Here’s a secret: some of your favorite TV writers are masochists, writing themselves into a box that they have no idea how to break out of. Figuring out an escape route is, one assumes, how they have their fun. And so here we are with the first Season 2 trailer for The Morning Show, which follows that Network-style truth to power (and the entire world) moment at the end of its award-winning debut season. Obviously, we’re in for a long wait to see exactly how it all comes back together (September 17, to be exact), but the trailer does offer some slight insight.
As you can see, Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) has left the show and left Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) seemingly on her own. Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) is still running things and warring with the now surely scandal-riddled network president (Tom Irwin). There’s also a blend of new characters and returning stars that prompt the most speculation.
How will Chip (Mark Duplass) and Mitch (Steve Carell) be factors following the events of last season’s finale? For the Carell character, it seems like we’re going to get a further glimpse into his attempt at a comeback from the reveal that he was an on-the-job sexual predator. What about Hasan Minhaj (who pops up briefly as what seems like a new Morning Show co-host) and Julianna Margulies? The latter seems like she might be joining the ranks of reporters drawn to the story of sexual misconduct and mismanagement on the set of the show within the show. Sidebar: isn’t it awesome seeing Aniston and Margulies, two Queens of Must See TV from Friends and ER, in what looks like a meaty showdown? Where the hell is our ER reunion, HBO Max?
Anyway, the tension is turned up to 11 in the above trailer, there’s a lot of Billy Crudup but not nearly enough, no fix for Claire and Yanko shippers, and Alex and Bradley are set to resume TV’s most compelling mentor-mentee, hater-hatee relationships. And it all comes back around September 17 on Apple TV +.
Last month, T-Pain posted a video to TikTok apologizing to all the stars he’d accidentally ghosted by not checking his Instagram DM request folder, saying he had no idea that verified accounts were also sorted into requests. It seems he knows how it feels to be metaphorically “left on read,” revealing on the 85 South Show that he’d once been on the receiving end when he reached out to Nicki Minaj to collaborate early in the Queens, New York star’s career.
T-Pain recalled that in 2007, he’d reached out to collaborate, but eventually got curved by Nicki, who was busy working on her breakout tape, Beam Me Up Scotty.”We was about to work together and she stopped responding and I was like, ‘Nick, let me know what’s going on,’” he said. “She was like, ‘Hey, I’m an artist too and I’m working on my shit so ya know. Baby, chill.’ And I was like, ‘Oh… My heart.’”
When a clip of the interview made its way onto Shade Room’s account, Nicki couldn’t help responding in the comments. “I don’t remember this AT ALL but it DEF sound like smthn I would say,” she admitted. “Omg what was I thinking? He was already a rlly big artist. I was still underground. Chileeee I used to b buggin yo. My bad babe, all love. I have nthn but respect for your talent and thank you & Kanye for clearing ‘Go Hard’ for Beam Me Up Scotty last month.”
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When Beam Me Up Scotty finally did hit DSPs last month, it marked a watershed moment for Nicki, bringing her full circle with her Young Money compatriots Lil Wayne and Drake on “Seeing Green.” Meanwhile, T-Pain used the attention from his TikTok video to debut his new single with Kehlani, “I Like Dat.”
Sable is one of the most talked-about upcoming games of this year’s Summer Game Fest and E3, and of course, it has a musical connection in Japanese Breakfast, who provides the game’s soundtrack. A new trailer for the game debuted during E3 over the weekend, and it’s soundtrack by a lovely new song called “Better The Mask.”
The game is set to launch on September 23 (on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC), and Japanese Breakfast’s soundtrack will be released on the same day. In case you missed it, Zauner performed another Sable soundtrack cut, “Glider,” at Summer Game Fest on Friday.
In a recent interview, Japanese Breakfast’s Mauner told Uproxx about her approach to creating the soundtrack, saying, “It’s a coming-of-age story, so my influences were super different for it. I was thinking a lot about Alan Menken and how he crafts this universal feeling and a song that everyone can relate to. That was actually a really lovely experience for me and took me to a very different place in my songwriting, because I feel like so much of what I do for Japanese Breakfast is rooted in specific detail. I was doing these broad strokes of human feeling, like, what’s it like to feel uncertain about the future? Or coming of age, or discovering what path do you want to pursue? Instead of filling it with all these kind of little details, you have to sort of do these broad strokes but also make it compelling. So that was really fun for me.”
She spoke more about the soundtrack during that conversation, so check it out here. Also take a look at our other recent (but more music-focused) interview with Zauner here.
It’s very rare (if at all) that I cover National *Fill In the Blank* Day. However, today is special — it’s National Bourbon Day! As a writer covering the beloved brown spirit, this is the one day I cherish because it was bourbon (bourbon from Texas, specifically) that catapulted me into the world of booze.
I’m not the only one celebrating today. George Dickel has marked the holiday by launching their newest expression from Cascade Hollow Distillery, Dickel Bourbon, which has been quietly maturing in their rickhouses for eight long years. Cascade Hollow Distilling Co.’s General Manager and Master Distiller Nicole Austin broke down how the iconic Tennessee whiskey got into bourbon over Zoom last week.
“We had other whiskeys that didn’t fit the [Tennessee whiskey] character at all,” Austin told me. “Instead, they reminded me of what you’d expect from a lovely bourbon with vanilla, stone fruit, almond, toffee, an oak presence, and a little bit of spice. Rather than blending those notes away, behind the curtain of those really big and bold Tennessee whiskey barrels, it felt natural and appropriate to give them their own bottle to shine.”
After Austin tried up to 4,000 samples across the span of several years, Dickel Bourbon was born.
Technically speaking, since all Tennessee whiskey starts off as bourbon and most of George Dickel’s portfolio meets the qualifications to be called bourbon, it makes pretty natural sense that Dickel would shift into the market by labeling one of their expressions as such. Especially as bourbon growth continues to soar.
“It’s my hope that Dickel Bourbon is the everyday pour for people who really appreciate nice whiskey,” Austin said. “That’s why it’s at that price point — because I want people to feel they can reach for this.”
I was one of the first to try Dickel Bourbon before it hits select markets today. Check out my notes below!
The makers of George Dickel, Cascade Hollow Distilling Co., have been around for 150 years. Dickel Bourbon has a mash bill of 84 percent corn, eight percent rye, and eight percent malted barley, like other expressions in the George Dickel lineup. So, in truth, this is really a story about blending. Austin selected barrels that tasted like “classic bourbon” and rather than blending those qualities out of them to fit the Dickel “Tennesse Whiskey” tasting notes, she leaned in by designing this expression.
Same mash, same Lincoln County filtration process, same Dickel stills, same barrels, same rickhouses — but by blending toward a specific flavor profile, you get distinct notes.
Tasting Notes:
The nose consists of every bit of detail I love about traditional bourbon: sweet notes of vanilla and caramel share a beautiful moment with oak. Upon the first sip, my palate is greeted with ripened dark cherry, orange peel, and rich caramel. In fact, the taste reminds me of the Goetze’s caramel chews I used to indulge in as a child, but without being overly sweet. The finish fades quickly with a “love bite” of spice at the back of the palate.
The Bottle:
The bottle is a classic Dickel bottle. The lined ridges on the body help with the grip and have a slightly old-school feel. The long neck has become one of Dickel’s signatures. The color scheme of light cream and brown helps bring a more bourbon-y vibe to the bottle as well.
Bottom Line:
Austin’s final words to me truly resonated with my overall tasting experience: “Your bar is not a museum. It’s for enjoying. Grab a bottle and enjoy it.” This is to say that this is a workhorse in a good way, I enjoyed my pour neat and in a classic Old Fashioned.
Rating:
82/100 — This bourbon serves as a great introduction to the spirit for newcomers and a solid workhorse for whiskey aficionados.
Alicia Silverstone has been famous for a long time. She made her film debut in 1993’s The Crush (for which she won the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance over the little kid in Free Willy and Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List — the MTV Movie Awards are wild) and appeared in Aerosmith’s iconic “Cryin’” music video before becoming a household for her role in 1995’s Clueless. From there, she played Batgirl in Batman & Robin, was nominated a Golden Globe (not for Batman & Robin, alas), and she’s very good on Netflix’s delightful The Baby-Sitters Club series.
I bring up Silverstone’s career highlights because although she starred in one of the greatest teen movies of all-time, it turns out that we’ve been pronouncing her name incorrectly. Not the Silverstone part, that’s hard to screw up, but “Alicia.” In a recent TikTok video, the Masters of the Universe: Revelation voice actress answered a viral prompt, “Tell me what your name is and then tell me what people mispronounce it as.”
Silverstone appears in the clip dressed in black saying, “My name is Ali-SEE-yuh… Not Alee-Sha,” she told her followers while shrugging with a smile and the caption, “Just an FYI.” She also commented under the post saying, “It doesn’t bother me though! But my sweet mama didn’t like it… so for her… get it right! Ali-SEE-yuh,” mentioning her mother Didi Silverstone.
Will I remember to correct her name pronounce correctly?
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Megan Thee Stallion complete her regeneration and Lorde show herself for the first time in a long time. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
Megan Thee Stallion got a taste of controversy with her Cardi B collaboration “WAP.” Based on her new “Thot Sh*t” video, it appears she enjoyed ticking off the more conservative-minded among us: In her first post-“period of regeneration” visual, she relentlessly goes after a senator who threw shade her way.
Doja Cat — “Need To Know”
Planet Her is nearly here and so far, Doja Cat’s fictional planet seems a lot different than Earth. That’s especially true in the extraterrestrial visual for the hard-hitting track “Need To Know.” Despite its clear quality, Doja has actually downplayed the song, saying a few days before its release that it “isn’t even the next single,” declaring it to be “just some sh*t before the next more important single comes out for you to enjoy.”
Lorde — “Solar Power”
After sharing the leggy and cheeky cover art heard ’round the world, Lorde officially made her musical return with “Solar Power.” For those who heard the track and think it sounds like a certain Primal Scream highlight, Lorde would agree. She later confirmed the song is the title track from her next album, which she described as “sexy, playful, feral, and free” and a “celebration of the natural world.”
Clairo — “Blouse”
“Solar Power” had features from Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo, and on the same day, Lorde returned the favor. As “Solar Power” was released, so to was Clairo’s “Blouse,” on which Lorde provides vocals. The single (which was produced by Jack Antonoff) is intimate, lush, and the first look at Clairo’s next album, Sling (which Antonoff also produced).
Migos — “Having Our Way” Feat. Drake
It had been three years (aka an eternity in terms of the speed of the modern music industry) since a new Migos album, but that changed last week with Culture III. The trio has impressed with tracks like the Drake-featuring “Having Our Way” and the Jay-Z favorite “Avalanche.” Elsewhere on the album, they also got features from Cardi B, Justin Bieber, Future, Juice WRLD, and Pop Smoke.
Polo G — “For The Love Of New York” Feat. Nicki Minaj
“Rapstar,” Polo G’s hit No. 1 single, is the obvious, well, star of Hall Of Fame, but it definitely not the only highlight. For example, he teams up with Nicki Minaj on the reggae-influenced “For The Love Of New York.” Minaj is far from the only star guest on Hall Of Fame, as it also features appearances from The Kid Laroi, Lil Durk, Lil Wayne, G Herbo, Rod Wave, DaBaby, Young Thug, Roddy Ricch, Pop Smoke, and Fivio Foreign.
Ava Max — “Everytime I Cry”
2020 brought the rise of a pop star with Ava Max dropping her album Heaven & Hell and now she’s back with new material. Her latest is “Everytime I Cry,” which comes across like a club-ready version of Florence And The Machine (with all due respect to Florence and her club-readiness). Max noted that this song doesn’t actually signify a new era from her just yet, as she called it a “continuation” of her Heaven & Hell album.
Saint Jhn — “Just For Me” Feat. SZA
There are a ton of stars set to appear in the new Space Jam movie and that is true of the soundtrack as well. The latest cut from the OST to drop is “Just For Me,” a joyous collaboration between Saint Jhn and SZA. It’s not the only standout from the Space Jam soundtrack thus far, as Lil Baby and Kirk Franklin came through with another in May.
A song with Ludacris, Usher, and Snoop Dogg would have been earth-shattering in the early 2000s. Here in 2021, it’s still pretty neat to see the trio guest on a new remix of Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” which gets a fun and nostalgic boost thanks to its esteemed guests.
Illuminati Hotties — “Pool Hopping”
Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin says of her band’s latest, “This track is for when it’s hot, you’re crushing on someone new, and your adventure senses are tingling.” Indeed, “Pool Hopping” a fine upbeat slice of pop-rock to ring in the summer, akin to something like a modern version of The Go-Go’s classic 1982 album Vacation.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Now that Lil Dicky has achieved critical acclaim and truly impressive ratings for his FXX comedy show Dave, one would think he’d hang up his mic to focus on all the success that switching to comedy has brought — especially since he says he hates performing. In a new interview with GQ, Dave himself explains why he not only hates touring but the very idea of concerts in general.
“Nothing gives me more anxiety than the idea of doing karaoke in front of my friends,” he says. “But also, you should know I hate concerts. I don’t like going to concerts. I don’t know why people go to concerts. I can’t relate to the activity of wanting to stand for two hours amongst other people and hear music that’s not at the quality that you’d hear when you listen with your headphones.”
However, despite feeling this anxiety, he says he’s about 75% done with a new album, which will be less comedy-focused than his older material, which he now finds “embarrassing.” “When I initially started, there was probably more of a desperation to just have something get attention, just so I could get noticed,” he says. “Which is probably not the right way to make music. Now I feel like I have more pride in the art of songwriting and making good songs.”
Of course, he’s got the show to finish, with the second season premiering this Wednesday, June 16 at 10 pm. You can catch up before then on Hulu.
Congresswoman Val Demings (a former Orlando police chief who had no difficulty lighting up a bloviating Jim Jordan) recently announced that she’d be running for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat, which is quite a turn when it initially looked like his toughest competition would be Ivanka Trump. Rubio appeared ruffled when previously quizzed on Ivanka, but he’s playing it cool — at least in a pre-recorded video — when it comes to Demings. Can he truly maintain a calm demeanor after Fox News reported that this might be the most expensive Senate race of all time? After all, Demings apparently raised $1 million in the first 24 hours after announcing her candidacy.
Let’s find out how Rubio’s feeling: the guy who tweets about terrorism in an utterly tone-deaf way is attempting to brand Demings as a radical. In the below video, Rubio claims that he’s excited about this race because “it’s going to offer the people of Florida a very clear difference.” He then went on to brand Demings as “a do-nothing House member” (who favors “Marxist” policies) while he sang his own praises: “By comparison, one nonpartisan group ranked me the most effective Republican in the entire Senate.”
Rubio then bragged about being sanctioned by China, and Rubio tweeted the video with a caption to call his opponent “a far left extremist.”
In response, well, Demings didn’t waste words on Rubio (there will be time for that later). Instead, she simply tweeted a photo of herself wearing police regalia and giving a side-eye of sorts.
Calling someone with a 27-year career in law enforcement a “far-left extremist” probably isn’t the most effective argument from a party that wants to put itself forth as with a law-and-order agenda. Demings had no difficulty in telling Jim Jordan that he “know[s] nothing” when it comes to actual police practices and how they handle civil unrest, and it looks like we should see some entertaining future debates between Demings and Rubio.
Like many mega-successful pop stars, Ed Sheeran had an interest in music and entertainment from a young ago. Now, we’ve gotten a look at one of the earliest performance videos of Sheeran: a home video of him as a 15-year-old, acting and singing in a high school production of Grease.
A video of the production, which runs for nearly two hours, is being put up for auction by Omega Auctions on June 29, and ahead of then, they shared a three-minute clip, in which Sheeran (playing the role of Roger) sings “Mooning.”
Auctioneer Paul Fairweather says, “Over the last year or so we’ve seen an exponential increase in interest for memorabilia and collectables relating to contemporary artists, especially Ed Sheeran. We sold a rare early CD title for £50,000 [about $70,000] in September of last year and since then, the enquiries and consignments have been non-stop. The footage is a great watch and we think it definitely gives a hint as to Ed’s star potential.”
Meanwhile, Sheeran still appears to enjoy getting into character: In promotional photos and clips for his upcoming single “Bad Habits,” Sheeran has gone full vampire.
Check out the Grease video above.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
After being relentlessly dragged on Sunday for telling attendees at the Young Women’s Leadership Summit that she never lied while serving as Donald Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany has responded to the mountain of social media reactions pointing out that she absolutely stretched the truth for Trump, and often.
“Haters will hate!” McEnany tweeted on Sunday evening in a very fitting and Trumpian response.
While speaking at the conservative conference sponsored by Turning Point USA on Sunday, McEnany recalled her first day as press secretary when she was asked by a reporter “Will you pledge to never lie to us from the podium?” Via Newsweek:
“And I said without hesitation, ‘No,’” McEnany described Sunday, relaying her May 2020 press conference response to the reporter. “And I never did. As a woman of faith, as a mother of baby Blake, as a person who meticulously prepared at some of the world’s hardest institutions, I never lied. I sourced my information.”
McEnany’s words earned her a round of applause from the conservative audience, but once social media caught wind of her claim, it was a whole different ball game. During her short time as Trump’s fourth press secretary, McEnany was routinely called out for spreading falsehoods. (CNN’s Jake Tapper routinely debunked McEnany’s lies.) Even Republicans got fed-up with her outlandish claims.
Following the 2020 election, McEnany has been a key player in pushing the “Big Lie” than Trump actually won, and she’s also been dabbling with QAnon conspiracy theories. In February 2020, she peddled a vile conspiracy theory that essentially accused President Joe Biden of being a pedophile. Those kind of claims don’t just go away because you’re a mom who goes to church.
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