The Oscar-winning actress has shared her review of the new documentary The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel, in an Instagram post. It begins, in all caps, “HOLY S***! THIS IS MIND BLOWING! I AM F****** MOTIVATED!”
The film, which premiered Friday on Netflix, is about the early days of RHCP and specifically focuses on the artistic vision of original guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died in 1988. It includes interviews with frontman Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea.
“Am stunned at the depth of these friendships, the saving grave of friends connecting through music and the transformation that one person can give another,” Curtis’ post reads. “Also the pain and suffering of addiction, the miracle of recovery and mostly the PUNK FUNK ROCK OF BEING ALIVE!”
Following the doc’s original announcement, the Peppers clarified that the film is not a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary and that they “had nothing to do with it creatively.” The band added that Kiedis and Flea gave interviews for the movie “out of love and respect for Hillel and his memory.”
“We have not yet made a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary,” the statement read. “The central subject of this current Netflix special is Hillel Slovak and we hope it sparks interest in him and his work.”
Toni Braxton (C) performs with dancers during a stop of the New Edition Way tour at T-Mobile Arena on January 30, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Toni Braxton has posted a message in an attempt to un-break the hearts of those who attended the New Edition Way tour stop in Minneapolis Sunday. The singer, who co-headlines the trek with New Edition and Boyz II Men, explained in an Instagram Story on Monday why her set ended abruptly.
“My loves, I am so sorry I wasn’t able to finish the show last night. I had an unexpected personal emergency and had no choice but to step away,” she wrote. “You deserved my everything and I hate that I couldn’t give it to you. I feel your love from here. Thank you for understanding.”
Toni kicked off the New Edition Way tour on Jan. 28.
No further details were released regarding the shortened set, though Toni has been open about her experience living with systemic lupus erythematosus. She had emergency heart surgery in 2022.
A Justin Bieber fan from Mexico has earned a Guinness World Record title for a very specific feat: “most Justin Bieber songs identified from their lyrics in one minute.” The fan, Luisa Fernanda Diazayas Tenorio, named 33 of Justin’s songs in just 60 seconds, beating the previous record of 29.
Madonna is currently in Venice, Italy, filming the new season of the Apple TV series The Studio. She shared a video on Instagram of herself riding in a gondola and lip-syncing to her hit “Like a Virgin,” the video for which was also filmed in Venice. Joining her in the gondola was actress Julia Garner, who is rumored to be playing the Queen of Pop in an upcoming project.
New dad Charlie Puth is set to appear as the next guest on TikTok In The Mix, a new interview show hosted by Jack Coyne. Charlie’s episode premieres live tonight, Monday, at 5:30 p.m. PT on @TikTok.
During a recent appearance on the YouTube series Hot Ones, country superstar Luke Combs shared that he learned a lot about singing by listening to the Backstreet Boys. When the show reposted that clip, the group’s official Instagram account responded, “Thanks for the love, bro!” while members Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough gave Luke their own thanks. Fans then chimed in, calling for the Backstreet Boys to appear on Hot Ones, where celebrities answer a series of questions while eating progressively spicier wings.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge is allowing the release of deposition videos of two former DOGE staffers, ruling that the risk of “embarrassment and reputational harm” is not enough to overcome the public interest in the videos.
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon on Monday lifted an earlier order requiring a group of nonprofits to remove the videos from the internet after lawyers with the Justice Department argued that the former Department of Government Efficiency staffers faced threats because of the depositions’ release.
While Judge McMahon acknowledged that the former staffers faced threats, she said the DOJ could not prove a “particularized harm” to the former staffers that would overcome the public interest in their official conduct as government employees.
“Here, the testimony in the videos concerns the conduct of public officials acting in their official capacities — a context in which the public interest in transparency and accountability is at its apex,” she wrote.
Judge McMahon concluded that ordering the videos removed would have little impact on the alleged threats because the videos had been already shared hundreds of thousands of times online.
The DOJ, she said, failed to prove that ordering the removal of the videos “would materially reduce the alleged risk of harm or embarrassment.”
“The videos have already been widely disseminated across multiple platforms, including YouTube, X, TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit, where they have been shared, reposted, and viewed by at least hundreds of thousands of users, resulting in near-instantaneous and effectively permanent global distribution,” she said.
“This is a predictable consequence of dissemination in the modern digital environment, where content can be copied, redistributed, and indefinitely preserved beyond the control of any single actor,” wrote the judge.
“This decision validates our position that the publication of the videos, which document a process to destroy knowledge and access to vital public programs, was indeed in the public’s interest,” said Joy Connolly, president of the American Council of Learned Societies, one of the nonprofits that released the videos. “We look forward to continuing the pursuit of justice in reclaiming government support for important humanities research, education, and sustainability initiatives.”
The videos were initially released as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit related to the funding cuts carried out by DOGE as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to trim the size of the federal government. In the videos, two former DOGE staffer. — Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh — were questioned about their push to cut more than $100 million in humanities grants, and acknowledged they used DEI keywords and ChatGPT to identify grants to eliminate.
“You don’t regret that people might have lost important income … to support their lives?” an attorney asked one of the staffers about the grant cancellations.
“No. I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit from $2 trillion to close to zero,” the staffer said.
“Did you reduce the federal deficit?” the attorney asked.
A mail-in ballot issued by Hudson County, New Jersey, for the 2024 U.S. general election is seen on September 22, 2024, in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Gary Hershorn/ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday appeared sympathetic to arguments by the Republican National Committee seeking to limit the counting of mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, even if they were postmarked on or before.
Many justices voiced concerns about a Mississippi law being challenged by the RNC for allowing tabulation of absentee ballots that arrive as late as five days after polls close. “Both sides agree there needs to be a final decision by the voter and receipt [of the ballot] — by somebody — by Election Day,” said Justice Neil Gorsuch. “I think the disagreement is receipt by whom.”
For more than a century, Congress has established the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the day for election of members of the House, Senate, and presidential electors, in specified years.
Republicans argue that the term “election” means both “ballot submission and receipt” by state election officials. Mississippi and several voter advocacy groups defending the state law insist “election” means when voters make their “choice” by marking and submitting their ballots to a mailbox, drop box, or polling place.
“I think if you were looking at the text in isolation — day for the election — your first instinct might be in-person voting on that day, is what that text literally meant,” posited Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who sounded skeptical of the state law.
Thirty states plus D.C. have measures providing a grace period for voters, including military service members overseas, who rely on the Postal Service or other commercial letter carriers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Justice Samuel Alito suggested that allowing each state to set its own policy for late -arriving ballots has created challenges for administering a national election. “We don’t have Election Day anymore. We have election month or we have election months,” he said, skeptically.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett raised the potentially thorny prospect of states allowing voters to recall — or, change — their ballots once mailed. “Would that be illegal?” she asked Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart. He said he was unaware of any instance of that happening.
The court’s three liberal justices were largely united in support of states’ ability to develop their own voting guidelines, pushing back on claims by lawyers for the RNC and Trump administration, which has advocated for “getting rid of mail-in ballots” altogether.
“The Constitution vests the issue of elections in states, unless superseded by Congress,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “If there is a policy he people who should decide this issue is not the courts.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted that, despite decades of precedent of states counting some timely-cast but late-arriving ballots, Congress has never sought to override the laws. “The idea of votes being cast and counted after an election is not new,” she said.
Justice Elena Kagan warned that the Republicans’ rationale for eliminating some mail-in ballots could also implicate early voting. “How are you not taking issue with early voting?” she asked RNC attorney Paul Clement. “You say casting and receipt [of ballots] has to be on Election Day.”
“These things have to be consummated by Election Day,” Clement replied.
“Once we go down this road,” said Kagan, “where are we going to end up?”
Most Americans, 58%, support allowing any voter to cast a ballot by mail, according to a Pew Research Center survey late last year. But there is sharp division among parties, with 83% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters favoring mail-voting with 68% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters opposed.
In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that attempted to cut federal election funding to states that have mail ballot receipt grace periods, but it has largely been blocked by federal courts for now.
Trump has also been pushing Republicans in Congress to approve the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, which would — in part — outlaw voting by mail for anyone without a legitimate excuse, such as military service, illness, or disability, making it impossible to vote in person.
In a nod to Trump and fraud concerns raised by many conservatives, Justice Kavanaugh suggested late-arriving ballots might “open up a risk of what might destabilize election results” — namely, a swing in election outcome as tardy votes are tabulated.
“Is that a real concern?” Kavanaugh asked Stewart. “Does that factor into how we think about how to resolve the scant text and the maybe conflicting or 21 evolving history here?”
“I certainly respect the perception,” replied Stewart, a Republican. “I think one thing notable in this case and I think helpful is that there has not been much of a showing about actual fraud from post-Election Day ballot receipt itself.”
Hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots in the 2024 general election arrived after Election Day but were still legally counted that year across 22 states and territories with a post-election grace period, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commssion.
Data on which party benefitted more from those ballots is not clear, neither is the impact of any possible changes to mail ballot rules following a Court decision.
Voting rights advocates warn that an abrupt change in policy could lead to widespread rejection of ballots that were properly cast by well-intended voters but experienced unintended delivery delays by the Postal Service or other circumstances.
Republicans insist there is ample time to educate the public on timely submission of mail-in ballots ahead of the November vote and that limiting late-arriving ballots could bolster election integrity.
A decision from the high court is expected by the end of June.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, nominee to be Secretary of Homeland Security, testifies during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 18, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate is set to vote to confirm Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday night.
The vote comes amid backlash over the immigration crackdown and deportations under DHS as well as the ongoing partial shutdown of the department.
A simple majority is needed to confirm Mullin for the job; he is expected to be approved.
Mullin, a first-term Republican senator and ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, will take over DHS with little homeland security experience. During his confirmation hearing last week, Mullin said that he will work hard to earn the respect of people at the department.
“I’ll work beside them every single day to not just secure a homeland, to bring peace of mind and confidence to the agency. My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day. My goal is for people to understand we’re out there, we’re protecting them, and we’re working with them,” Mullin said at his confirmation hearing.
Mullin’s confirmation vote comes during ongoing DHS partial shutdown — with employees of Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies under DHS not getting paid.
Travelers are experiencing long TSA lines at airports around the country during a busy spring travel season as TSA agents call out. Sunday set a new record with the highest call out rate from TSA officers since the partial government shutdown began at 11.76%, according to newly released data by the agency.
President Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he would send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports starting on Monday to assist TSA officers.
Trump nominated Mullin to lead the agency earlier this month, after firing Secretary Kristi Noem. His decision came after a week of disastrous hearings on Capitol Hill for Noem and questions about her personal and professional relationships while leading DHS.
Noem has faced criticism over her handling of ICE operations in Minneapolis after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement. She was removed from leading operations in Minnesota following the scrutiny, and Border Czar Tom Homan was sent in to take over.
Noem later walked back her comments, claiming she did not have all of the facts at the time.
“I think I said this privately when we had a conversation. Those words probably should have been retracted. I shouldn’t have said that,” Mullin said to Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, adding he was “responding immediately without the facts.”
“That’s my fault. That won’t happen as secretary,” Mullin said.
Homan told ABC News’ Kyra Phillips on Monday that he is behind Mullin and looks forward to working with him as DHS secretary.
“We talk every day, if not several times a day. I think he’s the right guy, the right time and the right job,” Homan said. “I think he’s going to come in and you can work across the aisle, and I think, I think we got a lot of good things coming in the near future.”
Scooter Ward of Cold performs at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, September 12, 2003. (Frank Mullen/WireImage)
Cold has canceled and postponed a number of dates on the band’s upcoming tour due to frontman Scooter Ward’s mother recovering from a stroke.
Ward reveals in an Instagram post that his mother suffered the stroke in January while he was visiting for the holidays.
“She ended up pulling through but it’s been a rough couple of months for her during recovery,” Ward writes. “I’m forever thankful and blessed she’s still with us. She’s finally now feeling a bit better and things are looking a bit more positive.”
“I extended my stay to help facilitate all the things necessary to make both my parents lives easier during this time and to help where I could with all the day to day things,” he continues. “With that said, I had to make the decision to delay the start of the tour.”
The affected dates were originally scheduled for between April 15 and May 2. The Instagram post lists all of the canceled shows, as well as the new dates for the rescheduled ones.
Photo taken on Aug. 12, 2024 shows the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange NYSE in New York, the United States. (Liu Yanan/Xinhua via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial average closed up more than 600 points on Monday after President Donald Trump claimed “productive conversations” had been held between the United States and Iran.
The major stock indexes each soared more than 2% in early trading but gave up some of those gains as a flurry of headlines about the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran elicited price fluctuations.
The peace talks — which Iranian officials denied — sent the price of oil plunging on Monday on hopes that negotiations could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end a weeks-long global energy shock.
The Dow closed up 631 points or 1.3%, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 1.3%.
Each of the indexes remained below where it stood before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began on Feb. 28.
A selloff cascaded across global markets in recent weeks as stockholders feared economic fallout from a potentially prolonged bout of elevated oil prices.
Global oil prices plunged more than 10% on Monday after Trump made his claim about ongoing negotiations with Iran. Still, the price of oil stood above $100 a barrel, marking a steep rise since the outbreak of war.
Trump, after postponing U.S. strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure citing new negotiations with Tehran, said on Monday that talks will continue and that there are “major points of agreement.”
According to Iranian state media, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf said, “no talks with the U.S. have taken place; reports claiming otherwise are fake news aimed at influencing financial and oil markets and distracting from the challenges facing the U.S. and Israel.”
Behati Prinsloo and Adam Levine attend the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Nov. 3, 2023 (Disney/Michael J. LeBrecht II)
If you ever wondered whether or not famous musicians actually sing at their own weddings, Adam Levine has revealed that he did croon at least one tune at his nuptials — with some help from a two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.
In an advance clip of Monday night’s episode of The Voice, contestants Drew Russell and Jared Shoemaker sing the song “Leather and Lace.” The song is a duet between Stevie Nicks, who wrote the song, and her ex-boyfriend Don Henley of The Eagles. It hit the top 10 in January 1982.
Reacting to the performance, Adam says, “This song to me is just a heavyweight champion of songs in my life. Like, I sang this song, with Stevie Nicks, to my wife at our wedding.” Fellow judge Kelly Clarkson reacts, “What?”
“I did. That happened. It really happened,” Adam laughed. “I think it really happened. I pinch myself sometimes.”
Adam went on to praise the contestants’ performance as “so beautiful.”
Stevie was a guest mentor for Adam’s team on The Voice back in 2012. When Adam and his wife, Behati Prinsloo, wed in 2014, she was invited to perform. Stevie eventually joined Adam’s band Maroon 5 on the song “Remedy” on their 2021 album, Jordi.
You can check out Hudson Westbrook’s debut appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show on Tuesday. Check your local listings to see when it airs in your area.
Justin Moore’s 17-track Greatest Hits… Moore to Come is out now, including the version of his latest hit, “Time’s Ticking,” that features Dierks Bentley, as well as classic tracks like “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.”
Jelly Roll is out with “Lighter,” a song produced by Canadian songwriter and producer Cirkut that features him singing with Mexican artist Carín León. It’s from the Official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Album, and it’s meant to represent all three of the tournament’s host nations.
