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Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks have decided to nix the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before home games, according to a report by Tim Cato of The Athletic.

The decision, according to Cato, was made by Cuban, who confirmed that the Mavericks intentionally have not played the game before any of their home games this season and will not do so going forward. Further reporting from Cato indicated the decision was not announced internally ahead of time, and many Mavs staffers only found out about it by observing the song’s absence pregame themselves.

The NBA is allowing teams to manage pregame routines as they see fit this season while many games are conducted without fans and typical traditions are not observed, but as Cato reports, Cuban has long expressed criticism of the anthem and its use in sports, as well as support for players who protest during its playing.

Cato also notes that the Mavs are believed to be the first major American sports franchise to forego the playing of the American national anthem before games. Whether the NBA allows the practice continue remains to be seen, though commissioner Adam Silver did say last season that the controversy surrounding the anthem meant the league would strive for “real engagement rather than rule enforcement.”

This past Sunday, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl LV after beating the Kansas City Chiefs. The win gave Brady his seventh Super Bowl title, more than any player and any franchise in NFL history. Brady has gone all out with the honor, taking to his Instagram story on Monday with a plethora of posts about the game, each one paired with a specifically-chosen song to support it.

One of these was a picture that showed Brady holding up the Lombardi trophy as confetti fell from the sky. He posted the image to his Instagram story with 50 Cent’s “Many Men (Wish Death)” playing in the background. To the surprise of no one, the post caught the attention of the rapper himself, who decided to show love to the quarterback. The Queens native shared a picture of himself rocking five rings on his hand to Instagram with the caption, “Tom Brady has more super bowl rings than all 32 NFL Teams. I’m on the same sh*t just watch the [TV]. Green light Gang.” In another post, he shared a screenshot of Brady’s story and wrote, “The winners theme is still many men.” Another win for Tom Brady.

On Tuesday, the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump began, and the former president received some good news and bad. The good (for him): Though the Senate voted to proceed with a trial, only six Republicans were officially on-board. That leaves 44 from the GOP, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have his back and are unlikely to budge. The bad news is his two lawyers were roundly criticized for their rambling opening statements, and not only by Democrats — Republicans and, reportedly, Trump himself thought they were terrible, too.

As per CNN, Trump was “deeply unhappy” with the performance of attorney David Castor Jr., and for good reason: For one thing, he actually admitted his client lost the election. According to multiple sources, he was “almost screaming” during the opening argument, which was called out as meandering and evasive, spending minutes on end praising the chamber’s lawmakers while not addressing the charges made by Senate Democrats.

Normally reporters wouldn’t have to rely on sources to hear about what allegedly makes Trump irate. Thing is, he was permanently suspended from Twitter, as well as much of social media, over a month ago.

Trump wasn’t alone in disapproving of his legal defense. Other Republicans were cheesed as well. “The House managers were focused. They were organized. They relied upon both precedent, the Constitution and legal scholars. They made a compelling argument. President Trump’s team were disorganized. They did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand,” said Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy, according to Politico. “And when they talked about it, they kind of glided over, almost as if they were embarrassed of their arguments.” (Cassidy was one of the few in his party who voted to go ahead with the trial.)

Meanwhile Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine who’s often criticized for her weak attempts at pushbacks against Trumpism, thought at least one of his two lawyers was okay. “I thought the first attorney for the president today did not present a case, which surprised me. Did not make any arguments,” said Collins, who also voted to move forward. But she felt David Schoen, his other attorney, “did a competent job.” She added, “I’m puzzled by the presentation of the first attorney.”

Even Sean Hannity didn’t entirely approve of Castor’s speech.

There’s a good reason why Trump’s impeachment lawyers got terrible reviews, including from their employer: His previous legal team up and quit on him less than a week before the trial began, reportedly because Trump wanted them to focus on his baseless accusations of voter fraud. But for now, it appears the GOP isn’t going to let lawyers who were roundly compared to the stage-fraught public defender from My Cousin Vinny get in the way of letting him get, as one Senator put it, a “Mulligan.”

(Via CNN and Politico)

For over 130 years, the breakfast brand Aunt Jemima has been criticized for its mascot — a racist stereotype based around an enslaved “Mammy” type. And in recent years the push to very belatedly get rid of it and find a new name have been even done even more forcefully than before. Over the summer PepsiCo, who owns the line of pancake mix, syrup and other first-meal-of-the-day products announced they would finally do so. Jump to over half a year later, and it’s actually happening — or eventually, anyway.

As per USA Today, the replacement for Aunt Jemima is [drum roll] “The Pearl Milling Company.” The name refers to the original company that came up with the brand before it was given the Aunt Jemima mascot. As for Jemima, her image will be replaced with a drawing of…a building. That said, if you’re expecting to see Aunt Jemima and her likeness disappear before the end of Black History Month, think again: The changes won’t roll out until June — about a year after the decision to rebrand away from a racist caricature.

The original model for Aunt Jemima was one Nancy Clark, who was actually a slave before being freed. She became advertising’s first living trademark, and one of the first Black corporate models. Clark was originally depicted with a big smile and a bandanna in her hair — an image that was accused from its outset of leaning into racist stereotypes. It wasn’t until 1989 that the image was revamped.

Aunt Jemima was the first rebranding of racist products to happen last year; also undergoing an overhaul are Uncle Ben’s, Mrs. Butterworth, Cream of Wheat, and Eskimo Pie.

(Via USA Today)

A new report from Baton Rouge’s WBRZ, the city’s local ABC news affiliate, reveals that NBA YoungBoy is under federal investigation for his involvement in a music video shoot that resulted in the arrest of 16 individuals, including the rapper himself, on drug and weapons charges. According to Complex, YoungBoy was released the following day on $75,000 bond and he allegedly bailed out the remaining individuals who were arrested at the video shoot.

YoungBoy is a convicted felon so being charged with possession of a firearm is prohibited under state and federal law. But shortly after the arrest, in September 2020, a representative for him denied that the weapons or drugs were his and proclaimed he was “innocent of the crimes he was arrested for.” In the more than four months that have passed since the incident, the rapper has yet to be charged but Moore maintains that he and the U.S. Attorney’s office are still investigating his role in the incident.

The news comes after YoungBoy’s lawyer, James Manasseh, filed a motion to end his client’s bond supervision because no charges have been filed against him. In addition to that, a judge recently ordered that certain items that were seized during the arrest, including over $40,000 in cash and a $300,000 cashier’s check, be returned to him.

(via WRBZ)

The Lena Dunham-produced show Generation — stylized as “Genera+ion” — was the first pilot HBO Max picked up for a series order, back in late 2019. It’s taken over a year for it to be safe to shoot, but it didn’t long, once cameras started rolling, for them to run into trouble. According to Variety, last week some extras stormed off set after discovering they were expected to perform a dissection scene involving actual dead cats.

Word first spread about the allegations over Twitter on Friday. According to the allegations, the performers were told it would be dead frogs, only to be surprised with felines instead. “People had trauma responses,” the person wrote.

But that wasn’t all:

“As a cherry on top of their traumatic experience, at the wrap of day two they were informed one of the camera men tested positive for COVID,” the person wrote. “That should have been disclosed earlier, but they clearly wanted their shots of these kittens.”

Variety contacted HBO Max about the allegations, and while they didn’t directly confirm that cats were involved, they maintained that the “animal specimens” were “ethically sourced in consultation with American Humane via a biological supply company that works with schools.” They also said the extras who “expressed discomfort” received full pay.
However, after subsequent discussion with the creative team, the scene is being reconceived and will not appear in the series. We deeply regret that this occurred.”

As for the infectious crew member, the spokesperson claimed production had “learned of the test results after the day had wrapped,” contradicting the accusations.

On Tuesday, Dunahm released a statement about the incident, revealing she was not on set — she’s shooting the movie Catherine, Called Birdy in London, which she wrote and directed —but she voiced displeasure with the use of real dead animals. “I don’t use animal cadavers in any of my work, ever, and I was not on set or aware that they were used in a recently shot scene depicting a biology classroom assignment,” she wrote. “I fully support the scene being edited out of the show.”

When the show, which was created by Zelda Barnz and directed by her father Daniel, was first picked up by HBO Max, here’s how Deadline described it:

Created by Zelda Barnz and her father Daniel Barnz, who also directs, Generation is a dark yet playful half-hour following a group of high school students whose exploration of modern sexuality (devices and all) tests deeply entrenched beliefs about life, love and the nature of family in their conservative community.

Whatever happened, it appears things got a little too real.

While the internet is churning in reaction to The New York Times investigation of her legal situation, Framing Britney Spears, the pop star has so far avoided mentioning anything about the situation on her own social media feeds. Though her longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari spoke out unfavorably about her father today — who is the one that placed her in the current conservatorship situation — Britney is keeping mum.

Instead, she decided to post a throwback of her performance of “Toxic” at the New Years Rockin’ Eve party back in 2018. “Can’t believe this performance of Toxic is from 3 years ago !!!” she wrote on social media. “I’ll always love being on stage …. but I am taking the time to learn and be a normal person ….. I love simply enjoying the basics of every day life !!!! @NYRE” Since it’s now… February… it’s unclear why Britney wanted to post the throwback clip now — unless “toxic” is a clue about how she feels?

The follow-up tweet also maintains a very positive, surface-y perspective on things, but gets a little more to what could be considered the heart of the matter. “Each person has their story and their take on other people’s stories !!!!” she continued. “We all have so many different bright beautiful lives !!! Remember, no matter what we think we know about a person’s life it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens.”

Well, it’s certainly true that we don’t know much about what’s going on with the person living behind the lens. Britney, just know that we’re hoping for you to be happy, healthy, and free of all toxic energy.

A few weeks ago DaniLeigh got herself into hot water for snippets of a song called “Yellow Bone” that was met with severe backlash and accusations of colorism due to her positioning: “Yellow bone is what he want.” Artists like Chika tried to help DaniLeigh see that her comments were hurtful due to the history of colorism, but even her second attempt at an apology relied on tired tropes like her Black friends and “chocolate man,” as she was dating the rapper DaBaby at that time.

After the fallout from the song and the critical reception, this past Sunday DaniLeigh shared that she’s “officially single,” but for fans who were offended by the “Yellow Bone” controversy, letting her suffer in peace isn’t an option. Take one example of a comment captured by The Shade Room, for instance:

“So yellow bone is not what he want???” one commenter asked. To which Dani replied “Is this all y’all got say?? And for how long?? Come up with some new fr or jus get off my page.”

It seems unlikely that the song will be officially released after the reception it received, but let’s hope DaniLeigh learns from this and is able to move on quickly.

For the third consecutive year, the Oscars have revealed the shortlists for their upcoming award show. Among the leaders in the Best Original Song category, according to Billboard fans will find John Legend appears twice on the list. He joins Diane Warren as the only artists in this year’s shortlist to show up multiple times in the category. Other names that appear in the list include Mary J. Blige, Janelle Monae, and H.E.R.

Check out the full list below.

“Turntables” from All In: The Fight For Democracy
“See What You’ve Done” from Belly Of The Beast
“Wuhan Flu” from Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery Of Prodigious Bribe To American Regime For Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan
“Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga
“Never Break” from Giving Voice
“Make It Work” from Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
“Fight For You” from Judas And The Black Messiah
“Io sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)
“Rain Song” from Minari
“Show Me Your Soul” from Mr. Soul!
“Loyal Brave True” from Mulan
“Free” from The One And Only Ivan
“Speak Now” from One Night in Miami…
“Green” from Sound Of Metal
“Hear My Voice” from The Trial Of The Chicago 7

(via Billboard)

This story is currently being updated.

The movement to investigate the conservatorship Britney Spears was forced into by her father, James Spears, has been ongoing for a few years now. Initially a grassroots, fan-driven campaign called #FreeBritney, the investigation has gotten serious enough that The New York Times recently launched a documentary, Framing Britney Spears that touched on not just her conservatorship, but the misogynistic media attention she faced over the course of her career.

Since the documentary aired a few days ago, the reaction has been swift, and all the media attention has meant something to the people who are closest to Britney. One conservatorship lawyer, Lisa MacCarley, who has been advocating for Britney for a long time, launched a petition urging other lawyers to pressure the termination of the legal contract Spears is being held under. Even closer tot home, this morning her longtime boyfriend, Sam Asghari, posted to Instagram about his feelings regarding her father.

“Now it’s important for people to understand that I have zero respect for someone trying to control our relationship and constantly throwing obstacles our way,” he wrote. “In my opinion Jamie is a total dick. I won’t be going into details because I’ve always respected our privacy but at the same time I didn’t come to this country to not be able to express my opinion and freedom.”

All that was followed up with a mic drop sticker, obviously. Sam and Britney have been dating since 2016, and this is the most direct thing he’s said about her situation or their relationship to the Spears family. Clearly, the cracks in the facade are getting bigger, let’s just hope this all leads what’s best for Britney. It doesn’t seem like what’s been happening since the conservatorship began in 2008 is what’s best for her by any means.