Politics
Jack White Calls for “New Rules” Following Uvalde Shooting
Jack White has joined a chorus of renewed calls for gun control following the shooting at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead. In a statement posted to Instagram, the artist called for “new rules” that “save lives and protect us from serious harm.” “As we tour in Texas these past few days, I can’t help but to feel saddened in so many ways about the latest in a long line of mass shootings, but mostly I’m exhausted,” White began his statement. “Exhausted with the ignorant excuses about the inability to fix this problem, exhausted with people clinging to their political party or their ‘side’ instead of looking at the issue. Exhausted with people whining about their ‘freedom’ being more important than rules that help save lives.” The musician continued...
KISS’ Gene Simmons: Donald Trump “Allowed” People to Be “Publicly Racist” and “Conspiracy Theorists”
KISS founder Gene Simmons was once a contestant on Donald Trump’s network TV program The Celebrity Apprentice and was friendly with the former president long before he took office. Now, Simmons has come out to blast Trump’s presidency for normalizing racism and conspiracy theories. In a new interview with SPIN, Simmons discussed the cause-and-effect of Trump’s behavior and policies. As is typical with Simmons, there were no minced words. “I know the previous [US] president,” Simmons said. “I knew him before he entered politics. Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarization — got all the cockroaches to rise to the top. Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it’s all out in the open because he allowed it.” ...
NRA Forced to Cancel Concert as Lee Greenwood Joins Mass Exodus
The National Rifle Association has been forced to cancel its “Grand Ole Night of Freedom” concert after the event became free of talent. Mr. “God Bless the USA” himself, fervent Trump supporter Lee Greenwood, has joined a mass exodus of musicians trying to distance themselves from the NRA in the wake of the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. As Greenwood explained on Fox and Friends (via The Daily Beast), he felt that performing at the concert would be an endorsement of the AR-15, which was used to murder 19 children and two teachers. “For me to go and play at the NRA just days after the shooting would be an endorsement, and people would then deem that as [me saying] ‘I like this weapon.’ Obviously, that weapon killed kids. I just couldn’t go.” He becomes the latest ar...
Texas Republican Blames Rap Music & Video Games For Elementary School Shooting To Deflect From Gun Regulation
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Bill Clark / Getty There are a few simple facts that we know about Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old who shot and killed two adults and 19 children at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County, Texas. We know that the day he turned 18, he legally purchased an assault rifle from Oasis Outback. We also know he bought another rifle from the same store a few days later. This was reported by Texas state Sen. John Whitmire, who also said Ramos purchased 375 rounds of 5.56 ammunition. Lastly, we know Ramos used that very weaponry to commit one of the most horrific mass shootings since the one carried out in Buffalo just a few weeks prior. Then there’s what we don’t know. We don’t know what kind of music Ramos listened to or what kind of video games he played if any....
Don McLean Cancels NRA Convention Performance Following Uvalde School Shooting
Don McLean, the musician behind the 1971 hit “American Pie,” has resigned from performing at the National Rifle Association’s national convention this weekend, following Tuesday’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. “In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week,” McLean said in a statement issued to TMZ. “I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans. I share the sorrow for this terrible, cruel loss with the rest of the nation.” McClean was one of several performers — including Lee Greenwood, Danielle Peck, and Larry Gatlin — scheduled to perform at the NRA conventi...
Kanye West’s 2020 Presidential Campaign Claims They Got Fleeced In Fraud Scheme
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: The Washington Post / Getty Kanye West’s doomed 2020 Presidential Campaign claims they were the victims of fraud. According to the campaign committee, they were defrauded of thousands of dollars that went to pay off someone’s credit card. Scammers gonna scam. Per TMZ, Ye’s campaign committee sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission notifying them that someone who was not part of the campaign used the committee’s bank account to pay off a $3,999 credit card bill. Related Stories In a letter fired off Tuesday to the FEC, and obtained by TMZ, Kanye 2020 says an investigation determined someone accessed the account three times between December and February, and the campaign was unable to get the money back from the First Bank of Wyoming. The FEC...
Spotify Brings Back Political Ads Now That There’s No More Misinformation
Spotify suspended political ad sales in 2020 because the platform found it too hard to “validate and review” the deluge of misinformation they were facing. Well, the good news is that misinformation has been totally solved, because why else would Spotify now quietly reintroduce political ads in the run-up to the 2022 midterms? Money? Oh, right, money. As Protocol reports, the Big Green Circle is now asking US candidates, political parties, and even PACs to open their wallets. “Following our pause of political ads in early 2020, we have spent the past two years strengthening and enhancing our processes, systems and tools to responsibly validate and review this content,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We are now beginning to sell select political advertisements in opted-in th...
Twitter Blasts NRA & Others In Wake Of Uvalde Shooting Tragedy
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: ALLISON DINNER / Getty The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children dead is still sending shockwaves of outrage throughout the nation. As typical of these tragedies, the NRA found itself trending and many on Twitter are blasting the association. The NRA Endures More Criticism The victims of the Uvalde shooting had their names published in several news outlets, cementing the tragedy. We learned through the various reports that the lone gunman attended Uvalde High School, and purchased two assault rifles just after turning 18. Much like the Buffalo Tops shooter, the gunman faced little resistance in obtaining high-powered weaponry. In both cases, nothing ahead of the purchases alerted the retailers who sold the weapons. The NRA, which st...
Morgan Freeman Permanently Banned from Entering Russia
Morgan Freeman is among nearly 1,000 American citizens who’ve been permanently banned from entering the Russian Federation. In response to sanctions imposed by the US government over Russia’s unprovoked attack of Ukraine, Russia’s foreign ministry released the names of 963 Americans who are no longer welcome in their country. They include political figures like President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, as well as members of Congress, tech executives, and journalists, according to the Washington Post. Freeman and fellow actor and filmmaker, Rob Reiner, are also on Russia’s shit list. While the foreign ministry didn’t offer any explanation for Freeman’s and Reiner’s inclusions, they were likely flagged for their participation in the Comm...
Billionaire Tears: Elon Musk Says He’s Voting Republican Now Because The ‘Far-Left’ Is Really Mean To Him
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: NurPhoto / Getty Apparently, Elon Musk is under the impression that anyone cares or is surprised by the fact that he plans to start voting Republican—if he wasn’t already. “In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican,” Musk tweeted. “Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold.” Related Stories OK, first of all, in the last two years alone, Republicans have spread voter fraud propaganda in an effort to steal an election they wrongly claimed was stolen from them, started a riot at the U.S. Capitol based inspired by said propaganda, moved to redistrict congressional maps to give Black people less...
Harry Styles: “There Should Be Backlash and Uproar” Against Leaked Abortion Decision
Harry Styles has joined a chorus of voices speaking out in defense of abortion rights. After Politico leaked a Supreme Court draft opinion revealing a plan to overturn Roe v. Wade, the singer called for “backlash and uproar” in order to protect the landmark decision. “I think it’s quite scary to see how far backwards we’re going in a lot of ways,” Styles told Howard Stern (per Bustle). “There should be backlash and uproar for these things. There’s a lot of people who are taking…the right steps to try to make positive things [happen].” Styles added, “I think people who don’t like that are kind of clawing to grapple back any ground that they feel like they’ve lost, which never belonged to them in the first place. I just don’t think that anyone should be able to make decisions ...
John Legend Calls Out Tucker Carlson for “Poisoning Minds” with Great Replacement Theory
After a white, 18-year-old gunman carried out a racist attack at a Buffalo, New York grocery store on May 14th, John Legend called for the de-platforming of Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, whose prominent espousal of Great Replacement Theory the singer says “poisons the minds of millions.” Great Replacement Theory argues that people of color who immigrate to the United States are going to replace white Americans, and often blames Democrats for initiating immigration as a tool to enhance their voting base. The Buffalo shooter posted a 180-page manifesto to the anonymous message board 4chan repeating these views, as well as other white supremacist ideologies. He ended up killing 10 people and injuring three others in the attack, which he live streamed on Twitch. Almost all of the victim...
