Pop Culture
Steve Albini Calls Joe Rogan and Barstool Sports “Trash Garbage”
Prolific record producer and engineer Steve Albini is known for being outspoken about the music industry’s exploitation of artists, but he doesn’t hold back when being asked about other topics, either. Oxbow frontman Eugene Robinson recently interviewed Albini for his newsletter’s “Five Easy Pieces” feature, in which he posed five questions unrelated to music. While being asked about his “Keep/Toss list” of celebrities, Albini took the opportunity to take down podcast host Joe Rogan and media company Barstool Sports, who he decried for making “trash garbage.” Albini began by criticizing transgressive art that is simply being used as “a veneer” to “justify being a fucking creep.” Name-checking Vice (co-founded by Gavin McInnes, who later founded neo-fascist organization the Proud Boys), he ...
Dr. Seuss Enterprises Stops Selling Six Books with Racist Imagery
You won’t be able to read them in a store, or if you’re sprawled out on the floor. You won’t find them upon a bookstore shelf, not even if you asks a Christmas elf. That’s because Dr. Seuss Enterprises has announced that they will cease publication and licensing of six books due to racist imagery. The news comes on what would have been Dr. Seuss’, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, 117th birthday. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which runs and manages the collected works of the late children’s author, said it had consulted with a panel of experts and educators last year before concluding that six classic Seuss tales would no longer be published. The six books are And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, a...
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Cannabis Brand, Houseplant, Comes to the US
Two years ago, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg launched their mid-century modern cannabis line, Houseplant, in their native Canada. Now, the brand is officially crossing the border, as it will soon be available in the United States. Well, at least one part of the US. California residents will soon be able to purchase the company’s three strains of marijuana flower — indica, sativa, and hybrid — via the to-be-launched Houseplant website. Each varietal is named after weather patterns, like the 33% THC (that’s a lot!) sativa strain Pancake Ice. No word yet on when or if the brand’s pre-rolled joints, soft-gel capsules, and two flavors of carbonated beverage (grapefruit and lemon) will follow suit. While the actual weed will only be available in Cali to start, Houseplant’s new home good...
Queen Release New Mobile Rhythm Game Rock Tour
Queen were hoping to bring a massive concert experience around the world in celebration of their 50th anniversary, but the pandemic has put a damper on those plans. Instead, they’ll bring tiny concert experiences from throughout their history into fans’ homes with the Queen: Rock Tour mobile game. Coming from Universal Music Group and Gameloft, Queen: Rock Tour is a rhythm game much like Rock Band or Guitar Hero, except in this mobile version all the rocking out is done with your fingertips. Players can tour 10 famed international venues and tap along to 20 of Queen’s iconic songs, including “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “We Will Rock You”, “Radio Ga Ga”, “We Are the Champions”, and more. You can also change the look of the band, choosing from over 40 instantly recognizable costumes worn ...
Hasbro’s Mr. Potato Head Line Drops the Mr., Rebrands as Potato Head
Pop in your surprised face: Hasbro is rebranding its 70-year-old Mr. Potato Head line, which will now be called simply Potato Head. The characters Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head will continue to be sold. As Variety reports, the news comes as part of a push for inclusivity. That includes the new product Create Your Potato Head Family allowing children to provide their spud buds with all combinations of features without regard to gender. Some bad-faith blowhards initially responded to the announcement as if Hasbro had declared that Being a Real Man™ was now illegal; one big account that we won’t dignify with a link used the rebrand to call for conservative states to secede from the Union. Oh well — taters gonna tate. These concerns turned out to be half-baked, because as Ha...
Tim Burton’s Batman Returns in New DC Comics Series
Cue up the Danny Elfman score — maybe even Prince’s “Batdance” — and get ready to revisit Tim Burton’s Batman universe. Today, DC Comics announced they’re spending this summer in the filmmaker’s Dark Deco’d Gotham City with Batman ’89. Written by original screenwriter Sam Hamm and brought to the page by artist Joe Quinones, the DC Digital First series will tell all new adventures featuring Michael Keaton’s incarnation of Batman. A press release promises the return of Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman, the debut of a new Robin (perhaps Marlon Wayans, as originally planned?), and the two-faced evolution of Billy Dee Williams’ Harvey Dent. Altogether, there will be 12 new chapters that “pull on a number of threads left dangling by the prolific director.” The first six will debut on July 27th with ...
Sad! Donald Trump’s Twitter Ban Is Permanent, CFO Confirms
It only took four years of violating the Terms of Service, but in January Twitter finally worked up the courage to ban then-President Donald Trump. Still, the one-time Tweeter-in-Chief has vowed to run for president in 2024, perhaps under the banner of a new Patriot Party. This has led many to speculate that Twitter would relax the ban if Trump returned to power, since they already showed cowardice an unwillingness to challenge him while he spoke for half the country. Well, bad news for all the “God bless you, sir!” reply-guys, because Twitter CFO Ned Segal has confirmed that the Orange Menace is gone for good. “The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform,” Segal told CNBC’s Squawk Box, “whether you’re a commentator, you’re a CFO, or y...
Documentary on Four Seasons Total Landscaping in the Works
Four Seasons Total Landscaping is still cashing in on its increased exposure thanks to the bumbling, blundering 2020 Trump campaign. Since the humble Philadelphia business became the accidental site of a Rudy Giuliani press conference back in November, the company has raked it in with exclusive merch and that cheeky “Opportunity Knocks” Super Bowl ad for Fiverr. Now, the debacle that started this whole thing will become the focus of a new documentary from a pair of Oscar-winning producers. Entitled Four Seasons Total Documentary, the in-production film is being directed by Christopher Stoudt (Patron Saint of Jazz Fest). Glen Zipper and Sean Stuart, who won Academy Awards in 2012 for their high school football doc Undefeated, are serving as producers (via The Hollywood Reporter). Four Seaso...
Donald Trump Permanently Banned from SAG-AFTRA Following Angry Resignation Letter
If Donald Trump ever does intend to reenter entertainment, he’ll do so without the backing of the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, as the union has permanently banned him from their ranks. Like the unemployed toddler he is, Trump threw a tantrum when he learned the SAG-AFTRA Disciplinary Committee was to hold a disciplinary hearing over the former Apprentice host’s role in the January 6th insurrection. He issued the most childish resignation letter ever, touting his work on Home Alone 2 and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as if he deserved Golden Globes. He even claimed the media’s coverage of him helped save the cable news industry and “created thousands of jobs at networks. Initially, SAG responded to the note with a blunt and simple, “Thank you...
HBO Developing GameStop Stock Movie with Billions Co-Creator, Blumhouse
If you ask the folks on r/WallStreetBets, the saga of taking GameStop to the moon in order to stick it to hedge funds shorting the company’s stock isn’t nearly over. But even in the midst of this social media-based financial smack down, Hollywood is already seeing its own dollar signs. The latest studio seeking to adapt the real-life story is HBO, which is developing a project with Billions co-creator and financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, former HBO Films head Len Amato, and Jason Blum’s Blumhouse. The Hollywood Reporter has it that the cable network is currently in search of a writer to pen the film. The outlet also continually refers to the production as a “project,” shying away from specifying if it might be a movie, TV show, or limited series. Any of those forms might work for t...
“Hollyboob” Stunt Was Actually a Statement Against Instagram’s Censorship
On Monday, a group of people climbed up and altered the iconic Hollywood sign to read “Hollyboob”. All six of them were subsequently arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing, but their stunt wasn’t for naught. As it turns out, the feat wasn’t a pointless prank like the 2017 “Hollyweed” hi-jink, but a statement against Instagram’s censorship of sex workers. The person who organized the caper is a woman named Julia Rose, the founder and CEO of an adult website called Shagmag, which boasts the description “Playboy’s hotter, younger sister” on its website. In an interview with Vice, Rose explained that both her personal Instagram account and the official Shagmag account were recently suspended from the app for nudity. The “Hollyboob” maneuver was an elaborate way t...
Jeff Bezos Will Step Down as Amazon CEO
Alexa, what do you do after you’ve conquered the world? In an email to his employees, Amazon founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos has announced he’ll be stepping down in Q3, with current head of Amazon Web Services Andy Jassy taking over. Bezos will transition to the role of Executive Chairman, where he’ll be less involved in day-to-day operations but still focused on long-term strategy. In his letter, Bezos wrote that, “In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives,” while investing more time in his personal and philanthropic projects. He continued, “As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, Th...
