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Though COVID-19 cases are higher than they’ve ever been, a number of venues across the country continue to hold music events, with often maskless people crammed into tight spaces. One recent example came Saturday in Houston, when Trey Songz and Fabolous visited Club Spire for the event “The Black Affair.” According to Houston Fire Marshall’s office, not only was the club packed, it way exceeded the maximum capacity of the venue.

Fire Chief Samuel Pena said it was, on top of being a super-spreader event, a fire hazard. “If there was an emergency, a fire or something that would have occurred inside, we would have had a massive loss of life because [of] the means of entry,” he said, adding that “the exits were blocked.” According to ABC13, in addition to the club’s overcapacity, about 200 people were waiting outside the venue with the hopes of getting in.

The event occurred just days after Meek Mill and Bow Wow faced criticism for performing at a packed-out show in Houston as well. Video showed a room filled with maskless partygoers, which made the rounds on social media.

Trey Songz and Fabolous now join names like Mulatto, DaBaby, and Chase Rice as artists who have faced criticism by holding packed events during the pandemic.

You can read fans’ thoughts on their event below.

(via ABC13)

Meek Mill and Trey Songz are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Chiefs being in the AFC Championship game would typically come as no surprise, as they entered Sunday as more than a touchdown favorite against the Browns and opened up a 19-3 lead in the first half.

However, after Cleveland pulled to within five points early in the fourth quarter after Patrick Mahomes had been ruled out for the rest of the game with a concussion, things seemed very much trending in the direction of the Browns — particularly after backup Chad Henne threw a rather disastrous interception in the end zone with eight minutes to play. However, the Chiefs defense, which was terrific for much of the game, managed to get the stop the team desperately needed, and gave Chad Henne the football back with four minutes to play and the Browns having just one timeout (thanks to very questionable choices from head coach Kevin Stefanski).

Henne, who had some bright spots and the low of the interception, did what he needed to do against a Cleveland defense that was selling out against the run. Andy Reid trusted his veteran backup to throw the ball in key spots and even on a 3rd-and-14 when the world expected a draw or screen to simply chew up clock and then punt the ball. Instead, Henne was able to take off and get it to 4th and inches on a wild scramble absolutely no one saw coming, and on 4th and inches, he found Tyreek Hill on a quick out for the first down to put the game on ice.

Mahomes never returned to the field, but was watching from the locker room or wherever he had been taken after being diagnosed with a concussion, and the superstar QB’s reaction to seeing his backup will Kansas City to the AFC Championship was perfect.

Mahomes’ status for next week will be determined by how he progresses through the league’s protocol this coming week, but the final drive by the Chiefs will only bolster their belief that, even without their all-everything quarterback they can have a chance against the Bills even with Henne under center.

The Kansas City Chiefs never trailed on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, but in the fourth quarter it felt an awful lot like they were in peril after Patrick Mahomes was ruled out with a concussion and Cleveland had cut it to a 5-point game.

Longtime veteran backup Chad Henne, at 35 years old, was tasked with trying to keep the Chiefs’ title defense dreams alive. After throwing an absolute arm punt to give the Browns the ball back with eight minutes to play, the Kansas City defense got the stop they needed after a rather inexplicable set of playcalls and decisions from the Browns that took four minutes off of the clock in just seven plays before they even got near midfield. On 4th and 9, Cleveland punted and the Chiefs needed two first downs to seal the victory.

They got the first on a swing pass to Darrell Williams, taking advantage of the Browns aggressively covering their receivers and tight ends to get him into space. On a 3rd and 14 after taking a sack on the ensuing possession, Henne needed to create a miracle and almost did exactly that as he took off for 13.8 yards on the most improbable scramble of the season.

No one in the stadium or anywhere else was anticipating Henne breaking out the wheels on that play and it worked to the Chiefs advantage when he broke the pocket. On 4th and inches, Cleveland seemed to simply want to avoid jumping offsides, and with the game on the line, Andy Reid once again trusted Henne to throw the ball, working a simple out route to Tyreek Hill who got the first and then sat it down to ice the game.

It was, objectively, the right call to go for it in that situation, as it ended the game, and with the Browns so on edge for a run and not to jump offsides, it was a brilliant play choice to get Hill in space and force Cleveland to make a perfect play, which they could not. It’s a rather incredible win for the Chiefs, who will now host the Bills and Mahomes’ status is very much up in the air after he was knocked out in the third quarter and was quickly ruled out with a concussion.

For the Browns, it’s a gutting loss and they had ample opportunity to win. From the end of half fumble through the end zone (that in the end turned out to be the difference) to the horrific clock and timeout management from Kevin Stefanski in the final quarter to simply not getting it done on a drive where they should’ve had all the confidence in the world. In a game where quarterbacks were the talk of every pregame show, it was one absolutely no one mentioned before hand that came up huge and got Kansas City the win.

After the MAGA riot at the Capitol that left five dead, Donald Trump — who addressed the crowd beforehand and has been accused of inciting the incident — was suspended from Twitter and impeached a second time. QAnon believers and Trump superfans were largely responsible for the riot, and many have pointed to politicians like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley for their role in riling up the perpetrators and encouraging insurrection.

Another politician on that list is Georgia representative Majorie Taylor Greene, a QAnon-believing lawmaker who has made waves for her lunatic amplification of a nonsense theory, which asserts the claim that Trump is fighting a secret war against a cabal of child-eating, Satan-worshipping politicians and celebrities. Twitter and other social media sites have cracked down on QAnon accounts, and it appears Taylor Green’s Twitter account appears to be among them.

On Sunday, the representative announced in a wild press statement that she was suspended from the social media giant for 12 hours.

“Silicon Valley Cartel launched a multi-front attack to chill free speech in America by deplatforming President Donald Trump and purging an unknown number of conservatives,” the statement read.

According to ProPublica, the suspension comes in the wake of a now-deleted tweet where she openly called for citizens to rise up. “I encourage all Americans, not just the 75 million people who voted for President Trump, to mobilize and make your voices heard in opposition to these attacks on our liberties,” the tweet read.

Considering that kind of language encouraged Trump supporters to carry out the deadly, democracy-altering attack in Washington a fortnight back, it certainly makes sense that Twitter would be careful. But if the representative is going to send messages like that, her belief that social media companies are looking to censor her will certainly continue.

Almost a month has passed since news broke about the death of legendary rapper MF DOOM, whose passing in October wasn’t revealed until New Year’s Eve. Since then there’s been an outpouring of memoriams and celebrations, but a number of his fans are not too happy with how President-Elect Joe Biden aimed to honor him: with an inclusion on his inauguration playlist.

The issue: that DOOM, né Daniel Dumile, was barred from reentering the United States after he concluded an overseas tour, for the album Born Like This, back in 2010. Dumile was born in England and moved to New York as an infant, but he never applied for citizenship during his long stint in the United States. As a result, he spent the final decade of his life in England — which is to say, he was not allowed entry to America for much of Biden’s vice presidency. So when Biden put DOOM on his playlist, many people felt that was a thumb in the eye.

After his death, DOOM’s streaming numbers skyrocketed a whopping 870% and Madvillainy, his collaboration with producer Madlib, also reentered the Billboard albums charts, coming in at No. 73.

You can check out some of the reactions below.

The Kansas City Chiefs found themselves in a second half battle with the Browns on Sunday afternoon after a Cleveland score in the third quarter pulled them within nine points. For much of the game, the Chiefs offense had marched down the field almost at will, although they left points on the board in the form of a missed extra point and a missed field goal.

In the mid third quarter, on a third-and-1 at midfield, disaster struck for the Chiefs as Patrick Mahomes rushed the ball on an option play that saw him get hit hard and taken down with his head going into the football. As Mahomes tried to come back to his feet he was extremely wobbly and unable to stand on his own at first in a scary scene that had everyone in Kansas City extremely nervous.

It’s unclear exactly what happens as he gets tackled up high with the Browns defender’s arm around his neck and his head gets driven into the football, either of which could’ve been where the injury occurred. He was quickly taken to the locker room for a concussion evaluation and veteran backup Chad Henne took over and led Kansas City to a field goal on the remainder of the drive.

Not long after, the Chiefs announced Mahomes had indeed been ruled out with a concussion.

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine has been disastrous so far, especially in New York City, formerly one of the hotspots for the highly contagious virus. But some have been lucky. One of them is Steve Martin, who has provided much-needed humor during this difficult time (and who will be back on TV sometime soon). Upon receiving his first dose, he decided some light self-deprecation was in order.

“Good news/Bad news. Good news: I just got vaccinated! Bad news: I got it because I’m 75. Ha!” Martin tweeted. Though it’s been a bear actually getting the vaccines out to the public, he did praise the operation at the Javits Center in New York was “smooth as silk” and “hosted to perfection by the US Army and National Guard.” He added, “Thank you all, and thank you science.”

When Martin was asked how he got the vaccine, he said that it wasn’t because he’s Steve Martin. Instead, he signed up on the city government’s website then “waited IN line,” just like everyone else (or everyone else who is elligible).

He also joked about some people’s baseless fears of side effects.

According to New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s site, those New Yorkers currently eligible for the vaccination include “individuals 75 and older, first responders, public safety officers, teachers and other school staff; in-person college instructors, childcare workers, public-facing grocery store workers, transit workers and individuals living and working in homeless shelters.” If you fall under those categories, please sign up for vaccination posthaste.

(Via Deadline)

The Browns came into Arrowhead Stadium with a monumental task in front of them. How were they going to upset the No. 1 seeded Kansas City Chiefs? The Chiefs are defending Super Bowl Champs, one of the most prolific offenses in football, and extremely dangerous anytime they get the ball in their hands. To have a chance, you have to make every possession count when you have the ball.

Down 16-3 late in the second quarter, the Browns needed a score of any kind to give them some positive momentum going into halftime. Driving towards the end zone it felt like Cleveland was going to be able to get a field goal at minimum. Then, on a beautiful pitch and catch, Baker Mayfield found Rashard Higgins with room to run. He dove for the pylon and met a Chiefs defender at the goal line. Then the worst rule in football struck. The Browns fumbled the ball into the end zone and it rolled out the side. This is now considered a touchback and Chiefs ball.

This is an absolute momentum killer for the Browns. Instead of going into halftime with a score and primed to get the ball back at the start of halftime, they have to go in with nothing at all. The refs made the correct call, because that’s the way the rule is written, but it makes such little sense that the ball isn’t just placed at the 1-yard line. That’s how a fumble out of bounds is treated everywhere else on the field and it’s frustrating that changes when it comes to the end zones.

To make Browns fans even more frustrated by this play, the replay shows the Chiefs tackler, Dan Sorensen, leading with the crown of his helmet into Higgins head when he makes the hit. Had this been called on the field the refs could have reviewed it and made an unnecessary roughness call, which Gene Steratore said should’ve been called on the CBS broadcast, which would have given the Browns the ball back. Unlike in college, though, helmet-to-helmet hits are not reviewable in the NFL.

After getting the ball on the turnover, the Chiefs managed to drive down the field into field goal range and kick a field goal to up 19-3 at halftime. One play swung potentially the entire game in a disastrous way — and certainly swung a lot of money for bettors who had Cleveland +6 in the first half and lost out on the push.

Ryan Reynolds is such a decent guy that his one public beef is fictitious. (That would be his longtime fake feud with Hugh Jackman.) Last week he even took the time to give one of his fans a special gift. That person is Brody Dery, an 11-year-old with stage 3B Hodgkins Lymphoma and Crohn’s disease. Brody loves Deadpool, and he and his mother, who had to leave her job to help him after he was diagnosed last year, even watched it the night before they got a video from its star (not to mention fellow Canadian).

“I just heard a little bit about your story and I wanted to send you this video and let you know that I’m thinking about you and I’m sending you tons of love and I’m sending you strength, whatever strength I’ve got,” Reynolds tells Brody. He continued:

”

Man, you have a ton of people in your life that love you so much. I know you’ve been going through it, I know it’s been a challenge lately but you know something, Brody, you’re just the man for the job. So I’m sending you lots of love. I hope I get to meet you in person one of these days and hang in there.”

It’s a pretty nice gift, and Brody reportedly flipped when he saw Reynolds addressing him directly “He keeps saying, ‘I feel special – I feel like I’m the movie star,’ ” his mother told local news.

You can watch Reynolds’ video in the tweet above, and it should offer some respite from our wild and crazy news cycle.

(Via EW)

Like most Republicans, Lindsey Graham was once a Donald Trump skeptic, warning of the damage he may do to his party. And like most Republicans, he had one of his unpredictable changes of heart. The South Carolina senator has had the outgoing president’s back for the entirety of his administration, including the last two months, helping him push election fraud lies, even demanding Georgia’s secretary of state illegally throw out votes. So when Graham called on Democrats in the Senate to dismiss Trump’s House impeachment, so the nation can heal, his plea was not met kindly.

Trump was impeached last week, but the Senate is not scheduled to reconvene until after he’s out of office, when the Majority Leader baton will be passed from Mitch McConnell to Chuck Schumer. Graham made public a letter he sent Schumer, in which he argued that they should not follow the House’s lead.

“But now, in your first act as majority leader, rather than begin the national healing that the country so desperately yearns for, you seek vengeance and political retaliation instead,” Graham continued in his letter to Schumer. “While the vice president and Senate Republicans rejected unconstitutional actions, you seek to force upon the Senate, what would itself be but one more unconstitutional action in this disgraceful saga— the impeachment trial of a former president.”

Graham added on Twitter, “We will be delaying indefinitely, if not forever, the healing of this great Nation if we do otherwise.”

But given Graham’s antics over the last couple months, a lot of people called bull.

“A call for healing from a Senator who pushed election lies, claimed Democrats were cheating, and asked @GaSecofState ‘whether Raffensperger had the power to toss all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of nonmatching signatures,’” tweeted Jake Tapper.

Others weren’t convinced either.

Some speculated on Graham’s motives.

Perhaps someone who isn’t Lindsey Graham should be the one who calls for unity after one of American history’s most tumultuous presidencies. Or maybe someone who played a key role in creating the division of the last four years shouldn’t be the one demanding forgiveness.

(Via Politico)