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:
NBA
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is coming back to the court after refusing to get vaccinated and being forced to sit out the season by his team.
“ESPN Sources: With the unfolding circumstances of Brooklyn’s season – including injuries, Covid losses and an inordinate minutes load on their superstar players – the Nets are bringing back All-Star guard Kyrie Irving as a part-time player for games outside of New York,” NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted.
Irving will come back as a part-time player, and only be allowed to participate in road games, as New York City vaccination regulations restrict unvaccinated players from entering Brooklyn’s home court at Madison Square Garden.
Postponed
The NBA postponed five games over the next three days as a wave of COVID sweeps through the league.
“The next games for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers, as well as the next two games for the Brooklyn Nets, have been postponed because of players and staff members entering the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols,” the NBA said in a statement.
Three 76ers entered COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols this weekend, joining four Magic players, six Cavaliers, and ten Nets, including Irving.
The NBA has announced the following: pic.twitter.com/rnNhuq0hc1
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 19, 2021
Name Change
Quidditch, the fictional sport from the “Harry Potter” franchise, has spurred two real life organizations called Quidditch and Major League Quidditch, despite the brainchild of J.K. Rowling version featuring flying broomsticks.
Nonetheless, both organizations are planning name changes to “distance themselves from the works of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has increasingly come under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions in recent years.”
Rowling came under fire in June of 2020 for criticizing an article that suggested “people who menstruate” as an alternative to the word “women.” She has since been canceled by the “Harry Potter” fandom and cast for alienating the transgender community.
“As a community we want our sport to be inclusive of people of different ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, ages, languages, genders, sexual orientations,” the International Quidditch Association website reads. “A key demonstration of this is the Gender Rule in quidditch, whereby players are able to play as the gender that they identify as including non-binary genders.”
Backtracking
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who disappeared from public after accusing a high-ranking government official of sexually assaulting her on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, has come forward to deny that she ever made such an accusation.
“First, I need to stress one point that is extremely important, I have never said or written that anyone has sexually assaulted me, I have to clearly stress this point,” Peng said in a video.
She claimed her since-deleted post on Weibo was a “private matter,” and that “people have many misunderstandings” about what she wrote. In the video she also noted that she has been living at home in Beijing without government supervision.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which has suspended all tournaments in China over concerns about Peng’s wellbeing, remains unconvinced by the video.
“We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault,” The WTA remarked in a statement.
Canceled
The Radio City Rockettes and multiple Broadway shows canceled their shows due to COVID outbreaks amongst performers last week.
“We regret that we are unable to continue the Christmas Spectacular this season due to increasing challenges from the pandemic,” The Rockettes announced Friday.
“We had hoped we could make it through the season and are honored to have hosted hundreds of thousands of fans at more than 100 shows over the last seven weeks. We have loved bringing back this cherished tradition that helps usher in the holiday season in New York City and look forward to welcoming fans back to Radio City Music Hall in 2022.”
Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! was abruptly called off on Wednesday while the audience was already seated. Hamilton, Jagged Little Pill, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Mrs. Doubtfire, and more have canceled performances since Dec. 13.
Guilty
Rod Stewart and his son Sean pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery for assaulting a security guard at a Florida hotel on New Year’s Eve in 2019.
“No one was injured in the incident and a jury did not find Sir Rod Stewart guilty of the accusation,” Stewart’s attorney said in a statement. “Instead, Sir Rod Stewart decided to enter a plea to avoid the inconvenience and unnecessary burden on the court and the public that a high profile proceeding would cause.”
Neither Stewart will face any jail time, pay fines, or be placed on probation according to the terms of their agreement.
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