Grohl: Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images; Post: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
Coming across a YouTube post of her own isolated backup vocals on Foo Fighters’ classic “Everlong” has sent Veruca Salt‘s Louise Post down a rabbit hole — leading her to reminisce about the recording of the song, which Dave Grohl wrote about their then-romance.
Posting a snippet of that isolated recording on Instagram, Post wrote, “I sang these back-ups over the phone at 2am after being woken up from a deep sleep in Chicago by [Dave Grohl] who was tracking the vocals for ‘Everlong’ in LA.”
“He wanted me to sing the doo-doo’s, which were inspired by our song ‘Shimmer Like a Girl,” she continues. “While I was at it, I wrote a harmony for the chorus and sang that too.”
“The whispered section of this song was originally the dream I was having when the phone rang. It was a dream about us,” she adds poetically. “He later removed it and replaced with his own whispers, one which was a love letter to me.”
“Maybe I’ll tell the full story…eventually…if I feel like it,” she concludes. “But I just came across this post and thought I would share for anyone who is interested.”
While Grohl’s relationship with the “Seether” rocker didn’t end well — Post claimed onstage in 1997 during a show in Australia that Grohl had cheated on her with Winona Ryder — she said several years ago that she and the drummer are now “friends.”
(NEW YORK) — Despite an alleged plot to lure and kidnap her, the arrest of her brother in Iran and ongoing death threats, Iranian American activist and journalist Masih Alinejad refuses to be silenced.
Eight months ago, the FBI arrived at Alinejad’s Brooklyn, New York, home to alert her that she was under surveillance by Iranian intelligence. They had obtained photos of her husband, children and even her as she watered flowers in her garden, Alinejad said.
“It was shocking because I left my beloved homeland to be safe here, and I was like, ‘Wow, so now the officials are that close to me,’” she told ABC News Live Prime, adding that authorities moved her to several different safe houses.
A federal court unsealed an indictment Tuesday charging four Iranian nationals with conspiring to kidnap Alinejad for “mobilizing public opinion in Iran and around the world to bring about changes to the regime’s laws and practices.”
Federal prosecutors said the suspects were directed by the government of Iran to conduct surveillance on Alinejad and lure her to a third country to be captured and brought back to Iran.
The group allegedly also targeted people in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Four suspects are believed to remain at large in Iran while a fifth suspect was arrested in California.
“The FBI was asking me to go live [on Instagram from a] safe house … because they were trying to find out whether the [Iranian] intelligence was going to find out my new location, and they did,” Alinejad said. “I … couldn’t believe it. But at the same time, I don’t know why, but something just helped me to be more determined, to be more loud.”
While she was still at the safe house, she said that she started to contact some of the mothers whose children were killed at protests in Iran.
“Now, every week, I’m giving them a voice. … I got my power back,” she said. “The goal of the [Iranian] government [is] just to actually take my focus away from my work, from my job, because I’m a journalist. I’m an activist and I’m giving voice to millions of Iranian voiceless people. So I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to do what I’m going to do.’”
Alinejad says “the Islamic Republic is scared” of her in part because she’s a woman.
“You go to my beautiful country, you will be beaten up because you’re unveiled. … I launched a campaign against compulsory hijab, and that is why, actually, I’m receiving death threats,” she said. “Of course, it is a scary [thing] that they were going to kidnap me, but that shows that they [are] scared [of] me and millions of other Iranian women, Iranian men, who got united this time loudly sending videos to me saying no to Islamic Republic. That’s why they sent someone here in New York to kidnap me. They didn’t want to after because they didn’t want any, you know, no Americans. So that’s why I strongly believe they are scared of their own people. And I’m giving voice to the people.”
In an attempt to discredit her, Alinejad says Iranian national television aired a report saying that she was raped, which was a lie. She also said Iran created a law that if anyone sent her videos, they could face up to 10 years in prison.
“I said to myself, ‘One day, I didn’t give up. I’m not going to give up,’” she said. “Then, after my family, they brought my sister on TV to disown me publicly. Then they interrogated my 70-year-old mother who wears [a] hijab. She has nothing to do with my campaign, but they interrogated her.”
Alinejad’s brother is in jail.
She says it was a difficult decision to reveal publicly that she had been the target of the kidnapping plot — mainly out of fear for her family.
“Sometimes I cannot even breathe when I think about my brother and my family. I love them. I’m a village girl,” she said. “My dream is to be in my own country. But what helps me to be strong and not give up [on] the people inside Iran [is] when I see that women were sending videos to me walking unveiled, which is a punishable crime. These are like Rosa Parks of Iran. So when they don’t give up, then I’m not going to give up because otherwise I’m going to actually [be] betraying my own people.”
Now, her goal is to send a message to the Biden administration and other Western powers that the Iranian regime must be dealt with.
“Stand up for human rights values because the regime [is] actually trying to manipulate the rest of the world. And it breaks my heart when I see the people of Iran are being abandoned,” she said. “I want to actually ask all the leaders of the free world to … not abandon Iranian people.”
After teasing them online, Alessia Cara has released her two much-anticipated new songs: “Sweet Dream” and “Shapeshifter.”
The tracks are the first taste of new music from the singer’s upcoming third album and both have two very different vibes.
“The theme of duality is recurring on this next album, so it made sense to release two songs to introduce both ends of the thread,” Alessia explains in a statement.
She says “Sweet Dream” represents “the hardship and helplessness surrounding my last couple of years.” On the flip side, she says “Shapeshifter” is “witty and sophisticated,” and represents “the more mature and light-hearted parts of the album.”
She adds of “Shapeshifter,” “I had to go through lots of pain to regain my footing and this song feels unwavering, despite it not being about the happiest of things.”
Alessia debuted the “Sweet Dream” video Thursday and will be premiering the “Shapeshifter” video Friday, July 23 on CBS This Morning. She’s also lined up a performance of “Sweet Dream” on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday, July 19 and on Live with Kelly & Ryan on Wednesday, July 21.
Machine Gun Kelly is featured in the August issue of GQ, and he says appearing in the famed magazine is just another aspect of how he’s currently living his childhood dream.
“You know what the dream was? It was exactly what happened to me [at the Billboard Awards], which was go to an awards show, shut down the carpet, go onstage, accept an award,” Kelly tells GQ.
Kelly dominated the coverage of that awards show, where he was named Top Rock Artist, because he showed up with his girlfriend, Megan Fox. And that’s the GQ part of his dream.
As detailed in the article, when Machine Gun Kelly was just plain old Colson Baker, a teenager growing up in Ohio, he got the Decepticons logo from Transformers tattooed on his arm and hung a poster of the movie’s star — Megan Fox — in his bedroom, vowing he’d marry her one day.
“It was the GQ poster, right?” Kelly shouts to Fox during the interview, asking her to confirm exactly which image of herself hung in her boyfriend’s childhood bedroom.
“It was from her GQ shoot,” Kelly goes on to say. “So that’s some full-circle s***.”
But in addition to his dreamlike love life, Kelly is also experiencing his most successful musical moment yet, thanks to Tickets to My Downfall, his current album, produced by Travis Barker. Barker, who says he considers Kelly his “best friend,” first met him years ago after a Blink-182 show.
“He was successful at a completely other genre of music,” Barker says of Kelly, who was a popular rapper before turning to pop-punk. “Not many people can do that.”
Fresh from its 20 Emmy nominations earlier this week, the Apple TV+ comedy Ted Lasso leads the pack with five nominations for this year’s Television Critics Association (TCA) awards.
Jason Sudeikis‘ series is in good company: Disney+’s Emmy leader WandaVision, along with HBO’s Emmy nominees Mare of Easttown, Hacks, and I Will Destroy You all earned four TCA nominations each.
Other shows recognized by the Television Academy this week were also represented in the TCA’s nominations, including The Flight Attendant, The Mandalorian, and Pose.
Like last year, the pandemic means no actual event will be held for the winners to gather their gold; instead, they’ll be notified at a later date.
Here are the nominees for the 37th Annual Television Critics Association Awards:
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You – HBO
Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird – Showtime
Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad – Amazon
Elizabeth Olsen, WandaVision – Disney+
Mj Rodriguez, Pose – FX
Omar Sy, Lupin – Netflix
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit – Netflix
Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown – HBO
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Bo Burnham, Bo Burnham: Inside – Netflix
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant – HBO Max
Maya Erskine, Pen15 – Hulu
Renee Elise Goldsberry, Girls5Eva – Peacock
Charlotte Nicdao, Mythic Quest – Apple TV+
Jean Smart, Hacks – HBO Max
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso – Apple TV+
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso – Apple TV+
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM
Bridgerton – Netflix The Flight Attendant – HBO Max Hacks – HBO Max I May Destroy You – HBO Mare of Easttown – HBO P-Valley – Starz Ted Lasso – Apple TV+ WandaVision – Disney+
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINISERIES OR SPECIALS
Bo Burnham: Inside – Netflix The Good Lord Bird – Showtime I May Destroy You – HBO It’s a Sin – HBO Max Mare of Easttown – HBO The Queen’s Gambit – Netflix The Underground Railroad – Amazon WandaVision – Disney+
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Bridgerton – Netflix The Crown – Netflix For All Mankind – Apple TV+ The Handmaid’s Tale – Hulu Lovecraft Country – HBO The Mandalorian – Disney+ Pose – FX P-Valley – Starz
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
The Flight Attendant – HBO Max Girls5Eva – Peacock Hacks – HBO Max Mythic Quest – Apple TV+ Pen15 – Hulu Superstore – NBC Ted Lasso – Apple TV+ Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist – NBC
PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
Bridgerton – Netflix Hacks – HBO Max I May Destroy You – HBO Mare of Easttown – HBO The Queen’s Gambit – Netflix Ted Lasso – Apple TV+ The Underground Railroad – Amazon WandaVision – Disney+
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VARIETY, TALK OR SKETCH
The Amber Ruffin Show – Peacock A Black Lady Sketch Show – HBO The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – Comedy Central Desus & Mero – Showtime Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – HBO Late Night with Seth Meyers – NBC The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – CBS Saturday Night Live – NBC Ziwe – Showtime
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS AND INFORMATION
Allen v. Farrow – HBO City So Real – NatGeo Framing Britney Spears – FX/FX On Hulu Frontline – PBS I’ll Be Gone in the Dark – HBO Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special – CBS The Rachel Maddow Show – MSNBC 60 Minutes – CBS
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY
Couples Therapy – Showtime Deaf U – Netflix The Great Pottery Throw Down – HBO Max Legendary – HBO Max Nailed It! Double Trouble – Netflix The Real World Homecoming: New York – Paramount+ Taste the Nation – Hulu Top Chef: Portland – Bravo
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH PROGRAMMING
The Baby-Sitters Club – Netflix Bluey – Disney Jr. Donkey Hodie – PBS Kids Emily’s Wonder Lab – Netflix Odd Squad – PBS Kids Sesame Street – HBO Waffles + Mochi – Netflix Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum – PBS Kids
Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, are just weeks away from welcoming a new baby boy into their family. The couple are already parents to nine-year-old London and seven-year-old Lincoln, and they lost their youngest son, River, at the age of three in a tragic drowning accident in 2019.
From the beginning, the country couple has been open with fans about their emotional journey towards deciding to have another baby. This week, however, Amber highlighted a moment of celebration. She shared a series of snapshots from her shower for the new baby, whose name will be Maverick.
“I honestly can’t believe I’m doing this all over again,” Amber wrote. “Many tears were shed, grief and joy are parallel on this journey, but Mavi is so loved and we can’t wait to hold him in about 5 weeks. God is good.”
In an hour-long documentary uploaded to their YouTube channel this spring, Granger and Amber shared their IVF journey, which included a heartbreaking miscarriage along the road to a healthy pregnancy.
The first teaser trailer to 50 Cent‘s new Starz drama BMF has been released.
Inspired by the Black Mafia Family — also known as the B.M.F. — the new series will premiere on Sunday, September 26, at 9 p.m. ET. It will then move to its regular time slot at 8 p.m. ET. on Sunday, October 3. As previously reported, BMF follows the real-life story of brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, who “rose from the decaying streets of southwest Detroit in the late 1980s and gave birth to one of the most influential crime families in the country.” The series stars Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr., Russell Hornsby, Snoop Dogg, La La Anthony and Serayah, among others.
In other news, Grammy Award-winning producer and artist DJ Khaled has been tapped to join the celebrity judging panel for season two of TBS’ Go-Big Show. He joins Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Nettles and Cody Rhodes on the panel. The extreme talent-competition series, hosted by Bert Kreischer, features “some of the most extreme and death defying acts from around the country” as they battle to impress the judges and advance toward the finale’s ultimate $100,000 prize. Production on season two of Go-Big Show begins in August.
Finally, Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga has set their season-two premiere date. The new season will launch on September 8 with three new episodes, followed by an additional episode every Wednesday. Created and written by Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA, the series follows the group’s formation and examines how Bobby Diggs, better known as RZA, took his vision for the group and made it a success. Wu-Tang: An American Saga stars Shameik Moore, Ashton Sanders, Erika Alexanderand Joey Bada$$, among others.
(SPRINGFIELD, Mo.) — The Springfield, Missouri, health department is requesting funding for an alternate COVID-19 care site in response to a spike in infections and hospitalizations in recent weeks, health officials announced Wednesday.
Several local health facilities and hospitals jointly requested the alternative care site funding, which would include money for more beds, staff and antibody testing. One of those facilities was Springfield-based Mercy Hospital, which had so many hospitalized COVID patients last week that it had to call in backup ventilators from other hospitals in its network when it ran out.
The increase in severe illness is taxing the health system and sick patients are expected to outpace hospital capacity, according to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
Of the 231 patients currently being treated in Greene County hospitals, 104 are in critical care and 61 are on ventilators, the health department said.
“The Springfield-Greene County Health Department continues to urge anyone not fully vaccinated continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including wearing a mask,” Aaron Schekorra, a spokesperson for the health department, told ABC News. “Businesses and organizations are encouraged to implement policies in order to protect their staff, clients, and guests, such as requiring masking for all.”
The spike in Springfield is part of a larger wave of COVID in the state that has top health officials worried.
“Missouri is at the top of our list,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institute of Health, said during an interview with ABC News Kansas City affiliate KMBC, in reference to concerning COVID hotspots. “It seems to be now expanding more and more (to other areas) of Missouri,” Collins added.
Missouri’s vaccination rate trails the national average. As of Wednesday, 46% of residents had received at least one dose, and 40% were fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with 56% of all Americans who’ve gotten at least one shot and 48% who are fully vaccinated.
In Greene County, where Springfield is located, vaccination rates are even lower than the statewide average. Just 40% of Greene County residents have received one dose of the vaccine, and only 35% are fully vaccinated, according to state health department data.
The classic all-American look includes a navy blazer, a striped shirt, printed scarf, a striped belt and slim-cut denim pants. There were also protective face masks created to match the look, which incorporates rich hues of red, white and blue throughout.
With these new uniforms, the brand has also debuted its RL COOLING wearable technology, which has a self-regulating temperature cooling device that will be incorporated into Team USA’s flag bearer’s uniform during the opening ceremony parade.
David Lauren, Ralph Lauren Corporation’s chief branding and innovation officer and vice chairman of the board, said in a statement that the brand is celebrating “America’s pioneering spirit and tradition while embracing modernity and innovation.”
“Recognizing Tokyo’s summer heat, we sought to develop a solution for Team USA that fuses fashion and function — allowing them to look and feel their best on one of the world’s biggest stages,” Lauren said in a statement.
The fashion label initially started exploring thermal management systems within its apparel in 2018 with its heated jacket at the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, an agency of the United States Department of Energy, suggests that personal thermal management is a portable and localized solution that, if scaled, has the potential to reduce the reliance on mass energy-intensive cooling systems, like HVAC systems, for personal comfort.
“Ralph Lauren’s dedication to providing innovative, sustainable and functional outfits for Team USA athletes helps elevate their Games time experience,” Peter Zeytoonjian, senior vice president of consumer products at U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Properties, said in a statement. “As our Olympic and Paralympic athletes step out on the global stage this summer, we’re proud to have the continued support of a brand whose thoughtful approach to how they can better serve our athletes uniquely benefits Team USA.”
In April, Ralph Lauren also revealed Team USA’s Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony uniforms, which include crisp white, blue and red looks and a drawstring jacket with an American flag on the sleeve, a Polo shirt, a striped belt and denim pants.
For anyone wanting to show their patriotic spirit, Ralph Lauren has also made its 2020 Team USA collection available to buy in select Ralph Lauren stores and online.
Stand-up comic and actor Gabriel Iglesiastook to social media to tell fans that although he’s been vaccinated, he tested positive for COVID-19.
In a video post accompany a message that reads “Announcement I didn’t want to make on my bday,” Iglesias, known to his fans as Fluffy, said, “I made sure I that I got tested by two different types of tests,” adding he has started to show some signs of symptoms, including body aches and chills.
“Other than that, I feel pretty good. I give credit to being vaccinated for getting me through this,” he said, in a voice more muted than usual.
The comic noted that he has to isolate, forcing him to cancel his five remaining shows at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, and explained that he will “go back to work” when he gets three negative tests. Tickets will be refunded, the venue has announced.
“It’s not the way I wanted to spend my birthday, but I’m alive, and I have cake. I can’t taste it or smell it, but I have it,” Iglesias quipped, adding, “Wish me luck,” before thanking his fans.
Iglesias can currently be heard in the Disney+ show Monsters at Work.
