<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There’s a new trend among major recording artists, and it’s becoming so common that it even has a viral new nickname: “blue dot fever.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This disease comes not from alien chickenpox, but instead represents musicians who allegedly cancel their shows due to poor ticket sales. Those “blue dots” reference the empty seats that would-be attendees aren’t buying for whatever reason.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some artists are upfront about their reasons for canceling, while others offer thinly veiled excuses. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Post Malone canceled the first few weeks of his tour with Jelly Roll because he supposedly wanted to spend time making new music, but many fans speculate that it’s really because some stops had too many of those blue dots.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A local news segment from El Paso, Texas, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DX0J5TakTSv/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reported</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that early stops on the “Big Ass Stadium Tour Part 2” that were axed “showed a majority of tickets not sold,” noting that “the blue ones are empty seats.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The singer said that wasn’t the reason, writing on social media, “truth is, I promised y’all beautiful people new music, and I don’t have the time to finish it before tour starts. We ain’t ready for tour just yet, so I’m making the decision to push the tour back about 3 weeks to get this music done.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meghan Trainor is also being accused of pulling out of performing due to an overabundance of blue dots. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She canceled her “Get In Girl” tour last month and </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">attributed it to</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> wanting to spend time with her family. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Balancing the release of a new album, preparing for a nationwide tour, and welcoming our new baby girl to our growing family of five has just been more than I can take on right now, and I need to be home and present for each and all of them at this time,” she <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2026-04-17/meghan-trainor-cancels-tour-why-new-baby-girl">said</a> in April.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most recently, the girl group “The Pussycat Dolls” canceled their reunion tour’s North American stops — except for one — and did not give any specific reason for doing so.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“When we announced the PCD FOREVER Tour, we hoped to bring the show to fans across the world. After taking an honest look at the North American run, we’ve made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to cancel all but one of the North America dates,” the group said in an update shared on Monday. They stopped just shy of admitting the blue dots were the problem.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Our U.K. and European dates are still moving forward as planned, and the response has been incredible, with several shows already sold out. We are putting everything into making this show a true celebration of the music and the memories, for the fans who have been with us from the beginning and those discovering us for the first time. We’re working hard to create the kind of show we’ve always dreamed of bringing to you. We cannot wait to bring this reunion to Europe and make these nights unforgettable.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Dolls will play one show in the U.S., however, stopping in at the WeHo Pride event in L.A. on June 6. “We could not think of a more meaningful place to celebrate with our fans,” the statement said. “The LGBTQ+ community has shown us so much love and support throughout our career, and we’re honored to be part of a weekend rooted in joy, pride, music, and chosen family.”</span></p>
<p>So why has blue dot fever become such an issue?</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many commenters are pointing out that these artists are targeting huge, 50,000+ arenas when they’d be better off putting on small, intimate shows that are guaranteed to sell out and therefore drive hype. There have also been plenty of complaints about high ticket prices. There were also observations about where the shows take place.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The prices are high, but the biggest thing keeping me away from huge arena shows is that I have to drive to a major city,” one commenter </span><a href="https://x.com/staticdazzle/status/2051365489763565595"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “In my case it&#8217;s Los Angeles, only about 45 minutes away but it&#8217;s such a disgusting city that I just won&#8217;t go anymore.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Maybe don’t charge $100+ for an upper level seat or let bots buy all the tickets and charge resell prices,” another person </span><a href="https://x.com/dougie1395/status/2051652903190884801"><span style="font-weight: 400;">added</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“No one has the disposable income that they used to have … Concerts are one of the first things that are going to go. Artists are either gonna have to lower their ticket prices or cancel concerts,” echoed a third.</span></p>


Post Malone

Rash Of Artists Stricken With ‘Blue Dot Fever’

concert

Entertainment

Music

Music Industry

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Recording artist Kid Cudi has dropped rapper M.I.A. from his tour due to “offensive” statements she made about immigrants.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">M.I.A. was dropped following an incident on May 2 at the Dallas stop of Cudi’s Rebel Ragers Tour. Some audience members were enraged by the comments M.I.A. made during her opening act, which included her saying, “I’ve been canceled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She also discussed not performing one of her songs, saying, “I can’t do ‘Illegal,’ though some of you could be in the audience.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Left-leaning Reddit commenters went into a spiral over her remarks, which they </span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/KidCudi/comments/1t2dgz7/did_anyone_catch_all_that_wildly_racist_shit_mia/?rdt=40922"><span style="font-weight: 400;">called</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> “wildly racist.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Her entire set left a bad taste in my mouth,” one person complained.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cudi told fans that M.I.A. was out via an Instagram post shared yesterday. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“TOUR UPDATE: M.I.A is no longer on this tour. I told my management to send a notice to her team before we started tour that I didn’t want anything offensive at my shows, cuz I already knew what time it was, and I was assured things were understood. After the last couple shows, I’ve been flooded with messages from fans that were upset by her rants. This, to me, is very disappointing, and I wont have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase. Thank you for understanding. Rager.”</span></p>
<div id="attachment_1089547" style="width: 336px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1089547" class="size-large wp-image-1089547" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cudi-326x576.png" alt="Cudi" width="326" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cudi-326x576.png 326w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cudi-170x300.png 170w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cudi.png 588w" sizes=" (max-width: 326px) 100vw, 326px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1089547" class="wp-caption-text">Instagram</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">M.I.A. responded on X later that same day. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I WROTE ILLYGAL [sic throughout] ON THE MAYA LP A SONG FROM 2010. I STARTED THIS INTRO TO THE SONG WITH THE STATEMENT SAYING I’M ILLYGAL, AND I SAID MY TEAM HASN’T GOTTEN VISAS YET. THEN PLAYED A SONG THAT HAD LYRICS SAYING &#8216;FU&amp;% THE LAW,&#8217; WHICH I STILL BELIEVE, IF THE LAW IS UNJUST F@%&amp; IT. DO NOT GASLIGHT MY WORDS,” her response said. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“THAT IS THE WORK OF SATAN. I WROTE BORDERS AND ILLYGAL AND PAPER PLANES BEFORE YOU THOUGHT IMMIGRANT RIGHTS WERE COOL. I’VE HAD THSES BATTLES BY MYSELF WITHOUT THE HELP OF MILLIONS OF FANS BACKING ME . I DON’T NEED THIS VIRTUE SIGNAL ERA TO ALL OF A SUDDEN ERASE AN ENTIRE LIFE I’VE LED.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The post added, “JESUS WAS AN IMMIGRANT AND A REBEL. I HAVE NO APPOLGY [sic] FOR THE JUDGEMENTAL THE WICKED AND THE IGNORENT [sic], FOR THOSE ARE SPIRITS THAT WE MUST OVER COME IN OUR LIVES AND IN THIS WORLD. JESUS RETURNS TO LEAD THE WORLD JUSTLY BECAUSE THERE IS INJUSTICE IN THIS WORLD. IM PROUD OF THOSE WHO FIGHT FOR IT EVERYDAY. GOD BLESS YOU.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a follow-up, M.I.A. noted that she’s British and doesn’t vote anyway, and claimed the backlash is an overreaction.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“DON&#8217;T BE AN AGENT OF DIVISION, I CAN&#8217;T VOTE IN THE US, AND 48% OF LATIN COMMUNITY VOTED TRUMP. SO ARE YOU GOING TO HATE THEM ALL?” she </span><a href="https://x.com/MIAuniverse/status/2051354178195206386"><span style="font-weight: 400;">posted</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“WE MUST UNITE TO MAKE THIS COUNTRY, THAT EVERYONE WANTS TO LIVE IN A BETTER PLACE. IF YOU ARE EASYLY LED BY RUMOUR THEN YOU DON&#8217;T SEE THE LIGHT FOR YOURSELF. I PRAY FOR YOUR AWAKENING,” she went on.</span></p>
<p>Mathangi &#8220;Maya&#8221; Arulpragasam, or M.I.A. as she&#8217;s known, is a British-born Sri Lankan performer who began expressing Right-wing views following the COVID-19 pandemic. She became a Christian in 2022 and has since incorporated religious themes into her music and public statements.</p>


Singer Dropped From Kid Cudi Tour After She Enrages Crowd With Statement On Illegals

Celebrities

Instagram

Republican

<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">This article is part of </span></i><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Upstream,</span></i></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.</span></i></p>
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">***</span></i></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Back in the &#8217;80s and &#8217;90s, no one had ChatGPT to find the words to say how she really felt. Instead, everyone had access to the world’s most reliable form of communication: the cassette mixtape. Cool kids mastered the fine art of meticulously assembling other people’s songs with a flow that told a story, capturing the vibe in Sharpie, adding a makeshift “album cover” revealing each track so you could fast-forward to find it, and neatly folding everything into a clear plastic case. After all that work, gifting the epic masterpiece to its recipient felt as majestic as lighting the Olympic flame.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First-gen mixtapes were totally rad manna from heaven. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Never had anyone heard these songs in this order in their </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">lives</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Smash cut to now, NFL reporter </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dianna Russini</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> sure understood the power of a playlist when she reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-spotify-playlist-we-cant-pause-the-dianna-russini-and-mike-vrabel-scandal">made one on Spotify</a> for then-Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel back in 2022. The catch was that both of them were (and still are) married to other people. Oops. Supposedly designed to pump Coach up after a series of losses, it was one hour and nine minutes of pure, unadulterated proof of adultery. At least according to the court of public opinion, which is always in session. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Track 1: “</span><a href="https://youtu.be/yrtWLyp5gLI?list=RDyrtWLyp5gLI&amp;t=9"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cuff It</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” by Beyoncé starts out like, “I feel like falling in love, I’m in the mood to f*ck something up.” Say less, Dianna. The sunny R&amp;B beat doesn’t make the line “Can I sit on top of you?” any more okay when it ain’t ya husband. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It wasn’t a great look considering the Spotify debacle happened two years into what we know about the timeline of their alleged affair, but Track 2 (“</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8GpG8C0YzA&amp;list=RDT8GpG8C0YzA&amp;start_radio=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Big Energy</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” by Latto) revealed Dianna’s real feelings for Big Mike through song. “I could be your fantasy, I can tell you got big d*ck energy.” Maybe she didn’t have time to dash off a burner text or book a “work trip” to a casino in </span><a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/23/mike-vrabel-dianna-russini-smile-at-mississippi-casino-after-titans-firing/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mississippi</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but she knew Mike could get away from </span><a href="https://www.justjared.com/2026/04/23/who-is-mike-vrabel-married-to-meet-his-wife-jennifer/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">his wife, Jen,</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to listen to “</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7qR7xvKFEU&amp;list=RDH7qR7xvKFEU&amp;start_radio=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pump It Louder</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” by Tiësto and the Black Eyed Peas, thinking warmly of how much his colleague Dianna cared about his football career. His big, wandering football career. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Someone tell this reporter we can search public Spotify playlists. And that sharing your “</span><a href="https://x.com/DavidCovucci/status/2048914416704409689/photo/1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">TURNIN THE PAGE</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” compilation with someone named “Mike” made it too easy. There’s no way she didn’t want to get caught and criminally charged with bad taste in music. Tracks by Styx, Van Halen, Guns N’ Roses, and KISS seemed less “workout playlist” and more like </span><a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/28/dianna-russini-spotify-playlist-mike-vrabel/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vrabel’s reported</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> favorite way to pump up the volume.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dianna allegedly named </span><a href="https://www.justjared.com/2026/04/23/dianna-russinis-2021-tweet-about-her-son-named-michael-goes-viral-amid-mike-vrabel-2020-kissing-photo/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">her firstborn son Mike</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after her NFL side piece. It’s not like she’s suffering from excessive creativity. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The other day outside my apartment building, I noticed a boom box with none of the usual bells and whistles of modern “ghetto blasters.” This matte gray OG featured only a single cassette tape slot and a power cord. It was obviously a trap set by 1980s aliens. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I wondered aloud to my dog about who’s going for a bulky cassette setup over streamlined Apple Music. Analog audio like this requires excruciating commitment to preserve it: avoiding </span><a href="https://everpresent.com/do-cassette-tapes-go-bad/#:~:text=As%20sturdy%20as%20the%20plastic,MECHANICAL%20WEAR"><span style="font-weight: 400;">humidity</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, dust, and sun. The magnetic film degrades with every play (and rewind!) and can spontaneously spew its guts at any moment. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s also sturdy and portable. And decades after it went mainstream, the mixtape is still the greatest medium for sound ever invented.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cassettes shaped the future of the music industry. Originally invented in </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/blackwaxcafe/posts/this-day-in-history-aug-30-1963-compact-audio-cassette-first-introduced-by-phili/1171660748318428/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">1963</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, mixtapes took off as a broke-friendly strategy for aspiring </span><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/history-of-mixtapes-future/#:~:text=The%20mixtape%20goes%20all%20the,was%20born%20out%20of%20necessity.%E2%80%9D"><span style="font-weight: 400;">hip-hop artists</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to get their tracks into the hands of fans. Once the </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/postpunkmagazine/posts/on-this-day-in-1979-the-first-sony-walkman-made-its-debut-on-store-shelves/1210476187791768/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">WalkMan came along in &#8217;79</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, listening to music via two-by-four-inch plastic became everyone’s favorite way of tuning in.</span></p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXVPkUUDfPw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXVPkUUDfPw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Erik Johnson | Nicola Joy Johnson (@henryandjoy)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mixtapes also served as mini hubs of self-expression, where anyone could be an artist through song and the creative use of Xerox machines and colored pencils. With personalized </span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/cassetteculture/comments/1gx3r9v/best_ever_name_for_a_mixtape_and_best_homemade/#:~:text=Alternative%20Mixtape%20Titles:%20One%20user%20recounted%20making,Sex%20Action%22%20and%20%22Teenagers%20High%20on%20Drugs%22."><span style="font-weight: 400;">liner notes</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> dedicated to none other than the recipient, “Crystal’s Mix” felt like an on-air radio dedication from the Billboard Hot 100 chart to regular, totally awesome Crystal. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s a little more complicated now that most of us don’t stuff tape players into our back pockets before heading out, but there’s a growing fanbase for mixtapes on cassette. Satisfying the need to </span><a href="https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/gen-z-social-media-instagram-tiktok-poll-b2964488.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">go back in time</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> without leaving the sofa, enthusiasts on forums such as </span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/cassetteculture/comments/1i2lqib/naming_mix_tapes/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">r/cassetteculture</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> share everything from lo-fi concert recordings to art inspo, titling tips, and mixes for every moment.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Major artists answer Gen Z’s call for old-school by wooing the cassette set. </span><a href="https://shop.iamchappellroan.com/products/the-rise-and-fall-of-a-midwest-princess-anniversary-edition-cassette?srsltid=AfmBOoq1J2I8dG0CU0mxZoRSTPFZOyJkvAWuT4kLY632uv9B_zMRZbO7"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Chappell Roan</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://store.sabrinacarpenter.com/products/mans-best-friend-d2c-alt-cover-cassette?variant=52024297554285&amp;country=US&amp;currency=USD&amp;utm_medium=product_sync&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_content=sag_organic&amp;utm_campaign=sag_organic&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23521253893&amp;gbraid=0AAAAApCfFnBIFESkTKcjopa2JeCITX0ea&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtcHPBhADEiwAWo3sJtsyf2dHOsWPxulrP_TduY4GQRiuaL2-IXkVmt8SestlyRRRowbypRoCBtYQAvD_BwE"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sabrina Carpenter</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and </span><a href="https://store.taylorswift.com/collections/cassettes?srsltid=AfmBOoq_5GoLxSFujpzxVA09ztusx4qZEbtDN2TBT3VTAoEjlossKLzo"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Taylor Swift</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are all available on plastic for more than anyone should pay for something that melts in your car. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’m cool with a digital playlist. But I’m not over here clasping my hands under my chin, staring out the window, dreaming about Spotify. Maybe it’s just me, but random ads about inflammation from Jardiance diabetes meds don’t exactly set the mood. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I got an unsolicited mixtape from a classmate once. Schmave Schmith (his name has been changed) in junior high. I’m pretty sure Schmave hoped the sonic tapestry would wrap me up in the crush he was feeling. But the first emotional beats of U2’s “</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujNeHIo7oTE&amp;list=RDujNeHIo7oTE&amp;start_radio=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">With or Without You</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” landed between my ears like a wet blanket. I wasn’t ready for the adult feels of “I caaan’t liiiiiiiive … with or without you.” </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I was a definite “without you” as I listened to the first track of “For Lauren” in my bedroom at a volume my parents couldn’t hear, even if they were glued to the other side of my door. I pressed eject, unspooled the tape myself, and chucked it in the trash. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I found the same song now, on YouTube, remastered and streamed more than 217 million times. It still gives me the heebie-jeebies, but only because mixtapes meant something. They said something real and pure, with an underground ritual required for their creation that just can’t be replicated with links. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUsrYVxrDwI&amp;list=RDnUsrYVxrDwI&amp;start_radio=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ella Langley</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ah9tWTkmk&amp;list=RDu2ah9tWTkmk&amp;start_radio=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alex Warren</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> might make people fall in love or become best friends, but their perfectly tuned tracks have nothing on the timeless warbled melodies of “SUMMER ROADTRIP &#8217;99!”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maybe we’ll never be able to revisit the glory days of mixtapes. But we have Spotify bangers like Dianna Russini’s Track 3 “</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjki-9Pthh0&amp;list=RDyjki-9Pthh0&amp;start_radio=1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Break My Soul</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” by Beyoncé to help us express the words we can’t, or really should never, say.</span></p>


Gemini_Generated_Image_nfh5nlnfh5nlnfh5

One Playlist, Two Marriages, And A Story That’s Getting Messy Fast

dianna russini

Mike Vrabel

mixtape

Upstream

The Bright Side: One Small Morning Change Can Boost Mood And Sharpen Focus

basil pasta

christina koch dog

gratitude

jump rope

reid wiseman quote

<p><em>This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.</em></p>
<p>***</p>
<p dir="ltr">Sabrina Carpenter is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fan-disrupts-sabrina-carpenters-coachella-set-her-response-has-people-crying-islamophobia">canceled</a>. It&#8217;s surprising it took so long. The pop star famous for her bubbly, retro sounds is no stranger to controversy. She’s come under fire in the past for her performances simulating sex acts on stage, and her music videos routinely feature male murder fantasies. But now, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sabrina-carpenter">Carpenter</a> has finally stepped on a progressive cultural land mine. During her headline Coachella performance, the singer committed a grave act of “xenophobia” when responding to a disruptive fan, and her carnivorous fan base has finally found an excuse to take out its queen bee.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Coachella 2026 was poised to be the highlight of Sabrina Carpenter’s meteoric rise to pop stardom. Her headline show, dubbed by fans “Sabrinawood” for its nods to Old Hollywood, was a star-studded affair with over-the-top stage production and cameos from iconic actors such as Sam Elliott. As initial videos of the performance trickled onto social media, the internet crowned her the reigning princess of Coachella.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Then the unthinkable happened. An interaction with a loud fan summoned the internet’s cancel culture vultures with accusations of racism and xenophobia.</p>
<p dir="ltr">X user <a href="https://x.com/PopBase/status/2043086112969646135/photo/2" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/PopBase/status/2043086112969646135/photo/2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2_BViCcgPq7UnveoCCxZi1">Poppy</a> posted a clip of the incident, which has now been removed, showing a performance interrupted by what Sabrina Carpenter called a “yodel.” After being informed by the audience member that it was a cultural custom, Sabrina grimaced and responded, “That’s your culture?” Poppy’s caption expressed disappointment: “sabrina saying that she doesn’t like a cultural arabic cheer… this is so insensitive and islamophobic.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The post garnered 30.9 million views and a response from Carpenter, who quickly <a href="https://x.com/SabrinaAnnLynn/status/2043076482529108262?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/SabrinaAnnLynn/status/2043076482529108262?s%3D20&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1EU5stybcQ2ES60TcDk80t">apologized</a> after being informed of the disruptor&#8217;s cultural background, “my apologies I didn’t see this person with my eyes.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The fan was not from Appalachia or the Swiss Alps, as Sabrina likely assumed, and the noise was not a yodel, but a zaghrouta, a celebratory ululation used throughout North Africa and the Middle East. In the eyes of Sabrina Carpenter’s progressive fanbase, the offender was not a safe person to criticize.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I’m in a complete shock,” one of the viral posts <a href="https://x.com/maxlldr/status/2043034137267777892" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/maxlldr/status/2043034137267777892&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3eXtFG8jGHuXlKOYLZksUN">said</a>, “I used to be a huge sabrina carpenter fan and now she’s mocking my culture and calling me &#8216;weird&#8217;, this is so racist and inappropriate and it made me feel uncomfortable. this white blonde racist woman should be cancelled.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The speed with which Sabrina Carpenter’s fans were willing to condemn her is revelatory of the inner workings of “stan” culture, a pop-star-obsessed internet subculture. The name originates from Eminem’s 2000 song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMhN-hfMtY" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DgOMhN-hfMtY&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-KABhGKzVyHq7gaWuTus9">Stan</a>,” which chronicles a fan’s obsession that devolves from sending letters into a murder-suicide. For “stans” to adopt this identity as their own, even if done ironically, indicates a destructive underbelly.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As I pointed out in <a href="https://x.com/maggiemoda/status/2043372428496195946?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/maggiemoda/status/2043372428496195946?s%3D20&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2DvwSFJPtN2eyAE1W1EeDy">this</a> post, the quick switch-up from fan to hater is often rooted in progressive politics. Over a decade ago, a Tumblr <a href="https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0_OoV2y0-bp_yAJ0snFloN">account</a> called Your Fave is Problematic became famous for its <a href="https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/list" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/list&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1w8v3IG9hlf6f5TqYkkkx3">lists</a> of celebrity transgressions. Even Katy Perry, the current girlfriend of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was <a href="https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/post/45579525968/katy-perry" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/post/45579525968/katy-perry&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2dd8t0fJ86A4JhSwpcRrMQ">“called out”</a> for transgressions such as “[demonstrating] unsafe binding techniques,” cultural appropriation, and &#8220;trivializing bisexuality” with her hit song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DtAp9BKosZXs&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3P8JKmdPGiWjiCdfhQCHUj">“I Kissed a Girl.”</a> As a pop culture-obsessed tween, I was introduced to progressive puritanism by blogs such as these.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Stan culture is inextricably linked with progressive politics. Once a star has misbehaved, the incident serves as cover for a variety of heinous comments and obsessive cyberbullying of both the star and her fans. Sabrina Carpenter will undoubtedly encounter this fate. Her fans now have a decision to make that feels consequential: call her out and distance yourself, or become problematic too.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This is an under-recognized entry point of the progressive radicalization pipeline: online stan culture. The participants are young and want to fit in, and participating in the cancelation mob is a moral duty in this environment.</p>
<p dir="ltr">While many have correctly pointed out that Sabrina Carpenter has cultivated this type of fanbase, it is nearly impossible to ascend to her level of stardom without engaging in progressive politicking. The danger is that progressives are more puritan than puritans themselves and offer no path to redemption. The stakes of offending them, which is laughably easy to do, are incredibly high.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For radical progressive pop fans, God is replaced by the pop star. In this role, it isn’t enough for Sabrina Carpenter to be exceptional; she must be perfect. If she is human, like the rest of us, then she doesn’t deserve the lights, the stage, the celebrity cameos, and most importantly, the money that comes with being at the top. In this light, Carpenter’s cancellation is completely predictable.</p>
<p dir="ltr">***</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Maggie Anders is a video journalist and political commentator. Her work explores international political movements, history, pop culture, economics, the cost-of-living crisis, and Gen Z social issues. </em></p>


The 68th Annual Grammy Awards

Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella Stumble Shows How Little It Takes To Trigger The Outrage Mob

Cancel Culture

Culture

Sabrina Carpenter

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and pop star Katy Perry were spotted attending Justin Bieber’s performance at Coachella over the weekend, looking like they stumbled out of a frat party.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The internet came down hard on Trudeau, 54, and Perry, 41. Trudeau was sporting a backwards hat and sneakers, while the couple walked hand in hand and drank from red Solo cups. </span></p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DXBwa9clWH3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DXBwa9clWH3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Trudeau went from Prime Minister to Coachella boyfriend in 12 months. That&#8217;s the fastest depreciation I&#8217;ve ever seen and I work in insurance,” one reply </span><a href="https://x.com/InsuranceAF/status/2043669279808029175"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “Even a new car off the lot doesn&#8217;t lose value that fast.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Never been a better personification of the elite liberal left. Rich, sheltered, oblivious of the real world around them, devoid of any self awareness, the eternal theatre kids, forever teenagers living life with no consequences, while moralizing others,” another person </span><a href="https://x.com/Sik_Boy_07X/status/2043357925029101635"><span style="font-weight: 400;">wrote</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Why did Trudeau just turn into a fratboy??” a third commenter </span><a href="https://x.com/101sfinance/status/2043345727523303522"><span style="font-weight: 400;">wondered</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rumors of the two having a romantic relationship date back to last summer, when Trudeau and Perry were seen together in Montreal. Then, earlier this month, images of the couple kissing on her yacht started circulating on social media.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They were seen holding hands at a cabaret show at Crazy Horse Paris in late October, seemingly confirming their relationship status. Now Perry posted the photos of them getting cozy at Coachella on her official Instagram account.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Both were previously in long-term relationships, with Perry and actor Orlando Bloom breaking up in 2025 after almost a decade together and having a daughter in 2020. Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire separated in 2023 after 18 years of being married and having three children together.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Bieber concert got mixed reviews beyond just the attendees. Fans accused the 32-year-old singer of putting in minimal effort, especially relative to other acts. The set was </span><a href="https://ew.com/justin-bieber-coachella-2026-performance-you-tube-videos-sings-with-younger-self-11948186"><span style="font-weight: 400;">described as</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> “sleepy,” especially compared to other performers who put on pyrotechnic and elaborate displays. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bieber sang with minimal props, and at one point sat at a table scrolling YouTube on a laptop while on stage, pulling up viral videos like “Deez Nuts” in addition to playing old videos of himself performing.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Perry joked about the performance too, posting a video to Instagram of herself in the crowd as Bieber scrolled his YouTube. “Thank God he&#8217;s premium,” she joked in the clip. “I don’t wanna see no ads.”</span></p>


Trudeau and Perry

Former Canadian Prime Minister Goes All-In On Coachella Boyfriend Vibe

Justin Bieber

Justin Trudeau

Katy Perry

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sabrina Carpenter was put on blast by some fans for giving her honest reaction to a Coachella fan she heard “yodeling” during her performance. Now the singer is being called Islamophobic because the person was allegedly making an Arabic ululation sound known as “Zaghrouta.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Multiple videos of the event started circulating on social media over the weekend. They show Carpenter sitting at a piano and reacting to that particular sound coming from the audience.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Is that what you’re doing? I don’t like it,” the “Espresso” singer can be heard saying. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The fan yelled back, “It’s my culture!”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Carpenter replied, “That’s your culture, is yodeling?” The person answered back, “It’s a call of celebration.” The singer still didn’t accept that premise, replying with a joking, “Is this Burning Man? What’s going on? This is weird.”</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Something I’ve noticed about concerts post-covid (besides the exponentially higher ticket prices) is that audience member main character syndrome has gotten completely out of hand <a href="https://t.co/lqnxNdmdwV">pic.twitter.com/lqnxNdmdwV</a></p>
<p>— Dr. Ben Braddock (@GraduatedBen) <a href="https://twitter.com/GraduatedBen/status/2043022255882481845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She later issued an apology after being attacked in the comments.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My apologies, I didn’t see this person with my eyes and couldn’t hear clearly,” Carpenter </span><a href="https://x.com/sabrinaannlynn/status/2043076482529108262?s=46&amp;t=7dEMLEvmtKbqI2lGLTp4lQ"><span style="font-weight: 400;">wrote</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in an X post. “My reaction was pure confusion, sarcasm and not ill intended. Could have handled it better! Now I know what a Zaghrouta is! I welcome all cheers and yodels from here on out.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This was said in response to a video post of the interaction, with the X user saying they were “very disappointed” in her.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Sabrina saying that she doesn’t like a cultural arabic cheer… this is so insensitive and islamophobic,” the person wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A community note was added to the post which said: “Zaghrouta (the ‘Arabic cheer’) is a pre-Islamic cultural expression of joy used by Arabs across religions, including Christians, at celebrations. It is not an Islamic practice, so Sabrina Carpenter&#8217;s reaction to the sound does not indicate islamophobia.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many commenters said they didn’t think it was worth apologizing for and wouldn’t appease the haters anyway.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You have nothing to apologize for. If they’re disrupting your set, they’re disrupting your set,” one person </span><a href="https://x.com/MaxNordau/status/2043311390740410678"><span style="font-weight: 400;">observed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Wait, so if it has been a Bavarian guy in lederhosen yodeling that wouldn&#8217;t have been ok? Or is that ok? I&#8217;m confused,” another comment </span><a href="https://x.com/DavidSvendsen/status/2043107714314965210"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.  &#8220;I thought that shouting during a soft moment of a performance made you an obnoxious a**hole — regardless of what you look like.”</span></p>


Fan Disrupts Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella Set. Her Response Has People Crying ‘Islamophobia!’

Muslim

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The “C” from the popular 90s girl band TLC stands accused of being a secret MAGA member, a charge she’s vehemently refuted despite evidence to support it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rozonda &#8220;Chilli&#8221; Thomas posted a lengthy video addressing the claims and blaming her Trump campaign contributions on a simple error. The singer also had an excuse for sharing a video about former First Lady Michelle Obama secretly being a man, saying she didn’t understand how technology worked.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thomas drew the ire of her left-leaning fans after it was discovered that the girl band member had contributed more than $1,000 to Republican fundraisers leading up to the 2024 election. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Independent </span><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tlc-chilli-trump-donations-b2947668.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">called out</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> three separate donations recorded by the Federal Election Commission: $210.60 to WinRed, $340.60 to the Trump National Committee JFC, and $486.54 to Never Surrender Inc. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;I am not MAGA and do not support any of the many policies that are causing great harm to the American people. I made a mistake too many make: I did not read the fine print,” she wrote in the caption of her video statement response. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I thought I was supporting causes against human trafficking and for veterans. Two things I care deeply about, as my dad is a veteran, and everyone knows I love children. I have learned a valuable lesson and ask for grace as I navigate this.&#8221;</span></p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DWdCKyqlsDo/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DWdCKyqlsDo/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Chilli (@therealchilli)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thomas asserted proof of her allegiance to Democrats by noting that she donated to both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The TLC member also deleted the video, questioning if Michelle Obama was really a woman from her page, saying in the video update that it had been shared accidentally. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Let me say this first: I have the utmost respect and admiration for Michelle Obama, and I would never say or do anything that is disrespectful to her or to any woman,&#8221; Thomas said in her video. &#8220;I would never do that. I had no clue that this repost had happened until I started getting phone calls and text messages from everybody, and I immediately went to my page to see what was going on.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She continued, &#8220;I&#8217;m not very computer-savvy, so I&#8217;m looking for this repost button, and I see that all of these buttons are very, very close to each other, and clearly I was scrolling and my thumb hit the repost button. Again, I had no clue that something like this happened until I got all the calls.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;I would never do anything that&#8217;s harmful or hateful to anybody,&#8221; Thomas said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not wired like that.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A rep for Thomas confirmed that 17 political donations in all were made as recurring payments.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The rep reiterated Thomas’ statement, saying, &#8220;It is unfortunate that her intentions are being misinterpreted. Chilli has been clear in her personal statement. She does not align with MAGA ideology, nor does she support any policies rooted in harm or division. Her life and career have reflected the opposite — a commitment to uplifting women, leading with empathy, and using her voice for positive impact.&#8221;</span></p>


Chilli

TLC Member, Secret MAGA? Chilli Responds After Trump Donations Exposed

Donald Trump

MAGA

Politics

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bruce Springsteen straight-up said he does not care if he alienates part of his fan base as he prepares to launch a politically charged tour later this month. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 76-year-old New Jersey native will kick off his “Land of Hope &amp; Dreams American Tour” in Minneapolis on March 31. Ahead of the tour, he is also scheduled to perform his cringe protest anthem “Streets of Minneapolis” at a “No Kings” rally in St. Paul on Saturday.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The tour is going to be political and very topical about what’s going on in the country,” Springsteen </span><a href="https://www.startribune.com/bruce-springsteen-streets-of-minneapolis-first-avenue-no-kings-rally-tom-morello-max-weinberg/601632600"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the Minnesota Star Tribune. “Minneapolis and St. Paul, that was the place I wanted to begin it, and I wanted to end it in Washington.”</span></p>
<p>Springsteen said he views the current political climate as one of the most consequential periods in modern American history.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t know of another time when the country has been as critically challenged and our basic ideas and values as critically challenged as they are right now,” he told the outlet. “I’d have to go back to 1968 when I was 18 years old to another moment when it felt like the country was so on edge and like it felt there was simply so much at stake as far as who we are and the country we want to be and the people we want to be.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When asked about potential “blowback” from critics and fans who disagree with his political views, Springsteen insisted he is not concerned.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t worry about it,” he told the Star Tribune. “My job is very simple: I do what I want to do, I say what I want to say and then people get to say what they want to say about it.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;The blowback is just part of it,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I’m ready for all that.”</span></p>
<p>Singers Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers, along with leftist actress/activist Jane Fonda, will also attend the &#8220;No Kings&#8221; rally in St. Paul this weekend.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Springsteen was </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bruce-springsteen-releases-cringe-protest-song-about-minneapolis"><span style="font-weight: 400;">roundly mocked</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for releasing “Streets of Minneapolis” earlier this year, a song written in response to leftist agitators being killed after confrontations with federal immigration agents. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The lyrics, filled with anti-ICE and anti-Trump propaganda, are about as subtle as a freight train.</span></p>


Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen Braces For Backlash As ‘Political’ Tour Approaches

Anti-ICE

Minneapolis

Young Woman Standing Before a Dynamic Digital Screen, Immersed in Internet Visualization. Internet Cyberspace with Web Content, Icons, Animated Stream of Online Applications and Entertainment

Everything Is Fake Now — And It’s Worse Than You Think

Artificial Intelligence

Fake accounts

Food

Fraud

illegal immigrants

Matt Walsh

Opinion

scams

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2001, Joseph Edgar Foreman, better known as Afroman, burst onto the scene with the now classic song “Because I Got High,” the title track to his second album. Though he’d been honing his craft since middle school, that song introduced him to the masses. Since that time, he’s released 17 more albums, though “Because I Got High” remains his most famous. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His most infamous album, however, is 2022’s “Lemon Pound Cake,” which was a direct salvo against the police officers who raided his home on suspicion of drug trafficking and kidnapping, two crimes which he did not commit. That didn’t stop officers from seizing $5,000 in cash — $400 of which was never returned — and causing $20,000 in damages to his home. Afroman, whose first song was a </span><a href="https://yourtahoeguide.com/2023/01/afroman-when-rap-comedy-meet/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">diss track</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, wasn’t inclined to stay quiet about that injustice. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, he turned </span><a href="https://x.com/CountDankulaTV/status/2034623015346987494"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the saga</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> into the 2022 album. On it, he called the officers out by name. He used footage of them from his CCTV cameras for the videos. He implied that their wives were cheating on them, one with him. He called one fat and said he was eying the lemon pound cake on his counter during the raid. He was relentless, which is unsurprising given he </span><a href="https://yourtahoeguide.com/2023/01/afroman-when-rap-comedy-meet/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">once said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, “A skunk has its spray. If you mess with me, I rap about your ass. It works. It’s funny.” The officers, though, were not amused, hitting the entertainer with a defamation suit in 2023. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Afroman, though, remained undeterred and on March 19, 2026, he was </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-afroman-legal-saga-is-the-most-interesting-thing-on-the-internet-today?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Lynden+Blake&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=The+Afroman+Legal+Saga+Is+The+Most+Interesting+Thing+On+The+Internet+Today"><span style="font-weight: 400;">found innocent of all charges</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, saying, “We did it America. We did it, freedom of speech.” He forgot to add freedom from unlawful search and seizure. For a man who rose to prominence by rapping about how getting high was sapping his motivation, this unlikely hero proved doggedly fierce when it came to fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a nation, we should be thankful for Afroman. Most would not go to the lengths, would not risk the financial implications of failure, would not go scorched earth over $20,400 and a ruined day. But not Afroman. He still believes in the Constitution, in freedom of speech, and in the importance of good and trustworthy police to the community. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Moreover, he </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cR-WiGKZtg"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rampaged</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> with style. For the final day in court, he wore a suit and tie with an American flag pattern. He </span><a href="https://x.com/CountDankulaTV/status/2034623015346987494"><span style="font-weight: 400;">afromaxxed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. His only witness was the ex-wife of an officer whom Afroman claimed to have slept with prior to the divorce. When the officer was asked if he knew for sure that Afroman was not having relations with his wife, the officer responded, “I don’t know,” thereby undermining his own defamation suit. </span></p>
<div id="attachment_1063119" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1063119" class="size-large wp-image-1063119" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605-864x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 20: Afroman attends the 2019 Daytime Beauty Awards at The Taglyan Complex on September 20, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic )" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1176036605.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1063119" class="wp-caption-text">Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic/Getty Images</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In short, Afroman tapped into the rugged pioneer spirit that helped build this nation and showed that, even in 2026, great men can still achieve great things if they put their minds to it. Lesser men would have folded, afraid of the millions in damages the officers were suing for. They would have worried about the risks of tangling with local law enforcement. They would have sucked up the $20,400 they lost and moved on with their lives. And for many, that’s okay.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We can’t all risk everything to fight injustice. Not everyone has the sort of career and flexibility that affords us the opportunity to stand up for basic rights and dignity. As such, we need heroes out there fighting for us. But not all heroes wear capes. Some wear </span><a href="https://local12.com/resources/media2/16x9/1920/1320/center/90/df93163e-1d50-46e9-803a-1f2eaf88fcbb-CH12AFROMANINTERVIEW_frame_7352.jpeg"><span style="font-weight: 400;">fur coats</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> over their American flag suit.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thank you, Afroman, for your service, for your tenacity, for your humor, for your style, and for taking a stand for all of us. Though your troubles may have been related to the fact that you sometimes get high, you didn’t sit on the couch eating cookies and complaining about &#8220;the man.&#8221; Instead, you took the sage advice of another entertainer and hero, one Ric Flair, and said, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Afroman, you beat the man and, in the process, you not only won, but we as a nation also won. Your victory is our victory. Your fight is an inspiration for anyone facing injustice, whether young or old. May your success inspire us all to be as resilient when faced with the specter of a boot pounding down on our cake, forever.</span></p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rich Cromwell is a writer living in Northwest Arkansas. He produces the </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/47LCsh6lIWl7w1hJk7yhQc"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cookin’ Up a Story</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> podcast. You can also follow him on X: @rcromwell4</span></em></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.</span></em></p>


Saturday Night Live – Season 48

Afroman’s Victory Is America’s Victory

Afroman

Police

Social Issues

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The internet has united in disgust against a new music video released by AI-generated “actress” Tilly Norwood, which has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywood-actors-union-slams-ai-synthetic-performer-pitched-as-the-next-scarlett-johansson">advertised as</a> “the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The song “Take the Lead” is inspired by a recently published </span><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/ai-actor-tilly-norwood-song-music-take-the-lead-1236526080/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">essay</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> written by Eline van der Velden, the creator of Norwood and CEO of production company Particle6 and AI talent studio Xicoia. The exec said it was all done in response to the backlash from Norwood’s debut last year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The music video, released on Tuesday, begins with a disclaimer saying: “The following production was made by 18 real humans — from production designers to costume designers to prompters, editors, and an actor. No flamingos were harmed in the process.”</span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Tilly Norwood | Take The Lead (Official Music Video)" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G7V2Biy3omw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“When they talk about me, they don’t see the human spark, the creativity/ I’m just a tool, but I’ve got life,” the lyrics say in part. “They think I’m just a dollar dream but I’ve got more than they believe/ I’m not a puppet, I’m the star.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Be the creators we’ve always known/ It’s the next evolution, can&#8217;t you see?/ AI’s not the enemy, it’s the key,” another line says. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The song also insists that the Norwood character possesses human qualities. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They say it’s not real, that it’s fake/ But I am still human, make no mistake/ My soul’s in every move I take/ And you can own the path you make,” the song lyrics read.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These assertions and the over-the-top nature of the music video have led to a slew of mockery.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It took only 18 humans to achieve this level of soullessness? Imagine what 19 could have done!” one commenter wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is the most offensive thing I&#8217;ve seen in a long, long time. And that&#8217;s really saying something,” a second person agreed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,” echoed a third.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Tilly is, and has always been, a vehicle to test the creative capabilities and boundaries of AI — not take anyone’s job,” van der Velden </span><a href="https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/tilly-norwood-creator-tells-actors-to-create-ai-avatars-1236638940/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">wrote</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in defense of the created character.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“As an actor myself, I have loved bringing Tilly alive for this video and feel that the ability to now use performance capture in this way, to fully inhabit an AI character, is a phenomenal way to bring an unknown actor like me closer to the craft.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She added, “However, at the end of the day, even with brilliant new technology, it’s still important to stress that great AI content isn’t instant — it always takes good ideas, taste, direction, judgment and time. In other words: people remain at the heart of it.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Hollywood Reporter </span><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/ai-actor-tilly-norwood-song-music-take-the-lead-1236526080/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">noted</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that this music video is part of the launch of a “Tilly-verse,” where Norwood and other AI characters can “live, interact, and work.” </span></p>
<p>Many prominent stars have come out against the creation of Tilly Norwood, including the media labor union SAG-AFTRA.</p>
<p>“It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience,&#8221; the organization wrote in a statement last fall. &#8220;It doesn’t solve any ‘problem’ — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”</p>


Tilly Norwood

Music Video For AI-Generated ‘Actress’ Tilly Norwood Gets Absolutely Wrecked

Hollywood

Technology

Menu