Category: News

At long last, Rudy Giuliani was unmasked this week on The Masked Singer after his rendition of “Bad To The Bone” (what a set of words that is), and it wasn’t mere 4/20 eye-squinting trickery. Judge Ken Jeong was not having it and walked off the stage in protest after stating that, nope, he definitely wasn’t looking at Robert Duvall.

Can you imagine being put in that position as a judge? And Robin Thicke isn’t enjoying such a good look after reports that he’d walked out didn’t turn out to be true, and yeah, it’s a pickle alright. You think you signed up for some light entertainment, and then the leader of Trump’s Strike Force pops onstage. Not cool! Regardless, Rudy’s performance (if you can call it that) didn’t receive praise from anyone, and via this clip posted by former federal judge Ron Filipkowski, the unofficial Four Seasons Landscaping mascot explained why he took the plunge in the first place.

“I like doing comedy,” Rudy explained while pointing out that he appeared on SNL and The Late Show With David Letterman over the years. He went on to accuse Jeong of “suffering from Late Stage Trump Derangement Syndrome, for which they have not developed a vaccine.” What a joker.

Naturally, Jeong’s refusal to visibly remain on the set with Giuliani said a lot, as did the fact that the former America’s Mayor sowed plenty of Trump-fueled chaos along with the MyPillow guy. And no one is a fan of Giuliani’s “comedy” attempts, it seems, although people do love his inadvertent appearances as the butt of a joke. Lots of Borat and hair-dye jokes surfaced.

It’s also worth noting that Giuliani’s appearance was met with the lowest viewership for this season of The Masked Singer.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Attending the Masters is a lot like riding through a Cook-Out drive-thru in a Maybach. The whole time you’re in it, you’re aware that something feels off, that you’ll be found out, that there’s a bit of absurdity to the contrast. And yet, it’s that ultimate combination of highbrow and lowbrow that speaks to the entire Masters world, one that has one-percenters standing hours in line for a lawn gnome, gobbling $1.50 white bread and cheese sandwiches, stacking logoed plastic cups to the sky, and putting their business cards in collapsable (yes, still branded) chairs.

To try and explain the Masters at all is daunting. It’s why ESPN still has Wright Thompson dedicating time to vignettes about the sights, sounds, and experience. It’s why CBS makes the entire week a showpiece, moving heaven and earth so Jim Nantz is there, even as he flies straight from the NCAA men’s basketball National Championship. And it’s why pieces like this continue to exist, year in and year out, as first-timers look for ways to capture what they saw both to justify their own existence and because on some level there’s a fierce need to be believed, to prove what you saw was real.

The no-phone rule alone is staggering. If you want to see the action, you have to walk the course. Hospitality Cabins – of which there really aren’t many – aren’t set within view of any particular hole, so CEOs, pop superstars, former NBA players, actors, and yes, even Nick Saban, have to trudge up the hilly terrain and find their vantage points. And with no phones, there’s less of a need to pry or gawk; conversations evolve naturally, and there’s a surreal feeling as you see the same people over and over in an untethered, dream-like serendipitous state that is as carefully crafted as anything else in the Masters mythology.

Everything on the course is a whisper. If you don’t see it happen yourself, you get dispatches from whoever tells the story. An almost hole-in-one; a meltdown on the third hole; a five-putt on 16; the best approach shot you’ll ever see, trust me. The panoramic roars are addicting and infuriating. You want more of them. But not knowing what led to them is its own cosmic joke. At some point, you surrender yourself to the magnolias and the pine straw, to the insanely helpful workers, to the manufactured charm and elegance, and tell yourself you’re part of it. You belong too. Of course, even that is its own myth.

That thrill alone is what keeps people coming back. Many folks admit to it being their eighth or ninth or twentieth Masters. How they got there is its own story. They won the lottery, or their golf coach is a member, or their boss decided to take them. They each have their own tricks and tips to the course, to the concessions, to the pro shop, to parking. And they make mention of how things used to be (dangling their feet in the water on 16), or how they’re the same as they always were.

All that wouldn’t matter if the product wasn’t captivating. The Masters perennially delivers drama and brings out the best in players. Bernhard Langer won the Masters in 1985 and 1993 and celebrated the 40th anniversary of his first time playing at Augusta National by still being in this year’s field. He’s in awe of how it has continued to evolve for players and spectators alike while retaining the attention to detail that has been its calling card for almost 90 years.

“My first time seeing the golf course was a real eye-opener,” Langer told Uproxx. “I had never seen anything like it coming from Europe, and especially from Germany. Our greens were slow and somewhat bumpy. The fairways looked more like semi-rough at times and things like that. And to come here and driving in Magnolia Lane, see the Clubhouse, see the manicured golf course and then putt these greens that are so hilly and undulated and maybe 15 on the stimpmeter [green speed reader], but we’ll never know because they don’t tell us. It’s the only tournament in the world that doesn’t tell us how fast the greens are. Anyway, I had never experienced anything like it or seen anything like it. And I immediately fell in love just with the course and with the opportunity and the challenge to play such a pristine golf course. There wasn’t one blade of grass that seemed to be out of order.”

Langer notes that the course has always changed — not just to “Tiger-proof” it — over the years. But not everything needs changing. Even he makes mention of how great a deal for spectators it is (assuming of course you can find a ticket) once you let go and give yourself to the weekend.

“They do a phenomenal job for the patrons,” Langer adds. “The spectators, when they come here, they get free parking. The food they buy on the course is very cheap compared to any other sporting event of this magnitude, and so are the drinks. They’re really trying to make it a great experience for the people who come here and watch some of the best golfers in the world compete. And I think that’s very unique. I mean, they could charge $10 for a sandwich and $5 for a Coke or water but they don’t. People would pay it because you have a captive audience, like in any other sporting event, but they choose not to. And that’s a wonderful thing.”

Augusta National can afford to keep prices low because of the demand; it’s part of the experience, after all. And the course will do anything to protect that experience, short of buying every house in Augusta. They carefully choose their partners — IBM, AT&T, and Mercedes are all involved in some capacity, but there aren’t brand logos all over everything as you’ll see at just about every other sporting event in America. The Masters logo takes precedence over all else. The partners are more than okay with that.

Mercedes takes a cue from that attention to detail as a throughline for their entire experience (of which I was invited to take part). Guests remarked that even if they’d been to the Masters before in a variety of ways, this was different. The group I was with had access to rented furnished houses a few miles outside Augusta, along with entertainment and food throughout the weekend, any number of luxury vehicles to drive, and shuttle service to the course right down Magnolia Lane. For Mercedes, the 15 years of association with the tournament is a no-brainer, and they’re bringing some of their insights and technology to help modernize the experience, including utilizing electric cars like the EQS to shuttle players and installing electric chargers in parking areas. Their stated goal is to be fully electric by 2030.

The Masters still has a long way to go in hopes of ultimately using its powers for good. Its history isn’t without its blemishes (as Bomani Jones remarked on his HBO show Game Theory), and recent moves like forming a Women’s Amateur are only a start. The most impactful way Augusta National could enact change is locally, in its own backyard. The downtown area is being revitalized through local restauranteurs and business owners, but service workers admit Augusta National is often nowhere to be found.

Augusta, like any city with an industrial past, has a wide disparity in economic prosperity depending on zip code (23.2 percent of the city is below the poverty line as of the 2020 census), the familiar look of hollowed-out buildings along the river (from the city’s past in textiles and ironworks), and its own ugly history of redlining (a history of prejudice in home loans that led to further segregation in America, written in detail in Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law).

Even on Masters weekend, there’s a sense that there are Two Americas, and Augusta National continuing to buy up all the modest ranch homes along the perimeter isn’t exactly helping. But what’s happened has already happened; what hasn’t happened yet is still a potential outcome. A commitment to infrastructure, education, and sustainability would be a start. As in all community projects, it isn’t about throwing money at the problem, but instead working on root causes and identifying individual inflection points to address with community leaders and residents, from affordable housing to after-school programs.

The Enterprise Mill project is one to look to as a hybrid solution, honoring the city’s heritage through a discovery center, as well as providing event space, offices, and housing. The Frog Hollow restaurant group has focused extensively on Broad St., and on transforming what it means to work, live, and play downtown. No solution is instantaneous; but if Augusta National and its partners committed not only resources but also its members’ and advisors’ considerable know-how and network to the region, there’s no telling how much of an effect it could have long-term.

That would only add to the legend of the Masters, and could yet be its most impactful legacy. The event already makes anyone who attends feel special, and that energy is infectious – if not outright powerful. Everyone should get the chance to feel that way.

“Not once in my life has anyone ever gone, well it was alright,” ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt said during a panel discussion on Saturday about attending the Masters. “I don’t know if I’ve been anywhere that makes people feel the way they feel [here.] It’s almost spiritual in a way.”

Uproxx Sports was invited on a hosted trip through Mercedes for reporting on this piece. However, Mercedes did not review or approve this story in any way. You can find out more about our policy on press trips/hostings here.

Girl In Red became a viral sensation through vulnerable, lo-fi songs about love and heartbreak, like with “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” and “We Fell In Love In October.” Her debut album If I Could Make It Go Quiet, though, watched her shift gears into a full-fledged, upbeat pop sound propped up by rich production with the help of Finneas. She also went from crooning to almost rapping, in a Billie Eilish, speak-singing kind of way. This can be heard on “Serotonin,” which she brought to Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night.

Her performance of “Serotonin” retains her simultaneous sass and stress; there’s no shortage of intensity, when she breaks into an anxiety-filled flow: “I get intrusive thoughts / like cutting my hands off / like jumping in front of a bus.” Despite the dark nature of the lyrics, she skips around the stage with charm in an oversized hoodie.

About this song, she told Uproxx: “For that song particularly, I wrote it and I was like, ‘Wow, I had a lot of stuff I had to get out…’ So many people have their own perception of what it’s like dealing with different things. I’ve definitely had the thought of people not validating my experiences, or people not seeing this experience as something that’s song-worthy or whatever.”

Watch her performance of “Serotonin” above.

The Charlotte Hornets will enter the NBA’s coaching carousel. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Hornets have made the decision to fire head coach James Borrego, who has been at the helm of the franchise since 2018.

Despite the fact that the team went 43-39 this season — its third year in a row under which its record has improved under Borrego and the first time since 2015-16 the team has finished with an above-.500 record — Wojnarowski notes that the team’s performance in the play-in tournament each of the last two years could have been responsible for his dismissal. The Hornets lost by 28 to the Indiana Pacers in the play-in last year before falling to the Atlanta Hawks by 29 earlier this month.

A member of the Gregg Popovich coaching tree, Borrego went 138-163 in four years as the head coach of the Hornets. He had previously had one head coaching job during his career, as he spent 30 games as the interim head coach for the Orlando Magic in 2015.

Whomever takes over in Charlotte will inherit a team with gobs of young talent, particularly All-Star guard LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, who took a gigantic step forward this past season and is slated for a huge payday in restricted free agency.

When Jeff Bell and Nic Adler came up with their initial concept for a tropical speakeasy at Coachella, they knew it would be fun. They probably never expected it to become one of the most talked-about attractions at the festival for four years running.

Bell and Adler first combined superpowers at Panorama Festival in New York, where they’d created a speakeasy bar much like the East Village’s legendary hole-in-the-wall, PDT Tropicale, which Bell runs in New York City. As Goldenvoice’s director of food and beverage, Adler enhanced the experience by bringing in props, décor, and more visual elements. Most of all, he ensured the place would provide a reprieve from the famously intense Coachella sun. As word got out about the atmosphere and their signature chilled cocktails, the buzz surrounding the pop-up kept spreading.

“We didn’t want to make it exclusive, to where people could read about it but not be able to get in. We wanted it to be something where everybody could go,” Bell explains.

Yet the key to a true “speakeasy” and the oasis’ charm, according to Bell, was keeping it a secret. Or, at least, not advertising it. As a result, no information was published about it on the Coachella website, email newsletter, or in the guide. In other words, the only way to know about it was through word of mouth.

“What’ll happen every year of the festival is, the first Friday is kind of slow, which is fine for us,” Says Bell. “By day two, people start finding it. Then the Goldenvoice executives come by, and some of the super VIPs and artists they know find out about it so they’ll come by. Then those people tell people and those people tell people. By day three, it’s crazy. The second weekend is bonkers.”

Those who’ve found the tropical speakeasy in the past will be surprised to find it in a new location this year. It’s still hidden in plain sight, but this year it’ll be placed near the Palapa check-in, sandwiched between the Mojave and Gobi stages. Those who visit it early will beat the crowds that will inevitably form later in the weekend.

They’ll also be the first to try drinks like the Tropitonic, a daytime refresher with guava, tonic and citrus. For those who want to drink but not get drunk, Life’s a Garden is a swanky non-alcoholic drink akin to a gin and tonic. For an afternoon kick, there’s the Peptalk, which is like a savory Paloma but with red bell peppers. This year, Bell is also unveiling a drink called The Greenlight, packing Absolut Vodka, fresh pressed grapes, apple juice, and mint. And that’s just a few of the drinks on the menu.

“We make great drinks, but it’s the whole experience that puts the excitement on peoples faces when they walk in,” says Bell. “It’s just like PDT in New York: we want to be one of the things people talk about when they leave. If we can be something that people remember, like when people come to Coachella to see Billie Eilish, or some big mega star, we want them to be able to say the music was great and this food thing was great – oh yeah, and we found this secret bar!”

If you grew up in the late ’80s or early ’90s you probably remember all the talk of the ozone layer deteriorating. We traded our Aqua Net cans for the pump hair spray that often left our hair more damp and floppy, than the beautifully coifed waterfall bang teased to the heavens that we were actually going for. We yelled at our parents for not cutting up their plastic six-pack rings because of the sea turtles and their survival. Suddenly, news of the environment and earth’s impending doom was constantly on the news and sneaked into our television shows on Nickelodeon and commercials on MTV. We heard about oil spills and animal extinction, and we were rightfully cautious and outraged.

Today, we still cut our plastic rings before discarding them and opt for the pump sprayer over the aerosol can. We didn’t know then that we were young activists, we only knew we wanted to be good stewards of the planet we inhabited and we were going to drag our parents along with us. The fight for climate change and maintaining a healthy Earth didn’t end in the ’90s. It’s something people are now more intentional about and are working to raise their children in a way that helps to prolong the life of the planet we call home. That’s why I connected with climate activist Shannon Brescher Shea, author of Growing Sustainable Together: Practical resources for raising kind, engaged and resilient children.

I wanted to know what brought Shannon into climate activism, and how people can involve their children in making a lasting impact on the earth. Shannon was full of insights and ways parents can make small changes to their daily lives and ways they can get involved on a larger scale, joining a growing number of climate and sustainability activists.

Shannon said her activist origin story started in the summer of third grade where she learned about manatees and how they became endangered due to being hit by boats. This prompted her to talk with her class about adopting a manatee. “That was my first, very specific thing I remember falling in love with, and then also wanting to take action at the same time.” After adopting a manatee in third grade, Shannon fell in love with nature and animals, and as she got older, she says, “I came to understand the human impact and how humans and nature are not separate things. What humans do affects nature, but also it affects everybody else too.”

Incorporating the passion she developed as a child into her own parenting and current climate activism is what prompted Shannon to write a parenting book on sustainability. When talking about the importance of incorporating the changes in her book with your own family, the climate activist says, “If we fully embrace these, yes, they can be big changes in our lives and sometimes changes that are kind of radical, but they can also lead to much better quality of life and have it help us have more fulfilled, healthy, and not just physically healthy, but emotionally and mentally healthy parts of life.”

Shannon talks about some children experiencing climate anxiety, which she describes as “this feeling that like climate change is happening and there’s nothing I can do. And the adults are old school. And they betrayed us. They’ve handed us this future that we can’t do anything about.” According to Shannon, there is something we can do about it and it’s something the whole family can be involved in. She says small changes can make a big difference, such as choosing to bike to school or using public transportation to get to work, which reduces your contribution to pollution and also encourages other people to consider following suit.

The important thing to remember, says Shannon, is to not stop at the small things. Composting is a great way to produce less waste, but getting involved in local cleanups of streams and advocating for bicycle lanes are tangible things you can do with your family that make a difference for the environment and the community as a whole. Involve children in climate activism, she says, and “just keep kind of expanding these conversations outward and outward, using very practical, concrete experiences that the kids are having, you can have that much more of an impact and help them think about how you have that ripple effect. Not to cause guilt or to shame, but to show how we’re all connected and how things we do affect other people.”

Climate change continues to occur, and living a sustainable lifestyle can help combat some of the effects humans have on the climate. More and more young people are joining the fight against climate change and families like Shannon’s are helping to make a difference. If you’re unsure on where to start with living a sustainable lifestyle with your family, you can grab Shannon’s book, Growing Sustainable Together, for ideas on how to get started.

Another Will Smith project at Netflix has bit the dust, but this time around, his now-infamous Oscars slap might not be the culprit. According to Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw, the streaming giant has “abandoned plans” to make Bright 2, which would’ve seen Smith return to the world of the 2017 Netflix original that dealt with human cops being forced to interact with elves, orcs, and fairies. However, as Shaw notes, Smith assaulting Chris Rock at the Oscars is “unrelated” to Netflix pulling the plug on the Bright sequel.

Shortly after the Oscars incident, Netflix “quietly” moved production of the Smith movie Fast and Loose to the “back burner” in what was seen as a reaction to the headline dominating fiasco. However, Deadpool 2 director David Leitch had reportedly withdrew from the the project a week before The Slap, so it’s difficult to say if Smith smacking Rock played a hand in Netflix pausing development.

For further context to Netflix now abandoning a second Smith project, the streaming company has been in a state of turmoil this week after it reported losing over 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2022, which caused stock prices to fall and at least one of its biggest investors to dump $1.1 billion in shares. There were also reports that Netflix is dropping an astronomical $30 million per episode on Stranger Things 4. All of this raises fair questions about whether or not Netflix is truly concerned about working with Smith or if it simply found a convenient scapegoat to rein in its spending.

(Via Lucas Shaw on Twitter)

Earlier this week, Pooh Shiesty (real name Lontrell Donell Williams Jr.) learned what he’s going to be up to for the next few years: He was sentenced to a bit over five years (63 months, to be exact) in prison over firearms charges. Now, in his first social media post since the sentencing, the rapper has shared a message for his fans.

Yesterday, Shiesty’s Instagram account shared a screenshot of an email from himself which reads, “The biggest.. I just wanna thank all my love ones. Supporters. And fans for holding me down during these hard times. I wish I could be comingg home to yall today but this couldve been wayyyy worse, I will be back sooner than yall think ! But meantime new music dropping next week, blrrrd!!!”

Shiesty’s tone sounds optimistic, which is understandable given that he’s correct when it comes to this situation turning out far better than it could have: His sentence follows a plea deal that allowed him to avoid a potential life sentence.

Meanwhile, Shiesty is coming off a big 2021, when “Back In Blood” was such a success that it was YouTube’s top-trending music video of the year.

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

Everything Everywhere All At Once is one of the most acclaimed films of the year, but quality doesn’t always equal financial success. Look no further than two of 2021’s best (and horniest) movies, Titane and Bendetta, which combined to make less than $10 million at the box office. But to the delight of independent theaters (and people who are sick of IP) everywhere, Everything Everywhere All At Once, the Daniels’ multiverse mind-bender starring Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, is a breakout hit.

Deadline reports that it crossed the $20 million mark this week. That’s very good for an indie. As one arthouse theater manager put it, “It’s like Batman.”

Everything Everywhere All at Once, after a wildly explosive and well-received world premiere as SXSW’s opener, debuted March 25 in 10 theaters to $501K for a $50K per-theater average, ranking as the best limited debut and theater average to date in 2022, and the second-best theater average of the pandemic for a limited release after MGM/UAR’s Licorice Pizza ($86,2K). The domestic gross of Everything Everywhere All at Once already has surpassed Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best Picture Oscar-nominated Licorice Pizza ($17.3 million) and another notable pandemic arthouse release, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch ($16.1 million).

Everything Everywhere All At Once is on pace to become A24‘s fourth highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office ever, after Uncut Gems ($50 million), Lady Bird ($49 million) and Hereditary ($44 million). It’s currently slightly behind Moonlight and Midsommar ($27 million) and The Witch and Ex Machina ($25 million). Everything won’t be the biggest multi-verse movie of 2022 — but it will likely be the best.

(Via Deadline)

A few days ago, Big Thief‘s Adrianne Lenker took to Instagram to discuss people who talk during opening acts at shows. “There is a real magic that happens when there is a floor of actual silence when somebody is playing or performing,” she said. “Sometimes I have this feeling like, if only the room were quiet, this could just be so incredible. People are missing so much, because every time there’s meant to be a silence, there’s all this sort of white noise chatter.”

This post quickly gained traction and sparked conversation. Indie star Indigo De Souza, who unveiled Any Shape You Take last year, shared an Instagram post that, given the timing, seems related to Lenker’s post, although it doesn’t mention Lenker or Big Thief directly. The third slide of the post starts, “It makes me so deeply sad when the audience talks over the opening bands — it puts me in a weird headspace and makes it harder to connect with the audience when I go on stage,” she wrote. In the next paragraph, she mentioned her desire for fans to wear masks, another pressing issue for current touring bands.

Country favorite Jason Isbell responded to the slew of articles about Lenker’s statement, writing, “audiences talk at Austin shows too. I’ve found they talk almost everywhere- unless they are crying. Hard to talk when you are crying.”

Julianna Barkwick also offered a simple response in the comments of Lenker’s post, writing, “yes,” alongside a raised hands emoji.