Category: News

It’s a godsend for parents when they can take their kids who have specific needs somewhere they won’t be judged. Parenting a child with disabilities or neurodivergence is hard enough without dealing with the stares, judgment and misunderstandings that can happen in public places.

Haircuts can be especially stressful for children with sensory issues and their parents.

Vernon Jackson, barber and owner of Noble Barber and Beauty salon in Cincinnati, Ohio, understands these families’ unique needs. So he opens up his shop one day a month for what he calls “The Gifted Event,” where he welcomes them for a free haircut.

The most common medical conditions he sees are autism, Down syndrome and spina bifida.

Jackson told Today there are a few things that these children worry about in the barber’s chair. Specifically, many don’t like the sound of the clippers and the feeling of hair falling on their skin. “One child told me it feels like needles,” he told Today.

The barber’s sweet approach while giving a haircut to Ellison, a child with Down syndrome, went viral on TikTok, earning over 3 million views. It’s touching because Ellison is all smiles and loves having some control over the stressful situation by telling Jackson when to “stop” and “start” with the clippers.

@thebest1period

Everyone here’s the video without the music! Idk what tik tok did🤦🏾‍♂️ but please consider donating! All of my cuts for my gifted clients are paid for by donations 🙏🏽

The viral video shows what can happen when a barber has the time to focus on the child as an individual and create an atmosphere where they are comfortable.

“Every child is different and I need to be present with them and meet them in the moment,” Jackson told Today. For Julie Eubanks, Ellison’s mother, who took the heartwarming video, being able to have Jackson cut his hair is a huge relief.

“I’m always in the state of anticipating the worst because you never know with these types of situations with Ellison, or with any kid with special needs, they can turn with a blink of the eye,” Eubanks told WLWT. “I was trying to enjoy it and record and peaking my head out of the side of my phone to be like, ‘Is this really going on?'”

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The commenters on TikTok thought the video was adorable.

“Thank you for having such a kind soul with these precious children that just need a little extra attention in a different way! This is awesome,” Jackie Griggs wrote. “Hard to tell who had more fun here. This is great!” Carrie Deal added.

Jackson has set up a GoFundMe where people can donate free haircuts to children with disabilities and he’s received over $17,000 in donations.

“As a barber, I saw the need for a place where children with disabilities are supported during a haircut and an environment where parents or caregivers don’t have to explain their child’s behavior or apologize for something they may do or say,” Jackson wrote on the GoFundMe page.

It’s incredible that Jackson sets aside time every month so that his business can focus on those who need a little extra love and attention. It’s a beautiful gift to these children and their parents and a wonderful example to share with the rest of the business community.

Justin Bieber and Kodak Black are among those that have been named in a lawsuit stemming from an incident last year— following a Super Bowl party in West Hollywood— that left two people shot. The entertainers, along with the city of LA, have been accused of negligence, Deadline reports. The shooting allegedly took place after a private concert Bieber held for a few A-listers at The Nice Guy, a restaurant and event venue in LA.

According to reports, two men claim they were shot and severely injured during a February 2022 shooting incident outside The Nice Guy following the party. The suit primarily places the blame on Kodak, who reportedly instigated the shooting while he was exiting the venue. Notable attorney Gloria Allred is representing the alleged victims.

The lawsuit also named several others, including The Nice Guy restaurant, where the party was held; hospitality company The Hwood Group; the Revolve Group, an online fashion and lifestyle company; as well as the City of Los Angeles, the City of West Hollywood, and Los Angeles County.

Footage recently caught by TMZ shows the events leading up to the shooting. The “Tunnel Vision” rapper was spotted exiting the venue with an entourage, along with Lil Baby and Gunna. The trio met with fans outside to sign autographs and take photos before a fistfight broke out nearby, spilling out into the street. At least 10 Gunshots could be heard moments later, causing a flurry of madness among the attendees and fans.

The avalanche of George Santos revelations and accusations has long been fodder for late night TV. A few weeks ago, multiple chat shows did the same thing: having some comic actor portray the noted fabulist, who last month was sworn in as a GOP representative after deceiving voters about, well, pretty much everything. Now, mere days after Santos got into a spat with Republican Mitt Romney, even Fox News is getting in on the action.

On his own late night ratings powerhouse Gutfeld!, Greg Gutfeld included a segment with multiple Santos jokes, although at least one was the expense of Democrats. He started by saying Santos “would definitely steal your mail and poop in your garden.” He added, “But compared to this current woke insanity, he looks like Mr. Rogers.”

Gutfeld then brought on comic Joe Machi, who did his own take on the guy accused of multiple dog-related scams. He asked about claims that he defrauded dog breeders.

“Consider the source, Greg,” Machi’s Santos said, with a gravelly voice that made him sound like Harvey Fierstein. “They make money off of dogs having sex. They’re the real golden retrievers.”

As for fellow lawmakers trying to get him removed from office, Fake Santos said, “They’re trying to get me fired? That’s like Tucker Carlson telling to stop sunning my testicles, Greg! The American people don’t care about me lying. They’re focused on the Super Bowl. Go Eagles.”

Okay, it’s not funny that even Fake George Santos is rooting for the birds. But even allowing a Fox News guest to drag Tucker’s weird testicle-sunning obsession is pretty ballsy for the network.

Yep, Gutfeld included a dig at the libs, but at least he’s acknowledging that Santos is not to be trusted. Baby steps! Also Gutfeld, the Fox News host with the best taste in music, was wearing a Cramps shirt. Welcome to the resistance, sort of.

(Via Mediaite)

After a series of incredibly fire singles, Skrillex has finally revealed the release date for his long-awaited album. Set to arrive next week, Quest For Fire, boasts an incredible set of collaborators, as well as Skrillex experimenting with a variety of sounds.

This album comes after a brief hiatus, as Skrillex revealed on Twitter last month that he took some time off from releasing music and performing festival sets in order to work on himself. Now, it appears he is in a better place, and all the more ready to share his new sounds with the world.

“For the first time in 4-5 years I’ve found a new sense of peace,” he said in a Tweet last month on his 35th birthday. “It took so much work and sacrifice to get here.”

He continued, saying, “There’s my bday tweet to you all.. Turing 35 for me was realizing the are certain f*cks you should not give , you’ll be more free for that”

Quest For Fire marks Skrillex’s first album in nine years, his last being 2014’s Recess. Over the past month, Skrillex has released several singles ahead of Quest For Fire, including “Way Back” with Trippie Redd and PinkPantheress, “Rumble” with Fred Again.. and Flowdan, “Leave Me Like This” with Bobby Raps, and “Xena” with Nai Barghouti.

Quest For Fire is out 2/17 via OWSLA/Atlantic. You can pre-save it here.

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

The trial for the murder of XXXTentacion is underway. The trial has garnered a wide following, especially as artists like Offset, Quavo, and Drake have been ordered to deposition. In a new development, another suspect in the murder of XXXTentacion has reportedly denied Drake’s alleged involvement in the murder.

According to footage shared by Akademiks, Robert Allen told the court on Friday (December 10) that he had never met Drake. He denied receiving money from Drake and/or any of his associates and also said he did not know who XXXTentacion was at the time of his death.

In the clip above, we see that Allen is delivering his testimony by way of “yes” or “no” responses to questions asked by defendant Dedrick Williams’ attorney Mauricio Padilla. Padilla asks several questions, including “Your testimony to this court and to this jury is that you were never on the set of [Drake’s] ‘God’s Plan’ video, filmed in Miami in 2018? Is that what you’re saying?”

Padilla continued, asking, “But actually, in 2018 when this crime occurred, you didn’t know who X was? In 2018, you’re from Broward County, correct? You listen to rap music, correct? And you’re telling this jury that you didn’t know who literally probably the most famous rapper to ever come out of Broward County was in June of 2018? That’s your testimony?”

Back in January, Padilla reportedly subpoenaed Drake to sit down and offer a deposition in the case of the murder of XXXTentacion. The deposition is reportedly scheduled to take place on Friday, February 24.

If Drake does not make the deposition, then he will be required to appear in court on Monday, February 27.

Last week, the latest trailer for Fast X dropped, and it was as over-the-top and delightful as was expected. One of the biggest parts of it was its villain: a gentleman known as Dante Reyes, played by Jason Momoa. It’s a bit of against-character casting, as Momoa tends to play badass good guys. But there’s something else shocking about the character, namely his connection to one of the previous entries.

As per ScreenRant, it’s been revealed that Momoa’s Dante Reyes isn’t just some anonymous hater of Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and “family.” Dante is the son of Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), the ruthless drug lord who at the end was executed by Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs.

Johnson, of course, is not in Fast X (nor its follow-up), as his real life beef with Diesel never got resolved. Still, clearly Dante is still mad at the whole gang, some of whom made off with a bank vault in the thrilling/ridiculous conclusion to Fast Five. The trailer even includes footage from that 12-year-old film, tying everything together.

So congrats, Jason Momoa! You join a tradition in Fast and Furious villains, some of whom have been blood relations of other characters. There’s Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw coming after the gang after they battled his brother, Luke Evans’ Owen Shaw, the villain of Fast & Furious 6. Then there’s F9, who turned out to be the brother of Dom and Jordana Brewster’s Mia.

Fast X hits theaters on May 19. You can watch the new trailer below.

Janelle Monáe seems ready for NBA All-Star weekend and has already compared herself to legends like Allen Iverson. The singer will be appearing alongside a bevy of celebrities and entertainers like 21 Savage and Cordae. The annual sporting event weekend will take place in Salt Lake City this year from February 17-19. Ahead of her upcoming game, Monáe posted a hilarious meme of her face photoshopped over Allen Iverson.

Before that, the singer and Glass Onion star shared her shooting skills on Instagram while sporting the infamous and now-viral MSCHF boots.

Monáe will be a part of former NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade’s team, alongside 21 Savage and Nicky James, while Utah Jazz governor Ryan Smith will coach the other team. Smith’s roster includes several stars as well, like Cordae, country star Kane Brown, and Latin trap singer Ozuna.

Other notable celebrities and professional athletes such as Albert Pujols, Calvin Johnson, DK Metcalf, the Miz, and WNBA stars like Arike Ogunbowale and Diamond DeShields are expected to participate in the celebrity sporting affair.

The All-Star Celebrity Game is scheduled for Friday, February 17, at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT (5 Mountain Time).

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

The internet is still abuzz over Sam Smith and Kim Petras‘ performance of their hit single, “Unholy.” While fans lauded the performance, several viewers deemed it “satanic” and “sacrilegious.”

According to reports from TMZ, filed complaints against CBS and the Federal Communications Commission.

Some viewers took offense to the outwardly sexual imagery, while others felt the performance glorified devil worship.

In one of the obtained complaints, a viewer from Blufton, South Carolina called the “Unholy” performance “outright porn.”

“I’m sure there is a reasonable number of rules governing this type of behavior,” read the complaint. “This is not equity and inclusion this is outright disgusting and should be shown to underage kids on regular TV. I expect the FCC two to find CBS for this type of behavior to reset the standard for family-friendly TV programming.”

Another viewer from Austin, Texas took issue with the “pentagrams and Satanism portrayed.”

“This should not be acceptable for the greater public to see unless there are exclusive warnings about the damage it can do,” read the complaint.

A viewer from Allen, Texas was so offended by the performance that they have decided to cancel their television service outright.

In an interview captured by Variety that took place after the performance, Petras shared that the “Unholy” performance was inspired by not feeling accepted by religion.

“I think a lot of people, honestly, have kind of labeled what I stand for and what Sam stands for as religiously not cool,” said Petras, “and I personally grew up wondering about religion and wanting to be a part of it but slowly realizing it didn’t want me to be a part of it. So it’s a take on not being able to choose religion. And not being able to live the way that people might want you to live, because as a trans person I’m already not kind of wanted in religion.”

Drake‘s Certified Lover Boy era has been immortalized with a new wax figure at Madam Tussauds in London. The wax museum recently shared the announcement on social media. The Toronto rap star’s first wax figure — inspired by his “Hot Line Bling” video — has been on display at the museum’s Las Vegas location since 2019. His second figure will be part of a new exhibit, the Impossible Festival music zone, in its London location. The statue captures Drake’s look from his performance at the 2021 Wireless Festival in the British capital, complete with his notable Certified Lover Boy-era heart-shaped lineup.

In addition to his CLB-inspired lineup, the rapper’s wax figure was styled with adorned with a matching camouflage shirt and pants combo, a green cropped puffer jacket, and white-on-white Air Force 1’s and replica Cartier and Van Cleef jewelry, according to a press release.

“Drake has shown his love for London on numerous occasions, with his surprise appearance at Wireless Festival being just one example of this,” said Madame Tussauds London’s general manager Tim Waters in a recent statement. “With reports that he’s soon to call London home, we wanted to make sure we were able to give him a warm welcome to our streets and show that the love is reciprocated the only way we know how by immortalizing him in our famous attraction.”

But Drake isn’t the latest Grammy-winning hitmaker to receive a wax figure this year. Madame Tussauds recently released its new Rihanna wax statue inspired by her now-iconic 2018 Met Gala outfit.

It looks like Don Toliver‘s upcoming album, Lovesick may arrive in the near future. Today (February 11), the Houston-native singer took to Instagram to drop some hints.

In his Instagram story, the “Do It Right” singer is seen holding a whiteboard reading “Lovesick” at the top. It appears a potential tracklist was smudged out using Instagram effects.

In the next section of the story was a black screen, with text reading “The Month of Love is what they say.”

While it’s not clear what “the month of love” is, it’s safe to assume Toliver is referring to February, especially as we are just days away from Valentine’s Day. Toliver has also cleared his entire Instagram, which, in this day and age, signifies that a new musical era is imminent.

We don’t know a whole lot about Lovesick, however, in a December interview with Clash, Toliver revealed that his upcoming third album will follow a cohesive, sequential narrative.

“On this particular album, I really locked in on the actual story and the theme of the album and basically the tracklist is going in sequence, in motion of the actual story, of what it will be,” he said.

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