Although The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac were embroiled in a fierce feud at the time of Tupac’s death, Snoop Dogg, who was close to Tupac and another arm of the ongoing dispute between Bad Boy Records and Death Row, explained that Biggie was actually hurt when his rival was shot and killed in 1996. Snoop recounted meeting with Biggie after ‘Pac’s death to Fatman Scoop, who had a live chat with the West Coast godfather on Instagram and asked him whether he’d spoken to B.I.G. after the shooting which prematurely ended Tupac’s skyrocketing career.

Snoop replied affirmatively, indicating that a chance meeting with Junior MAFIA member Lil Cease led to Cease taking him to see Biggie, who was recovering from a car accident. “He’s in a walker, what the old people walk around in,” he recalled. “He got the walker sitting at the edge of the bed and when I walk in the room, we started talking. Then, he looked me in my eyes and he say something to that—he’s sad that Tupac is dead, but I can look in his eyes and I could see that he hurt.”

He also lightly touched on rumors that Biggie was behind the shooting, elaborating, “This is not a man that’s happy or glamorized. This a man whose friend that’s dead, they had a misunderstanding and he could never get no justice for his emotions, but he’s showing me his emotions. He explaining to me how much he loved Tupac and I ain’t trippin’. Not once did we bring up the Brooklyn incident, because what’s understood don’t need to be talked about.”

Watch Snoop’s interview with Fatman Scoop above.

Following his condemnation of J.K. Rowling’s remarks on trans people, Daniel Radcliffe’s digging in his heels to support stunt performers. The Harry Potter actor is co-hosting a new podcast series, Cunning Stunts, with David Holmes, his stunt double on all of the Harry Potter movies. During the 2009 installment, The Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Holmes’ Hollywood career came to a sudden end when he was paralyzed during a stunt for a flying scene. Over the past 11 years, he’s adjusted to a wheelchair with limited arm mobility, but he still holds a great appreciation for the profession. As for Radcliffe, he joins Holmes in wanting Academy recognition for the stunt field.

During a joint interview with Deadline, the pair discusses stuntwoman Olivia Jackson, who was partially paralyzed and lost an arm during a Resident Evil production. Holmes argues that it’s a “bit ridiculous” that the stunt field, despite risking life and limb for movies, isn’t honored by the Oscars, and Radcliffe adds that people simply don’t “see the art of a brilliant stunt scene.” He maintains that there’s “snobbery” at work, but that there’s a real craft involved with executing stunts in a believable and safe manner. He can see the downside to offering incentives for stunt performers to aim toward bolder stunts, but he ultimately believes that they deserve awards recognition at Hollywood’s most prestigious ceremony:

“[W]hen you go through what happened with Dave or Olivia, or the many people we’ve talked to that have had severe things happen to them, you realize everyone has put their bodies on the line to make the things we love. It seems crazy not to acknowledge that.”

Considering that there are many other Oscar categories than those that involve straight-up acting, it’s a solid idea. And honestly? A stunt montage in the middle of the Academy Awards might not be the “classiest” move, but it would probably drive up ratings. In the meantime, Holmes and Radcliffe are devoting their podcast to interviewing stunt performers, and you can check out their latest episodes here.

(Via Deadline)

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50 Cent previously made it his mission to get Pop Smoke’s debut album finished following his death. Although his involvement in the project hasn’t officially been confirmed by Smoke’s label, Republic Records did previously confirm a summer release date for the album. A lot has changed in the world since then, though, and now, Smoke’s posthumous record has been delayed.

Universal Music Group executive Steven Victor shared the news yesterday, also revealing that “Make It Rain,” a new song with a mystery guest, will be out on Friday: “Music is the tool of revolution. We have been watching, along with the rest of the world, as long overdue change starts to take root. We have seen Pop’s music become the soundtrack of the moment, unifying the masses. Given recent events, we have decided to delay the release of his album out of respect for the movement. ‘Make It Rain’ will be released this Friday, June 12th. The album will be released on July 3rd. Please join us in celebrating Pop Smoke’s legacy.”

It hasn’t been revealed who will be featuring on “Make It Rain,” but 50 Cent has certainly tried to get a lot of today’s biggest stars involved in the album: In recent months, he has publicly asked Roddy Ricch, Drake, and others to guest on the project.

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

The election is still months away (let that sink in), but presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is already thinking about what will happen if he wins. Specifically, how he’ll kick the conspiracy theorist in office out of the White House.

On Wednesday’s The Daily Show, host Trevor Noah asked Biden what he plans to do if Donald Trump loses the election but fails to vacate 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. After saying he’s “so damn proud” of the military leaders who have recently criticized the president, Biden added, “You have so many rank and file military personnel saying, well, we’re not a military state, this is not who we are. I promise you, I’m absolutely convinced, they will escort him from the White House in a dispatch.” The former-vice president also told Noah that he’s certain “this president is going to try to steal this election… This is a guy who said that all mail-in ballots are fraudulent, voting by mail, while he sits behind the desk in the Oval Office and writes his mail-in ballot to vote in a primary.”

You think politics are ugly now? Wait until November.

During the interview, Noah pressed Biden on whether he would defund the police, days after he wrote an op-ed for USA Today calling for additional funding for police departments. “I don’t think police should be defunded, but I think the conditions should be placed upon them where departments are having to take significant reforms relating to [whether] we should set up a national use of force standard,” Biden responded.

You can watch the interview below.

After a spate of memes he posted caused Ice Cube to be accused of antisemitism by commenters on Twitter, the West Coast rapper denied the accusations, saying that “I get along with every race on the earth.” Regarding speculation that he’d been hacked as a possible reason for his posts, Cube said, “This is CUBE. My account has not been hacked. I speak for no organization. I only speak for the meek people of thee earth. We will not expect crumbles from your table. We have to power of almighty God backing us all over the earth. NO MORE TALKING. Repent.”

He then shared another series of memes of prominent Black figures from throughout history, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Muhammad Ali, Bob Marley, and Marcus Garvey, with short captions explaining some of the injustices they’d faced in their lifetimes. He also took time to respond to some other critics and defenders, including Marc Lamont Hill and Michael Rapaport, respectively.

Responding to Hill’s tweet to a question about Cube’s memes that called the use of “conspiracy theories of Jewish global domination… textbook antisemitism,” Cube shot back, “What if I was just pro-Black? This is the truth brother. I didn’t lie on anyone. I didn’t say I was anti anybody.” Meanwhile, Rapaport defended Cube, saying, “Ice Cube ain’t Anti-Semetic. He’s anti-asshole. Let the OG Disruptor Disrupt!” Cube approved: “Someone who actually knows me.”

It’s important to note that the use of antisemitic imagery is being conflated on both sides with how Ice Cube actually feels about Jewish people and unfortunately, that’s just not how any of this works. You can absolutely hurt someone without intending to — something Cube and everyone commenting should realize.

Cube may not have any ill will toward Jewish people but his sharing those memes can definitely cause harm. As Hill pointed out, those memes, regardless of the poster’s intent in sharing them, propagate very clear messages painting a group of people as secret rulers in order to stoke resentment against them — resentment that transforms, all too often, into violent action. With hate crimes on the rise in America, Jewish and Muslim people are almost just as likely to become targets as Black people — especially when they overlap.

So, yes a little more empathy should be shown on both sides. It’s possible that Cube doesn’t actually realize the meanings of the memes he’s shared because he has been told that they espouse pro-Black messages rather than antisemitic ones and never really investigated it for himself. And it’s important for Cube to realize that he should truly understand what he’s posting before he blasts it out to his 5.3 million followers on Twitter. Intentions matter, but not as much as results and in the end, we should all be working toward the same result: A world free of hate and inequality.

Check out Cube’s interactions with his critics and fans above.

The annual extravaganza known as the Eurovision Song Contest ended up in the pandemic cancellation pile this year, but luckily, Netflix is here to fill that void. So are Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, who are starring in an absolutely bonkers looking movie, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga, for the Netflix streamer. Also on the cast list: Pierce Brosnan, who plays the “extremely handsome father” of Ferrell’s Lars, who’s one half of the Icelandic pop duo (Fire Saga) that’s completed by McAdams’ Sigrit. As this trailer reveals, they’re not exactly a hit on the local bar scene but still end up representing their country while taking a shot at bad-musical glory.

Will Ferrell in a Fabio wig: that’s an easy sell. This film’s directed by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) and written by Andrew Steele (SNL, The Jon Stewart Show), so viewers are in good hands. That’s especially the case when it comes to miraculously pulling off jokes where Lars and Sigrit mull over whether a bigger ding-dong and a cameltoe might win over judge’s hearts and, ultimately, make Iceland proud. Along the way, they must resist the cliché of falling into bed together like Fleetwood Mac… or Simon & Garfunkel?

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga doesn’t have a release date yet, but expect it this summer. Here’s a hair-filled poster.

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Tekashi 69 is set to return with new music this week, the Nicki Minaj reunion “Trollz.” The pair previously linked up on “Fefe,” which went multi-Platinum and reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 chart. Since the new song was announced, though, Minaj has faced backlash (and support) for decided to collaborate with the controversial rapper again. Now, Minaj has offered a response.

Taking to Twitter, Minaj wrote, “You don’t have to defend me. I’m not afraid of internet trolls, blogs, artists. I don’t jump on band wagons. Many will never know what it feels like to have a mind of their own.” The tweet has since been deleted.

Regardless of how fans feel about Minaj working with Tekashi, at least some good will come out of the collab. Minaj previously noted that a portion of proceeds from the song, including merch, will go to The Bail Project, saying, “We want to protect and support the thousands of brave people working on the front lines of social justice, using their voices to demand AN END to the targeting and killing of Black Americans by the police.”

Tekashi has been charitable in recent days, but it hasn’t always gone well: He tried donating to a non-profit, but they wouldn’t accept his money.

Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant, who tragically died in January in a helicopter crash, won many awards in his lifetime: five NBA Finals trophies, an MVP, two Olympic gold medals, and an Academy Award for Dear Basketball. And now he’s being honored with a posthumous Emmy award. Bryant will receive the Los Angeles Area Emmy Governors Award at the Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards for his “philanthropy, community building, and inspiration that extended beyond the basketball court”:

According to the org, the award “is presented to an individual, company or organization that has made an outstanding, innovative and visionary achievement in the arts, sciences or management of television as well as a substantial contribution to the greater Los Angeles area.” Spectrum SportsNet, which holds the TV rights to the Los Angeles Lakers, nominated Bryant for the award.

According to Variety, Bryant — who, with this Emmy, is halfway to an EGOT, but I think we can all agree being an 18-time All-Star is way more impressive than winning a single Grammy — was selected at this year’s recipient for championing “a number of worthy causes and critical issues, becoming an ambassador for women’s basketball, a mentor and youth advocate, and raised awareness of homelessness in Los Angeles.”

The 72nd Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards air on July 18 (watch here).

(Via Variety)