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When it comes to the controversy over her documented history of anti-transgender remarks, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling apparently isn’t losing sleep on how she’ll be judged in the future. Despite castmembers like Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe publicly denouncing Rowling’s views, she’s only concerned about the present.

“I do not walk around my house, thinking about my legacy,” the author said during the first episode of The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling podcast. “You know, what a pompous way to live your life walking around thinking, ‘What will my legacy be?’ Whatever, I’ll be dead. I care about now. I care about the living.”

According to Variety, the podcast is an attempt to claim that Rowlings views on transgender women are “misunderstood.” It also attempts to equate the criticism of those views with Christian claims that the Harry Potter books are witchcraft, which is one heck of a take:

[Host Megan] Phelps-Roper is looking for commonality between the intolerant right-wingers who wanted to ban and burn the Harry Potter books and trans activists who have threatened Rowling over her comments. “What is it about this woman and her work that has captured the ire of very different groups of people across time?” Phelps-Roper says in the intro to the premiere episode.

Despite constant claims that she’s being “canceled,” Rowling contains to maintain a lucrative relationship with Warner Bros. In fact, after the studio merged with Discovery, it’s become increasingly eager to make more Harry Potter movies with Rowling even though the Fantastic Beasts prequel films — which she personally wrote — failed to match the success of the original franchise. That’s not the kind of thing that happens to someone who’s been “canceled.”

(Via Variety)

DreamDoll has come a long way since bursting onto the scene via reality tv.

Whether you got to know Tabatha Robinson on season 16 of Bad Girls Club or as her musical persona on season eight of Love & Hip Hop: New York, there’s no denying her passion for music has been the driving force behind her on-screen appearance. However, along the way, the Bronx native’s unruly behavior has, at times, overshadowed her music career.

On her single, “Misunderstood,” DreamDoll clears the air about the public’s opinion of her as well as a few lingering rumors floating around. The “Wiggle” rapper stopped by Uproxx to clarify one bar on the tracks that the public seems to be confused by.

The line in question, “I ain’t never asked for a favor or beg for your pardon / Been the motherfucking star since you seen me at Starlet’s / Once you sell out, it’s the Barclay or Garden / And if you want it, I got it / Lil engine that could / Is she a misfit / Or just misunderstood?”

Watch DreamDoll’s bar breakdown and explanation for the stanza below.

Outside of her bar breakdown be sure to catch DreamDoll’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “Misunderstood.” Click here to watch it now.

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

After announcing his 2023 Glockoma Tour and releasing his first single “Work,” Key Glock has revealed the tracklist for his upcoming third studio album, Glockoma 2.

The album will be the Memphis rapper’s first since 2021’s Yellow Tape 2 — and his mentor Young Dolph’s death. Dolph’s passing is a subject expected to be one of the subjects of the album, especially after dropping such singles as “Long Live Dolph.” However, Glock will apparently maintain his insistence on rejecting outside help, as evidenced by “F*ck A Feature.” You can see the tracklist below along with the tour dates.

1. “Dirt”
2. “Work”
3. “Randy Orton”
4. “Chromosomes”
5. “2 For 1”
6. “Pop My Sh*t”
7. “Designer Down”
8. “Came From Nothing”
9. “Key Rex”
10. “In & Outta Town”
11. “F*ck Dat Sh*t”
12. “Money Over Hoes”
13. “Ratchet”
14. “Homicide Gvng”
15. “F*ck A Feature”

You can pre-save the album here.

3/5 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
3/9 – North Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
3/10 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
3/11 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
3/12 – Greensboro, NC @ Piedmont Hall
3/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
3/16 – Washington, DC @ Echostage
3/18 – Queens, NY @ The Knockdown Center
3/19 – Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
3/22 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center
3/23 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
3/24 – Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
3/25 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
3/26 – Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall
3/29 – Chicago, IL @ Radius
3/30 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
3/31 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Minneapolis
4/2 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
4/4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
4/6 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo*
4/8 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
4/11 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
4/14 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA
4/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
4/16 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
4/21 – San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theater
4/22 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
4/23 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
4/26 – New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore New Orleans
4/27 – Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company
4/28 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
*Not A Live Nation Date

The Shade Room has agreed to pay a settlement to 50 Cent rather than going to court in his lawsuit against the gossip blog, according to Complex via Los Angeles Magazine reporter Meghann Cuniff. Cuniff posted a copy of an email notice of settlement that was sent out confirming that 50 will continue to pursue his suit against the other defendants, which include plastic surgeon Angela Kogan and her Miami-based practice, Perfection Medical Spa.

50 filed suit in September 2022 after Kogan used a photo of the two of them together to promote penis enhancement surgery — the unwritten suggestion being that she’d performed said surgery on 50 himself. In August 2022, The Shade Room published a post listing 50 Cent as one of Kogan’s clients, which lends credence to 50’s complaint about the photo. A trial was set for July 3, 2023, but with The Shade Room removing the post and agreeing to a settlement after mediation, it appears 50’s beef is only with Kogan and her practice now — which is bad news for Kogan, considering how zealous he is pursuing his grievances.

After all, it’s not like 50 needs the money; just a week ago, he celebrated a new television production deal with Fox, which is on top of his Starz empire and the music he’s putting out later this year.

On January 15, Jamea Jonae Harris was shot and killed in her car in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with two men being arrested and charged with capital murder: Michael Davis and Darius Miles. Miles was a member of the Alabama basketball team and was immediately dropped from the squad after his arrest, but according to police testimony in Tuesday’s hearing, he was not the only member of the team at the scene of the shooting.

Police claimed in their testimony that Miles texted star freshman Brandon Miller to bring the gun that was ultimately used in the shooting, and that Miller’s windshield was struck by two bullets — another player, Jaden Bradley, was also at the scene as well. [via AL.com]

Miles contacted Miller and asked him to bring his gun to where they were, according to police.

When Miller got to the scene, Miles told Davis, “The heat is in the hat.” Det. Branden Culpepper said that meant a gun was present. Miles added, “There’s one in the head.” That, Culpepper said, meant a round was in the chamber.

Miller was not charged with a crime, and when asked why, Tuscaloosa chief deputy D.A. Paula Whitley told AL.com, “That’s not a question I can answer. There’s nothing we could charge him with.”

Alabama has apparently been aware of this development for some time, as head coach Nate Oats told reporters on Tuesday when asked about Miller’s standing with the team following the testimony from police. [via AL.com]

“We’ve known the situation since [it happened],” Oats said. “We’ve been fully cooperating with law enforcement the entire time. The whole situation is sad. The team closed practice with a prayer for the situation today, knowing that we had this trial today. We think of Jamea and her family, Kaine. Really think about her son, Kaine, that was left behind. So it’s sad.

“We knew about that. Can’t control everything anybody does outside of practice. Nobody knew that was going to happen. College kids are out, Brandon hasn’t been in any type of trouble nor is he in any type of trouble in this case. Wrong spot at the wrong time.”

Miller, who is averaging 18.7 points and eight rebounds per game to lead the top-ranked Tide in both categories, is a projected high Lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, but teams will undoubtedly have plenty of questions regarding his role in the tragic January shooting and whether Oats’ “wrong place at the wrong time” commentary adequately explains his presence at the scene.

Name a better side order than French fries. Go ahead, we’ll wait. Still nothing? Yeah, we’re not surprised, because nothing beats French fries — they’re the quintessential fast food side order. That’s why just about every fast food brand (even Taco Bell, when they feel like it) has French fries on the menu. That and the fact that potatoes are dirt cheap and freeze easily.

Since our favorite part of a fast food meal is often the fries, we’ve written about French fries a lot. We’ve ranked as many as we could, we’ve sought out the best-dressed fries and we’ve argued about whether or not In-N-Out’s spuds are good or not. We’ve even made fries — a couple of different ways. But the one thing we haven’t done is put fast food French fries to a blind taste test.

Until today! We’re pitting five of the most famous fast food French fries against each other (blind!) to see which are the best and which fries should never be ordered by human beings ever. Does that sound harsh? Good! If a fast food brand f*cks up fries — the easiest food ever (you need potatoes, hot oil, salt, and literally nothing else) — then that’s a big red flag. Let’s get into it!

PART I — Methodology

Because the fast food universe has a lot of different types of French fries — you’ve got salted fries, seasoned fries (curly, cajun, Rally’s), and the natural sort you’d find at fast-casual spots — we decided to filter it down to the most famous form, salted. I’m obsessed with making these blind taste tests as fair as possible and since I live in a place where a Carl’s Jr, McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Jack in the Box are all relatively close to each other (hell, I live in hell), I knew I could pick up all five French fries and test them without them getting too cold.

Have you ever had French fries cold? They’re inedible! Four of these fast food restaurants are across the street from one another, making this test easy, but Wendy’s was the exception. So I drove to my nearest Wendy’s, placed an order for a small fry, alerted my girlfriend to hit up Carl’s Jr, Jack in the Box, McDonald’s, and Burger King (all ordered simultaneously via each brand’s app), and meet me back at home. From when I left my apartment to when we arrived back in my kitchen, 15 minutes had passed (beat that Uber, Door Dash, and Postmates — which all take an average of 45 minutes for some reason). Each bag was still warm.

I had my girlfriend serve me one random plate of fries at a time, ate a handful, and moved on to the next plate (I also mixed all the fries together at the end into a single bag, and ate them all. This was a bad idea, unfortunately). Anyway, here are the results”

PART II — The Tasting

Taste 1

God damn, I love French fries. These fries are perfectly salted, bright, and crispy. The outer portion of the fry provides the right amount of crunch, and the inside of the fry is soft, fluffy and flavorful. They’re the sort of fries you can eat without any sort of dipping sauce.

Taste 2

Eck, texture like cardboard. These fries have a sort of dirty flavor to them, like the skin wasn’t properly scrubbed, and have a strange stale aftertaste that sits on the tongue. They are in desperate need of some sauce.

Not inedible, but aside from the dirt flavor, way too bland to be enjoyable.

Taste 3

Addicting. These fries offer a similar experience to Taste 1, they’re crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, but there is just something about the flavor here that tastes elevated. There is a sort of buttery aftertaste on the back end and a tinge of sweetness that hovers just above the primarily salty flavor. I could not stop eating these, I didn’t want to give up the plate.

Taste 4

Taste 4 offers what I think Taste 2 was trying to go for but failed at — a natural flavor. These French fries taste like someone actually cut a potato in-house and fried them soon after. They don’t have that neutral flavor that peeled fries have, I’m getting a lot of earthy bitterness… but in the best way.

These fries are also a bit thicker than the others, I’m tasting a lot more potato here overall but they can’t quite hit the heights of Taste 3. These are very good, but not addicting.

Taste 5

I had my girlfriend try a few of these because I thought my taste buds were fried. I drank water between bites and even had some sips of soda and I’ve come to the conclusion that these are absolutely flavorless (she confirmed). All I’m tasting is straight oil! All this fry offers is texture, they’re crunchy on the outside and mushy on the inside, like someone breaded mashed potatoes in cornstarch.

If you love mashed potatoes that might sound good to you, mashed potatoes are great, but these fries don’t have any of that buttery and creamy mashed potato flavor, just the texture. Fries should be fluffy inside, not mushy. I wish I could say these taste bad, because I don’t like them, but they simply don’t taste like anything.

PART III — The Ranking

5. Burger King (Taste 5)

If you’ve ever had Burger King this shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. Burger King sucks. I’m sorry to say that — though I’m not really sorry to anyone because there’s no one who likes Burger King enough to be bothered by me saying “Burger King sucks.”

Anyway, Burger King fries generally have one of two problems — either they’re over-salted to the point of burning off your taste buds or they aren’t salted at all and therefore taste like nothing. With this trip to BK, I got the latter. I’m not sure which I would’ve preferred.

The Bottom Line

This blind taste test’s worst French fries and quite possibly the worst fast food French fries of all time.

Find your nearest Burger King here.

4. Wendy’s (Taste 2)

Wendy’s is having a bit of an identity crisis when it comes to its French fries. Most recently the chain launched a new recipe of fries they call “Hot and Crispy,” and claimed that the fries would hold up in heat and flavor longer than the competition. We took that claim to the test and didn’t find them to be particularly enjoyable after 20 minutes or so.

There is also no consistency with these fries, in my experience, sometimes they taste good, and sometimes they just don’t. For this blind taste test, I got a set that tasted particularly dirty. Maybe that was the oil, perhaps the fries were sitting around for too long under the heat lamp, maybe the quality of the potatoes just wasn’t very good — I’m not sure, but what I can tell you is that if you get fries from Wendy’s, you never really know what you’re going to get. And for that, it’s going to have to rank fourth.

The Bottom Line

In-consistent, bitter, and dirty tasting.

Find your nearest Wendy’s here.

3. Jack in the Box (Taste 1)

I was surprised by how highly Jack in the Box ranked, I almost gave this one the second-place spot. They have that same bright and buttery taste that makes McDonald’s famous, but they taste a little bit too much like oil. Still, it’s very hard to not enjoy these and whether you like them or not will come down to how much you’re turned off by greasy fries.

For me, the greasier the better! If only Jack in the Box fried these in quality oil (doesn’t have to be peanut, but at least clean it out every few hours) they’d have something truly magical on their hands.

The Bottom Line

If you always reach for the curly fries instead, give the salted fries a chance, they’re better than you remember. While it ranked third, this was the biggest surprise of this blind taste test. I’ve been sleeping on JiB.

Find your nearest Jack in the Box here.

2. Carl’s Jr. (Taste 4)

Carl’s Jr. gets the award for having the most natural-tasting fries in fast food. These taste like real potatoes in the best way possible. They’re earthy, salty, fluffy, and perfectly crispy on the outside. I’ve long been a fan of Carl’s Jr’s criss-cut fries, but after having the Natural Cut I may have to switch over permanently.

These don’t hold a candle to our number one spot, but depending on what you look for in French fries, these can easily be your personal favorite.

The Bottom Line

The most natural-tasting fries in fast food. If you want your French fries to have a bit of that bitter and earthy skin-on flavor, this is your best bet.

Find your nearest Carl’s Jr. here.

1. McDonald’s (Taste 3)

It feels a bit basic to give McDonald’s the number one spot but the blind taste test made it clear as day. These are far and above the best French fries you can get from a drive-thru. I don’t know what McDonald’s is doing to their fries to make them so addicting (I suspect it’s a pinch of sugar???) but whatever they’re doing… it’s working.

It’s telling that of the five fast food chains we tasted in this blind taste test, McDonald’s is the only one that hasn’t really changed their French fry recipe. Sure, there was a time when McDonald’s fried their potatoes in beef tallow, and we desperately long for those days, but aside from that, they haven’t f*cked with the recipe at all. Even with the rise of fast-casual chains like Five Guys — a brand so serious about their potatoes that they list what farms they come from daily — McDonald’s has stayed unwavering in its fry recipe.

These fries didn’t just land the number one spot, they absolutely dunked on the four other tastings. I didn’t know it was McDonald’s when I tasted it blind, but it didn’t surprise me that it landed at number one.

The Bottom Line

McDonald’s is the sort of place you eat at for the fries. Even the burgers and nuggets don’t have anything on these golden spears of perfection. The real question is, how do these fries stack up against a place like Five Guys? We’ll let you know when we put them head to head.

Find your nearest McDonald’s here.

The Walking Dead spinoffs are coming. That’s the good news that we keep hearing from AMC, which has thus far periodically gifted us with images from three spinoffs due to debut in the coming year or so. First, we saw the unlikely team of Negan and Maggie, who will face ultra disgusting Walkers in Manhattan. Then came images of Daryl Dixon and non-glam Walkers in France for his “Boom Boom” project. Now, we’re finally seeing some tiny glimpses of the Rick Grimes and Michonne show.

This has been a long time coming after Rick Grimes movies were forecast, and then Hollywood switched gears (for obvious reasons) on, well, everything. Yet spinoff filming has finally begun with Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira in New Jersey, and although the images are sort-of “proof of life” for characters that we already knew were alive, one of them confirms that the reunion is a warm one:

Then there’s this uneventful image, but at least it communicates a joint effort. This ain’t simply the Rick Grimes show, people.

From the synopsis of the yet-untitled spinoff:

The series presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?

The Walking Dead‘s Rick and Michonne party will debut… sometime.

Da Brat has done a lot in her life. The rapper has had albums and songs reach the top 10 of the Billboard charts and achieve platinum certification. She’s earned Grammy nominations. She’s otherwise cemented herself as a key figure in hip-hop history. Now, at 48 years old, she’s trying something new: pregnancy.

Da Brat confirmed with People that she and wife Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart are expecting a baby. Harris-Dupart previously had three children before her relationship with Da Brat, and for Da Brat, this is her first time carrying a child. She is currently 18 weeks pregnant.

She told People, “I never thought I was going to have kids. I just thought it wasn’t in the cards for me. I’ve had a great career, a full life. I felt like, because I didn’t get pregnant earlier on, then it just wasn’t going to happen for me.”

Da Brat also noted, “It’s been quite a journey. There’s a lot of stuff we learned about women over the age of 40.”

She also said of how her mindset shifted after meeting Harris-Dupart, “I started looking at life so differently,” says Da Brat. “I was like, I want a little me with you. Something special from the both of us that we can share and raise and love unconditionally.”

Read more from Da Brat about her pregnancy here.

It’s easy to forget that stars are just like us. They, too, have favorite shows to obsess over and binge in three days then make it their entire personality for a month or so. Hey, just because you’re rich and famous doesn’t mean you can’t sit down and watch some good peak TV, even if you are on TV. Drew Barrymore, despite being a Hollywood icon with a prolific career, is not immune to getting star-struck every once in a while, especially if the star is from You, her favorite show.

Penn Badgley stopped by The Drew Barrymore Show to surprise the host for her birthday by giving her some cleaning products and keeping her in a glass cage like his character Joe on You. If you are unfamiliar, Joe is a murderer that everyone loves because he reads books and has a beard. Keep up!

Barrymore was brought into a carefully constructed glass box where she was then surprised by Badgley, who remarked, “You’re not supposed to want this!” referring to being held prisoner by a man from Brooklyn. Barrymore, ignoring the warning, exclaims, “You know me so well!” Barrymore is known for hosting chaotic moments on her show, so this isn’t too bad.

Fans may remember that last year, Barrymore was gifted with a virtual visit from Badgley for her birthday, where she ended up crying on the floor. So that’s probably why they wanted to keep her contained in a box this time, but it also goes along with the theme, so it works.

The full episode, in which we see if Drew really survives, will air tomorrow.

Nick Cave received a touching letter from a young 13-year-old fan, as he noted in a recent Red Hand Files blog post — where he responded with some sound advice that was requested.

“I’m 13. In a world ridden with so much hate, and disconnect; How do I live life to its absolute fullest, and not waste my potential? Especially as a creative. Also, what is a great way to spiritually enrich myself? in general, and in my creative work,” Ruben, the fan from Melbourne, Australia, asked.

“Dear Ruben. When I read this question, my initial thought was that the kid who wrote this has nothing to worry about, they’re going to be all right,” Cave opened his heartfelt response. “Ruben, you are very smart, you are engaged with the world and I’m not sure what your creative interests are, but you can certainly already write. Not only that, you are also reaching out for answers. At thirteen, this is all brilliant! Luckily for you, Ruben, I have some! So here goes!”

“Read. Read as much as possible,” Cave added. “Read the big stuff, the challenging stuff, the confronting stuff, and read the fun stuff too. Visit galleries and look at paintings, watch movies, listen to music, go to concerts — be a little vampire running around the place sucking up all the art and ideas you can. Fill yourself with the beautiful stuff of the world. Have fun. Get amazed. Get astonished. Get awed on a regular basis, so that getting awed is habitual and becomes a state of being.”

The Bad Seeds musician offers more sweet advice to the fan looking for a bit of hope, and those looking to read the full thing can find it in the link above. Cave also accepts questions that he just might answer someone else next.