A new movie about Bob Marley got its first look at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week. A trailer for the film, Marley, was shown to theater owners, with the reggae legend’s son Ziggy Marley on hand to introduce the clip.
“It’s great to be here today on behalf of this movie about my father,” Ziggy said, according to Variety. “I’m here as a producer of this film, but also as a steward of my father’s incredible legacy … this message of unity and love is as urgent as ever.” He adds that after seeing the movie, “People will deepen their connection to Bob and honor Bob in the right way.”
The film stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Marley. The actor, who has appeared in Peaky Blinders and the movie One Night in Miami, landed the role after a global talent search, with Captain Marvel/No Time To Die actress Lashana Lynch starring as Marley’s wife Rita. The trailer features scenes of Marley the performer and the family man, ending with the Marley quote, “One love, one heart, one destiny.”
(ATLANTA) — A teenager has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a Black transgender woman in Atlanta, police said.
Officers responded to reports of a woman suffering from a gunshot wound at a shopping plaza on April 18. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have not publicly identified the victim, though a relative confirmed to ABC News that it was Rasheeda Williams, 35, an aspiring musician whose music was set to be featured on the Showtime drama “The Chi.”
Williams, aka Koko Da Doll, was also featured in “Kokomo City,” a documentary about Black transgender sex workers in Georgia and New York that won awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Atlanta police announced Thursday they arrested 17-year-old Jermarcus Jernigan after “homicide detectives were able to establish probable cause” and secure warrants for murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Jernigan turned himself in to police on Wednesday and was later transported to the Fulton County Jail and taken into their custody without incident, the Atlanta Police Department said. It is unclear if he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Williams’ sister also confirmed the arrest in the case to ABC News. She will be laid to rest on Monday.
Police did not release any further details on the shooting.
D. Smith, the film’s director, said in an Instagram post that Koko Da Doll was “the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women.”
The fatal shooting is one of three “violent crimes” against transgender women that Atlanta police said they are currently investigating.
“While these individual incidents are unrelated, we are very aware of the epidemic-level violence black and brown transgender women face in America,” the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement last week.
A week before Koko Da Doll’s death, another Black transgender woman was killed at an apartment complex on April 11. Police have not publicly identified the victim in this case, though friends and family identified the victim to Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB as 37-year-old hairstylist Ashley Burton.
Atlanta police are also investigating a shooting that occurred the night of Jan. 9 at an apartment complex. A transgender woman was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
Both of those incidents involved a dispute, police said.
ABC News’ Armando Garcia contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department filed a complaint to challenge a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth, arguing the law violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
The department is asking a U.S district court to issue an order to prevent the law from going into effect on July 1.
The law restricts medical procedures specifically for the purpose of gender transitioning, which would impact access to puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries for transgender people under 18.
The new policy states that these restrictions supersede “any common law rule regarding a minor’s ability to consent to a medical procedure.”
The DOJ argues in the complaint, filed Wednesday, that the ban discriminates against transgender people on the basis of sex and gender identity, as these procedures remain available to non-transgender people.
“By denying only transgender youth access to these forms of medically necessary care while allowing non-transgender minors access to the same or similar procedures, SB 1 discriminates against transgender youth,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Major national medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and over 20 more agree that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, beneficial, and medically necessary.
Gov. Bill Lee, who signed the legislation, defended the law.
“Tennessee is committed to protecting children from permanent, life-altering decisions,” he said in a tweet. “This is federal overreach at its worst, and we will work with Attorney General Skrmetti to push back in court and stand up for children.”
Gender-affirming care has been proven in several studies to improve the mental health of transgender youth, who are more likely to face anxiety, depression, suicidal ideations and more due to discrimination and gender dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria refers to the psychological distress of presenting as a gender that doesn’t feel like one’s own, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
“The right to consider your health and medically-approved treatment options with your family and doctors is a right that everyone should have, including transgender children, who are especially vulnerable to serious risks of depression, anxiety and suicide,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.
At least 13 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah — have passed laws or policies that restrict gender-affirming care for people under the age of legal majority, which is the threshold for legal adulthood. Meanwhile, other states including California, Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, and New Mexico have passed laws or policies protecting transgender youth care.
Critics of these bans, including LGBTQ advocates and allies, argue that restrictions will impact the mental health of transgender youth, who already face discrimination and violence. They argue these bans infringe on a family’s right to make medical decisions with their doctors.
Supporters of the bans, including some conservative lawmakers, argue that transgender people should wait until they are legally adults before making these decisions.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin and Cheris Rudy contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — With “love and thanks,” Rep. Jamie Raskin announced Thursday that he was now in remission from cancer four months after first sharing his diagnosis.
A scan showed Raskin was “negative” for discernible cancer cells and had received a preliminary diagnosis of being in remission, “with a 90% prognosis of no relapse,” he said in an open letter.
“I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love,” he said, going on to thank “my family, my friends, my constituents and my colleagues” and “the many thousands of people—both Marylanders and those of you living much further away—who have reached out to me over the last five months with expressions of prayer, best wishes, concern, solidarity, sympathy and moral encouragement.”
“Not to mention beautiful gifts of bandanas, homemade scarves and sweaters, Capitol Police baseball caps, hospital scrubs, wool hats, chocolate chip cookies, mandel bread, pea soup, vegan matzoh ball soup, and gorgeous paintings, poems and letters that I will treasure forever,” he continued.
On Twitter, he shared video from Tuesday when he “rang the bell” to mark the end of his cancer treatment and thanked medical staff at Med Star Georgetown University Hospital, “who serve with splendid kindness—and saved my life.”
The Maryland Democrat said in December that he had been diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and would be undergoing chemotherapy while continuing to work on Capitol Hill, where he began to wear distinctive bandanas — a reflection of his hair loss from treatment and a nod to musician Steven Van Zandt.
“I give all honor to Little Steven for creating this look for American men going through something,” he told HuffPost in late January. (Van Zandt subsequently gifted him a bandana, wishing him a “rapid recovery.”)
Raskin, a lawyer and former state lawmaker first elected to the House in 2016, saw his profile rise after serving as a manager in former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment. Raskin went on to serve on the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. He previously survived colon cancer.
While undergoing treatment, Raskin received support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. “We’re all rooting for you,” Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told him during a meeting in January.
In his Thursday open letter, Raskin said his heart was full — and his body was tired.
“I have many things that I want to say to the people across America who have stood by me and helped carry me through this prolonged challenge, and I will come to say them soon,” he said. “Right now my hemoglobin and white blood cell counts are plunging from my final five-day round of chemotherapy, and I am afraid I lack the energy to properly thank you all and express the enormity of my feelings about the enduring beauty and promise of our country.”
“In the meantime,” he said, “I just want to send you my profound appreciation.”
Jon Pardi has some “dirt on [his] boots” and jeans. That’s because he’s on the location of his soon-to-be-constructed new house.
Though not quite built yet, Jon posted pictures on Instagram of him and his family standing on the land of his future home with construction forklifts in the background.
“Almost ready to build the new house, stupid permits!! So family picture break,” he wrote in the caption.
The photos featured Jon, his wife, Summer, their firstborn, Presley Fawn, and Jon’s father. The country singer even took a photo of him and little Presley inside a forklift.
Megan Thee Stallion and French Montana have been confirmed for the 2023 Tribeca Festival’s Gala events.
Meg is slated to participate in a live conversation, and French will premiere his documentary For Khadija, which he’ll follow up with a live performance.
According to Variety, For Khadija follows “the unlikely rise of Moroccan-born, multi-platinum recording artist French Montana, as his single mother she sacrifices everything to raise her three young sons in the Bronx, after being abandoned by their father and left destitute,” per the doc’s description. “The film spans the globe as it depicts the family’s unique immigrant journey, a son’s perseverance in the face of insurmountable obstacles, and a mother’s unwavering faith — all in pursuit of the American dream.”
The 2023 Tribeca Festival begins June 7. French’s doc, executive produced by Drake and Diddy, premieres June 16. According to a press release, it will include a discussion with “hip-hop heavyweights, social justice advocates and pop culture icons” on the panel.
(WORCESTER, Mass.) — Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts airman accused of leaking highly classified U.S. intelligence documents, is asking a magistrate judge to release him from pretrial detention, though prosecutors allege the 21-year-old is a flight risk and, if released on bail, say he could “further disseminate classified information” and “take refuge with a foreign adversary.”
Teixeira walked into the courtroom for his Thursday detention hearing handcuffed, wearing a long rosary necklace and an orange jumpsuit. The 21-year-old looked at his family members sitting in the first two rows, and one woman in the front row began to cry.
The federal magistrate judge, David Hennessy, heard arguments Thursday about whether Teixeira should be kept in federal custody ahead of his trial, but Hennessy said he needed more time to review before making a decision.
Federal prosecutors argued in a Wednesday court filing that Teixeira “poses a serious flight risk” and it would be “all too easy” for him, if released on bail, “to further disseminate classified information” and “take refuge with a foreign adversary.” Prosecutors also claimed that Teixeira took “a series of obstructive steps” intended to prevent investigators from understanding the scope of what he allegedly did and they outlined in detail the reasons they believe he poses a danger to the public if allowed to be released from detention, pointing to the “virtual arsenal of weapons” he possessed at residences he occupied that are owned by his mother and father.
Prosecutors argued Thursday that Teixeira is both a flight and national security risk. They said evidence showed he had performed hundreds of searches on the classified network, accessing it almost daily, including at times from inside his mother’s home. They pointed out he’d accessed far more classified information that he had ever posted, and suggested that information would drive foreign adversaries to potentially contact or help him, and given his untrustworthy nature, he would be likely to flee, comparing him directly to Edward Snowden.
Teixeira’s public defender argued in a new filing that even if Hennessy finds Teixeira poses a risk of flight or obstruction, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member should still be permitted to remain out of pretrial detention in the custody of his father or confined to a home with the presence of either his father, mother, stepfather, Air Force personnel or his lawyers.
Teixeira’s lawyer, Allen Franco, suggested that Teixeira could have restrictions imposed on him like location monitoring, barring him from accessing the internet or contacting any potential witnesses in the case and bond that could be secured by both his parents’ homes.
Teixeira’s father testified Thursday that he was prepared to serve as a third-party custodian pending his son’s release. His father testified that all of his guns have been removed from his home and he indicated he’d be prepared to report his son to the authorities should the 21-year-old violate the terms of his release.
Teixeira’s dad said he doesn’t have any computers in his house, and that he’d remove his password-protected tablet if his son were to be released. He also was willing to remove his internet-connected television from the house.
Teixeira’s lawyer further disputed that he’d be a flight risk by pointing to how, when Teixeira became aware of his impending arrest, he sat on his mother’s porch and read a Bible as he waited for law enforcement to arrive.
Franco in his filing also addressed the government’s detailing of Texeira’s suspension during his sophomore year in high school over allegations he made violent and racist threats. The incident “was thoroughly investigated” at the time, Franco wrote, and Teixeira was allowed to return to school after a “handful” of days following a psychiatric evaluation.
Franco revealed that the incident was also “fully known and vetted by the Air National Guard prior to enlisting and also when he obtained his top-secret security clearance.”
Teixeira’s attorney also argued that the government has offered “no evidence” that his client ever intended for information shared within the Discord server “to be widely disseminated.”
“There is no allegation in the affidavit that Mr. Teixeira had any intent for these documents to become widely available on the internet or desired to disrupt the geopolitical affairs of the United States,” his attorney wrote. “Thus, there is no reason to suggest that, if released, Mr. Teixeira has any motivation, desire, or current ability to commit any actions like those alleged in the complaint affidavit or in the government’s supplemental motion for detention.”
Teixeira, a native of Dighton, Massachusetts, has been charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information as well as willful retention of classified documents, which collectively carry a maximum of 15 years in prison. He has yet to enter a plea.
The FBI-Boston tactical team arrested Teixeira on April 13 and he made an initial appearance in federal court in Boston the following day.
The criminal complaint alleges that Teixeira “improperly and unlawfully retained and transmitted national defense information to people not authorized to receive it.” The leaked documents apparently contain top-secret information about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other parts of the world. Teixeira allegedly accessed a government document on Feb. 23 and posted it online the following day, according to the complaint. It’s the disclosure of that one document that forms the basis of the initial charges.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Aaron Katersky, Luis Martinez and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
Jada Pinkett Smith‘s Red Table Talk is one of many shows that has been canceled as a result of Meta’s decision to shut down Facebook Watch.
The talk show, produced by Westbrook Studios, featured Jada, her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and her daughter, Willow Smith, as they had serious discussions with special guests like Snoop Dogg, Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart.
Deadline reports the show is being shopped around with hopes of finding a new home.
Red Table Talk was a Facebook Watch original. FB Watch was also behind shows like Peace of Mind with Taraji with Taraji P. Henson, Steve on Watch with Steve Harvey, The Biebers on Watch and more. None of the shows will be coming back with new seasons.
Rivers Cuomo is apparently writing a new musical, and you can be a part of it.
In a tweet Thursday, the Weezer frontman asks, “Does anybody want to help me write the story for a musical?” Said musical would also double as the next album from the “Buddy Holly” outfit.
Cuomo adds that the story could be a sequel to Weezer’s shelved Songs from the Black Hole album, which was originally intended to be the group’s sophomore follow-up to 1994’s Blue Album, or it could “start afresh.”
Weezer’s most recent project is their four-part SZNZ EP collection, the last of which, Winter, dropped in December. Cuomo and company had also planned a Broadway residency as part of SZNZ, but the shows were canceled.
U2 is once again extending their time in Las Vegas. The band just announced five new dates for U2: UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere.
The additional shows, at the new venue the Sphere at The Venetian, take place October 27 and 28, and November 1, 3 and 4, bringing the residency total now up to 17 shows.
U2: UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere kicks off September 29. Tickets for the new dates are already on sale, with fans who received Ticketmaster Verified Fan codes getting their first crack at them. Should there be any tickets left, a general sale will happen Friday, April 28, at 10 a.m. local time.
