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JK Rowling’s various beefs have apparently evolved from involving “most of the pro-LGBTQ internet” to one of America’s most notable political families. The Harry Potter author reportedly returned an award to a Kennedy human rights organization as part of the fallout from her recent spate of poor press regarding activity on social media.

Deadline reported on Friday that Rowling — who has penned a number of tweets and long essays about said tweets that have generally been described as transphobic, including by Harry Potter actors and others associated with the movies and books — returned the humanitarian award the Kennedy family gave her less than a year ago. The move came after Kerry Kennedy, president of The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Organization that awarded the humanitarian honor to Rowling last December, criticized Rowling and her anti-trans rights comments in the context of the organization itself.

Kennedy had directly expressed “profound disappointment” over the ongoing saga:

I have spoken with J.K. Rowling to express my profound disappointment that she has chosen to use her remarkable gifts to create a narrative that diminishes the identity of trans and nonbinary people, undermining the validity and integrity of the entire transgender community—one that disproportionately suffers from violence, discrimination, harassment, and exclusion and, as a result, experiences high rates of suicide, suicide attempts, homelessness, and mental and bodily harm. Black trans women and trans youth in particular are targeted.

On Thurdsay, Rowling published a 600-word statement about the award on her website entitled “Statement from J.K. Rowling regarding the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award.” In it, the author denied that her thoughts are transphobic.

It’s the latest instance where Rowling has distanced herself from those who have criticized her, even after initially showing support for them or accepting their praise. Earlier in the summer, for example, she deleted praise for author Stephen King after he criticized her stance on trans rights.

(Via Deadline)

Back in March, Kendrick Lamar cryptically teased a new media company with Dave Free, PgLang. Fans were hoping the project would result in new music from the rapper, whose latest work appeared in the form of the Black Panther soundtrack. But rather than release new music, instead Kendrick continues to thwart a multitude of copyright infringement cases.

According to HipHopDX, Kendrick and his label Top Dawg Entertainment were hit with yet another copyright lawsuit this week. This time, it’s over his DAMN track “Loyalty” with Rihanna. The lawsuit was brought on by a musician named Terrance Hayes, who alleges elements of his own track, also named “Loyalty,” were heavily lifted for Kendrick’s number.

Hayes’ lawsuit claims Kendrick’s producer, Terrace Martin, had access to Hayes’ track at the time he worked on “Loyalty.” The court documents allege Kendrick and Martin “copied the entire composition, including title, melody, harmony and rhythm” of Hayes’ song, “slowed it down through a synthesizer, and combined it with another sample to disguise the copying.”

Hayes filed the copyright infringement suit seeking money and asks to be awarded all profits from Kendrick’s track, as well as “any other monetary advantage gained by the Defendants through their infringement.” He says no one reached out to him prior to DAMN‘s release to ask permission or offer him a cut of profits.

Kendrick’s “Loyalty” suit is his latest in a succession of copyright infringement lawsuits. Most recently, defunct indie group Yeasayer dropped a high-profile case against the rapper over his Black Panther track “Pray For Me,” which the band alleged had aspects taken from their 2007 song “Sunrise.” Before that, Kendrick and SZA faced a suit over the video to their song “All The Stars,” which was dismissed in December of 2018.

The NBA Playoffs got put on hold on Wednesday after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play in their Game 5 against the Magic, protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Bucks stayed in their locker room, calling Wisconsin’s attorney general and lieutenant governor to determine what action they could take — the result has been Wisconsin’s state legislature being called back into a special session to vote on a police reform bill.

In the aftermath, the remainder of the league’s teams chose to join the Bucks in protest by refusing to play their games and the NBA was forced to postpone action indefinitely. After player meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, the decision to resume play was made but players pushed ownership to do more, resulting in the formation of a social justice coalition and a pledge to turn every arena owned by the team owners to be turned into a voting center.

It’s the start of some change, and if nothing else the resulting dialogue of the last two days has been some of the best conversations around race, racism, and policing on any television networks, much less on sports TV. On Saturday, games will resume with the Wednesday slate of Bucks-Magic, Thunder-Rockets, and Lakers-Blazers, as the league announced on Friday afternoon.

The Sunday games likewise are just the Thursday schedule, pushed back, with ESPN and TNT splitting the action. The league will continue to rewrite the schedule going forward, but one can expect the same format of teams playing every other day as it had been prior to the protest stoppage.

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Bill And Ted Face The Music (VOD) — Decades in the making, the long-anticipated threequel of the greatest damn franchise ever is here. Yes, “greatest” is a subjective term (fight me, Vin Diesel), but is anyone going to argue that the reteaming of Alex Winter (as Bill S. Preston, Esq.) and Keanu Reeves (as Ted “Theodore” Logan) is an unwelcome sight in 2020? Nope. The good news (for them) is that they’re getting the hell out of 2020 to steal music from themselves in the future and save the world. And unlike The New Mutants, they’re on VOD in addition to theaters this weekend.

The Binge (Hulu film) — Vince Vaughn plays “the adult” in this movie that’s a boozy play on The Purge but without the murder. Basically, teens are allowed to get totally blitzed (alcohol, drugs, you name it) for one 24-hour stretch per year, and the endearing Skyler Gisondo (Santa Clarita Diet, Booksmart) looks like the rising star of this project.

Cobra Kai: Seasons 1 & 2 (Netflix) — Season 3 of this crowd-pleasing arrival will arrive in 2021, but you can catch up to your heart’s content on the series that started as a YouTube original. Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso faces off again with William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence and both of their respective dojo members, and the show’s still got the same energy as the original movies. Macchio promised us that “[t]he best is yet to come” for this series, and we believe him. May the franchise live on as long as possible.

Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness (HBO Max) — The star of 2014’s Meet the Patels is back to mull over deep conversations in a four-part season. Maybe some of life’s more fundamental questions shall be solved, but the journey to several different continents will fuel enough escapism that answers might not matter.

Unknown Origins (Netflix film) — This thriller follows a serial killer in Madrid, but the twist here is that people are being murdered while acting out their famous superheroes. Can a comic book store owner and a cosplay lover come together to help the city’s best detective solve the crimes? It sounds like there’s a lot of layers here.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Room 104 (Friday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The fourth season of the Duplass Brothers’ bizarre playground continues with two college students about to set off on a three-month hike while confronting friendship truths.

Lovecraft Country (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — This 1950s-set dark fantasy series blew away expectations, and this week, Leti’s transforming a ramshackle Victorian home into a boarding house. Given that this happens on Chicago’s North Side, one can expect racist reactions, which will spark dormant spirits within the structure.

Love Fraud (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — This critically acclaimed Sundance Film Festival limited series feels like the lovechild of Dirty John and Tiger King, as one prolific con-man leaves a decades-long trail of destruction.

The Vow (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — The NXIVM organization (known as the “sex cult” partially led by Allison Mack) gets a deep dive that’s now surveying the seeds of doubt among long-time members.

We Hunt Together (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — A deadly duo (a former child soldier named Baba and Freddie) finds themselves drawn together (to commit murder), and now, it looks like they’re getting away with it.

In case you missed these offerings:

Ted Lasso (Apple TV+ series) — Jason Sudeikis is reviving his small-time college football coach character (who hails back to a 2013 advertising campaign) for this show. Lasso is somehow coaching professional English soccer, and good luck to him. What’s even more important, though, is that our own Brian Grubb calls the series “almost unreasonably good,” despite the seeming odds against it.

An American Pickle (HBO Max) — Seth Rogen‘s dual roles have arrived, and the end product is both touching and hilarious to witness. Rogen plays a 1920s Jewish immigrant who falls into a vat of pickle juice and is perfectly “brined” for 100 years, so suspend your disbelief and enjoy the surprising amount of nuance here. It’s both an interesting match-up and a truly inspired Jewish version of Encino Man.

Big Sean is officially back. When he released the video for “Overtime” earlier this year, fans were excited for a new project that would finally quiet the critics and prove that Sean belongs in the upper echelons alongside peers like Drake, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar. However, the coronavirus pandemic derailed his plans, sending him back to the drawing board and forcing fans to wait even longer for the final cut. Today, though, Sean gave us a further glimpse of what the new album might bring and from the looks of things, it’ll be well worth the wait.

On “Don Life,” Sean samples the familiar top lead from Michael Jackson’s 1982 hit “Human Nature,” adds devastating drums, and lyrically goes for broke, ripping through a high-speed, punchline-packed verse promising “world domination” with his next project. In the moody, black-and-white video accompanying the motivational track, Sean raps in the rain in various locales including a parking garage, a barbershop, and a basketball court — the latter fitting for his line that asserts “you can’t afford to miss a layup when you in the playoffs.”

Despite pandemic-related setbacks, Sean’s rollout for his album Detroit 2 has picked up steam in recent weeks with the release of his Nipsey Hussle collaboration, “Deep Reverence” and now, “Don Life.” If he can keep the momentum going, another No. 1 may be within reach — but more importantly, so will recognition for his polished rap skills.

Watch the video for “Don Life” above.

Detroit 2 is due 9/4 via Def Jam. Pre-save it here.

Taylor Lifka, a 25-year-old English teacher at Roma High School in Roma, Texas, wanted to create an inclusive environment for her online classes this school year.

So she created a virtual background with posters that read: “Black Lives Matter,” “Amiga, tu lucha es mi lucha,” (Your struggle is my struggle) and “Diverse, Inclusive, Accepting, Welcoming, Safe Space for Everyone” in rainbow colors.

Before the first day of school, she asked her incoming students to put their names and preferred pronouns in the chat box on the digital chalkboard. Then, she posted a screenshot of her classroom on her social media.

Some parents complained about the inclusive posters to the principal.

“My assistant principal told me, ‘Please take the posters down.’ I guess once that happened, I knew that it might be a rocky road, but considering being put on leave? I never really thought that that was going to be their first step,” Lifka told The Texas Tribune.

via Change.org

However, the district did just that – put her on administrative leave. She was also told that some parents were not ready for her progressive views.

“If you’re not ready today, you’re not ready tomorrow, and if you’re not ready tomorrow you’re not going to be ready five years from now,” Lifka said according to Yahoo. “If I’m not going to say something now, then when am I going to say something? It’s been clear that people have a lot of things to say.”

Supporters fought back by starting a petition that received nearly 35,000 signatures.

“Please sign this petition to let the school district know that inclusivity and acceptance are not taboo ideas that deserve censorship; that high school students can and should be allowed to discuss the realities of the world instead of being sheltered inside a sanitized bubble; and that by reprimanding the teacher for trying to create a safe space for her students, the school is not being neutral, but is actively taking a stance that is antithetical to justice,” the petition read.

The situation then became part of the local culture wars when a photograph of the virtual classroom was shared on a pro-Trump Facebook page and then amplified by Marian Knowlton, a Republican running for the District 31 state House seat.

Knowlton claimed that the education system was “radicalizing” students in “leftist indoctrination.”

All this because Lifka was trying to create an inclusive environment for her students.

“Our nation is in a really divisive state right now, and so when something like this comes out that a teacher is being placed on administrative leave because of parents’ concerns over teaching tolerance in the classroom, that’s a bigger question,” she said.

On Tuesday, Lifka was reinstated by the district, but she refused to return to work until there were clearer inclusivity guidelines for teachers.

“I need support from the administration, knowing I can re-enter the classroom, that we are all on the same page knowing what I can and cannot say to my students,” she said.

Lifka hopes that, in the end, the situation will be a learning opportunity for the district.

“If I just reenter the classroom without any further discussion or action of how is this going to change in our community, then what was all this for?” Lifka said.

Call of Duty League’s inaugural season has been one to remember in some very unexpected ways. The shooter’s foray into big time eSports was abruptly cut off by the COVID-19 pandemic, ending major touring and taking the competition back online. The season rolled on remotely, though, and this weekend will see the league crown a champion with a final four matchup featuring the biggest names in Call of Duty.

The league is going big for its finale, from a custom throne constructed for the champions to a $1.5 million prize for the team that comes out on top. The Chicago Huntsman, Dallas Empire, Atlanta FaZe and London Royal Ravens have plenty to play for this weekend, but a championship ring and pair of custom Jordans certainly helps sweeten the pot, too.

For Ryan Wyatt, it’s the culmination of a career in gaming that has seen him playing, broadcasting and now bringing Call of Duty to the masses through YouTube, which partnered with Call of Duty League in its first season and will stream the Finals this weekend. Much has changed in the COD world since he first became involved, first as a player and then a caster and now with his work as head of YouTube Gaming. The eSport has come a long way since he was commentating matches via Skype in his bedroom while in college, and he has big things in store for the league and YouTube Gaming.

Wyatt talked to Uproxx about YouTube’s place in the gaming world, gave a preview of what to expect from championship weekend and when we can expect a Fall Guys eSports league.

This weekend I would say is a long time coming in a lot of ways. But this year, especially with the stoppage due to the pandemic, what’s the feeling now that we’re finally at the finish line for Call of Duty League’s first season?

Yeah, it was a pretty poetic storyline to see the old OpTic versus the new OpTic, right? In the Chicago Huntsman, that came down to the wire.

With YouTube in its first year of licensing the Call of Duty League, it’s been spectacular to say the least. I’ve been a longtime Call of Duty fan, I commentated Call of Duty eSports for about seven years, starting with Call of Duty 4. Was a part of OpTic as a member. So just to see the evolution of the league, to see the evolution of OpTic gaming and Hector, to see the Huntsman. A lot of animosity between those two organizations and to see the teams duke it out with that kind of match. You just can’t write that stuff. It was pretty incredible.

You’ve been involved with COD for a long time and seem this evolution happen. From an outsider’s perspective these sort of battles seem inevitable. As more people get involved, as the sport grows and bigger organizations invest in it and the platform gets bigger. But seeing those play out and impact the league itself, how fascinating was that for you?

Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts and emotions about it to be honest with you. Because when I started playing competitively and commentating, I was commentating matches out of my bedroom in college online. That’s where it started. So everyone was participating in these online tournaments, playing from home.

We got really lucky when MLG started supporting it with Modern Warfare 2. Picked up PlayStation as a sponsor. You see that, that’s the starting point: commentating off Skype in your bedroom, to franchising the league. People paying and writing big checks to be a part of it, these big sponsors. These big moments.

And I also have to give credit to all of the players, the league, Activision, for just rocking through COVID, right? Being able to say we have this new league, we’re going to go through these new challenges that were unforeseen and still come out on the other end with millions of people were watching over the weekend. So it’s just, to me, I’m in absolute awe. And in a lot of ways I feel we’re just getting started. I can’t give out too much info but we have a lot of exciting plans to expand it from a product perspective going into next year. Where I think fans will continue to lean into the platform more. These storylines have a way of writing themselves with these teams, so I’m very excited for this weekend. Sunday’s going to be wild.

The teams that are still here in the final were very good right away. And then when things shut down a lot of these players were quarantining together and played together a lot. It seemed to me the tenor of the league changed a bit and some teams caught up. How much do you think that impacted what we saw in the second half of the season when things went online?

I think some of the teams that have had more player changes will benefit and did benefit from playing together more online. But I think it’s kinda like a double edged sword because the downtime gives optionality to play other games or you’re playing Warzone and not necessarily focused on actual comp matches. So I think it goes both ways.

I think playing on the internet creates its own challenges, with the idea that the highest level integrity being on LAN. It’s just not something that can happen and should happen right now. So I think there’s pros and cons to it. The most established teams like this Chicago Huntsman and Dallas Empire, I think, to your point, they’re going to be fine no matter what. They’re always ready to go. But I do think some of the other teams benefited from the time.

If you can stay focused, though, and I think that if is a big thing. And when I say stay focused I mean continue to play Call of Duty at a high level. Not stray away or play other games. And I think some teams were able to do that.

I talked to some players through the season and when they were streaming, Warzone is what people want to see them play. But as you said, it’s not a mode where you build the same skills you’d need in competitions. As a former pro player it must be interesting to see the balance between a player trying to build an audience and staying sharp.

Yeah, arguably Warzone is definitely the game where if you’re a streamer day to day, Warzone is going to pull the numbers for these creators. People want to watch these players play at the highest level, which is why you see these numbers when it comes to actual tournaments themselves. But to your point, as a player, Warzone when you’re playing you’re using sometimes different guns and you’re definitely using them in a different setup and style than you’d be competitively. You’re dealing with constant changes, nerfs and buffs to guns. So it’s different. It at least helps you mechanically stay within the game and it’s not like you’re playing a different kind of shooter or genre of game. So I don’t think you lose that much of it but undoubtedly behaviorally Warzone is just so, so different from competition and I think it can throw you off a little bit.

And also just not playing with your teammates in competition. You’re squadding up with other people and you lose a little bit of that step where you come together and your callouts are there and you’re really on point. At the same time, a lot of these pro players who have a lot of experience in the league for a while or have been playing professionally for a while: it’s like riding a bike. So give them enough reps back in that environment and they can quickly transition.

As far as what we’re going to see this weekend, you have ties with Chicago. We’ve seen a lot written about them and have gotten a lot of attention. Would you say they’re the favorites or is a bit more uncertain where we’re not sure what we will see until they start playing?

It’s a really good question. Look, as a fan of the game I have my eyes on Dallas and Chicago. Chicago is such a polished team and they seem to be really hitting a rhythm. These final four teams, anything can truly happen. Even though that’s cliche, and you’re online and it does change the environment. And it can change it in a good and bad way.

Some people can be truly fueled by playing on a LAN where you have that crowd and you have that support. And organization like the Chicago Huntsman, you have fans that really show up and you can feed off that. You don’t get that same kind of dynamic when you’re playing in an online environment at all. You can get hyped up on big plays but you lose the energy of the crowd. In a lot of ways it’s fair to compare how NBA players are dealing with playing in the bubble right now where you’re losing all of that and there really is no home court advantage. It does change the dynamic of the game but some of these more tenured players will be able to deal with that.

And you look at Scump, just pulling an example. This is someone who has been playing online since he started competing in Modern Warfare 2 online. You have players that are so used to playing at a high level in an online environment that it’s actually going to benefit them. And some of these younger players, where they came in when Call of Duty eSports is so well established. They’ve played so many hours of Call of Duty online, but it’s just a different dynamic when you play at a high level. So you give an edge to Dallas and Chicago because they have some of the more established players and the tenure on that team.

I feel like London’s kind of been an underdog of sorts. Maybe it’s a geographic thing, but is that a team people are maybe sleeping on this weekend? What would people need to look for from them to make it to the Finals and win it all?

It’s a good question. From a brand perspective and that team there’s probably some truth to that as far as they’re not as recognized. And it’s fair to say in some capacity they’re playing as a bit of an underdog. But they’re a really talented team as well. You can’t dismiss them. I just think of kind of they might have the edge in playing with a chip on your shoulder, it can have some kind of benefit. If someone like a (Empire players) C6 or a Clayster sleep on them when they face them if they get past Faze. Or if Huntsman come in and they start playing slow. These guys can get an early jump on them. So I think anytime you’re in the final four they have to take these teams seriously.

So yes, they may be an underdog, particularly from a brand recognition and overall talent. but that team can throw off the final four with Huntsman being the favorite and them flipping all that upside down. And you have to imagine they’re going to go into that match with a chip on their shoulder as well. They understand the prestige and the team Huntsman is playing but they can look at that very easily as an opportunity to kind of throw them off. and that makes the final four very wild if something like that happens.

For you at YouTube Gaming, this must have been a very interesting year in how things have gone but I wanted to get to know your role better and where the platform is going and what will happen over the next few months.

Yeah, I’m responsible for our global gaming platform on YouTube. Gaming on YouTube is one of the biggest verticals that we have and there are 200 million people logged in and watching gaming content on YouTube every single day. So it makes YouTube with that size the largest gaming platform in the world. And that comes with a lot of responsibility to the publishers, to the eSports leagues, to the players and content creators. So my job is to make sure that we kind of deliver on that and continue to push forward.

There’s a lot of competition from a platform perspective, which I think is great because I truly believe all ships rise in those situations. Between Amazon’s Twitch and Facebook Gaming and Google’s YouTube Gaming we are all pushing each other forward and making sure we’re delivering on our promises. So it’s exciting, and I think what I really look forward to is making sure we continue to grow our live gamin business.

Gaming video on demand content is substantially larger than the live gaming industry. A lot of people don’t know that because I think live is much more fun to talk about than the beastly size of video on demand and uploads. So live has a little bit more enthusiasm in there and a little bit more competitive from a platform perspective. And so we have an obligation to deliver great products and content, great products to the creators and great content to the viewers. So really if I could summarize my role it’s to deliver on that.

Can you pull some strings and get me a highly competitive Fall Guys pro eSports league up and running in the next few weeks?

Oh my god, I would love that. Fall Guys is such an incredible game. I’m already calling it to be Game of the Year to be honest with you. You can quote me on that. Really fun game. And I honestly think competition takes form in a lot of different ways and I actually think you’ll see some fun creator tournaments across the platforms with Fall Guys. And I’ll be absolutely tuning in to those. I think that game is so good. So good and so funny.

As far as Call of Duty, you’ve very much been involved in the competitive world when the sphere. In a lot of ways I feel like I’m catching up, because the evolution of the community changes when the game changes. We’re kind of on the brink of that again, but it’s never happened with COD League where it is right now and Warzone as popular as it is. Is there some uncertainty with what happens next with the league and its players or do longtime players know where things will go?

It’s a really good question and I think it’s a little bit of both. If you look at Call of Duty eSports from a stock perspective, it just continues to go up. And I look at it right now I think there’s so much more to do and there’s so much where it’s going to continue to go up. Call of Duty on YouTube, just as a user generated content perspective, is massive. There’s a ton of Call of Duty fans, and I would argue there are, outside of the game itself, there are more fans on YouTube of Call of Duty than anywhere else in the world, right?

And so there’s kind of two things that’s really interesting. One, that’s seeing Call of Duty really establishing itself as a top tier eSport. Making it a league, bringing in sponsorship, bringing in viewership. Really establishing itself on YouTube. Hitting the highs. But there’s really so much more to be able to go and os much more runway for them. I’m excited to see where it goes and see how this season ends. Treyarch, traditionally, has done a fantastic job with eSports. That studio in general really gets it. They were one of the first movers to support eSports back in Black Ops 1. So you ave to think, this is great, it’s already so big. But I have to be honest with you, my expectations are for it to continue to go bigger and I think also enter more of the mainstream.

Call of Duty is a very unique thing when you look at a lot of eSports. It’s a lot more mainstream, you look at Tiger Woods talking about playing, there’s a lot of NBA players playing it like Ben Simmons, he just signs with FaZe. So Call of Duty has this potential to just break out mainstream more than any other eSports out there so it’s kind of this perfect story right now. YouTube, the biggest platform in the world, the biggest gaming platform in the world, the franchise being established. The product continuing to be improved on YouTube, the game continuing to be improved to support eSports. So you have all these things and catalysts firing at the same point that, next year’s going to be wild. Let alone the championship.

That’s the question I always wonder: is being more recognizable the biggest part of growth? Is the next step for Call of Duty League getting people who know who Ben Simmons is but not FaZe interested in eSports?

A hundred percent. I think how I look at it, too, is the older generations of people had a big stigma on video games, let alone a big stigma on eSports. So as that point of view becomes more outdated, and the numbers are very much supporting it, you have millennial audience growing up and Get Z growing up and so forth. You will have this continue to grow where it is not this niche. And particularly with Call of Duty. You could ask anyone out there in the United States and they would have heard of Call of Duty, as a game. It has a such a brand recognition. But I think what will happen now is you’ll have this better understanding of the nuances of that genre in battle royale Warzone versus eSports and competition. I see this in the numbers of just how gaming is growing on YouTube, how eSports is growing on Youtube. You’re seeing people from the NBA, MLB move into powerful executive positions at eSports organizations. So yeah, I don’t see any indication that it would go anywhere but continue to go up as far as a cultural recognition.

All I’m really hearing here is that I’m never going to get good enough at this game because more people are coming to kill me at all times.

You and me both, man. Back in the day when nobody was playing it was really easy to be good at Call of Duty. Now there’s so many people playing. When I try to get into it and play Warzone when I have time — I’ve got a newborn now so it’s few and far in between. But when I get on I’m getting my ass beat. So don’t worry about it. We’ll work on the other side of it, supporting the growth of it.

The question of when cops are justified in using deadly force is a tricky one.

Some circumstances are clear cut—if a gunman is actively firing on a crowd of people, for example, we’d all agree that a police officer shooting them would be the right thing to do. But other circumstances are much fuzzier and elicit tough questions. Should an officer shoot if just their own life is in danger? Most would agree they have a right to self-defense. But how is that determination made? What if an officer *thinks* someone has a weapon, but isn’t sure? What if a person appears threatening, but clearly is having a mental breakdown? That’s where things get gray real quick.

Most of us have never been in one of those situations and never will be. So one way those of us who don’t wear a badge can explore those gray areas is by listening to the stories of those who have.

J.J. Hensley is a former police officer as well as a former special agent with the U.S. Secret Service. If anyone knows the constant vigilance and readiness law enforcement requires, it’s him. And he shared a personal story on Twitter that exemplifies how not-so-clear-cut armed encounters can be, even with people who have weapons and are not complying with officer orders.

Hensley wrote:

“A woman ran at me with a knife once. I was responding to a domestic and she flew out the front door, huge knife in hand, & came right at me. I drew my weapon, yelled ‘police,’ told her to drop the knife. She didn’t. At some point, I’d drawn my weapon.

I don’t know why I didn’t shoot. I could have shot her. If I would have, I would been cleared. In fact, I may have been given a citation for bravery or some nonsense for what would have been a reflexive reaction to my training. But, I didn’t shoot at the first opportunity.”

“The woman veered off & ran around me, straight to her car. She jumped in behind the wheel, still holding the knife. The next thing I knew I was at the side window. I didn’t shoot. I extended my baton, broke the window, and told her to drop the knife and get out. I didn’t shoot.

She screamed and started the car. I didn’t shoot. The car moved. I didn’t shoot. A short pursuit ensued and she was taken into custody. When I asked her why she ran at me with the knife, she had no idea what I was talking about.”

“In her extreme distress, she had run out of the house, tears flooding her eyes, intending to harm herself and never saw me on the walkway in front of the house. I could have shot her. That was in the middle of the night in 1998 or 1999 and I still think about that incident.

So, why? Why didn’t I shoot her? She was certainly a threat to my life. She was potentially close enough to stab or slash me before I could stop her. I think this is why – In my heart, I didn’t WANT to shoot anyone. I didn’t go into law enforcement looking to shoot anyone.”

“In addition to the ‘us vs them’ mentality that is drilled into those who enter the profession, I think something else is happening today. I don’t think it’s the training (my current profession). I think it’s the hiring and the culture.

Until major police reform that includes national training and pay standards is addressed, we are going to continue to see a real problem in this nation. Law enforcement needs to be a true profession. Simply batting off criticism with ‘Back the Badge’ memes isn’t the answer.”

“Call it want you want: ‘Reform,’ ‘Defund,’ ‘Restructure’… it doesn’t matter. A major ideological shift has to occur or the ‘us vs them’ mantra in policing will become a reality and the ‘us’ isn’t going to be a pretty picture.”

Hensley also shared an article he wrote about police reform after the killing of George Floyd. He talks about the difference between the need for a change in training and a change of culture. He shares the speech the nation needed to hear from its president. And he concludes with, “I have spent nearly my entire adult life in and around law enforcement, and officers and agents are vocal in their complaints about their agencies and departments, yet no other profession, to include the rank and file, fights change as much as law enforcement.” That time has to come to an end.You can read it here.

Thanks you, Mr. Hensley, for sharing your expertise to help those of us who know change needs to happen—but don’t have the experience to know what that change should look like—understand the issues more clearly.

On Wednesday night and Thursday, NBA players met in multiple meetings to discuss the path forward after refusing to play games in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The meetings have been described as tense and emotional, which makes sense given this is a tense and emotional time amid continued incidents of police violence towards Black men and women.

While there were reports of frustration with the lack of planning on the part of the Bucks for launching the strike without warning, the end result was productive conversation and, ultimately, an agreement with the league and team owners to create a social justice coalition, offer PSAs throughout the playoffs, and turn every team-owned arena into a voting location. On top of that, following a call with the Wisconsin lieutenant governor and attorney general, the Bucks successfully pushed for the Wisconsin state legislature to return to session to finally vote on a police reform bill.

There’s certainly still more that must be done, but anyone indicating the NBA’s protest was done in vain or without impacting change is doing so in bad faith. On Friday, after returning to practice, NBPA president Chris Paul spoke with reporters about the past few days and why it was good for these conversations to happen, while also getting emotional about a conversation he had with Jacob Blake’s father.

“What we’re doing right now in the league is huge,” Paul said. “I think for the young guys in our league are getting a chance to see how guys are really coming together to speak and see real change, real action. Cause guys are tired, I mean tired. And when I say tired, we’re not physically tired, we’re tired of seeing the same thing over and over again. I was blessed and fortunate enough to talk to Jacob Blake’s father, and he’s a Winston-Salem State graduate and was in my hometown of Winston Salem for awhile. And it’s emotional. It’s emotional when you a Black man and when George Hill spoke he spoke about being a Black man. He was hurt. He was hurt, we’re all hurt. We’re all tired of seeing the same thing over and over again, and everybody just expects us to be OK because we get paid great money. We’re human, we have real feelings and I’m glad we were able to get in a room and talk with one another and not just cross paths and say, ‘Good luck in your game.’”

The last point he makes is one that is maybe the biggest benefit of everyone being in the Bubble in Orlando, because it’s one thing to have a Zoom call with players around the league, but it’s another for everyone to be in the same place and be able to really talk through things, have arguments, have disagreements, but do so face to face and ultimately come together on this issue.

While visiting Phoenix to cover the latest U2 album for Rolling Stone in 1987, writer Steve Pond had the chance to visit the set of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. While on set, Pond was able to interview the two young “stars” of the film, Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, who were virtually unknown at the time. With Bill & Ted not making a whole lot of waves when it hit theaters, and only later becoming a sleeper hit, the interview with the actors was never published and sat on a dusty, old tape cassette until now.

Timed to the theater and VOD release of Bill and Ted Face the Music, Pond published the unearthed interview in The Wrap, and it offers an endearing look at a young Reeves at the literal beginning of his career. While modern audiences know the actor as the blockbuster star of The Matrix and John Wick films, along with such ’90s classics as Speed and The Devil’s Advocate, Pond met a 22-year-old kid in Phoenix who wasn’t sure if he was cut out for this whole acting thing as he attempted to describe his now-iconic role of Ted “Theodore” Logan.

“He’s not the wittiest guy and not the smartest. You know, you wouldn’t want to talk about quantum theories and stuff like that. But I can’t talk about that either.”

Reeves frowned when I asked how long he had been acting. “Well… I don’t know if I’m acting now,” he said. “I’m pretty bad.” Pause. “I mean, I’m OK, but I hate acting most of the time that I do it.” The future star sidestepped whether he’d pursue another line of work. “I have other interests,” he said, “but none as all-consuming as this godawful job.”

Obviously, Reeves found his confidence and went on to spend the next 30+ years as a box-office staple, although he was being sincere about his other interests. The actor has dabbled in playing a band, motorcycle repair, and he’s in the midst of writing his first comic book — which he also wouldn’t mind turning into a movie.

(Via The Wrap)