Pop Culture
Dr. Drew Diagnosed with COVID-19 After Downplaying Pandemic
Dr. Drew, still via Instagram Celebrity medical professional Dr. Drew Pinsky, known for Loveline and Celebrity Rehab, has confirmed he’s been diagnosed with COVID-19. Back before COVIDiot was a widespread term, Dr. Drew was called out for downplaying the pandemic as “press induced panic.” Though he apologized in April once it became clear this coronavirus was not to be trifled with, finally taking the health crisis seriously didn’t stop him from contracting it. News of his diagnosis came from an Instagram post on Tuesday. Noting that he tested positive after four days of illness, the post said, “Drew is home, under [surveillance] and fever is down… Drew is feeling better and will [hopefully] get well soon.” In a follow-up IG Live session the next day, Dr. Drew revealed that he’d actually b...
Vinyl Just Had Its Best Sales Week in History
We already knew vinyl was making a tremendous comeback, but the format has downright shattered records this month. The most important of them all: vinyl just had its best sales week ever. As Billboard reports, there were 1.842 million (!) LP’s sold in the US during the week leading up to Christmas, ending on December 24th. That’s the biggest week the format has had since Nielsen/MRC Data began tracking sales information in 1991. The previous record was achieved just a week prior, when 1.445 million vinyl records were sold between December 10th and December 17th. These gargantuan figures arrive at the end of a year that’s been historically great for vinyl. For the first time in 34 years, LP sales outpaced CDs during four separate weeks in 2020 (all of them since September), w...
Mysterious Gingerbread Monolith Appears in San Francisco
The mysterious monolith saga just got a sweet and crunchy twist. A new structure appeared in San Francisco on Christmas morning that’s entirely made of gingerbread cookie. Let’s backtrack. On November 23rd, state officials stumbled across a shiny metal monolith in the middle of the Utah desert that looked like it was straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. At first, people half-seriously wondered if aliens had planted it there (as they did in the Kubrick film), but then the New York Times ran a detailed story that linked the structure to the late sculptor John McCracken, who was known for creating metal monoliths and once suggested that he’d like to plant them in remote areas for people to find years later. Within a week, tourists arrived and removed the statue, but then a nearly-...
Dave Chappelle to Turn Former Fire Station Into Comedy Club
They say the best jokes hit close to home, and now Dave Chappelle is taking that literally. According to Yellow Springs News, the famed comedian has purchased a former fire station in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and received approval to transform the space into a combination comedy club and restaurant. Chappelle’s roots in the area go back to his childhood, when his father worked as a professor at nearby Antioch College. Then, over the summer, he hosted a socially-distanced, outdoor standup series in the township’s Wirrig Pavilion. Now, he’s proving that the college town is more than just a place to ride out quarantine with the announcement of his new club. The price of the sale is not public, but the fire station was originally listed for $400,000, and the township of Yellow Springs has be...
John Mulaney Enters Rehab for Cocaine and Alcohol Abuse
John Mulaney has checked into rehab for cocaine and alcohol abuse. According to Page Six and PEOPLE, the 38-year-old comedian entered a facility in Pennsylvania this past weekend. Mulaney has long been open about his history with substance abuse. In an interview with Esquire last year, he said he began drinking and experimenting with drugs at age 13. He first became sober at the age of 23. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this month, Mulaney admitted that the quarantine had negatively impacted his mental well-being, and he sought to find structure by going to work for his friend Seth Meyers. “I really needed a job. I like having a boss and having assignments to do,” Mulaney explained to Kimmel. “When I’m in charge of something… not so much the best thing. I wanted to ...
US Space Force Rips Off Marvel, Names Its Soldiers Guardians
The US Armed Forces has its soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen… and now, Guardians. Yes, right out of an intergalactic Marvel franchise of some renown, the US has officially named the members of the Space Force Guardians. Current-but-not-for-long Vice President Mike Pence announced the naming at a Friday ceremony celebrating the one-year anniversary of the nascent military branch. According to the official Space Force Twitter account (not @realSpaceForce, which belongs to the Netflix comedy), the name was selected partially as a tribute to the original motto of the 1983 Air Force Space Command: “Guardians of the High Frontier.” “The name Guardians connects our proud heritage and culture to the important mission we execute 24/7, protecting the people and interest of the U.S. and its allies,...
Yes, Trump’s Twitter Password Really Was “maga2020!”
Back in October, a man named Victor Gevers claimed he logged into Donald Trump’s Twitter account by correctly guessing his password to be “maga2020!”. When the news blew up, both the White House and Twitter denied that the President was hacked. But today, Dutch prosecutors who looked into the case have confirmed that it did actually happen. Unfortunately, that means Trump really did choose a password that comically — and scarily! — easy to guess. Earlier this fall, Gevers shared screenshots proving that he broke into Trump’s Twitter account on October 16th. According to the Guardian, the Netherlands promptly instructed Team High-tech Crime, their police specialist cyber unit, to determine whether or not Gevers’s claims were true — and the results were shared this afternoon. “We believe the...
Atlantic City Auctioning Off the Rights to Blow Up Trump’s Casino
If you’ve ever fantasized about doing to a building what Donald Trump did to the country, now’s your chance. Via NBC 10 Philadelphia, Atlantic City is auctioning off the rights to blow up the derelict Trump Plaza casino, with proceeds benefitting the local Boys & Girls Club. The casino first opened in 1984 and shuttered for good in 2014. A mere six years later, that fabled Trump craftsmanship has held up about as well as you’d expect. Earlier this year, huge chunks of the facade fell off and tumbled to the ground below, and the building reportedly sheds additional debris during bad storms. Since it’s a safety hazard, demolition has already begun. But the official implosion is scheduled for January 29th, and if you’ve got deep pockets that you’re willing to empty, you cou...
Once-Relevant Actor Kirk Cameron Holds Large Caroling Event in the Middle of the Pandemic
You might remember Kirk Cameron from his role in the TV series Growing Pains, the movie Like Father Like Son, or any of the cringey Christian dramas he made throughout the 2000s. But in 2020, the 50-year-old Evangelical Christian has pivoted from acting to anti-masking. On December 7th and December 13th, Cameron hosted gatherings of hundreds of people at The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks, California to sing Christmas carols and commiserate in close quarters. In a video of the second event that Cameron posted to his Instagram with the caption “Joy over Fear” — a pointed rebuke of social distancing restrictions — very few attendees are seen wearing masks and almost everyone is singing in unison, mouth germs abound. That same day, Ventura County (the location of the gathering) reported...
Discounted Merch and CBD Gift Bundles Now Available at Consequence Shop for the Holidays
To help make holiday shopping easier on your mind and your wallet, we’ve launched a series of new gift bundles at the Consequence Shop. Each one collects different selections from our exclusive line of T-shirts, masks, and Earthy CBD products into thematic packages at a greatly reduced 30% off. The Pop Culture Bundle lets you choose a variety four-pack of masks with adjustable ear loops — featuring our best-selling Caretaker, Chevron, Green Digital Rain, and Sweater designs and more — and pair it with one of three different Consequence logo shirts. This merch bundle saves you $24.80 on five great products. Then there’s the massive Horror Bundle, which features both of our limited edition Losers’ Club podcast shirts, our new Lovecraftian Horror tee, a Consequence mask keeper, and eithe...
Johnny Brennan on the Origins of the First Jerky Boys Album in 20 Years: “It’s a Whole Different Game Today”
Something about being kept away from typical entertainment outlets this year led to a surge in nostalgia content. Pop culture reunions grew from one-off virtual gatherings to fully-scripted streamable events. That made it somewhat fortuitous that 2020 happened to be the year Johnny Brennan decided to return with his classic prank project The Jerky Boys. Brennan recently released the first Jerky Boys album in 20 years, a long-demanded effort that’s been met with the warmest of welcomes by fans. All the favorites like Sol, Frank, and the rest are back, alongside new characters ringing up everyone from Social Security scammers to iRobot customer service reps to college admissions offices. Speaking with Brennan over the phone — where he does his best work, after all — the comedian and voice ac...
Pringles Reveal Mascot’s Full Body After John Oliver’s Dare
Pringles’ mascot Mr. P, photo via Twitter Pringles have one of the most recognizable mascots in the game. His name is Julius Pringles and he’s got a bushy mustache, flowing brown hair, and a dapper red bowtie that screams “Chips from a paper towel roll can be fancy, I swear!” It wasn’t until a recent John Oliver episode, though, that Mr. Pringles suddenly appeared suspicious, on account of the TV host pointing out that he apparently has no body. A floating head that wants you to eat potato chips? What is he hiding? Egged on by the Last Week Tonight host, Pringles took to social media today to introduce Mr. P and his disproportionate but entirely real body. “The moment @IamJohnOliver and @LastWeekTonight have been waiting for,” the brand tweeted. “In honor of every second John has tho...
