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Phoebe Bridgers Has Released An Intimate Demos Collection To Benefit Bail Funds

On multiple occasions in recent months, DIY music distribution platform Bandcamp has designated days where their waive the fees they collect from sales and pass that money on to artists. Today is one of those days, and to capitalize on that, Phoebe Bridgers has shared Inner Demos, which will go to benefit bail funds.

The three-track collection, which can only be listened to after purchase, features “voice memo” versions of “Garden Song” and “Kyoto,” and a “spire demo” of “I See You.” Although Bridgers didn’t mention specifically which organization this collection would benefit, it feels fair to assume she is talking about The Bail Project: Yesterday, all profits from her merch store went to benefit the organization. She also did a livestream for DIY yesterday, which also benefited The Bail Project.

Bridgers was also the subject of a recent Rolling Stone interview, and in the piece, she revealed that it might take a while for her to really know what her upcoming album, Punisher: “I won’t know, truly, what [this] record’s about until like, a year from now. It’s like when you go through a breakup and then five years later you’re like, ‘Oh, sh*t. That’s what was going on at that time.’”

Listen to Inner Demos above.

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Triple H Defended Charlotte Flair’s NXT Women’s Championship Win

One of the most controversial match results from this year’s WrestleMania was Charlotte Flair defeating Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship. Fans had issues with several different aspects of the angle, some thinking the addition of the Flair to the NXT women’s division was unnecessary, some taking issue with the treatment of Bianca Belair and Io Shirai as side characters in the feud, and some just being tired of Flair title reigns and not enjoying her presence on multiple WWE brands per week. Someone who is a fan of Flair’s title reign, however, is Triple H, and he explained why in a recent interview with talkSPORT.

HHH thinks that much of the criticism of Flair can be chalked up to her famous dad:

For me, I’ve been thrilled with this whole thing and I think this speaks to Charlotte as a performer. And I know sometimes she’s bashed because of her dad and her name and everything else. No matter what she does sometimes, it’s criticized. But to me, it just speaks to her as a performer that she would want to do this. That she would work across all the brands if she could, that she would want to carry that torch when it was put in front of her and to do this.


He also said losing her title to Flair will be good for Ripley in the long term:

The long term on this is to build up other talent and as spectacular as a moment as Rhea Ripley had and then going into WrestleMania, I wish they could have had that in the stadium. I wish they could have had that in front of fans… For Rhea to have that moment and to have it with Charlotte in that stadium would have been a making moment for her.

For me, that loss almost helps her as a character get to where she needs to be for the longterm arc of who she is. You know, the burnout factor in stuff is quick and intense with short attention spans and everything else, so, to me, this is phenomenal.

Triple H went on to promote the NXT Women’s Championship match this Sunday by saying that fans will see Ripley and Shirai step up to the “unbeatable” aura that Flair has as a champion.

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The ‘Riverdale’ Creator Pledges To Do Better By The Show’s Black Characters While Supporting Vanessa Morgan

While using her social media presence to support #BlackLivesMatter, Riverdale actress Vanessa Morgan took her activism one step further by making a bold stand for Black actors in Hollywood.

In passionate Twitter post, Morgan criticized how Black actors are too often cast in one-dimensional, stereotypical roles that are pushed to the side to keep the focus on more fully developed white characters. Morgan also made a brave move by including Riverdale in her criticism and revealing that the show pays her less than her white co-stars. After receiving a wave of support for speaking out, she vowed to no longer accept roles that don’t properly represent Black lives.

Now, Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has responded. Not only does he voice support of Morgan voicing her criticisms, but he openly admits that she’s right and that the show must do better:

“We hear Vanessa. We love Vanessa. She’s right. We’re sorry and we make the same promise to you that we did to her. We will do better to honor her and the character she plays. As well as all of our actors and characters of color. CHANGE is happening and will continue to happen. Riverdale will get bigger, not smaller. Riverdale will be part of the movement, not outside it. All of the Riverdale writers made a donation to @BLMLA, but we know where the work must happen for us. In the writers’ room.”

You can see Aguirre-Sacasa’s full statement below.

As of this writing, Morgan hasn’t publicly responded to Aguirre-Sacasa’s promise to improve Riverdale‘s treatment of Black actors, but she did retweet it to her followers. Judging by the replies, they’ll be keeping a close eye on whether the showrunner stays true to his word.

(Via Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa on Twitter)

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Oklahoma State And No. 1 Recruit Cade Cunningham Were Banned From The 2021 NCAA Tournament

Even Cade Cunningham couldn’t deny the expectations that he’d end up committing to Oklahoma State last fall. His brother, Cannen, had just taken a job on the coaching staff, and Cade himself was born in Arlington, which is about a four-hour drive from Stillwater. “Blood is always thicker than water,” wrote Cunningham on Instagram when he announced his decision. Regardless of what steered Cunningham toward the Cowboys, the program will have a vastly different 2020-21 campaign than it expected after the NCAA announced violations on the part of former associate head coach Lamont Evans.

The NCAA said Friday the Cowboys’ men’s basketball program would be banned from the postseason in 2021 after finding Evans’ acceptance of bribe money from two recruits’ financial advisors violated ethical conduct rules. It was already a leap of faith for Cunningham to join his brother at a school that isn’t even an annual lock to make the NCAA tournament out of the Big 12, and now his future with the Cowboys will come under further scrutiny.

In the interim, Oklahoma State will file an “immediate” appeal with the NCAA, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Meanwhile, Larry Parkinson, chief hearing officer for the panel and director of enforcement for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, justified the postseason ban by saying “It’s almost always going to be the case that some innocent parties that had nothing to do with the violations are going to be adversely impacted.”

It is worth mentioning that Evans’ tenure in Stillwater largely occurred during the year that Brad Underwood, who has since left for Illinois, was in charge. While current head coach Mike Boynton was an assistant on the same staff as Evans, the now-former assistant left Boynton’s staff before a game could ever be played, and the infractions in question occurred during Underwood’s tenure as head coach.

The closest comparison to Cunningham’s situation prior to this week was that of Michael Porter Jr., who followed his father, an assistant coach, from Washington to Missouri back in 2017. At least for Porter, though, the Tigers squeaked into the tournament and he was able to show that he could play before the NBA Draft. Without the chance to get into the postseason at all, there’s not much tying Cunningham to Oklahoma State except family at this point.

The idea that Cunningham could find greener pastures elsewhere was compounded when Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported Cunningham had already turned down a high-dollar offer to join the G League Select Team in southern California this fall.

Add in the uncertainty around the college athletics calendar in 2020 and 2021, and one can argue it makes even less sense for Cunningham, who was at the top of ESPN’s most recent 2021 mock draft, to stay at school. Why not sign with an agent now and spend the next 12 months with access to endorsements and state-of-the-art facilities, rather than wading through what is bound to be the most bizarre and disjoined college basketball season in recent memory?

Cunningham was not only a silky jumbo point guard at Montverde Academy but also a high school quarterback who idolized Tony Romo. He’s a natural, and it shows. Prior to signing with Oklahoma State, there was talk of Cunningham reclassifying and being eligible for this year’s draft, especially after a dazzling performance in the U19 World Cup team last fall. At the bare minimum, he likely would’ve been in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick in 2020.

But what of 2021? It must be mentioned that the Pokes’ attempt at fighting this ruling could be successful, at which point staying in Stillwater makes the most sense. If not, perhaps Cunningham could ask for waivers to re-sign with a different college program, and he would immediately become the most highly-sought-after recruit in America. Or maybe he would decide to forgo college altogether, even if the G League Select offer is not still waiting for him. Nothing has come out yet indicating he’s even looking into leaving, but after several tough breaks for college basketball (the Oklahoma State president said it will host in-person classes in the fall but has offered few details) and the state Boynton’s program due to someone who hasn’t been a Cowboy in years, there may be fewer chances for Cunningham to flourish in the NCAA than by blazing his own trail.

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This Is What 100 Years Of Protests For Racial Justice Look Like In America


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25 Kitchen Products That’ll Help Make Food Taste Better

Today I learned that I’ve been cooking all wrong.


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A Woman On TikTok Was Shot In The Face With A Rubber Bullet While Protesting Peacefully

“I’m glad it was me because there was a pregnant woman within feet of me and a child.”


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Total Bellas Total Recap: Jockey Vibes

Previously on Total Bellas: a very fake reality show got very real about mental health for a while and Artem bought a ring.

Was There Anything About Wrestling On This Week’s Episode Of Total Bellas?

No, and it’s kind of weird because we see Daniel Bryan come home with short hair and a short beard and no one mentions this is because of a wrestling angle! It looks like he just came home with a haircut his wife wasn’t crazy about. There is no mention of The Fiend whatsoever, which in my opinion, was a huge mistake on the show’s part. If anyone should be part of both WWE kayfabe and Total franchise kayfabe, it should be The Fiend. Just Brie saying “I know you’ve been going through some stuff with The Fiend, but I have to tell you something” before breaking her pregnancy suspicions would have gone a long way.

Baby Number One (Of Two)

This week’s episode, “The Proposal,” is almost entirely about The Proposal (of marriage) (delivered by Artem Chigvintsev to Nikki Bella), but once that’s wrapped up, there’s a huge development for Brie and Bryan in the last ten minutes. Brie starts experiencing just about every symptom of pregnancy and when she tells Bryan about this, he mentions that they tried to get pregnant after their marriage-healing trip to Sedona. Turns out it worked!

Brie explains to the camera and to Nikki that this pregnancy happened when she and Bryan “let go of so much” and it’s a symbolic thing in that way, but she also acknowledges that the same reasons she was sure she didn’t want to have another kid earlier in the season are true. Will she and Bryan getting along better make it easier to take care of two kids by herself most of the time? This could be more drama waiting to happen – or not, because Bryan’s been talking (in real life) about winding down his full-time wrestling career, which would probably go a long way in solving almost every problem they’ve had this season.

Proposal Number One (Of One)

The rest of this week’s show is dedicated to the Bellas’ and Artem’s families in France on a trip that meshes business, a birthday for the twins (the big three-six), and The Proposal, and it makes for the best and easiest to watch episode of the season. It’s a vacation episode that takes the viewer’s brain on a vacation. The plot isn’t low stakes, but it’s very low tension because anyone watching the show knows that Nikki and Artem are, in fact, engaged now. More than a drama on its own, this feels like an episode-long resolution to most of the Nikki/Artem conflicts and some of the internal Bella family problems this season.

Other Nikki/Artem storylines have been hurt by Artem looking like he feels tortured by being on a reality show and like he might not actually like Nikki, but here his happiness is believable. I still suspect he might be in massive engagement ring debt, but it’s also easy to be happy for him. The dude is reunited with family he rarely sees, embraced by his future mother-in-law, and knocks it out of the park with an elaborate proposal setup that fits perfectly for his girlfriend who, earlier this season, got excited about the idea of a Louis Vuitton pool cover. The biggest takeaways from the episode are what Nikki Bella thinks is “jockey vibes,” that she can protect her champagne flute while falling down the stairs, and a feeling of good for you, Artem! Go forth and be happy!

Russian Old Man Of The Week

The presence of Artem’s family brings out the underlying real-life elements of the proposal storyline and makes it a lot more charming. The Bellas (the twins, Kathy, JJ, and Lauren) and the Chigvintsevs (Artem, Vladimir, Anna, and Anton) all want to make good impressions on each other because they’re going to be related pretty soon. This makes for the rare reality TV episode in which everyone is on their best behavior (and extra careful about it because of the language barrier.)

The Bellas play things up for the cameras less, and the Chigvintsevs not at all. Artem’s parents don’t seem to really know how reality TV works; Artem has to kind of direct them in the scene where he’s going to ask Kathy for permission to marry Nikki. Also, Artem’s dad, Vladimir, at one point gives the camera a nod of acknowledgment like he doesn’t realize they’re not supposed to acknowledge their presence. Even if he does, that fourth-wall-breaking moment is so good I get why it was left in.

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A New Postmates Feature Makes It Easier To Support Black-Owned Restaurants And Businesses

Postmates is making it easier to find and support black-owned restaurants and businesses on their app, thanks to a new search feature. In a recent press release announcing the new feature, the food delivery app also indicated their support for the nationwide protests calling for justice for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the countless other victims of police brutality.

“We stand with those that need their voices heard and demands met. We’re committed to using our platform to effectively drive change, and change starts at home,” reads the statement, announcing a number of steps that Postmates is taking to support police reform such as joining the ACLU’s call for an independent review of the facts, donating to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and signing on as an ally of Black Tech for Black Lives, a collective of Black tech entrepreneurs, investors, creators, and workers calling for social change and an end to police violence.

The new feature allows you to find a growing list of black businesses in your immediate area by simply typing “black-owned” in the Postmates search bar. In an era when delivery apps are being heavily criticized for egregious fees, Postmates will also be waiving all delivery fees from each restaurant in the “black-owned” category for an unspecified period.

Postmates

“This is just the beginning of the changes we are planning to make. We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement, our restaurant partners, our Postmates Fleet, and each of you across the country,” the statement continues.

Postmates has also created an email address for people to reach out to on behalf of the businesses that are still being overlooked and unserved by delivery platforms, asking people to write their suggestions to [email protected].

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Arca And Shygirl Unite For ‘Unconditional’ With Proceeds Benefitting Black Lives Matter

UK singer/DJ Shygirl has teamed up with experimental producer Arca for a softspoken anthem. The duo shared “Unconditional,” with 100 percent of the funds being divided between the charity organizations Black Lives Matter and Inquest UK.

Sharing the song on social media, Shygirl said that they weren’t originally planning on a release, but hopes the song “brings some emotional relief to at least one other person somewhere, as I have felt solace and strength in music always.”

Shygirl held a similar sentiment in a statement posted alongside the track on Bandcamp:

“I felt overwhelmed this week. Inundated with imagery and news that triggered emotions I was not immediately ready to deal with. I found myself reaching for a lifeline, a brief moment of reprieve to steady me before I inevitably returned to the news, the deep dive of personal reflection and to the protest.

Protesting reminded me that I wasn’t alone. The possibility that others might feel the way I do, even in the slightest, made me want to speak up and reach out, to provide something. I find both solace and power in music, so it’s in this that I have a resource to share. With the aim to build emotional strength and connections in this time of awakening, reflection and protest.

I wrote the lyrics to this song a while ago, originally thinking of love, family, betrayal and ultimately strength in adversity. It was only this week that I thought of this song again with everything going on. The emotion of the song still rang true but this time in a wider way, a bigger family, a deeper betrayal, a greater need for love.

It felt right to share this now and I hope it means something to you.”

The track marks another collaboration between Shygirl and Arca. The duo recently united for “Watch” from Arca’s forthcoming record Kick I, which also boasts features from Björk and Rosalía.

Listen to “Unconditional” above.

Kick I is out 6/26 via XL. Pre-order it here.