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Most memes are funny for a day, and then enter the same internet graveyard as the Harlem Shake and “Philosoraptor.” But not Bernie Sanders and his mittens. The photo of the Vermont senator looking like Kim Cattrall’s replacement on Sex and the City on Inauguration Day is not only still amusing, it’s also raised a bunch of money for charity.

“Sen. Bernie Sanders has raised $1.8 million for charity through the sale of merchandise inspired by the viral photo of him and his mittens on Inauguration Day,” according to CNN (the picture was taken by taken by Agence France-Presse staff photographer Brendan Smialowski). “The Vermont senator’s team began selling sweatshirts and T-shirts featuring the photo, which inspired countless memes, on his campaign store last Thursday.” All the money from the “Chairman Sanders” merchandise, the first run of which sold out in less than 30 minutes, will be distributed to charities in Vermont.

“Jane and I were amazed by all the creativity shown by so many people over the last week, and we’re glad we can use my internet fame to help Vermonters in need,” Sanders wrote in a statement. “But even this amount of money is no substitute for action by Congress, and I will be doing everything I can in Washington to make sure working people in Vermont and across the country get the relief they need in the middle of the worst crisis we’ve faced since the Great Depression.”

As part of the licensing agreement to put the famous photo on T-shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers, Getty Images will donate its proceeds from the license to Meals on Wheels America… Burton Snowboards, which makes the coat Sanders wore on Inauguration Day, donated 50 jackets to the Burlington Department for Children and Families in the senator’s name.

The now-iconic mittens were made by Vermont school teacher Jen Ellis, who told the Washington Post that she remembers “the night [I gave him the mittens]. I was thinking to myself, ‘Is this crazy? I don’t even know this guy.’ But I wanted to make them for him, so I did.” A small act of kindness can lead to big things.

(Via CNN)

Parkland survivor David Hogg is challenging Republicans to denounce newly elected Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene after a series of incendiary videos and social media posts have recently been brought to light. A known believer and active spreader of QAnon conspiracy theories, Greene has left a digital media trail involving calls for Nancy Pelosi and FBI agents to be executed, and a video where she is seen harassing Hogg while the young activist was in Washington, D.C. and petitioning Congress to take more active measures in preventing school shootings. Greene has publicly stated that Parkland was a “false flag” operation to take away gun owner’s right and has questioned whether the event even happened. It did.

After the video of Greene harassing Hogg went viral, he stopped by CNN on Thursday morning where he recalled being accosted by the QAnon congresswoman. Following the Parkland shooting, Hogg suffers from PTSD, which made the encounter all the more jarring.

Via CNN:

“Sometimes it’s just, you know, as I was told growing up, it’s just better not to respond to bullies and just walk away,” Hogg said.

He also said he “absolutely” felt it was a threat when Greene said in the video that she carried a gun, but told himself “if they shoot me, they prove my point.”

Considering the video was just one example in a growing list of Greene’s violent rhetoric, Hogg slammed Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who have yet to denounce the QAnon congresswoman. Hogg feels she should be stripped of her committee assignments and not supported by the party if she runs for re-election.

“Republicans always act as if they’re the party of decency and respect. But would the party of decency and respect questions [about] whether or not school shootings happened?” Hogg said. “Would they harass the survivors of these shootings for having different opinions than them? I don’t think so. And if Kevin McCarthy doesn’t think so either, he needs to actually stand up and do something about this congresswoman.”

(Via CNN)

2020 was the year several of today’s biggest musicians secured major brand deals. Travis Scott raked in $20 million with his McDonald’s merch collaboration, J Balvin similarly secured a McDonald’s deal, and Lady Gaga announced she was expanding the world of her Chromatica album to include Oreo cookies. While Gaga revealed the brand deal last year, the brightly-colored treats have just now hit shelves in the US.

Announcing the news, the cookie company took to social media to offer a sneak peak of the cookie’s packaging. Each cookie is neon pink and stamped with a Chromatica symbol while the cream filling has been dyed a bright green hue. “The news you’ve all been waiting for (and we couldn’t wait to reveal)… OREO x LADY GAGA packs drop today,” they wrote.

Not only did Oreo announce the cookies are now available, but they are also giving fans a chance to win a package of cookies signed by Gaga herself. Launching a Twitter sweepstakes, fans have 24 hours to solve Gaga-related clues across the social media platform. Oreo’s first clue is: “Forget postage stamps. In the world of Chromatica, this mother gets her own OREO cookie for ruling with kindness.”

Check out a clip of Gaga previewing the cookie above.

Chromatica is out now via Interscope. Get it here.

If you haven’t caught Lupin yet, the fancy French heist show that’s taken up residence in the “Popular On Netflix” list lately, it’s time to catch up because it won’t be long before Lupin mania (and all of its glorious coat-and-suit porn) strikes again. That might seem like a hyperbolic urging, but really, the show’s that brazenly fun in a National Treasure-meets-Oceans Eleven sort of way, and we could all stand to stop thinking about real life be entertained by thievery of a priceless diamond necklace from the Lourve, especially since this all somehow revolves around vengeance, and heck, let’s just roll with it.

Netflix will continue to roll with Lupin, which also happens to be the streaming service’s first French-language original series and the first French series to reach Top 10 status. The show’s a smash hit and a surprise global phenomenon, so it makes sense that Netflix would greenlight more of Omar Sy’s heisting skills because the fans demand it. And don’t let the pandemic delays worry you on that front because, somehow, Netflix is quick-heisting another dose by Summer 2021.

That would be a fast turnaround under normal circumstances, let alone during our current global situation. It’s probably a safe bet to guess that this followup season was already in the works before the pandemic took root, but there’s no confirmation on that front. Maybe Netflix is pulling off a very successful production bubble as we speak? That’s entirely possible, since Part 2 will contain a mere five episodes, just like Part 1.

For Haim’s third studio record Women In Music Pt. III, the sister trio was able to work with longtime collaborators Rostam and Ariel Rechtshaid. But for one song in particular, Danielle Haim wanted to get a feature from the renowned artist Bono. Haim was initially uneasy about reaching out, so she found a way to calm her nerves: by drunk-texting him.

Haim and Rostam recently sat down to detail their album’s recording process with the podcast Song Exploder. Speaking about the track “Summer Girl,” Rostam recalled wanting to get the U2 singer to lay down vocals. After ad-libbing a verse during a brainstorming session, Rostam knew Bono would be the perfect edition to the track. “In my head, I was like: ‘That’s such a Bono line, I can just picture Bono… Maybe we should ask him if he would sing that section of the song?’ And Danielle was kind of like, ‘Well you know I know him. When I lost my voice in Ireland, he sent me this care package, it was the sweetest thing. He recommended a doctor.” Rostam said.

Chiming in, Danielle finished the story:

“So I have his number. Rostam’s like, ‘You gotta text Bono.’ I was like, ‘What the f*ck are you talking about? You want me to text Bono?’ I think we got super drunk and he finally convinced me, ‘Just send it!’ So, I sent Bono the song. He was so nice. He was like, ‘This is great. Let me see where I fit in.’ My mind was exploding. Finally, he texted me back and was like, ‘You know, I’m so sick. I’m so sorry. If you want a blow horn on this song — my voice is so shot. I don’t think I can come up with anything in time.’ And that was that.”

Listen to the full Song Exploder episode above.

Women In Music Pt. III is out now via Columbia. Get it here and revisit our review of the album here.

The Tiny Desk concert series has looked different over the past year, most notably in the fact that performance haven’t taken place on the classic set (save for Billie Eilish and Finneas’, sort of). Now, another major pop star has participated in the series, and this time, it’s Miley Cyrus.

Meanwhile, Cyrus just revealed that she will be performing at the TikTok Tailgate, a Super Bowl pre-game event that the NFL describes as “the NFL’s pregame event for the 7,500 vaccinated health care heroes who have been invited to attend SBLV.” Cyrus wrote of the event, “SUPER BOWL LV!!! I’ll be there for TIKTOK TAILGATE!!! I can’t wait to put on a show for the NFL’s honored guests before the game…. Health care workers from Tampa and around the country! Join the tailgate at 2:30 PM ET FEBRUARY 7 on @TikTok! #SBLV Been working my ass off on this set list! I think you’re gonna DIG IT!”

Watch Cyrus’ Tiny Desk performance above.

The last time Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo worked together, they wrote Bridesmaids, a massive hit at the box office (nearly $300 million!) that was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay. It’s been 10 years since the Wonder Woman 1984 star has been ready to partttttttty, but the pair have reunited for Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. The sunny comedy (which was originally scheduled to come out last year but was pushed back due to the pandemic) is about two best friends, Barb (Mumolo) and Star (Wiig), who leave Wisconsin for the first time ever to take a vacation in Florida, where they’re involved in a “villain’s evil plot.” Get ready for midwestern accents. Watch the Stranger Things-inspired trailer above.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Take a trip and break out of your shell with Barb and Star. From the gals who brought you Bridesmaids (co-stars and co-writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) comes Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Lifelong friends Barb and Star embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time… ever. Romance, friendship and a villain’s evil plot… Hold onto your culottes.

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, which also stars Jamie Dornan, Damon Wayans Jr., Wendi McLendon-Covey, Michael Hitchcock, and Vanessa Bayer (so get ready to load your freaking lard carcass into the mud), comes out on February 12.

Grimes has kept busy over the past few months with endeavors like a The Eric Andre Show guest appearance and dropping a new version of Miss Anthropocene earlier this month. Last night, she took some time to flex her poetic muscles, sharing some lines she wrote about the recent GameStop stock market madness.

The brief poem reads, “In the vast ocean / My tear is a drop / My dollar a single photon / Of the light of GameStop.” She also penned a poem about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, which goes:

“It’s not as popular right now
But Bitcoins also a cash cow
And even though she’s fallen some
I still grew my initial sum

I’m told that I’m on the spectrum
I catch crypto like ash ketchum

Crypto king, like Kim dot com
Get me some etherium!”

In response to the latter poem, somebody asked what Grimes has been doing lately, and she responded by indicating that she may have new music on the way soon, or at least that she’s almost done with some. She wrote, “Finishing record and making the visuals , I also broke my arm and got covid and a bunch of other stuff . Hang w x but I guess I should return to the digital realm.”

Aside from the new Miss Anthropocene release, the most recent music from Grimes is her Cyberpunk 2077 song “Delicate Weapon.”

One of the very few universal truths left in the topsy-turvy world in which we find ourselves is that, whenever a huge news story is breaking, that old Dave Chappelle bit becomes more relevant than ever. As seemingly every news and entertainment outlet scrambles to cover the story of the Redditors who semi-broke the stock exchange, one question still remained to be answered: “WHERE’S JA!?”

Fortunately, the Queens rapper heard our cries and has at last weighed in. Unsurprisingly, he’s on the side of the r/WallStreetBets brigade and has some harsh words for the proprietors of Robinhood as they pause trading on the over shorted stocks of AMC and GameStop.

“Yo this is a f*cking CRIME what @RobinhoodApp is doing,” he wrote on Twitter. “DO NOT SELL!!! HOLD THE LINE… WTF.”

There you have it. Ja Rule is one of the thousands of people buying up stock in AMC and GameStop. As the hedge fund managers who bet the house that those companies’ share prices would continue to plummet flex their muscle to save what little face they have left, the “little guys” can rest assured that noted business guru Ja Rule has their backs.

All jokes aside, Ja Rule chiming in on the surreal situation only increases the sensation that we’ve gone way beyond the looking glass. His last notable investment was decidedly… well, not great… and yet, here he is, advising a cadre of Wall Street bettors to hold their shares as they wait for hedge funds’ short-sells to come due so they can try to profit as those hedge funds take a bath. The only way this could get any weirder is if 50 Cent also got in on the side of the hedge funds — which, if you think about it, would totally be in character for him.

If this whole thing still has you baffled about what’s happening, Uproxx has an explainer here.

In a new extended clip released ahead of Friday’s Episode 4 of WandaVision, Marvel promises that “everything is about to change” as several mysteries behind the show come into focus. Taking place in the aftermath of Teyonah Parris‘ Geraldine being removed from Westview after causing Wanda to be reminded of her brother’s death during The Avengers’ battle with Ultron, the clip confirms that Geraldine is Captain Monica Rambeau who was last seen as a young girl in Captain Marvel. In the comic books, Monica is also known as the superhero Spectrum who at one point was Captain Marvel, so it’ll be interesting to see how the MCU will handle her character.

Working with Geraldine/Monica is Randall Park who makes his MCU return as Agent Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man and the Wasp. The new clip reveals that Park’s Woo is the radio voice that’s been attempting to contact Wanda inside the energy bubble that’s encasing Westview, which is shown to be a small town in New Jersey. Woo seems to be concerned with who is “doing this” to Wanda, which seems to hint that a villainous force at work.

Finally, the clip brings Kat Dennings into the fold. Reprising her role of Darcy Lewis from the Thor films, she appears to be working with SWORD — short for Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Department — but its not known whether that’s in an official capacity like Monica and Jimmy, or as a consultant. Darcy seems to be the mysterious figure from Episode 1 who’s observing the sitcom events unfolding in Westview from a monitor. More importantly, a quick glimpse of the wall of her office offers another hint that there’s something going on with Kathryn Hahn’s Agnes. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment shows that all of the Westview residents are real people with names and IDs except for Agnes, who is noticeably unidentified.

Before WandaVision even aired, fans have theorized that Agnes is actually the Marvel sorceress Agatha Harkness, who has a deep history with Wanda in the comics. This latest clue seems to be pointing in that direction, but Marvel is also not adverse to using red herrings to keep fans on their toes.