Sean Penn is already famous for speaking his mind, and he’s apparently done so again, while promoting his new film Flag Day.
“I am in the club that believes that men in American culture have become wildly feminized,” the actor and activist, 61, told the UK-based publication The i.
Admitting he’s “frustrated with the world,” Penn explained, “I don’t think that being a brute or having insensitivity or disrespect for women is anything to do with masculinity, or ever did. But I don’t think that [in order] to be fair to women, we should become them.”
While some in Hollywood might backpedal in a subsequent chance to speak to the media, the Licorice Pizza supporting player attempted to explain his comments by telling the UK’s The Independent, “There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt.”
He added, “I have these very strong women in my life who do not take masculinity as a sign of oppression toward them.”
The comments left the multiple Oscar nominee’s 30-year-old daughter Dylan, his co-star in Flag Day, “quiet, staring into space,” the interviewer noted.
Two days before his death — September 16, 1970 — Jimi Hendrix showed up unannounced at famed London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s and got onstage with Eric Burdon and War. Now we’re able to hear that performance — his last one ever — in a new documentary called Ronnie‘s.
The doc tells the history of saxophonist Ronnie Scott and his club, which opened in 1959 and became one of the most famous musical venues in London. The film features previously unseen and unheard performances by music icons like Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as rockers like Van Morrison.
The audio from a bootleg tape of the Hendrix performance, as well as interviews with the people who were there that night, are also included. As War guitarist Howard E. Scott relates in a clip from the film, that night at Ronnie’s, the band has started playing a blues cover called “Mother Earth” when he saw Jimi coming towards the stage, guitar in hand.
“Jimi lit into a guitar solo, I mean, me and Jimi were just cuttin’ the place up, we were tearin’ it up, just me and him, back and forth, back and forth…great night,” Scott recalls. “The next night, we got word that after the set, Jimi had died. It was a terrible, terrible thought right then, that I was the last guitarist to play with him.”
You can watch an excerpt from the movie that includes the audio at Rolling Stone. Ronnie’s opens in select theaters and on-demand on February 11.
In a letter addressed to “anyone afraid to love” she posted Thursday on Instagram, Lara wrote that “unconditional love is the greatest of gifts.”
“My dad loved with everything he had. He had so many reasons to be scared to love,” she said. “Instead of being scared, he loved more. I am beyond grateful to receive and to give that love. Love completely and be kind. Of all the lessons he taught me, these feel the biggest.”
The heartwarming message was shared alongside a photo of Lara on a set as a kid, with her face pressed up against her dad’s as she grabs his shirt.
Lara is one of three daughters Saget shared with ex-wife Sherri Kramer; she has an older sister, Aubrey, and a younger sister, Jennifer.
Kelly Rizzo, the Full House alum’s widow, responded in the comments section of Lara’s post by writing, “I love you forever, Lara.”
Rizzo opened up about Saget’s death on January 9 at the age of 65, in a recent interview with Good Morning America. Rizzo said the comedian had “the biggest heart.”
“He just wanted to spread love and laughter, and he did it so amazingly, and I’m just so proud of him because he truly brought people together,” she told GMA.
Rizzo, who married Saget in 2018 after three years of dating, added: “He was just so wonderful, and I was just so honored to be his wife and to be able to be a part of it and bring him any bit of happiness that I could because he deserved it so much.”
Volbeat will miss their show with Ghost Friday in Nampa, Idaho, due to drummer Jon Larsen testing positive for COVID-19.
“Jon is asymptomatic and feeling fine,” the Danish rockers write in an Instagram post. “We’re hopeful he will be back behind the kit soon.”
The show is part of Volbeat’s ongoing co-headlining tour with Ghost, which just kicked off earlier this week. Ghost and opener Twin Temple will still play tonight, though Volbeat fans who no longer wish to attend may receive a refund at point of purchase.
Volbeat plans to return to the tour for Saturday’s show in Portland with former Slayer drummer Jon Dette taking over for Larsen until he’s “cleared to return.”
(NEW YORK) — There’s growing concern among union leaders in Boston that a “disproportionate” number of educators of color may leave their jobs because of a vaccine mandate for city employees.
“We are very concerned about the possibility of losing a disproportionate number of educators of color in Boston over the vaccine policy,” Boston Teachers Union President Jessica Tang told ABC News.
Last month, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced that all city employees would be required to have their first shot of COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 15 and complete the cycle by Feb. 15, unless granted a dispensation for medical or religious reasons. However, the Jan. 15 deadline was subsequently extended to Jan. 24 and again to Jan. 30.
City employees who refuse to comply will be placed on unpaid leave.
But with the vaccination policy set to go into effect next week, the Massachusetts Appeals Court on Thursday issued a temporary pause of Boston’s requirement for city workers after serious pushback from unions.
Over the past several months, teachers unions across the country, including in Chicago and New York City, have pushed back on similar mandates.
In a statement released Thursday, the BTU said it will not enforce Boston’s mandate by putting teachers on leave — at least until there’s a decision on the appeal. According to the union, over 96% of all members are vaccinated, including over 98% of teachers.
As of Friday, about 367 BTU members remained unvaccinated — disproportionately, Tang told ABC News, educators of color.
“Our union has worked extensively with the school department and community groups, especially over the last few years, to attract and retain a diverse staff that is reflective of the community that our schools serve,” Tang added.
According to city data, more than three-quarters (75.3%) of Boston’s students are Black or Latinx, compared with just over a third (33.7%) of teachers.
“Losing educators, especially in the middle of the school year, presents major difficulties across a wide array of issues,” Tang said. “We are committed to working with the district as best we can to not lose any educators.”
The union has proposed another extension on implementing the mandate, and it’s filed a formal complaint against Boston Public Schools and the city for “failing to bargain in good faith.”
A representative from Boston Public Schools pointed to the more than 80 clinics hosted by the district to help vaccinate staff and students.
“We have been working hard to ensure all of our employees understand the city’s policy and to increase access to vaccines,” a representative told ABC News.
Several other Boston unions, including those representing police and firefighters, also have pushed back on the mandate.
But Wu has repeatedly stood by that decision, insisting it’s necessary for the safety of the city, where about 95% of city employees have been vaccinated.
“Vaccination is our most powerful tool in this ongoing public health emergency, and we look forward to filing our response with the court,” Wu’s office said in a statement to ABC News.
Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, BTS, Halsey, Glass Animals and more are all nominated for the 2022 NME Awards, handed out by the famed British music publication NME.
Halsey, who’ll receive the Innovation Award the night of the ceremony, is also up for Best Album in the World for If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. Olivia and BTS are both up for Best Song in the World for, respectively, “good 4 u” and “Butter.” The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber‘s “Stay,” Lorde‘s “Solar Power” and Charli XCX‘s “Good Ones” are also nominated in that category.
Billie and Megan Thee Stallion are among the nominees for Best Festival Headliner, while Glass Animals and Måneskin are up for Best Band in the World. Glass Animals is also nominated for Best Band from the UK.
The Best Solo Act in the World category includes Billie and The Weeknd, while Olivia is in the Best New Act in the World Category. Coldplay and BTS’ song “My Universe” is up for Best Collaboration.
And in the Best Music Video category, Taylor Swift‘s 10-minute short film version of “All Too Well” is going up against Billie’s “Happier Than Ever” and Lil Nas X‘s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” among others.
The 2022 NME Awards take place March 2 in London. For more info, visit NME.com.
The Beatles & friends with the Maharishi in India, 1968; Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The Beatles and India, a documentary which examines how Indian music and culture shaped the band’s music, will start streaming February 15 on BritBox.
The documentary features recordings, pictures and interviews to detail both George Harrison‘s lifelong devotion to Indian music, which he discovered in 1965, and its effect on The Beatles’ subsequent recordings. It also explores the Beatles’ role in popularizing Indian culture and Transcendental Meditation, following their 1968 journey to Rishikesh, India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
The documentary was named Best Film: Audience Choice and Best Music at the 2021 UK Asian Film Festival.
An accompanying soundtrack, called The Beatles and India: Songs Inspired by the Film, features 19 Beatles songs recorded by Indian artists, including Anoushka Shankar, the daughter of Harrison’s musical mentor Ravi Shankar.
Many of the songs included on the soundtrack — “Dear Prudence,” “Sexy Sadie,” “Mother Nature’s Son,” “Back in the USSR” and “I Will” among them — were written while the Beatles were in India and later ended up on their 1968 self-titled album, aka The White Album.
Having weathered slights like “Fatgirl” after filming 1997’s Batman and Robin, Alicia Silverstone isn’t taking it anymore.
The Clueless actress took to TikTok — with the help of GAYLE‘s “abcdfu” and her own middle finger — to express just what she thought of the caption of a candid photo of her that had been posted online.
The picture she displayed was taken as she walked in the grass wearing a blue summer dress, and was described as, “Alicia Silverstone Candid Fat Photo.”
Between her smile and her middle digit, Alicia showed precisely how much she cared for — and about — the label. She also noted, “Damn. I think I look good,” followed with a crying laughing emoji and a shrugging emoji.
To The Guardian in 2020, Silverstone recalled how the weight shaming on Batman and Robin, in which she played Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, was so hurtful she “stopped loving acting for a very long time.”
Britney Spears‘ ongoing legal drama intensified this week after the lawyer for her father, Jamie Spears, requested she sit for a deposition. The irony is Mr. Spears has resisted her legal team’s request to do the same.
TMZ obtained copies of an email allegedly sent by Mr. Spears’ attorney, Alex Weingarten, that states his intent to have Britney be deposed.
The email was sent Wednesday to the “Toxic” singer’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, and it states, “We write to advise that we intend to depose your client and would like to discuss a mutually agreeable date to conduct the deposition.”
“Of course, we will also discuss scheduling Mr. Spears’ deposition with you and work with you to find a mutually agreeable date for that to proceed as well,” the letter continued. The proposal says Jamie Spears will be first to sit for a deposition and, soon after, Britney will follow suit.
Attorney Weingarten apparently proposed for the back to back depositions to be set in March, which will either be conducted during the same week or a day apart from one another. The letter adds, “If we have not heard from you regarding these matters by the close of business on Friday, February 4, 2022, we will proceed unilaterally.”
It is unknown what questions Britney would be asked, should she be deposed. Since her bombshell testimony in June, she leveled numerous accusations against her family, some serious in nature. Britney has also regularly spoken out against her family since her conservatorship was terminated in November, which means she could be asked to clarify her remarks.
Attorney Rosengart previously expressed he wants to depose Jamie Spears and have him speak on record about potential mismanagement of the conservatorship, especially on its finances following allegations the patriarch abused it for personal gain.
As Ella Mai celebrates her 2018 debut single, “Boo’d Up,” being certified seven-times platinum, she dropped her new single, “DFMU,” on Friday. This is the Grammy winner’s first single since “Not Another Love Song” in 2020. In the video, the English singer takes a ride with her man, and they make love in the back seat. The car literally submerges in a body of water, and Ella swims to safety.
Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J are collaborating again as they dropped their new single, “Backseat,” featuring ProjectPat. The track is from the upcoming joint album from Khalifa and the Three 6 Mafia member which is scheduled to be released in February. The duo dropped “Pop That Trunk” in December, and previously recorded together on “Gah Damn High” off Juicy’s The Hustle Continues album in 2020.
NBA Youngboy is not allowing his house arrest in Utah to stop his creativity as he awaits trial for weapons charges. He dropped his 17th mixtape, Colors, on January 20, and now he’s collaborated with Da Baby for the video for their new track, “Hit.”
Finally, Quavo has followed up his 2021 “Strub Tha Ground” collabo with Yung Miami with his new song, “Shooters Inside My Crib.” The track is expected to be on the Migos member’s long-awaited follow-up to Quavo Huncho, his 2018 debut solo album. Quavo says his second solo project will drop later this year.
