The Significance of 90's Commercials Returning, UFC Fighter's Cartoonish Lie to Get a Movie Deal, Your Taxes Funding "Bug Eye" Journalism, How Beyonce Cashed in on Country (The Five for 02/07/25)
Plus, Game of Thrones creators take on the most unexpected topic for their next Netflix show. 1970's Laurel Canyon music influences returning in 2025? Stranger Things delayed until 2026?
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter.
It’s Friday, so let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
Tim Kennedy is one of the most legitimately cool people in American culture. He in the U.S. Military, and has hosted TV shows for the History Channel. No matter how you slice it, he’s incredibly impressive.
And he threw it all away within the last few months, with claims in his Scars and Stripes about his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan that are A). impossible, or B). war crimes, including
He was in a 2 vs. FOUR HUNDRED firefight with Iranian soldiers, and came out alive (note, this may have been a combination of the book and Kennedy’s podcast appearances).
That he was ordered to machine gun dead bodies, in case they were faking it.
He was ordered to shoot people at random through a thermal scope, whether or not they were combatants.
(Stories summarized from two episodes of the Anti-Hero Podcast, here and here, embedded above…I did not have time to read his whole book to confirm them)
Just a note here…the last two violate the Geneva convention.
People who read the book were justifiably angry…but it didn’t boil over until Tim did an event with high-end pistol maker Staccato for SHOT SHOW (the largest gun industry event of the year).
Staccato deleted and walked back an ad featuring Tim Kennedy.
Kennedy has faced serious allegations of fabricating and exaggerating war stories. The revelations went viral following the "Antihero Podcast" doing multiple episodes breaking down his book "Scars and Stripes."
The incredibly popular military podcast even brought on three of Tim's former teammates from the infamous Battle of Firebase Anaconda.
To put it politely, all three teammates said stories told by Tim weren't true. One of the most infamous stories revolves around using a thermal device to shoot people if they had a weapon and a heat signature, whether they were in the fight or not. The ground force commander - Travis Worlock - said no event ever happened, and if it had, it would be a war crime. An attorney for the Green Beret and former UFC star told me the event did happen, but was legal and was ordered. Travis refuted the statement from the lawyer. You can read both sides here, and below are some relevant links (grab these from the original story).
I asked AI to summarize any battles in the modern era (with guns) that are the closest to two guys taking on 400 (read that here), and suffice it to say, of all the things that have never happened, this the most never happened, as the popular internet saying goes.
Kennedy’s public influence…likely will never recover. What’s insane is that he is one of the most impressive individuals of THIS CENTURY, but allegedly may have pushed the narrative in the book into outright lies, because he was looking for a movie deal, with Jake Gyllenhaal playing him (the two do bear a somewhat uncanny resemblance).
The only real winners here are Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, only because this story gives the internet something to investigate other than their bad behavior.
Kennedy attempted to respond, via YouTube, claiming other channels were simply drumming up controversy to make money, but refutes no claims in particular, and doesn’t provide any evidence. (AI summary of what Tim DIDN’T dispute here).
The craziest thing here, is that brands and companies continue to act like it’s 15 years ago, when things couldn’t rapidly be fact checked via social media crowdsourcing and AI…
[two]
Sunday at the Grammy Awards, Beyonce exploited country music.
From Saving Country Music:
Unequivocally, Beyoncé told us herself about her 2024 album Cowboy Carter, “This ain’t a country album.”
But apparently, Grammy voters disagree.As Beyoncé she said in her speech, echoing numerous inferences on her Cowboy Carter album, “I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists.”
But that is the reason for genre-specific Grammy categories. They are there to make sure pop stars worth $800 million dollars who are married to billionaires can’t come in and abscond with attention meant for performers who don’t feel like genre is something to “keep them in their place,” but instead feel it’s something to honor and respect.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter was a commercial disaster. It fell to #50 in the albums charts in just 13 weeks, and out of the Billboard 200 completely after 28 weeks—staggering numbers for Billboard‘s recently-named “Pop Star of the Century.” But the media and Beyoncé Stans successfully launched a canard that Cowboy Carter was country, and a great album, despite nobody listening to it.
Cowboy Carter‘s Best Country Album win wasn’t earned, it was compelled. With a gun to its head, Grammy voters did what they had to do to ensure the institution wasn’t called racist. And even though it’s a big win for Beyoncé, it feels like a bad loss for all genres that try to present the unadulterated expressions of culture that come from all people of all races and walks of life, and that go into presenting the brilliant tapestry that is American music.
Some will celebrate what this means for diversity in country music. But in truth, it represents the death of diversity in music. When the same artist worth $800 million can win Grammy Awards in pop, hip-hop, R&B, dance, and EDM, it represents the widening of the gulf between the have’s and the have not’s, and how an elite level of performers can walk away with all the spoils, especially since Beyoncé would go on to also win the all-genre Grammy for Album of the Year.
Country does have a race problem, both historically, and today. But if it is ever going to solve that problem, it has to grow artists from within. Those artists also must be country, not imported from pop. Then and only then will a win by a Black woman for Best Country Album have meaning.
The three “most not country” moments on the album go to a cover of “Blackbird” by The Beatles (a great song, and a great cover…but not at all country), a nausea-inducing cover of Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene” with the lyrics changed (butchered) and the album’s lead single, “Texas Holdem,” with the cringe chorus:
This ain't Texas (Woo)
Ain't no hold 'em (Hey)
So lay your cards down, down, down, down
So park your Lexus (Woo)
And throw your keys up (Hey)
Stick around, 'round, 'round, 'round, 'round (Stick around)
Americana artist Rhiannon Giddens first called out Beyonce seven years ago for exploiting the genre, after the latter’s performance with The Chicks of their collaboration “Daddy Issues.” (Video). I really like that song, but again…it’s not country. Like at all.
What angered me about it was that it overshadowed, you know, two other performers of color who were, who were kind of naturally there. Charlie Pride, who was, You know, a huge figure. And then myself as a guest of Eric Church, where he was making a really particular point. You know, having me sing on his song.
As somebody who has tirelessly advocated for getting the history of the banjo, the history of early American music, the history of blacks in country music, all of that, You know, not the easy way, you know, like, I don't, I didn't go into pop, I didn't go into, you know, not to say that her life is easy, but, you know, I took a really particularly, you know, it's a difficult route, and I'm proud of it, and, and, you know, I, I wouldn't do anything differently.
I’m a huge fan of Giddens, but she collaborated on Cowboy Carter…because money machine go brrrrrr.
Maybe Giddens band, Carolina Chocolate Drops are your thing, maybe not. But they make music that obviously comes from somewhere, rooted in time, place and tradition…in instrumentation, arrangements and songwriting. And there’s no mistaking what they do for anything but country music.
Beyonce makes music that’s global, designed sell stadium tickets for hundreds (or thousands) of dollars, with LOTS of electronic noises that can’t be played live without heavy backtracks, and lyrics written by Pharrell Williams (hip hop), OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder (pop) and vocalist/producer The-Dream (R&B). None of those writers have ever nodded to even liking country music in the past, simply turning their pens to the genre that’s selling at the moment, and the one that could give Beyonce her coveted “best album” trophy.
Hell yes, I’m insulted, as a country music fan…because Beyonce is the worst black country artist…on her own album.
Seriously, go listen to the black artists she collaborated with on Cowboy Carter, including
Willie Jones: “Down by the Riverside,” (a country and blues stomp with a bit of hip hop slang, but is still very much a country singer)
Brittany Spencer: “Sober & Skinny” (a heartbreaking ballad of addiction)
Shaboozey: “Good News” (if you only know him from “Bar Song” please give this song a shot!)
Reyna Roberts: “Fire and Whiskey” (poppy country, but leans heavily into banjo and traditional elements)
Tiera Kennedy: “Can’t Hide My Country” (an ode to the singer’s rural upbringing)
Linda Martell: “Color Him Father” (the first black woman to play the legendary Grand Ole Opry, Martell was limited to two spoken word intros on Cowboy Carter)
Allegedly, Beyonce is allegedly trying to score a #1 album in every genre. Renaissance, released in 2022, was her attempt to conquer EDM/Dance. Up next, she’s rumored to be working on a rock project, entitled Act III.
Now that she extracted awards and attention from country music via an album that was an epic flop, Beyonce will almost certainly turn her back on the genre.
The only consolation prize is Beyonce introduced the world to a handful of artists who deserve an audience…more than she does.
[three]
Press Secretary Karoline Levitt made a pretty astounding claim this week during a press briefing about news outlet Politico.
I was made aware of the funding from USAID to media outlets including Politico who I know has a seat in this room...
I can confirm that the more than $8M taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer's dime will no longer be happening.The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now.
If you’re wondering what kind of high quality reporting your tax dollars paid for…here you go.
If you want to write about how Tim Walz’s “bug eye” expression means something, be my guest. But fund it with something other than my taxes…
[four]
Commercials haven’t had this much cultural power since the 90’s.
The rise in popularity of Netflix in the early 2000’s (the 1.0 version where discs arrived in the mail—Gen Z, ask your parents) meant that TV commercials were less seen, and replaced with 15 second blip style ads on YouTube and Hulu trying to impress a message upon the increasingly fragmented American brain.
But the rise of commercials as a persuasive art form once again, longer (than 15 second) content is pretty fascinating.
This week, the girls sports organization XX XY released a pretty powerful ad (above), which went viral after a retweet from JK Rowling, along with this comment.
My husband Neil (marathon and endurance runner) just told me he's bought four T shirts. In years to come, a great question to ask self-proclaimed liberal men will be, 'which side were you on - women's rights, or men's demands?'
That caused an older ad attacking Nike (script below) from the organization to pick up steam on social media. As a result, Bill Ackman (a hedge fund owner and traditional power player in Democrat Party Politics) to say he would be “discussing this with Nike CEO Elliot Hill tomorrow.”
Pause there for a moment. Keep in mind, a COMMERCIAL did all this. Regardless of what you think of the issue, all this action came from an ad. Here’s what moved Bill Ackman:
Dear Nike, Why won't you stand up for me? Why won't you stand up for me? Why won't you? Why do you claim to support women and girls? Yet when we need you most, You remain silent. Today, males are claiming our identity, Our sports, Our spaces, Men and boys are stealing opportunities, Medals, Trophies, And our future.
And it's not fair, Or just. In fact, it's often dangerous. Yet you refuse to use your platform to stand up. You say you're for social justice. So why do you allow men's rights to come before ours? See, with a big platform comes an even bigger responsibility. You have a chance to do the right thing. Not just do the easy thing.
So we're asking you Nike. So we're asking you Nike. So we're asking you Nike. As the biggest voice in all of sports. Will you stand up for me? Will you stand up for me? Will you stand up for me? Will you stand up for me? Will you? Will you? Will you just do it?
And that’s not all that happened this week, as Bud Light continued to improve upon their nearly impossible brand comeback by releasing their Super Bowl Commercial featuring comedian Shane Gillis and musician Post Malone early. Even in a week dominated by blockbuster NBA trades (which you heard about even if you care nothing about the league) and the U.S. “buying” Gaza…Bud Light broke through.
Like I said, 90’s vibes all around.
[five]
As always, let’s head into the weekend with a pop culture roundup
MOVIES: Well, this is awkward. Despite all the negative publicity about Blake Lively, Prime Video is dropping a straight-to-streaming sequel to A Simple Favor, her (highly underrated) murder/mystery flick with Anna Kendrick. Another Simple Favor will be screened at Austin’s SXSW Festival, which means Amazon thinks this one could be big…unless derailed by the star. || If you’re looking for a fourth Back to the Future movie, just drop it, according to the writer of the original trilogy…that’s never gonna happen.
TV: HULU is working to revive the 90’s hit series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, with Sarah Michelle Geller expressing interest at returning as the lead. || If you’ve got littl(er) ones, the animated Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman on Disney+ is getting excellent reviews. || Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are tackling an unexpected topic for their new show…the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881. Details are slim at this point, but it hits Netflix sometime this year. || Rumors are that Stranger Things won’t release part 1 of the final season until November, which would push the final episodes into 2026. The series first released on Netflix in 2016, which means five seasons…will have been stretched out over TEN YEARS. Sheesh.
MUSIC: Lil Wayne announced the release date for his highly anticipated Tha Carter VI. || Elton John and country troubadour Brandi Carlile will be releasing an album together, entitled Who Believes in Angels. || If you partake in the high holiday (yes, that’s a double-entendre, but not an endorsement of “left handed cigarettes”) Record Store Day in April, here’s the full list of exclusives that will hit your local record store in limited numbers.
Woah. The Fantastic Four IP has notoriously flopped twice in my lifetime, in 2005, when a young Chris Evans (later Captain America) was a relatively unknown actor, and again in 2015, when an incredible cast including Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick, Whiplash), Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther), Kate Mara (House of Cards, The Martian) and the highly underrated Jamie Bell (Rocketman, Defiance) had all their talents wasted due to director Josh Trank descending into full-blown alcoholism, and not showing up to work sober.
20th Century Fox made those movies, but then Disney bought Fox, so these Marvel characters will finally join their MCU brethren on the big screen at some point. The talent is certainly on point, with the lead roles being filled this time around by Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, Game of Thrones), Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, Mission Impossible: Fallout), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Andor, The Punisher), and Joseph Quinn (aka Eddie Munson from Stranger Things, Gladiator II).
Apart from the terrible third entry in the THOR franchise and Deadpool and Wolverine (which I still haven’t finished), I don’t think I’ve watched a Marvel movie since Endgame…and I haven’t finished any of the TV shows I’ve started.
But…if the quality can be this good, I’ll tune in. This is only the second superhero film to be set in the 1960’s (the other being X-Men: Days of Future Past), and the retro is refreshing. In theaters 07/25.
…and speaking of franchises that got their mojo back, Jurassic World Rebirth took heavy inspiration from the original novel, as well as more claustrophobic horror/thrillers like Jaws and the original Alien movie from 1979. The mega scale set pieces seem to have been traded in for the terror of being stuck in small rooms with ancient carnivores.
Gareth Edwards, who wrote and directed the best Star Wars movie of this era, Rogue One, is behind the camera, and Scarlett Johansson (Avengers, Her), Mahershela Ali (The Hunger Games, Luke Cage) and Ed Skrein (Deadpool, Rebel Moon) leading the cast makes this feel like a winner. We’ll find out 4th of July weekend…
[new music]
Indie songstress Julien Baker is perhaps best known as 1/3 of the supergroup boygenius alongside Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacas (an intentionally ironic name, given that all three members are women). If the first single is any indication, this could be Baker’s biggest year ever, as the first single off her forthcoming album (out 04/18) is already her most-streamed song ever.
”Sugar in the Tank” is equal parts 70’s Laurel Canyon sonics (the area of LA that produced Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Doors, Joni Mitchell) mixed with a dash of 90’s Lilith Fair and modern Americana.
If the rest of the album is this good, she could well be in the Grammy discussion for 2026…unless it’s something Beyonce wants. In that case, not a chance in hell.
[read & learn]
It’s tough to summarize such a compelling read, so I’ll just go with this…Dr. Gabor Mate’s case that chronic diseases all have a trauma/emotional aspect to them…is one of the 50 best nonfiction books I’ve ever read. Amazon | Barnes & Noble.
New Secretary of State Marco Rubio is by far the least-controversial Trump nominee (he was confirmed 99-0, with Bernie Sanders absent due to health reasons), and Megyn Kelly is one of the most skilled journalists in the game.
If you want to go deep on where international relations are headed in the next four years…this one is not to be missed.
Until the next one,
-sth