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Nearly a year ago, J. Lo was invited to perform at a truly American event: the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show. Fast-forward a year later and the singer was awarded the opportunity to give an even more patriotic performance. J. Lo took the podium to deliver the song “America The Beautiful” at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration.

J. Lo was escorted to the podium sporting an all-white suit. The singer launched into a touching rendition of “America The Beautiful,” showcasing her octave-climbing vocals. Just before singing her last note, the singer recited the closing lines of the Pledge Of Allegiance in Spanish. “Una nación debajo de dios, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos,” she said.

Following the stunning performance, Senator Amy Klobuchar quipped that it was the first time in history that J. Lo was the opening act for Chief Justice Roberts.

Ahead of her performance, J Lo stopped to take some selfies with some military members who were dispatched to DC. “What an honor to spend a few moments with these brave men and women,” she wrote. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. I honor you today and everyday. Tomorrow I sing for you and all Americans.”

Watch J. Lo perform “America The Beautiful” at the 59th Presidential Inauguration above.

LeBron James is a professional basketball player, philanthropist, businessman, and occasional actor. He is also a poster, using Instagram and Twitter in particular to promote stuff he’s got going on (whether that be on or off the basketball court) and generally muse about the state of things — he’s particularly active on Twitter while he’s watching sporting events involving teams he likes, namely the Cleveland Browns and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

James will occasionally post about current events, like the time he (accurately, to be clear) called out Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred for the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal with a pair of sensational tweets that included the phrase “listen here baseball commissioner” and the hashtag #JustMyThoughtsComingFromASportsJunkieRegardlessMyOwnSportIPlay. But perhaps his most popular tweet came when he defended Steph Curry after the Golden State Warriors star sparred with Donald Trump, who as of this writing is not the president anymore.

The story: The Warriors beat LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals, and the team had a decision to make. They could stick with tradition and head to the White House to meet with the President of the United States — shake hands, pat backs, Trump would say something about how “John Starks, now that’s someone, he was never very nice to me, but we’ll see,” all that stuff — or they could not do that because, well, you don’t become the least-popular president Gallup’s ever tracked on accident.

The Warriors decided to not go, Curry made it public, and then after that happened, Trump said that the team wasn’t invited, anyway. That led to James crafting one of his masterpieces:

“U bum” is a terrific way to refer to anyone, let alone someone like Trump. “Bum” is a terrific insult in its own right and referring to anyone as “U” is quietly great, because the level of contempt to express that someone does not deserve enough of your time to type out “you” is funny, to me. Anyway, as it turns out, “U Bum” is not a distinction LeBron saves for people he really hates, as evidenced by a quick Twitter search. For example, did you know he once referred to Dwyane Wade this way?

Now, it is not immediately clear what either of them was referring to because this was back when quote tweets were a thing. Looking in the replies and at a calendar, though, it does appear that Wade was talking smack to LeBron over a Monday Night Football game between Wade’s Chicago Bears and LeBron’s once-favorite NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys. The Bears came out on top, 34-18, behind a big game from Brandon Marshall (seven catches for 138 yards and a touchdown) and five interceptions thrown by future CBS announcer Tony Romo.

This was not the only time “u bum” popped up in relation to football. Back in 2011, Patrick Beverley, then of Russian side Spartak St. Petersburg, asked the following:

You might be wondering why he did not Google this, which was in regards to the Sugar Bowl between Beverley’s beloved Arkansas Razorbacks and the Ohio State Buckeyes, but within minutes, LeBron was in his mentions to do a very Ohio State football fan thing: Tell someone that Ohio State won a football game.

The Buckeyes came out on top, 31-26, as Terrelle Pryor out-dueled Ryan Mallett in a battle of guys who were very good college quarterbacks.

There was only one more “u bum” in LeBron’s entire posting catalogue, and it was easily the most mysterious of the bunch. His childhood friend Frankie Walker wanted him to “send the pic.” LeBron said that no pictures have been taken. It is unclear what any of this is in reference to.

A subsequent search of LeBron’s Twitter account does not clarify what they were talking about, but we do know that a few days later, the pair played Madden and LeBron tweeted the results of games that he largely won.

There are two lessons to be taken from this post. One is that you should not play LeBron James in Madden, apparently. The other, far more important one is that future presidents should make it a point to not earn the “U bum” distinction from the Los Angeles Lakers star, because nothing good comes from that.

Lady Gaga was a huge supporter of Joe Biden during his presidential campaign, so she got to experience what was likely an immensely gratifying moment today: singing the National Anthem at his inauguration.

After being introduced, Gaga walked out escorted by a member of the Marines. Then, accompanied by the United States Marine Band, she grabbed her golden microphone and struggled to hold back a smile as she gave a powerful vocal performance.

In a pair of tweets shortly before her performance, Gaga wrote, “Singing our National Anthem for the American People is my honor. I will sing during a ceremony, a transition, a moment of change—between POTUS 45 and 46. For me, this has great meaning. My intention is to acknowledge our past, be healing for our present, and passionate for a future where we work together lovingly. I will sing to the hearts of all people who live on this land. Respectfully and kindly, Lady Gaga.”

Yesterday, she also offered an optimistic message about today, writing, “I pray tomorrow will be a day of peace for all Americans. A day for love, not hatred. A day for acceptance not fear. A day for dreaming of our future joy as a country. A dream that is non-violent, a dream that provides safety for our souls. Love, from the Capitol.”

Watch the performance above and check out the inauguration proceedings live below.

After 17 years of high-level quarterbacking in the NFL, Philip Rivers is calling it quits. The former Chargers and Colts quarterback officially announced his retirement on Wednesday morning.

In a statement to ESPN, Rivers offered up his thanks for living out his “childhood dream of playing quarterback in the NFL.”

Rivers thanked opposing NFL defenses for the competition and the banter on the field. And he thanked referees for hearing him out, then threw in a “dadgummit” to remind us of his Alabama roots.

While the Colts search for their next quarterback after having Andrew Luck and now Rivers leave in back-to-back offseasons, Rivers’ future is also the source of much speculation.

Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reported last month that Rivers was seen as the “next Tony Romo” among broadcasting executives looking for their next game analyst. That includes Fox, which needs a No. 2 behind Troy Aikman, as well as ESPN for Monday Night Football and the growing list of tech companies like Amazon that are aiming to burst into the live sports field.

In the meantime, Rivers confirmed to the San Diego Union-Tribune that he would stick with his plan to coach high school football in Alabama once he settled into retirement.

Detroit thrash rappers Insane Clown Posse are unhappy with The Atlantic for comparing their followers to Donald Trump’s in a recently-published editorial that not only compared Trumpists to ICP’s fanbase but also coined the term “Trumpalos,” combining the self-chosen name for ICP’s fans with Trump’s most hardcore supporters. Violent J, one half of Insane Clown Posse, spoke up in defense of the band and the Juggalos, texting Huffington Post his dissent to The Atlantic‘s opinion.

“I can’t believe TheAtlantic.com would hire a writer, presumably for his expertise in journalism who’s that off the mark, as well as an editor for his or her fact-checking abilities who obviously lives within a reality separate from our own when it comes to defining who Juggalos truly are and what they’re about,” he wrote. In a follow-up text, he expressed his disappointment in the characterization of the Juggalos as violent in The Atlantic, writing, “The truth is it fuckin’ hurts and [it’s] scary seeing professional adults acting like savage bullies,” and noting that ICP fans make “easy targets because they’re so misunderstood.”

He was also disappointed in “sad little bullshit like this makes me question the media in general and [lose] a little faith in just about [everything] I f*ckin read!”

The offending passage, penned by Graeme Wood and titled “What to Do With Trumpists,” called the Trump administration “the political equivalent of the Insane Clown Posse,” writing:

At noon tomorrow, our four-year experiment in being governed by the political equivalent of the Insane Clown Posse will finally end. It is ending in Juggalo style (some have called it “Trumpalo”), violently and pointlessly, with a handful of deaths, the smearing of various bodily fluids, and a riot on the way out. After any bacchanal of this magnitude, the sober dawn is almost as disorienting as the hysteria itself—and the most urgent task, after wiping the shit from the Capitol hallways, is to prevent a repeat performance.

The Juggalos’ reputation has been tainted over the years due to the FBI listing the group as a gang, with self-identified Juggalos involved in violent crimes. However, they’ve been characterized by journalists at their annual Gathering Of The Juggalos as “sometimes comically friendly.” The 2020 Gathering was canceled by the band due to the pandemic, in stark contrast to Trump’s rally tour.

Outgoing President Trump has left the building, and there’s a lot of hard work ahead for the Biden Administration. We’re all aware of the current mess, and there will be a lot of digging out to be done, but there’s apparently a fabricated controversy already brewing because some people are throwing shade on Joe Biden’s love of the Peloton bike. That’s his preferred mode of exercise (and it’s pandemic friendly to boot), as he recently revealed on his podcast as quoted by The Independent:

“I try to get out of bed by eight o’clock in the morning and I have a gym in my house upstairs. I have a treadmill and a Peloton bike and some weights. And I try to work out every morning for me. That sort of gets me going.”

This shouldn’t be controversial, right? Sure, the Peloton is pricier than, say, a Schwinn, but it hooks up to exercises classes and does all of the metrics and can easily save gym membership money over time. Also, it’s a heck of a lot safer than going to a spin class, which some people are still doing. Yes, there may be potential cybersecurity concerns, as pointed out by Popular Mechanics (because there’s a camera and mic attached to the bike), and no one wants POTUS to get hacked, but c’mon, we’re coming off a president who couldn’t bother to pick a non-obvious password for his Twitter account.

There’s something at work here that’s less of a good look. For some strange reason, Joe’s Peloton has been twisted into a faux-controversy that’s silly but, yeah, not wonderful. Witness this tweet from New York Times writer Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who tweeted a link to her article on the subject, describing the piece as “one about ‘Joe from Scranton’ and his fancy exercise bike.”

The implication in that tweet, and in the one line of the article (“But Peloton does not exactly comport with Mr. Biden’s ‘regular guy from Scranton’ political persona”) is that Biden’s working-class roots don’t jive with a “fancy” piece of exercise equipment. Stolberg references the admittedly not-good Peloton ad in a seemingly out-of-context way while possibly attempting to whip up some social-class scandal, and it’s just not flying on Twitter. People aren’t here for anyone suggesting (even in a lighthearted way) that someone from Scranton shouldn’t have a Peloton.

Yeah, this kinda feels like Obama’s “tan suit” controversy.

Meanwhile, The Verge reports that Michelle Obama may have done the “modified” Peloton thing in the White House, meaning that her bike didn’t have a camera or mic. The bike will be fine. Let Joe ride!

Donald Trump made a powerful enemy in Greta Thunberg.

The war of words between the 74-year-old failed businessman and 18-year-old climate change activist began in 2019 when Trump sarcastically tweeted, “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!” He was referencing a viral photo of Thunberg looking at Trump the way everyone should look at a politician who has done irrevocable damage to the environment.

But she got the last laugh — not that there’s anything funny about an “old man” refusing to do anything about global warming — by changing her Twitter bio to, “A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future.” Thunberg trolled Trump again while he was sharing misinformation about the 2020 election on his now-suspended account (“So ridiculous. Donald must work on his Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Donald, Chill!”) and once more on his final day as president.

“He seems like a very happy old man looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!” Thunberg tweeted. Trump must be fuming that he can’t reply on her. Despite her extremely good burn, Thunberg is otherwise looking ahead to Biden’s presidency. “This would be a great start and a crucial first step,” she wrote in reference to the new administration planning to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline.

It was earlier this month that rumors about Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde possibly dating started to fly. The situation sent the internet into a tizzy, including some Styles fans, who deemed it appropriate to start harassing Wilde on social media. Now it appears Wilde has taken action by making some changes to her Instagram account.

In her first post of 2021 (and therefore, her first post since the rumors surfaced), Wilde shared some behind-the-scenes photos from the production of Don’t Worry Darling (in which Styles stars). As BuzzFeed News notes, comments have been limited on the post, which was not the case on her account before: The new post has nine comments on it, compared to the 20,000 or so on her previous post.

Wilde hasn’t made any sort of statement for the reason behind the change, but even if it wasn’t explicitly to combat harassment from Styles fans, it should certainly help to cut back on it.

When the rumors about Styles and Wilde first surfaced, some fans condemned those who harassed Wilde, like one who wrote, “To those leaving hateful, hurtful and harmful comments on Olivia’s Instagram / Twitter please stop. There is no need to send those comments. Its 2021, please learn and grow and actually Treat People With Kindness. Thank you.”

Although West Coast rap godfather Snoop Dogg was highly critical of Donald Trump over the past four years, he had some words of praise for the former game show host turned politician as he left office. Sunday, The Daily Beast reported Snoop had quietly reached out to the administration through prison reform advocates to request a pardon for Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry O” Harris. Harris was serving a 40-year-plus sentence for drug trafficking and attempted murder. On Trump’s final day in the White House, he issued the pardon commuting Harris’s sentence and allowing the impresario to be released seven years early.

In a statement to The New York Post, Snoop commended the Trump administration for releasing Harris Tuesday, saying, “That’s great work for the president and his team on the way out. They did some great work while they was in there and they did some great work on their way out. Let them know that I love what they did.” Snoop also praised the work of activists Alice Johnson and Weldon Angelos, his contacts to the administration, who themselves had previously been pardoned by Trump.

Harry O wasn’t the only one Trump pardoned. The failed steak salesman also issued pardons to rappers Kodak Black and Lil Wayne.

Ever since 1989, it’s been tradition for an outgoing president to leave a note for the incoming president. “You have just begun a fantastic chapter in your life. Very few have had the honor of knowing the responsibility you now feel. Very few know the excitement of the moment and the challenges you will face,” George W. Bush wrote to Barack Obama, while in his letter to Bush, Bill Clinton wrote, “Today you embark on the greatest venture, with the greatest honor, that can come to an American citizen… The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible. My prayers are with you and your family. Godspeed.”

There has been nothing “traditional” about the last fours, so it was intentionally unclear whether Donald Trump would leave a note for Joe Biden, considering… y’know. But “Trump wrote @JoeBiden a note, sources tell me,” Bloomberg News White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs tweeted. “Trump never came to the Oval Office this morning, but the letter was left for the incoming president in the Oval via an aide. And: @VP Mike Pence left a note for @KamalaHarris on his desk in West Wing.”

It’s currently unclear what Trump’s note says, but people have ideas.

As for what a note from Trump looks like: