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The Guardian
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Why are you so damn gay?': the public policing of Karl-Anthony Towns' joy
The first time I danced was with my father. I plucked my bare feet onto his work boots, to my mother's distress, and let his rubber soles guide me into a groove. Hand in hand, we spun through the kitchen as Al Green's Love and Happiness christened my rhythm's baptism. The second time I danced was with myself – and it would be my last. I wrapped my arms around the fleshy part of my waist as Seal's Kiss from a Rose played from the Batman Forever CD in my stereo. Alone in my room, I was OK with the mirror seeing every part of me. I danced like Shirley Temple with Buddy Ebsen. Like my father guided me. The only thing that could have broken my rhythm did. My stepmother filled the doorway, barefoot except for a roach she had stepped on. 'Why are you so damn gay?' That question didn't land as curiosity. It landed as a sentence – as instruction. From that moment on, joy had to pass inspection before it could be expressed. A decade later, in a different home and a different neighborhood, I stood over a sink, washing someone else's blood off my hands – still shaking from having fought my way out of being jumped. I wasn't just cleaning up. I was trying to scrub away any lingering doubt about my masculinity. This essay is about what happens when boys who move freely are taught to fear their own rhythm – and what it means when grown men like Karl-Anthony Towns are mocked for keeping theirs. Confusion, softness and the urge to question societal norms are beaten out of all of us – but especially out of young boys of color in dangerous neighborhoods. It's as if the praxis of masculinity demands violence as the antidote to vulnerability. Even laughter had rules. You couldn't let it be too high-pitched. Too quick. You learned to clap shoulders, not hold hands. I didn't immediately reconcile my behavior with its double, but I spent my adolescence trying to prove my stepmom wrong. Since moving from Minnesota to New York, expectations for former No 1 draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns have increased on all fronts. In New York, the world's largest media market, scrutiny moves faster than any headline – amplified by the virality of social media. Towns is discovering what happens when softness is punished, when queerness is projected, and when public figures become unwilling avatars in culture wars over masculinity. The term 'zesty', a softened descendant of homophobic slang, became Towns' shadow. It trailed him through every three-point play, podcast outtake and postgame moment. He became the target for people eager to mock what they couldn't define. In Hilton Als's The Women, he recalls being called an 'auntie man' – a Barbadian phrase for a queer man, used with equal parts derision and familiarity. For Als, the term was both burden and lens – a way to understand how femininity in male bodies disturbs cultural norms. Towns, in his gestures and tones, touched that nerve – not by coming out, but by refusing to contort himself into the rigid, humorless frame of what a man in sports is supposed to be. Towns is far from alone. Figures like Tyler, the Creator, Russell Westbrook and Odell Beckham Jr have also been queer-coded and mocked online – not for coming out, but for expressing aesthetic freedom that unsettles traditional expectations of Black masculinity. Reading Als, I realized I wasn't just haunted by my stepmother's question. I was haunted by the idea that my joy, softness and rhythm might be interpreted the same way – that to some, my way of moving through the world would always be 'off'. Homophobia today isn't what it was in the 1990s, when the idea of a gay NBA player sparked outrage. American culture has shifted. Most people – not just millennials – know someone who is openly gay. Even baby boomers often count LGBTQ+ individuals among their friends or family. This broader familiarity has normalized queerness – but mostly white, heteronormative queerness. During his presidency, Donald Trump welcomed 'Gays for Trump', revealing how sexuality has become more complicated in modern politics, so long as it's white and votes red. But in sports, John Amaechi and Jason Collins remain punchlines. Dwight Howard was the most recent NBA player to be publicly dissected for his queer preferences. His situation involved layers of moral, legal and consensual complexity, but the cultural judgment echoed the same old anxieties. Towns is ostensibly straight. He's in a public relationship with Jordyn Woods. But his moments of effeminacy have gone viral on TikTok, trickling down through Twitter and into Facebook echo chambers. Many cite his Dominican heritage – not as a direct link to queerness, but to the flamboyance, rhythm and emotional expressiveness embedded in that culture. And if he were gay or bi or queer, what exactly would that change? KAT is still a dawg. It's ironic that this ridicule came during the best season of his career. He averaged 24.7 points and a career-high 13.5 rebounds while leading the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years. He delivered signature performances, including back-to-back 40-point games and a playoff triple-double. His offensive dominance marked a personal and franchise turning point. But it wasn't enough. The online ridicule intensified, crystallizing into what became known as 'Zesty Karl-Anthony Towns', or Zesty KAT – a meme that painted the Knicks star as flamboyant or queer-coded based on voice, gesture and posture. The term resurfaced in 2024 after viral TikTok compilations dissected clips from his postgame interviews and on-court expressions, reigniting during the 2025 playoffs. One of the most viral examples came from X user @Zazamyodor, who quote-tweeted a clip of Towns softly saying 'for sure' with the caption, 'That 'for sure' was nasty work.' The post earned over 46,000 likes and helped cement 'zesty' as shorthand for mocking his style, despite his career peak. I still haven't danced like I did that first time, or even the second. But I think about it often: what it meant to be light on my feet, unburdened, joyful without explanation. What Karl-Anthony Towns is enduring isn't just a meme cycle. It's the same sentence I heard in my doorway, repackaged for likes and algorithm reach: 'Why are you so damn gay?' Not a question, an accusation. In this world, to be joyful in your body, to be expressive without apology, is still treated like defiance. Towns may not need to dance like I did. But every time he celebrates a three-pointer with flair, every time he speaks in a tone too tender for a seven-footer, he keeps the rhythm going for those of us who had ours interrupted.
The Guardian
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
UK Eurovision 2025 act announced as Remember Monday
This year's UK entry for Eurovision will be Remember Monday, singing the powerpop ballad WTHJH (What the Hell Just Happened), the BBC has confirmed. The selection of the country-inflected female trio – who describe themselves as 'pop girlies with a lil bit of yeehaw' – was announced by Scott Mills on his Radio 2 show this morning. Remember Monday participated in series eight of The Voice in 2019, where their performances included a cover of Seal's Kiss from a Rose. They also appeared on the US TV show of their Voice mentor Jennifer Hudson in January 2024, covering Alanis Morissette's Hand in My Pocket. Their selection as the UK's participant has not been a well-kept secret. In February, the Radio 1 presenters Natalie O'Leary and Vicky Hawkesworth devoted a segment of their show to discussing Remember Monday's status as the official act, saying: 'They're so good. They are going to be representing us in Eurovision this year.' The presenters likened their musical direction to that of Beyoncé's album Cowboy Carter, talking up their chances because 'country is having its moment'. The day before the announcement, the song also appeared to be circulating online, with numerous Eurovision fan sites linking to a 20-second snippet. Some sources also claimed that merchandise themed to the song's title had appeared briefly on Remember Monday's Spotify account before disappearing, sharing screenshots that seemed to show branded tops. On Thursday afternoon, if you typed 'wthjh' into Spotify's search, Remember Monday appeared as the top result. The band have previously expressed their desire to participate in the contest, performing a cover of Space Man, Sam Ryder's 2022 Eurovision runner-up, titled: 'Hey get us on Eurovision!' ''What The Hell Just Happened' is exactly how we're feeling right now! It's all very surreal; our friendship goes so far back, and we definitely never imagined that we'd be doing anything like this,' said Remember Monday. 'We're going to be the first girlband to represent for the UK since 1999, which feels like such a crazy honour. We're going to bring loads of fun, energy and hopefully do something that you won't have seen before on the Eurovision stage…. This is really the music World Cup and we'll do our best to bring it home!' The trio – who met at 16 at college in Farnham, Surrey – will hope to perform more like Ryder than the UK's entrants since. Mae Muller came second-bottom in 2023, while last year's representative, Olly Alexander, delivered his song, Dizzy, upside down in a grubby shower facility before discovering that it hadn't earned a single point in the audience vote. He finished 18th. 'Honestly I don't know where to even begin with this whole experience, I'm going to be processing things for a long time!' the singer wrote afterwards on Instagram. 'Though we may have received nil points from the voting public – which I shall be claiming as iconic! – I've also seen a lot of love and I'm truly grateful.' The grand final of the Eurovision song contest 2025 will take place in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday 17 May. The semi-finals take place on 13 and 15 May.
Associated Press
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Seal parodies ‘Kiss from a Rose' for Mountain Dew Super Bowl ad
Music superstar Seal says he doesn't take himself too seriously, so parodying his huge hit 'Kiss from a Rose' for a new Mountain Dew Super Bowl commercial was right up his alley. The singer, who's readying his first original song in a decade next week, also reveals which team he's rooting for. (Feb. 7) (AP interview and production by Gary Gerard Hamilton)
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
EXCLUSIVE: Seal becomes a seal in trippy Super Bowl ad for Mountain Dew
Seal, known for hit songs like "Kiss from a Rose" and "Crazy," is bringing new meaning to his name this year in a Mountain Dew Super Bowl ad, revealed exclusively on TODAY Feb. 5. The "Kiss from a Lime" campaign ad begins with Mountain Dew's Mountain Dude, who is known for his tall build, long hair, giant lime green jacket and sunglasses. The Mountain Dude slides across the table of Becky G's kitchen, offering her a bottle of Mountain Dew Baja Blast, which features a tropical lime flavor. She accepts the bottle and takes a sip. Becky G's action of taking a gulp immediately sends her through a portal of some sort, landing her in a boat (with the Mountain Dude) floating in the waters of 'Baja Beach.' The Mountain Dude, Becky G and her crew stare out at a rock covered in singing seals performing an alternate rendition of Seal's "Kiss from a Rose." Instead of the song's original lyrics, which begin with "ba-ya-ya, ba-da-da-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya," the seals sing "baja, baja, baja, baja." But there's one seal that stands out among the rest. The seal on the top of the rock lifts his head up to sing the main melody of the song, and it's revealed that Seal's face has been edited onto the body of a seal. Confused? Well, it seems Seal, the artist, has transformed himself into the actual animal for this ad. Seal tells that when he first saw his face edited onto an actual seal's body, he thought it was a bit cliche but still funny. 'I did have to laugh because it was done in, kind of in good humor. ... There are aspects and parts of my life that are really serious, that require focus and responsibility and accountability,' he says. 'And so, anytime I get a chance to laugh and make fun of myself with a meme that was with my head on a seal, I mean, it's hilarious and it's a good antidote of relief to the seriousness of life." Putting his face on an animal isn't the only thing Seal has changed for the ad: He altered the lyrics to his 1994 song "Kiss from a Rose" as well. In the three decades since the song's release, Seal says he feels "really fortunate" that it still resonates with people. "I'm a kid from a working-class area of London born in the '60s with nothing but a lot of dreams and a voice," he says. "And so, if you'd have told me I would have one song, just one song that would make such a difference and turn out to be an iconic song that most people around the world know, well ... it's amazing. I don't take one bit for granted." The new lyrics in the ad replace romantic themes with Mountain Dew-inspired words. "Baby, I compare it to a kiss from a lime, on the bay," Seal sings. He then addresses the oddity of him being an actual seal in the ad. "Ooh, the more I think of it, it's strange I'm a seal, yeah," Seal, 61, sings. "My flippers can't hold Mountain Dew, what a shame," the four-time Grammy winner continues as a bottle of Mountain Dew slips through his flippers. The camera then zooms out and two orcas are seen jumping up from behind the rock, making giant splashes in the water as a volcano erupts in the background. The commercial closes with a shot of the boat, where Seal (now in human form once more) is relaxing cross-legged in the back behind Becky G and her friends, a Mountain Dew in hand. "Good-looking seal," he says. The ad, which was directed by "Jojo Rabbit" director Taika Waititi, will air during the second quarter of the Super Bowl on Feb. 9. Seal says Waititi is one of his 'idols.' "I love his work, and I love him as a person," he says. "I think he's even more impressive as a person. So, I got to work with him, that was fun. And he really took care of me, which is a big thing. It was just a professional cast." Seal's enjoyment on set wasn't the only thing he liked about doing the ad. He hopes his kids, whom he said on TODAY Feb. 5 have been sending him a meme of the ad to try and "humiliate" him, find pride in his performance. 'They've seen a few runs of it,' Seal tells 'Obviously not the final edit, but they've seen it, and, you know, they make fun of me, they laugh but I think inside they're really proud.' This article was originally published on
