GoneTrending

SUPERHOT has always been about repetition, and the word of the day with Mind Control Delete is ‘more.’

The latest version of the time-bending FPS, SUPERHOT: Mind Control Delete, certainly offers a lot more of the mechanics and style of the franchise that quite literally screams its name out while you play. And that will come as welcome news to anyone who has enjoyed the bullet time brilliance of the first. But all things must evolve, and the path Mind Control Delete takes you down not only improves on the original but in many ways makes it feel like an altogether more complete game.

The original SUPERHOT was a test of survival in short but frantic bursts. Its simulation concept had a larger story that was weird and unsettling, but the goal was mostly surviving a single level without getting hit by fists or bullets from anonymous red humanoids. The system worked — it was addicting and finally getting through enough enemies to hear SUPER! HOT! screamed out while your gameplay is repeated at full speed was legitimately thrilling. All of that returns with Mind Control Delete, but the new features make that a more sustainable and satisfying game.

Unlike the original’s one hit kills you gameplay mechanic, though, Mind Control Delete adds new mechanics that stretch that anxiety out considerably. The levels come at you in groups now, with a partially-decrypted computer screen warning you how many more levels you must endure to finish a block of code. You start each block with a ‘core” skill like the ability to charge enemies. It sets up a game structure more about surviving a gauntlet than a single level, adding a heart meter you need to preserve while also enabling “hacks” that create new abilities and gameplay options. One hack might make throwable objects explode like grenades, for example. Others let you start each level with a random gun or katana, or restores your health as you try to complete the onslaught of levels.

If there’s a complaint to be had, the levels get repeated a number of times throughout Mind Control Delete, though you often explore new parts of them by starting in new positions, facing newer, tougher enemies and using your learned hacks to stay alive. With that repetition, though, comes new opportunities to develop strategies for survival. SUPERHOT has always been a game with replay value, and Mind Control Delete’s new additions only add chances to explore. Even the fish are valuable weapons in this one.

That a game built on repetition and promising more can still surprise you is worth the playthrough alone, even if you’re not one of the millions that can get the game for free thanks to buying the first. The “core” mechanics and “hacks” not only open up the strategic element of the game, but their random implementation gently nudge you out of your comfort zone and into new ways to string abilities together. Halfway through the game, I found myself eschewing guns altogether and challenging myself to finish entire levels with a single katana.

Some hacks inevitably won’t jive with your particular play style, and the most challenging levels often involved quite literally overcoming your own aversion to utilizing these specific cores or hacks to survive. Not all of them can be winners, of course, but the sheer variety and open-ended play possibilities in a game with a very simple premise were refreshing.

I will say I did miss the experience on the Switch given the game’s effortless integration of motion controls, and the review version I played did have a few bugs and kinks still to work out. That those seemed to fit in with the glitchy graphics of the game’s style, though, eased the trouble it caused considerably. Years later, SUPERHOT remains a brilliant and innovative first person shooter, and if Mind Control Delete is the evolution of the simulated world the game exists in, we’re (very slowly and violently) headed to an increasingly entertaining place.

Sean Evans may have just landed his dream job. No, we’re not talking about the one where he eats hot wings during an in-depth one-on-one interview with some of the most famous people in the world. We’re talking about his new gig as the host of Hot Ones: The Game Show. “I’ve always thought that the game show host was the best job in the history of entertainment,” Evans tells me over the phone while filling me in on the unlikely TV star who he drew inspiration from.

Hot Ones: The Game Show is currently deep into its first season on truTV, and while it might not seem it at first, the show is the logical progression of Hot Ones — the hit online interview show made famous by Evans and Complex. In the game show version, Evans guides contestants through a competition that sees two teams battling it out in the “Pepperdome” through three rounds of trivia while tasting some of the world’s spiciest hot sauces. Though the host may not be chopping it up one-on-one with a celebrity here, his role is essentially the same. He’s on hand to take both the contestants and the audience on a journey that makes everyone feel like this is all some big wild, wooly hang session.

This week, we talked to Evans about the struggles of operating his shows in a pandemic world, his favorite parts of hosting a proper game show, and his current list of favorite hot sauces.

What made it feel like a game show was the logical progression of the Hot Ones brand? It feels like you’ve flipped the script, you humanized celebrities in Hot Ones, and now with the game show you’re glorifying everyday people.

Yeah, it’s exactly that. It just has an inverse relationship. What was an unintended consequence but kind of the magic of Hot Ones was that it’s this perfect “What’s it like to have a beer with this person?” celebrity interview show. That’s mostly because it takes a celebrity — which is, as a lifestyle, this unattainable and aspirational thing — and knocks them off of their pedestal to a level that we all understand, which is dying on hot sauce.

What we do with the game show is the complete inverse of that, which is exalting contestants with hot sauce, taking fans of the show and making them heroes in the Pepperdome, and hopefully winning them $25,000 and a milkshake.

Do you have any game show host idols that you took inspiration from?

I’ve always thought that the game show host was the best job in the history of entertainment because no one who has them ever leaves. Bob Barker was at The Price is Right forever, Drew Carey will be there forever, Alex Trebek at Jeopardy forever! But the guy that I think is the most underrated was Ben Bailey from Cash Cab. His style of taking the bootleg approach to doing game shows, and then being so funny, and then making a show that’s really smart, he did that perfectly. If Hot Ones the interview show started as a game show, it would be totally like Cash Cab.

Ben Bailey is someone who is special.

How are both shows adapting to COVID-19.? You’re working with something that causes people to cough and breath heavily on each other, how is that working as a remote operation?

Hot Ones as a studio show is not very social-distancing friendly because everyone is eating food and spitting at each other from across the table. The interview show has been affected heavily, we’ve started season 12 by shooting episodes remotely, and that’s offering a unique experience because we’re sending these sauces in the mail and celebrities are over saucing their wings. So it’s already a hot lineup but now it’s super hot in the at-home edition. All those little production things that I took for granted that are now on my plate, whether its sound or lighting or framing or taking this footage and uploading it to DropBox and Airdropping it. All the days that have been ruined trying to do that.

But for the game show, we were really lucky because we mass shot a ton of episodes in December. We did the whole year’s worth when we could still pack the Pepperdome, and that’s what’s happening with the episodes that are coming out now. We have a fully packed Pepperdome.

We were very lucky to have banked all of that before this whole thing went down, but it definitely affected the interview show quite a bit, it’s been a pain to try and do all of that stuff from my living room but for the game show, we lucked out on the timing and lucked out by shooting so many episodes.

Aside from the technical aspects of doing Hot Ones remote, how does it affect the dynamic of the interview?

Nothing will ever replace the face to face, at least for my style. Our show on paper is so stupid: “We’re going to interview you but you have to eat increasingly spicy chicken wings that turn into dorm room-like prank sauces.” On paper, it’s such a tough sell but we win people over in person a lot because everyone who works on the show is awesome, there are ways we win you over on sight.

Even during the course of the interview, if people thought on the surface level it was a goofy show, by the third or the fourth wing their shoulders are relaxed and they’re into it and there is this connection that is made and you can’t replace that over the internet, it’s impossible.

The thing that I’m missing the most in doing this is that face to face connection that really shines through on Hot Ones and makes those episodes so special. It can’t be replaced and no one wants to get back into the studio more than me for that exact reason.

But the flip side of that is that in these times you could shut down production and just not do anything and wait until things get back on track, but when you do that you alienate your audience. People need a sense of normalcy, even if they’re only escaping it in a YouTube video that comes out every Thursday. For us, it’s important to deliver that Thursday episode because, for the people who really want and need that right now, they want and need it more than they ever have. I think that right now it’s our duty to serve those people that need that Hot Ones fix and that escape because its such a bleak and depressing time. I think that we have an obligation and a duty to do our best and make the show and give people a sense of normalcy.

It goes both ways, I don’t love shooting stuff in the house, it loses something, but at the same time, you get to kind of get to go into people’s homes now, which is interesting. In the Eric Andre episode we just shot he’s walking around his house, he has a framed picture of a baby GG Allin hugging the Pope, all these little things you wouldn’t normally see you’re able to experience now that you’re in people’s homes. And again, they’re over saucing the wings, they’re dumping sauce on them on sight, so the whole thing has a gonzo quality to it and gives people a different perspective.

There are pluses and minuses but not being about to have that in-person connection is something I really miss.

You’ve seen wings as an equalizer — You’ve sat with huge celebrities eating them, and you’ve spent time with everyday people eating them, what makes chicken wings the right food to theme two shows around?

Hot wings are just such a universal thing. If we ever did the show with tacos or chips I don’t think it would work. Wings are just a thing everyone knows and understands. It’s also just a funny food, so that’s what really makes it work. My role doesn’t change from show to show. In the interview show it becomes a buddy cop movie by the end because we are both on this spicy chicken wing journey together, and then on the game show, it’s very different, but I’m still there for the team. I’m there in spirit, to help them through it. I talk to the teams before we get out there because it is an extreme show. On the interview show, we inch up the hotness wing after wing, turning that knob just a little bit more over this marathon career-spanning interview, but with the game show, it all comes so fast. The first wing is brutal and it only goes up from there. It’s ultimately a painful endeavor but I hope that anyone who goes through it, whether it’s a celebrity on the interview show or a fan on the game show, feels supported while they go through it. There is someone there for them, everyone in the Pepperdome and everyone on set is rooting for them.

The best moment in every Hot Ones episode happens near the end of the lineup when your guest is just completely out of themselves with their guard down. Which reaction has surprised you the most?

It all kind of blends into this spicy fever dream but what I’ve found is that everything is hard to predict. We would always bet beforehand about how someone will do, who we think will pass — they’ll do this, they’ll do that — but you cannot predict it. When Halle Berry came onto the show, she walked in and we didn’t know how she’d take to it. She said “I’m here for lunch, I’m cleaning it all, I don’t care. I’m not going to drink any water or milk.” Who would’ve thought Halle Berry would come in and say that?

Jim Gaffigan looked like a wing eating guy, he has all this material about food, but he tapped out and we thought that he’d for sure finish. You can’t ever predict it — so in a weird way, I’m surprised by everyone. If I try to predict beforehand, I’m wrong every single time.

What’s one of your favorite things about being a game show host over being and interviewer? It has to be not having to eat insanely hot wings, right?

Yeah, well, that’s one thing that’s great! But the thing that is the most rewarding about the game show is that when we do the interview show it’s very intimate, there aren’t many people in the room, it’s in this dark 80s cable access budget set. If its done right Stone Cold Steve Austin kind of forgets by the third wing that he’s even on a show, it’s just two people talking at a table. That’s awesome in a lot of ways and I think that’s how an interview should be, but the game show is so different because we pack the studio with 350 plus people who are all hot wings fans.

We shot in Atlanta, which I didn’t know was a hotbed for Hot Ones fans, so all of these people are cheering and dancing in the aisles, and throwing me hot sauce bottles to sign. When you do a show on the internet, I get that people watch it, I see the numbers, I read the comments, there are people who recognize me on the street, but you can’t physically touch your audience like you can on a game show and so that was the most rewarding thing about it for me.

Every shoot had so much energy, and it felt like a concert for the fans. Afterward, I’m signing hot sauce bottles, and taking pictures with people and high fiving people. The rush you get from walking off the set of a game show, you feel high. When you walk off the interview show you get a spicy high, but you don’t get that rush that you get from the game show.

If I could pick an analogy from music, the interview feels like the songwriting studio work, and the game show feels like the concert.

Is that much different than doing Hot Ones live, like at Complexcon or on a late-night show, or is it the game show setting that makes the rush so extreme?

Doing Fallon or Colbert or a live Complexcon episode, that has its own sort of nerves that you go through. I used to get them before high school football games — that feeling where you’re like “ugh I just want to get out there and do it because standing around is giving me crazy anxiety.” In the Pepperdome there are like a bajillion lights, there are pyrotechnics coming out from under the floor, you have a DJ who is blasting out music, and throwing contests in-between episodes and during commercial breaks, you have medics on hand, you have four people dying on spice running around the set, so it’s just like a much different environment in almost every way.

We’ve come to the point where I must ask you some hot sauce recommendations. Could you give us some of your favorite mild and ultra spicy sauces?

The best hot sauce, my favorite of all time, is the Queen Majesty Scotch Bonnet and Ginger Sauce, Yellowbird, they’re out of Austin Texas, they’ve never been on the show but they’re an amazing hot sauce maker, they have a habanero sauce that is awesome. I’m big on the Torchbearer guys, we’ve had a few of their sauces on the show but I like their horseradish — it’s my favorite that they do. Those are manageable sauces that are just awesome if you love hot sauce, I highly recommend picking up those three.

As far as a spicy sauce here is a call back — Zombie Apocalypse from Torchbearer, it was a great sauce that actually tasted good but is intense. Los Calientes Rojo which we have on the show now, that’s maybe the best sauce we’ve ever made. When you smell it you’re like “Oh my god it’s so good” but then it kicks harder than it smells, and you just keep eating because it tastes so good.

When you get that labor of love ceiling when you’re sweating through it and going through pain to enjoy the meal but you’ve found yourself finishing it, that’s how you know you’ve reached the edge of your place but you also have something that tastes excellent. That’s really a challenge from a culinary perspective to balance that, make something that’s not only hot but also adds flavor.

Do you have a favorite chili pepper?

I’m a jalapeño guy. I like habanero in sauces but not just eating one straight up. On not one but two occasions I’ve eaten a Carolina Reaper which I do not recommend anyone do but that’s an experience. That’s a trip, it’ll mess up your day but you’ll come out the other side a changed person.

Do you hate hot wings?

Hot Ones has totally killed wings for me. I don’t want to eat wings at a Super Bowl party, I don’t want to go out and get wings with anybody. People think I’m an encyclopedia of wing knowledge like “Hey dude I’m in Seattle, what’s the best wing spot?” Like I know every wing spot! I’m not a wing expert, I don’t love wings, if I even see them it’ll feel like work, so I have an almost Pavlovian response to them.

But the hot sauce, I truly love. Being exposed to all these different growers, all these different hot sauce makers, going to hot sauce expos, and meeting all these people at the Wing Out event in Chicago or whatever. The hot sauce subculture is so interesting and I’ve met all the people who make up the industry. I’ve sampled so many hot sauces over the years that I’ve actually become more into hot sauce. My fridge is packed full of hot sauce, I use hot sauce frequently, I’m probably more interested in hot sauce than I was when we started the show.

But off-camera, in this sort of quarantine atmosphere where I’m less mobile, I’m eating a lot of grain bowls and salads and healthy cereals and juices and stuff.

How have you been spending this time in quarantine?

What’s been nice is over the last couple of weeks is that we’ve gotten busy again, we are shooting episodes and putting them out, editing them over Zoom which takes more time than it used to take, everything is a little more complicated and more of a pain and more time consuming, but it feels good to be busy again and making episodes again.

Other than that, I’ve just been listening to true crime podcasts, and watching every episode of Better Call Saul and doing all the basic ride it out occupy your time habits, mass watching tv shows, listening to podcasts, calling my friends, having poker nights over Zoom. Talking to my dad a little bit more.

It’s a reset and it’s a universal experience we’re all going through that we cannot stand, but on the plus side of it, if you take the time to reconnect with people who through the ebbs and flows of the busyness of life you were unable to, maybe that’s a positive.

You can watch Hot Ones: The Game Show every Tuesday night on truTV.

Aminé’s upcoming album Limbo has already been revealed to contain at least one major guest star in Young Thug, but its tracklist — which the Portland rapper just shared on his Instagram page — contains even more surprises, from a reunion with Charlie Wilson to the bittersweet inclusion of Injury Reserve. While previously released singles “Shimmy,” “Riri,” and “Compensating” appear as expected, some features for fans to watch out for include the speedy JID, laconic Vince Staples, rebellious Slowthai, and smooth Summer Walker.

Limbo is being billed as Aminé’s second official album after his sparkling debut, Good For You, with the 2018 project OnePointFive receiving the fanciful classification of “EpLpMixtapeAlbum” — Aminé’s tongue-in-cheek way of poking fun at the nonlinear (and arbitrary) distinctions placed on music in the era of instant streaming and surprise releases. Aminé’s 2017 breakout with “Caroline” took advantage of the power of streaming to launch him to stardom, securing his spot on the 2017 XXL Freshman list and helping him leverage that attention into a flourishing career that included further hits “Spice Girl,” “Reel It In,” and “Blackjack.” He’s primed for superstardom and Limbo just might be the vehicle to take him the rest of the way there.

Limbo is due 8/7 via Republic Records. You can pre-order it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Former game show host Chuck Woolery, of Love Connection and Wheel of Fortune fame, has found himself in the news of late after his outrageous and dangerous tweets calling the COVID-19 pandemic a hoax were retweeted by President Donald Trump.

Woolery, who accused the CDC, media, doctors, and the entire scientific community of lying about a pandemic that has killed more than 130,000 Americans in order to influence the 2020 election, was retweeted by Trump during one of the president’s seemingly daily Twitter tirades of spreading misinformation. The now-deleted tweet posted on Sunday, July 12, read: “The most outrageous lies are the ones about COVID 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”

On Wednesday, Woolery walked all of that back after his son tested positive for COVID-19, before apparently deleting his Twitter account entirely.

“To further clarify and add perspective, Covid-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for of those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones,” he wrote.

The president, when asked about his retweet of Woolery’s conspiracy theory, insisted he was just “putting somebody’s voice out there” before once again making the dangerous assertion that the U.S. shouldn’t be doing as much testing as it is. Woolery’s swift retreat after having his family was directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic tracks with just about everything going on in America, where few are able to comprehend something as being real and not an imposition on their lives until it directly impacts them.

It’s been 15 years since Keanu Reeves played a supernatural con-man in Constantine, a film adaptation of the Hellblazer comic book series from Vertigo. Considering the film never lit the box office on fire, a sequel never materialized, and the John Constantine character was later revamped for television where he bounced from NBC to The CW after that series failed to connect with viewers.

However, interest for the demon-fighting character is still there, and not just from fans. In a new interview with /Film, Constantine director Francis Lawrence reveals that he’s had talks with Reeves about a sequel, and the actor would “love” to make it happen. The only problem is that Constantine seems to be tied up in a convoluted knot of plans at Warner Bros.

We have been talking about it recently. It’s always stuck with all of us because we all love the movie, and especially realizing there’s a real cult following for this movie, it’d be fun to make. Keanu, Akiva, and I have actually talked about it. Unfortunately, I don’t even remember who has it, but with all these shared universes that exist now, with Constantine being a part of Vertigo, which is a part of DC, people have plans for these shared universes. You know, possibly different Constantines and things like that. Right now, we don’t have that character available to us for TV or movies, which is a bummer.

With Reeves returning to blockbuster prominence with the John Wick films and his upcoming return in The Matrix 4, you’d think Warner Bros. would jump at the chance to make a Constantine sequel, but apparently, they have other plans, which may have already been revealed. Back in April, HBO Max announced that it was making a live-action version of Justice League Dark with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company. Considering Constantine is a central part of that team in the comics, there’s a good chance the character is tied up with that project. But as Lawrence notes to /Film, he’s bringing Keanu to the table, which could sway conversations down the road.

(Via /Film)

On the latest episode of UPROXX Sessions, LA-based, San Diego-raised emo rapper Brennan Savage taps in for a melancholy performance of his song “From A Lonely Place” with guitarist Nedarb. Savage (his real name) was a longtime friend of the late Lil Peep and projects a similar vibe as he sings about social anxiety, introversion, and the contradiction between those feelings while still desiring human connection.

“From A Lonely Place” is the title song from Brennan Savage and Nedarb’s April EP of the same name. The two are frequent collaborators, working together since the 2016 advent of SoundCloud, where they built a following using the fuzzy, grunge-influenced style that peaked in late 2017 shortly before the death of Lil Peep from a drug overdose.

Savage and Nedarb’s performance is decidedly lower-key than prior entries from the likes of Guapdad 4000, Yella Beezy, and 1TakeJay, falling more in line with appearances from Lil Aaron and Horse Head.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s new performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

In April, The Killers revealed that they were forced to delay their upcoming album, Imploding The Mirage, due to the ongoing pandemic. At the time, they didn’t give a new release date, but now, months later, they finally have: Imploding The Mirage is set for release on August 21.

Making the announcement today, the band wrote, “COVID-19 monkey wrenched us. But we persevered. Folks, mark your calendars. ‘Imploding The Mirage’ is out August 21st.”

That announcement accompanies a new video for “My Own Soul’s Warning,” which, like the “Caution” video before it, previews the band’s short film set to accompany the upcoming album.

Additionally, the band has canceled all scheduled 2020 tour dates. They said in a statement,

“As so many of us have come to realize during the Covid-19 pandemic, the idea that we would be returning to ‘normal’ is farther along in the future than we initially thought. With that in mind, we have made the difficult decision to postpone our planned North American and Australian tour dates slated for the Fall. The safety of our fans and families is of the utmost importance to us always. We want nothing more to hit the road and play these songs for you and when the time is right, we will do just that! Be safe and be healthy. We appreciate you.”

Watch the “My Own Soul’s Warning” video above.

Imploding The Mirage is out 8/21 via Island. Pre-order it here.

Here I was, impressed by The Rock eating 1,000 calories of cod every day. That’s ordering off the kids menu compared to Padma Lakshmi’s whopping Top Chef diet.

The host revealed to Women’s Health that while filming Bravo’s food-based competition series, she (and presumably Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons) eat between 7,000 to 8,000 calories every day. For reference’s sake, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends “1,600 to 2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day for adult men.” Top Chef requires three times that.

While working on the Bravo competition series, Padma may sample and judge more than 30 dishes an episode at the start of the season, eating upward of 7,000 to 8,000 calories a day… “My parents are diabetic,” she says. And though Padma isn’t, her doc did prescribe a preventive medication to regulate blood-sugar levels while she’s filming. “Those chefs are cooking to win, so they’re putting in as much lard and butter and salt as they can.”

To offset the days where she’s eating the same number of calories as there are in 14 Big Macs, Lakshmi secured “a doctor to monitor her weight and blood work before and after each season,” and in the before times, when going to the gym was still possible, she would work out “at least five times a week for 90 minutes.” The host/author credits pilates, in particular, for “[changing] my body. It made me strong in places I didn’t know I needed to be.”

Anyone who can down 7,000 calories in a day sounds plenty strong to me.

(Via Women’s Health)

Britney Spears’ personal struggles have unfortunately been a matter of public interest for years. The situation came to a head in 2019 with the #FreeBritney movement, in which fans pleaded for an end to Spears’ conservatorship.

For those unfamiliar, “conservatorship” refers to the legal control Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has had over his daughter for years. He was granted this power after a series of troubling incidents in 2007 and 2008, which included Spears spending time in rehab, shaving her head, and being placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold. In the years since then, fans have expressed concern about Spears’ well-being under her conservatorship, which led to the 2009 creation of the fan-started “Free Britney” campaign.

Although #FreeBritney has been around for years now, it gained massive public attention in 2019, as aforementioned. At the time, we published a timeline of everything that had led up to that point. A lot has happened since then, though, including some recent developments, so now is a good time to get caught up on everything that has happened over the past few months.

If you haven’t read our previous recap, first give that a look here, then return to this page and read on to learn about everything that has happened since then.

September 9, 2019: Spears’ father steps down as conservator

The singer’s father, Jamie Spears, stepped down as his daughter’s conservator, a position he had previously held since 2008. Spears’ longtime care manager, Jodi Montgomery, was named her conservator in a temporary capacity until January 31, 2020, an end date that has since been extended. Montgomery is currently Spears’ conservator, meaning she has the authority to make decisions about Spears’ personal life. However, Spears’ father maintains control over her finances.

September 18, 2019; January 23, 2020; April 23, 2020 — Court hearings

A hearing to review Spears’ conservatorship was set for September 18, 2019, but Spears was not present, while both of her parents were. Judge Brenda Penny issued no decisions on that day.

Another hearing was set for January 2020, and it became the site of protests from Spears fans demanding that the singer’s conservatorship be ended. However, the full hearing was pushed back to April, and has since been delayed again to July 22 due to the coronavirus pandemic. All temporary orders have been extended until August 22.

2019 to present — Lots of dancing

Last summer, Spears captured the internet’s attention by dancing to Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” with a stuffed snake. She had been dancing on Instagram well before that post and hasn’t really stopped dancing since then, either (even after a gruesome foot injury). Her Instagram account is filled with videos of her showing off moves to songs by everybody from Rihanna to Justin Timberlake (also taking the latter opportunity to address their famous break-up). Spears has also expanded into TikTok, and naturally, she’s become a star there, too.

March 4 — Retirement rumors

Jayden Federline, Spears’ 13-year-old son, hopped on Instagram Live and suggested that his mother was done with music. He said in a video, “I remember one time I asked her, ‘Mom, what happened to your music?’ And she was like, ‘I dunno, honey, I think I might just quit it.’ I’m like, ‘What? What are you saying? You know how much bank you make off of that stuff?’”

March 25 — 100-mater dash world record

Later in March, Spears took to Instagram to make an eyebrow-raising claim of her own. Spears shared a screenshot of a stopwatch app that read 5.97 seconds and said that was how fast she ran a 100-meter dash. Spears’ claim was quickly met with doubt, as that time would made her running speed virtually identical to that of the world’s fastest cheetah.

Spears later removed the post and insisted she was joking, writing, “Obviously I was joking about running the 100-meter dash in 5.97 seconds …. the world record is held by Usain Bolt which is 9.58 seconds …. but you better believe I’m coming for the world record !!!! #joking #workbitch.”

April 29 — Gym fire

Spears revealed that she had accidentally burned down her home gym. She said in a video filmed in her gym, “I haven’t been in here for like six months because I burned my gym down, unfortunately. I had two candles and, yeah, one thing led to another and I burned it down.”

She continued in the post’s caption, “It was an accident …. but yes …. I burnt it down. I walked past the door to the gym and flames BOOM !!!!!! By the Grace of God the alarm went off after that and yippy hoorah nobody got hurt. Unfortunately now I have only two pieces of equipment left lol and a one-sided mirror gym!!!!! But it could be much worse so I’m grateful. Pssss I like working out better outside anyways!!!!”

May and June 26 — Glory reissue and “Mood Ring (By Demand)”

Spears’ most recent studio album, 2016’s Glory, had a sudden surge of renewed interest in May: It climbed to the top of the iTunes pop charts multiple times that month. Subsequently, Spears re-released the album on May 29 with new cover art. The album also featured the new song “Mood Ring (By Demand),” which was previously released (as just “Mood Ring”) on the 2016 Japanese version of the album as a bonus track.

On June 26, Spears released a pair of “Mood Ring (By Demand)” remixes.

June 24: Queen B

Spears made an Instagram post in which she called herself “Queen B,” which fans of Beyonce (aka Queen Bey) and Lil Kim (aka Queen B) did not take well.

July 1: #FreeBritney revival

Recent social media posts from Spears have sparked concern that Spears is asking fans for help over her conservatorship.

She shared a video in which she wears a yellow shirt and shows off some flowers she got, writing in the caption, “HOLY HOLY CRAP !!!!!! My florist surprised me today by making the flower arrangement all different colors. I was so excited I threw on my favorite yellow shirt and just had to SHARE.”

In a vacuum, that post appears to be innocent enough, but a few days ago, a fan pointed out in a comment on a previous video, Spears was told to “wear yellow in your next video” if she was seeking help. Since then, fans have speculated that the yellow shirt post was a call for help.

The next hearing pertaining to Spears’ conservatorship is set for July 22, so it remains to be seen what comes next for the embattled singer.

Founding Blink-182 member Tom DeLonge, who departed from the band in 2015, has been a longtime believer in aliens, UFOs, and conspiracy theories. Back in April, DeLonge’s theories were confirmed when the Pentagon officially declassified video footage of a UFO which DeLonge had previously released in 2017. Now, with Kanye’s official bid for the White House, DeLonge is imagining what the world would look like if he similarly decided to run for office, and it, of course, involves UFOs.

DeLonge sarcastically laid out his vision for America in a series of tweets. To begin with, DeLonge would call on great minds from universities across the country to join his Cabinet. The musician would then brainstorm ways to diminish income tax in favor of sales tax, rid the political system of parties, and finally, DeLonge would declassify all information pertaining to UFOs.

Further explaining his platform, DeLonge said he would tap scholars to crunch the numbers and find ways to “fix” taxes, expand healthcare, and reform police even before election day.

DeLonge also emphasized he point about abolishing political parties in favor of supporting an individual candidate.

Finally, DeLonge offered his last vision for the future, and it includes Mexican food.

Read DeLonge’s full campaign outline above.