The Dallas Cowboys will be taking on the New York Giants this Thanksgiving, but for fans of the Jonas Brothers,all eyes will be on the halftime show.
The trio has been tapped to rock the crowds at AT&T Stadium for the nationally televised halftime show this Thanksgiving. The game will air on local FOX channels.
The Cowboys traditionally use their Thanksgiving halftime show to donate to The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign — which is why the game uses the term “Red Kettle Kickoff.”
The Jonas Brothers will don Cowboys jerseys for the performance, opting to wear the numbers 11, 24 and 22. The jerseys will also be embossed with their last name JONAS on the back as well as The Salvation Army logo.
This is the second time the JoBros have performed the Red Kettle Kickoff — their first being in 2008.
“We couldn’t be more excited to return to AT&T Stadium and play The Salvation Army halftime show,” the group said in a statement. “We are honored that our performance will help raise awareness of the great need that exists and encourage everyone to donate to The Salvation Army to make a difference in their communities this holiday season and all year long.”
It should be noted the Red Kettle Campaign celebrates its 132nd anniversary this year. Last year, it helped support over 25 million people in America.
The Cowboys will square off against the Giants on November 24, starting at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX. This will mark the second time in history the two teams played against each other on Thanksgiving — their first being in 1992.
Lauren Akins has some new apparel that’s going toward a worthy cause.
Lauren, wife of country star Thomas Rhett, has partnered with Tribe Kelley, a clothing brand founded by Brian Kelley and his wife, Brittney, to offer a series of comfort wear in the Tribe Kelley x Love One collection.
The proceeds go toward Love One International, a Tennessee-based nonprofit that provides medical services to children in Uganda.
Among the products available are a tan sweatsuit bearing the Love One logo, which Lauren calls “the comfiest sweats you’ll ever wear,” along with a black hoodie and jogging pants that have embroidered stitching. The set is also available in a beige color, inviting fans to mix and match.
“I’ve been wearing these sweatsuits for years so this partnership is a DREAM,” Lauren writes on her Instagram Stories. “You look cute AND change lives when you buy these…win win.”
Lauren and Thomas adopted their eldest daughter, Willa Gray, from Uganda in 2017. Lauren met Willa while on a mission trip in Uganda through Love One.
The James Gang in 2006; Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
Joe Walsh‘s recently reunited pre-Eagles band the James Gang will participate in their first in-store signing event in over 50 years on Tuesday, November 8, at Used Kids Records in Columbus, Ohio.
During their appearance, Walsh, drummer Jim Fox and bassist Dale Peters will take part in an interview and then sign autographs at the store, which is located just a few blocks from Joe’s childhood home
To gain entry, those attending the event will be asked to buy an exclusive t-shirt or hat, and all proceeds will go directly to Walsh’s VetsAid charity, which raises and funds for various veterans-related organizations. Attendees also can bring one piece of James Gang or Walsh memorabilia to be signed in addition to the item they purchase.
Since the in-store event is taking place on Election Day, attendees wearing an “I Voted” sticker will receive a coupon giving them $5 off on purchases of $25 or more at Used Kids Records.
“Like many a music geek, I have spent a fair amount of my life in independent record stores and I owe a lot of my musical education to their existence,” says Walsh. “Thanks to Used Kids Records for hosting us and for hopefully blowing the mind of a little Joe Walsh who may be growing up just down the street like I did.”
As previously reported, the James Gang, joined by special guest Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, will headline the 2022 edition of Walsh’s annual VetsAid charity concert, taking place November 13 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The lineup also includes Nine Inch Nails, The Breeders and The Black Keys.
The concert also will be livestreamed globally at via the Veeps platform, and passes are available for purchase now at VetsAid.Veeps.com.
Wednesday is a good day for Star Wars fans who have Disney+: The streaming service has not only dropped the eighth chapter of its well-received 12-episode series Andor, but it also debuted its animated series Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.
Lucasfilm’s anthology series of shorts was created by Dave Filoni, the producer of the Emmy-winning Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the co-creator of another Emmy-winning series, The Mandalorian.
Darker in tone than one might expect, the show delves into events that have unfolded in the Star Wars prequels and the Clone Wars series.
Fans will be treated to seeing the earliest days of Ahsoka Tano as well as unseen elements of her training with teacher Anakin Skywalker. Clone Wars vets Ashley Eckstein and Matt Lanter both reprise their respective voice roles.
Also key to the series is the fall of Count Dooku. The villain, played by the late Christopher Lee in the Star Wars prequels, is shown in a different light in the shorts. The Jedi master to apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn — played by Liam Neeson in the prequels and in Tales — is conflicted and fed up with the corruption of the Galactic Senate. This makes Dooku a powerful potential ally to be swayed by his eventual master Darth Sidious, voiced by Star Wars movie veteran Ian McDiarmid.
The show also features the voices of Jurassic World series star and Mandalorian director Bryce Dallas Howard, Clancy Brown, Theo Rossi and another Clone Wars star, James Arnold Taylor.
Earlier this week during a show in New Orleans, Steve Lacy had an unexpected moment, and now, he’s…well, not explaining himself but giving his thoughts on the matter.
In fan-filmed footage of the singer, he’s hit by a disposable camera thrown onstage as he sings his number-one hit “Bad Habit.” Then, someone hands him a disposable camera — it’s not clear if it’s the same one that was thrown — and he smashes it on the floor.
While fans have come out both in support of Steve’s actions and against them, the singer himself has now weighed in on Instagram. To make a long story short, he’s not sorry.
“my shows been fun as hell! shoutout to the people not throwing disposable cameras at me and just coming to catch a vibe and connect :),” he wrote, adding, “…i hate that the beauty of the connection i have with so many people in the crowd-gets lost when something negative happens.”
He continues, “i don’t believe i owe anyone an apology- maybe i couldve reacted better? sure. always. i’m a student of life. but i’m a real person with real feelings and real reactions. i’m not a product or a robot. i am human.”
He concludes, “will continue to give my all at these shows. please come with respect for urself and others please thank you love u.”
Steve’s tour is set to wrap up November 11 at LA’s Greek Theatre.
Katy Perry‘s birthday was Tuesday, and she’s shared a sweet photo of her celebration with the two most important people in her life: her fiancé, Orlando Bloom,and their two-year-old daughter, Daisy Dove.
Katy posted a photo of her, Orlando’s and Daisy’s hands together with the caption, “Every time i blow a candle out i always wish for you. 38 and grateful.”
Orlando wrote in the comments, “My [hearts],” and on his own page, he posted a photo of himself and Katy with the caption, “Each time we take a trip around the sun and get to celebrate you, I’m reminded that on this journey together and whatever the weather I’m always smiling.”
Katy responded, “love you to Pluto and back.” And in a demonstration of just how friendly exes can be, Orlando’s ex-wife, Miranda Kerr, the mother of the actor’s son Finn, left three hearts in the comments.
Meanwhile, some fans are joking that Katy may not have a heart at all and is actually a robot. Footage of her onstage during her Las Vegas show PLAYhas gone viral because in it, she appears to be “glitching.” In the clip, her right eye is closed, and she can’t seem to get it open. She presses her finger to her right temple in an attempt to unstick it. When it finally opens, she carries on as though nothing happened.
“The robot had a glitch,” wrote one fan. “Mechanical failure…she even press[ed] the button to keep it open,” wrote another. “She lost the wifi connection,” a fan snarked. “Her program was resetting,” claimed another.
Others joked that Katy is actually a clone or connected the gesture to a secret Illuminati conspiracy. In reality, she was probably just struggling with some extra-strength false eyelash glue.
(NEW YORK) — As the midterm elections approach, sky-high prices for essentials like gas and groceries continue to weigh on U.S. consumers. The price of eggs stands about 30% higher than it did a year ago, while the cost at the pump has spiked 11% over that same period.
In turn, polls show economic concerns remain top of mind for voters, who on this issue tend to distrust the Democratic Party, which has held the White House and Congress as inflation has spiked.
The share of likely voters who say economic issues are the most important concerns facing America stands at 44%, a jump from 36% who said so in July, according to a New York Times/Siena poll released last week. Those economy-focused voters overwhelmingly preferred Republicans, by more than a two-to-one margin, the poll said.
In a similar poll, released by NBC News last month, voters favored Republicans by nearly 20 percentage points on the issue of the economy.
While eye-popping price hikes appear a key driver behind voter preferences for Republicans, the party’s proposals for how to address the rising costs have garnered less attention.
Republican policy ideas for attacking inflation — such as a spending cut and an increase of U.S. oil output — could help reduce inflation, but face difficulty doing so in the short term, economists told ABC News. In some cases, the proposals do not differ significantly from solutions put forward by Democrats, the economists added.
The Federal Reserve, the economists said, plays a more immediate role than Congress in addressing inflation. They also noted that price hikes have pummeled countries across the world, even as they have pursued different policy measures.
Here’s what Republicans say they will do to address inflation, and how economists assess the proposals:
Slash spending
On the campaign trail, many Republican candidates have criticized President Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats for expansive spending, which Republicans say directly led to the spike in prices. Specifically, the Democrats have faced criticism for the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus measure signed into law by Biden in March 2021 in response to the pandemic.
While the Biden measure comprised a major spending package, former President Donald Trump backed even greater coronavirus-related spending, signing into law a package in December 2020 worth $2.3 trillion.
Pandemic-era spending likely did contribute to the current price spike, juicing demand for goods and services while the country faced a shortage of supply, economists said. A spending cut could alleviate some of the pressure on prices and help ensure that it doesn’t get worse, they added.
Democratic leaders have warned that Republican spending cuts could shrink social welfare programs like Medicare and Social Security, which Biden has vowed to preserve.
Maya MacGuineas, the president of the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the government’s borrowing to pay for the spending increase made up the key driver of inflation.
“We’re spending so much and not paying for it — that additional money in the economy has driven inflation,” she said. “Cutting spending is a very desirable way to improve the inflation government that we’re currently in.”
While the Republican Party traditionally touts fiscal responsibility, its recent record on the issue belies that reputation, economists said.
The federal debt grew by almost $7.8 trillion over the course of the Trump administration, the third-largest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, ProPublica reported.
As of last month, Biden had added $4.8 trillion to the federal debt, which outpaces the $2.5 trillion that Trump had incurred at this point in his term, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Ease supply chain bottleneck
In addition to federal spending that has bolstered consumer demand, Republican candidates have targeted a supply chain bottleneck that has curtailed supply.
During the pandemic, COVID-related bottlenecks slowed delivery times and infection fears kept workers on the sidelines, leading to a shortage of goods and workers.
Commitment to America, a plan put forward by Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, laments the “broken supply chain that has increased costs and left store shelves empty.” The plan vows to fix the supply chain issues, including a transfer of additional productive capacity to the U.S. in order to alleviate reliance on China.
The supply chain bottleneck has improved since the height of the pandemic, but remains a driver of high costs, economists said.
Efforts to ease the supply chain blockage and bring more production to the U.S. — which have drawn support from Democrats and Republicans alike — could help lower prices, though in the short term progress on the issue will depend in part on decisions made in other countries, the economists added.
Giacomo Santangelo, an economist at Fordham University, compared the supply chain bottleneck to an air bubble that blocks water from flowing through a pipe. Initially, the blockage stood close to the source of goods, effectively halting the freight ships that transport products, the port workers and truckers who deliver them, and the retail stores that sell them.
Now, that air bubble has moved closer to the mouth of the pipe, as shipping wait times have decreased and retail stores have reopened, Santangelo added.
But ongoing coronavirus-related shutdowns in China remain a key sticking point for the supply chain, spurring bipartisan calls for more production on U.S. soil, the economists said. The CHIPS and Science Act, a measure supported by members of both parties and signed by Biden in August, provides funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
Additional measures pushed by a Republican Congress could help alleviate inflation in the long term, but will not address the role that supply chain bottlenecks in China have played in elevating current prices, John Horn, a professor of practice in economics at Washington University in St. Louis, told ABC News.
“Those changes take a long time to put in place,” Horn said. “To change China’s COVID policy to ramp up production in China — a Republican Congress won’t help with that.”
“A lot of these supply chain bottlenecks elsewhere in the world won’t be able to be affected by Congress,” he added.
Expand U.S. oil and gas production
A major source of frustration over inflation centers on gas prices, which crunch budgets and appear on roadside signs nationwide.
The high prices are due to a shortage of crude oil supply amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as a cut in production imposed by an alliance of oil-producing countries called OPEC+. Meanwhile, a longstanding oil supply shortage endures from a pandemic-induced production slowdown that hasn’t caught up with a bounce back in demand.
For context, the world consumed nearly 100 million barrels of oil each day in August, the most recent month on record, according to the EIA.
The U.S. is set to produce an average of 11.8 million barrels oil per day in 2022, which stands 500,000 barrels short of a record set in 2019, EIA data showed.
“We can attempt to influence gas prices, but gas prices are determined by global markets, which are affected by geopolitical changes,” Santangelo said.
(WASHINGTON) — As Democrats and Republicans wage electoral war for control of Congress and 36 governors’ mansions as well as victory in numerous state and local races, voter ticket-splitting — a trend operatives thought to be nearing its political death or to already be buried — is reemerging in polls as a potential curveball in close races.
In at least 10 states hosting Senate and gubernatorial contests, surveys have for several weeks indicated a sliver of voters bucking the growing trend of party-line ballots. That could prove decisive in narrow elections to determine control in Washington next year and to choose state leaders who’ll shape policy on abortion access, voting rights and more.
Analyses from the Pew Research Center and others had suggested that ticket-splitting, especially in top-ballot races, was on the decline in recent cycles.
“Back in the old days, normally it was 40-40 [percent each] and then the 20% of middle that you’re fighting over. I think that middle area there, where technically you think of ticket-splitters, is substantially less than it used to be. I think it’s probably 92% are pretty predetermined, and then you have probably that 6%, 8%,” said one Ohio GOP strategist.
But amid a confluence of factors, from massive gobs of money thrown into campaigns to fractured party bases to incumbent advantages to candidate quality and more, strategists from both sides of the aisle are forecasting that more voters this cycle than in previous midterms, including in 2018, will choose a Democrat for one race on their ballot and a Republican for another.
“I think that if we are comparing governors’ races to Senate races or to congressional races, you can expect to see a pretty good amount of ticket-splitting,” said Molly Murphy, a Democratic pollster working on several midterm campaigns.
Murphy believes it’s because people want different things out of different offices: “When it comes to … an executive versus a legislator, voters are able to use more varied criteria.”
One study of decades of voting data by the Brookings Institution showed that the correlation is growing stronger between which parties voters choose in congressional races and in presidential contests — meaning voters usually pick the same party. The percent of ticket-splitting, according to this analysis, began to decline into the single digits in 2012.
Yet if the trend returns in November, matching the expectations from swing state polls — a big if, though experts say it’s possible — it would mark a comeback for what had been a somewhat common practice.
FiveThirtyEight’s polling average shows Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general and the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, leading Republican Doug Mastriano by nearly 9 points. Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic Senate candidate, is leading GOP rival Mehmet Oz by less than 3 points.
Georgia features a similar dynamic, where FiveThirty Eight polling averages show GOP Gov. Brian Kemp up over Stacey Abrams by more than 6 points but Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock leading in his reelection bid by 3 points against Republican hopeful Herschel Walker.
In Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is coasting in his campaign against Nan Whaley, with a nearly 20-point lead in polling averages, while Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance is only ahead of Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan by under 2 points.
And in Arizona, GOP firebrand Kari Lake has a slim 1-point edge in the governor’s race against Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs while Sen. Mark Kelly is up by roughly 5 points against the GOP’s Blake Masters.
Ticket-splitting still occurs in modern politics. For instance, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, handily won reelection in 2020 even as Joe Biden romped there. But it is a far cry from the 2000 election cycle, for example, when 10 senators won in states that their parties’ presidential candidates lost.
This year, various themes are at play and none is identical to any other. However, one common thread strategists say is contributing to ticket-splitting is the surge in money being spent on midterm races, leading to heightened awareness of candidates beyond just their party affiliation.
“Voters get to know those candidates and who they are and, therefore, they’re not going to vote party line. They’re gonna vote as to which candidate they prefer,” argues veteran GOP strategist Bob Heckman.
Conversely, however, some Democrats said that in cases of their own ticket-splitting woes — like Whaley lagging Ryan in Ohio — it’s because the entire ticket didn’t fundraise enough to build a profile with voters separate from the party.
“You have Senate races and governors’ races where the Senate race does better than the governor’s race for the Democrats. And what seems to be happening is, overwhelmingly, the governors’ races just don’t raise the same kind of money and they don’t have the same kind of ability to reach voters,” one Democratic strategist said.
“And that disparity means that in Senate races, you can inspire people at the local level all over the country to give $20, $30 to your campaign. But it’s very hard to persuade someone in New York that what happens in the Oregon governor’s race matters to them,” this person added.
The midterms are also taking place as both parties’ bases continue to transform and, especially among Republicans, fracture further.
Democrats’ years-long divide between moderates and progressives has played out for several cycles. Now, GOP politicians in swing states are choosing how to angle their appeals — either to Donald Trump-aligned voters or to more centrist suburbanites who used to make up the GOP’s core and who have been key in some past races.
In several states, Republicans like DeWine, Kemp and Oz, whose brands are somewhat removed from the former president, are outpacing their more populist counterparts. And while some MAGA candidates like Lake are still polling strongly, surveys indicate the need for a broad appeal in a statewide race.
“What you’re looking at as far as tickets-splitters, [they] are probably going to come from the suburbs … those folks that voted Republican but weren’t all that keen on Trump,” one Ohio GOP strategist said. “That’s where you see DeWine with anywhere from a 15-19-point lead right now, and then the race for the U.S. Senate is much smaller.”
“I think there will be a lot more Shapiro-Oz voters than there will be Mastriano-Fetterman voters. And there’s starting to be a little bit more of a separation between Mastriano and Oz. I think they’ll do pretty much the same with Republicans, maybe Mastriano a little bit better than Oz. But then I think among independents and Democrats, you’ll see Oz doing better than Mastriano,” a Pennsylvania Republican strategist added.
Beyond ticket-splitting, the diverging party bases could also lead to what Jarrod Loadholt, a partner in the Ice Miller law firm’s public affairs branch who lives in Georgia, dubbed “ticket sitting.”
“I feel like there are very strong views of Brian Kemp in certain corners of the state, just like I think there are very strong views of Stacey Abrams. There are strong views of Herschel Walker, but I think there are strong views on both sides such that Republicans may skip that race altogether, and they just vote for Brian Kemp,” Loadholt, who supports Warnock and Abrams, told ABC News.
“I do think the combination of ticket-splitters and ‘ticket sitters’ will play a role in the ultimate outcome of this race, absolutely. And yes, there is a Warnock-Kemp voter,” he said.
Election cycle fundamentals are also certainly influencing the potential for ticket-splitting, strategists insist.
Incumbents often have an advantage owing to higher name identification, more well-known records and beefier war chests that make it easier to reach voters — a dynamic that could help explain polling leads for both Kemp and Warnock. And, some of the operatives note, female candidates often get examined under a different set of standards than their male counterparts, which could be hurting Abrams.
And while subjective opinions like on “candidate quality” are often made in the eye of the beholder, such judgements are still set to play a role — however unquantifiable — in November, the race experts said.
“I think ultimately there are gonna be some people who voted for Trump in ’16 and ’20 and they’ll go vote for Warnock because they may like him for X number of reasons around insulin, like he’s made a big deal about [the cost of] insulin at rural hospitals. But they may be Trump people, so they’re not Kemp people,” said Loadholt.
“Voters themselves can be far more candidate-driven and less ‘ideological’ than hardcore observers of politics and hardcore ideological folks,” he said. “There are lots of voters who are ‘feel voters,’ they vote based on what they feel.”
It’s been rumored that Rihanna is contributing music to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, and now a new teaser is adding fuel to the fire.
The short clip posted to the Black Panther and Marvel Studios social pages shows the film’s title and then isolates the first “R” in “Forever.” Under the R appears a date: 10.28.22, which is this Friday.
The “R,” it would seem, is for Rihanna, but in usual Marvel secrecy, that has yet to be officially confirmed. If true, this marks the first new music from Rihanna since her 2016 album, Anti.
Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — When Adidas announced on Tuesday that it had terminated its relationship with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, the company put a price tag on how much the move would cost: Up to $246 million in profits this year.
Yeezy, a footwear and apparel partnership between Ye and Adidas that launched in 2015, will end its business immediately over hateful speech and actions undertaken by the rapper, Adidas said in a statement on Tuesday. The company will stop production of all Adidas Yeezy products and halt payments to Ye, the statement added.
The costs could reach in the hundreds of millions in part because Adidas could pull Yeezy products from shelves in brick-and-mortar stores and online, losing revenue from potential sales, apparel industry experts told ABC News.
Moreover, the severing of ties coincides with the holiday season, when companies carry a large amount of inventory in anticipation of busy end-of-year traffic, Bob Antoshak, a consultant and 30-year industry veteran, told ABC News.
“If they pull products from shelves, they’ll have a lot more product to write off than they would for other quarters,” he said “If it was the first quarter of next year, it wouldn’t be anywhere near that.”
Adidas faced increasing pressure to cut ties with Ye in recent weeks after the rapper made antisemitic comments on Twitter, podcasts and interviews.
Earlier this month, Ye also stoked controversy after appearing at a surprise show in Paris wearing a T-shirt bearing the phrase “White Lives Matter,” which the Anti-Defamation League has labeled as hate speech and has been promoted by white supremacist groups.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the company said in a press release. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
The company declined to respond to ABC News’ request for more details about costs incurred by the business split.
Clothing retailer Gap, which also retained a partnership with Yeezy, ended that arrangement in September, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that it is taking immediate steps to remove Yeezy Gap products from its stores.
“Antisemitism, racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values,” Gap said in the statement.
Last year, Yeezy was valued at between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion by Switzerland-based investment bank UBS, Bloomberg reported.
The Yeezy line accounts for roughly $1 billion to $2 billion in annual sales for Adidas, according to Evercore ISI analyst Omar Saad.
The financial losses incurred by Adidas also owe to ongoing projects that must be scrapped, which likely include arrangements already established with manufacturers, Saheli Goswami, a professor of textiles, fashion merchandising and design at Rhode Island University, told ABC News.
“If Adidas was working with a supplier to get products developed for next season, now that existing business tie needs to be stopped,” she said. “The question becomes: Who will bear the cost?”
Despite the financial hit incurred by a potential loss of merchandise, Adidas minimized the damage to its reputation by severing ties with Ye, said Antoshak, the industry consultant.
“From the business perspective, the longer the relationship continued — and it was a toxic relationship — it would end up costing the company more,” he said.
Adidas, a German company, faced added scrutiny because of heightened concern over antisemitism in its home country, Goswami said. In Germany, individuals who make antisemitic comments online can face prosecution.
Goswami applauded the move by Adidas but said the company shouldn’t expect consumers to grant the decision similar acclaim.
“You don’t get a medal for doing the right thing but you can be harshly criticized if you don’t,” she said. “It matters to your future business relationship around how consumers perceive you.”
