Gabrielle Union is keen to make a ‘Bring It On’ sequel.

The 49-year-old actress starred in the original movie in 2000 alongside Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku, and Gabrielle has now suggested that she’d love to make a sequel.

Discussing the possibility of starring in another ‘Bring It On’ movie, she shared: “I’ve heard many takes over the years, but I’m hearing some really great takes from some big-name writers that are very surprising.”

‘Bring it On’ centred on a champion high-school cheer-leading squad, and its success led to six direct-to-video sequels, none of which featured any of the original cast members.

But Gabrielle has already considered a potential new storyline for her on-screen character Isis, who captained the East Compton Clovers cheer-leading team.

The Hollywood star – who has Kaavia, three, with husband Dwyane Wade – told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “Imagine if her daughter was, ya know, a high stepper from Jackson State, Hawthorne State or Hampton. There’s so many forms of cheer-leading that we don’t get to celebrate. The possibilities are endless.”

Gabrielle has “been an athlete [her] entire life”. However, the actress previously confessed that her cheer-leading skills weren’t up to scratch.

Asked about her cheer-leading experience, she replied: “Just in junior high because you didn’t have to be popular to be a cheerleader.

“I’ve been an athlete my entire life, playing soccer, basketball, and softball, but those don’t prepare you for the sport of cheer-leading at all. And you can tell that I struggled because there are a lot of close-ups so it looks like I’m doing the same s*** that everyone else is doing even though I’m not as good.

“I’m matching most of the more dance-heavy choreography, but the more challenging cheer-leading stuff? No.”

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys on Monday said they oppose the U.S. Justice Department’s request to continue to review classified documents seized by the FBI from his Florida estate last month in an ongoing criminal investigation.

In a court filing, his lawyers also asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to require an independent arbiter, called a special master, to include the roughly 100 documents with classification markings in its review of more than 11,000 records recovered during the court-approved Aug. 8 search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.

Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in January 2021. The government is also investigating possible obstruction of the probe.

His lawyers in the filing said Trump disputes the Justice Department’s claim that the 100 records in question are in fact classified, and they reminded Cannon that a president generally has broad powers to declassify records.

However, they stopped short of suggesting that Trump had declassified the documents – a claim he has made on social media but not in any official court filings.

“There still remains a disagreement as to the classification status of the documents,” they wrote. “The government’s position therefore assumes a fact not yet established.”

The clash between the Justice Department and Trump over how to treat classified material puts Cannon on the hot seat to make a decision. If she rules that the Justice Department cannot continue relying on the classified materials for its criminal probe or insists on letting the special master review them, prosecutors have threatened to appeal to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own presidential and personal records,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

“The government should therefore not be permitted to skip the process and proceed straight to a preordained conclusion,” they added.

The documents probe is one of several federal and state investigations Trump is facing from his time in office and in private business. He has suggested he might run for president again in 2024, but has not made any commitment.

About two weeks after the FBI searched Trump’s home, his attorneys filed a civil lawsuit demanding the appointment of a special master to review the seized records for materials that could be covered by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege – a legal doctrine that can shield some presidential records from disclosure.

The Justice Department has also opposed appointing a special master to review records for executive privilege claims, saying the records do not belong to the former president.

In ruling in favor of Trump’s request for a special master last week, Cannon rejected the Justice Department’s arguments that the records belong to the government and that because Trump is no longer president he cannot claim executive privilege. Cannon was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020 just months before he left office.

If the special master decides some of the material is covered by Trump’s privilege claims, it could hamper the government’s investigation.

Both sides each proposed their own list of two possible candidates for the job late on Friday. They are expected to update the court later on Monday about their views on each other’s proposed candidates.

If the special master decides some of the material is covered by Trump’s executive privilege claims, it could hamper the government’s investigation.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Will Dunham)

Beyonce celebrated turning 41 with a star-studded birthday party at the weekend.

The ‘Alien Superstar’ hitmaker’s birthday fell on Labor Day (05.09.22) this year so she held off her celebrations until Saturday (10.09.22) night, where she was joined by pals including rapper Drake, actor Michael B. Jordan, reality star Kim Kardashian, musician Machine Gun Kelly and his fiancee actress Megan Fox, for a huge shindig.

The bash – which was held at a mansion in Bel Air and photographed by TMZ – also included singing superstar Adele and her boyfriend Rich Paul, rapper Lizzo, pop star Jaden Smith, supermodel Bella Hadid, superstar momager Kris Jenner, her daughter Khloe Kardashian and her ex-partner Tristan Thompson, model-turned-actress Lily-Rose Depp, rapper Offset and Vanessa Bryant, the widow of the late Los Angeles Lakers’ icon Kobe Bryant.

Jay-Z – who Beyonce has been hitched to since 2008 and has 10-year-old daughter Blue Ivy and five-year-old twins Rumi and Sir with – was photographed while attending the party, but his wife was not captured by the cameras.

Beyonce’s birthday celebration comes after the ‘Crazy in Love’ hitmaker dropped her seventh album ‘Renaissance’ – her first in over six years – in July after sharing her the new song ‘Break My Soul’ in June.

On Instagram, the Grammy winner – who is yet to drop the hotly-anticipated visuals for the 16 tracks – remarked making the LP made her “feel free”.

Beyonce wrote: “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving.

“My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment, a place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are.”

By Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission wants to see more action from Hungary on stepping up anti-corruption safeguards before Brussels agrees to unlock EU funds, EU sources said.

One source called Budapest’s efforts to secure funds a “charm offensive” but said there had been no “immediate breakthrough” in talks on the issue last week between EU officials and Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga.

The European Commission has been withholding its approval for Hungary to draw on money meant to help lift economies from the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government of undermining the rule of law.

Ahead of Varga’s talks in Brussels last Wednesday and Thursday, Hungary announced that it will create an anti-corruption authority and a working group involving non-government organisations to oversee the spending of European Union funds.

The European Commission said after the meetings that it would consider Budapest’s proposals.

Varga told EU officials last week that Budapest’s promise to set up a new anti-graft agency should be enough for Brussels to unlock some 6 billion euros ($6.08 billion) in COVID stimulus funds, and refrain from clawing back even more from money earmarked for Hungary from the bloc’s 2021-27 shared budget, according to EU sources.

But the sources, familiar with Varga’s discussions, voiced caution.

“Let’s call it a charm offensive,” one EU official said. “But the devil is in the detail.”

A second EU official said that Hungary’s proposals were a step in the right direction but that implementation was key.

Orban has come under increased pressure to strike a deal with the Commission as a weakening forint exacerbated economic woes in Hungary in recent weeks.

But after years of increasingly bitter EU feuds with Budapest over democratic standards, corruption, migration and LGBTQ rights, a third EU official said: “There is little trust in Hungary.”

Hungary had irregularities in nearly 4% of its spending of EU funds in 2015-2019, according to the bloc’s anti-fraud body OLAF, the highest among the 27 EU countries by far.

EU lawmakers will likely call on the Commission not to let Hungary off the hook when they debate the state of democracy and fundamental rights in the ex-communist country on Wednesday.

The Commission then has until Sept.21 to assess if the latest proposals from Budapest are enough to ease its concerns.

If not, Brussels would recommend to the other EU countries punishing Budapest under the bloc’s “money for democracy” scheme that affects all of the bloc’s joint funding worth 1.8 trillion euros in 2021-27.

EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn has proposed that some 70% of EU funding envisaged for Hungary could be at risk, according to a July document published by the Commission.

($1 = 0.9872 euros)

(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Susan Fenton)

‘Hocus Pocus 2’ director Anne Fletcher is “open” to another sequel.

The 56-year-old filmmaker is at the helm of the upcoming comedy horror movie – which is a follow-up to the original 1993 classic and set to launch on Disney+ on September 30 – and she won’t rule out a third film if Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker all want to return as the Sanderson sisters.

Speaking to SFX magazine, she said: “I have definitely left it WIDE open for any sequel. Now it’s really up to them if they want to do it.

“I can’t say anything other than yes, it is left open. Will they do it? I don’t know, they haven’t even talked about it, that I can be honest with you.”

Producer Lynn Harris also refuses to rule out the possibility, noting that the fantasy themes will always be popular with fans.

She added: “There’s always potential. It’s a movie about magic and witches. Those things are timeless aren’t they? A multiverse of witches!”

The prospect of a third film could be decided by Midler, Najimy and Parker – who play sisters Winne, Mary and Sarah respectively – with the trio also playing a huge role in making the upcoming sequel a reality.

Harris recalled: “We approached the women and said, ‘Hey, guys, it’s time to get the band back together’. They were all amenable and excited and had great notes on the scrip, which we took into account, because each of them as such a deep awareness of their character.

“Even though it had been 27 years, when we first started talking. They really remembered and understood who they were as Winnie, Sarah and Mary. They clicked right back into character, and it was magic.”

For Fletcher, it was a dream to see the three stars interacting on set, particularly as it came to the chemistry between their characters.

She said: “It is truly as though they had not been out of costume for 27 years. They went right back into character.

“When I say character, not just their own individual character, but the way in which they relate to one another, which is very specific, in terms of the familial squabbles in birth order.

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s team may not have returned all the classified records removed from the White House at the end of his presidency even after an FBI search of his home, U.S. prosecutors warned on Thursday, calling it a potential national security risk that needs investigation.

That revelation came in a Justice Department court filing asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to let it continue reviewing about 100 classified records seized by the FBI at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate while it investigates whether classified documents were illegally removed from the White House and improperly stored there.

Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, at the resort in Palm Beach, Florida, his home after leaving office in January 2021.

The 100 documents represent a fraction of the more than 11,000 records and photographs seized, most of which the government said Trump may review because they are not classified.

“This motion is limited to … the seized classified records because those aspects of the order will cause the most immediate and serious harms to the government and the public,” the department said in its court filing.

The prosecutors also asked the judge not to allow an independent arbiter, called a “special master,” to review classified materials seized from Trump’s property.

Trump, in a posting on his Truth Social platform, described the request as a waste of money.

The Justice Department on Thursday suggested there could be more classified records that were removed from the Trump White House that investigators have not yet located. This revelation comes about a week after the Justice Department released a detailed list of property seized from Trump’s home which showed the FBI located 48 empty folders labeled as classified and another 42 which indicated they should be returned to a staff secretary or military aide.

Legal experts were perplexed as to why the folders were empty, and it was not clear whether records were missing.

“Without a stay, the government and the public will also suffer irreparable harm from the undue delay to the criminal investigation,” prosecutors wrote.

“The injunction against using classified records in the criminal investigation could impede efforts to identify the existence of any additional classified records that are not being properly stored – which itself presents the potential for ongoing risk to national security,” they added.

READY TO APPEAL

Prosecutors asked Cannon for a ruling by Sept. 15. If she denies their request, they intend to file an appeal to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where six of the 11 active judges are Trump appointees.

In an order on Thursday evening, Cannon gave Trump’s lawyer’s until Monday morning to respond to the government’s request.

Cannon, also a Trump appointee, on Monday ordered prosecutors to pause reviewing the more than 11,000 recovered records while a special master is appointed to review the material.

The Justice Department said it will on Friday provide the court a list of possible special master candidates in a joint filing with Trump’s attorneys, as Cannon has requested.

The Justice Department is also investigating possible obstruction of justice, after it uncovered evidence showing that records may have been removed or concealed from the FBI when it sent agents to Trump’s home in June to try to recover all classified documents through a grand jury subpoena.

Cannon granted Trump’s request for a special master, despite prosecutors’ objections.

The judge said the special master will review documents not just covered by attorney-client privilege, but any records possibly covered by executive privilege as well. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that can shield some presidential records from disclosure.

The Justice Department has challenged the logic of using executive privilege because Trump does not own the records and is no longer president. Cannon’s reasoning has also been criticized by Democratic and Republican legal experts.

“No potential assertion of executive privilege could justify restricting the executive branch’s review and use of the classified records at issue here,” the Justice Department wrote in its Thursday filing.

In Cannon’s Monday order, she allowed U.S. intelligence officials to review all of the seized materials as part of their ongoing national security damage assessment.

But the Justice Department said there is no way to wall off the criminal investigation and the national security review.

“The ongoing Intelligence Community classification review and assessment are closely interconnected with — and cannot be readily separated from—areas of inquiry of DOJ’s and the FBI’s ongoing criminal investigation,” the prosecutors said.

Some legal experts on Thursday lauded the Justice Department’s approach to Cannon’s order, saying it carefully preserves its right to appeal broader concerns about a special master appointment, while at the same time asking Cannon for a much narrower solution for bigger concerns.

“I think the government has embarked on a shrewd tactical strategy,” said David Laufman, an attorney who previously served as chief of the department’s counterintelligence section.

He said the department’s legal strategy takes “a scalpel” to Cannon’s order by seeking immediate relief from its worst parts, while still preserving its right to appeal in the future.

“They are focusing on what is most critical and most time-sensitive, both with respect to protecting the national security interests of the United States and with conducting follow-up investigative action,” he said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Josie Kao)

‘Weird’ Al Yankovic taught Daniel Radcliffe how to play the accordion.

The 33-year-old actor plays the musician in the biopic ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ and recalled how Yankovic taught him how to play the instrument in preparation for the part.

Daniel told IndieWire at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Eric Appel’s film: “Honestly, the thing that we worked on the most together was the accordion.

“He gave me some accordion lessons, which is something that I can take to my grave that I had that moment. I don’t need anything else.”

Daniel does not expect audiences to take “a moral” from the film but hopes the spoof helps people delve into their own “weirdness”.

The ‘Harry Potter’ star said: “This is not a movie that we expect you to sit down and take a moral from the story.

“But if there’s something to it, it’s about leaning into your own weirdness and that being a way of finding your own happiness.”

Radcliffe continued: “(Yankovic) is so authentically himself and that has led to this wonderful film, as well as his incredible career.”

Evan Rachel Wood portrays pop icon Madonna in the film but doubts the singer will react to the movie.

She said: “I don’t think she’s going to respond at all. She has other things on her mind and other things to do.”

The 35-year-old actress continued: “I love Madonna. I’ve met her before. We’ve been very friendly. So I think we’re cool. I’m hoping we’re cool. And the good news is nothing in this movie actually happened, so I’m a little safe there.”

Laramie (United States) (AFP) – Nearly 25 years ago, the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard — a gay college student in Wyoming who was beaten, tied to a fence and left to die — shocked America. 

Today, the small city of Laramie — the scene of the infamous hate crime — has become an improbable refuge for sexual minorities in the ultra-conservative mountain state.

“It’s always funny to say that I didn’t come out until I came to Wyoming, because people just don’t think that’s possible,” says 27-year-old Ray Kasckow, a transgender person living in the city of 30,000, nestled between two mountains.

In Wyoming, a state known for being the least populous in the nation and for giving Donald Trump a thunderous victory in 2020, Kasckow’s story seems anomalous.

For many Americans, the city is forever known as the place where Shepard was killed.

On October 6, 1998, the 21-year-old University of Wyoming student was driven away from a bar to a secluded area by two young men.

They savagely pistol-whipped him before leaving him for dead. Shepard was found 18 hours later by a cyclist who initially mistook him for a scarecrow.

He never regained consciousness and died in hospital a few days later. 

‘Support system’

Shepard’s killing served as a wake-up call, shining a cold light on homophobic violence in America.

In 2009, a federal law named for Shepard went into effect, expanding existing hate crimes legislation to include crimes motivated by a victim’s gender or sexual orientation.

But in Laramie, people did not want to wait around for change. 

“Folks in Laramie left — professors left, students left, residents left out of fear,” recalls Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mother.

With husband Dennis at her side, Judy founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation “to try to make life better for Matt’s friends and peers in the community.”

A New York theater troupe came to town multiple times to develop “The Laramie Project,” a play that recounts how the sleepy city became a scene for murder, depicting a fatal brew of toxic masculinity, cowboy mentality and isolation.

In Laramie, where life is punctuated by the passage of long freight trains, the local LGBT activist network sprang up little by little.

Then in 2015, the city was the first in the state to adopt an ordinance banning workplace or housing discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.

Two years later, Laramie held its first Pride parade.

Rainbow flags fly in front of most businesses in Laramie, and all around the bar where Shepard was kidnapped.

Young people walk in the streets with buttons reading “they/them” — pronouns used by those who do not identify as a man or woman.

“People come here to Laramie because they know that there are communities present, and they know that they have friends and they have a support system,” Kasckow says.

‘Lots of stigma’

The welcoming atmosphere in Laramie is in stark contrast to how LGBTQ people feel they are treated in the rest of the state, according to Tyler Wolfgang, member of the Laramie Pridefest group.

“Wyoming has a long way to go as a LGBTQ-friendly state,” Wolfgang says, explaining that local legislatures have attempted to push through so-called “anti-trans bills” affecting transgender people over school athletics and bathroom usage.

“We see lots of stigma and a lot of transphobic thoughts or comments,” the non-binary activist adds.

Beyond Wyoming, other conservative-leaning US states have seen what activists say are efforts to single out transgender people, with primarily Republican lawmakers redoubling their efforts as national midterm elections set for November draw near.

“We’re right back where we started, essentially, in the community,” Judy Shepard says, slamming what she calls the “terrible attitude of ignorance and hate directed at the gay community, as is being directed at all the marginalized communities ” across the country.

But since 1998 and Matthew’s death, Judy Shepard says the community is organized.

“So many more people are out and comfortable as who they are… I think that we’re making attempts to erase us more difficult,” she says.

Matthew Shepard’s ashes were interred at the National Cathedral in Washington to mark the 20th anniversary of his death.

In Laramie, a bench was erected in the middle of the University of Wyoming campus where he studied political science.

The plaque on it reads: “He continues to make a difference.”

Kelly Clarkson thinks Dolly Parton is “an inspiration to all women”.

The 40-year-old singer has joined forces with Dolly, 76, to record a brand-new duet version of ‘9 to 5’ – which Dolly first released as a single in 1980 – and Kelly has heaped praise on the music icon.

She shared: “I am so honoured that Dolly asked me to re-imagine this iconic song, ‘9 to 5’, with her! She is so talented, an inspiration to all women, and one of the sweetest people you will ever meet!”

Kelly relished the experience of working with the award-winning country singer.

In a statement, she joked: “I hope y’all like what we did, but even if you don’t, remember I got to sing a duet with the magical Dolly Parton, and now have bragging rights til the end of time!”

Similarly, Dolly also loved the experience of working with Kelly, admitting that she can make any song “come alive”.

She said: “Nobody sings like Kelly Clarkson. She makes any song come alive. I love her voice on ‘9 to 5’ and I am so proud I got to sing with her on it.”

Meanwhile, Kelly recently revealed that she plans to explore her split from Brandon Blackstock on her new album.

The ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes’ hitmaker confirmed that some of her new material will focus on the breakdown of her marriage.

Kelly – who has River, eight, and Remington, six, with her ex-husband – said: “When my ex and I first separated, there were many emotions. It was hard. My producer and I were laughing yesterday because I was like, ‘Remember that time we wrote, like, 25 songs in a week?’

“A lot of those are the ones that are on the album. I literally wrote most of these almost two years ago. Then I told my label, ‘I can’t talk about this until I’ve gone through it’, and it’s just taken some time to do that.”

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The leaders of two congressional committees want a federal probe into whether airlines used government pandemic money to fund pilot buyouts and early retirements that may have fueled current pilot shortages, according to a letter released on Friday.

Congress approved $54 billion in three rounds covering much of U.S. airline payroll costs for 18 months that ended in September 2021. Airlines accepting government assistance that funded payroll costs were prohibited from furloughs or firing workers and faced limits on executive compensation and bans on stock buybacks and dividends.

Major airlines, after losing thousands of employees during the pandemic, now have more pilots than before COVID-19 and are flying fewer flights but face higher absentee rates driven by COVID cases. Regional airlines are still struggling to hire enough pilots, while airlines cut back on flights this summer to improve performance.

“As a result of pilot shortages, thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled, wreaking havoc on travel plans for millions of American taxpayers,” House of Representatives’ Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Coronavirus Crisis Committee Chairman James Clyburn wrote in a Sept. 8 letter to the Treasury Department’s inspector general.

The committee wants the inspector general to “complete a thorough review of the federal funding Treasury has disbursed to airlines to sustain their operations during the coronavirus pandemic, including an accounting for how the funds were disbursed and used by each airline recipient.”

A group representing major airlines did not immediately comment.

Out of $54 billion, airlines must repay $14 billion, or 26.2%. American Airlines received $12.6 billion, Delta Air Lines $11.9 billion, United Airlines $10.9 billion and Southwest Airlines $7.2 billion, according to a U.S. Senate panel.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg faces pressure from Congress to do more to hold airlines accountable for tens of thousands of flight cancellations and delays this summer.

A group of 36 state attorneys general on Aug. 31 called on Congress to give them new authority to investigate passenger complaints. Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Alex Padilla have urged the Department of Transportation to fine airlines that delay or cancel flights because of staffing or operational issues.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)