Category: Worldwide

Michael Jordan’s time as the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets appears to be on the verge of coming to an end. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Jordan, who has held a majority stake in the franchise since 2010, is in the final stages of finalizing a deal that will see Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall take over the team. The news confirmed shortly after by the team.

Both Plotkin and Schnall already have experience in NBA ownership, as Plotkin is currently a minority owner of the Hornets and Schnall is a minority owner of the Hawks. Jordan, meanwhile, is not going to completely leave Charlotte, as he will continue to hold a stake in the team. And in a release, the Hornets noted that the group of buyers will feature a number of minority owners, including J. Cole and Eric Church.

The Buyer Group will also include Dan Sundheim, Ian Loring, Dyal HomeCourt Partners, North Carolina natives recording artist J. Cole and country music singer-songwriter Eric Church, and several local Charlotte investors, including Amy Levine Dawson and Damian Mills.

The news of a sale comes right before one of the biggest days in recent Hornets history, as the team is slated to pick second in the 2023 NBA Draft and will have to, presumably, choose between G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson and Alabama forward Brandon Miller. But according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the team has been transparent with both prospects about a potential sale, and Jordan will be involved in the final pre-draft visits.

Jordan potentially selling a majority stake in the Hornets was first reported back in March.

A former Golden State Warriors lottery pick will lead the team’s front office in the aftermath of longtime executive Bob Myers’ departure. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Warriors will elevate vice president of basketball operations Mike Dunleavy Jr. into the franchise’s vacant general manager role.

Per Wojnarowski, Dunleavy will run things alongside Kirk Lacob, the son of Warriors owner Joe Lacob.

Dunleavy will join executive vice president of basketball operations Kirk Lacob in larger decision-making roles for the Warriors. After getting drafted third overall in 2002 and spending four-plus seasons with the Warriors, Dunleavy played 15 seasons in the NBA before retiring. Myers hired him as a scout in 2018, and his rise in the Warriors’ front office has been rapid.

Dunleavy had a lengthy playing career as a member of six teams: the Warriors, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Atlanta Hawks. Now, he’ll take over the only team for which he’s held a front office role, and it’s coming at quite the precarious moment for Golden State. Draymond Green is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, while both Steve Kerr and Klay Thompson are entering the final year on the current contracts. All of this is coming on the heels of a disappointing season by the lofty standards set by the franchise, as the Warriors went 44-38 and lost in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Earlier this week, Gunna celebrated his 30th birthday by announcing a project called A Gift & A Curse. It was not clear whether this was just a song or a full-blown album; it’s out today, and it’s a 15-track LP.

The rapper touches on some of the trouble he’s been in lately in his raps. He was released from jail in December and many accused Gunna of “snitching” on the remaining YSL defendants, including Young Thug. This is confronted on the track “I Was Just Thinking,” which name-drops Young Thug by referring to him as “King Slime”:

“N****s’ nose all in mine, don’t know how to mind they own
Twenty-three and one, how you feel when you alone?
That’s four walls talkin’ to you, tellin’ you you gone
Only I done cried ‘causе this feelin’ for my bro (King Slime)
And you know my mind, you done watched that n**** grow
Know you hearin’ the lies that your lil’ brother might fold
Yeah, I had popped out, but don’t let ’em say I told
No, I ain’t you lil’ boys, I’ma show you that I’m grown”

Listen to “I Was Just Thinking” above.

A Gift & A Curse is out now via Young Stoner Life Records/300 Entertainment. Find more information here.

Donald Trump has a lot on his plate right now. He was just arraigned on federal charges following a damning indictment that contains an overwhelming amount of evidence showing he mishandled classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, he could be facing a similar indictment in New Jersey, there are potential charges from January 6 waiting in the wings, and it’s looking more and more likely that he will be hit with election interference charges in Georgia.

So what’s on Trump’s mind? Getting his boxes back.

The former president launched one of his trademark, all-caps rants where he demanded that the special counsel “drop all charges against me” and “return everything that was illegally taken.”

Via Truth Social:

SO NOW THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THAT THE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT, PLUS THE CLINTON SOCKS CASE, TOTALLY EXONERATED ME FROM THE CONTINUING WITCH HUNT BROUGHT ON BY CORRUPT JOE BIDEN, THE DOJ, DERANGED JACK SMITH, AND THEIR RADICAL LEFT, MARXIST THUGS, WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST ME, APOLOGIZE, AND RETURN EVERYTHING THAT WAS ILLEGALLY TAKEN (FOURTH AMENDMENT) FROM MY HOME? THIS WAS NOTHING OTHER THAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!

According to the federal indictment, Trump had a habit of referring to the documents in his possession as “my boxes,” but he also was caught on tape openly admitting that he never declassified the top secret intel stored at his various golf clubs. That alone makes them the property of the federal government, so Trump can make like Gollum all he wants, but he has an uphill battle on his hands.

(Via Donald Trump on Truth Social)

I recently got into a, let’s say, spirited debate with friends about the best way to watch Barbie and Oppenheimer, which infamously open on the same day. Do you see Barbie first then Tom Cruise-run to a screening of Oppenheimer? Or the other way around? Or do you see one on Thursday and the other on Friday?

If you’re going to double feature it, I believe it should go Oppenheimer then Barbie; you want the dessert after the meal. Also, I don’t want to leave the theater feeling bummed out. Let me live off the vibes of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling singing “Closer to Fine” for as long as possible, thank you.

Of course, the decision is yours. But in terms of the bigger opening weekend at the box office, Barbie is in the lead. “Preliminary tracking indicates Barbie will win the July 21-23 weekend ahead of Oppenheimer,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, with early estimates at $45-$55 million for Barbie and $30-$35 million for Oppenheimer. It’s not unexpected: Barbie is rated PG-13 and appeals to a wider audience, while Oppenheimer has an R rating and a three-hour runtime. Neither film will be a bomb (but one’s about a bomb).

For Oppenheimer — a three-hour drama targeting adults — having legs could prove far more important than its opening weekend haul. Yet there is no denying that filmmakers care deeply about a film’s theatrical performance and topping the chart in its first weekend. Nolan has come in No. 2 before; in 2014, Interstellar opened behind Disney’s Big Hero 6, on its way to $701.7 million globally.

The wild card in all this is Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (out July 12th) making $100 million in its second weekend, toppling both Barbie and Oppenheimer. It won’t happen, because that’s almost never occurred before, but it would be very funny if it did happen.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Ted Cruz has never been known for his on-point pop-cultural references. There were the times when he entirely botched Watchmen and Fight Club. He also, as a proud The Princess Bride superfan, feuded with Cary Elwes, and Stephen King won’t even waste fancy words on Ted while responding to the Texas lawmaker’s swing against the horror legend.

Then there’s Ted pulling a Sarah Palin this week while addressing what he sees as the ultimate blind devotion of the Left for Joe Biden. He must have forgotten that Donald Trump once bragged that his voters wouldn’t abandon him even if “I shot somebody.” Still, Ted would like to reserve those kinds of claims for his political enemies, which apparently include Pat Benatar.

While speaking with syndicated conservative radio host Joe Pags, Cruz declared, “I don’t think Senate Democrats, if you had video of Joe Biden murdering children dressed as the devil under a full moon while singing Pat Benatar, they still wouldn’t vote to convict.”

Was this out of left field? Maybe or maybe not, but the 1980s fans out there began to rally around one of their own, especially because Benatar happened to kill a bunch of Nazis in a music video.

There’s also the possibility that Ted may not have been firing random shots but, instead, intended to slam Benatar while interpreting her “Hell Is For Children” song, which was part of her advocacy on behalf of abused children.

Whatever the case, it’s funny as hell, as one user pointed out, “that, in a spontaneous moment, the most sinister and satanic rock & roller Ted Cruz could think of was Pat Benatar.”

He didn’t even reach for a Black Metal band or two. C’mon, Ted.

The 2024 Grammy Awards will be a bit different than ceremonies from prior years. For instance, The Recording Academy revealed earlier this week that three new categories have been added: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Best Pop Dance Recording. Now, the Academy has also addressed AI music and the eligibility of works created using artificial intelligence.

As Variety reports, there are new “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Protocols” that essentially say music made purely by AI cannot be nominated for a Grammy. However, human-created work made using AI technology is eligible, so long as there’s a significant human contribution.

Here’s what it says in full:

“The GRAMMY Award recognizes creative excellence. Only human creators are eligible to be submitted for consideration for, nominated for, or win a GRAMMY Award. A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any Categories. A work that features elements of A.I. material (i.e., material generated by the use of artificial intelligence technology) is eligible in applicable Categories; however: (1) the human authorship component of the work submitted must be meaningful and more than de minimis; (2) such human authorship component must be relevant to the Category in which such work is entered (e.g., if the work is submitted in a songwriting Category, there must be meaningful and more than de minimis human authorship in respect of the music and/or lyrics; if the work is submitted in a performance Category, there must be meaningful and more than de minimis human authorship in respect of the performance); and (3) the author(s) of any A.I. material incorporated into the work are not eligible to be nominees or GRAMMY recipients insofar as their contribution to the portion of the work that consists of such A.I material is concerned. De minimis is defined as lacking significance or importance; so minor as to merit disregard.”

So far, Grimes has been the most notable artist to dive headfirst into AI music: A song featuring “GrimesAI,” how tracks using an AI version of her voice are credited, was released last month.

The record for most triple stumpers (when all three contestants fail to guess) in an episode of Jeopardy! was set in 2005, during the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. A recent episode got close to breaking it, however. On June 6th, the three contestants combined for 23 stumpers, “something we never like to see,” producer Sarah Foss said on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.

“Not good, you know it’s the last game before lunch, maybe everyone’s a little sleepy or something, a little hungry, but that’s a tough stat to carry with you,” former Jeopardy! champ Buzzy Cohen theorized. Viewers called the Mayim Bialik-hosted episode “horrible” and “one of the collectively worst showings on Jeopardy I’ve ever seen. Someone better pull this off.” (Suresh Krishnan pulled it off on his way to a six-game winning streak that recently ended.)

Hoping not to draw too much attention to the painful viewing fans saw the week prior, the producers brushed off the show as something minuscule before moving on. “Thankfully I’ve seen nothing go viral about it so it’s not gonna go viral, we’ve mentioned it briefly on the pod and we’ll forget it ever happened,” Foss concluded.

“A Jeopardy! producer’s comments about a particularly bad episode going unnoticed has summoned this internet phenomenon.”

“What is, the Streisand effect?”

If only every episode of Jeopardy! was that easy.

(Via the New York Post)

Over the past few weeks, there’s been a bit of beef brewing between Jack Harlow and Machine Gun Kelly. It started with the release of Harlow’s song “They Don’t Love It,” on which the rapper boasted, “The hardest white boy since the one who rapped about vomit and sweaters / And hold the comments ’cause I promise you I’m honestly better than whoever came to your head right then.”

Not long after that, MGK came through with “Renegade Freestyle,” on which he disses Harlow: “I’m a great white I can eat these barracuda / See who I am? You’re stupid, it’s nice to meet you / I just put this hole in the ground for you like a soccer cleat shoe / I see why they call you Jackman, you jacked man’s whole swag / Give Drake his flow back, man, I eat rappers like Pac-Man / Must I regurgitate and show you who’s in my stomach / From the Last Dance? I battle rapped, no Instagrams.”

The ball has been in Harlow’s court since, so he addressed the situation in a new interview.

On the Rap Radar Podcast, Harlow seemed relatively unbothered, saying (as HipHopDX notes), “How do you take it in? I guess you just f*cking take it. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, and I feel great about what I said, and I feel great about the reaction. It just is what it is. It was a stream-of-consciousness sort of verse. Not that I don’t stand on my statement. I’m an MC! I’m talking my sh*t. This is not a new concept to feel yourself. I feel no reservations about what was said at all.”

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

Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour is rolling through Europe at the moment and it’s doing pretty well over there, to the point that it maybe possibly contributed to inflation in Sweden. Yesterday (June 15), at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany, Beyoncé found herself both performing and revealing the sex of a fan’s baby.

Between songs, Beyoncé said (as ET reports), “I wanna do this right, because since the beginning of the show, I’ve seen this sign that says, ‘Do my gender reveal.’ I just want to do it right! Do I have to open the envelope?”

Beyoncé then got her hands on the envelope, opened it, and revealed it to the crowd. Smiling, she said, “Girls! Congratulations! Congratulations, beautiful!”

Over the past year, there have been a number of instances where concert attendees got their favorite artists to help celebrate major moments in their lives. Last October, some expecting parents got Post Malone to reveal the sex of their bundle of joy, too. Harry Styles concerts have also been big for moments like these: He helped a fan come out at Wembley Stadium last June, and a couple months later, he helped a fan pull off a proposal in Portugal, one of that of course got an enthusiastic “yes” from the bride-to-be.