Selma, Ava DuVernay’s historical-drama about the Selma to Montgomery marches to equal voting rights led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was one of the best reviewed films of 2014, but it was only nominated for two Oscars. True, one of them was Best Picture (which it lost to, ugh, Birdman), but David Oyelowo failing to pick up a nomination for his performance as MLK is still shocking. The actor believes he knows why that is, though.

Selma was released into theaters a few months after Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, was put into a chokehold by a member of the New York Police Department and died. “That was the last time we were in a place of ‘I Can’t Breathe.’ I remember at the premiere of Selma us wearing I Can’t Breathe’ t-shirts in protest,” Oyelowo told ScreenDaily. “Members of the Academy called in to the studio and our producers saying, ‘How dare they do that? Why are they stirring s-h-i-t?’ and ‘We are not going to vote for that film because we do not think it is their place to be doing that.’ It’s part of why that film didn’t get everything that people think it should’ve got and it birthed #OscarsSoWhite. They used their privilege to deny a film on the basis of what they valued in the world.” DuVernay agrees with Oyelowo, tweeting, “True Story.”

DuVernay also shared on social media that Selma is now available on all digital platforms for free. “Paramount Pictures is offering SELMA for free rental on all US digital platforms for June, starting today,” she tweeted. “We’ve gotta understand where we’ve been to strategize where we’re going. History helps us create the blueprint. Onward.”

Rap fans online are unleashing a chimera of jokes on Mobile, Alabama rapper Rylo Rodriguez for his new album cover thanks to one fan’s timely retweet and some questionable photoshop that may be taking the title a bit too literally. Rodriguez teased Goat In Human Form, his third full-length project, on Instagram Monday, posting its cover and suggesting that it’ll be released sometime this month. However, once the cover — which depicts Rylo as a mythological creature, with his torso turning into the body of an actual goat — migrated to Twitter, the great roast commenced in flamboyant fashion.

“Nah this the worst album cover I’ve ever seen,” wrote the Twitter user who posted it to his timeline. Making matters worse, the Twitter preview managed to cut the cover at Rylo’s waist, making it all the more enticing for observers to click through and determine just what made the cover so bad. Naturally, the tweet went viral, bringing with it a wave of gags, many focusing on the young adult fiction series Percy Jackson And The Olympians, which revolves around Greek mythology and includes a satyr (half-man, half-goat) character named Grover Underwood.

It didn’t take long for the parallels to inspire comparisons to Grover, while some other observers began posting other covers with odd photoshop jobs or questionable goat references. Other jokes invoked the faun (another name for satyr) Mr. Tumnus from The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe and the centaur character Motaro from the Mortal Kombat video game series. Hopefully Rylo’s got a good sense of humor, but even if the jokes sting a little, he has to appreciate all the free promotion he’s getting for his upcoming project.

Check out more fan responses below.

Ice Cube is using his Twitter account as a platform to combat misconceptions. The rapper has already been outspoken about police violence, including the recent video circulating that depicts an elderly man who was injured by Buffalo, New York police. Now, Ice Cube has taken to social media to dispel a problematic argument. Speaking about the ongoing demonstrations, the rapper addresses an argument used to demonize Black Lives Matter protests and shift the focus away from police brutality: “What about black-on-black crime?”

As protests against police brutality continue across the country, videos on Twitter circulate of officers using tear gas to disperse crowds. As pointed out by many publications, including The Cut, tear gas is classified as a chemical weapon and is banned in war, but technically legal for police to use on civilians. Ice Cube brought up this discrepancy on Twitter, saying that “Gassing American citizens is actually illegal.” One of the rapper’s followers responded, “So is theft and vandalism,” and Ice Cube shot back with, “So is killing BLACK PEOPLE.” The rapper then used the response as an opportunity to shed light on the “black-on-black crime” argument.

Outlining the general argument, Ice Cube wrote: “People always say Blacks kill Blacks more then the police.” The rapper then turned the argument on its head, pointing out that when Black people are violent against each other, it results in jail time. However, oftentimes when police are violent against Black people, there is no jail time. “THIS IS WHY PEOPLE ARE IN THE STREETS,” he said.

Later, Ice Cube reminded his followers why it’s important to keep pressure on elected officials: “I understand that people want to get back to normal. But normal is toxic for us. Keep your knee on these politicians and keep them working in our collective interest. Continue to post, inform and complain.”

Find Ice Cube’s tweets above.

Today, Rosalía has given her fans something that is both old and new: She has covered the traditional Mexican folk song “La Llorona” for the first time.

Rosalia sings on the song (translated from Spanish), “Alas, Llorona, Llorona / Llorona, bring me to the river / Cover me with your shawl, Llorona / Because I am dying of cold.”

In Mexican folklore, La Llorona is the ghost of a woman who kidnaps children and drowns them. The story goes that her husband loved their two sons and not her, so when she caught him with another woman, she drowned the children in a river and then drowned herself. She was denied entry into heaven until she found the souls of her sons, so now she cries and drowns children in the same river in which she drowned her sons. A Linda Cardellini-starring film based on the story, The Curse Of La Llorona, was released last year.

The performance actually took place a few days ago, as part of Se Agradece, a livestream music festival. Trebel, a music streaming platform and one of the event’s organizers, described the event in an Instagram post as (translated via Google) “a concert where music and solidarity become oneself.” The post continues, “For years we have taken the applause on stage, now we have to recognize all those heroes who are outside risking their lives to save ours.” Aside from Rosalía, the event also featured Maluma, Luis Fonsi, J Balvin, and many others.

Watch Rosalía perform “La Llorona” above.

NXT TakeOver In Your House airs this Sunday, June 7, live on WWE Network. The latest edition of TakeOver features a “Last Chance Backlot Brawl” for the NXT Championship, a triple threat for the Women’s Championship, a demon vs. a priest, and more. Come back to UPROXX on Sunday night for TakeOver results, news updates, and an open discussion thread.

NXT TakeOver: In Your House Card

1. Last Chance Backlot Brawl (If Dream loses, he can no longer challenge for the NXT Championship while Cole is still champion): Adam Cole (c) vs. Velveteen Dream
2. Triple Threat Match for the NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai
3. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Karrion Kross
4. North American Championship Match: Keith Lee (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
5. Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox vs. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez
6. Finn Bálor vs. Damian Priest

As always, we’ve got your complete rundown of the card and analysis below, featuring predictions for all six matches. Make sure to drop a comment and let us know who you think’s winning, and be here on Sunday night to see if you’re correct.

Here’s what we think will go down at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. Needs more Poppy.

Finn Bálor vs. Damian Priest

What You Need To Know: Damian’s last name is “Priest.” Finn Bálor can occasionally turn into a demon. It writes itself, people. (Also, Finn wants revenge for Priest randomly jumping him while he was trying to figure out how to un-pause his rivalry with WALTER.)

What Will Happen: Priest could really use a victory over a guy like Bálor, but is that going to happen? Probably not. Finn Bálor only seems to be in NXT for a creative rehab stint so he doesn’t lose his mind and go crazy jobbing to Bobby Lashley four times a month on Raw, and he’s only taking losses if there’s extracurricular nonsense going on. Unless Priest is going to debut a manager or some sort of backup, Bálor is going to dropkick him and Slingblade him and dropkick him and Slingblade him and dropkick him and Slingblade him until he turns to dust.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – PrinXe over Priest, sending Bálor up to the purpler pastures of challenging for the NXT Championship. This is the match I’m least looking forward to from both an in-ring and drama standpoint, so I’m hoping it surprises me and is shorter than twenty minutes.

Raj Prashad – Priest could use a big win coming off his chase of the North American belt, and picking up the victory over Bálor would go a long way. I’ve got Priest.

Elle Collins – While I think Finn could afford the loss, I just don’t have much faith in Damian Priest. Maybe that’s just me, but I think Bálor’s winning this one.

Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox vs. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez

What You Need To Know: Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai were best friends until Nox decided hanging out with Rhea Ripley’s War Games team while they make fun of Kai was cooler than having Kai’s back. So Kai turned on her, destroyed her knee, and started teaming up with the tallest and strongest woman she could find. Meanwhile, Mia Yim and Candice LeRae are embroiled in a feud concurrent with the feud of their significant others, and honestly, it all just goes back to War Games. That match really emotionally crippled the NXT women’s division, huh?

What Will Happen: I like matches like this on “pay-per-views” (or whatever) because they’re under-card story progression or payoffs without needing title belts involved. Wrestling has way too many damn title belts. Given Candice’s need to prove herself as a heel and shape her character’s identity, Nox and Kai continuing their thing, Raquel Gonzalez hossing up and throwing people around, tank entrances*, terrifying Coffin Drops straight to the floor, and also Mia Yim being present, this could fuck around and steal the show. Let’s go 2006 Dragon Gate with it!

*Honestly all I really need for this match to be a success is for Shotzi, Tegan, and Mia to all enter in little tanks. Or to enter together in one big tank.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I’m very hyped for this match because it’s so unconventional for a TakeOver – it looks like the last time there was a multi-man tag on one of these was in 2017, and I don’t think there’s ever been a women’s tag match on a TakeOver. I feel like these six wrestlers will go above and beyond, and this match will also make me feel pangs of longing for New Japan to return because rivalries in NJPW are almost entirely advanced by putting people that hate each other on the opposite sides of multi-person tags.

Raj Prashad – I’ve got Yim, Blackheart and Nox picking up the win here.

Elle Collins – I’m always going to want to see the team with Shotzi Blackheart win, but I think this is a match where all three heels need to show that they’re a force to be reckoned with, so I’m expecting LeRae, Kai, and Gonzalez to take it.

Scott Heisel – Whoa, Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox are gonna wrestle each other? That’s gotta be a first! Anyway, I will never pick against someone with green hair and a tank (plus NXT’s *other* Blackheart is gonna be losing this evening), so Team Shotzi for the win.

North American Championship Match: Keith Lee (c) vs. Johnny Gargano

What You Need To Know: Keith Lee’s girlfriend and Johnny Gargano’s wife are feuding, so now they’re suddenly feuding over the North American Championship as well. With Undisputed Era doing their own thing, Damian Priest occupied and Dominik Dijakovic rumored to be headed to the main roster, Lee’s well of opponents is completely dry. Additionally, Johnny is cartoonishly evil now.

What Will Happen: I’ve been hoping this would happen for months and it never does, so here it is again. I hope Gargano manages to win the North American Championship somehow and Adam Cole retains, allowing Keith Lee to pounce Cole into oblivion and become the face of the brand he should already be. Plus, if Cole’s going to ride out his contract and bail (or head to the main roster, where 5-foot-8 dudes who got popular on the show Vince McMahon doesn’t watch ALWAYS thrive), our last image of him under the NXT banner should be his frightened face as he goes sailing over the barrier, over the crowd, out of Full Sail, and into the night sky. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll get pounced all the way to Jacksonville.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I think it could work for either man to win this match, but I’ll say Lee retains. The only reason I think it would make sense for Lee to lose this belt is so he could challenge for the big one, and it looks like Dexter Lumis and Finn Bálor would be first in line. I’m guessing either Lee and Yim or Gargano and LeRae (or maybe both) go on to feud with NXT’s new established couple, Kross/Scarlett, after this.

Raj Prashad – Lee and Gargano are going to tear the house down in this one, and I’ve got the champ retaining here.

Elle Collins – I assume there will be shenanigans in this match. Despite having their own six-woman tag to worry about, it’s hard to imagine Candice and Mia not getting involved here. Still whatever happens I’m expecting Keith Lee to retain.

Scott Heisel – I’m totally down with Evil Johnny sneaking out a win here, only so at the next Takeover he and Keith Lee can somehow recreate the Hulk/Loki scene from Avengers.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Karrion Kross

What You Need To Know: Tommaso Ciampa lost an hour-long match to Johnny Gargano when he made the mistakes of (1) trusting Gargano’s wife and (2) not wearing a cup. Then he got attacked by a murderous warg (?) who wrestles in MIST FIELDS, is obsessed with clock metaphors, and head-drops you over and over while his hot valet who might also be a ravenous bird screams and crawls around. Ciampa’s gonna get got.

What Will Happen: If this goes longer than five minutes, they’re making a mistake. Kross needs to figuratively gut Ciampa and hang him up to dry, especially in his first match against an opponent who looks like he’s had a wrestling match before. Maybe Scarlett can shave Ciampa’s beard for good measure. Really send a message to everyone else on the roster. You thought THIS guy was scary? Hold on to your butts.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – The most exciting thing about this match to me is for Kross to have a match that isn’t a squash. His character stuff (in Impact and now in NXT) tends to get kind of love/hate reactions, but his regular wrestling is un-controversially pretty rad. I’ll predict he wins, establishing a new heel for NXT in the ring, beyond the goth Tik Tok entrance.

Raj Prashad – There’s no way Kross makes the debut he made without running through someone like Ciampa. I’ve got Kross dominating Ciampa.

Elle Collins – The new scary bald guy has to defeat the previous scary bald guy to prove that he’s the baldest, scariest guy. Don’t get me wrong, if Ciampa was like an Executive Vice President of NXT or something, I might expect him to beat the big scary new monster in his first PPV match, but he’s not so I’m pretty sure Kross will win.

Scott Heisel – See you at the Kross roads, Ciampa. Now tell me whatcha gonna do when judgment comes for you?

Triple Threat Match for the NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai

What You Need To Know: Charlotte Flair!

What Will Happen: Charlotte Flair!

(I was going to leave it like that as a joke, but you came here for at least a mild amount of analysis, so here goes. I think this one depends on if they’re booking it like a regular Women’s Championship match, or if they’re giving Charlotte the Ronda Rousey treatment. If it’s the former, Rhea Ripley will win back the NXT Women’s Championship by pinning Io Shirai, or vice versa, so Charlotte can lose without losing, and maybe they can do a Ripley vs. Flair one-on-one rematch at or around SummerSlam. If it’s the latter, Ripley will win by rolling Charlotte up. That gets her the Women’s Championship but doesn’t really bring closure to the story, and then Charlotte just kind of goes away forever. I’m gonna be bold and pick Io to pin Ripley while Charlotte’s knocked out on the floor, which still somehow leads to Ripley vs. Flair. Or Flair just spears them both at the same time and pins them in a pile.)

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – The pattern for this Flair vs. Ripley feud is other women getting pinned as collateral (Bianca, you were champion in my heart!) so I’ll guess that Rhea regains her title by pinning Io. I’ll guess that this match turns out pretty good and we transition to the continuation of the Ripley vs. Shirai one-on-one feud afterward.

Raj Prashad – This seems like the spot to get Ripley the belt back after Charlotte has paraded across the other brands with the NXT belt for the past few months. While she should be the favorite, going with Shirai to earn the win and get a run with the belt.

Elle Collins – It would make a lot of sense for this Triple Threat to get the belt off of Charlotte without her having to take a pin, whether it goes back on Rhea or finally on to Io. The thing is, though, I don’t think WWE’s nearly as interested in making sense as they are in Charlotte Flair. I think she retains.

Scott Heisel – Charlotte has wrestled nine matches between all three WWE TV programs since winning the NXT women’s championship at WrestleMania. I am beyond sick of seeing her at this point and would be happy if she vanished off TV until the Royal Rumble. I predict she drops the belt here to Io Shirai.

Last Chance Backlot Braw: Adam Cole (c) vs. Velveteen Dream

What You Need To Know: If Velveteen Dream doesn’t win this match, he can’t challenge for the NXT Championship again until Cole drops it. To celebrate both men’s need for the spotlight, Bill Regal booked them in a “Backlot Brawl,” which is apparently a ring surrounded by cars with their headlights for lighting. Sadly (or not, depending on how you think about it), they can’t do this like the original Backlot Brawl because Roddy Piper passed away and Goldust works for another company. And how well would O.J. Simpson chase footage play in 2020?

What Will Happen: Per my North American Championship pick, I want Cole to retain — maybe the other Undisputed Era members are hiding in the cars, and even if Dexter Lumis checks in they’ve still got the faces outnumbered 4-2 — and then drop the belt in spectacular fashion to Keith Lee. Keith is the guy who should be on top right now, unless we want to COMPLETELY abandon all that momentum he got from Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble. Plus, I want to see Cole pop up at All Out, possibly as a cute guy Dr. Britt Baker ran into at her day job. Tell me Hikaru Shida hitting Britt with a nasty running knee and a hard cut to Cole in the front row making a shocked face isn’t the best-ever way to debut a guy.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I’ll predict that this is when they put the belt on Dream and finally send Adam Cole up to the main roster.

Raj Prashad – The specific stipulation gives me the impression Cole picks up the win and continues his streak as the champ. After just coming up short last time, I think this is when Dream finally gets on top.

Elle Collins – How does Adam Cole still have this belt? Not that he’s been a bad champion, but it feels like he’s had it for a million years. Nobody else in the Undisputed Era has gold around their waist anymore — honestly, it kind of feels like that era is over. And if it’s not Dream’s time now, when will it be? Put that belt on him.

Scott Heisel – Dream has cooled off a ton in recent months. His gimmick is similar to Orange Cassidy in that it *needs* an audience to properly work, and without it the whole thing feels a little forced. (The danger of any other gimmick than “I’m a fighter with long hair and a beard” in the pandemic era, I suppose.) Still, this seems tailor made for Dream to win and finally ascend to the top of the mountain, freeing Cole and his cronies to get called up to Raw and rekindle their feud with Drew McIntyre.

Bring back the house set and Todd Pettengill, you cowards!

Agree with our picks? Think Shotzi Blackheart’s going to dive to the outside and become a Shooting Stars meme? Drop down into the comments section and let us know about it. And make sure you’re here on Sunday for all the festivities, as we share an open discussion thread, post some results, and try not to be surprised when evil Johnny Gargano defeats a guy he shouldn’t be able to pin even if you gave him a forklift. See you this weekend!

For more than a week, protesters have taken to the streets in cities around the country after yet another unarmed Black man was murdered by police. George Floyd, 46, died at the hands of Minneapolis police officers and sparked nationwide outrage about the continued racial profiling that targets and threatens the lives of people of color.

Many athletes have either spoken publicly or joined protesters in solidarity, but New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees used the opportunity to voice his concerns about how this might result in a new round of kneeling during the national anthem, a response that quickly drew the ire of people around the sports world, including and especially his own teammates, as they criticized his tone deaf response to the situation.

ESPN’s Maria Taylor was the latest to speak out against Brees on First Take on Friday morning, questioning whether the apology he issued in the aftermath of his comments was sincere or not, given the position he’s voiced about anthem protest on numerous occasions before, which Taylor and many others see as “dog-whistle” racism.

LeBron James joined in the criticism against Brees in recent days, and he was quick tweet his support for Taylor on Friday after her segment aired.

In addition to his public apology, Brees also apologized to his teammates during a conference call that also included Shaq, who said that most of his teammates accepted his apology. Still, Brees’ reputation has taken a huge hit this week, and the backlash isn’t slowing down anytime soon as people around the country demand steps to reduce systemic injustice and racism.

The second season of the Dirty John anthology series premiered this week while moving the show from Bravo to the USA Network. In a lot of ways, this season is better, and when I say better, I mean dirtier. Meaning that there’s a lot more trashiness, which I think would be sole reason why anyone wants to watch a series called Dirty John. This series dives deep into the sensational aspects of stories of obsession, yet as unbelievable as it might sound, the franchise is just fine without John Meehan around. No offense to Eric Bana, whose portrayal of the title character was sufficiently terrifying, but the second season has an even sleazier real-life story that acts as a launching point.

Get out of here, John, and make room for Betty.

As always, this franchise takes creative license and dramatizes real-life events. And if one goes back to the spandex-clad late 1980s, one of the most scandalous stories around (Oprah was obsessed with it) revolved around the upper-class divorce of Betty and Dan Broderick. Those legal proceedings weren’t the end of the story, of course, nor was the double murder of Dan and his new wife, Linda. There was also a high-profile trial with plenty of legit-news-outlet and tabloid coverage, and the real-life Betty is still serving her two consecutive 15-years-to-life terms in a California prison.

Let’s compare the seasons without too much spoiling — after all, the season’s only getting started — to illustrate why if you liked the first season, you need to put Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story on your list.

The Lead Actors:

Again, Bana was really convincing as a psychopath who could turn on a dime from charming to conniving to snarling. Likewise, Connie Britton was suitably naive and achingly vulnerable as Debra Newell, but Season 2 has a killer lead duo. Amanda Peet relishes the melodrama of this role, along with its frightening aspects. She doesn’t get to portray the youngest Betty in flashbacks, but she’s still internalized Betty’s idealism and “programmability,” for lack of a better word. When she’s betrayed — after nearly two decades of marital sacrifice and years of living lies — yikes. She throws daggers with those blue eyes while brandishing a pasted-on smile. Her slowly crumbling exterior reflects Betty’s beaten-down interior. Peet is fantastic enough that she’ll likely pop up on at least a few Emmy “snub” lists, though Dirty John ain’t exactly Emmy territory.

The kicker, though, is the casting of Christian Slater as Dan. The guy doesn’t make a habit of playing likeable guys, but with this season catching up with the Brodericks in 1989, I couldn’t help but think about the character he played in Heathers, which was released that same year. An unfair reference? I’d argue not. His J.D. (which was basically a budget take on a Jack Nicholson villain) was a slimebag, sociopath, and murderer, and I’d argue that Dan (at least as written in this series) qualifies under the first two labels. Slater is perfect here, reminding us of his most reprehensible character while portraying a law-abiding but downright awful husband.

Did Dan Broderick deserve to die? No, but Slater’s performance, and the way he pulls the rug out from under Betty, takes me back to my theater experience watching Heathers. Remember the horrible, pit-in-the-stomach scene where J.D. (and Veronica) murdered two football players? I do. People walked right out of the theater in the middle of that movie. That’s how Slater’s philandering, manipulative lawyer-doctor made me feel, and I mean that as a compliment to his acting abilities.

Who’s The Real Villain?

The first season of Dirty John didn’t 100% match up to the enormously popular true-crime podcast (from Christopher Goffard of the LA Times) of the same name. That wasn’t too surprising, really, since the series had a longer runtime and took advantage of more creative license with the visual medium. Eric Bana even promised us that the series was more unsettling than podcast listeners may have expected, and that was true. The Bravo series fleshed out John Meehan more substantially, gave him a sister to terrorize (Joelle Carter), and painted him a backstory that made him more than a mere “professional conman.”

Still, things were cut-and-dry as far as pinpointing the villain — John! — while Debra Newell, her daughters, and all the women who came before them were definitely the victims. Debra wasn’t blameless in her pattern of picking sh*tty men to marry, but she was not a bad person in any sense of the word, only very dumb in relationships. John was the guy who ripped off his string of wives and exacted murderous vengeance upon the Newell ladies. If not for Tara (shoutout to Julia Garner, stealing more scenes and hearts), John probably would have killed all the women of the family.

With Dirty John‘s second season, however, the anthology series takes a completely different path in drawing its characters. It’s exceedingly difficult to pinpoint “the” villain here. Yes, Betty did absolutely shoot and kill Dan and Linda. That’s not up for debate, nor is the fact that she left harassing messages on their answering machine and drove a car into their home. Yet this story somehow succeeds at portraying Betty in the most empathetic light possible. Showrunner Alexandra Cunningham even tucked a message into press screeners to communicate that she felt sorry for Betty and how she was treated by Dan before, during, and after their divorce.

Cunningham freely admits to this bias, and Betty is not drawn to be bad in this series. She’s portrayed as a victim as well — one of extreme emotional abuse — and this does, to be fair, make her much more compelling to watch than the “woman scorned” cliché that went down in the 1992 TV movie starring Meredith Baxter.

The Inside Of Betty’s Mind Vs. Dirty John Meehan

As noted already, John Meehan got a late-season backstory that made him less of a mysterious entity who seemingly emerged fully-formed to forge a path of destruction. In the process, viewers saw how John was trained as a conman by his dad, which enabled him to deftly maneuver within a system that was no match for his “talents.” Still, this was mostly a cautionary tale about the importance of background-checking anyone that you’d want to marry. That’s simply common sense! Look at someone’s past, and realize that they’ve got a fake medical license and history of violent and drug-related criminal defenses, and you probably won’t end up married to a John Meehan. Problem solved. Yes, John was scary, but he was, theoretically, an avoidable danger.

Whereas the abuse that Betty Broderick endured (again, as dramatized) was far more insidious. You may have to trust me on this one, so I don’t have to spoil the bigger happenings, but her marriage was dreadful to endure. She pretended everything was alright, of course, but behind the scenes, Dan gaslit her into oblivion, both emotionally (like the 1994 movie from which the term originally came) and even physically (that part’s a spoiler). When one is told that they’re crazy for years, one tends to start to believe it, especially since Dan did a lot to make Betty feel like a prisoner in her own home. He went to various lengths to rob her of her livelihood and lied for years about his affair, while telling her that she was paranoid and basically nuts.

This season portrays Betty Broderick as blindsided by a separation, which was followed by Dan, a ridiculously connected lawyer, took their four kids away and discarded his wife. Yes, she did horrible things in the aftermath, but by that time, she’d been led to believe that everyone thought she was nuts, so she might as well behave that way. And yeah, she was off-her-rocker and ultimately homicidal, although the show matches up to Betty’s real-life insistence that she never meant to kill Dan and Linda but herself. It’s a wild ride (although we don’t know how much is true) to see how Betty landed in that position. She did make the absolute worse decisions imaginable, but the second season leads viewers on an irresistibly trashy walk in her shoes to take us there.

USA Network’s ‘Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story’ airs on Tuesdays at 9:00pm EST.

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Wrestling TV ratings during a pandemic remain unpredictable, and nationwide civil unrest doesn’t exactly make things more stable. This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite lost a significant number of viewers, while the latest NXT only lost a few.

As reported by Showbuzz Daily, AEW Dynamite had 730,000 viewers this week. That’s significantly down from last week’s 821,000 viewers, for a PPV fallout episode featuring a guest appearance from Mike Tyson. That show drew 821,000 viewers. AEW’s ratings were also a bit down, with a 0.29 in the 18-49 key demographic, only .03 points lower than last week’s rating of 0.32.

NXT’s viewership was a bit down as well, but not by nearly as much as Dynamite’s. This week’s NXT had 715,000 viewers, compared to 731,000 last week. That means more people watched NXT last week than AEW this week, but this week AEW still managed to come out on top. Last night’s NXT was the go-home show for this Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: In Your House. NXT ratings in the 18-45 demo did go up slightly, with a 0.20 this week as opposed to last week’s rating of 0.19.

Some of the drop in ratings is almost certainly attributable to world events, with the protests over police violence across the country, not to mention the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. So it makes sense that CNN Tonight and Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN topped the key demo ratings for Wednesday Night with a 0.60. Hannity on FOX News had the most total viewers that same night, with 4.839 million.

The Tiger King world is still rattled after news that Carole Baskin has won her lawsuit against Joe Exotic and gained control of his controversial zoo. Now, the current owner of the Oklahoma animal park is speaking out, and he says Baskin has no idea what kind of trouble she’s walking into.

Tiger King star Jeff Lowe, a shady character who some viewers theorize is the real villain of the series, recently updated Entertainment Tonight on the condition of the park, and more importantly, his plans on not doing a single thing to fix it up before handing it over to Baskin. After describing the zoo as a “complete hell,” Lowe vowed to leave it in disarray as he and his current wife skedaddle out of town:

“It’s always been our intention to leave this place,” Lowe said of the Wynnewood location. “We don’t particularly like it here, because of its geographical location. It’s not a great place for a business, it was poorly constructed, so we’re happy to let her have it… I wish her all the luck in the world, and she can have these 16 acres of haunted memories.”

Lowe letting the park go to shambles is probably something Joe Exotic’s legal team will be interested to know. They currently plan to appeal the lawsuit decision in an effort to return control of the zoo to Exotic, but it sounds like there might not be much of a park left whenever Exotic finishes his 22-year sentence for animal abuse and attempting to kill Baskin in a murder-for-hire-plot. There’s never a dull moment with these people.

(Via Entertainment Tonight)