List of All Articles with Tag 'celebrities'

Country music singer Jason Aldeon is facing an intense wave of backlash after his song, “Try That In A Small Town”, went viral online, prompting many people to accuse him of dog-whistle racism. The song sets footage of Black Lives Matter protests alongside lyrics like: “Try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road / Around here, we take care of our own.” The song continues: “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The BLM protests were a direct reaction to the murder of African-American man George Floyd by a white police officer. The clips in the music video, which also include an attempted convenience store robbery and other apparent crimes, alternate with shots of Aldean and his band performing in the public square of Columbia, Tennessee. To make things worse, the video is shot in front of the Maury County Courthouse, which at times appears to be on fire with images of burning US flags projected onto it. It’s the same building where a mob hanged 18-year-old African-American Henry Choate from the balcony in 1927. Columbia is also the site of an infamous 1946 race riot that nearly resulted in the lynching of future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. Another lyric goes: “Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well that s--- might fly in the city / Good luck.” Country Music Television (CMT) confirmed Tuesday that it had pulled the video from rotation. Social media has been ablaze with the controversy for much of the last week. Democrat state representative for Tenessee, Justin Jones, called the song "heinous", and a "shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism". One user said that if Lil Durk, a black American rapper, made a response to Aldean's video called "Try That On The South Side of Chicago", it would likely be denounced as violent. Others shared videos explaining exactly why people are interpreting the song as dog-whistle racism. Aldean has stood by the song, saying: “There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it – and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage – and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music – this one goes too far.” Needless to say, the people defending him are all the ones you might expect. Top Republicans have jumped to Aldean’s aid, including former president Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis. “Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just came out with a great new song. Support Jason all the way. MAGA!!!” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. The conservative influencer Ben Shapiro posted a video to his YouTube channel titled “Jason Aldean REFUSES To Get Cancelled”, in which he discusses the controversy and takes Aldean’s side. Most recently, Aldean has been filmed at a concert over the weekend defending the song further. He said: “What I am is a proud American.” “I love our country. I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls*** started happening to us.” “I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that. I can tell you that.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Joe Lycett is back at trolling the Conservative party again, this time Suella Braverman, after the Court of Appeal ruled that the government's Rwanda asylum plan is "unlawful". Lord Burnett, the outgoing Lord Chief Justice, said: "The High Court's decision that Rwanda is a safe third country is reversed. Unless and until the deficiencies in its asylum processes are corrected, removal of asylum seekers to Rwanda will be unlawful." A major setback in prime minister Rishi Sunak's 'stop the boats' policy. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter In light of the announcement comedian Joe Lycett tweeted: "ignore the haters babe (by haters I mean the royal court of justice)" Lycett has been known to troll many Conservative MPs, after former prime minister Boris Johnson was found guilty for lying to parliament earlier this month, Lycett tweeted "@Boris Johnson still my king." Similarly, when Liz Truss announced her resignation in October last year, the comedian tweeted: "@trussliz omg just heard there's a leadership election next week????? u shud run bab youd be perfect!!!" Lycett gained a lot of attention last year for his appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg after sarcastically claiming to be "very right-wing". "The haters will say that we've had 12 years of the Tories and that we're sort of at the dregs of what they've got available," the comedian said last year. "I wouldn't say that because I'm incredibly right-wing, but some people might say that." Many fans once again loved Lycett's comedic input to the current situation, with his tweet having thousands of likes. "Tweet of the day," commented one user. Others took inspiration from Lycett's sarcastic remarks and left some of their own: A government source said it was likely to challenge the ruling at Britain's Supreme Court. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A growing number of people -- many in medical or artistic fields -- have found themselves catapulted into the digital limelight after becoming accidental stars in the ASMR community.

Hugh Grant is no stranger to making his feelings known when it comes to politics, and this time, he's having the last laugh on Brexit. The actor appeared on The View, where he was quizzed over whether he thinks the UK leaving the EU had 'ruined' his home country. "Well I do...said with a smile", he joked. "Actually now the majority of Brits do, I think." "The Europeans may not want us back!", he added. Click here to sign up for our newsletters

Tekashi 6ix9ine has filmed the moment he was mobbed by fans in one of Mexico's most dangerous neighbourhoods, as he went to visit a mural painted by supporters. The 27-year-old rapper was followed on motorbikes and shouted at during the trip to Tepito, Mexico City, where the La Unión Tepito rule. Drug and arms trafficking as well as robbery make it a neighbourhood tourists are advised to stay away from, and multiple documentaries about its crime rates have been made. However, a lot of people showed up to welcome 6ix9ine, who posed against the backdrop of the mural for photos. Click here to sign up for our newsletters

Ben Stiller has opened up on his 2016 prostate cancer diagnosis, and how his life-saving surgery affected his sex life. Appearing on Howard Stern's radio show, the actor, alongside his surgeon, Dr Ted Schaeffer, noted that it was 'rare' for his sexual function to return so quickly. "When the first erection happened post surgery, we all celebrated,” he joked. "It all came out of the blue for me." Meanwhile, Schaeffer quipped that it was 'because he's a movie star' that he got his groove back almost immediately. Click here to sign up for our newsletters