the Mavs’ contract offer, with Noel alleging that Paul failed in his duties as a fiduciary to act in his client’s best interests.

The lawsuit can be read in full here, courtesy of Darren Heitner at Sports Agent Blog, and makes some strong allegations that Paul began ignoring calls from teams about Noel and ignored Noel in favor of Klutch’s marquee clients. In the lawsuit, Noel says he was recruited by Paul at Ben Simmons’ birthday party, telling Noel he was a “$100 million player” and that he’d get him a “max deal” if he left Walters to sign with him and took the qualifying offer rather than the 4-year, $70 million deal that the Mavs were offering — that would’ve led to the commission going to Walters, having been the one who negotiated the contract.

After Noel got injured, the lawsuit alleges Paul grew disinterested in Noel and he was never presented with any plans for free agency.

Following the 2017/2018 season, Paul began to lose interest in Noel as a client. During the free agent season which began on July l, 2018, and after NoePs one-year contract with Dallas expired, neither Paul nor anyone at Kluteh Sports presented any real proposals to Noel in terms of strategies or ideas on how Noel might secure a long-term contract or even a significant contract for the following season. Indeed, as the 2018 NBA free agent season began, no real offers or deals were presented to Noel on the first day of free agency.

Noel’s lawsuit then claims there were rumors of a 3-year deal being on the table for him in OKC (citing a Woj tweet), which never materialized and he signed another minimum with the Thunder instead. It is at this point that the lawsuit gets particularly interesting as Noel claims his former Sixers coach Brett Brown told him Paul wouldn’t take calls from the Sixers about his availability.

Noel learned from his former coach with the 76ers, Brett Brown, who was still with the 76ers, that the 76ers front office had been trying to contact Paul to discuss the possibility of signing Noel to a contract where he would return to the 76ers. However, Paul did not take and/or return any of the calls from the 76ers. Noel also learned that Paul was not returning or taking calls from other team representatives who were interested in signing Noel for their respective teams,

After again alleging that he had been told about a long-term deal being in the works that never came to fruition, it states that Noel terminated his agreement with Klutch last December because of what he said was Klutch only serving “marquee clients,” and citing two other players who had similar issues with Klutch.

Noel’s frustrations with Paul came to a tilt in December 2020 when he learned that Paul had a history of mismanaging and ignoring other clients and costing them significant money. The belief was that Paul and Klutch Sports were only focused on serving their “marquee” clients and did not have the capacity to provide competent service to other clients such as Noel, or players like Norris Cole or Shabazz Mohammad, as additional example

The lawsuit closes with the assertion that he lost out on $58 million as a result of Paul telling him to turn down the Mavs’ $70 million offer and that he acted with “gross negligence,” “malice,” and “fraud” in his roles as a fiduciary.

Paul and Klutch Sports breached their duties to Noel by instructing Noel to cease negotiations with the Dallas Mavericks; instructing Noel to accept a qualifying offer from Dallas instead of the $70 million offer that was previously made; by failing to act diligently on Noel’s behalf in that Paul did little to no work in securing contracts, pitching teams, securing new endorsement deals, or offering strategies to Noel on how to maximize his value and earnings, and by refusing to take and/or return calls from teams who were interested in signing Noel to beneficial contracts. Paul and Klutch Sports otherwise provided poor business advice and focused more on other clients to Noel ‘s detriment.

Noel has suffered harm as a result of the negligence and gross negligence of Paul and Klutch Spons as alleged in this Petition in that he lost out on roughly S58 million in potential earnings and was forced to otherwise sign qualifying offers or league minimum payment contracts well below the actual market value of his services.

It will be very interesting to see how this holds up in court, as the obvious pushback from Paul and Klutch will be to the assertion that it was their fault he lost out on all that money, as they can fairly simply cite that Noel was aware of the risks of taking the qualifying offer and that it was the injury and performance that season that dictated a soft market for the young center, not a failure as an agency. How they respond to the allegations that they refused to take or return calls will be far more important to whether this suit manages to yield the intended results for Noel, as those are the most damning assertions of the entire suit.

As an agency, they are surely in contact with teams regularly, which phone records can show, but whether either side can prove Noel’s free agency was discussed in those calls will be much more difficult to prove one way or the other — which may be at the detriment of Noel’s case more than Paul’s.

Megan Thee Stallion has been embroiled in an ongoing battle with her initial label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, and label head Carl Crawford. The label has reportedly been blocking the rapper from releasing music on her own terms, and though it looked like she was close to a new deal in the beginning of 2021, things still seem shaky for the Houston star, legally speaking.

According to a new report from TMZ, Megan is back in court today trying to get the chance to release her remix of BTS’ latest smash hit, “Butter.” According to the label, they don’t think her collaboration with the biggest K-Pop band of all time will be good for her career. Megan argues they are just trying to block her release in order to get a payoff. In her mind, a remix of “Butter” will be instrumental (heh) in expanding her international fanbase.

Last March, Megan sued the label for blocking her release of new music and was able to get an order that prevents them from controlling her release schedule. She’s now citing that previous order in her new suit, alleging that 1501 blocking the “Butter” remix is another violation. Hopefully Megan will win this one, because hearing her verse on “Butter” will make my summer.

The world lost one of the biggest figures in music over the past 60 years with the passing of Rolling Stones’ drummer Charlie Watts, 80, on Tuesday. Watts has been a part of every show The Stones have played since January 1963, although it was announced earlier this month he wouldn’t be playing with the band on its upcoming No Filter Tour.

No cause has been given for his death.

Watts was an anomaly in a band that was known for its roguish behavior. He was an elegant, quiet man who preferred to wear tailored, classic suits as opposed to the rock ‘n roll bad-boy look that typified the rest of the band.

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His playing was never flashy but it was a major reason why the Stones had such a unique swing. “Charlie’s got rock-solid time. His playing swings and his shuffles are great because of his comfort with jazz-ride patterns,” Rob Wallis of drumming video originators Hudson Music, said according to Drum Magazine.

“Without him, The Stones would be a completely different-sounding band with a very different feel,” he added.

Film Director and Stones’ aficionado Martin Scorsese highlighted Watts’ playing and presence in his 2008 concert film “Shine a Light.” For the song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” the “Goodfellas” director turned the audience’s perspective to Watts’, giving us a unique look at how he’s seen the world from the stage over the past five decades.

Charlie Watts / Jumpin’ Jack Flash

www.youtube.com

Rest in peace, Charlie.

The return of moviegoing — which is to say people paying cash money to watch motion pictures in motion picture theaters — hasn’t gone as swimmingly as Hollywood hoped. Audiences still seem reluctant to return. Part of it may be due to the pandemic, which still rages. Part of it could be due to the fact that many of these films are also debuting on streamers, sometimes as part of subscriptions. With the appearance of the Delta variant, some studios delayed some upcoming titles. One of them is Sony, who two weeks ago bumped Venom: Let There be Carnage, due in September, a mere three weeks. Now it’s possible it may get nudged quite a bit further.

A new report by Vulture finds multiple sources telling them the studio that they may be planning to delay the Tom Hardy-led comic book sequel all the way to January 21 of next year. That, mind you, is the same date as Morbius, the Jared Leto vampire-superhero opus. Venom 2 was mysteriously MIA at the Las Vegas’ ongoing CinemaCon, the annual gathering for movie theater chain execs. But, Vulture’s sources claim, may simply announce the move at the end.

“They didn’t want to flash to exhibitors that they’re scared of the early fall,” said one source. “Why would you move it three weeks? Buys you nothing.”

Sony declined to comment on Vulture’s reporting, and as of now it’s still due on October 15, having been moved from September 24. But it’s not the only movie that was recently bumped. Paramount’s Clifford the Big Red Dog was recently pulled from its September release date, while Sony sold Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, its fourth and last in the series, to Amazon.

But not all is bleak. Dune and Top Gun: Maverick are still holding fast to their fall release dates, as is the Bond film No Time to Die. Vulture does claim Marvel’s Eternals may be bumped should Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, due September 3, underperforms.

Anyway, please get vaccinated. And even if you are, wear a mask. Movies are great and we all want them back, but living is even better.

(Via Vulture)

After returning earlier this year with a heartbreaking tribute to her late mother, “Wish You Were Here,” Korean legend CL is back with a fiery new rap song. Literally dubbed “Spicy,” the new track ushers in a return to form for the early K-Pop icon, who is gearing up to release her new album, Alpha. Collaborating with producers Baauer and Sokodomo for the song, CL compared the new song to some of her earlier work like “Hello B*tches.”

“I’m very excited to start my project, ALPHA, with ‘SPICY,’” she said in a press release. “‘SPICY’ is classically CL, following ‘The Baddest Female,’ ‘Hello B*tches,’ even ‘Menboong/ MTBD.’ It’s a song that celebrates just being yourself. For me, being Korean, being Asian… I’m celebrating all that, and that attitude. Just being myself. And I’m so honored to have John Malkovich on the song talking about energy, power and chemistry!”

CL (born Lee Chae-rin) mixes rap, pop, and K-pop for a seriously inventive new sound that expresses the chaotic nature of 2021 perfectly. First breaking out at 17 as the frontwoman of K-Pop girl group 2NE1, CL has been releasing solo music since 2016, and Alpha will be her next bilingual project. Out in October, the album will be preceded by at least one more single dropping next month. For now, enjoy “Spicy” above, and if you need even more CL in the meantime, look for her appearance on Season 2 of Dave.