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Published by OK Magazine Madonna Missing her new man? Though pop icon Madonna is enjoying her family’s wintertime vacation to Africa, it seems the “Material Girl” icon may still be pining for a special someone back home in the United States! @madonna/Instagram Earlier this week, the queen of pop took to social media with an adorable clip depicting her and her brood heading on a horseback riding excursion, the artist taking a moment to show off her seemingly telling outfit. HUNG UP & LOVED UP! MADONNA SPOTTED GETTING COZY WITH 23-YEAR-OLD MODEL IN NEW YORK CITY In the Instagram Story shared with her 18.6 million followers, the A League of Their Own actress sported not only riding gear, including a helmet and a vest, but also a striped button-down shirt reading “My boyfriend is out of town.” While it’s unclear whether Madge currently has a boy toy, the 64-year-old star has been dipping her toe in the dating pool over the last several months since calling it quits with her former flame, 28-year-old Ahlamalik Williams last April. In September, the “Like A Prayer” artist was spotted cozying up to 23-year-old male model Andrew Darnell, with the pair spending Labor Day weekend packing on the PDA in NYC. Mega After attending a concert for Nigerian artist REMA at Manhattan venue Irving Plaza, Madonna, Darnell, and a group of pals headed north to high-end eatery Mr. French in the city’s Flatiron district. As the star-studded party sipped on glasses of rosé and fare including “truffle fries, crispy rice, and several different pastas including truffle gnocchi,” they also seemingly let loose, “dancing, and taking selfies at the table,” per one onlooker who spied the Grammy winner during her night on the town. Amid the excitement, Madonna and Darnell, with whom she had previously modeled with during an ultra-steamy photoshoot, proceeded to show some PDA, as OK! previously reported. MADONNA LETS LOOSE WITH HER KIDS AS HATERS BEG QUEEN OF POP TO CANCEL WORLD TOUR: ‘IT WOULD BE A HUGE FLOP’ “She and Andrew were being very openly affectionate all night, snuggling and cuddling in the booth,” the insider explained, noting that the newly-minted couple “were definitely smooching.” View the full article

Published by uInterview.com Will Smith was the punchline of one too many jokes at the 2023 Golden Globes on Tuesday. His infamous slap was jabbed at by Eddie Murphy, who some have said was more tasteful than the night’s host, Jerrod Carmichael, who also called out Smith during the ceremony. Carmichael, whose off-color and often very niche jokes fell flat several times throughout the night, took a shot at Smith that many are criticizing for being homophobic. “Just some quick housekeeping stuff, if you’re listening, if everyone’s listening,” Carmichael started during one segment. “While we were on commercial we actually pr… Read More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Mega Days after No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani sparked backlash after defending accusations of cultural appropriation with her early 2000s Harajuku aesthetic by repeatedly alleging she was Japanese, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly has offered to take on the online brouhaha. Earlier this week, the Fox News alum slammed Allure’s Senior Editor Jesa Marie Calaor, who interviewed with Stefani for the storied beauty publication, slamming the writer as a “very young reporter” who she claims exaggerated the impact of the star’s strange words. Mega “So now, there’s a whole thing about whether Gwen Stefani has really stepped over the line by saying ‘I am Japanese,” the radio personality explained during a recent installment of her eponymous Sirius XM series,The Megyn Kelly Show, on Wednesday, January 11. ITALIAN-AMERICAN GWEN STEFANI DOUBLES DOWN ON CLAIM SHE’S JAPANESE Alongside urging Calaor, who is Asian, to “get over” being called racial slurs, as she detailed in the now-viral piece, Kelly awkwardly attempted to liken Stefani’s bizarre racial comments to transgender people coming out. Mega “No problem for Gwen Stefani to come out tomorrow and to say ‘I am a man,’” Kelly continued. “She can say it no problem. But ‘I am Japanese’ has caused the people at Allure to ‘tisk tisk’ her with all these experts weighing in and saying she’s cultural appropriated [sic] again, and they’re angry.” GWEN STEFANI & BLAKE SHELTON SNEAK A SMOOCH WHILE ENJOYING A ‘LITTLE END OF THE YEAR HIKE’ Kelly’s bizarre remarks come hours after the “Hollaback Girl” made headlines for claiming she was of Japanese descent despite admitting she is “Italian American — Irish or whatever mutt that I am.” “That was my Japanese influence and that was a culture that was so rich with tradition, yet so futuristic [with] so much attention to art and detail and discipline and it was fascinating to me,” said Stefani of her interest in the nation’s aesthetics despite having no ties to the East Asian culture. “I said, ‘My God, I’m Japanese and I didn’t know it,” she continued, a sentiment The Voice alum purportedly reiterated throughout her time speaking to Calaor. “I spent 32 minutes in conversation with Stefani, many of them devoted to her lengthy answer to my question about Harajuku Lovers,” Calaor remembered of her chat with Stefani. “In that time, she said more than once that she is Japanese.” View the full article

Published by Kaiser Health News As the University of California’s health system renews contracts with hundreds of outside hospitals and clinics — many with religious affiliations — some of its doctors and faculty want stronger language to ensure that physicians can perform the treatments they deem appropriate, including abortions for women or hysterectomies for transgender patients. University of California Health is in the middle of a two-year process to renew contracts with affiliate hospitals and clinics that help the university deliver care in underserved parts of the state. Many of the agreements are with faith-based fa… Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet For decades, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded civil liberties, from 1969’s Stanley v. Georgia to 1965’s Griswold v. Connecticut to 2003’s Lawrence v. Texas to 2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges. And some of the “yes” votes in those decisions were appointees of Republican presidents. From Justice Anthony Kennedy (a Ronald Reagan appointee) to Chief Justice Earl Warren (a Dwight D. Eisenhower appointee), some GOP-appointed justices of the past were socially liberal in landmark rulings. But in 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court is dominated by far-right social conservatives. When Roe v. Wade was overturned 5-4… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News U.S. Rep. George Santos on Thursday cryptically promised to step down from Congress over his unending string of lies “if 142 people ask me to resign.” It wasn’t clear what the embattled New York Republican meant, and the statement sparked instant petition drives and moves by fellow lawmakers to build even more pressure on him to quit. Santos, 35, shouted the odd response to a scrum of reporters as he ducked into an elevator at the Capitol. The only way for Santos to be forced out of office would be if two-thirds of the entire House of Representatives vote to expel him. Two-thirds of the Republ… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story Rep. George Santos (R-NY) insisted that he’s lived an honest life, despite the unraveling of major portions of his biography, but he refused to say where he’s gotten his money. The embattled New York Republican, who’s under investigation by county prosecutors back home, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Election Commission, appeared on the “War Room” podcast with Rep. Matt Gaetz, who filled in for host Steve Bannon while he made a court appearance. “Embellishing one’s resume isn’t a crime, it’s frankly how a lot of people get to Congress,” Gaetz said. “We want everyone to be h… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ben Platt is returning to Broadway. The 29-year-old actor made his name in the title role of the musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ in 2015 and went on to star in the film adaptation in 2021 but is now set to make his return to The Great White Way in the limited run of ‘Parade’ at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre opposite Micaela Diamond after a brief Off-Broadway run in the show last year. Director Michael Arden said in a statement: “I am delighted that Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown’s musical will be seen by Broadway audiences again after our brief run last fall. ‘Parade’ has been a seminal piece of theater for me as an artist since it premiered 25 years ago, and to be collaborating with this incredible group of producers, designers, and artists led by the brilliant Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond is truly a dream come true. The story of Leo Frank is more important than ever to re-examine, and it is my hope that audiences are both inspired and activated to reflect on both the past failure and the enduring promise of the complicated tapestry we call America.” The musical – which is expected to open in March and run until August – tells the true story of the 1913 trial and imprisonment, and 1915 lynching, of Jewish American Leo Frank in Georgia. In 2021, Ben – who became the youngest ever actor to win a Tony Award for his role as struggling teenager Evan at the age of 23 – expressed that he “loved” being live on stage and hoped to return to Broadway “many times” throughout his career. He said: “I love live performance more than anything and so returning to Broadway someday is a huge thing that I see in my future. I would love to find the right thing and I hope and pray to return many times in my life.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Harry Styles has a big future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The 28-year-old mega star made a cameo appearance at the end of the 2021 movie ‘Eternals’ as Eros/Starfox and Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore confirmed that Harry’s alter ego is a “fascinating” character with a family connection to the villainous Thanos. During an interview on the Deadline Crew Call podcast, Moore said: “We certainly didn’t cast Harry for a tag. I mean, again – And a character (that) maybe I have too much affection for, ’cause he’s had some problematic runs in publishing. But there are more stories to be told with the character.” The producer added: “He has a really interesting connection with Thanos; they’re half-brothers and share the same father. He has an interesting power set. “He’s a complicated character, but a really fun character. And I think… having met Harry Styles, he is as charming as you want him to be. And I think there’s no limit to how good that character’s going to be once we get to bring him back.” ‘Eternals’ director Chloe Zhao revealed that she was the driving force behind the decision to give the ‘As It Was’ hitmaker a role in the MCU. She said: “Long story short, with that depressing ending, at some point he was going to be one of the Eternals on that ship. “And that didn’t quite work out. “But I had been wanting to bring Eros into the MCU. “So I kept mentioning [casting Harry Styles] to Kevin [Feige] at every chance I had in the hallway, because I love the idea of Eros being another Eternal, another Ajak. He’s an Eternal, and he was stationed on Titan – 10 of them were, just like the 10 Eternals on Earth, assuming Titan is also a host planet at some point. “Now, if you think about that, what influence could Eros have had on the inhabitants of Titan, the way Ajak has influenced people on Earth? And how that has affected Thanos.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jessica Chastain feels “nervous” about getting sick while starring on Broadway. The 45-year-old actress is set to take on the leading role of Nora in the Henrik Ibsen play ‘A Doll’s House’ – which tells the story of a housewife who finds herself limited in life by a male-dominated world – at the Hudson Theatre from March, but Jessica has admitted to being anxious about her role in the production. The acclaimed actress – who is one of the most sought-after stars in Hollywood – explained: “It’s pretty great. I’m doing a play right now in New York, I’m gonna be doing ‘A Doll’s House’, and I’m playing Nora. So I’m really excited about that. “I’m a little nervous about getting sick but I’ve got my mask. I’m doing both but oh my gosh, you have to be so careful in the theatre and I don’t want to let my cast down.” Meanwhile, Jessica – who won an Oscar last year for her role as celebrity televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ – is also starring as ‘Stand by Your Man’ singer Tammy Wynette in the Paramount series ‘George and Tammy’. The actress admitted that she “never imagined” playing two different Tammys in her career – even though the two women were “very different” people. Speaking to E! News about the projects, Jessica shared: “I got asked over a decade ago if I would play Tammy Wynette. So it’s been a long project in the making. I never imagined playing, I didn’t set out to play singing Tammy but they’re very different personalities so it felt like a different atmosphere.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders used her first day in office as Arkansas’ first female governor to prohibit the use of “Latinx” in state documents, RadarOnline.com has learned. The former White House press secretary initiated an executive order to enforce the new vocabulary ban. Sanders, 40, cited pew research to support her decision to prohibit the “ethnically insensitive” term. mega After making history when she was officially sworn into office on January 10, Sanders got to work. Important topics like State infrastructure, public education, and healthcare were not targeted. Instead, the fresh governor took aim at the gender-neutral terminology that is used in place of Latino or Latina. Sanders announced that she planned to ban the use of “Latinx” in state government documents through the use of an executive order, a power reserved for the governor. According to Sanders, only 3% of American Latinos and Hispanics used the term to describe themselves. mega She described the term as “ethnically insensitive” as the reason for the ban. “Ethnically insensitive and pejorative language has no place in official government documents or government employee titles,” the executive order stated. “The government has a responsibility to respect its citizens and use ethnically appropriate language, particularly when referring to ethnic minorities.” The use of the term became popular in recent years through a progressive movement to use gender-neutral terminology, which aimed to promote inclusion and avoid bias of a particular sex or gender — something that Sanders suggested was impossible with Latin-based “romance languages.” mega “One can no more easily remove gender from Spanish and other romance languages than one can remove vowels and verbs from English,” Sanders’ executive order continued. “It is the policy of the Governor’s administration to prohibit the use of culturally insensitive words for official state government business.” Gender-inclusive terminology has been at the forefront of GOP-led states’ issues, in addition to cracking down on gender-affirming health care. The executive order would also ban the use of TikTok from state-owned devices and government networks, which has been enacted in other Southern states like Texas under fellow GOP Governor Greg Abbott. View the full article

Published by AFP An empty Soyuz spacecraft will be sent to the ISS next month to bring home two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut whose vehicle was damaged by a meteorite strike Moscow (AFP) – Russia said Wednesday that it will send an empty spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) next month to bring home three astronauts whose planned return vehicle was damaged by a strike from a tiny meteoroid. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, made the announcement after examining the flight worthiness of the Soyuz MS-22 crew capsule docked with the ISS that sprang a radiator coolant leak in December. Roscosmos and NASA officials said at a joint press briefing that an uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft, MS-23, would be sent to the ISS on February 20 to bring Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergei Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio back to Earth. “We’re not calling it a rescue Soyuz,” said Joel Montalbano, ISS program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “I’m calling it a replacement Soyuz. “Right now the crew is safe onboard the space station.” MS-22 flew Petelin, Prokopyev and Rubio to the ISS in September after taking off from the Russian-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They were scheduled to return home in the same spacecraft in March, but their stay on the ISS will now be extended by several extra months. “I may have to find some more ice cream to reward them,” Montalbano joked. MS-22 began leaking coolant on December 14 — shortly before Russian cosmonauts were to begin a spacewalk — after being hit by what US and Russian space officials believe was a tiny space rock. Montalbano said “everything does point to a micrometeoroid” and not space debris, or a technical problem. The executive director of Human Space Flight Programs at Roscosmos, Sergei Krikalev, said the “current theory is that this damage was caused by a small particle about one millimeter in diameter.” MS-23 had been scheduled to fly Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and NASA’s Loral O’Hara to the ISS on March 16. SpaceX Crew Dragon The decision was made to use MS-23 to fly the current crew home, Krikalev said, because of concerns over potential high temperatures in the damaged MS-22 during reentry to Earth’s atmosphere. He said it could still potentially be used “in case of emergency.” Another emergency scenario involves using the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that is currently docked with the ISS after flying four astronauts to the space station in October for a six-month mission. Montalbano said discussions have been underway with SpaceX about using the Crew Dragon capsule to fly home other astronauts aboard the ISS. “We could safely secure the crew members in the area that the cargo normally returns on the Dragon,” Montalbano said. “All that is only for an emergency, only if we have to evacuate ISS,” the NASA official stressed. “That’s not the nominal plan or anything like that.” Krikalev said an uncrewed MS-22 would return to Earth, probably in March, following the arrival of the replacement vehicle. It would bring back equipment and experiments that are not “temperature sensitive,” he said. When the original MS-23 crew will get to the ISS is still being worked out, Montalbano added. Space has remained a rare venue of cooperation between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and ensuing Western sanctions on Russia. The ISS was launched in 1998 at a time of increased US-Russia cooperation following the Cold War “Space Race.” Russia has been using the ageing but reliable Soyuz capsules to ferry astronauts into space since the 1960s. View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allowed some flights to resume after an outage of the system that alerts pilots to any obstructions before take-off had earlier forced the civil aviation regulator to ground all aircraft in the United States. Over 4,000 flights were delayed and more than 600 canceled because of the outage as of early Wednesday morning. U.S. flights were slowly beginning to resume departures as a ground stop was lifted. Here is a brief summary of what the pilot warning system does, what we know about what went wrong and background about the safety notices provided to pilots, known as NOTAM. WHAT HAPPENED? The FAA system that is meant to distribute notices to pilots on hazards failed at about 2 a.m. Eastern Time, officials said. The FAA ordered airlines to put a halt on all domestic departures until 9 a.m. Eastern time while it tested whether crews had managed to restore the system and bring it back online. The White House said that U.S. President Joe Biden had been briefed on the outage by Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “There is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a tweet. The U.S. Department of Transportation is conducting an investigation, she said. WHAT IS A NOTAM? The system that failed on Wednesday is part of a nearly century-old practice originally known as Notices to Airmen – originally modeled on a system for notices to mariners. The system, which was changed to be called “Notices to Air Missions” in 2021, is meant to alert pilots to hazards, everything from snow, volcanic ash or birds near an airport. It also provides information on closed runways and temporary air restrictions. The NOTAMs sent by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration are part of a global safety system managed through the United Nations’ aviation agency. Pilots are required to review the notices, either printed on paper or on an iPad, before take-off. The information provided can run up to 200 pages for long-haul international flights. NOTAMs are written in a kind of encoded shorthand that had been originally designed to make communication more efficient. HOW HAS THE SYSTEM CHANGED? The U.N. Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been leading an effort to overhaul the system to make it easier for airlines and pilots to filter the most important warnings and present them in clearer language. In July 2017, an Air Canada jet landed on the wrong runway at San Francisco’s airport and came within seconds of colliding with four other planes. The notice of the closure of one of the two runways at the airport had been flagged in the pre-flight NOTAM – on page eight of a 27-page briefing – and missed by the pilots. The incident, and the information overload that pilots complain the system encourages, prompted the effort to change the way the system operates. “(NOTAMs) are just a bunch of garbage that nobody pays any attention to,” U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said at a 2018 hearing on the Air Canada incident, which helped spur a global campaign for change. FAA officials have been involved in efforts to modernize the system in recent years. (Reporting by Nathan Gomes and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru, Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Nick Zieminski) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine @madonna/instagram Madonna fans are loving the Queen of Pop’s social media content recently. Over the past few weeks, the 64-year-old has been traveling across Africa with her children — all while rumors simultaneously swirl of an upcoming “Greatest Hits” tour set to begin at some point in 2023. @madonna/instagram On Tuesday, January 10, the mom-of-six took to Instagram to showcase horseback riding adventures with five of her children, Rocco Ritchie 22, David Banda, 17, Mercy James, 16, and twins Estere and Stelle Ciccone, 10. MADONNA JETS OFF TO LOLLDAIGA WILDLIFE & SAFARI PARK WITH HER PRECIOUS BROOD: ‘KISSES FROM KENYA’ “Hold tight to ,” the pop sensation wrote alongside an exciting video of each family member on the horse’s saddle. @madonna/instagram Madonna’s caption not only emphasized her love for the country of Kenya, but name-dropped one of her fan-favorite songs “Hold Tight,” which the A-lister attached as an audio sound alongside the cool clip. Fans quickly flocked to the award-winning artist’s comments section to express their love for both Madonna’s recent adventures and her famed music. “I want to be there!! epic !!,” one admirer of the “Hung Up” singer’s excursion, as another wrote, “My favorite song from Rebel Heart! the synths are everything!” Other supporters couldn’t help but gush over the idea of an upcoming potential performance from the generational icon. “After this vacation we want the world tour of hits ,” one fan pleaded, as another joked, “I hold tight my money for your next tour Queen .” FANS PRAISE MADONNA’S PARENTING AS TROLLS CONTINUE TO SLAM QUEEN OF POP’S ‘DISTURBING’ APPEARANCE Excitement toward Madonna’s rumored return to the stage comes after a source dished that the talented celeb was secretly planning a world tour, even claiming the concert series was already scheduled to begin later this year, as OK! previously reported. @madonna/instagram “Madonna is trying something completely new — and really giving fans, young and old, what they want,” the insider spilled on Tuesday, January 3, while noting London’s O2 Arena is reportedly already booked for more than one of her performances. “She wants to capitalize on tracks like ‘Frozen’ and ‘Material Girl’ popping off on TikTok, and introduce her back catalogue to an entirely new generation,” they continued. “Previously she has always wanted to be forward-facing and focus on whatever new album she’s plugging. But now, in her mid-sixties, she is going back to basics and once again reinventing herself.” “It’s massively exciting,” the source concluded. View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Bette Midler is sad to see the end of a Broadway run that she’s calling historic. “What a shame ‘The Music Man’ at the #WinterGarden in NYC is closing on the 19th,” she tweeted Tuesday. “It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my life; absolutely beautiful.” The show’s website indicates “The Music Man” will close Sunday, which the theater confirmed by phone. Fans of the Divine Miss M rushed to their keyboards to speak about their experiences seeing the Tony-nominated show starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. Some remarked that “The Music Man” must be something special to ge… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ryan Murphy wants to make “the invisible [and] the unloved” into the “heroes” he never used to see. The ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ producer was honoured at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards with the Carol Burnett Award – which honours those who have had a lasting impact on the TV industry – and used his speech on Tuesday (10.01.23) to praise the LGBT+ stars he has worked with in his career, including Matt Bomer, Niecy Nash, and Billy Porter. He said: “I have dedicated most of my lifetime achievement speech here tonight to these wonderful actors I worked with to make a point of hope and progress. “When I was a young person at home in the ’70s watching ‘The Carol Burnett Show’, I never, ever saw a person like me getting an award or even being a character on a TV show. “It’s hard being an LGBTQ kid. In fact, all over the world then, and now. And I have one word for you – Florida. “You are often told you will never become anything, you have to hide your light to survive. But for those kids watching, tonight I offer up Mj and Billy and Niecy and Matt and Jeremy as examples of possibility. “There is a way forward. Use them as your north stars. For 25 years, that’s all I’ve ever tried to do here. My mission was to take the invisible, the unloved, and make them the heroes I long to see but never did in pop culture.” Ryan kicked off his speech by urging the audience at the Beverly Hilton hotel to give a standing ovation to ‘Pose’ star Mj Rodriguez, who made history last year by becoming the first transgender star to win a Golden Globe during last year’s untelevised ceremony. He said: “Here’s how I’d like to start. A year ago, the Golden Globes weren’t televised, but the show did go on. And I was so thrilled when it was announced that Mj Rodriguez, from my show, ‘Pose’, had been awarded Best Actress in a Drama Series. In doing so, Mj from Newark, New Jersey, became the first trans actress ever to win a Golden Globe. “And I thought, ‘Wow, how I would have loved for Mj to be on this stage getting the standing ovation she deserved for making history. “And I’m thrilled to say that Mj is one of my guests tonight. She’s here at my table so, Mj, please stand up and let’s give her the ovation that she deserves.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Reuters) -“The Fabelmans,” Steven Spielberg’s movie inspired by his teen years, and dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” landed the top movie awards at the Golden Globes on Tuesday as Hollywood returned to a show that had been knocked off television by scandal. “The Fabelmans” was named best movie drama at the star-studded ceremony in Beverly Hills. “Banshees of Inisherin,” the story of feuding friends on an Irish island, won best movie musical or comedy. The honors are likely to give both movies a boost on the road to the Academy Awards in March. Spielberg, who also won best director, based “The Fabelmans” on his real life as a teenager dealing with his parents’ marital struggles and anti-Semitism. He said he had been “hiding this story since I was 17.” “When I turned 74 years old, I decided you better do it now,” he said. “I’m really happy I did.” Celebrities and broadcaster NBC had abandoned the 2022 Globes because of ethical wrongdoings at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the group that hands out the awards. The future of the Globes was thrown into doubt after a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation revealed the organization had no Black journalists in its ranks. Some members were accused of making sexist and racist remarks and soliciting favors from celebrities and movie studios. A larger, more diverse membership and other changes by the HFPA persuaded many of the biggest movie and TV stars to support this year’s ceremony, which provides publicity for winners and nominees and often boosts their chances at the Oscars. The show unfolded largely as it had in years past, except for a biting monologue from comedian and host Jerrod Carmichael who opened the show joking, “I’m here because I’m black.” “One day you’re making mint tea at home. The next day you’re invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organization,” he said at the ceremony, which was aired live on Comcast Corp’s NBC network and Peacock streaming service. The winners list reflected a wide range of diversity. “Abbott Elementary,” about teachers at a predominantly Black public school, was named best television comedy and received acting trophies for star and creator Quinta Brunson and supporting actor Tyler James Williams. Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, honored for her leading role in dimension-hopping action movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” recalled that said she had been called a “minority” and asked if she could speak English early in her career. Forty years later, “it’s been an amazing journey and incredible fight to be here today, but I think it’s been worth it,” she said. Ryan Murphy, who brought several gay and transgender stories to television, received a lifetime achievement award. Best actor went to Austin Butler for his leading role in “Elvis.” The 31-year-old seemed overwhelmed to accept the honor before an audience of top names in show business. “I’m in this room with all my heroes,” Butler said. “I can’t believe I’m here. Colin Farrell won lead actor in a movie musical or comedy for portraying a farmer trying to repair a soured friendship in “The Banshees of Inisherin.” He thanked fellow cast members including “Jenny the donkey.” The two biggest box office successes of 2022 – “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick” – were shut out. Roughly 200 journalists and others from the international film industry voted on this year’s Globes. Among those voters, nearly 52% are racially and ethnically diverse, including 10% who are Black, according to the HFPA. “Elvis” director Baz Luhrmann told Reuters on the event’s silver carpet that he felt the HFPA had made significant changes and “really walked the walk.” “And we need them,” Luhrmann added, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered theaters and led to a decline in moviegoing. “Us coming together is sending a signal out that it’s OK to come together for movies. That’s a good thing.” Other TV winners included “House of the Dragon,” which earned the best drama prize. “The White Lotus” won best limited series. Comedian Eddie Murphy accepted a lifetime achievement honor and shared his blueprint for success. “Pay your taxes, mind your business and keep Will Smith’s wife’s name out of your fucking mouth,” Murphy joked, referring to the actor’s infamous slap of presenter Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway; Additional reporting by Rollo Ross; Editing by Mary Milliken and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by PopCrush A comic arc in which the Joker gets “pregnant” has sparked outraged reactions from conservative media and some fans online. In a new DC Comics release featuring the Joker, the infamous villain is depicted as being pregnant after he’s hit with a magical spell by superhero Zatanna. The bizarre spell causes him to give birth to a copy of himself via vomiting mud. Naturally, the comic has sparked outrage among some who are now accusing DC of making the Joker transgender. However, the Joker supposedly being trans is never even mentioned in the comic, which is meant to mimic the absurd plots of comi… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story Democrats don’t intend to repeat a crucial error made by Kevin McCarthy at the formation of the Jan. 6 select committee. House Republicans intend to set up a congressional panel to investigate the supposed “weaponization of the federal government,” which will examine the select committee’s findings and other investigations involving Donald Trump and his GOP allies, but Democrats plan to ride along no matter how “crazy” things get, reported The Daily Beast. “They are authorizing a committee to meddle in ongoing law enforcement investigations,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), who serves on the Judici… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Danielle Broadway and Lisa Richwine BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Following two years of criticism for its lack of diverse membership, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globes ceremony on Tuesday wasted no time putting the controversy in the spotlight. Host and comedian Jerrod Carmichael opened his monologue with a blunt assessment: that he was there because “I’m Black.” “This show, the Golden Globe Awards, did not air last year because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – which I won’t say that they were a racist organization – but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died,” Carmichael said. He was referring to the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, which sparked nationwide Black Lives Matter protests against police killings and other violence against Black people. The watershed event inspired many organizations to create or reformulate anti-racist and inclusivity policies. In 2021, a Los Angeles Times investigation revealed the association, or HFPA, had no Black journalists in its ranks. Some members were accused of making sexist and racist remarks and soliciting favors from celebrities and movie studios. The HFPA introduced new ethics policies, and expanded and diversified its membership. Among roughly 200 current voters, nearly 52% are racially and ethnically diverse, including 10% who are Black. Carmichael recalled being called by Golden Globes producer Stephen Hill and being asked to host the awards. He jokingly addressed the discomfort of going from drinking mint tea one day to being asked to be the “Black face of a white organization” the next, and said deciding whether to emcee was a “moral and racial dilemma.” However, Carmichael said — with tongue in cheek — Hill assured him the offer was because he’s “talented, charming, and one of the greatest comedians of a generation.” “I took this job assuming that they (HFPA) hadn’t changed at all,” the host said. “I heard they got six new Black members, congrats to them, whatever. Sure. But that’s not why I’m here.” Carmichael said he decided to host because of the talented people in the room that he admires, calling them “incredible artists.” “Regardless of whatever the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s past may be, this is an evening where we get to celebrate, and I think this industry deserves evenings like these. I’m happy you’re here,” he concluded. Among roughly 200 current voters, nearly 52% are racially and ethnically diverse, including 10% who are Black. While Carmichael hit the issue head-on, the list of winners also reflected broad diversity, and many speeches aimed to elevate diverse talent. Television director and producer Ryan Murphy, accepting a lifetime achievement award, highlighted the LGBTQ+ talent in the room. On the silver carpet, this year’s Golden Globe winner for best actress in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Michelle Yeoh and “Elvis” director Baz Luhrmann also expressed the importance of celebrating all the talented people involved in Golden Globes. “I think it’s important because this is an international Golden Globe, right? It encompasses everybody and that’s something we constantly talk about, inclusivity,” Yeoh said. “So, how can you not include them? What I think happened is that they needed to clean it all up. They needed to wake up to a brighter and more beautiful day.” Yeoh believes that it’s time to move ahead. Luhrmann echoed similar sentiments, saying, “I think the Golden Globes has really walked the walk, not just talked the talk. They’ve made real, significant changes.” “We need them because this is about us all coming together and celebrating the movies,” he added. (Reporting by Danielle Broadway, Lisa Richwine and Rollo Ross; Editing by Mary Milliken and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by AlterNet U.S. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chair of the powerful House Oversight Committee is repeatedly pushing a baseless narrative that President Joe Biden, who has served his nation for 50 years, is “compromised.” Chairman Comer, who has promoted the false theory of fraud in the 2020 election, blaming alleged “troubling reports of irregularities and improprieties” on Democrats, has been regularly criticized. He was deemed “a fundamentally unserious, dishonest, laughable caricature,” by Democratic strategist Sam Cornale on Wednesday, and mocked by The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank l… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story Conservative host Charlie Kirk lashed out at “black culture” following an FAA outage that left over 8,500 flights canceled or delayed. During his daily show on Wednesday, Kirk grappled with what might have caused the outage. “Is it some sort of cyber attack; is it a hack? It could be,” Kirk told his audience. “The government is saying it’s not. But it could be the Chinese Communist Party retaliating against the House Republicans that have just set up a subcommittee that is expressly anti-CCP.” But Kirk speculated that the sexual orientation of Transporation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was “more l… Read More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Emily Ratajkowski was seeing Red after watching a resurfaced interview Ellen DeGeneres did with Taylor Swift about her former boyfriends. “This is so f**ked up,” the supermodel, 31, wrote in response to a clip of the 2012 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that has now gone viral on TikTok. “She’s literally begging her to stop.” mega In the clip, the Grammy award winner, now 33, was visibly uncomfortable while sitting in a chair across from DeGeneres as photos of famous men – like Taylor Lautner, Justin Bieber, Joe Jonas and Justin Timberlake – flashed on the screen behind them. ROUGH LANDING: ELLEN DEGENERES HAD TROUBLE GETTING A-LIST GUESTS AFTER MEAN STREAK WAS REVEALED The now-64-year-old asked Swift during the interview to “ring a bell” every time a picture of someone she dated was displayed on the screen. mega The “Bad Blood” vocalist begged Degeneres to stop, telling her she wanted to keep “the one shred of dignity that I have.” “I don’t want to [do it],” Swift pleaded. “They’ll send me angry emails, and I don’t want to get them.” She uncomfortably continued, “Stop it, stop it, stop! This makes me feel so bad about myself. Every time I come up here, you put a different dude up there on the screen, and it just makes me really question what I stand for as a human being.” mega Years after her sit down with Degeneres, the “Anti-Hero” hitmaker addressed how interviewers often reduce her to the men she has dated in the early days of her career. BLINDSIDED: GREYSON CHANCE SAYS ‘MANIPULATIVE’ ELLEN DEGENERES ‘ABANDONED’ HIM “When I was like 23, people were just kind of reducing me to — kind of making slideshows of my dating life and putting people in there that I’d sat next to at a party once and deciding that my songwriting was like a trick rather than a skill and a craft,” she told Apple Beats’ Zane Lowe at the time, though she refrained from mentioning DeGeneres, who ended her long-running show in May 2022 after claims of cultivating a “toxic” workplace environment, by name. “It’s a way to take a woman who is doing her job and succeeding at doing her job and making things, and it’s, in a way, it’s figuring out how to completely minimize that skill,” the artist concluded. Swift has now been dating longtime beau Joe Alwyn since 2017, having managed to keep their relationship on the down low for all these years. As for why she keeps her latest romance out of the public eye, she said in a 2019 interview: “I’ve learned that if I do [talk about the relationship], people think it’s up for discussion, and our relationship isn’t up for discussion.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega;@siohvaughnfuncheswade/instagram Dwyane Wade’s ex-wife Siohvaughn has demanded their 15-year-old trans daughter Zaya not be allowed to legally change her name and gender — and RadarOnline.com has obtained the 2011 divorce agreement that she believes will help her win in court. According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Siohvaughn submitted the agreement as part of her opposition to Dwayne’s petition to change their child’s name from Zion Malachi Airamis Wade to Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade. mega In his petition, Dwyane claimed he had the “full authority” to “make decisions on behalf of” Zaya. Back in 2011, he was awarded primary custody of his 2 children. In his new petition, he claimed he did not need Siohvaughn’s permission, but he had notified her. The ex-NBA star and his current wife Gabrielle Union have been supportive of Zaya in her journey. In response, Siohvaughn said she feared Dwyane “may be pressuring our child to move forward with the name and gender change in order to capitalize on the financial opportunities that he has received from companies.” She claimed to have had dinner with Dwyane in April 2022 where he talked about all the money Zaya could make “in relation to our child’s name and gender issue.” In addition, Siohvaughn said Dwyane needed her approval when it came to decision on Zaya’s health. RadarOnline.com has obtained a copy of the agreement which has a provision about Dwyane notifying his ex-wife about important developments. The provision stated that Dwyane shall discuss with and obtain input from his ex on “the major decisions affecting the care, welfare, activities, health, education, and religious upbringing of their two children.” The agreement does not state he needs permission from Siohvaughn. mega Further, the agreement stated that Dwyane had to keep his ex-informed of “all doctors, nurses, health care providers, and mental health providers treating the minor children whether on a continuing basis or in connection with an isolated issue.” Again, the deal did not state the ex-NBA star had to obtain approval for any medical decision over their children. Dwyane and his ex are scheduled to appear in court later this month. View the full article