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Published by BANG Showbiz English Mariah Carey is adapting her memoir into a TV series alongside director Lee Daniels. The ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ hitmaker is planning to bring her life story to television via an eight-part series, and she’s been collaborating the writer behind the likes of ‘Monster’s Ball’, ‘Precious’ and ‘Empire’. The 52-year-old singer – who released ‘The Meaning of Mariah Carey’ last year – shared an update with Z100 with host Garrett Vogel, who asked if she would ever consider doing a musical. Mariah said: “We did the book, And we are getting it together. I’m working with my friend Lee Daniels. And we are talking about the adaptation of my book. I would rather do that that’s why we wrote the book first. Broadway is a great thing, I just want to do something.” However, she said a musical was less likely, noting the project was “probably” going to be a television show. She added: “Lee is probably going to hear this and kill me but it’s probably going to be an eight-part series. The ‘Without You’ singer – who is mother to 10-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with her rapper ex-husband Nick Cannon – emphasised the importance of the show being “gritty, grimy, beautiful, specular and real”. She said: “I need it to be gritty, grimy and beautiful, spectacular and real!” In the book, the ‘We Belong Together’ singer was incredibly frank about her life, including detailing the abuse she witnessed as a child. Her memoir read: “By the time I was a toddler, I had developed the instincts to sense when violence was coming. As though I was smelling rain, I could tell when adult screaming had reached a certain pitch and velocity that meant I should take cover.” Mariah said the pending project was so “difficult now” because of the on-going pandemic – and the ensuing problems – but that paperback was due to hit shelves soon. She explained: “It’s so difficult now because of COVID and we don’t know what’s going on. First things first I wrote my memoir last year and now it’s coming out in paperback.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Will Smith has asked Lin-Manuel Miranda to “help” him with a one-man stage show. The ‘King Richard’ actor couldn’t resist asking the ‘Hamilton’ creator to give him a hand on a project he’s wanted to make “for years” as he hailed the actor and director as “the one of one in this business”. With both stars appearing on Friday’s (26.11.21) episode of ‘The Graham Norton Show’, he said: “This is probably a terrible thing to ask at this time, but I want to do a one-man show and I would love you to help me do it. “I have had it in my mind for years and I think you are the one of one in this business.” Lin-Manuel – who was on the programme via video link – seemed shocked but didn’t turn down the offer. He replied: “You heard it here first!” There’s not likely to be anything too racy in the production, as Will admitted elsewhere during the interview that he hates doing “sex scenes”. He explained: “Sex scenes are the worst part of acting – when you watch it in a movie there is music and wine but on set there is some big dude holding the microphone, chewing and watching you.” Whether or not Lin-Manuel does get on board with Will’s show, he’s already got experience after making his directorial debut with new musical drama ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ Opening up on the film, he explained: “It’s about Jonathan Larsen and an amazing portrait of an artist. “He would go on to write ‘RENT’, which, when I saw it as young man gave me permission to write musicals. When I saw ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ it clarified that this was my calling.” Regarding Andrew Garfield in the lead role, he added: “I didn’t know if he could sing or not. I saw him on stage at The National and left feeling that he could do anything – he had all the superpowers and I hoped he could sing. “He told me he had always wanted to, so he trained. We gave him all the resources and he was like a brand-new instrument coming into its power over the course of a year.” ‘The Graham Norton Show’ airs on BBC One on Friday (26.11.21) and will be available on BBC iPlayer. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Ahmaud Arbery‘s killer’s sister sure did add insult to injury, but she insists it wasn’t done maliciously. On Wednesday, Travis McMichael, 35, his father, Gregory McMichael, 65, and the pair’s neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., 52, were convicted of murdering the late 25-year-old Black man in their neighborhood of Satilla Shores – near Brunswick, Georgia – last February. At the time, Arbery was mid-jog when the three white men chased after him in their cars, cornered him and gunned him down. It was Travis who fired off the shot that killed Ahmaud. Though a date to determine the murderers’ sentences has not yet been set, all three are facing the possibility of the death penalty. Mega Now, Travis’ sister/Gregory’s daughter is copping to callously sharing a graphic image of Ahmaud’s blood-soaked and lifeless body on the internet. After her family members murdered Arbery in cold blood, Lindsay McMichael snapped a photo of the aftermath and uploaded it to her Snapchat account. “I had no nefarious or malicious intent when I posted that picture,” she claims, according to The Sun. “The thing is I’m a huge fan of true crime – I listen to four or five podcasts a week – I’m constantly watching that sort of thing.” “It was more of a ‘Holy s–t, I can’t believe this has happened,'” she added. “It was absolutely poor judgment.” The Arbery family attorney, Lee Merritt, ripped into Lindsay for her actions, calling them “very disturbing.” Mega As Radar reported, Travis was found guilty on all charges, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. Gregory was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony. And Roddie was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony. All three felons will remain in custody until sentencing. Throughout the high-profile 10-day trial, the defense team tried desperately to present Arbery as a criminal. During closing arguments on Monday, one of those attorneys took it a step further. “Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails,” Laura Hogue told jurors, eliciting an audible gasp from the people in the courtroom. Among them was the late victim’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, who got up and left after hearing the remark. “I gotta get out of here,” she said on her way out. Prosecutors maintained that Ahmaud’s only crime was being Black and daring to run away from his attackers. Mega View the full article

Published by Reuters LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Jazz musician Jon Batiste led nominations on Tuesday for the Grammy Awards with 11 nods, followed by Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and H.E.R with eight apiece. Batiste and Bieber will compete for the top prize – album of the year – along with Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, H.E.R, Kanye West, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, newcomer Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift, organizers said. The Grammys, the highest honors in the music industry, will be handed out at ceremony in Los Angeles on Jan 31. Nominees in the top three categories – album, song and record of the year – were increased to 10 from 8 for the first time. “Adding more nominees is a way to cast a wider net for more music, more artists and more genres,” Recording Academy chief executive Harvey Mason Jr said, announcing the change on Tuesday. Eilish, Rodrigo, Bieber and Batiste were also among the 10 nominees for record of the year, along with Swedish band Abba’s new single, “I Still Have Faith in You.” But Swift, who snagged a best album nod for “Evermore,” was shut out of both the record of the year and song of the year races. Teen phenomenon Rodrigo, 18, who burst onto the U.S. charts in January when her single “Drivers License” went viral, got seven nods, including best new artist and for her debut album “Sour.” (Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Editing by Nick Zieminski) View the full article

Janet Jackson and her Rhythm Nation have been the worried well of pop for 17 years He’ll “have you naked by the end of this song” … WHOOPSIE …boob out, pastie on — is best explained by the “multiple hecks of coincidence theory” Now the subject of an entire NYTimes documentary…I just don’t know where to put Janet’s emotional distress. It if was this year, we’d get @janetsboob a twitter account and forget. This is what we remember of 2004? Not bird flu, tsunami, Abu Ghraib or the truly smarmy John Edward VP candidacy. Pasties in place, boob door shuts. No one’s hurt. Also, who put all the folllwing together: Nelly, Jessica Simpson, PDiddy, Kid Rock, Janet and Timberlake? –Editor [This post contains video, click to play] Janet Jackson's Stylist Wayne Scot Lukas Says He Did 'Exactly' As He Was 'Supposed To Do'; There Was No 2004 Super Bowl 'Malfunction' 31 Published by OK Magazine Janet Jackson’s wardrobe stylist — who worked with the star on her headline-making 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show look — is telling his side of the story about the infamous nip slip. Celebrity fashion consultant Wayne Scot Lukas sat down with Access Hollywood on Monday, November 22, and made it clear that the “wardrobe malfunction” seen ’round the world was a planned move and not a failure of his work. The “Control” singer and Justin Timberlake shook audiences to their core during their performance of his song “Rock Your Body” at the NFL Halftime Show. After the former boy band member sang the lyric, “Gotta have you naked by the end of this song,” he tore off part of Jackson’s top, exposing her breast, which featured a nipple cover. MEGA JANET JACKSON SHOWS SUPPORT TO BRITNEY SPEARS AS POP STAR DANCES TO ‘THAT’S THE WAY LOVE GOES’ AMID CONSERVATORSHIP BATTLE Timberlake, 40, told Access Hollywood at the time that it was a “wardrobe malfunction,” but Lukas begs to differ. “I was hired to do a job. I did exactly what I was supposed to do,” he told the outlet. “If I would’ve hurt my friend, I wouldn’t have worked with Janet for six years after the Super Bowl,” he explained, adding that he puts “snaps, pins and velcro” on his client’s outfits so that even during a quick-change, the performance look will not fall apart. “I would have been fired that day.” The Friends With Benefits star’s claim that it was Lukas work that failed during the set is particularly hurtful for the stylist. “[He] came off the stage and said, ‘It was just a little wardrobe malfunction. We all want to give you something to think about,’” Lukas said. Access Hollywood “He coined that phrase, and when he said that, I thought, ‘Friendship over,” he continued. “Wardrobe malfunction? I don’t malfunction. I was a professional stylist. $10,000 a day back then. I can’t fail. Why did you say that?” BRITNEY SPEARS REFLECTS ON 2001 MTV VMAs, MAKES IT CLEAR THERE IS NO BAD BLOOD WITH EX JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE DESPITE DOCUMENTARY Lukas pointed the finger at the show’s producers, saying that viewers “were never supposed to see a movement where a breast was out” because the network was supposed to “cut to black.” “Somebody didn’t push the button. Somebody didn’t protect my friend,” the fashion expert claimed, adding that the pre-taped rehearsal was filmed depicting the performance exactly as it was meant to be played out. MEGA As OK! previously reported, former MTV senior vice president and producer of the performance, Salli Frattini revealed in the new documentaryMalfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson that she “felt betrayed” by Jackson and Timberlake for the incident. “I was a wreck, personally, and I pretty much just lost it. I was in tears. People were crying. It was really upsetting. It’s very emotional. I felt betrayed,” Franttini said in the special. “My instincts told me that there was a private conversation between wardrobe, stylist and artist where someone thought this would be a good idea, and it backfired.” Janet Jackson 2004 Super Bowl on Towleroad Jon Batiste leads Grammy nods; Billie Eilish, Kanye West among album of year nominees More Lady Gaga reveals Tony Bennett’s reaction to their 6 Grammy nominations More Pentagon to form new group to investigate UFOs More They’d Only Just Begun… Karen Carpenter ‘would be absolutely fabulous’ at 71, Says Brother Richard Who Believes the Duo Would Be Doing Shows Today More China, Russia furious over Biden democracy summit snubs More Thanksgiving travel rush tests U.S. carriers More Ahmaud Arbery Court Shocker: Defense Calls Out Deceased Victim’s ‘Long, Dirty Toenails’ In Closing Arguments During Murder Trial More Caitlyn Jenner Admits She Could’ve Handled Bitter Feud With Ellen DeGeneres ‘A Little Bit Differently’ On ‘Big Brother VIP’ More Will Smith’s Shocking New Look, Plastic Surgeons Weigh In More U.S. House panel probing Capitol riot subpoenas leaders of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers More U.S. Congress panel corrects tax rates for wealthy under Biden’s proposal More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lady Gaga has shared her delight at Tony Bennett, who has Alzheimer’s, understanding her every word when she told him the news they are up for six Grammys. The ‘Stupid Love’ hitmaker, 35, and the 95-year-old Jazz legend have been showered with nods for their acclaimed second duets album, ‘Love For Sale’, including the prestigious Album of the Year prize. And the ‘House of Gucci’ star has been left “utterly speechless” after finding out they are up for several accolades for the follow-up to 2014’s ‘Cheek to Cheek’. The duo are also in contention for Record of the Year for ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’, and best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Traditional Pop Vocal Album, Music Video, and Engineered Album Non-Classical. Tony became the oldest artist in history to be nominated in the general categories. Their first LP took home Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album seven years ago. In a lengthy statement on Instagram, Gaga gushed: “Thank you so much to the @RecordingAcademy for these 6 nominations for Love For Sale. I am stunned and shocked and beyond grateful. I don’t know what to say. I just keep crying and am utterly speechless. “This means so much to me, @itstonybennett, the Bennetts, my family, jazz music, and the great Cole Porter who wrote all these timeless classics. I’ll never forget today and congratulating Tony on his 6 nominations.” On Tony’s reaction, she continued: “I’ll never forget that today he could track every word I was saying and understood the world was celebrating him and celebrating jazz – a genre that embodies the joy, abundance and imagination of Black music throughout history. “Thank you to all the Grammy voters for recognizing me and Tony’s dedication to jazz music and for also recognizing it in major categories where this music is often not nominated. (sic)” The ‘Born This Way’ singer admitted there is no better feeling than the “love and partnership” they share – despite their 60-year age gap. Gaga concluded: “This album happened because it was Tony’s idea and I made him a promise that we would make it and we did. “At 95 years old, he has more nominations than ever, I’m so honored to be his companion in music and his friend. “Thank you to the public for loving us, we surely love each other, and you. “Believe in love and partnership, even with 60 years between us, and Alzheimer’s, there is nothing like the magic of music. I love you Tony, and the world loves you too. How could they not?” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The United States Department of Defense late on Tuesday said it will establish a new group to investigate reports on the presence of UFOs in restricted airspace. The formation of the group comes after the government released a report in June, encompassing 144 observations, which said there was a lack of sufficient data to determine the nature of mysterious flying objects. The new group, Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, will be overseen by the Under Secretary Of Defense for Intelligence, the director of the Joint Staff and officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in a separate statement the presence of unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) in restricted airspace poses a potential safety of flight risk to aircrews and raises potential national security concerns. The new group which will succeed the U.S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, will work to detect, identify and attribute objects, assess and mitigate any associated threats, the Pentagon said. The U.S. military have spent decades deflecting, debunking and discrediting observations of unidentified flying objects and “flying saucers” dating back to the 1940s. (Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; editing by Philippa Fletcher) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Richard Carpenter believes The Carpenters would still be making music if his sister was still alive. The 75-year-old musician is “certain” his late sibling and bandmate, Karen Carpenter – who died in 1983 from a cardiac arrest after struggling with anorexia – would have still had a “fabulous” voice even in her seventies and thinks their group would still be growing strong. He told America’s Closer magazine: “She’d be like 71 one right, and I’m certain she would be absolutely fabulous. Perry Como sounded great at 75 because he sang properly. Karen was the same. We would have hundreds of recordings of the two of us already done, and we’d still be making more.” Richard reminisced about how he and Karen would jam together in their childhood bedrooms with the first tracks they wrote when they were teenagers. He shared: “I was 13 and Karen was 16. I was a budding songwriter, so I asked Karen to sing a couple of these songs I’d come up with. At the time, she didn’t have the marvellous voice that developed later.” But the ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ hitmaker admitted Karen didn’t enjoy singing when she was younger and always agreed to his requests “begrudgingly”. He said: “So every now and again, I would ask her to sing some new song that I’d written. She’d do it begrudgingly because she didn’t care to be singing at all.” And Richard admitted he was in “shock” when his sister died as he was confident he was in a good place after kicking his own addictions and was looking forward to the future. He recalled@ “After Karen passed away, I was in shock. I had gone to rehab, and I had gotten off the sleeping pills. I was healthy and full of life and full of desire to keep making records. So I polished up and finished as many [Carpenters] outtakes as I could.” Karen Carpenter on Towleroad Pentagon to form new group to investigate UFOs More China, Russia furious over Biden democracy summit snubs More Thanksgiving travel rush tests U.S. carriers More Ahmaud Arbery Court Shocker: Defense Calls Out Deceased Victim’s ‘Long, Dirty Toenails’ In Closing Arguments During Murder Trial More Caitlyn Jenner Admits She Could’ve Handled Bitter Feud With Ellen DeGeneres ‘A Little Bit Differently’ On ‘Big Brother VIP’ More Will Smith’s Shocking New Look, Plastic Surgeons Weigh In More U.S. House panel probing Capitol riot subpoenas leaders of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers More U.S. Congress panel corrects tax rates for wealthy under Biden’s proposal More Gay Santa is Smitten And Flirty, But Love Comes Slowly With Just 1 Night a Year in ‘When Harry Met Santa’, A Norwegian Xmas Ad That May Bring A Tear: WATCH More Ghislaine Maxwell Reasoned She Should Look The Other Way With Ex Jeffrey Epstein Because Her Father Told Her To ‘Do Whatever It Takes To Keep Your Man’: Report More U.S. not heading toward COVID lockdown, White House says More Load More View the full article

Published by AFP Since taking office, the US president has placed the fight between democracies and 'autocratic governments' at the heart of his foreign policy Beijing (AFP) – China and Russia reacted furiously Wednesday to US President Joe Biden’s planned democracy summit, which will exclude them, with Beijing angered over an invitation for Taiwan and the Kremlin branding it divisive. The global conference was a campaign pledge by the US president, who has placed the struggle between democracies and “autocratic governments” at the heart of his foreign policy. The inclusion of Taiwan, and not China, led to an angry rebuke from Beijing, which said it “firmly opposes” the invitation to “the so-called Summit for Democracy.” Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory to be retaken one day, by force if necessary. Around 110 countries have been invited to the virtual summit, including the United States’ major Western allies but also Iraq, India and Pakistan. But Russia said the guest list, released Tuesday on the State Department website, showed that the United States “prefers to create new dividing lines, to divide countries into those that — in their opinion — are good, and those that are bad.” “More and more countries prefer to decide themselves how to live,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that Washington is “trying to privatise the term ‘democracy’.” “That can’t do so and should not do so,” he said. Diplomatic coup The invitation is a major coup for Taipei at a time when China is ramping up its campaign to keep Taiwan locked out of international bodies. Taiwan said the gathering would be a rare opportunity to burnish its credentials on the world stage. “Through this summit, Taiwan can share its democratic success story,” presidential office spokesman Xavier Chang told reporters. Only 15 countries officially recognise Taipei over Beijing, although many nations maintain de facto diplomatic relations with the island. The US does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country but maintains it as a crucial regional ally and opposes any change to its status by force. China baulks at any use of the word “Taiwan” or diplomatic gestures that might lend a sense of international legitimacy to the island. “I agree Taiwan more than qualifies — but it does seem to be (the) only democratic govt invited that the US govt does not officially recognise. So its inclusion is a big deal,” tweeted Julian Ku, a Hofstra University law professor whose specialties include China. Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it would be represented at the summit by its de facto US ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao and digital minister Audrey Tang, who is one of the world’s few openly transgender national politicians. Scrutinised guest list The long-advertised meeting will take place online on December 9 and 10 ahead of an in-person meeting at its second edition next year. India, often called “the world’s biggest democracy”, will be present, despite increasing criticism from human rights defenders over democratic backsliding under Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So too will Pakistan, despite its chequered relationship with Washington. Turkey, a NATO ally of the United States whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was dubbed an “autocrat” by Biden, did not make the list. Neither did the city-state of Singapore, or Bangladesh, one of the world’s most populous democracies. In the Middle East, only Israel and Iraq were invited. The traditional Arab allies of the US — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are all absent. Biden also invited Brazil, which is led by controversial far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. In Europe, Poland is represented, despite recurring tensions with Brussels over respect for the rule of law, but Hungary’s far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban is not. On the African side, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Niger are invited. ‘Decline of democracy’ “For this kick-off Summit… there’s a case for getting a broad set of actors into the room: it provides for a better exchange of ideas than setting a perfect bar for qualification,” Laleh Ispahani of the Open Society Foundations told AFP. Rather than using the summit as an anti-China meeting, Ispahani urged Biden to address “the serious decline of democracy around the world — including relatively robust models like the US.” This summit is being organised as democracy has suffered setbacks in countries where the US had placed great hopes. Sudan and Myanmar have experienced military coups, Ethiopia is in the midst of a conflict that could lead to its “implosion,” according to US diplomats, and the Taliban took power in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops after two decades. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Rajesh Kumar Singh CHICAGO (Reuters) – Flights and airports across the United States are expected to be packed on Wednesday as millions of Americans fly to visit their families for Thanksgiving holiday. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen about 20 million air passengers during the travel period, compared with nearly 26 million in the same period in 2019. On Monday, the TSA screened 2.1 million U.S. air passengers, the fifth consecutive day with checkpoint volume topping 2 million. The holiday weekend is a test for carriers after a spate of flight cancellations marred travel over the summer. One in five Americans are concerned about delays and cancellations, according to a new American Pecans/YouGov survey. But with the weather expected to remain calm for Thanksgiving on Thursday, airlines are sounding confident. “We’re staffed and ready to get our customers to where they need to go safely, reliably and enjoyably,” a Delta Air Lines spokesperson said. The Atlanta-based carrier has hired 8,000 new employees including 1,500 reservation agents. American Airlines has recalled 1,800 flight attendants this month, while Southwest Airlines has hired more than 4,500 employees in the past few months. American, Southwest and JetBlue are also offering bonuses, higher pay and other incentives to ensure they have enough workers. Southwest has cut flight schedules to enhance ontime performance and bolstered its customer relations department. The Thanksgiving week is shaping up to be the busiest travel week in two years as rising COVID-19 vaccination rates have made Americans more confident to travel again. Travel group AAA estimates 53.4 million people will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, up 13% from 2020, with air travel recovering to about 91% of pre-pandemic levels. Rising gas prices are the biggest concern of American this holiday season, the YouGov survey found. (Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Stephen Coates) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Throughout the murder trial of the men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery, the defense team has tried desperately to present the late victim – a 25-year-old Black man who was unarmed and shot dead while on a jog in a neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia – as a dirty criminal. During closing arguments on Monday, one of those attorneys took it a step further. “Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails,” Laura Hogue told jurors, eliciting an audible gasp from the people in the courtroom. Among them was Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, who got up and left after hearing the remark. “I gotta get out of here,” she said on her way out. Supplied Later appearing on CNN, Cooper-Jones said she found the comment to be not only disturbing but also a grasp at straws. “I thought it was very, very rude to talk about his long, dirty toenails and to totally neglect that my son had a huge hole in his chest when he was shot with that shotgun,” she said, adding that she felt the defense was trying to deflect from the fact that they “don’t have the proper evidence to get a conviction. So they’re actually going to any measure to get it, to get a conviction, which is not there for them.” The moment has since gone viral, with outraged social media users pointing out, “They don’t even attempt to disguise their racism anymore.” Similar to the recently wrapped double homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse – who was acquitted of shooting three Black Lives Matter protestors, killing two – the McMichael-Bryan trial has been undeniably racially charged. Mega; GLYNN COUNTY DETENTION CENTER AND SHERIFF’S OFFICE The three defendants are white Satilla Shores residents Gregory McMichael, his son, Travis McMichael,and William “Roddie” Bryan. On February 23, 2020, Gregory saw Ahmaud running past his house, suspecting that he had committed burglary or theft in his neighborhood, even though no evidence of such has emerged. Armed and in one vehicle, the McMichaels chased Ahmaud, who was on foot. Roddie – who was in another vehicle and videoed both the pursuit and shooting, which quickly went viral – saw the chase and joined in independently, even though he was not sure if Arbery had done anything wrong. After Travis exited his vehicle and wielded a shotgun, he and Ahmaud engaged in a physical confrontation, during which Travis shot Arbery dead. Mega View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Bad blood? Caitlyn Jenner is speaking out about the beef she has with Ellen DeGeneres. During an episode of Big Brother VIP, the 72-year-old admitted that she could have handled the situation “a little bit differently” after infamously feuding with the daytime talk show host. “I did go on [the show], and then I blasted her a**,” the former athlete admitted on Tuesday, November 23, per Daily Mail. MEGA She also recalled thinking about calling her then-wife Kris Jenner and insisting that they should “ban any of the kids from being on Ellen,” before realizing it was better to not make the situation any worse. CAITLYN JENNER SAYS O.J. SIMPSON ‘OBVIOUSLY’ KILLED NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON: ‘HE GOT AWAY WITH IT’ Caitlyn shares Kendall, 25, and Kylie, 24, with the 66-year-old momager — as well as step-children Kourtney Kardashian, 42, Kim Kardashian, 41, Khloé Kardashian, 37, and Rob Kardashian, 34. MEGA The Olympic gold medalist’s war with DeGeneres first started in 2015 when Caitlyn appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Showshortly after coming out as a trans woman. The talk show host asked Caitlyn to clarify her view on gay marriage, after the reality star alluded to being hesitant to accept gay marriage at first. “She goes to me, ‘Well it sounds like you’re really not for [gay marriage],” Caitlyn recalled. “And I said, “No, I just said I’m for gay marriage.’” “The next week, she goes on Howard Stern’s radio show and says I was against gay marriage and absolutely burnt my a**,” the Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum continued. “And so, in the media, I got really tough on her.” CAITLYN JENNER CALLS OUT JIMMY KIMMEL AFTER BEING CALLED ‘DONALD TRUMP IN A CAITLYN JENNER WIG’ MEGA The I Am Cait star confessed in the clip, “I could’ve handled a couple of things a little bit differently” after “blasting” DeGeneres following the incident. In her 2017 memoir, The Secrets of My Life, Jenner revealed that she felt DeGeneres had “alienated” her from “members of the LGBTQ community” after taking her comments of her evolving views out of context. “I believed, as anyone would, that that was exactly what she wanted to talk about my progression in terms of changing attitude over the years,” she wrote in her book. “I am for it. I did not initially understand why marriage was so important, influenced no doubt by my own personal experience. Now I do, and it’s a wonderful thing to see.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Will Smith looked unrecognizable during a television appearance days ago, leaving everyone to wonder if he had work done to his face. The 53-year-old has been promoting his new movie, King Richard, but his more youthful look has taken over headlines. Radar has spoken to two famous Beverly Hills plastic surgeons to the stars who are weighing in. MEGA Dr. Michael K. Obeng tells us there’s a noticeable difference in Will’s appearance. “Will definitely looks a lot smoother,” he tells us. According to Dr. Obeng, “his skin texture is better,” which can be achieved “with a series of micro-needling” and “CO 2 laser,” as well as “fat transfer to the face.” Dr. Obaid Chaudhry, MD agrees that something looks different. “Will Smith has a much fuller face,” he says, adding, “this can be achieved with fillers or fat transfer.” Dr. Chaudhry tells us that age plays a huge role. “As we age we lose fat in our face making us look gaunt even frail,” he explains. “Replacing the lost fat with the patient’s own fat will give a more youthful look.” It’s worth noting, neither of these plastic surgeons has worked on Will but they are experts in their field. MEGA Will set the internet on fire days ago, and his fans’ reactions were priceless. “What’s up with Will Smith’s face??” one person tweeted. “Will Smith doesn’t look like Will Smith,” added another. “What has he done to his face?” questioned a third. Others called his new look “robotic.” But not all the reactions were negative. Some fans believe he looks exactly like he did during his Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air days. Regardless, Will is thriving at 53 years old. Besides having a great family and a banging wife, Will’s career is on a high. His latest movie based on Serena and Venus Williams‘ dad has made a splash at the box office. MEGA View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives committee probing the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol said on Tuesday it issued five subpoenas to far-right extremist groups that have backed former President Donald Trump and individuals associated with those groups. Among others, the Select Committee said it issued subpoenas seeking testimony and documents to the Proud Boys group and to Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who was its chairman, as well as to the Oath Keepers and its president, Elmer Stewart Rhodes. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Chris Reese) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Americans with incomes over $1 million would see their taxes rise under President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill, the U.S. Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation said on Tuesday, correcting an earlier analysis that their taxes would fall. Under the bill passed last week by the House of Representatives and now being considered by the Senate, those with incomes of $1 million and more would be taxed at an average rate of 33.1%, up from the current 29.9%, the committee said. A previous analysis pegged the proposed average tax rate dropping to 28.2%. For those earning $500,000 to $1 million a year, taxes would fall to 27.2% under the bill, from the current $28.1%, instead of the previously reported reduction to 26.8%. Some Democrats have criticized the $1.75 trillion bill expanding social programs and attacking climate change because it would reduce taxes on some wealthy Americans, even as it would raise them for other high-income earners and corporations to cover the cost of the measure. Representative Jared Golden, the lone Democrat to vote against the House bill, expressed his opposition even with the corrected scoring. “I objected and continue to object to the fact that the single largest part of this bill is a $275 billion tax giveaway to millionaires and the wealthy. Regardless of the net tax change, there’s no excuse for that provision being in this bill,” Golden said on Twitter. The Democratic bill, which is expected to be opposed by all Republicans in Congress, would loosen a $10,000 cap on the deduction of state and local taxes, known as SALT. The change would mainly benefit wealthy taxpayers in coastal states that are heavily Democratic. The SALT cap was imposed under a tax reform law enacted in 2017 when Republicans controlled Congress and fellow Republican Donald Trump was president. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is aiming to pass Biden’s domestic investment bill by the end of this year. But first, moderate Democrats, including Senator Joe Manchin, are pushing for some revisions of the House-passed bill. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and Leslie Adler) View the full article

It’s a very different thing than last year’s ‘Make Christmas Great Again’ also below.. Gay Santa is Smitten And Flirty, But Love Comes Slowly With Just 1 Night a Year in 'When Harry Met Santa', A Norwegian Xmas Ad That May Bring Tear: WATCH 16[This post contains video, click to play] It’s not some Santa and his elves hard core anything. It’s A long-distance, long-term relationship with all the issues, and a bit of a finer point on them. “When Harry Met Santa” is the story of an extremely long courtship (told in a very short ad format) The flirtation and courtship happens across decades of one-night-a-year year visits. Santa is a busy. They aren’t getting any younger and things haven’t really progressed, no surprise a day a year to get to know each other. The montage of first-date things spans years, decades of quick hits, funny gifts, flirty horsing around, awareness of the body aging, and deep looks. Each encounter ends with, “I’ll be back next year.” Oh, the yearning, Until this year, when Harry writes Santa to say Mariah Carey isn’t what he wants. “All i want for Xmas is you.” And, with a little help from Norway Post on the toy delivery front, Santa can spend real time with his man, and they deliver a make out session with leave us implying there is more to come. The Norway Post’s ad honors, appropriately smugly their leading the way flashing “In 2022 Norway Marks 50 years of being able to love whoever we want,” And they put an even finer point on the Norwegian democratic spirit ending “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year From All of Us. To All of Us.” All of it a very different thing than last year’s “Make Christmas Great Again” Trumpian Santa, but likely to make the friends of Fox as twisted and snow-flakey. Christmas 2020 Ad for The Norwegian Postal Service. Long versjon. It seems to be the year for #loveisloveisold with older gay couples likely less sexualized and more comfortable for brands, nonetheless interesting and bringing out good work like this ad ICYMI for Doritos (Doritos?) on Day of the Dead.. [This post contains video, click to play] Gay Santa on Towleroad Ghislaine Maxwell Reasoned She Should Look The Other Way With Ex Jeffrey Epstein Because Her Father Told Her To ‘Do Whatever It Takes To Keep Your Man’: Report More U.S. not heading toward COVID lockdown, White House says More US unions call for halt to Amazon buyout of MGM More Peter Jackson’s ‘Get Back’ finds joy in final days of the Beatles More US Justice Dept to pay $130 mn to Parkland victims’ families over FBI blunder More U.S. lawmakers call for privacy legislation after Reuters report on Amazon lobbying More Kevin Spacey to pay $31 mn after losing arbitration case with makers of ‘House of Cards’ More U.S. House panel probing Capitol riot subpoenas Roger Stone, Alex Jones More 2021 AMAs: Cardi B Hosts With Flair. BTS First Asian “Artist of Year”; JoJo Promises Cardi Xmas; New Kids / New Edition Collab ‘Depend’; Taylor, Olivia, Jlo More Democracy Slipping Away in More Nations Than Ever. Populism, Silencing Dissent With COVID, Disinformation To Blame, Says 34 Nation Intl. Institute More JK Rowling Calls Police After Being Doxxed, Trans-Activists Showed Up Outside Scotland Home More Load More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine A new documentary has uncovered the strong influence Ghislaine Maxwell‘s father had on her life and relationships. The new Discovery+ docuseries Chasing Ghislaine reportsthe accused accomplice to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had an extremely close relationship with her father Robert Maxwell. “She wanted to be like her father,” The Post journalist Vicky Ward states in the special, per New York Post. “It’s critical in understanding why a man like Jeffrey Epstein would have been so extraordinarily compelling to her.” Mega GHISLAINE MAXWELL REPORTEDLY ATTENDED FORMER GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO’S 1990 WEDDING TO KERRY KENNEDY, NEW BOOK CLAIMS According to Ward, a friend of Ghislaine’s had witnessed Epstein — who the 59-year-old allegedly dated at one point — take a young woman into a back room alone at his East Side offices in front of Ghislaine. The friend allegedly told Ghislaine that she did not have to “put up” with the late financier’s philandering ways, to which the former British socialite responded, “Yes, I do. My father taught me you do whatever it takes to keep your man.” Mega Robert Maxwell — a well known media tycoon in England — had a reputation for being ruthless and vindictive. Martin Dillon, the author of The Assassination of Robert Maxwell: Israel’s Superspy revealed, “The guy in many ways was a monster.” PRINCE ANDREW’S COUSIN SPILLS ON ‘REMORESLESS’ GHISLAINE MAXWELL IN NEW BOOK AS HER COUSIN’S SEXUAL ASSAULT DEPOSITION LOOMS The father-daughter duo had a very close bond — Robert even named one of his yachts “Lady Ghislaine” — that heavily influenced her choices in life. “Ghislaine was his darling,” Dillon explained. “A lot of girls love their fathers, even though they’re villains. And he was a villain.” Mega Her father was not the only family member to put Ghislaine on a pedestal. As OK! previously reported, the accused criminal’s brother and sister have also spoken out about the horrifying accusations lodged against their sister. Mega Ghislaine’s older sister Isabel Maxwell recently told CBS Mornings,”The picture that is being painted of my sister is one thousand degrees away from the person that I know.” Her brother Ian Maxwell also explained to the outlet, “I am extremely relieved that neither of our parents are alive to see it because they would have been profoundly shocked.” As OK! previously reported, Ghislaine has been held in a Brooklyn prison as she awaits her sex-trafficking trial. In April, Ghislaine — whose trial is set to begin in New York on November 29 — pled not guilty to two new charges of sex trafficking minors and sex trafficking conspiracy. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Ahmed Aboulenein and David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States does not need to impose a lockdown or shut down its economy to curb the spread of COVID-19 and will rely on other tools, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said on Monday. “We are not headed in that direction. We have the tools to accelerate the path out of this pandemic; widely available vaccinations, booster shots, kid shots, therapeutics,” Zients told reporters at a White House briefing. “We can curb the spread of the virus without having to in any way shut down our economy.” U.S. regulators expanded eligibility for booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines to all adults on Friday, and 3 million people received them since, Zients said. “In fact, just across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we got 3 million booster shots into arms. A million booster shots per day,” he said. “Don’t delay, get your booster shot so you can have enhanced protection for COVID as we head into the winter.” Separately, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said U.S. health officials are not currently recommending lockdowns or economic restrictions to curb rising COVID-19 cases. Europe is once again the epicenter of the global pandemic with Austria reimposing full lockdown, riots breaking out in cities across the Netherlands over a partial lockdown, and many other countries imposing restrictions. The current seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in the United States rose 18% from last week’s average to 92,800 per day, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said at the briefing. U.S. hospitalizations rose 6% to an average of 5,600 per day and average daily deaths are about 1,000 per day, she said. Around 47 million eligible American adults and over 12 million teenagers are still not fully vaccinated, Walensky added. As of Sunday, COVID-19 had killed 776,188 people in the United States, according to a Reuters tally. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein and David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio) View the full article

Published by AFP Amazon offered to buy the storied MGM studios for $8.45 billion in May 2021 San Francisco (AFP) – A consortium of US unions called Monday for Amazon’s buyout of the legendary Hollywood studio MGM to be blocked, citing concerns about the tech giant’s growing power over the subscription video streaming sector. “Amazon’s influence on the health and diversity of the film-making industry is likely to be negative if the company is permitted to grow larger,” said the Strategic Organizing Center, a federation of four major labor unions that represents some four million workers. The group called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block the takeover, which was announced in May. Amazon has offered $8.45 billion dollars for more than 4,000 films, including the James Bond series, “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Robocop,” “Basic Instinct,” “Raging Bull” and “Thelma & Louise,” as well as an extensive catalog of TV series including “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Fargo” and “Vikings.” “Amazon’s current control over massive amounts of streaming content means the merger is likely to give Amazon greater incentive and power to exclude and discriminate against its competitors,” the group said in its statement. It argued that the buyout will give Amazon control of some 56,000 titles, far ahead of Netflix, which would have just under 20,000. The unions further argued that Amazon’s market power is not just “horizontal” but also “vertical,” with the sale of electronic devices for video streaming (the company’s “Fire” line) and cloud services for storing the content of its competitors, starting with Netflix, the most popular of the platforms. Questioned by AFP, Amazon highlighted the variety of choices currently available to consumers, citing in particular Netflix, Disney +, Apple TV +, HBO Max and Peacock. The company also noted that neither MGM nor Amazon were involved in the production or distribution of any of the 20 most successful films around the world in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The FTC and many US states have launched investigations and lawsuits against Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, which they accuse of abusing their dominant position in their own markets, from social networks to digital advertising and online commerce. Amazon has come to broadly lead the cloud services sector, but it is its towering dominance of e-commerce that raises the hackles of its critics. “The company has a long history of leveraging its dominance to gain a foothold in new markets by using practices we believe are unfair and anticompetitive,” the unions said. “This merger would allow Amazon to use the same playbook against the streaming video industry, inevitably impacting producers and consumers of video content and squeezing diversity as it gains market share,” the unions said. View the full article

Published by AFP Los Angeles (AFP) – “The Beatles: Get Back,” the eagerly awaited new Disney+ documentary from Peter Jackson, aims to dispel persistent myths about the Fab Four’s breakup, offering a more positive take on their final months as a band. The three-part series finds John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in January 1969, preparing for their first concert in more than two years. Using hours of unseen archive footage, it charts how the Beatles had set out to write and record 14 new songs for the occasion, giving themselves a deadline of just three weeks. The time period is familiar territory for viewers of “Let It Be,” the 1970 documentary from British director Michael Lindsay-Hogg that famously emphasized tensions and acrimony within the band, which split that same year. But Jackson — best known for his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and an avowed Beatles obsessive — does not dwell on arguments and creative disagreements among the Liverpool quartet. “Get Back” attempts to reshape the popular image of their later years as a time of resentment and fracture, instead showing the bandmates joking around and spontaneously creating classics that are still played regularly today. “The best bit of us always has been, and always will be, when we’re backs against the wall,” says a young McCartney in the film, which hits Disney+ from Thursday. Jackson’s series contains the Beatles’ final public appearance together, a 40-minute concert on the roof of their company building on London’s Savile Row — shown here for the first time ever in its entirety. That company — Apple Corps — granted Jackson some 60 hours of archival video that had remained under lock and key for decades. “I think there’s always been this misconception that my father was the cause of the Beatles breaking up, and he wasn’t,” McCartney’s daughter Stella told AFP at a Los Angeles event for the series. “You can see it very clearly through this amazing insight of unseen footage.” Her father remained “heartbroken” over the Beatles’ breakup for “most of my life,” as is clear from the series, she added. “You just see him desperately wanting to keep this alive and wanting to make this work and his brotherhood to stay intact.” – ‘The coolest’ – Stella McCartney, a renowned fashion designer, has created a limited collection inspired by the band’s aesthetic during the documentary’s period. She told AFP she watched the documentary not just as the daughter of a Beatle, but as a fan. “You watch it and you’re like, ‘This is the best band in the world, this is the greatest music, they are the coolest people,'” she said. “There are very few moments in the history of the Earth that you can compare,” Stella McCartney added. Part of the band’s influence stems from their fashion, the designer said. “When I look at the Beatles, I’m always really surprised by the amount of fashion that they crammed into a very short period of time and hugely iconic fashion moments. “If you look at Sergeant Pepper, you know exactly what they were wearing.” But while a proponent of her father’s music, Stella McCartney admitted that she cannot work on her clothing while listening to the Beatles or other bands. “I just prefer silence when I work. It is weird, I’m very aware of that. And I think it’s very much from being surrounded by music my entire life,” she said. “My ear is so trained… And I can’t focus.” View the full article

Published by AFP Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse on October 20, 2021 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Cruz pleaded guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shooting in… Miami (AFP) – The US Justice Department is expected to pay $130 million to the families of victims of the 2018 Parkland shooting in Florida because the FBI failed to investigate two tip-offs about the gunman who went on kill 17 people at the high school, the New York Times said Monday. Armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz went on a shooting rampage in the Marjorie Douglas Stoneman school on Valentine’s Day 2018. Six weeks before that, a woman had phoned the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s tip line after seeing his social media post about stockpiling weapons and ammunitions. “I know he’s going to explode,” she said, citing fears the young man was “going to slip into a school and start shooting the place up.” And five months before the shooting, the owner of a YouTube channel had reported a comment left under one of his videos in which a user by the name of “nikolas cruz” had claimed that he would become “a professional school shooter”. Just days after the shooting, the FBI admitted it had not followed up on the two pieces of information they had received. The FBI’s admission of its error devastated the victims’ families, who sued the bureau for negligence, the newspaper said. Cruz, now 23, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder last month and said he was “very sorry.” He is awaiting sentencing and prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Chris Kirkham and Jeffrey Dastin (Reuters) – Five members of Congress called for federal consumer-privacy legislation after a Reuters report published Friday revealed how Amazon.com Inc has led an under-the-radar campaign to gut privacy protections in 25 states while amassing a valuable trove of personal data on American consumers. “Amazon shamefully launched a campaign to squash privacy legislation while its devices listen to and watch our lives,” U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who has been involved in bipartisan negotiations on privacy legislation, wrote Friday on Twitter. “This is now the classic Big Tech move: deploy money and armies of lobbyists to fight meaningful reforms in the shadows but claim to support them publicly.” The revelations underscored the need for bipartisan action on stronger privacy protections, he wrote. No major federal privacy legislation has passed Congress in years because members have been deadlocked on the issue. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has introduced several privacy bills in recent years, said in a statement that the Reuters story showed how companies including Amazon are “spending millions to weaken state laws,” and hoping Congress will also water down federal legislation “until it’s worthless.” “Congress needs to prove Amazon wrong, and pass legislation that finally stops massive corporations from abusing and exploiting our personal data,” Wyden said. Asked for comment, Amazon did not directly address the lawmaker criticisms of its lobbying campaign against privacy protections. The company reiterated its statement for the previous Reuters report, saying it prefers federal privacy legislation to a “patchwork” of state regulations. The company said it wants one federal privacy law that “requires transparency about data practices, prohibits the sale of personal data without consent, and ensures that consumers have the right to request access to and deletion of their personal information.” U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat who chairs a key House consumer protection subcommittee that deals with privacy issues, said the Reuters revelations show how Amazon is working to block consumer privacy legislation while “claiming to support” such regulations. “What they mean is that they support privacy legislation that protects their profits and their right to mine consumers’ data, including voice recordings and facial scans,” she said in a statement. “Congress is not convinced nor are we intimidated.” Two other lawmakers who represent areas with a significant Amazon presence – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, and U.S. Representative Suzan DelBene, a Washington state Democrat – also said Reuters’ findings showed the need for federal action to protect consumers. “Congress will protect consumers’ privacy to stop big tech companies from stealing Americans’ personal information, whether these companies like it or not,” Blackburn said in a statement. (Reporting by Chris Kirkham and Jeffrey Dastin) View the full article

Published by AFP US actor Kevin Spacey faces a $31 million bill after losing his arbitration case with the production company behind 'House and Cards' Los Angeles (AFP) – Disgraced US movie star Kevin Spacey will have to pay almost $31 million to the production company that made the series “House of Cards” in which he starred until he was fired over allegations of sexual harassment, according to legal documents made public Monday. MRC, the production company that made the popular tale of political intrigue that was broadcast on Netflix, had sought damages for lost revenue attributed to Spacey’s abrupt exit after allegations of harassment and sexual abuse emerged. An arbitration judge made the ruling on October 19 when MRC filed a petition to confirm the verdict in a Los Angeles court. In the document, MRC detailed that after the allegations came to light it suspended Spacey and launched an investigation which found that the “American Beauty” star had “breached provisions of both the Acting and Executive Producing Agreements that set standards for his workplace conduct, including by breaching MRC’s Harassment Policy.” The wave of accusations that halted the 62-year-old’s illustrious career coincided with the rise of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and abuse, sparked by the case of the all-powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Two-time Oscar winner Spacey had starred as unscrupulous US politician Frank Underwood in five seasons of “House of Cards” until the allegations of sexual harassment against co-workers were made public in the media. “MRC had no knowledge whatsoever of any such conduct by Spacey with any cast or crew associated with the Show,” the company said in its petition. The production company said the actor’s abrupt exit from the popular series required a reorganization that resulted in “substantial losses” for MRC. It had to rewrite the script excluding Underwood, the main character of the series, and redesign the sixth season that went from 13 to eight episodes. The production company launched its legal battle against Spacey in 2019. The actor’s legal representatives did not respond to an AFP request for comment. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Patricia Zengerle and Jan Wolfe WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. House of Representatives committee probing the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol said on Monday it issued subpoenas to Alex Jones, founder of the right-wing website Infowars, and Roger Stone, an ally of former President Donald Trump. The committee also issued subpoenas seeking documents and testimony from Dustin Stockton, a political activist linked to longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and Stockton’s fiancee, Jennifer Lawrence. Stockton and Lawrence were members of the group We Build the Wall, which was raided by federal agents in August 2020 as part of a fraud investigation. It also issued a subpoena to Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Trump. The panel has now issued more than three dozen subpoenas and received testimony from more than 200 witnesses. Stone said in a statement he had not yet seen the subpoena, adding: “I had no advance knowledge of the events that took place at the Capitol on that day.” The four others who were issued the latest subpoenas did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bannon, who defied a subpoena from the House Select Committee, was indicted earlier this month on two counts of contempt of Congress. A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a failed attempt to prevent formal congressional certification of his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The committee is scrutinizing Trump’s actions relating to those events. Bannon is the first to face criminal charges arising from the panel’s inquiry. Nearly 700 people have been charged with taking part in the riot at the Capitol. It was the worst attack on the seat of the U.S. government since the War of 1812. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Cooney) View the full article