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The Zodiac Killer strikes again. In the midst of a pandemic and after stimulus negotiations ground to a halt, Ted Cruz and a gathering of GOP senators came together to try and ban an abortion pill. This is happening after Cruz’s Texas (and many other states) reduced abortion clinic access over the past several months, which has resulted in United Nations humans rights experts accusing states of “manipulating” the pandemic for the pro-Life cause. Cruz is doing nothing to discourage that appearance, since he fired off a letter (signed by about 20 GOP U.S. lawmakers) that asks the Food and Drug Administration to remove an abortion pill from the market due to it being an “imminent hazard to the public health” that poses a “significant threat of danger.”

Cruz also tweeted a link to promote the letter while declaring that “[p]regnancy is not a life-threatening illness, and the abortion pill does not cure or prevent any disease. Make no mistake, Mifeprex is a dangerous pill.”

Unlike what Cruz’s tweet claims, women still do die during childbirth and/or suffer severe harm over the course of pregnancy. USA Today carried out an investigation that attributes 700 U.S. deaths to childbirth each year, along with another 50,000 women who suffer lasting and severe harm. The publication further noted that “Black women in the U.S. are more than twice as likely to die during childbirth” while basing that finding upon CDC data. So clearly, Cruz’s tweet doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, and Twitter users have plenty of statistics to throw his way.

That includes the number of deaths from Viagra as opposed to the abortion pill:

In short order, Cruz and Viagra began trending side-by-side.

This led to lots of Viagra comebacks, jokes, and gross-out reactions.

And now, a word from Ron Perlman.

After Kanye West made a very public pivot to piety last year, the rapper’s newfound commitment to Christianity led him to ditch a few projects. Kanye infamously quit swearing and cut all cuss words from verses on his Jesus Is King album. The rapper also removed Young Thug’s verse from one of his song’s on the album after Thugger rapped about the devil. Now, one more scrapped project has resurfaced and this time, it’s an old video.

Eli Russell Linnetz, who collaborated on “Fade” and “Famous,” took to social media to share a previously-unreleased video he directed three years ago. The video accompanies Kanye and Tyga’s track “Feel Me,” and features some bizarre visuals. Linnetz managed to tap Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner to join the video’s shoot.

Linnetz explained to E! News the meaning behind the video’s final scene, which depicts a quasi-birth. “It features Kylie coming out of Kim’s vagina,” Linnetz said. “The metaphorical meaning being that there would be no Kylie without Kim.”

According to Linnetz, the shoot racked up a $1 million bill and was shot over the course of five months but never saw the light of day because Kylie and Tyga ended their relationship shortly thereafter.

Sharing the unreleased video to Instagram, Linnetz wrote: “i directed this three years ago. no ones ever seen it before.”

Watch the “Feel Me” video above.

Big Sean’s latest Detroit 2 teaser is “Body Language,” his sensuous rap ballad featuring girlfriend Jhene Aiko and backup vocals from rap’s go-to hook master, Ty Dolla Sign. This time, the video is a Tidal exclusive, so feel free to sign up, although it’s possible that he’ll release a longer cut of the 90-second clip to more services at a later date.

While Ty is featured on the song, the video is entirely focused on Sean and Jhene as they cruise the coast in their freshly washed whip. Cleverly shot from the backseat, the camera plays fly on the wall as the couple visits an auto wash, canoodling while the foam obscures them from outside view, then watches as they drive up the California coast to visit a beach house for some meditation, cuddling, and song writing. They wear matching tie-dye shirts the whole time; it’s almost too cute.

In a couple of days, we’ll find out if Sean’s unique strategy of releasing truncated videos like “Body Language” and “Don Life” with Lil Wayne will pay off — but to be quite honest, given the three-year gap between Detroit 2 and his last project, I Decided, fans are already probably champing at the bit to give this album a (few) spin(s).

Watch Big Sean’s “Body Language” video featuring Jhene Aiko on Tidal.

It’s been nearly 20 years since Mike “The Miz” Mizanin left the loft on the Real World: Return to New York and made his way to the squared circle. Since then, he’s become a world champion in WWE, taken on a lead role on the movie screen, and most recently, become the host USA Network’s Cannonball.

Ahead of the Cannonball season finale on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET, Miz spoke to Uproxx Sports about the show, his journey to fulfilling a childhood dream in WWE, and how winning the WWE title isn’t his favorite run as a professional wrestler.

“I felt like (Cannonball) could be something big,” Miz says. “When we were starting to air it, NBC liked it so much that not only were we going to air it on USA, but they were going to air it on NBC. This is big enough to be a network broadcast show. Then, hearing the response on Twitter and people coming up to me in the airport. People really enjoy it. It’s something we all need with all the drama and conflict going on in this world. People need an escape to just laugh, even if it’s just for an hour. I think Cannonball has been giving them that.”

Allowing people to escape their own lives and step into his is something Miz has become accustomed to. Just a kid from Parma, Ohio, Miz is living his reality television dreams. And it all started with getting the call to come on the Real World.

“If it wasn’t for reality tv, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today,” Miz says. “If it wasn’t for the Real World, I wouldn’t have the confidence to leave Parma, Ohio and move to Los Angeles. If I didn’t get picked to go there and go through the experiences on the Real World and the challenges after that for MTV, I don’t know where I would be today. The first challenge, my winnings paid for the first year of wrestling school. I was in wrestling school, I was in acting school, I was in improv class. I spent all my money to get the tools to get me to where I wanted to be and that is a WWE superstar.”

For Miz, joining WWE was a lifelong dream that has evolved into his variety of onscreen roles. His secret to that success is simply being open-minded to opportunities and literally saying yes to everything.

“I remember when I first started in WWE and no one wanted to do media on Mondays because Monday is Monday Night Raw and you want to be fresh and ready,” Miz says. “I said if I need to wake up at 5 a.m., I’ll do media interviews all morning. Honestly, it was just to freshen up my speaking ability. I would find things I would say on the radio and think this would be good for WWE. It got me comfortable in front of the live mic.”

That comfort has transitioned into staring roles in films like the Marine III, hosting shows like Cannonball and taking advantage of opportunities on WWE programming like Talking Smack — which gives him the chance for “real conversations on real experiences” that he believes people “need,” in large part because it’s a two-way street. For Miz, Talking Smack is a chance for him to give and receive advice in discussions with others in the WWE locker room.

Those discussions have ranged from Miz’s iconic rant against Daniel Bryan to his more recent chats with Big E, focusing on the latter’s WWE tenure.

“Every time I have a conversation with Big E, he’s always enlightening,” Miz says. “To be honest, I got told I was doing Talking Smack an hour before I was doing it. WWE knows, ‘Hey we need a host, fill him in right now.’ I didn’t have any time to prepare because I was doing Smackdown right before that. I put my suit on and went at it and just started talking. We got into a discussion where I felt I was right and he felt he was right. I had positive and negative feedback from that show. Big E and I talked about it. My goal was to showcase Big E not just being a goofball, not just throwing pancakes. I wanted to show people he has a serious side. How do I get that out of him? I didn’t need to do that. He has a serious side and when we started talking, I think people looked at him and said, ‘Wow, this is Big E.’

“I’ve been a WWE champion and I’ve been in the main event,” he continues. “I know what it takes, what the brass is looking for. Sometimes when you’re goofy and funny, you’re just entertainment, you’re not a main event poster child. I know what Big E is saying. I know he doesn’t want to be a bland superstar.”

While the conversations certainly differed in tone from their first conversation to the second, Miz feels he got the best out of Big E and showcased how the former tag champion can break out on his own and become a true star.

“If you listen to Big E in the first and and second Talking Smack, they’re different,” Miz said. “But they’re both a serious Big E and that Big E is a main-event-caliber, money-making Universal champion-type superstar. I do believe that Big E will be able to be a world champion very quickly.”

As for Miz, while he cherishes his own WWE championship run, it’s his time elevating the intercontinental championship that stands out as his favorite spell with the company so far.

“Me and Maryse’s intercontinental title run, that whole thing with the intercontinental title and making it the most relevant, prestigious title in all of WWE,” Miz says. “People always say they’re going to do something and it doesn’t happen. But when you say and you do it. And now, when you look at the intercontinental championship, it’s as prestigious as the Universal championship. It’s a big star moneymaker. AJ Styles was the intercontinental champion, Jeff Hardy is the intercontinental champion and he has a huge storyline with Sami Zayn coming back. People are talking about the intercontinental title. It’s not a title that’s thrown around to give a guy a title. It’s a valuable commodity on Smackdown. People want to watch Smackdown for it and I feel like I was a part of that history in making it prestigious and relevant.”

Billie Eilish is one of the biggest stars in the world, and as a consequence of that, fans and beyond know a fair amount about her personal life. One thing about Eilish that isn’t often discussed in public settings, though, is her love life. That is by design, as Eilish has a strong desire to keep her relationships private.

She said as much during a recent interview with Capital Breakfast host Roman Kemp. He asked if Eilish wants to keep her relationships private or if she wants to let that information be known. Eilish answered:

“I definitely want to keep that private. I’ve had relationships and kept them private, and even the ones that I’ve had, and the tiny amount that I’ve let the world see, I regret. So, I can’t even imagine… I think about it sometimes. I think about the people that have made their relationships OD public, like, you know what I’m talking about? And then they break up, and it’s like, ‘What if it goes bad?’ And then everybody has this whole opinion on your relationship that they have no idea about. It’s very much not something I’m interested in.”

Watch Eilish speak about her love life here or below.

Despite living three blocks away, Japanese Breakfast‘s Michelle Zauner and Crying’s Ryan Galloway haven’t seen each other since the beginning of quarantine. Even still, the two got together digitally and formed a new quarantine-bred side project, Bumper. On Thursday, Bumper shared their debut EP Pop Songs 2020, which features shimmering melodies and funk-forward production.

In an interview with Rolling Stone about the release, Zauner said she originally reached out to Galloway to lend a hand on Japanese Breakfast’s upcoming album but instead formed the side project Bumper:

“I’ve always really liked Crying and I think Ryan as a talent is so underrated. I knew that he was such a guitar wizard and his influences are super bizarre, in my world anyway. And I really appreciate that. For this new [Japanese Breakfast] record, I just wanted to work with people that really inspired me creatively. We worked together and made something that was totally out of the realm of what I would usually make. I realized that Ryan had this wealth of material that he was just sitting on.”

Adding to Zauner’s statement, Galloway explained how their collaboration process worked:

“Basically, her songs were made and were not obnoxious, and then I just added that element to it. I also think personality-wise, both of us are very loud. When Michelle came over and we figured out what I can add to the Japanese Breakfast song, both of us were at full volume the whole time. It also carries over throughout this project. There’s a specific part in a song where I added a timpani part, and Michelle was like, ‘Sounds like a dumpster falling over. It’s awful.’ I think it’s fun to accept that way of criticism, and bounce back and forth and be allowed to say, ‘Hey, that sucks.’ Because typically, I think that’s how more hardcore musicians tend to communicate. But for indie rock, it’s not usually like that.”

Listen to Bumper’s Pop Songs 2020 above and find the EP cover art and tracklist below.

1. “You Can Get It”
2. “Black Light”
3. “Red Brick”
4. “Ballad 0”

Mulan becomes the latest live action remake of Disney animated canon. When The Lion King came out last year there was a lot of talk about if it was necessary or not (the overwhelming majority of movies aren’t “necessary” so I guess the answer is “probably not”) even though I wound up quite enjoying it. (Though, a big reason why I enjoyed The Lion King is because I wound up at a “family” screening, which was filled with children, instead of the normal critics screening. And their enjoyment was infectious. Add that to the list of why I miss movie theaters, even though there’s no way I’d go to one right now.) But I at least sort of get the argument that it was too faithful to the source material, so what’s the point if it’s not going to be reimagined at all? (Well, other than the $1.6 billion It made, which certainly classifies as “a point.”)

Unlike The Lion King, Niki Caro’s Mulan is a more reimagined version of the 1998 original film. The original film was rated G, is filled with music, and is truly something that can be defined as a family film. This new version has no musical performances, is rated PG-13 (and earns that rating) and is more aimed at the “young adult” market. (Two friends of mine asked if it would be suitable for their children. When asked about a four-year old, I said, “no.” When asked about a ten-year-old, I said, “probably.”) There are some pretty intense battle scenes for a “family” movie where our hero, Mulan (Liu Yifei), stabs and impales a few villains. It’s a bloodless fight, but still.

After a brazen attack by enemy forces, the local government declares each family must provide one male to fight in the army to defend against these attacks. Hua Xiu (Tzi Ma) was once a great warrior, but he’s getting old and has an injured leg, but he also has two daughters, so he will do his duty and fight. His oldest daughter, Mulan, steals his battle gear and shows up instead, disguising herself (not very convincingly, but whatever) as a man and joins the fight. She fights bravely and saves her battalion, but her ruse (not surprisingly) is discovered and she’s banished. And that’s where Mulan’s adventures come to a close as the end credits roll. (That last sentence is a lie.)

As I mentioned before, I wouldn’t call Mulan ultra-violent by any means, at least compared to other PG-13 movies. But if you’re a big fan of the original movie and want to show this to someone on the younger side, you may want to judge for yourself first. There are scenes of swords, spears, and arrows all impaling bad people in the chest. Again, the tone here seems to be aimed at the young adult market.

But I guess the big question here is, “is Mulan worth $30?” Well, first, that’s between you and your god. I will say I wound up enjoying this film quite a bit, and even more than I thought I would. More than I thought I would because the battle scenes are so well choreographed and performed. Instead of muddled CGI, everything is crisp and clear and very well done. And in these scenes Mulan borrows a bit from films like The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

But $30 is an interesting price point for something like this and can be looked at a few different ways. On one hand, a person has access to an almost endless supply of classic films they’ve probably never seen that, at worst, might cost $3.99 to rent. So upping that to $30 is a big jump. But it is a new movie. And a big new movie at that. And here in New York City at least, between a ticket, a soda, and some sort of food item, I’ve spent $30 on a movie plenty of times. So that price, in that respect, doesn’t seem too unreasonable, even by yourself.

But if a person has a family, this starts to feel like a bargain. A big thing to me when discussing these price points is, “do I get to own the movie or not?” I’ve said in the past I’d pay $40 to watch Tenet at home right now as long as I got some promise of a permanent digital file down the line without having to purchase it again. And with Mulan you do get that. As long as you subscribe to Disney+, Mulan is forever a part of your library. If a person has a family and members of that family want to watch it a few times, it’s really a bargain. So, $30 for a brand new movie that was going to be a blockbuster in theaters, and you don’t lose access to the movie, this all seems about right to me. But, your mileage may vary. But, for me (no, I didn’t have to pay for it, so keep that in mind), it felt legitimately fun to watch. It wasn’t quite the feeling you get in a theater, but it just felt good to watch a new huge would-have-been-a-blockbuster movie, even at home.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Earlier this year, it appeared things were looking up for Tory Lanez. Between getting out of his deal, Quarantine Radio‘s success, and a string of well-received mixtapes and single features, 2020 looked like Tory’s year. However, the Torontonian has seemingly torpedoed the progress he made earlier in the year with Chixtape 5 and The New Toronto 3. Forbes reports that streams for Tory Lanez’s music have dropped precipitously in the wake of his recent alleged abuse of Megan Thee Stallion, with a 40% decrease in streams since the Texan star accused him of shooting her in both feet.

While Megan herself faced a stiff backlash from Tory’s supporters and other men in the music industry who expressed doubt and disbelief in her story — even as it was being reported in real-time by the eerily accurate TMZ — Tory had emerged relatively unscathed until Megan finally broke her silence via an Instagram livestream. Before that, she’d only made vague references to the incident, only admitting at first that she’d been the victim of “a crime,” that the incident was traumatic, and that she didn’t appreciate the jokes being made at her expense.

However, after the ridicule and disbelief continued, she showed off her injuries in an Instagram photo, then lost patience with Tory’s apparent counter campaign and outed him as her abuser. Since then, stars like Jojo and Kehlani removed Tory’s verses from their albums and Tory, who was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon in his car, is now reportedly under investigation for assault.

The Glorias adapts Gloria Steinem’s 2015 memoir, My Life On The Road, and the film will soon arrive with not one Gloria Steinem, or even two, but five Glorias. That’s a lot of Glorias, and the two foremost incarnations of the feminist firebrand will be played by Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander during (as the book suggests) her Greyhound bus travels. Glorias will appear onscreen together. They’ll have conversations. They’re reclaiming the “those crazy women” label for themselves under the direction of Julie Taymor (Frida), who’s clearly operating again here under a labor of love with what promises to be an inventive and nontraditional biopic approach.

Following a Sundance debut and largely positive reviews, the movie’s coming to Amazon Prime (and VOD) on September 30, by way of Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment. The film also features a busload of brilliant actresses in other activist roles, including Kimberly Guerrero as Wilma Mankiller (“I earned it,” she says of her surname), Janelle Monae as Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Bette Midler as Bella Abzug, and Lorraine Toussaint Flo Kennedy. The film will trace Steinem’s legacy all the way from her 1940s Ohio childhood to her founding of Ms. magazine to her 1960s women’s liberation movement leadership and beyond. From the Sundance Institute:

Julie Taymor brings her signature inventiveness and audacity to craft a complex tapestry of one of the most iconic and legendary figures of modern history, based on Steinem’s own memoir My Life on the Road. Remarkable performances by Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander steer an engaging cast with strong supporting turns from Janelle Monáe and Bette Midler. Taymor makes her own rules in this dazzling ode to self-reflection, exploring the importance of forging your own path and embracing the challenge of the open road.

The Glorias is coming to Amazon Prime and VOD on September 30.

Mariah Carey’s upcoming memoir is making headlines a month out from its release, both for what it includes and what it doesn’t, like words about Eminem. As far of things that did make it into the book, though, there are plenty of goodies there. For example, Carey has confirmed that, as has been rumored, a pair of her classic songs are about her romance with Derek Jeter.

When Carey met Jeter at a dinner party, she was near the end of her rocky marriage with music mogul Tommy Mottola. She said in a Vulture interview that “The Roof,” from her 1997 album Butterfly, is about her first kiss with Jeter on the roof of his apartment building. When asked if she remembers the moment, she responded, “Of course I do! I can never forget that moment. I mean, it’s not like it was some intensely deep, intellectually stimulating — again, it was a great moment, and it happened in a divine way because it helped me get past living there, in Sing Sing, under those rules and regulations.”

She also admitted that another song from the same album, “My All,” is about “risking her life to have a night with Jeter in Puerto Rico,” as Vulture cites the singer as saying.

Carey sings on the chorus of “The Roof,” “Every time I feel the need / I envision you caressing me / And go back in time / To relive the splendor of you and I / On the rooftop that rainy night.” She also sings in the opening verse of “My All,” “I am thinking of you / In my sleepless solitude tonight / If it’s wrong to love you / Then my heart just won’t let me be right / ‘Cause I’ve drowned in you / And I won’t pull through / Without you by my side.”