Remember back in the day when someone sold Justin Timberlake‘s half-eaten breakfast on eBay for more than a thousand bucks? Amateur. Some dude in Canada tried selling a crumb — a crumb — from one of Justin’s new line of Tim Hortons “TimBiebs” for $100,000.
The Fort Saskatchewan Record reports that Blake Simms of British Columbia posted a crumb of the TimBieb — which is like a Dunkin’ Munchkin — on Facebook Marketplace for a hundred grand, along with the suggestion, “Great Christmas gift for Justin Bieber fans!”
He didn’t even say what flavor it was.
Reached by the paper, Simms said, “It was a joke and that’s all it is.” The listing has since been taken down.
However, another enterprising fan is selling a TimBiebs box — which only has two of the treats inside it — for a million bucks, the paper reports, while yet another is offering one for the bargain price of $100,000. One woman who claims that her box was actually “touched by the great Biebs” is selling it for $24,995.
Most fans are offering somewhat more reasonable prices for their boxes — like $50 — but many are trying to make a killing on the limited-edition TimBiebs merch that came out with the treats: a hat, a fanny pack and a tote.
Justin’s limited-edition line of TimBiebs come in three flavors: Chocolate White Fudge, Sour Cream Chocolate Chip and Birthday Cake Waffle. You can get 10 of them for three bucks.
Every classic sitcom has their trademark sets, and a new survey shows that a third of Americans say if they could live anywhere, they’d chill like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
The non-scientific poll of 2,000 TV watchers in the U.S., which was commissioned by the furniture company Article, revealed that the mansion in which Will Smith chilled with his aunt and uncle in the beloved show would be their favorite sitcom house to call their own.
Perhaps just that many people ran afoul of a couple of guys up to no good, makin’ trouble in the neighborhood.
At any rate, by a wide margin, the Fresh Prince manse beat out the second-place finisher, Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment in The Big Bang Theory — which in turn just edged out number three, The Brady Bunch home.
Thirty-six percent of those polled chose Will’s crib, compared to 29% who dug the Big Bang digs, while 28% picked the Bradys’ house, and 19% chose Carrie’s apartment from Sex and the City — the same percentage of those who’d like to live in TV Jerry’s apartment from Seinfeld, and Monica’s crib on Friends.
Other TV faves included the Florida home seen on The Golden Girls, the stately residences in Bridgerton, and the Full House house.
Clearly, those polled were asked to choose based on the nostalgia quotient, not the real estate value of each set — though the huge Fresh Prince mansion would tick both boxes.
Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.
It looks like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West won’t be getting back together — at least that’s according to reports of the contents of Kardashian’s divorce papers.
Page Six published copies of the paperwork, which noted, “No counseling or reconciliation effort will be of any value at this time.”
“[West] and I both deserve the opportunity to build new lives,” the divorce filings continue, “Therefore, I am asking that my request to bifurcate and terminate our marital status be granted.”
According to the documents, Kim listed that Hollywood industry standard “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split, saying they “have caused [the] marriage to irretrievably break down,” and that “The continued maintenance of technical marital status between [West] and [Kardashian] serves no useful purpose, and there is no reason to maintain the legal relationship.”
Kim, 40, filed for divorce from Kanye, 43, in February after six-and-a-half years of marriage. They’re reportedly is seeking joint custody of their four children — North, 7, Saint, 5, Chicago, 3, and one-year-old Psalm.
Duran Duran is about to release their first NFTs, a series of 100 unique digital collectibles created by the Artificial Intelligence program Huxley, which also collaborated with the band on the music video for their recent single, “Invisible.”
Duran Duran’s INVISIBLE Collection of NFTs will be available this Thursday, December 16, at 1 pm ET at the OpenSea platform. The NFTs will be released by the CUB3 compnay in conjunction with Los Angeles-based Gabba Gallery, and are priced at .2 of the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
On Wednesday, December 15, Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes will take to Twitter Spaces at 1 p.m. to discuss the NFTs.
“Invisible” was released in May as the first advanced single from Duran Duran’s latest studio album, Future Past, and the video premiered at the same time. According to a press statement, to create the “Invisible” video, Huxley “took the concepts that are rooted in human language and iconic symbolism and translated them into provocative and daring imagery.” The images created by Huxley were influenced by the song’s lyrics and emotional tone.
The NFT collection has been curated from images that appear in the video. You can watch the clip on Duran Duran’s official YouTube channel.
Future Past, Duran Duran’s first studio album since 2015’s Paper Gods, was released in October and peaked at #28 on the Billboard 200.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 798,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 60.9% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 14, 2:52 pm
Omicron will ‘for sure’ become dominant strain in US: Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Tuesday that omicron will “for sure” become the dominant strain in the U.S. given how rapidly it is spreading.
“Omicron is going to be a challenge because it spreads very rapidly,” Fauci said.
Fauci reiterated that omicron so far appears to be less severe, adding, “Whether it is inherently less pathogenic as a virus or whether there is more protection in the community, we’re just going to have to see when it comes in the United States.”
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Dec 14, 2:21 pm
Cornell moves exams online due to ‘substantial’ number of suspected omicron cases
Cornell University is moving into a “level red” alert after a “significant” number of suspected omicron cases were detected among student samples.
“While we must await confirmatory sequencing information to be sure that the source is Omicron, we are proceeding as if it is,” university president Martha Pollack wrote in a letter to the community.
All final exams will be online beginning Tuesday, Pollack announced, and libraries and fitness centers are closed.
All undergraduate events are canceled, as is Saturday’s recognition ceremony for December graduates, Pollack said.
Cornell has recorded more than 600 confirmed cases among students and staff in the last week alone, according to the university dashboard. While no infected students are seriously sick, Pollack said the university has “a role to play in reducing the spread.”
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos, Chris Donato
Dec 14, 12:34 pm
Omicron ‘spreading at a rate we have not seen,’ WHO says
“Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant,” World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned Tuesday.
Omicron has been reported in 77 countries, he said, adding that the new variant is likely in most countries.
Tedros said health officials are “concerned that people are dismissing omicron as mild.”
“Even if omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems,” he said.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Dec 14, 11:41 am
England to lift travel ban on southern African nations
British Transport Secretary Grant Schapps announced Tuesday that England will remove all southern African nations from its travel red list.
After the omicron variant was first discovered in South Africa and Botswana in November, several countries around the world, including England and the United States, imposed travel bans on a swath of nations in southern Africa.
The World Health Organization warned that blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread of omicron, deemed a “variant of concern,” and that restrictions place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods.
The countries of Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe will be taken off England’s travel red list on Wednesday at 4 a.m. GMT, according to Schapps, who noted that all current testing measures remain in place.
“As always, we keep all our travel measures under review and we may impose new restrictions should there be a need to do so to protect public health,” Schapps wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
Despite the travel bans, the heavily mutated variant has taken a foothold in London. British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Parliament on Monday that omicron accounts for more than 44% of COVID-19 infections in the U.K. capital and it’s expected to become the dominant variant there by Wednesday, overtaking the highly contagious delta variant.
Addressing Parliament again on Tuesday, the health secretary called omicron “a grave threat” and said the “race” to get as many people vaccinated and boosted “is new national mission.”
“Scientists have never seen a COVID-19 variant that’s capable of spreading so rapidly,” Javid said.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Dec 14, 7:55 am
Africa clocks fastest surge in cases this year, but deaths remain low: WHO
An 83% surge in newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the past week in Africa, driven by the delta and omicron variants, is causing fewer deaths than previous surges, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
But the WHO cautioned that more waves of COVID-19 infections could be building as updated forecasts warn Africa, the world’s second-largest and second-most-populous continent, may not reach 70% vaccine coverage until late 2024.
Africa recorded more than 196,000 new cases for the week ending on Dec. 12, an increase of around 107,000 from the previous week, bringing the cumulative count since the pandemic began to 8.9 million cases, according to the WHO. The number of new cases is currently doubling every five days, the shortest reported this year. While the speed of the spread is fast, the WHO said, deaths remain low and even dropped by 19% last week compared with the previous week.
Africa is currently in its fourth wave of the pandemic, during which there were a little over 3,000 deaths reported in the first three weeks. About half as many cases were reported in the same time frame during the continent’s third wave, which was fueled by the highly contagious delta variant, according to the WHO.
The WHO said this spike in infections coupled with low hospitalizations is particularly evident in South Africa, which saw a 66% rise in new cases last week compared with the previous seven days. While hospital admissions have jumped by 65% in the past week, the bed occupancy rate for intensive care units remains low at 7.5%, with 14% of the hospitalized patients receiving supplemental oxygen. Though the number of deaths also remain low, the WHO warned that this pattern may change in the coming weeks.
“We are cautiously optimistic that deaths and severe illness will remain low in the current wave, but slow vaccine rollout in Africa means both will be much higher than they should be,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement Tuesday. “We’ve known for quite some time now that new variants like Beta, Delta or Omicron could regularly emerge to spark new outbreaks globally, but vaccine-deprived regions like Africa will be especially vulnerable.”
As of Tuesday, only 20 African countries had vaccinated at least 10% of their population — the global target the WHO had set for September 2021. Only six African nations have hit the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40% of their population, while just two countries — Mauritius and Seychelles — have reached the 70% coverage seen as essential for controlling the pandemic. At the current pace, the WHO estimates that it will take until May 2022 before Africa as a whole reaches 40% coverage and August 2024 before it reaches 70%.
“In a world where Africa had the doses and support to vaccinate 70% of its population by the end of 2021—a level many wealthy countries have achieved—we probably would be seeing tens of thousands of fewer deaths from COVID-19 next year,” Moeti said. “But we can still save many lives if we can accelerate the pace of vaccination in early 2022.”
Dec 14, 6:45 am
Pfizer says ‘game changer’ pills could save thousands of lives
Pfizer’s forthcoming COVID-19 treatment could be authorized for emergency use in the United States by the end of this year or early next year, pending the Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory timeline, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told ABC News.
The pharmaceutical giant announced Tuesday that it has submitted promising new data to the FDA, including lab experiments showing its oral antiviral medicine, Paxlovid, will likely work against the omicron variant. And in updated clinical trial data, Pfizer found the treatment reduces the risk of being hospitalized or dying by 89% when taken within three days of being diagnosed with COVID-19, and 88% when taken within five days of being diagnosed among high-risk, unvaccinated patients.
“It is a game changer,” Bourla told ABC News. “But at the same time, I want to emphasize that no one should use the existence of the pill as an excuse to avoid vaccination.”
Bourla said the medicine could save thousands of lives.
“We did some calculations how many deaths or hospitalizations can be avoided based on the current U.S. mortality rates and the current U.S. hospitalization rates,” he said. “On the back-of-the-envelope calculation, we estimate that 100,000 people if they take the pill, we will avoid 6,000 hospitalizations and 1,200 deaths approximately.”
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Dec 14, 6:45 am
Pfizer says COVID-19 pills could be FDA authorized by end of year
Pfizer’s forthcoming COVID-19 treatment could be authorized for emergency use in the United States by the end of this year or early next year, pending the Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory timeline, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told ABC News.
The pharmaceutical giant announced Tuesday that it has submitted promising new data to the FDA, including lab experiments showing its oral antiviral medicine, Paxlovid, will likely work against the omicron variant. And in updated clinical trial data, Pfizer found the treatment reduces the risk of being hospitalized or dying by 89% when taken within three days of being diagnosed with COVID-19, and 88% when taken within five days of being diagnosed among high-risk, unvaccinated patients.
“It is a game changer,” Bourla told ABC News. “But at the same time, I want to emphasize that no one should use the existence of the pill as an excuse to avoid vaccination.”
Bourla said the medicine could save thousands of lives.
“We did some calculations how many deaths or hospitalizations can be avoided based on the current U.S. mortality rates and the current U.S. hospitalization rates,” he said. “On the back-of-the-envelope calculation, we estimate that 100,000 people if they take the pill, we will avoid 6,000 hospitalizations and 1,200 deaths approximately.”
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Dec 14, 5:57 am
France mulls tightening entries from UK due to omicron
France is considering tightening restrictions for travelers arriving from the United Kingdom, where the omicron variant appears to be spreading swiftly.
“Regarding Britain, the current rule is to show a negative test less than 48 hours old in order to enter France,” French government spokesman Gabriel Attal told France Info radio on Tuesday. “But we are always looking at means to tighten the framework, we are currently working on that and we should, I think, come to a conclusion in the coming days.”
Dec 14, 5:44 am
Mainland China confirms 1st case of omicron variant
China has confirmed its first case of the omicron variant on the mainland, state-run media reported Monday.
The variant was detected in a traveler from overseas who arrived in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Dec. 9. The individual tested positive for COVID-19 last week and subsequent genome sequencing confirmed it was the omicron variant.
The patient, who showed no symptoms, is being treated in isolation at a hospital, according to state-run media.
Dec 14, 5:31 am
UK reports 1st death from omicron variant
At least one person has died in the United Kingdom after being infected with the omicron variant, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday.
It’s the first publicly confirmed death globally from the new variant of the novel coronavirus, which was initially identified in southern Africa last month and has since spread rapidly around the world. Deaths from omicron may have already occurred in other countries but no others have been publicly confirmed yet.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to a vaccination clinic in London, Johnson said the death was a patient who had been diagnosed at a hospital but gave no further details.
“Sadly, at least one patient has now been confirmed to have died with omicron,” the prime minister said. “So I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that’s something we need to set on one side and just recognize the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population. So the best thing we can do is all get our boosters.”
Dec 13, 9:59 pm
NFL to require vaccinated Tier 1 and 2 employees receive boosters by Dec. 27
The NFL will require that all its vaccinated Tier 1 and 2 employees receive their COVID-19 booster shots by Dec. 27, according to a memo they sent all 32 teams on Monday.
This group of employees includes coaches and other employees who work closely with players and help in essential league operations.
“On November 29, the CDC issued a study showing that the effectiveness of the approved COVID-19 vaccines may decrease over time and has recommended that all eligible vaccinated individuals over the age of 18 should receive a booster shot,” the memo reads. “Given the increased prevalence of the virus in our communities, our experts have recommended that we implement the CDC’s recommendation.”
The memo came as 36 players were added to the league’s COVID-19 reserve list. Players are currently not required to receive boosters, but in Monday’s memo, the NFL said clubs should consider making boosters available for players and their families.
“Any individual who is not currently subject to the requirement for boosters will be required to obtain the booster within 14 days of becoming eligible,” the memo reads.
Nick Cannon believes the show must go on, even when mourning the passing of his five-month-old son, Zen.
As he continues to host his daily TV talk show, Nick announced he’s hosting the Wild ‘N Out Live Tour in 2022. The 23-city tour kicks off May 20 in Atlanta and continues through July 2 in Atlantic City, NJ. Tour stops include Charlotte, Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Detroit, Cleveland, and Los Angeles.
Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out Live will include comedy, variety and game show elements, and each night, members of the audience will be invited on stage to join the fun.
Pre-sale tickets are now available until Thursday, December 16 at 10 p.m. local time for Citi card holders at Citi Entertainment. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, December 17 at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com.
The 16th season finale of Wild ‘N Outairs Tuesday night at 8 p.m. / 7p.m. Central on VH1. You can also see Nick in his new holiday film, Miracles Across 125th Street, which premieres on December 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on VH1.
Cannon directed, produced and stars in Miracles Across 125th Street, about a Harlem rapper who returns to his family’s church after battling drug addiction. The film co-stars Lil Kim, Teyana Taylor, Chrisette Michele, Akon, Jim Jones, Kierra Sheard-Kelly, Tommy Davidson, Fred Hammond, Karen Clark Sheard, Marsha Warfield and more.
Though Brett Young balances a hectic schedule as a chart-topping country singer, it sounds like he has his hands full at home with two young daughters.
Brett and his wife, Taylor, are parents to two-year-old Presley and four-month-old Rowan, and the singer admits that sleep is a luxury in their house.
“It’s the best reason to wake up, but after you pile on enough nights in a row, it starts getting pretty tough,” he shares on the Tamron Hall Showabout fatherhood.
But Brett and his wife approach parenting as a team effort. He says when he’s home from touring, he takes care of Presley in the morning while Taylor handles the baby.
“I can’t give the four-month-old everything she needs yet,” he jokes about which is easier to care for. “If I had to do that, it would be tougher for me.”
Brett and Taylor welcomed Presley in October 2019 and Rowan in July 2021. They serve as inspiration for the hit singer’s children’s book, Love You, Little Lady, released earlier this year.
Led Zeppelin‘s Robert Plant and acclaimed country/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss will be the musical guest this Friday, December 17, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which airs at 11:35 p.m. ET/10:35 p.m. CT on NBC.
Plant and Krauss will be promoting their new collaborative album Raise the Roof, which debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 and at #1 on Billboard‘s Top Rock Albums chart earlier this month.
The duo also are featured in a new installment of NPR Music’s signature music-performance series, Tiny Desk Concert, which you can watch now on YouTube. The session was shot at a Nashville studio, and captures Robert, Alison and five musicians playing three songs from Raise the Roof — “Can’t Let Go,” “Searching for My Love” and “Trouble with My Lover.”
“Can’t Let Go” was written by Randy Weeks and originally recorded in 1998 by acclaimed alt-country artist Lucinda Williams; “Searching for My Love” is a 1966 R&B tune by Bobby Moore & the Rhythm Aces; and “Trouble with My Lover” was written by New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint and recorded in 1968 by soul singer Betty Harris.
Four of the musicians backing Plant and Krauss are featured on Raising the Roof, while the duo also is joined by Oklahoma-based singer/guitarist and roots rocker JD McPherson.
As previously reported, Plant and Krauss will be launching a short U.S. tour next year that kicks off June 1 in Canandaigua, New York, and runs through a June 16 in Atlanta.
If your social media friends list has started fading into dust, it’s not because of Thanos. It’s because they don’t want Spider-Man: No Way Home spoiled for them.
The movie screened in its entirety for the first time in New York and Los Angeles Monday night, and a review embargo expired at 1:30 a.m. — which means if you weren’t lucky enough to see it, social media is a spoiler minefield. In fact, so much of the movie contains so many secrets, just a fraction of it was shown in advance to some journalists ahead of cast interviews last week — and what those insiders didn’t see, until last night, was a whole lot.
When the movie began on both coasts, a short video ran with cast members Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon and Jamie Foxx urging those lucky moviegoers not to blab before the movie officially opens Friday.
That said, professional movie reviewers have a job to do, and there’s no way of talking about the movie without spilling the tea. And then there are professional trolls, who love raining on parades.
To those ends, the New York Post is reporting #DeletingTwitter is currently trending, with Web-heads leaving the social media platform to avoid spoilers until they’ve seen the movie themselves.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is a co-production of Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, the latter of which is owned by ABC News’ parent company, Disney.
Jack Harlow grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and he’s partnering with Kentucky Fried Chicken to assist tornado victims in his home state.
The “Whats Poppin” rapper and KFC are donating $250,000 to the American Red Cross in support of relief efforts. He’s also encouraging his fans to donate on the KFC Tornado Relief website.
“The state needs our help more than ever in the wake of this past weekend’s devastating tornadoes,” Harlow commented on Instagram.
“Growing up I always dreamed of being that guy who would put Kentucky on the map in the music scene,” Harlow added. “But to team up with an iconic national staple like KFC, the biggest brand to come out of Kentucky, is truly an honor. I’m looking forward to all the amazing things we’re about to do together.”
Tuesday, Jack is headlining the first of five “No Place Like Home” concerts in his hometown on consecutive nights in different venues. Each night, KFC food trucks will offer chicken sandwiches wrapped in custom Harlow packaging. At two selected shows, a giant KFC Bucket Boombox will pump his music.
Harlow is up for two Grammy Awards: Best Melodic Rap Performance for his feature on Lil Nas X‘s “Industry Baby,” and Album of the Year as a featured artist and songwriter on Nas’ Montero.
