Demi Lovato is giving others some grace when it comes to learning their new pronouns.
In a message posted to Instagram, Demi writes, “If you misgender me, that’s okay. I accidentally misgender myself sometimes! It’s a huge transition to change the pronouns I’ve used for myself my entire life. And it’s difficult to remember sometimes!”
They continue, “As long as you keep trying to respect my truth, and as long as I remember my truth, the shift will come naturally. I’m just grateful for your effort in trying to remember what means so much to my healing process.”
Demi explains in the caption that they felt the need to post this message “because I often find that the change in pronouns can be confusing for some, and difficult to remember for others.”
The singer says “it’s all about your intention,” adding, “It’s important to me that you try, but if you make a mistake, it’s okay.”
This week marks Non-Binary Awareness Week. Demi came out as non-binary, changing their pronouns to they/them, in May.
St. Vincent has announced a streaming concert special, set to premiere August 4.
The virtual show, titled Down and Out Downtown, will feature the live debuts of songs off St. Vincent’s new album, Daddy’s Home, as well as “new arrangements of hits and deep cuts.”
A trailer for the special includes snippets of Daddy’s Home songs, as well as renditions of older tunes including “Los Ageless” and “Cheerleader” reworked with St. Vincent’s new backing band. You can watch that streaming now on YouTube.
Down and Out Downtown will stream via the platform Moment House. For ticket info, visit MomentHouse.com/StVincent.
Daddy’s Home, the sixth St. Vincent album, was released in May. It includes the lead single “Pay Your Way in Pain.”
In Flames is no longer taking part in the Metal Tour of the Year.
On Tuesday, the Swedish metallers announced that they’re dropping off the stacked bill, which also includes Megadeth, Lamb of God and Trivium, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were looking forward to playing for you all and this was an unbelievably hard choice to make,” a statement from the band reads. “Thank you for understanding and your support as we all get through this unprecedented time.”
“We have a lot of things in the works for 2022 — more on that shortly,” they add. “Stay safe and we’ll see you on the road again soon!”
In place of In Flames, Hatebreed has now joined the lineup.
The Metal Tour of the Year, which was previously scheduled to launch in 2020, will kick off August 20 in Austin.
(WASHINGTON) — Texas Democrats spent Tuesday in Washington pressuring Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation and calling for an exception to the Senate’s filibuster rule blocking Democrats from moving forward with a measure they say would stop GOP-led efforts to restrict voting in Texas and nationwide.
The state lawmakers were expected to meet with a key Democrat who has resisted changing the filibuster rule requiring 60 votes to advance legislation — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. He and Arizona Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema are playing a pivotal role in the ongoing congressional negotiations over a national voting rights bill.
It is unclear if the Texas Democrats will hold meetings with Sinema. If both she and Manchin were to agree to an exception to the rule — Senate Democrats with their 50 votes, along with Vice President Kamala Harris — could pass the bill congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden have made a top priority.
Biden was making his case in a high-profile speech in Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon.
“If you can have a carve-out for a right-wing Supreme Court justice, why can’t you have a carve-out to protect the very fundamentals of our democracy?” State Rep. Chris Turner said at a Capitol Hill news conference, referring to making an exception to the filibuster for voting rights.
“If Mitch McConnell did a carve-out for Amy Coney Barrett, then we ought to do a carve-out for the black and brown people that live in Texas, Georgia, Florida, that live in all these states trying to make it harder for our constituents to exercise their right to vote,” State Rep. Marc Veasey added. “Time is of the essence. We cannot wait. States are going to start to ramp up these efforts.”
More than 50 Texas House Democrats fled the state Monday evening, depriving the state legislature of a quorum, and must now remain out of Texas for the duration of the ongoing special legislative session, which ends on August 6.
In their absence from the Austin state capitol on Tuesday, a majority of Republican House lawmakers passed a procedural measure that allows authorities to go out and find the absent Democrat House members.
Texas law authorities may even utilize arrest warrants in their efforts to compel the lawmakers back, if such action is deemed necessary. However, it remains unclear whether this order can affect the Democrats while they are out of state and outside of the jurisdiction of Texas law enforcement.
The state legislators pointed to the spread of what they called former President Donald Trump’s ‘big lie’ that falsely asserts his claim of winning the 2020 election as a partial catalyst for their decision to leave their home state.
“We are not going to buckle to the ‘big lie’ in the state of Texas — the ‘big lie’ that has resulted in anti-democratic legislation throughout the United States,” Mexican American Legislative Caucus Chair Rafael Anchía said.
Texas House Dean Senfronia Thompson further echoed Anchia’s comments and put a spotlight on the impact revisions to voting access in her state would have on people of color.
“I’m not here to take a vacation in Washington, D.C. When I looked at the African American Museum, I thought about the struggle my people fought in this country to get the right to vote. And that right is sacred to my constituents that I represent in Houston, Texas, and I’m up here because I don’t plan to be a sitting person in that legislature,” Thompson said.
Seventeen states had enacted 28 new laws that restrict access to the vote, as of June 21, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The latest versions of Republican-backed legislation aimed at revising Texas voting and election laws included several provisions that voting rights advocates say would detrimentally affect the abilities of people of color to vote.
Among them are provisions that appear to be aimed at practices utilized by Democrat-leaning Harris County during the 2020 election. Both bills ban 24-hour voting availability, which offered greater ballot access to Houston-area shift workers when implemented in the fall. Each of the proposals coming from the Republican majorities in the Texas House and Senate also aim to end drive-thru voting, another popular voting method in the diverse county.
Additionally, the dual bills included provisions that granted expanded access to partisan poll watchers, which voting rights advocates decried for potentially opening the door to in-person voter intimidation.
On Monday, Texas Democrats did not indicate specific plans for what they aim to do after the special session ends. They also did not directly offer insight into whether they intend to continue breaking quorum going forward, given that GOP Gov. Abbott has the power to call for as many special legislative sessions as he wants.
“We know that’s exactly what he’s going to do, we went in his eyes wide open,” Texas House Democratic Chair Turner told reporters.
“Our intent is to stay out and kill this bill this session, and use the intervening time — I think 24 or 25 days now — before the other session to implore the folks in this building behind us to pass federal voting rights legislation to protect voters in Texas and across the country,” he added.
Vice President Harris will meet sometime this week with the Texas legislators, according to an official in Harris’ office.
One day before the next court hearing on Britney Spears‘ conservatorship, the headline-making documentary about her has received two Emmy nominations.
Framing Britney Spears, produced by The New York Times for FX and Hulu, has been nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program.
The doc, which first aired in February, focused on how the media, especially the tabloids and the paparazzi, framed Britney in a negative, often misogynistic light, while allowing the men in her orbit, like her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, to emerge unscathed from the spotlight’s blinding glare.
The documentary also examined the #FreeBritney movement and focused new attention on her conservatorship, which has been in place since 2008. Britney is now trying to have her father Jamie Spears removed from his role as conservator of her estate, and has also asked for the conservatorship itself to be terminated.
Britney and those involved with the conservatorship, which the singer has deemed “abusive,” are expected to appear in court Wednesday for the next step in what appears to be shaping up to be lengthy process.
Shelley, the artist formerly known as DRAM, sat down with Complex to talk about his recent name change and hisalbum, Shelley FKA DRAM.
Shelley is the artist’s government name. He says the change “was symbolic to the changes that I made in my musical direction, as well as my lifestyle in general.”
Shelley gained international success under the stage name Big Baby DRAM with hits like “Cha Cha,” “Broccoli” and more. He believes the name DRAM came with a “certain stigma” and limited his versatility as an artist.
“I felt like a wide range of styles and sounds were being overshadowed by the few records of mine that were extremely popular,” he explains. “As grateful as I am for the success of those records, I still thought many people judged the totality of my art based on those records alone.”
Shelley was also shocked by the positive responses he received over his recent album, Shelley FKA DRAM, which ranked at #3 on Complex’s “Best Albums of 2021 (So Far)” list. The 10-track blessing features appearances from R&B vocalists Summer Walker, Erykah Badu, H.E.R.,and WATT.
“I’m both surprised and ecstatic from the overall responses from my fans as well as my peers,” Shelley tells Complex. “It seems as though this musical path that I’m on is exactly what my day ones have been waiting for from me.”
David Byrne’s American Utopia, the Spike Lee-directed TV special presenting former Talking Heads singer David Byrne‘s critically acclaimed Broadway show of the same name, will vie for honors in six categories at the 2021 primetime Emmy Awards.
The program, which premiered on HBO and HBO Max in October 2020, has been nominated for trophies for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Musical Direction, and in three technical categories.
The American Utopia show features Byrne accompanied by 11 musicians, dancers and singers who move freely about an almost-empty stage. The production includes monologues by David connecting performances of songs from his 2018 American Utopia album, as well as Talking Heads songs and several other Byrne solo tunes.
The TV shows receiving the most Emmy nods this year are Netflix’s The Crown and the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian, which both scored 24 nominations.
You can find the full list of nominees at Emmys.com.
The 73rd Emmys will be held live and in person on Sunday, September 19, airing at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — The Minnesota Wild has announced they have bought out forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Sutter.
Both signed identical 13-year, 98 million dollar contracts in July 2012.
“Zach and Ryan have been an integral part of the Wild’s success over the past nine years and we’ll always be grateful for their many contributions,” said general manager Bill Guerin. “There were numerous factors that entered into the difficult decision to buy out their contracts, but primarily these moves are a continuation of the transformation of our roster aimed at the eventual goal of winning a Stanley Cup.”
The buyouts will cost the Wild $1.66 million per year for the next eight years, according to CapFriendly.
Prior to today the #MNWild did not have any dead cap hits, this is how their dead cap hit section is now updated with the buyouts pic.twitter.com/YMl6gj4Az2
The moves save the Wild $10.3 million this season and $2.3 million next season.
Parise recorded scored 199 goals and recorded 201 assists in 558 regular-season games. He is the franchise leader in power-play goals and ranks third in goals and total scoring. This past season, Parise finished with seven goals and 11 assists in 45 games.
Sutter scored 55 goals and assisted on another 314 in 656 regular-season games. He is the franchise leader in assists and total scoring for a defenseman. Sutter finished with three goals and 16 assists in 56 games.
The pair will become unrestricted free agents on July 28.
The awards show isn’t until September, but Pose star Mj Rodriguez has already made Emmys history.
The actress was nominated for best actress in a drama series Tuesday morning, becoming the first trans actress to ever garner an Emmy nod in a leading acting category.
In 2014, Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox became the first transgender person to ever be nominated for an acting Emmy; Rain Valdez, creator and star of the short Razor Tongue, became the second last year. Neither Cox nor Valdez won.
Last year, Pose fans voiced their frustrations that the series’ transgender stars were snubbed on Emmy nominations day. Pose actor Billy Porter, however, was nominated for best actor in a drama series; Jeremy Strong of Succession went on to win the category.
Rodriguez has not yet commented on her groundbreaking nomination, though GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis called it “a long-overdue recognition for her groundbreaking performance.”
Ellis continued, “Additionally, the show’s nomination for outstanding drama series, as well as Billy Porter’s third nomination for outstanding lead actor in a drama series, mark a historic show that undoubtedly raised the bar for trans representation on television and changed the way viewers around the world understand the trans community.”
“As over 40 leading LGBTQ organizations pointed out in our open letter about Pose to Emmy Award voters [last month], representation matters. Congratulations, Michaela Jaé, Billy Porter, and the entire Pose team — the world is standing with you and applauding your talents.”
Killswitch Engage has announced a streaming concert taking place August 6.
The virtual show, which will be filmed at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts, will feature full album performances of KsE’s latest effort, 2019’s Atonement, as well as their 2000 self-titled debut. A press release promises that the concert will also feature “a few surprises along the way.”
“I hope everyone who watches enjoys this as much as we did making it,” says frontman Jesse Leach. “Aside from the music, the laughter and funny moments were an equal part of the experience. The whole package really feels like a Killswitch experience and we’re stoked for everyone to see and hear it.”
Meanwhile, Leach and Killswitch guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz are releasing a new album with their side project Times of Grace called Songs of Loss and Separation this Friday, July 16.
