Month: August 2022

Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is so far universally beloved, although some listeners have noticed one aspect of it they find troubling: In one section of the song “Heated,” Beyoncé says, “Spazzin’ on that ass, spaz on that ass / Fan me quick, girl, I need my glass.”

The use of the word “spaz” is particularly noteworthy since Lizzo just received criticism for including the word on “Grrrls” and promptly changed the song’s lyrics in response. Now, people are calling out Beyoncé, including Hannah Diviney, the writer and disability advocate whose tweet brought significant attention to Lizzo’s lyrical issue.

For those unfamiliar with the term, Merriam-Webster defines it as “one who is inept” and categorizes it as “slang, often offensive.” In 2007, Benjamin Zimmer, editor for American dictionaries at Oxford University Press, noted that in the US in the 1960s, usage of the word shifted “from its original sense of ‘spastic or physically uncoordinated person’ to something more like ‘nerdy, weird, or uncool person.’” The word is derived from “spastic” and “spasticity,” of which a 2015 paper published by the National Library Of Medicine notes, “Spasticity is a velocity-dependent increase in muscle tone and uncontrolled, repetitive, involuntary contractions of skeletal muscles. Spasticity presents as upper motor neuron symptoms in patients with central nervous system pathology such as stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, or multiple sclerosis.”

In response to Lizzo, Diviney explained the issue with the word, tweeting, “Hey @lizzo my disability Cerebral Palsy is literally classified as Spastic Diplegia (where spasticity refers to unending painful tightness in my legs) your new song makes me pretty angry + sad. ‘Spaz’ doesn’t mean freaked out or crazy. It’s an ableist slur. It’s 2022. Do better.” In a July 30 tweet in response to the Beyoncé song, she wrote, “So @Beyonce used the word ‘spaz’ in her new song Heated. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo. Guess I’ll just keep telling the whole industry to ‘do better’ until ableist slurs disappear from music [broken heart emoji].”

Diviney expanded on those points in an opinion piece published on The Guardian today, writing in part:

“Beyoncé’s commitment to storytelling musically and visually is unparalleled, as is her power to have the world paying attention to the narratives, struggles and nuanced lived experience of being a black woman – a world I can only ever understand as an ally, and have no desire to overshadow.

But that doesn’t excuse her use of ableist language – language that gets used and ignored all too often. Language you can be sure I will never ignore, no matter who it comes from or what the circumstances are. It doesn’t excuse the fact that the teams of people involved in making this album somehow missed all the noise the disabled community made only six weeks ago when Lizzo did the same thing.

It doesn’t explain how millions of people have already heard this album and yet aren’t raising the issue, except to make fun of or degrade the disabled community.”

After the release of “Heated,” some took to Twitter and pointed out how Beyoncé wasn’t facing as much backlash as Lizzo did.

Meanwhile, others excused Beyoncé’s use of the word and argued it has a different meaning in the Black community.

Beyoncé has yet to publicly address the situation.

Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

At the moment, there’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to what’s going on with Blink-182. A couple weeks ago, Matt Skiba, who joined the group after Tom DeLonge’s departure in 2015, said he’s not sure if he’s even in the band right now, responding to a fan comment, “your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, I am very proud of and thankful for my time w @blink182. We shall see…”

Now, DeLonge has caused even more confusion with his latest social media activity, which may indicate that he’s back in the band. Over the weekend, fans noticed that DeLonge updated his Instagram bio to mention the band, reading, “I make music (@blink182 and @angelsandairwaves) and films (@tothestars.media), and at TTS I work alongside a few spies and a very important physicist.”

Notably, that update doesn’t mention Box Car Racer, DeLonge’s short-lived band with Travis Barker from the early 2000s, seemingly indicating the Instagram bio only mentions active projects of which DeLonge is a part.

DeLonge also shared a vintage photo of the Blink-182 trio over the weekend.

There’s certainly interest in a Blink-182 reunion on DeLonge’s end, as he told James Corden back in November, “It’s so funny: Blink, it’s like, we’re there and then we’re gone and then we’re there and then we’re gone. I feel like I’m always talking about some kind of reunion. We always talk about playing together again and I think that that’s definitely something we’re all interested in. Finding the time to do it where it lines up with everybody’s priorities is really all that’s needed, and getting Mark [Hoppus] healthy again, getting him strong again. But yeah, I’m down, I think those guys are down. I think just finding the time to do it and when is really what we just got to figure out.”

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

Multiple times per week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts and ratings) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.

TIE: 10. The Resort (Peacock series)

Vacation-based shows are all the rage for escapist purposes (because good luck in getting anywhere smoothly by air right about now), so if you loved White Lotus and thought that Nine Perfect Strangers was at least decent, then you’ll want to give a whirl or two to this show starring Cristin Milioti and William Jackson Harper. Palm Springs writer Andy Siara is doing showrunning duties, and the story follows an anniversary trip in Yucatan that transforms into an unsolved mystery, and hey, this is not only a multigenerational tale of mystery but also stars Nick Offerman and Skyler Gisondo.

TIE: 10. Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (HBO Max)

The entertainment world can’t resist a reboot, and this followup follows a brand new set of liars that hail from the same universe as the O.G. show but also come from a new generation. There may or may not end up being some explicit connections to the original show, but the location definitely changes. Here, the drama goes down in Millwood (not Rosewood) following a massive tragedy from long ago. The central group of pals includes a horror movie buff (because obviously) as well as a virtual-reality obsessive, a track star, and a ballerina.

9. Rap Sh!t (HBO Max series)

The legendary Issa Rae’s in the executive producer seat with her followup to Insecure and all of its block party madness. This series showcases a female rap due that’s rising to the top, fast, after reuniting following a good run as childhood friends. There are side and main hustles and plenty of hustle at parties, but this show also focuses on how the behind-the-scenes madness is often more interesting than the public-facing glamour. It’s all about authenticity, and these ladies nail it.

8. Stranger Things (Netflix series)

Get ready for another long wait for the show’s final season, but even Metallica fans can’t resist this batch of episodes and get down with the Upside Down. Jamie Bower Campbell loved doing the villain thing, and he’s still wondering about that “Vecnussy” curiosity. Hopefully, the final season will arrive with plenty of death because Millie Bobbie Brown is correct: the ensemble cast is simply too damn big. Time to off some people!

7. The Boys (Amazon Prime series)

This season’s actually worth a few watches, especially with all of the “Herogasm” madness because I guarantee that you missed at least a few of the montages going on in the background. (Pour one out for poor Frenchie, who really wanted to be there.) This season somehow sets up Homelander as an even bigger bad than he already was. He’s got very little to lose from here on out, and he might even launch the apocalypse. Eric Kripke might also bring back Black Noir as another Black Noir, and before that happens, we’ll get to see the Gen V spinoff.

6. Only Murders In The Building (Hulu series)

Martin Short and Steve Martin are cool enough, but Selena Gomez is what makes this show as captivating as it really is. Yep, she got robbed for an Emmy, and “Bloody Mabel” might go down, and if you need a little more Selena, go check out Selena + Chef on HBO Max. And then come back and wonder if this show’s mysteries will ever really be solved, or if the central trio will keep on stumbling into scenarios that make themselves look like the guilty parties.

5. The Gray Man (Netflix film)

Geez, this movie has only been out for a week, and already, Ryan Gosling’s going to be leading some spinoff films. Chris Evans and Anna de Armas also star in this action-y spy flick because I guess we needed more movies that remind us of James Bond. Gosling is on a roll with the Barbie movie coming, but in this Netflix movie, he stars as a man of intrigue who’s dodging a merchant of death, and since the Russo brothers produce, you’re definitely in for a well-referenced ride with the story also being able to stand on its own two feet.

4. The Bear (FX series streaming on Hulu)

This breakout hit is a lean, mean, dramedic machine, and the first season was such a raging success that a followup’s already in the works. Will Carmy have sex, though? Somehow, that’s the overriding question for the future, and hopefully, we’ll receive more beautifully show kitchen aesthetics as well. Ayo Edebir and Ebon Moss-Bachrach turn out to be necessary ingredients in supporting Jeremy Allen White (getting the post-Shameless leading man turn that he deserved), and I can’t wait to see where all that tension goes in the future.

3. Harley Quinn (HBO Max series)

King Shark, King Shark, King Shark! Oh right, he’s back (the voice of Ron Funches, that is), and so is Kaley Cuoco’s title character with her lady love, Poison Ivy (Lake Bell). They’re on new adventures of DC villainy, but Ivy sure would like for Gotham to be a paradise akin to Gotham. The show also performed some enormous fan service already with the central couple, so surely, no one will mind the “Harlivy” moniker while all of the outrageous profanity and baseball-bound violence does down, too.

2. Paper Girls (Amazon Prime)

Yep, there’s some Stranger Things flavor here with some undertones of Yellowjackets and Dark. Gather around for another trip back to the 1980s, but don’t worry, this is no mere hit of nostalgia. Rather, the girls come into the future, as based upon the Brian K. Vaughan comic book. The girls get to meet up with the future and their future selves, and there’s a little bit too much time wizardry happening with sci-fi being secondary to the story at hand and the beautiful rendering of friendships and vivid inner lives of the four central protagonists.

1. Better Call Saul (AMC series streaming on AMC+)

Kim Wexler ain’t dead yet, and the good news is that we’re about to see some Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, finally, after a long and winding buildup to their promised visit on this spinoff. There aren’t too many dominoes left to fall here, apparently, but and the show’s already bid farewell to one villain who will be sorely missed. Yet we’re about to see this show’s timeline collide with that of Breaking Bad, and there are only three episodes left. If you had one wish left for this show, what would it be? I’m going with more Cinnabon.

As many of the top wide receivers in the NFL cashed in on big money deals this offseason, one of the breakout stars of the 2021 season was left waiting on his payday as camp began last week.

San Francisco 49ers do-it-all receiver (and sometimes running back) piled up 77 catches for 1,405 yards and six touchdowns, leading the leads in yards per reception, while also carrying the ball 59 times for 365 yards and eight touchdowns, as he did a bit of everything for Kyle Shanahan’s offense. Samuel’s breakout meant he was entering a contract year with just one season of elite production (although he was highly productive as a rookie) but with the obvious skills to be the focal point of a great team.

As such, the two sides worked for months to figure out where his market value was, with rising receiver contracts contributing to the divide, but on Sunday night after a week of a “hold-in” where Samuel worked out on his own away from the team at camp, a deal got done. Samuel will get a three-year extension worth just under $72 million, with a guarantee of $58.1 million.

That’s about the same extension that DK Metcalf just got in Seattle, which positions Samuel as one of the top paid receivers, but still just shy of the absolute top contracts. If Samuel continues to produce at the same level as last year, it’s an underpay on the Niners side, but they were clearly not wanting to pay him record-breaking money coming off a breakout year, in case he takes a bit of a step back in terms of production next year. In any case, both sides will be happy a deal is done, with Samuel understandably wanting to capitalize off a big season and not wanting to risk an injury next year that would diminish his value on the free agent market, while the Niners lock up their most important offensive weapon for a few more years.