We’re tracking the conservative culture clash with woke Hollywood hypocrites to keep you up to date on who’s winning and who we hate.
Here’s what happened today:
Self-Ban
Singer Elvis Costello wants radio stations to stop playing his 1979 hit “Oliver’s Army” over the use of the N-word in the song.
“People hear that word go off like a bell and accuse me of something that I didn’t intend,” he said in an interview this week.
The song is about the conflict between England and Northern Ireland, and includes the term “white n—–” which he said is what his grandfather was called in the British army.
Costello claimed he would “think twice” about using the term if the song was written in the present day, and called radio stations still playing his hit, but muting the word, a “mistake.”
“They’re making it worse by bleeping it for sure,” he said. “Because they’re highlighting it then. Just don’t play the record!”
Unmasked Singer
Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin wants to bar jurors from seeing footage of her time performing on “The Masked Singer” in an upcoming defamation case against the New York Times.
A court filing revealed that Palin wants the time she spent dancing and rapping in a disguise on the show, along with her reveal as the psychedelic bear character, and dozens of other exhibits, hidden from the jury on “various grounds, including without limitation: relevancy; unfair prejudice and confusion; improper character evidence; and hearsay.”
Palin is suing the publication over a 2017 editorial called “America’s Lethal Politics,” about shooters targeting elected officials, which she claims unjustly linked her to a mass shooting.
Palin alleged that the piece defamed her by “falsely stated as a matter of fact to millions of people that Mrs. Palin incited Jared Loughner’s January 8, 2011, shooting rampage at a political event in Tucson, Arizona, during which he shot nineteen people, severely wounding United States Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords …”
The trial is set for court in the next few weeks, unless both parties agree to a settlement.
Comedy Canceled
Comedian turned game show host Steve Harvey explained that cancel culture is the reason he doesn’t perform stand-up comedy anymore.
“The only way I can do one more special is if it’s at the end of my television career because it will end my television career,” Harvey said in an interview. “We’re in the cancel culture now. No stand-up that is sponsor-driven can say anything he wants to.”
“Chris Rock can’t. Kevin Hart can’t. Cedric the Entertainer can’t. D.L. Hughley can’t. I can go down the list,” he explained. “The only person that can say what they want to say on stage is Dave Chappelle because he’s not sponsor-driven. He’s subscription-driven.”
“If I had tried to continue as a stand-up, there’s no way I could maintain it,” Harvey continued. “Political correctness has killed comedy. Every joke you tell now, it hurts somebody’s feelings. But what people don’t understand about comedians is that a joke has to be about something.”
“It has to be about somebody. Some of these jokes will have to be about people, because that’s the most interesting topic,” the “Family Feud” host concluded. “So if I come back, I’ll have to wait until I’m done. And I’m not done. I want to do one more. I’ll probably have to call it ‘This Is It.’”
Arrested
Authorities have arrested a suspect in the murder of Young Dolph, a rapper known for his charitable work, who was assaasinated on the way to his annual Thanksgiving turkey giveaway on Nov. 17.
Local rapper Justin Johnson, 23, allegedly shot Dolph outside of a Memphis bakery in broad daylight, before fleeing with another man in a Mercedes. He was arrested on first-degree murder in Indiana on Tuesday.
“Johnson, another Memphis rapper with a lower profile than that of Thornton, appeared to post on his Instagram account over the weekend his intention to turn himself in to authorities, according to multiple media outlets,” law enforcement officials released in a statement.
Johnson had a warrant out against him for violating parole for a weapons offense, and allegedly has gang ties.
RIP
Three-time Olympian Deon Lendore, 29, died in a three car crash at the age of 29. The former Texas A&M track star was driving in Texas on Monday when his car crossed over the center line and sideswiped an oncoming vehicle.
He continued to drift into the opposite side of traffic and collided with a 2018 Infiniti SUV head-on. The 65-year-old Infiniti driver was taken to the hospital with “incapacitating injuries,” and Lendore was pronouced dead on the scene.
He competed for his home country Trinidad in three Olympics, taking a bronze in the 4×400 meter event in 2012 London Games, but failed to medal during his attempt at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Assault
Singer Trey Songz denied raping former University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball star Dylan Gonzalez after she came forward with allegations on Tuesday.
“With what seems like endlessly reoccurring news of the alleged sexual assaults committed by Trey Songz, I am forced to repeatedly relive in my mind, and suffer anew, the long-suppressed horror and unbearable PTSD of my rape by his very hands at a well known Las Vegas Hotel,” she wrote.
Songz was accused of sexual assault by multiple other women, including “Hustlers” actress Keke Palmer, who claims he used “sexual intimidation” to force her to film a music video without her consent in 2017.
He was investigated for a sexual assault allegation last November for another incident involving a Las Vegas hotel.
The singer’s representative claimed he is innocent. “Trey and his team are confident in the legal process and that there will be an abundance of exonerating information to come over the next few weeks.”
Family Drama
\Jamie Lynn Spears doesn’t understand why her older sister Britney Spears has been publicly shaming her on social media.
“When (the conservatorship) was put into place, I was (a) 17-year-old, I was about to have a baby,” she told “Good Morning America” hosts. “I didn’t understand what was happening nor was I focused on that. … I understand just as little about it then as I do now.”
“There was no me overseeing funds or something like that, and if there was (that perception), that was a misunderstanding, but either way I took no steps to be a part of it,” the former Disney star continued. “I’ve always been my sister’s biggest supporter.”
Jamie Lynn claimed that she went out of her way to make sure Britney had the contacts she needed to end her 13-year-conservatorship, which was terminated late last year.
“I even spoke to her legal team, … her previous legal team, and that did not end well in my favor. I did take the steps to help,” she explained. “I’ve only ever loved and supported her and done what’s right by her. And she knows that. So, I don’t know why we’re in this position right now.”
Britney unfollowed Jamie Lynn on Instagram, but has yet to respond about her sister’s interview.
Fluid
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s daughter Ava, 22, revealed her sexuality during a Q&A session on her Instagram page.
When asked if she likes boys or girls, Ava, who has been dating fellow University of California Berkeley student Owen Mahoney, replied, “I’m attracted to… people! (Gender is whatever).”
wpDiscuz