Blake Lively‘s It Ends With Us co-star Brandon Sklenar has shared his support for the actress, following her legal action against her It Ends with Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.
On Dec. 20, Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios of waging a smear campaign against her and accusing the actor of sexual harassment, allegations which Baldoni has denied via a lawyer.
Sklenar, who plays Atlas Corrigan in the film, posted a message on social media Monday. “For the love of God read this,” he wrote, linking to The New York Times‘ publishing of Lively’s complaint. He tagged Lively and added a heart emoji to the post.
Sklenar’s post comes after Lively’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars — America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel – shared a joint statement on Dec. 22, expressing “solidarity” with Lively in her fight “against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation.” She also received support from It Ends With Us author Colleen Hoover and director Paul Feig.
Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios, denied the allegations in a statement to ABC News.
“It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions,” Freedman said.
“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
Kate Bush has posted her annual Christmas message to her website.
In the piece, the “Running Up That Hill” artist shares that she went to see an exhibit of paintings by the French Impressionist Claude Monet, and draws a comparison between Monet’s paintings of smog-covered London and the current increasing use of artificial intelligence in the world today.
“Is that us? Standing in awe at the dawn of AI, the symbol of modernity, as smog was for Monet at that time in the newly industrial London?” Bush writes. “Do we only see the twinkling light of the new invention, which so often catches the eye of our imagination… and what are those vague, dark sardonic shapes we can see in the background, behind the theatrical gauze?
“It’s hard to make them out, but could they be our human pods, like those from the Matrix, being readied for us by eager, playful digits?” she continues. “Or maybe they are freshly painted bridges – robust, and lovingly built to carry us all into a much longed-for new age of healthy thinking?”
Bush concludes, “All will be revealed when the smog begins to clear. Merry Christmas everyone. I hope it’s a really joyful one for you all.”
2024 was a milestone year for Billy Joel, in more ways than one.
It started in February, when he released “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first pop single since 2007’s “All My Life.” The ballad was cowritten by Billy, Freddy Wexler, Arthur Bacon and Wayne Hector, and was reminiscent of his classic sound. The video, which used AI to morph him from his ’70s, ’80s and ’90s selves into his present-day self, upped the nostalgia factor, too.
“Turn the Lights Back On,” which Billy performed at the Grammy Awards days after its release, returned Billy to the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts — as an artist, not just a writer — for the first time since 1998.
Billy was back on CBS in April for a special documenting the 100th show of his Madison Square Garden residency. Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden aired April 14, but it was delayed due to coverage of the Masters Tournament, then cut short for local news programming. CBS mollified angry fans by reairing the show, which won three Emmys, on April 19.
On May 9, Billy celebrated his 75th birthday onstage at Madison Square Garden. On July 25, he officially ended his 10-year residency with his 150th career show at the Garden, where he was joined by Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose and by his young daughters, Remy and Della.
According to Billboard, the residency grossed a total of $267 million. Only Céline Dion‘s two residency shows in Las Vegas have earned more.
Billy also performed stadium shows across the country in 2024, but added a new twist: He coheadlined with, variously, Stevie Nicks, Sting and Rod Stewart. He’ll continue performing with all three of them into 2025.
If you’re looking to stream holiday songs, keep in mind that if you choose WHAM!‘s “Last Christmas,” you’ll be helping people in need.
In a Christmas message to fans, George Michael‘s sister, father and former manager write that they have “donated a substantial amount from George’s Last Christmas record royalties to some 20 organizations raising money for causes close to George’s heart.”
The donations will be made through the newly established George Michael Fund, which continues the singer’s history of philanthropy.
George, who died on Christmas Day 2016, wrote “Last Christmas” and played all the instruments on it. He initially donated the royalties from the song to the Band Aid Trust, after participating in the recording of the charity record “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” You can learn more about that by watching the new Netflix documentary Last Christmas Unwrapped.
In George’s native U.K., “Last Christmas” just became the first song ever to spend two consecutive years as the country’s Christmas #1. In the U.S., it’s #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The daughter of actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, shared the news on Instagram in a joint post with her fiancé on Monday.
The post included a photo of an engagement ring and the engaged couple kissing.
In a video included in the post, a candle-lit walkway is seen with an arrow made out of rose petals pointing down the path. It leads to a cozy-looking living room with a fireplace. “We did it,” said a voice in the background. The post is captioned, “everyday.”
Commenting on the post, Tallulah’s sister Rumer Willis, wrote, “The most beautiful love to witness and watch grow. I love you both so much. Justin I’m so lucky I get to call you my brother. Baby Lula my gift my queen my heart is so full. Obsessed with you both.”
Their sister Scout LaRue Willis also posted on social media, celebrating her sister’s engagement.
Acee, who is a musician, and Tallulah Willis often exchange loving posts about one another on social media.
Tallulah Willis, Scout Willis and Rumer Willis are the daughters of Bruce Willis and ex-wife Moore, to whom he was married from 1987 to 2000.
Ava Max has a new Christmas song this year called “1 Wish,” and every year, her mom fulfills her Christmas culinary wish by making her — and everyone else — a special treat.
Like Dua Lipa, Ava is Albanian, and she says every Christmas her mom makes a traditional treat: baklava.
“We give it out to all our closest friends and family,” says Ava. “And every year they always text us right before: ‘Hey, is your mom doing baklava this year?’ I’m like, ‘Of course she is!'”
While baklava isn’t easy to make, Ava notes, “I have to learn the recipe because we got to keep that tradition going!”
In addition to a favorite holiday treat, Ava also has a favorite holiday movie, which is kind of an unusual choice. Most people will say Christmas Vacation or A Christmas Story or Elf, but for her, it’s the 2004 comedy Christmas with the Kranks.
“I watch it every year and it’s not on purpose. Somehow when I’m with my family, they always put it on — either me, my niece, or my mom, and it ends up to be every single year we’re watching Christmas with the Kranks,” she laughs. “Now, it’s a thing. We watch other ones, but that one for sure.”
And Ava’s holiday soundtrack always includes Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey’s Christmas albums. “Those two for sure, but there is a lot more!” she says.
Drake is “saving Santa the trip” as he’s taking over Christmas. In a post shared to Instagram, he announced he’s hosting the Drizzmas Giveaway on Kick, a subsidiary of Stake, with whom he has a partnership.
With $250,000 cash, luxury cars, rent money, a dream vacation, tour tickets and more up for grabs, Drake says this will be “THE BIGGEST STREAMING GIVEAWAY EVER.”
Those interested in participating must be 21 and email their story to drake@stake.com, telling him why they believe they “deserve whichever of these things you think you need most.” The stream kicks off Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on Drake’s Kick channel.
“People often ask me what was the best day of my life … my answer is the same every time: the two days I shot [the video for] ‘God’s Plan,'” Drake recalls on a video announcing his giveaway.
“The joy that I experienced on those days, making other people happy, changing their week or their month or their year was an irreplaceable feeling. And that’s why Stake, along with me and Adin Ross, are doing the biggest streaming giveaway of all time,” he continues. “I truly can’t wait to enjoy this moment together. Happy holidays to you all.”
(LONDON)– Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
Negotiation team returning after ‘significant week’: Israeli PM office
The Israeli negotiation team will return to Israel from Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday after a “significant week of conducting negotiations” regarding a ceasefire and hostage deal, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
“The team returned for internal consultations in Israel regarding the continuation of negotiations for the return of our hostages,” the statement continued.
-ABC News’ Anna Burd
IDF ‘besieging’ 3 Gaza hospitals, health ministry says
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement Tuesday that Israeli forces are “intensifying” their attacks on three hospitals in the devastated and depopulated northern portion of the strip.
Israeli troops, the ministry in the Hamas-run territory said, are “besieging and directly targeting the Indonesian Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital during the past hours and insisting on putting them out of service.”
The ministry said Israeli troops were “forcing the wounded and patients to evacuate the Indonesian Hospital,” while bombing “all departments of Kamal Adwan Hospital and its surroundings around the clock without stopping.”
“Shrapnel is scattered inside the hospital yards, causing terrifying sounds and serious damage,” the ministry said.
“We appeal to all international and UN institutions and concerned parties to urgently intervene to protect the health system in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry wrote.
On Monday, Palestinian officials said 20 people were injured when Israeli forces detonated a “robot bomb” in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital.
The IDF has not commented on the latest developments around Kamal Adwan or the other north Gaza hospitals.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta
3 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that three soldiers were killed in combat in northern Gaza.
Cpt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, 22, Staff Sgt. Netanel Pessach, 21, and Sgt. First Class (res.) Hillel Diener, 21, were all killed by an explosion during an operation in the Beit Hanoun area, which has been a focus of Israel’s intense recent offensive in the northern part of the strip.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and the border zone is now 391.
Health officials in the Hamas-run territory say more than 45,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Ellie Kaufman
20 injured after bomb detonates near Gaza hospital
Twenty people were injured among the medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza Monday evening after a “robot bomb” was detonated in the hospital’s vicinity, according to medical sources.
ABC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for a comment.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara
Israeli forces kill Hamas operative in Gaza City, IDF says
Israeli forces killed the head of the national security directorate of Hamas’ security mechanism during an attack on Sunday in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The Hamas operative, Tharwat Muhammad Ahmed Albec, was “operating in a command and control center” that was embedded in a “compound that previously served as the ‘Musa bin Nusayr’ school” in a neighborhood in Gaza City, the IDF said in a statement on Monday.
Hamas has yet to comment on the IDF’s statement.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
‘Certain progress’ made in hostage negotiations: Netanyahu
“Certain progress” has been made in ongoing hostage and ceasefire negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a speech at the Israeli parliament on Monday.
“I can carefully say there has been a certain progress” made in the ongoing negotiations, Netanyahu said, adding that he “doesn’t know how long it’s going to take.”
“We will continue to operate in any way and without a pause until we bring them all back home from the enemy’s land,” he said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Hamas reports Israeli attack on Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp
Hamas on Monday said the Israel Defense Forces killed or wounded at least 50 people in an air and ground assault on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
An IDF airstrike was followed by an incursion into the camp supported by 17 heavy vehicles, among them tanks and bulldozers, Hamas said.
Israeli forces also attacked Nuseirat camp two weeks ago, killing at least 33 people according to the Gaza Government Media Office.
The IDF is yet to comment on Monday’s operation.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Tomek Rolski
Netanyahu says Israel will act against Houthis after missile strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his nation would “act forcefully” against the Houthis in Yemen after a weekend missile attack on Tel Aviv injured 16 people, according to Israeli emergency authorities.
“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s evil axis, so we will act against the Houthis — the result will be the same,” Netanyahu said in a statement posted to X.
Since October 2023, the Houthis have been launching attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, as well as long-range drone and missile attacks towards Israel.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted a Houthi missile but that debris destroyed a school building in Tel Aviv.
The Houthis — which have close ties with Iran and are part of the Tehran-led “Axis of Resistance” — are demanding an end to Israel’s war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, infiltration attack into southern Israel.
The U.S. and U.K. — supported by other allies — have launched a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since January. Israel has also launched significant strikes in Yemen in recent months, most recently on Thursday.
At least 7 dead after IDF strikes humanitarian area in Gaza
At least seven people were killed after an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, which is located in the southern Gaza Strip.
The strike hit a collection of tents within what had been designated a humanitarian area, where displaced people were sheltering.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the strike on Sunday, saying in a statement it was “an intelligence-based strike on a Hamas terrorist.”
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.
– ABC News’ William Gretsky
21 killed in Gaza, IDF northern offensive continues
The Gaza Ministry of Health said Saturday that 21 people were killed and 61 injured in three separate Israeli attacks over the last 24 hours in the Hamas-run territory.
A total of 45,227 people have been killed since the start of the war, health officials said.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces continued intense operations in northern Gaza, particularly around the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia.
The director of the hospital said there is shooting “around the clock” nearby, adding that on Friday the third floor and the hospital entrance were shelled.
The director said the IDF is blocking the entry of all requested medical supplies. Nine people need urgent evacuation for surgery in Gaza City and the hospital is currently treating over 70 people, he said.
(NEWPORT, Ore.) — Several officials in Lincoln County, Oregon have received an anonymous letter urging people to report “brown folks” they suspect are undocumented immigrants, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office recently learned about a letter being circulated throughout Lincoln County which encourages community members to track and report information regarding people of color, specifically community members that are believed to be undocumented,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook.
“We want to be unequivocal in our stance: this type of behavior is harmful, divisive, and inconsistent with the values we uphold as public servants and community members,” continued the post, signed by Sheriff Curtis Landers. “Targeting individuals in this manner erodes trust and undermines the sense of safety and inclusion that we strive to maintain in Lincoln County.”
The anonymous letter, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News, is riddled with typos and makes various threats against undocumented immigrants.
State and local officials have condemned the letter.
“Attempts to intimidate our communities and their leaders through racist letter-writing campaigns has no place in Oregon, and we will continue to stand together in opposition to those who seek to divide us,” said Oregon State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum in a statement, adding that the state is an “open, welcoming, and safe for all individuals.”
“It is time to rise above these despicable tactics and demonstrate the true spirit of inclusivity and compassion that defines the Oregon way,” Rosenblum continued.
Toledo, Oregon Mayor Rod Cross announced at a Dec. 18 city council meeting that he had received the letter, bearing an invalid return address, a few days prior. That letter, obtained by ABC News, warns that in the latter part of January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security will begin “the largest round-up of brown illegals in our history.”
“I am livid because I don’t know if history is just not getting taught anymore or if the memories of my father and his generation have just been wiped out of existed but this is not America,” Mayor Cross said at the city council meeting. “This is not who we are.”
President-elect Donald Trump made campaign statements in which he vowed to conduct a large-scale deportation operation of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission. Though the anonymous letter refers to a “round-up of brown illegals,” it does not reference Trump or his past statements.
Sheriff Landers told ABC News he also received a copy of the letter in his personal PO box. He added that although the speech in the letter may not constitute a crime, he has notified the FBI for awareness. He said the mayor of Lincoln City, as well as several city council members. also received the letter.
In his Facebook statement, Sheriff Landers also stated that “Oregon law generally prohibits the inquiry or collection of an individual’s immigration or citizenship status, or country of birth, with few specific exceptions” defined by law.
“Consistent with this, the Sheriff’s Office does not inquire about, document, or share such information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” Landers’ statement continued. “These provisions are embedded in our policy manual and are essential to ensuring that our practices respect the rights and dignity of all individuals.”
According to the Oregon Department of Justice, Oregon became the first in the country to pass a statewide sanctuary law in 1987, which in part prohibits state and local law enforcement and government offices from “[participating] directly or indirectly in immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.”
In September, Chappell Roan told one of her audiences that she had finally gotten around to watching Glee and had made it to season two. Well, apparently, she had some thoughts on season three — one particular episode, to be specific — and has now apologized for those thoughts … sort of.
On the Instagram account Kisha Kisha, which is jointly run by Chappell and her bestie Ramisha Sattar, Chappell posted a video of herself watching the show’s season three holiday episode “Extraordinary Merry Christmas.” While the cast members sing “My Favorite Things” in the background, Chappell says, “This is the worst episode of Glee I’ve ever seen. I’m turning it off. I hate it.”
Soon afterwards, she posted another video of herself sitting in front of a Christmas tree. “This is my apology video for the Gleeks that I offended,” she says. Then, she eyes the lower part of the screen, where someone holding a knife that’s pointing towards her.
“I am so sorry. I love every episode of Glee, and I love Kurt and Blaine,” she continues, and then cracks up.
Perhaps we should mention that on the original video, the caption reads, “The context here is that I am high,” and that in between the two videos, they posted a photo of Kurt and Blaine from the show, with the words, “Guys we are high” written across it.
