Was Rihanna in the Military? Here’s the Surprising Truth

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Melissa Willets - Author

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Fans are wondering if Rihanna was in the military following her turn on the biggest stage in the world. Why? Maybe because of the insane precision of her dancers’ moves as she paraded around in a red outfit that ultimately revealed her second baby is on the way. Or, could it be because Rihanna’s performance took place on floating objects that some joked resembled those that the military has been shooting down across the U.S.? Either way, here’s what we know about the singer’s military background.

So, was Rihanna in the military?

Rihanna in 2009

Source: Getty Images

Many fans may be surprised to learn that indeed, Rihanna was in the military in Barbados. In fact, the singer’s drill sergeant was another famous performer from her native country, Shontelle. As Shontelle told the BBC in 2009, “We were both in cadets together — it wasn’t compulsory or anything. But picture me and Rihanna in combat boots and fatigues crawling through mud and things like that.”

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When asked if she ordered the fashion designer around, Shontelle told the British outlet, “That’s what drill sergeants do. We boss cadets around, we make them do push-ups … especially when they show up on the parade square late.”

Rihanna talked to NME in 2015 about her time in the cadets, saying that when she was 11 years old, the star and her best friend would “have to give trouble in order to enjoy this discipline we were getting.” She added, “And we’d refuse to do push-ups when we were punished. It was a question of: Why just do it? It was so boring to follow the rules.”

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The singer, whose partner is A$AP Rocky, hinted that the cadets were about to kick her out, but Rihanna ventured to the Big Apple in the U.S. before that could happen — and the rest is history.

Rihanna’s military training came in handy later in her career.

Rihanna promoting 'Battleship'

Source: Getty Images

In 2012, the Fenty Beauty founder made her film debut in Battleship, playing Petty Officer Cora “Weps” Raikes. It turns out that once again, Rihanna found herself in cadet training boot camp, with a drill sergeant screaming in her face, per Marie Claire U.K.

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“It got you really in the mentality, that’s the stuff that they go through; it’s not a walk in the park,” Rihanna said. She went on to admit that while she wanted to swear right back at the sergeant, “He probably would have thrown me through the window! I was so scared, I just looked at him like, ‘I swear I’ll get it right, I’ll be good!’”

Rihanna also told the BBC about her military background being good preparation for the movie: “It was definitely helpful. We used to shoot on a range. I did a lot of training, a lot of discipline. So I had the army etiquette from a young age.”

Source: https://www.distractify.com/p/was-rihanna-in-the-military

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of The 2023 Super Bowl Commercials

RAKUTEN

A few notes before we dive into a review of the best and worst of the 2023 Super Bowl commercials:

  • As always, I have separated the ads into three categories: Good, Bad, and Ugly
  • I have not included every ad, just the ones that merited an official response, for any number of reasons
  • I am an Eagles fan and I’m not doing great in the aftermath of that game, so please understand that as you scroll down
  • The nostalgia and cameos were a little out of control but at least there were no crypto ads this year, which we have to consider progress

Baby steps. Here we go.

GOOD

This was…

  • Fun
  • A twist I did not see coming after years of various commercials about beers doing battle on football fields
  • A weird reminder that Miller, Coors, and Blue Moon are all owned by the same company

Still. A good time.

I’m the guy who just pitched about a half-dozen movies where Ben Affleck plays a Dunkin employee or customer, and I’m writing this with a medium Dunkin coffee sitting about 18 inches to my left, so I could be biased. I don’t know. This commercial had every opportunity to be very stupid and it came off almost… charming (?) and I think we should acknowledge that. Good for Ben.

It’s always tricky to thrust a meme into the real world. Even trickier when it’s thrust into a full-on Super Bowl commercial, where lots of people who are less than internet savvy are tuning in and capable of getting really confused really fast. This was cute, though. I’m so thrilled for my dude here. Let him become the new full-time spokesman. Give him free food for life. Me, too. Give us both free food for life. I think we’ve earned it.

Three notes about these two commercials:

  • I was predisposed to liking them because I love Will Ferrell and Danny McBride and you could honestly put them in an ad for anything, even a product designed to kick me — like, just me, specifically — in the kneecaps twice a day and I would still be like “those are some good dudes”
  • It would’ve been funny if one of the Netflix shows they slipped Will Ferrell into was American Vandal and he was just spray painting dicks all over some electric cars
  • More commercials should give Danny McBride a golf cart and some sort of weapon

Thank you.

This is cheating. This commercial for Wawa aired only in the Philadelphia area before the game. Not even during it. And yes, it’s tainted a little bit by the fact that my beloved Eagles lost in heartbreaking fashion. I do not care. I love hoagies very much. This one makes the cut.

Put

Jennifer

Coolidge

In

A

Super

Bowl

Commercial

Every

Year

I’m sorry. I am. But if you give me a sweet little commercial about a rascal dog who gets a surprise little buddy at the end, I’m going to put it in the GOOD category. These are the rules.

There is controversy here, sure. And maybe a commercial about cars demolishing children could bring the vibes of your Super Bowl party down a little. I get that. But I do love the idea of spending millions of dollars to roast your enemies in front of the whole world. This is what I would do if I had a billion dollars. I would buy up huge ad blocks just to bust on people who have wronged me. I have no choice but to respect this on principle.

BAD

There’s really nothing wrong with this. It’s fine. It’s lovely. I’m glad to see Alicia Silverstone doing things and getting checks for them. I’m just kind of upset that I’m now old enough that it’s my age group getting pandered to in these commercials. I do not enjoy that. More of a me thing. My apologies to Ms. Silverstone.

Lots of musicians doing various ads for various things. Rock stars and one-hit wonders and Diddy, all in there doing it. I did not expect to see Donna Lewis in a Super Bowl commercial, this year or almost any year, which is not so much a comment on Donna Lewis — a sweet woman, I’m sure — as it is on the nature of time and the way it marches on. My biggest problem with any of it is that I have all of these stuck in my head now. Gonna be a long week.

While I certainly appreciate that The Big Game is embracing its female viewers of a certain age, and there is something to be said for making these discussions more open and acceptable, I just, as a general matter, do not enjoy advertisements for medicine during the Super Bowl. Do not make me contemplate my mortality during a football game. It’s a simple request.

ON ONE HAND: I love these guys and am always happy to have them on my television together again.

ON THE OTHER HAND: It is also okay to just, like, let old things go and try to create new things. There’s an allure to nostalgia, especially when everyone is spending close to eight figures for a 60-second clip, but you could probably get the same lizard brain response from me — “OO OO LOOGIT THE TEEVEE” — by putting a cool dog on a skateboard and rolling him through an amusement park. Free idea for anyone who wants it. Probably a lot cheaper. Here to help.

Babies should not get married.

There, I said it.

I watched this again this morning and I cannot for the life of me figure out why it happened. I bet you didn’t even remember what the ad was for until you looked at the little words on the YouTube link just now. Why are JD and Turk from Scrubs singing Grease songs with John Travolta? How did we get here? It’s like someone just tossed some ideas in a blender and hit Purée. I don’t know. Maybe next year just let Donald Faison do his “Poison” dance for 60 seconds. I would enjoy that.

UGLY

Okay, bullet points:

  • This was a sweet commercial and I love these dogs very much
  • I do not want to feel this many emotions during the freaking Super Bowl
  • DO NOT MAKE ME CRY

COME ON.

Here’s the problem: We’ve only had like four Super Bowls in the last 20 years that didn’t feature either the Patriots and/or Tom Brady. We went through an era there where everything was Boston. Scorsese made a movie set there. The Town happened. It got to be kind of a lot. I’m still sick of it. Enough. Gimme a break. Moratorium on all Boston-related things until 2030. I say all of this while knowing three things:

  • I just put the Affleck Dunkin ad in the GOOD section even though it is the most Boston thing ever created
  • People are starting to get sick of Philadelphia things happening everywhere, even if I’m a little blind to it because Philadelphia things are MY things (see above, re: Wawa)
  • This is all just extremely petty of me

I feel okay about it.

I was so mad when I realized what was happening here. I’m still mad. You can’t do this to people. It’s not right.

There should be a law. I’m serious. Like, I’m really very serious. I’m going to write a letter and put it in the mail.

The Mr. Peanut business is out of control. One year he died. Then he was a baby and a teen. Now, he’s getting “roasted.” Get it? Do you get it? Because it has two meanings. Very deep stuff here.

Maybe I’m still on edge after the Tommy Lee thing from last week. I probably am. I might never get over that. This is not how I intended to close out my review of the 2023 Super Bowl commercials, with a reference to the thing where Tommy Lee from Motley Crue tweeted a picture of his testicles to the official verified Mr. Peanut account, but a lot of things didn’t work out how I intended in the last 24 hours.

It’s fine. I’m fine. I told you things could get weird.

Source: https://uproxx.com/tv/super-bowl-commercials-2023-best-worst/

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Share 4 Children — Details

Source: Getty Images

Like many Hollywood couples, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are protective about the details they share with the public about their children. After being hounded by the paparazzi during her pregnancy, Blake has pushed back against people seeking photographs of her kids, but the duo has spoken about their family life before on talk shows.

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That said, Blake and Ryan’s kids have risen to fame, especially within Swiftie fan circles, after Taylor Swift incorporated three of the children’s names into her song “Betty.” Now that Blake and Ryan have subtly confirmed the birth of their fourth child, here’s everything we know about their kids so far.

Ryan Reynolds, James Reynolds, Blake Lively and Inez Reynolds

Source: Getty Images

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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds share four children together.

Since Blake and Ryan tied the knot in 2012, they have welcomed three adorable daughters: James, Inez, and Betty. While the name and gender of their fourth child is still unknown to the public, Ryan and Blake have gushed about being parents to young girls. During the Cannes Festival in 2022, Ryan joked, “I’m a parent of three girls. They’re wild. I think they have rabies sometimes.”

James Reynolds

The eldest child, James, was born on Dec. 16, 2014. Ryan revealed to The Mr. Porter Post that their daughter was named after his late father, who died shortly after her birth. “It felt right,” he said at the time. However, Ryan did note that his father met James before he passed away.

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James’ biggest claim to fame so far is being featured on Taylor Swift’s record “Reputation,” specifically, as the little voice saying “Gorgeous” in Taylor’s song, “Gorgeous.” Blake addressed the cameo on Good Morning America, responding to a viral video showing her and Ryan jumping up and down and cheering when their daughter’s voice played during Taylor’s stadium tour.

“We were very embarrassing,” Blake said. “This is the true, unfiltered version of our terrible stage-parent pride.”

Source: Twitter/@wolvern

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Inez Reynolds

Inez Reynolds was born on Sept. 30, 2016. Blake spoke to People Magazine shortly after the birth of her daughter to correct peoples’ frequent misspelling of Inez’s name. She said, “I had a new baby, Inez, with a ‘z’ even though everyone says it’s with an ‘s.’ I don’t know why. Please tell Wikipedia.”

Blake and Ryan have told hilarious stories about Inez’s adorable “inner darkness.” During an episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, Ryan said that Inez has a fiery personality, to the point of being stopped for a secondary search at an airport and being called out by their pediatrician as “shady.”

“Our pediatrician, when she met Inez, she said, ‘Oh, this one’s shady,'” Ryan teased.

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Betty Reynolds

Formerly the youngest child in the household, Betty Reynolds was born on Oct. 4, 2019. Betty’s name, like James’, is a family name, and she also shares it with Blake’s non-alcoholic sparkling mixer company, Betty Buzz. In a press release for the company, Blake explained why she named the company ‘Betty.’

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“My dad’s name was Ernest Brown Jr. but he was known as Ernie Lively,” the press release read. “He gave up his last name when he married my mom and any success he, or I, have experienced has been in a name that isn’t his. So when I was working hard to build this company, I wanted any success to be in a name that was meaningful to him. Betty was his mom and his sister’s name.”

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Additionally, Betty rose to international fame after Taylor Swift named her track “Betty” for her. In the song, Taylor incorporates all three Reynolds children as characters in a love triangle. “Betty I won’t make assumptions about why you switched your homeroom but / I think it’s ’cause of me” and “You heard the rumors from Inez / You can’t believe a word she says” the song’s lyrics read.

Blake and Ryan’s youngest child’s name has not yet been revealed to the public.

Blake and Ryan have reportedly welcomed their fourth child after posting a picture on Instagram celebrating the Super Bowl, where the actress no longer had her baby bump. “Puppy Bowl Sunday 2023🥘 🍲 🥧 been busy,” Blake wrote. While there is currently no word on the name or gender of the baby, Ryan previously expressed he would be happy to have a family of all girls.

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Source: Instagram/@blakelively

“I know girls, so I’m kind of hoping that, but I’m ready for whatever happens,” Ryan admitted on the Today show.

Congratulations to the happy couple on their growing family, and who knows! Maybe their fourth child will also find their way into one of Taylor Swift’s many songs before the year is out.

Source: https://www.distractify.com/p/blake-lively-children

‘Wednesday’ Managed To Even Beat ‘House Of The Dragon’ As The Most-Watched Premiere In The Second Half Of 2022

Netflix

When it comes down to it, who would really win in a fight? A bunch of dragons or a teenager with an attitude problem and a pet severed hand? The answer might surprise you!

Netflix’s hit teen mystery Wednesday has beaten out the dragon drama, House of the Dragon, as the most-watched premiere from the second half of 2022, according to a new report from Samba TV.

The series, led by Jenna Ortega, also had the most extended “shelf-life” of the most popular shows, meaning that new people were still tuning in after the prime two-week mark. Samba credits this to Gen Z and their ever-impressive TikTok trends that dominate the app, causing new viewers to tune in much after the fact, and then re-watch a million times so that they can get the moves just right. It’s hard work being an internet star, but someone’s gotta do it.

In contrast, House of the Dragon managed to be the top premiere in the first 15 days of its release, but Wednesday managed to blow past that after its 40-day window, with almost twice as many new views per day as Dragon. Wednesday also managed to attract a wider audience than other popular shows from June-December, thanks to its diverse cast that appealed to multiple age groups and demographics. According to the report, Wednesday was more popular among Black and Hispanic households, in addition to more female viewers.

Maybe if HBO can get genius Matt Smith to do a whimsical little dance then they might beat some more records. Just an idea.

(Via Deadline)

Source: https://uproxx.com/tv/wednesday-house-of-dragon-most-watched/

Rihanna’s ASL Performer Justina Miles Was The Star Of Super Bowl LVII

Getty Image

Unless you entered a “darkness retreat” like Aaron Rodgers, you know that Rihanna was the headliner of the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona last night, February 12. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35, but Rihanna (and everything in her orbit) remain undefeated.

Rih ripped through 12 songs — the final of 39 setlist versions she filtered through in recent months — and she even revealed she’s pregnant with her and ASAP Rocky’s second child (as confirmed by her reps to The Hollywood Reporter).

Rihanna had teased to Nate Burleson ahead of the game that she was “thinking about bringing someone” out as a special guest. Nobody expected the special guest would be an unborn child.

A different special guest that became the internet’s darling: American Sign Language (ASL) performer Justina Miles.

Miles was technically initially introduced during Apple Music’s halftime show presser last Thursday, February 9, where she shared her excitement for signing Sheryl Lee Ralph’s pre-game performance of “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” also known as the Black national anthem. She called it “important” to be able to “bring that empowerment to millions and millions of Black deaf people all over the country who have never really seen that before.”

Miles separately touched on signing Rihanna’s halftime show to CNBC’s Make It: “I value the opportunity to make it possible for all deaf people to enjoy these songs and not have them miss out on the full Super Bowl experience.”

Source: https://uproxx.com/music/rihanna-asl-performer-super-bowl/

What Is a Collaborator? ‘The Last of Us’ Term, Explained

Source: HBO

Week after week, The Last of Us continues to break our hearts by telling stories that seem like they could end happily, but almost never do. The latest example came in Episode 5, when Joel and Ellie partnered up with Henry and Sam, two brothers who are hiding out from the leadership of the newly-liberated Kansas City. Although we won’t spoil how things wind up, some were also wondering why Henry describes himself as a collaborator in the episode.

What is a collaborator?

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What is a collaborator in ‘The Last of Us’?

Until quite recently in the show’s timeline, Kansas City, where the events of Episode 5 take place, was ruled by FEDRA. FEDRA is essentially what’s left of the U.S. government, and it operates with impunity in most of the quarantine zones in cities across the U.S. FEDRA was particularly brutal to those living in Kansas City, though, abusing the citizens they were supposed to be protecting for nearly 20 years.

Henry and Sam on 'The Last of Us'

Source: HBO

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That’s why Kathleen, the leader of the citizen resistance movement in Kansas City, ultimately leads an uprising to overthrow FEDRA and retake control. As we see in Episode 5, part of that effort involves tracking down and punishing those who worked with FEDRA before the citizen takeover. Those who worked with FEDRA, turning in their neighbors for plotting against the government, were known as “collaborators.”

Why is Henry a collaborator?

Although Kathleen seems to be interested in punishing everyone who worked with FEDRA, it’s clear that she has particular rage for Henry.

As Henry explains to Joel, Kathleen is after him because he turned her brother, the previous leader of the resistance, into FEDRA in exchange for leukemia medicine that Sam needed. Henry had been a member of the resistance, but after turning Kathleen’s brother over to FEDRA, he had to go into hiding.

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Henry didn’t collaborate with FEDRA because he believed they should maintain control of the city. Instead, he did it because he was desperate to save his brother’s life. Joel offers some sympathy, saying that the manhunt that has chased Sam and Henry across Kansas City seems extreme. In large part, it seems to be motivated by Kathleen’s own desire for revenge, and not because Henry is a real threat to Kansas City.

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Henry’s desire to save Sam reinforces one of the show’s central preoccupations.

Henry’s decision to trade the life of someone else in order to save his family underlines one of the key ideas in The Last of Us. Joel has already stated that he believes the only reason to keep on going in this post-apocalypse is for family, and Henry made that explicit in his decision to prioritize his kid brother’s safety over everything else.

Of course, Kathleen makes a similar choice in seeking revenge against Henry. She endangers the citizens of Kansas City, and ultimately leaves them open to an attack from the infected because she is solely focused on finding Henry. Family can be your salvation, but they can also lead you to make terrible decisions.

Source: https://www.distractify.com/p/what-is-a-collaborator-the-last-of-us