No one expected Papa Johns to be entangled in a racism controversy, but that’s exactly what happened in 2018. In May of that year, a conference call involving then-CEO John Schnatter, the man from those memorable commercials, became the talk of the town after it was alleged and he used the n-word. There were several excuses Schnatter gave at the time as to why he used the racial slur, but in the end, he stepped down from his position after alleged urging from the board of directors. Schnatter recently sat down for an interview with the far-right, pro-Trump-supporting One America NewsNetwork where he revisited his controversy, only he made more statements that added fuel to the fire.
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Schnatter said that when he saw his name being “smeared” in headlines, he was in a “state of shock.” He added, “I couldn’t understand it. I mean, you have a public board who paints its chairman—complicit, passive or active—they paint the founder as a racist. They know he’s not a racist. It’s just unbelievable. I used to lay in bed just going, ‘How did they do this?'”
He said that there have been “three goals” for the “last 20 months,” and one of them surprised the public. “To get rid of this n-word in my vocabulary and dictionary and everything else because it’s just not true [and] figure out how they did this and get on with my life.” Schnatter wants the board to come forward to admit that they jumped to conclusions and didn’t offer a proper investigation into the conference call incident before asking him to step down.
Schnatter previously maintained that he was repeating what someone else said and that his comments were taken out of context. During the call in question, Schnatter was asked how he would distance himself from racists online after calling out the NFL during the kneeling controversy. Schnatter reportedly stated that “Colonel Sanders called blacks n*ggers,” but the KFC founder never received backlash, so he wasn’t concerned. In December 2020, his lawyer reportedly launched an investigation into the 2018 incident to prove that Schnatter didn’t use the term to degrade anyone. Check out the clip of his interview below.
They closed out the month of February with a major music announcement about the arrival of Silk Sonic, and now Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak are begging the Grammys for a spot on the stage. We’ve already received the news from The Recording Academy that they’ve chosen acts like Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, DaBaby, Doja Cat, Post Malone, John Mayer, Taylor Swift, and many more, but Mars and .Paak wants Silk Sonic to become a last-minute addition.
Instead of working things out behind the scenes, Bruno Mars decided to pen an open letter to the Grammys that he shared on Twitter. “Dear Grammys, If you can see it in your hearts to allow two out of work musicians to perform at your show, we would really appreciate it,” wrote Mars. “We just released a song and could really use the promotion right now. We have a lot riding on this record (and the Pelicans game next week, but that’s another story).”
“We haven’t been able to perform in a while and we just want to sing,” he continued. The singer added that they’ll take as many COVID-19 tests that are required and even offered to send in an audition tape. Bruno Mars promised that they wouldn’t be “extra” and just wanted the opportunity to “gig again.” Soon, thousands of fans joined in their crusade and supported their efforts with the #LetSilkSonicThrive hashtag, but there has yet to be an official response from The Recording Academy. We’ll have to wait and see if they can pull this off, but in the meantime, check out Mars and .Paak’s funny tweets below.
There are all sorts of news updates about Lil Mama today (March 8). First, a photo surfaced of the rapper showing off a baby bump, leaving many to question whether or not she’s pregnant. Then, a woman came forward on TikTok showing that Lil Mama is allegedly dating her ex, and later, the rapper caught heat from the public over her Instagram Story where she made a loose comparison between transgender people and animals. Lil Mama suggested that allowing children to change their genders is all apart of a scheme to depopulate the world.
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She reposted a tweet that reads: “So children are too young to smoke cigarettes, too young to drink alcohol, too young to get a drivers license, too young to go to a club, too young to gamble, too young to rent a car, but old enough to cut off their genitals and/or ‘change’their gender?[thinking emoji]-This is insanity #America.”
Lil Mama added a few thoughts to the post. “DEPOPULATION AT ANY COST CAT FIGHTS SWORD FIGHTS Used be a cat now ima dog WHATEVER TO STOP NEW LIFE REPRODUCTION.” Lil Mama’s opinions trail B2K’s J-Boog’s who recently called Michelle Obama and Zaya Wade’s interview “demonic.” The rapper’s post amassed mixed reactions, so check out a few below and let us know if you agree or disagree with the New York artist.
Brent Faiyaz and Tyler, The Creator’s single “Gravity” was released in late January, and it’s still maintaining a solid rotation over on this end. The two have an incredible track record together whenever they team up but their latest offering is looking like it could carry on until the end of the year as a song of the year contender. We’ll have to see when the time’s right but clearly, IDK appreciates the song a lot or else he wouldn’t have covered it. The artist returned with a cover of the single today as part of a two-pack that included a freestyle over Pooh Shiesty and Lil Durk’s “Back In Blood.”
Check IDK’s cover of Brent Faiyaz & Tyler, The Creator’s collaboration “Gravity” and sound off in the comments with your thoughts.
Quotable Lyrics He aimed it at my heart but shot my mothafuckin’ top Now my love’s stupid, fuck it I’ll do it Climb on up the ladder honey
Ahead of releasing her breakout debut single “Icy Grl” in 2017, Saweetie earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California. Saweetie was already making moves in her rap career while attending college and has cited how important her degree is to her. But attending a school where she was oftentimes the only student of color in the classroom also took a toll on her, to the point that she now says the experience “stripped my authenticity.”
Saweetie recently sat down with The Breakfast Club for a conversation about her career and upcoming projects. Host Angela Yee commended Saweetie for completing her degree in the interview, saying that “sometimes people think that you can’t be authentic as a rapper if you also went to school and did well.” But Saweetie feels as though her college experience forced her to conform:
“That’s so ironic because I feel like college is what kind of stripped my authenticity from me because, when you’re going to a predominately white school, you kind of feel like you have to perform sometimes. Not speaking for everybody, but at least from my experience. So if anything, I feel like after college, I was kind of getting back to who I was before then. But being in a world that’s not your world is uncomfortable, you have to adjust, and I felt like I had to conform a lot because sometimes I’d be the only Black or biracial girl in class. So if anything, I feel like I’m finally getting back to me.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Saweetie said that her success didn’t happen by luck. Rather, she’s been working hard at achieving her goals since grade school: “I have run into people who I was cordial with or who I was friends with and they always tell me that where I’m at right now makes sense. Because I was always ambitious. I’d be top student for my academics, I was female athlete of the year, I was popular throughout my whole life. So people who knew me before this knew that it makes sense for what I’m doing.”
Watch Saweetie’s full interview with The Breakfast Club above.
Saweetie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Streaming video is the best thing that’s ever happened to documentaries. People who would never have paid for a ticket to a theatrical nonfiction film are now, thanks to Netflix’s robust selection, scarfing down the stuff by the barrel. But where to start among the masses? Here are 25 of the best documentaries on Netflix right now to get you going, covering a variety of themes and real stories.
Even if you’ve already witnessed the madness of this real-life horror story over on Hulu, you should see it again on Netflix. Hulu’s Fyre Fraud feels like more of a thinkpiece directed at the millennials who were suckered into buying tickets to a luxurious music fest on a secluded island in the Bahamas. Netflix’s Fyre does a better job of placing you in the action, giving you a real feel for the chaos and an understanding of how so many people could’ve been roped into this doomed venture.
Beyoncé’s history-making Coachella performance was enough to temporarily rename the music festival Beychella last year, and now fans who couldn’t afford to see Queen Bee perform live get a backstage pass to the show with this doc. Are there killer performances, musical mash-ups, and dance routines? Sure. But what really makes this music doc stand-out besides the talent of its star is the intimate look fans are given into Beyoncé’s personal life, from her surprise pregnancy to her struggle to get in shape before the event and all the in-between madness and heartbreak.
To understand the enigma that was the Trump campaign, one must first understand the man behind the historic presidential run. Roger Stone is a well-connected lobbyist, a Republican political trickster responsible for the campaigns of former presidents like Richard Nixon and Ronal Reagan. He’s well-versed in navigating morally-murky waters to help his horse win the race, and we see him do just that in this doc, which follows the mogul over a five-year period as he crafts Trump’s winning-campaign.
One of the strangest, most tragic sports stories in history is that of professional wrestler Dave Schulz and his friend, John du Pont. Du Pont was heir to the multi-million dollar Du Pont family fortune and used his inheritance to fund a professional wrestling team with the hopes of competing in the Olympics and other prestigious sports events. Mark Schulz was a wrestler struggling to get out of the shadow of his older brother’s more promising career. The two were roped into du Pont’s scheme, training wrestlers for him, but the partnership quickly soured and led to du Pont murdering Dave Schultz before barricading himself in his family compound to avoid arrest. It’s chilling, bizarre, and all the more riveting because of it.
Another sports doc, this one about a rag-tag group of baseball players in Oregon, feels decidedly more fun than its wrestling counterpart. The doc follows the Portland Mavericks, a defunct minor league baseball owned by actor Bing Russell that played for five seasons in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League. Kurt Russell, Bing’s son, also played on the team and served as its vice president. The film charts the Maverick’s origins, from underdogs to anti-establishment heroes.
Compiled from rare home videos from Christopher “Biggie” Wallace’s best friend, Damion “D-Roc” Butler, this revealing doc gives fans a different look at the iconic rapper. Sean “Diddy” Combs and Biggie’s mom also give interviews, detailing parts of Biggie’s life we didn’t know about, but the most compelling footage comes from D-Roc’s amateur videos. These clips give us an unfiltered look at a man who would become a legend.
This 2016 documentary from Ava DuVernay won an Emmy and was nominated for an Oscar during awards season two years ago. The film chronicles the justice system’s abuses against black people, making a case for institutionalized racism being a problem in America that’s only emboldened by the prison cycle. DuVernay boldly explores how prisons and detention centers are making a profit off of free prison labor, most of it done by black men which begs the question, is slavery really dead?
Let’s be honest, Taylor Swift could’ve delivered a glossy, stylized, superficial doc about her life to promote her latest album, and her rabid fanbase would’ve eaten it up. Instead, the pop star took a risk and gave filmmakers no-holds-barred access to her personal and professional life, offering up intimate interviews with herself and her family, detailing difficult struggles with body dysmorphia and eating disorders, allowing cameras inside her sexual assault trial, revealing her mother’s cancer diagnosis, and unearthing home video footage of her youth to create a fuller picture of herself. It’s a film that reveals the human underneath the icon. It’s bold, brutally honest, and some of Swift’s best work yet.
Few environmental warrior films do more for the cause than Jeff Orlowski’s Chasing Coral. The doc rounds up a team of scientists, photographers, and divers from around the world to draw attention to an environmental crisis we’ve never seen before — the vanishing of the world’s coral reefs. It works on two levels: By giving us an underwater adventure that attempts to shed light on the mysteries of the deep and highlighting a problem we can see with our own eyes. There’s no denying this one, no looking away, and Orlowski’s crew takes full advantage of that.
’90s crime nostalgia is alive and well in this pseudo-doc from director Kitty Green. Everyone knows how tiny pageant queen JonBenet Ramsey died — bludgeoned to death in the basement of her family home — so Green is less interested in rehashing the investigation into the little girl’s death and more interested in reenacting her life and final moments. To do this, she enlists actors from the area where the family lived, all hoping to play JonBenet or her parents in an upcoming production. Over the course of the film, these thespians are forced to confront the reality of the Ramsey family’s situation which in turn helps viewers to take a look under the surface of this tabloid trauma.
This timely doc gives us a look at the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal that rocked the world of gymnastics just two years ago from the point of view of reporters at the Indianapolis Star in charge of exposing it. A cover-up spanning two decades and involving higher-ups at both US Gymnastics and Michigan State where Nassar served as a physician and professor, this revealing investigation into a sinister culture that’s hidden behind the success of its top female athletes makes you rethink everything you thought about the Olympic dream.
his marks the first documentary to come from Netflix’s high-profile producing deal with Barack and Michelle Obama. The film takes a hard look at what happened to a General Motors plant in Ohio when it was closed down during the 2008 financial crisis, causing 2,000 workers to lose their jobs and destroying the small town of Moraine, Ohio. Things only get more complicated when a Chinese billionaire comes to town to transform the plant into a glass-making facility, promising thousands of new jobs before cultural divides threaten to derail the whole thing. It’s a fascinating view of consumerism, the American workforce, culture clashes, and how people can connect with each other despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
In 1992, Sandi Tan, along with her friends, made Singapore’s first indie film. She wrote and starred in it, a project called Shirkers, her two girlfriends produced and edited it, and a man named George Cardona directed. Cardona vanished one day, taking all the film materials with him, and propelling Tan on a decades-long journey to find the truth. It’s an engrossing study in betrayal and the dangers of collaboration, and it works mostly because Tan approaches it from a true-crime mystery angle, stripping it of any nostalgia that might tint her lense.
This gripping documentary confronts some hard truths about religion: its power to unite and its power to divide. Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady follow three members of New York’s notoriously insular Hasidic community as they try to break free from their religion while holding onto their families and sense of belonging.
Bryan Fogel’s Academy Award-winning documentary Icarus wasn’t supposed to involve Russians and doping scandal and cover-ups. Fortunately for Fogel, when the filmmaker decided to test his mettle by competing in one of the toughest cycling competitions in the world and chose to dope to help his chances, he ended up meeting Russian scientist, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the director of Russia’s national anti-doping laboratory. The result is this nearly 90-minute film that chronicles Russia’s extensive history with doping and Rodchenkov’s fight for his life after he blows the whistle on the country’s bad practices.
It seems as though we’re all now more aware than ever of how utterly screwed any of us can be in an instant if the system places us in its crosshairs for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not behaving in a way perceived to be “normal” in the immediate aftermath. Recent true crime documentaries like The Staircase, Making a Murderer and Serial have certainly played a part in illuminating this frightening and unfortunate slice of reality. We can now add Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn’s Amanda Knox to that list. Prepare to be terrified and infuriated as the filmmakers detail how an overzealous Italian prosecutor and a global tabloid press thirsty for a sensational story joined forces to wreck a young woman’s life, largely for their own benefit. As Daily Mail journalist Nick Pisa freely admits on camera — without any trace of remorse or shame — about his work covering the case, “A murder always gets people going… And we have here this beautiful, picturesque hilltop town in the middle of Italy. It was a particularly gruesome murder; throat slit, semi-naked, blood everywhere. I mean, what more do you want in a story?”
Netflix delivers another worthy installment in the true crime series with this truly bizarre tale of a naive, church-going family and the man who preyed upon them. The Brobergs lived in a small town in Idaho with their three young daughters when they met Robert Berchtold, a seemingly-nice family man who doted on the girls, in particular, a 12-year-old Jan Broberg. Over time, Berchtold began grooming Jan and manipulating her parents, engaging in sexual acts with both her father and mother to cause a rift in the family before kidnapping her and brainwashing her into compliance. This saga went on for years and as strange as it sounds, nothing can prepare you for hearing the first-hand account of how this sociopath destroyed this loving family.
This documentary features never-before-seen footage of Jim Carrey in character as Andy Kaufman on the set of his 1999 film Man on the Moon. Directed by Chris Smith, the film shows Carrey, who was a celebrated comedic actor at the time, going method for his dramatic role as the brilliant on-stage comedian. There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes drama on this one, including Carrey’s backstage antics while shooting the movie, but what’s really interesting about the film is watching the actor’s thorough process and how he’s approached his colorful careers.
We live in a world connected with most of our interactions happening online. It’s great but, as this doc shows, it’s also terrifying. Terrifying because the way our data changes hands so quickly and indiscriminately — as long as companies shell out the cash for it — skirts all kinds of privacy laws and moral boundaries. This doc, told from the perspective of a journalist attempting to get his search data, the enormous fight with big tech to do it, and how his journey connects to the Cambridge Analytica scandal that may have influenced multiple elections in the States and abroad, is full of fascinating information and shocking tell-alls that could bring this whole internet empire down if people finally decide to start listening.
This political doc made its way from Sundance to Netflix and we couldn’t think of a better time to watch it than leading up to the 2020 election. It follows the grassroots campaign of the right’s favorite punching bag, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, showcasing her charisma and approachability while also diving into more intimate parts of her life, like her relationship with her late father. It’s a feel-good story from Capitol Hill and really, we need more of that.
The film that turned the tide of public opinion on Sea World and convinced Pixar to change the ending of Finding Dory, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s animal rights muckraker is more than just 83 minutes of theme=park shaming. In telling the story of Tillikum, the psychologically damaged orca who spent his life in captivity and was involved in the deaths of three people, the movie is an elegy for the freedoms that marine creatures like him were once able to enjoy. Is there an ethical way to view creatures like Tillikum up close and personal, and if so, should we trust a private company to deliver it to us?
Clocking in at 24 minutes, the Oscar-nominated Extremis really would only work as a short, as its subject matter is almost unbearably heavy. Following terminal patients, their families, and their doctors, the tearjerker zeros in on the decision that many people are forced to make: whether to end a life or keep struggling to hold on. Netflix’s first foray into short documentary, it’s raw insight that can be rough for anyone who has been in similar shoes or spent any time facing dire choices in a hospital.
The alternately revolutionary and dispiriting saga of a combative, unapologetic and astoundingly gifted soul singer, Liz Garbus’s doc is a powerful rendering of the struggles Nina Simone faced throughout her career: the ways she became trapped in downward spirals, first of spousal abuse and then of bipolar disorder; and of her desperate, all-consuming urge to affect change on the country during the Civil Rights era. What happened? Watch for yourself.
We’re not sure why watching human beings dangling thousands of feet in the air with no safety net or cable cord to tether them to Earth is so irresistible, but it is, and this doc about free climber Tommy Caldwell and climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson might be Netflix’s most bingeable adventure flick. The two men attempt to scale the impossible 3000ft Dawn Wall of El Capitan, the Everest for free climbers, and if you can stomach over an hour of near-fatal slips, trips, and falls, this is the doc for you.
Warning: Netflix’s The Bleeding Edge will seriously piss you off. It might also make you swear off doctors for the rest of your life. The film is a deep dive into the medical device industry and the dangers that lurk there for unassuming patients. Like the pharmaceutical industry, there are few laws regulating the creation and implementation of medical devices — think everything from birth control to orthopedic instruments — and the doc shows how this is negatively affecting millions of Americans every year from the women unknowingly sterilized by an IUD device to a doctor whose own ortho-device slowly poisoned him. It’s a frustrating watch, but a necessary one.
After an incredible run in 2020, Calboy isn’t slowing down his hustle, at all. Most artists of his caliber keep their good material for their albums while building the anticipation. Calboy’s taken an alternative route, flooding the streets with music, most of which you can’t even find on streaming services. However, fans are always delighted to hear new music from the rapper.
This weekend, he quietly teamed up with JD On The Track for their brand new collaboration, “These Days.” Calboy’s sing-rap flow details pain while also reflecting on the number of wins he’s had in recent times.
The latest from Calboy arrives just a month after he tackled SpottemGottem’s viral record, “BeatBox.” We’re excited to hear what Calboy has up his sleeves for the remainder of 2021.
Quotable Lyrics You know I stay 10 toes Pull up on your block But we don’t shoot at windows Girl exotic, smell that hot pack when the wind blows
It’s been roughly a year since she released her debut single but singer/songwriter Foushée is already making her impact felt through her hypnotizing melodies and genre-bending approach to her craft. It was “Deep End” that ultimately propelled her career, as well as the sample that was used in Sleepy Hallow’s hit record, “Deep End Freestyle.”
Gearing up for 2021, she’s evidently maintaining the momentum at a high. Not only did she appear on Weezy’s “Ain’t Got Time, but she also delivered “single af” earlier this year. Now, she’s back with her latest offering, “sing about love.” The singer takes on jazz influences while her vocal prowess leaves you in a trance.
Along with the single, she was also named VEVO DSCVR artist and performed both of her latest singles for the series.
Check the latest from Foushée below.
Quotable Lyrics It’s been since forever Swore I would never I’ll probably regret this but I I can finally sing about love again
The social media back-and-forth between Kehlani and recently released from jail actor Kaalan Walker has reached new heights. Back in 2018, Walker was arrested after multiple women accused him of rape and sexual assault. The Superfly actor was released on a million-dollar bond, and almost immediately, he returned to social media. Soon, Kehlani issued a series of tweets where she supported Walker’s accusers, and now the actor has taken to his Instagram Story with allegations that Kehlani wanted to have his child and was once in love with him.
Alberto E. Rodriguez / Stringer / Getty Images
“It’s real quiet now huh Kehlani,” he wrote. “You been putting down Black men on your platform for years. PartyNextDoor, Kyrie Irving, Tory Lanez, YG, Me and the list continues. Everybody in the business knows how shady you are.” He continued his rant in another slide. “Don’t bully me for 2 days straight on your platform when I just spent 3 years locked up and expect me not to react. I know to much about you.”
“Instead of spreading lies about me. How about you acknowledge how in love you we’re with me. Don’t forget how you were telling me I can’t stay off your mind,” he added. “Also you should tell ya fans about the time you told me you thought I got you pregnant after we were intimate. I know you remember the time we went to the doctor to check. Did you forget to mention that ? You were excited for me to be your baby daddy.”
He went on to say that he “will always respect [her] for being a good mother,” but believes Kehlani needs “to be held accountable as well.” He called her a “negative individual” and added that the singer is using her platform to “publicly shame a person with false information.” He offered her the opportunity to “talk like 2 grown adults” but only “whenever you finally decided to be real with yourself.”
Meanwhile, Kehlani suggests that Walker has “had it out for her” after she allegedly rejected his advances. Swipe below to check it all out.
Ross is now expanding the amount of real estate he owns with a brand new pad out in his home state of Florida. According to People, Ross just dropped $3.5M in cash to purchase former Heat player Amar’e Stoudemire’s estate in Fort Lauderdale. The rapper scooped the home up just four days after it was put on the market and reportedly paid for it in all-cash. Ross now holds the record for the fastest closing in the history of the Landmark Ranch Estates section.
“It’s a sprawling estate in a very secluded area,” Ross told the publication about his latest purchase. “From the moment I stepped inside, I appreciated the high ceilings and rich detail.”
Ross’s latest property spreads over 2.3 acres of land with a main house and a guest house that include 6 rooms altogether, seven bathrooms, nine-car garage, a hidden movie theatre, two offices, an indoor bar area with pool table, and a yoga room. There’s also a pool with a waterfall, and a summer kitchen for BBQs.
