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Published by BANG Showbiz English Gabrielle Union has blasted the creators of ‘Bring It On’ for the way they wrote black characters. The 48-year-old actress enjoyed a breakthrough with her role as antagonistic head cheerleader Isis in the cult film, but now upon reflection has been left feeling “hopeless” by the way the black characters were written in comparison to white characters. She said: “All of the white characters had last names, no matter if they just had one line. And I had never considered it. I always looked at Isis like Cher or Madonna. And now you look at who wrote it and you start to think a little differently. Gabrielle went on to explain that she was determined to perform the role of Isis in a way that she felt was true to herself and her race to avoid stereotyping. She added: “Even though they gave me free reign, and I could do whatever I wanted with her, I was so committed to being the ‘ right kind of black girl cheerleader. She can be annoyed but not too angry; she can be a leader, but she better be classy.” However, Gabrielle also spoke out about how her character is seemingly viewed by fans of the movie and how when a meme involving her character went viral, she was at a loss. Speaking to Stylist Magazine, she said: “When you watch people do their impressions of Isis, she is [aggressive and confrontational] . It says everything about what you heard, not what was actually being said. No matter how a black woman speaks, what some people hear is violence , threats. It’s the demonisation of black girls and women. “Cut to last summer, and this meme comes out about movie villains, and there’s Isis. I made her the most kind and gracious leader, and she was a villain because she wanted the theft [of her cheerleading routines] to be acknowledged and for there to be consequences. And for that, she’s the villain. That’s dark. It takes you to such a hopeless place.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Miley Cyrus thanked her “loyal” fanbase for their “support” as she teased a “new era” for her career. The ‘Midnight Sky’ hitmaker posted a handwritten note to her website MileyWorld.com, and admitted there has been “intense spurts of change” in her life, which will form the inspiration for her next project. She wrote in the personal letter: “I am so thankful for your loyal support + great company on this ride of my life! There has been intense spurts of change in my life personally + professionally (which always co-exist). I am so [excited] to channel these experiences + use them as inspiration in my next body of work! I am so grateful to never go through these transitional times alone because I have [you]!” The 28-year-old pop megastar – who, in recent years, has divorced actor Liam Hemsworth and had her Malibu home destroyed in the wildfires of 2018 – also shared her recent live set from the Austin City Limits festival, which paid homage to “every era” of her career so far. She added: “The setlist represents my evolution! It honors + celebrates every era! “They are all so special to me! Mostly because you have been a part of it! Can’t wait to create the next one for/with you! I love you forever! (sic)” Miley’s last studio album was 2020’s ‘Plastic Hearts’. Meanwhile, the ‘Malibu’ singer penned a letter to her former alter-ego Hannah Montana to mark the character’s 15th anniversary in March. Miley launched her career after starring in the ‘Hannah Montana’ television series on the Disney Channel when she was a teenager, which saw her don a blonde wig as she played a dramatised version of herself who took on the titular popstar persona by night. And in a letter marking the milestone, Miley admitted there was a time in her life when she felt more connected to her alter ego than she did to herself. She wrote on social media: “Hi Hannah, It’s been a while. 15 years to be exact. Since the first time I slid those blonde bangs over my forehead in the best attempt to conceal my identity. Then slipped into a puke pink terry cloth robe with a bedazzled HM over the [heart]. I didn’t know then … that is where you would live forever. Not just in mine but millions of people around the world. Although you are considered to be an “alter ego” in reality there was a time in my life when you held more of my identity in your glovette than I did in my bare hands. (sic)” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Saturday he realises some people, including within the Church, consider him to be “a pest” for defending the poor and most vulnerable, but that it won’t stop him as it is part of Christianity. “Thinking about these situations (of exclusion and inequality), I make a pest of myself with my questions. And I go on asking. And I ask everyone in the name of God,” said Francis, Latin America’s first pope. He called on pharmaceutical companies to release patents to make vaccines for COVID-19 more available to the poor, noting that only 3%-4% of the population in some countries had been vaccinated. Francis, 84, was speaking by video link to the World Meeting of Popular Movements, a grouping of grassroots organisations and social movements which bring attention to inequality in labour, land ownership, health care and other social issues in the developing world. He called on industries such as mining and lumber, “to stop destroying forests, wetlands and mountains, to stop polluting rivers and seas, to stop poisoning food and people”. Francis said rich countries and financial institutions should cancel the debts of the poorest nations. Weapons manufacturers and dealers should to stop contributing “to those awful geopolitical games which cost millions of displaced lives and millions of dead.” Technology giants should stop allowing hate speech, fake news, conspiracy theories, and political manipulation, he said, and called for a universal basic income and for countries to consider shortening the work day so more people could have jobs. “This system, with its relentless logic of profit, is escaping all human control. It is time to slow the locomotive down, an out-of-control locomotive hurtling towards the abyss. There is still time,” he said. “And so, I persist in my pestering.” He referred to criticism he has received in the past, especially from U.S. church conservatives, when he has issued similar appeals. “It saddens me that some members of the Church get annoyed when we mention these guidelines that belong to the full tradition of the Church,” he said referring to a compendium of Catholic social teaching issued by Pope John Paul II in 2004. “But the pope must not stop mentioning this teaching, even if it often annoys people, because what is at stake is not the pope but the Gospel,” he said. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Mike Harrison) View the full article

Published by AFP Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot is not backing down over a requirement for police officers to declare their Covid-19 vaccine status Chicago (AFP) – Up to half of Chicago’s police face being placed on unpaid leave after refusing to disclose their Covid-19 vaccine status, in a high-stakes game of chicken that comes as the US city grapples with a surge in violent crime. The stand-off between Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot and the head of the police union, John Catanzara, has made the city the latest flashpoint in a deeply polarized debate over vaccines and whether governments have the right to mandate them. Lightfoot has set a deadline of Friday at midnight for all workers employed by the third-largest city in the US to disclose whether or not they have taken a Covid-19 vaccine, or be tested for the virus. Those who refuse have a few days grace to explain themselves — but face being placed on unpaid leave and eventually fired. “I cannot and will not stand idly by while the rhetoric of conspiracy theorists threatens the health and safety of Chicago’s residents and first responders,” Lightfoot said in a statement. But Catanzara, head of the Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago, has called on its 13,000 members to stand firm and keep their vaccine status to themselves — and with murders and shootings on the rise, he believes he has the upper hand. “I can guarantee you that no-pay status will not last more than 30 days,” he told union members in a video, saying that it would affect half or more of the rank-and-file officers. “There’s no way they’re going to be able to sustain a police department workforce at 50 percent capacity or less for more than seven days without something budging.” ‘Pure melee’ Catanzara, anxious Chicago officials say, may have a point. The stand-off comes as the city once again leads the US in murders, with 639 homicides this year through October 13 — up 55 percent from two years ago. Shootings are also up 68 percent from two years ago, at 2,866 recorded this year until October 13, according to the Chicago Police Department. Combine that with the 1,295 carjackings through October 7 — on pace to break an all-time record — and the threat of losing much of the police force, even temporarily, has caused a deep sense of unease. City council member Anthony Napolitano, a former police officer who supports the union’s stance, has pointed out that the force is already down about 1,000 officers because of a record number of retirements and a lack of new recruits. “Criminals know this stuff, they know what’s going on,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday. “You’re gonna see pure melee.” Covid takes deadly toll on police Catanzara has threatened legal action, saying the union will seek a temporary restraining order to stop officials from enforcing the mandate. But late Thursday the city of Chicago filed an injunctive complaint against him. In a statement, Lightfoot said Catanzara “has time and again deliberately misled our police officers by lying about the requirements of the policy and falsely claiming that there will be no repercussions if officers are insubordinate and refuse to follow a City and Department directive or order.” Lightfoot also pointed out that state law and the union contract both prohibit striking by Chicago police. She accused Catanzara of “encouraging an unlawful strike and work stoppage which carries the potential to undermine public safety and expose our residents to irreparable harm, particularly during an ongoing pandemic.” Catanzara did not respond to requests for comment. He is digging in even though Covid-19 was the leading cause of death of officers in 2020, and so far in 2021, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page which records law enforcement fatalities. That is despite the fact that police were among the first groups to have access to the vaccines. For Chicago police, the numbers are not abstract. One of Catanzara’s predecessors, Dean Angelo, who served as head of the union from 2014-2017, died from Covid on Tuesday. Chicago Mayor on Towleroad Texas House Votes to Ban Transgender Girls From Sports. No Sign of An Issue. Just More Red Meat For the Gaslit Base More Minneapolis Schools’ ‘Gaggle’ Software On Kids’ Devices Reports ‘Gay’, ‘LGBTQ’ Users As It Blocks Porn, Finds At-Risk of Self Harm More Hello? Adele 30 First Single Off ’30’ Dropped Last Night and Folks Seem to Approve…: WATCH VIDEO, COMMENT More U.S. congressional panel probing Jan 6 Capitol riot sets Bannon contempt vote date More ‘Hamilton’ Trans Actor Suni Reid Claims Retaliation Over Request For A Gender-Neutral Dressing Room, Insists They Were Threatened & Misgendered More Adele 30 Release Date Set. Says ‘Found My Feeling Again;’ From ‘Turmoil’ to ‘Peace’ Via ‘Sob all Night’, and ‘It’s your Saturn return… F- it’ More Horror Spawn Sequel: Jamie Lee Curtis Is Her Mother Janet Leigh in ‘Psycho’ in Origin-Story Costume At Last ‘Halloween’ Premiere More NO ONE: ‘Is Julianna Margulies Gay? ACTOR: Hints ‘Gay Experience’ While Discussing Lesbian Character; Loves the Role More Colin Kaepernick trains hard in hope of NFL return More James Gunn reveals ‘cannibalistic’ Gilligan’s Island reboot plans More Lil Nas X says Doja Cat is his ‘biggest inspiration’ More Load More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) – The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill that bans transgender women and girls from participating in school sports after three previous attempts failed, all but assuring Republican Governor Greg Abbott will sign it into law. Texas is now poised to join seven other states that passed similar laws this year, part of a national campaign in which Republican legislators introduced such bills in 32 states. The bills are aimed at preventing transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams. Conservatives say they are protecting fair competition, but equal rights activists have criticized the campaign as a discriminatory attack on transgender people, saying there is no evidence that trans women and girls are dominating sports. Political analysts say the campaign is meant to animate hard-core Republican supporters. “There’s no evidence that there’s a problem. This is red meat for the base,” said Robert Stein, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston. While the Texas Senate passed a companion bill, three previous House versions of the legislation stalled in the public education committee, which has a Democratic chairman. Republicans then created a new version of the bill and sent it through a select committee they control, enabling it to pass the full House late Thursday. The bill has gone back to the Senate for procedural approval and is expected to reach Abbott’s desk. Texas Republicans have passed a very conservative agenda this year, including new laws that make it more difficult to vote, all but ban abortion, and do away with the need for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. “Like a lot of other things in Texas politics right now, this is selling mainly to very ideologically driven voters in the Republican Party. These are the voters that show up for Republican primaries,” said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee and West Virginia have passed similar transgender sports legislation, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has signed an executive order supporting a transgender sports ban. Some of these face legal challenges. Idaho passed a similar law last year that has been blocked by a federal court, and a federal court in July ruled that an 11-year-old West Virginia trans girl must be allowed to try out for the girls’ track and cross-country teams at her school in defiance of a similar law passed in April. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Minnesota students protestSchool software surveils students in and out of school Minneapolis Public Schools are using software to monitor student communications in and out of school, raising serious concerns over student privacy, according to the non-profit The 74 ,that has analyzed public records and just issued a report that raises serious concerns related to the use of the Gaggle software that can be used for 24-hour monitoring through school-provided tech devices, and includes Identifying and passing along student interest in keywords including “gay”, “LGBTQ” and others. “It suggests that anything you write or say or do in school — or out of school — may be found and held against you and used in ways that you had not envisioned,” Jennifer Mathis, director of policy and legal advocacy at The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, told The 74. Gaggle: Previously on Towleroad Minneapolis Schools’ ‘Gaggle’ Software On Kids’ Devices Reports ‘Gay’, ‘LGBTQ’ Users As It Blocks Porn, Finds At-Risk of Self Harm Brian Bell October 15, 2021 Read More ‘The Pride LA’ Owner Calls For Local School Board Recall Over Pronouns, ‘Woke Kids Equal Soft Kids’; Deletes Post When Exposed Brian Bell October 4, 2021 Read More ACLU Joins Indiana Gay-Straight Alliance Lawsuit Over Unequal Treatment by Schools; Same District Banned Pride Flags Few Months Ago Brian Bell September 30, 2021 Read More LGBTQ School News Roundup: Scotland Adds LGBTQ Education; Texas Students Protest Discrimination; Catholic School Rehires Out Coach; Florida School District Investigating Hate Actions Brian Bell September 24, 2021 Read More California Teacher Investigated Over Joking Students Could ‘Pledge Allegiance’ to LGBTQ Pride Flag Brian Bell August 31, 2021 Read More Kansas City Christian School Reportedly Tells Teachers to Oust Out LGBTQ Students or Find Another Job Brian Bell May 10, 2021 Read More Photo courtesy of Fibonacci Blue/Creative Commons View the full article

Adele 30 first single. Listen now. [This post contains video, click to play] Adele 30 first singleadele drop – Curated tweets by tlrd Adele on Towleroad U.S. congressional panel probing Jan 6 Capitol riot sets Bannon contempt vote date More ‘Hamilton’ Trans Actor Suni Reid Claims Retaliation Over Request For A Gender-Neutral Dressing Room, Insists They Were Threatened & Misgendered More Adele 30 Release Date Set. Says ‘Found My Feeling Again;’ From ‘Turmoil’ to ‘Peace’ Via ‘Sob all Night’, and ‘It’s your Saturn return… F- it’ More Horror Spawn Sequel: Jamie Lee Curtis Is Her Mother Janet Leigh in ‘Psycho’ in Origin-Story Costume At Last ‘Halloween’ Premiere More NO ONE: ‘Is Julianna Margulies Gay? ACTOR: Hints ‘Gay Experience’ While Discussing Lesbian Character; Loves the Role More Colin Kaepernick trains hard in hope of NFL return More James Gunn reveals ‘cannibalistic’ Gilligan’s Island reboot plans More Lil Nas X says Doja Cat is his ‘biggest inspiration’ More ‘Tiger King’ Star Carole Baskin Thinks Kate McKinnon Is A Dead Ringer For Her In Upcoming ‘Joe Exotic’ Miniseries More Anti-Trump Republicans to back vulnerable Democratic lawmakers in 2022 congressional races More White House ‘draft material’ on U.S. Supreme Court reforms due later Thursday More Load More View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives select committee probing the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol said on Thursday it would convene a business meeting on Tuesday to vote on adopting a contempt report against Steve Bannon, a longtime advisor to former President Donald Trump. The committee said Bannon had declined to cooperate. “The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas, so we must move forward with proceedings to refer Mr. Bannon for criminal contempt,” the committee’s Democratic chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson, said in a statement. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Chris Reese) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Hamilton star Suni Reid, a non-binary performer who is openly transgender, is taking aim at the beloved Broadway production, claiming their contract was not renewed in retaliation over their request for a gender-neutral dressing room. Reid — who appeared in the Broadway, Chicago and Los Angeles Hamilton productions in both ensemble and principle roles — filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint, per Deadline, with their attorneys, Lawrence M. Pearson and Lindsay M. Goldbrum, pointing out: “Publicly, Hamilton is a beacon of diversity and appears committed to causes seeking social justice and harmony.” “Behind the curtain, however, the Company’s management will force out a Black, transgender cast member simply because they stood up for themselves and advocated for a more equitable workplace, and therefore called that public image into question,” the lawyers reportedly declared in a statement. MEGA “We look forward to upholding Mx. Reid’s rights,” the statement concluded, “and hope this is a wake-up call for the theater industry about the systemic inequities that persist even at its greatest heights.” ‘TODAY’ CELEBRATES BEST OF BROADWAY—SEE THE STELLAR HALLOWEEN COSTUMES FROM ‘HAMILTON,’ ‘WICKED’ & MORE! According to the complaint, Reid sought out access to a gender-neutral dressing room at the Hollywood Pantages theatre last June by making a “legally protected request.” MEGA Reid’s attorneys noted “Hamilton suspended the renewal of Mx. Reid’s contract,” weeks after filing their request, as well as sidelined them “during rehearsals, previews, and finally opening night and beyond.”(The Award winning Broadway show began performances at the Pantages theater on August 17.) Reid — who played George Washington, Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, and Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson — retained legal counsel in July, per the outlet, and told show runners of their legal claims of discrimination and retaliation. Two months later, production informed the Broadway star that their contract wouldn’t be renewed. ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ ALUM DAVID ARCHULETA JOINS BROADWAY STARS FROM ‘DEAR EVAN HANSEN,’ ‘HAMILTON,’ MORE ON NEW ‘IN PIECES’ ALBUM The attorneys claimed Reid had been subjected to instances of discrimination and harassment by both management and their fellow cast mates. “Certain actors physically threatened Mx. Reid or intentionally and repeatedly mis-gendered them,” the complaint cited as examples of some of the incidents, per the outlet. MEGA According to Reid, these horrid interactions occurred in the dressing rooms for the male performers. The complaint acknowledged production eventually provided a gender-neutral dressing room, thanks to cast member Rory O’Malley, the performer who plays King George in Los Angeles — who “generously offered to give up his dressing room.” However, the complaint stated: “the Company still would not drop its retaliatory animus toward Mx. Reid and rescinded their contract renewal offer altogether.” View the full article

Published by OK Magazine The most highly awaited album of the decade, Adele’s 30, is officially dropping November 19. The Grammy winning singer announced via her Instagram on Wednesday, October 13, that the new body of music will be released in November along with the caption, “ALBUM OF THE NEW DECADE IS COMING.” The “Hello” artist then added a photograph of her side profile and a note describing to fans what inspired the songs in this new era. MEGA “I was certainly nowhere near where I’d hoped to be when I first started it nearly 3 years ago,” Adele began the letter to her devout followers. ADELE & RICH PAUL GO INSTAGRAM OFFICIAL AFTER MONTHS OF SPECULATION “Quite the opposite actually. I rely on routine and consistency to feel safe, I always have. And yet there I was knowingly — willingly even, throwing myself into a maze of absolute mess and inner turmoil! I’ve learned a lot of blistering home truths about myself along the way. I’ve shed many layers but also wrapped myself in new ones. Discovered genuinely useful and wholesome mentalities to lead with, and I feel like I’ve finally found my feeling again. I’d go as far as to say that I’ve never felt more peaceful in my life,” the global superstar explained. All of these life experiences have culminated into this new body of work that she is now ready to share with the world as she announced, “And so I’m ready to finally put this album out.” MEGA Adele goes on to compare the music to a friend who is consistently there for you in your time of need as she detailed: “When I was writing it, it was my friend who came over with a bottle of wine and a takeaway to cheer me up. My wise friend who always gives the best advice. Not to forget the one who’s wild and says ‘It’s your Saturn return babes f—ck it, you only live once.’” ADELE BELIEVES RICH PAUL IS ‘THE MAN OF HER DREAMS’, SAYS SOURCE: ‘SHE’S DONE ACTING COY’ Everyone should get their tissues ready as she even goes on to compare the album to, “The friend who’d stay up all night and just hold my hand while I’d sob relentlessly not knowing why.” MEGA The hit maker concluded the note as she stated, “I’ve painstakingly rebuilt my house and my heart since then and this album narrates it. Home is where the heart is x.” In the upcoming album, Adele co-wrote the majority of the music with writers and producers Max Martin, Tobias Jesso Jr, Greg Kurstin, and Shellback, all of whom worked on the smash hit that was her third album ’25’. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jamie Lee Curtis honoured her late mother, Janet Leigh, at the premiere of ‘Halloween Kills’. The 62-year-old actress attended the costume party screening of her latest movie – in which she reprises her role as Laurie Strode – at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on Tuesday (12.10.21) and turned heads by dressing as her mom’s ‘Psycho’ character, Marion Crane. As well as a dress and hair style that matched the character from the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic, Jamie accessorised her look with a blood-splattered shower curtain, paying homage to the movie’s famous stabbing scene. Sharing a photo of her outfit on Instagram, the actress captioned her post: “Honoring my mother in ALL her gory…I meant glory! “PREMIERE PARTY TIME! (sic)” Jamie became known as a scream queen for her roles in other horror flicks ‘Prom Night’ and ‘Terror Train’ and praised the Venice Film Festival, where ‘Halloween Kills’ had its premiere, for giving a chance to horror movies. She said: “I think the horror genre has been culled from the herd. When I was first coming up, we called them B-movies and they were dismissed as being not very good. “But the Italian audience, the critics, their cinema community and the Venice Film Festival have always supported that genre.” Jamie was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the festival but admits there is plenty that she still hopes to accomplish. She said: “It does seem weird to me because I have so much I still want to do, fingers crossed – back off, Covid! “I feel incredibly vibrant and excited about all the opportunities that have come to me and the opportunities I have manifested.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Julianna Margulies has hinted she’s had “gay experiences”. The 55-year-old actress – who married lawyer Keith Lieberthal in 2007 and previously dated Ron Eldard from 1991 to 2003 – was asked if she had any reservations portraying lesbian news reporter Laura Peterson on ‘The Morning Show’ but suggested there were “assumptions” behind the question. She said: “Who’s to say I haven’t had my own gay experiences? We’re making assumptions.” Julianna – who has 13-year-old son Kieran with her spouse – admitted she knew her casting could have sparked a backlash but she didn’t feel there should be. Speaking on the ‘Just for Variety’ podcast, she said: “I know there was some trepidation of ‘will lesbian actresses be angry?’ and I can tell you I would never, ever be angry if a lesbian played a straight woman.” The actress jumped at the chance to be a part of the programme because she knew the writers “get women”. She said: “You’ve got Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon playing these two very strong characters, and in the second season instead of bringing a man in to upset that balance they brought in a woman. Hats off to that, because the truth is women are more afraid of women. “They dress for women. We don’t dress for men. We dress for each other. We want to impress each other much more. … It made so much sense, and I thought, ‘Ah, a show that gets women. This is great.’” And Julianna was delighted with the backstory showrunner Kerry Ehrin provided for Laura, including detailing how her career was derailed 20 years prior when she was outed. She said: “It’s rare to get such a rich 20-year history of who this character was before you get to play her. That’s usually the homework I do on my own.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Colin Kaepernick is hopeful of playing in the NFL again. The 33-year-old civil rights activist and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback hasn’t played in the professional American football league since 2016 after speaking out against racial and social injustice, but he has been training hard in the hope a team will sign him up at some point. When asked if he is ready to return to the NFL, Colin – who became the first player to take the knee during the national anthem – said: “Absolutely. “I am still up at 5am training five, six days a week making sure I’m prepared to take a team to a Super Bowl again. “That’s not something I will ever let go of, regardless of the actions of 32 teams and their partners to deny me employment. “The same way I was persistent in high school is the same way I’m gonna be persistent here.” Colin is putting in the hours of training to ensure he will be ready if a football team come calling. He added to Ebony magazine: “And you’re gonna have to continue to deny me and do so in a public way. And you’re gonna expose yourself by that, but it won’t be because I’m not ready or not prepared. “But in that process, I’m also not gonna let you bury my future. “I’m gonna continue to do work on the acting and producing side, continue to do the work with Know Your Rights, and make sure we are having an impact. “I think that’s the beauty of us collectively – we are not one-dimensional.” Colin has since been working with his non-profit group, Know Your Rights Camp, in his fight against racial and social injustice. In June last year, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey donated $3 million to the campaign. He wrote on Twitter: “More #startsmall grants. $3mm to Colin @Kaepernick7’s @yourrightscamp to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization to elevate the next generation of change leaders. (sic)” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English James Gunn and Charlie Kaufman wanted to reboot ‘Gilligan’s Island’ as a dark, cannibalistic movie. The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ filmmaker has revealed he tried to bring back the classic 1960s sitcom – which featured a group of people stranded on a deserted island – in a more sinister way based on a script ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ writer Kaufman penned in the late 1990s. Taking part in a Twitter trend urging people to “pitch a movie in two pictures, no caption”, he shared snaps of the ‘Gilligan’s Island’ crew alongside an image showing cannibalism. He added underneath the post: “A true story: In the late 90’s screenwriting GOAT Charlie Kaufman pitched a movie version of Gilligan’s Island where the islanders, starving & desperate, started killing & eating each other. “Warner Bros wanted to do it – but Sherwood Schwartz, the creator, said no way. (sic)” He then tried to bring back the idea after the first ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ movie in 2014, but again the pitch was met with some resistance after Schwartz’s death in three years earlier. Gunn continued: “After Guardians I tried to resurrect the idea & wanted to direct. “It seemed Warners & Charlie were interested but, this time, the estate of the late Sherwood Schwartz nixed it. “Anyway, if the Schwartz estate changes their mind, I’m here.” Meanwhile, Gunn – who was at the helm of ‘The Suicide Squad’ for DC this year and will release a third ‘Guardians’ film for Marvel in 2023 – recently teased another top secret DC Extended Universe project. When an Instagram user asked James on his recent post if he’s “developing a new DCEU project”, he responded: “Yes.” However, the director insisted there will be no reveal at DC FanDome this week, as it’s early days yet. Another suggested it could be a “Deadshot vs Bloodsport” flick, but James replied: “It’s something else but not it won’t be revealed at Fandome. It’s not ready yet. (sic)” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lil Nas X has hailed Doja Cat as his “biggest inspiration”. The 22-year-old star has taken to Twitter to heap praise on the ‘Juicy’ hitmaker, admitting that he’s been inspired by her career success and also described Doja as “hot”. Nas – who recently released his long-awaited debut album, ‘Montero’ – wrote on the micro-blogging platform: “doja cat has become my biggest inspiration. she puts so much effort into everything she does. and she’s hot. (sic)” Doja, 25, made a guest appearance on Nas’ new album. And Nas previously admitted that he loved working with the chart-topping star. He shared: “She’s a fun person, she takes things seriously but doesn’t take things seriously – you know what I mean? “She takes what she does seriously like you can tell she puts a lot of effort into everything she does.” Asked what he particularly likes about Doja, Nas added: “Her music, her videos, her personality is very colourful.” Meanwhile, Doja previously confessed that she’s become more restrained on social media since finding fame. The rapper was hugely enthusiastic about social media before she released her debut album ‘Amala’ in 2018, but Doja admits she’s become more cautious with her posts over recent years. She explained: “I used to be on Periscope a lot. I’d be live for 10 or 12 hours at a time. I’d be making beats, and they weren’t any good, but it was fun. “I would just be yelling at and roasting people, and they would be like, ‘Damn, why are you so mad?’ But then some people would think it was funny and go along with it. That was me back then, and I love going in on people, but I stopped because with a big platform, you don’t want to hurt anybody. “You have power and you’re looked at a certain way, and if you go in on people and s***, it doesn’t help you or them, and they can tear you down more than you can tear them down.” View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Carole Baskin is already impressed by Kate McKinnon‘s transformation for the upcoming Peacock miniseries based on Tiger King. The Saturday Night Live star is slated to play Baskin in the show which is reportedly titled Joe Exotic. The CEO of Big Cat Rescue thinks McKinnon is a dead ringer for her. She told TMZ she was stunned by the comedian’s transformation. Baskin felt that producers nailed her wardrobe. Baskin was surprised that even the accessories were spot on when McKinnon was seen sporting a necklace on-set that Baskin didn’t even wear in the Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness docuseries. MEGA KIM KARDASHIAN & KIDS SLAY IN ‘TIGER KING’-INSPIRED COSTUMES — SEE PHOTOS Baskin told the publication that McKinnon must be channeling her inner cat lady. Kyle MacLachlan will play Baskin’s current husband, Howard, in the show. She told the outlet that MacLachlan did a good job of portraying her husband but is not identical. According to Baskin, Howard doesn’t wear short-sleeve button-up shirts or a wedding ring, but she still approves of MacLachlan’s portrayal. Baskin said that she heard that the series will detail her marriage to Howard but she doesn’t know how her rivalry with Joe Exotic will play out. She has requested that real big cats are not used in the series and that CGI tigers are used instead. MEGA “Joe Exotic is a limited series based on true events following Carole Baskin (McKinnon), a big cat enthusiast, who learns that when fellow exotic animal lover Joe ‘Exotic’ Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit, she sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry,” according to UCP, the studio company producing the series. “But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy. The results prove dangerous.” Viewers first met Baskin and Exotic in the Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness. The streaming platform will reportedly release a follow-up series, Tiger King 2, in November. Exotic is currently behind bars. He is serving a 22-year prison sentence after he was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire for a plot to kill Baskin. AWK! JOY BEHAR THINKS CAROLE BASKIN’S MISSING HUSBAND SOULD JOIN HER ON ‘DWTS’ MEGA The Dancing With The Stars alum previously told OK! that after the Netflix docuseries aired the “thing that I’ve heard the most since Tiger King is that I’m some sort of gold-digging, murderer, murderous homewrecker.” She insisted that “none of those things were true.” Baskin has denied claims that she killed her second husband Don Lewis. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Tim Reid LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A group of anti-Trump Republicans on Thursday will endorse a slate of Democratic lawmakers facing tough races in next year’s midterm elections, in a bid to stop the Republican Party from retaking control of Congress. The officials, dismayed that most elected Republicans now embrace former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, told Reuters they are also backing vulnerable Republicans, including Representative Liz Cheney, who have rejected Trump’s voter fraud allegations. The Renew America Movement (RAM), formed by centrist Republicans after a mob of Trump supporters stormed Congress on Jan. 6 to try to stop lawmakers from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden’s election victory, concedes that Trump and his conspiracy theories now have an iron grip on the party. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from August, 30% of U.S. adults agreed that the “2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.” That included 61% of Republicans, 19% of independents and 10% of Democrats. Trump, for his part, has endorsed several candidates mounting primary challenges to Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting insurrection in a fiery speech ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. He has also backed a challenger to Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of seven in her party who voted to convict Trump on the charge. He was ultimately acquitted by the Senate. RAM, whose leadership includes former Republican Governors Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and Bill Weld of Massachusetts, said supporting moderate candidates is vital to safeguarding American democracy. “With the mounting threats to our democracy and Constitution, we need people who work proactively to lead their party and the country away from the political extremes,” Joel Searby, the group’s national political director, told Reuters. RAM will endorse and in many cases campaign for 11 moderate Democrats, nine moderate Republicans and one independent running for the House of Representatives and Senate in the November 2022 elections, the officials said. Democrats have a narrow majority in the House, while the Senate is tied 50-50. Party insiders are increasingly nervous about losing both chambers next year, which would derail Biden’s agenda. The lawmakers to be backed by RAM include Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, all Democrats locked in close contests. The group is also supporting Republican House members such as Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger from Illinois, who are among a handful of elected Republicans to denounce Trump and his baseless voter fraud claims. Trump’s allegations were rejected by dozens of courts, state election officials and members of his own administration. (Reporting by Tim Reid; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Peter Cooney) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The commission formed by President Joe Biden to study potential U.S. Supreme Court changes such as expanding the number of justices or imposing term limits on them is set to release preliminary public material on Thursday. The White House has described the information as “draft preliminary discussion material” that it has not edited. The material is expected to be released at about 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) on the White House website. Biden signed an executive order in April creating the 36-member bipartisan commission, which held its first meeting the following month. The commission is looking at the issue of expanding beyond the current nine justices or creating a fixed term for justices instead of lifetime appointments. The Supreme Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority after Biden’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump made three appointments during four years in office. Trump in 2017 was able to fill a vacancy opened up when his predecessor Barack Obama was in office because Senate Republicans in 2016 blocked consideration of Obama’s nominee to the post, current Attorney General Merrick Garland. Opinion polls indicate that Americans’ confidence in the court is on the decline, and some experts have said its legitimacy is under threat. The Supreme Court during its current term is considering major cases in which its conservative majority could restrict abortion rights and widen gun rights, alarming many Democrats and political independents. Republicans have opposed the idea of expanding the number of justices, which they call “court packing.” Democrats have said the current makeup of the court no longer represents the will of the U.S. electorate. The last time court expansion was seriously pursued was in the 1930s by Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt after a conservative court impeded his policies aimed at lifting America out of the Great Depression. Biden first proposed formation of a commission during his presidential campaign last year, when he said he wanted “recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it is getting out of whack – the way in which it’s being handled – and it’s not about court-packing.” Biden proposed the idea at a time when Senate Republicans were rushing to confirm the last of Trump’s three appointees, Amy Coney Barrett, in the run-up to last year’s election. A group of liberal Democratic lawmakers in April proposed expanding the Supreme Court by four justices, aiming to end its conservative majority, but the plan drew an unenthusiastic response from the White House and top Democrats and was denounced by Republicans. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Will Dunham and Heather Timmons) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Cher is suing her ex-husband Sonny Bono‘s widow Mary Bono who the singer claims has withheld $1 million in royalties from their 1960’s hits. In the lawsuit, the songstress claims Mary is illegally keeping back royalties from Cher and Sonny’s wildly popular classics when they were together from 1964 to 1975, such asI Got You Babe and The Beat Goes On. After their break-up, the former duo reportedly agreed to split their profits from their recorded songs. Cher’s attorneys claimed Mary “has undone” Cher’s ownership in the agreement. MEGA Cher was Sonny’s second wife in the 1960s for a little over a decade before they decided to part ways. During their relationship, the former couple produced many melodies together. Mary was Sonny’s fourth and final wife, whom he tied the knot in 1986. She was still married to him when Sono died from an accident in Lake Tahoe in 1998. Cher and Mary have had a great relationship in the past. Mary even invited the singer to give a eulogy at her ex-husband’s funeral. However, their relationship has recently become unpleasant after Cher claims the widow is withholding the “missing royalties.” MEGA Before his passing, Sono pursued a political career and was elected as mayor in Palm Springs from 1988-1992. He then served as a Republican congressman for California’s 44th district, in which he was voted in during the Republican Revolution. Sonny held the position from 1995 till the day he died. Mary also followed his footsteps in the political scene and had won the Republican nomination for the special election to succeed her late husband to become California’s 44 district congresswoman. She served in Congress from 1998 until she lost her re-election bid in 2012. Mary now works as a political consultant. Mary and her representatives are still yet to comment following the lawsuit as of this post. MEGA View the full article

Published by Reuters By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday elected the United States to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, more than three years after the Trump administration quit the 47-member body over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform. The United States, which was unopposed, received 168 votes in the secret ballot by the 193-member General Assembly. It begins a three-year term on Jan. 1 – pitting Washington against Beijing and Moscow, who began council terms this year. U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January pledging that human rights would be the center of his foreign policy and his administration has not shied away from criticizing China over Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan and calling out Russia. But a Reuters review of the Biden administration’s record so far showed concerns over human rights in other countries had several times been pushed aside in favor of national security priorities and engagement with foreign powers. “The U.S. will have an opportunity to demonstrate just how serious the Biden administration is about making human rights central to its domestic and foreign policies,” said Human Rights Watch U.N. Director Louis Charbonneau. “With a lot of missteps so far, they should use their time on the council to promote human rights among friends and foes alike.” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Washington would initially focus on “what we can accomplish in situations of dire need, such as in Afghanistan, Burma, China, Ethiopia, Syria, and Yemen.” “Our goals are clear: stand with human rights defenders and speak out against violations and abuses of human rights,” she said in a statement, adding that the United States would also “oppose the council’s disproportionate attention on Israel.” U.S. Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blasted the decision by Biden, a Democrat, to rejoin what he called a “flawed body,” citing the body’s focus on Israel. “The United States should not be lending its legitimacy to a body that includes perpetrators of human rights abuses like China, Venezuela, and Cuba,” he said in a statement. Human Rights Council candidates are elected in geographical groups to ensure even representation. There were no competitive races on Thursday to elect 13 new members and re-elect five members. Members cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. The General Assembly also elected Kazakhstan, Gambia, Benin, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Paraguay, Honduras, Luxembourg, Finland, Montenegro and Lithuania and re-elected Cameroon, Eritrea, Somalia, India and Argentina on Thursday. The United States received the second lowest number of votes, beating out only Eritrea, which received 144 votes. (Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle;Editing by Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vaccination rates rose by 20 percentage points after private businesses, healthcare systems, social institutions, state and local governments adopted COVID-19 vaccine requirements, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said on Wednesday. Zients told reporters at a press briefing that 77% of eligible Americans have received at least one shot of the vaccine. U.S. Centers Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr Rachel Walensky said at the same briefing that the seven-day average of daily COVID-19 cases fell 12% from last week and that the seven-day average of daily deaths was down 5%. (The story has been refiled to say “one shot”, not “on shot”, in 2nd paragraph) (Reporting by Christopher Gallagher, Jeff Mason, and Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English The David Bowie Estate has announced two pop-up experiences to celebrate his 75th birthday. The late icon – who sadly died aged 69 in 2016 after a cancer battle – is being celebrated ahead of what would have been his milestone birthday on January 8, 2022. As part of the Bowie 75 event, two “curated experiential pop-up shops” are being launched in London and New York City. The 14 Heddon Street site is the London location where the cover of ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ was shot, while 150 Wooster Street is steps away from the star’s longtime downtown NYC neighbourhood where he recorded his final album ‘Blackstar’. Both locations – which will be open from October 25 until late January – will feature immersive audio and HD video screening rooms, giving fans a chance to experience Bowie’s music in a new way. There will also be “hours of video content” including previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage, as well as rare material from the ‘Heathen’ and ‘Reality’ eras. Fans will also have the chance to buy exclusive merchandise and limited edited records. Both sites will house “fine art photography” and gallery installations documenting his iconic career and ever-changing style. There will be an opportunity for fans to also take photos in iconic costumes and set pieces, with plenty more planned over the coming months. Laura Thursfield, Customer Partnership Manager at The Crown Estate, said: “We want our spaces to be engaging and exciting, bringing new concepts and brands which complement the destination and give people new reasons to come to London’s West End. “This pop up is not only an opportunity to build on Heddon Street’s history, as the location of the album cover shoot for ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’, but a really interactive, creative approach to retail.” For store hours, events calendars and other announcements and information, sign up and stay tuned to www.bowie75.com. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Elizabeth Culliford (Reuters) – Facebook will now count activists and journalists as “involuntary” public figures and so increase protections against harassment and bullying targeted at these groups, its global safety chief said in an interview this week. The social media company, which allows more critical commentary of public figures than of private individuals, says it is changing its approach on the harassment of journalists and “human rights defenders”, who it says are in the public eye due to their work rather than their public personas. Facebook is under wide-ranging scrutiny from global lawmakers and regulators over its content moderation practices and harms linked to its platforms, with internal documents leaked by a forming the basis for a U.S. Senate hearing last week. How Facebook, which has about 2.8 billion monthly active users, treats public figures and content posted by or about those figures has been an area of intense debate. In recent weeks, the company’s “cross check” system, which the Wall Street Journal reported has the effect of exempting some high-profile users from usual Facebook rules, has been in the spotlight. Facebook also differentiates between public figures and private individuals in the protections it affords around online discussion: for instance, users are generally allowed to call for the death of a celebrity in discussions on the platform. The company declined to share a list of other involuntary public figures but said they are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Earlier this year, Facebook said it would remove content celebrating, praising or mocking George Floyd’s death, because he was deemed an involuntary public figure. Facebook’s Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis said the company was also expanding the types of attacks that it would not allow on public figures on its sites, as part of an effort to reduce attacks disproportionately faced by women, people of color and the LGBTQ community. Facebook will no longer allow severe and unwanted sexualizing content, derogatory sexualized photoshopped images or drawings or direct negative attacks on a person’s appearance, for example, in comments on a public figure’s profile. (Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford in Birmingham, England; additional reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; editing by Richard Pullin) View the full article