Meghan Trainor apologized on Sunday for a recent comment she made about teachers on her and her brother Ryan‘s Workin’ It Out podcast.
A discussion about failures in the education system in the U.S. included a conversation about mass shootings in schools and concerns about teachers and potential bullies.
“F*** teachers,” Meghan said at one point, leading to social media backlash.
The 29-year-old singer-songwriter took to her TikTok on Sunday apologize, saying in a video message, “Teachers of TikTok and teachers of the world, I recently said ‘F teachers’ on the podcast and it’s not how I feel. I was fired up because we were talking about how sending your kid to school here in America is so horrific.”
Meghan stressed that she “did not mean [to say that about] all teachers. I love teachers, I fight for teachers. I think they have the hardest job and they are the most underpaid. They are the most unappreciated when they literally raise all of us. I don’t want to make excuses, I just want to [say] I am so sorry.”
“I am so sorry to any teachers I made feel bad and I will remind myself that my words definitely could have a consequence and I will be more careful,” she added.
On Saturday, the Olympic gold medalist tied the knot with Owens, a safety with the NFL’s Houston Texans, in a courthouse ceremony, according to a tweet posted by Biles that included photos. The champion gymnast also changed her name on Twitter to Simone Biles Owens.
The newlyweds also shared photos of their wedding on Instagram.
“I do [white heart emoji] officially owens [white heart emoji],” she wrote on social media.
In his announcement post on Instagram, Owens wrote: “My person, forever [red heart emoji][ring emoji] #TheOwens #itsofficial.”
Earlier this month, the couple shared a sweet photo smiling with a marriage license, which they obtained in Texas, where they live.
Biles and Owens confirmed their relationship in 2020 when they made things Instagram official. At the time, Biles shared a photo of the two of them with the caption, “It’s just us.” They announced their engagement in February last year on social media. Biles shared four photos from the moment Owens popped the question and wrote in the caption, “WOKE UP A FIANCÉE.”
“I can’t wait to spend forever & ever with you,” she continued. “You’re everything I dreamed of and more! Let’s get married.”
Zendaya gave fans the surprise of a lifetime at Coachella over the weekend, joining Labrinth on-stage.
On Saturday, the Euphoria star surprised festival-goers when she joined the British musician during his set. Together the two performed “I’m Tired” and “All for Us,” both songs that were featured on the HBO series.
Following the performance, Zendaya shared on her Instagram Stories, “I cannot express my gratitude enough for this magical night.”
“Thank you to my brother @labrinth for inviting me and giving me the most beautiful safe space to be on a stage again. And to the crowd tonight…wow,” she wrote. “My heart is so full, I can’t thank you enough for the love I received tonight, made all my nerves melt away. I’m so grateful.”
Matthew Perry is vowing to remove the controversial mentions of Keanu Reeves from future editions of his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
In the November 2022 memoir, Perry seemed to shade Reeves. Perry issued a swift apology at the time and now he’s putting action behind it.
“I said a stupid thing. It was a mean thing to do,” Perry, 53, said at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Saturday, April 22, per Variety. “I pulled his name because I live on the same street. I’ve apologized publicly to him. Any future versions of the book will not have his name in it.”
“If I run into the guy, I’ll apologize,” the Friends star added. “It was just stupid.”
In excepts shared in October 2022, before the memoir’s official release, Perry wrote, “It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?”
Reeves was also cited in a different passage about late comedian Chris Farley. “His disease had progressed faster than mine had,” Perry wrote of Farley. “I punched a hole through Jennifer Aniston’s dressing room wall when I found out. Keanu Reeves still walks among us.”
The passages went viral with fans of the John Wick star questioning the mentions, prompting Perry to issue an apology.
“I’m actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead,” he said at the time.
(WASHINGTON) — The “Tennessee three” are going to the White House on Monday to meet with President Joe Biden weeks after facing historic expulsion efforts that sparked national outrage.
Biden personally extended the invitation to Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson, thanking them for their leadership in leading a gun reform protest that resulted in the expulsion of Jones and Pearson and near-ouster of Johnson, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
“What you’ll see is the president sitting down with these three legislators, having a conversation on how to move forward with commonsense gun reform; how to move forward on protecting our communities, our kids, our churches,” she told reporters on Friday.
Other administration officials have previously demonstrated support for the trio. Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Nashville to meet the three lawmakers earlier this month, echoing their calls for reform.
“They understood the importance, these three, of standing to say that people will not be silenced; to say that a democracy hears the cries, hears the pleas, who hears the demands of its people who say that children should be able to live and be safe and go to school and not be in fear,” Harris said.
Thousands of people demonstrated at the Tennessee Capitol in the wake of a school shooting in Nashville on March 27 that left three children and three staff members dead. Jones, Pearson and Johnson faced expulsion votes after they led a gun reform protest in the state Capitol that most lawmakers found breached the chamber’s rules of decorum.
Johnson, who is white, was the only one to survive her expulsion vote. Jones and Pearson, both Black, were ousted and later reinstated by local councils. All were accused of “bringing disorder and dishonor” to the state legislature for their protest.
Jones, Justin and Johnson told GMA 3 similarly said they were simply listening to the people when they joined calls to address gun violence.
“This was a tragedy that happened at the Covenant School in Nashville, but instead of addressing the tragedy the Republican supermajority in Tennessee decided that our using our First Amendment right to listen to the thousands of protesters deserved expulsion,” Pearson said.
Tennessee’s state legislature adjourned Friday without any action on gun reform, but Republican Gov. Bill Lee announced he will call a special session so lawmakers can return to the capitol and discuss the issue. Lee has proposed an “order of protection” law aimed at taking firearms away from those deemed a risk to those around them.
“There is broad agreement that dangerous, unstable individuals who intend to harm themselves or others should not have access to weapons,” Lee said in a statement. “We also share a strong commitment to preserving Second Amendment rights, ensuring due process and addressing the heart of the problem with strengthened mental health resources.”
Barry Humphries, the Australian satirist best known for his onstage and TV drag persona Dame Edna Everage, and for his character Sir Les Patterson, died on Saturday at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, where he had earlier been admitted due to ongoing complications from hip surgery, according to ABC Australia. Humphries created the Dame Edna character in the 1950s but gained worldwide fame through television programs in the 1980s and 1990s. He also voiced the kangaroo in the 1995 live-action children’s film Napoleon and he recurred on Ally McBeal in 2001-02 as eccentric lawyer Claire Otoms, both credited as Dame Edna Everage…
Dick Van Dyke, the 97-year-old stage, screen and TV sitcom star, is set to make his daytime drama debut in the long-running NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives sometime this fall. Van Dyke credits his gym partner, Days actor Drake Hogestyn, with whom he’s been casually joking about joining the show for years, for getting him the gig, “I have played old men before, but comedy old men,” the legendary actor tells Access, adding that his dramatic turn as a mysterious new character with amnesia is an exciting change of pace.”…
Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole has been tapped to star in the real-time BBC thriller series Nightsleeper, according to Deadline. He’ll co-star with Alexandra Roach in the drama from Nick Leather. Filming is underway in Glasgow, Scotland…
(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer convicted of killing Daunte Wright — a 20-year-old Black man shot during a traffic stop — was released from a Minnesota Correctional facility Monday.
Potter was released at 5 a.m. ET, Andy Skoogman, spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, said in a press release Monday.
She was released early this morning “out of an abundance of caution for the safety of Ms. Potter, DOC staff and the security of the correctional facility,” according to Skoogman.
Potter was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11, 2021, incident. She had pleaded not-guilty to both charges. She was sentenced last year to 24 months in prison and a fine of $1,000, far below what the prosecution had asked for.
Wright was pulled over for an expired registration tab and a hanging air freshener in the rearview mirror, according to police.
Potter then determined Wright had an outstanding warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge and tried to detain him, according to former Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon, who resigned after the incident.
As officers were arresting Wright, he escaped the officers’ grip and was scuffling with them when he was shot by Potter, police said. Her attorneys said she meant to grab her stun gun but accidentally shot her firearm instead.
Wright — who was in the driver seat when he was shot — then drove away before crashing into another car.
A judge ordered Potter to serve 16 months in prison and eight months on supervised release. She already had a credit of 58 days served in jail while awaiting sentencing.
“I recognize there will be those who disagree with the sentence. That I granted a significant downward departure does not in any way diminish Daunte Wright’s life. His life mattered. And to those who disagree and feel a longer prison sentence is appropriate, as difficult as it may be, please try to empathize with Ms. Potter’s situation,” Judge Regina Chu said during the sentencing hearing.
Chu called the case “one of the saddest cases I have had in my 20 years on the bench.”
The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years and a $30,000 fine and for second-degree manslaughter — 10 years and a $20,000 fine.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
Len Goodman, the long-serving head judge of Dancing with the Stars, has died at 78, his manager told ABC News.
“Len died on Saturday evening surrounded by his family in a hospice in Kent. He has bone cancer. He kept his sense of humor throughout his illness and was a ‘true gentleman,'” his manager said in a statement Monday.
Goodman, who was also a judge on the British reality competition Strictly Come Dancing, stepped down as head judge on Dancing with the Stars in November 2022.
“I’ve been with the show since it started in 2005 and it has been a huge pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful show,” he said at the time.
He added, “But I’ve decided I’d like to spend more time with my grandchildren and family back in Britain.”
(WASHINGTON) — An eager bench of Democrats will spend heavily to stake out positions as early supporters of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign ahead of his expected announcement, which could come as soon as this week.
On Monday, a national Democratic committee tasked with electing lieutenant governors nationwide announced plans to spend nearly $1 million to mobilize the country’s 25 Democratic occupants of that office, shoring up votes in key states for the Biden-Harris ticket.
The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association’s “2024 Mobilization Project” — shared exclusively with ABC News — will deploy these lieutenant governors across the country and specifically maximize voter turnout for the incumbent administration, something the DGLA says it’s uniquely positioned to do as an organization cultivating some of the party’s up-and-coming talent.
“The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association is ready to mobilize across the country ahead of a monumental presidential election — As Democratic LGs, we stand strong in our commitment to partnering with the Biden administration to deliver on our shared agenda for the American people,” said Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, chair of the DLGA.
The DLGA’s efforts are one of the first early organizational moves in support of Biden’s bid.
“The DLGA is committed to serving as the liaison and facilitator for Democratic Lieutenant Governors to aid the DNC and the Biden-Harris campaign in 2024, ensuring Democratic victory up and down the ballot,” a statement from the organization said.
The organization touted its experience energizing the base in blue states and in key getting voters to turn out in battleground ones — steps it said are “crucial” to getting Biden reelected in 2024.
“As the Lieutenant Governor of one of the most critical swing states in the country, I am proud to stand with President Biden and am eager to share all that he has accomplished — and all that we will continue to accomplish together — throughout Wisconsin and beyond,” said Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, adding that Biden is “the leader our country needs.”
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said that he has “no doubt” that a Biden victory might come down to the Commonwealth again in 2024 after the Keystone State’s critical role in securing the presidency for Biden in 2020.
“Pennsylvanians also know that the choice between President Biden and an extreme Republican could not be clearer, and Democratic Lieutenant Governors are eager to deliver that message,” said Davis.
The DLGA has been pushing for more visibility in the election process. In March, the organization announced plans to raise $15 million by 2026 and commit $2 million to every high-stakes lieutenant governor race in 2024 and 2025 — a notable use of its substantial war chest.
Democratic lieutenant governors have been stressing to donors the importance of their roles as the future of the party, highlighting the selection of high-profile lieutenant governors such as Mandela Barnes and now-Sen. John Fetterman to run in competitive races throughout the country.
Tuesday is seen as a likely target for Biden to announce his 2024 reelection campaign. The president, who has faced little pressure to announce his bid and faces only unlikely primary challenges from Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has long said he was planning to run, telling ABC News’ David Muir in February it’s his “intention” to run for a second term.
Biden has already seen support from all flanks of the party, from Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats and who challenged him for the party’s 2020 nomination, to establishment figures like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
(LONDON) — Fighting in Sudan between forces loyal to two rival generals has triggered a mass exodus of foreigners, while locals struggle to escape.
A number of countries — including the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Germany, France and Canada — airlifted and evacuated diplomats, embassy staff and others from Sudan’s war-torn capital over the weekend. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments also announced temporary suspensions of operations at their embassies in Khartoum.
An estimated 16,000 Americans — most of whom are dual U.S.-Sudanese citizens — remain in Sudan, according to John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council in the White House.
“These are people that grew up in Sudan, work in Sudan, families are in Sudan and they want to stay in Sudan, so it’s a number that is difficult to plan to specifically,” Kirby told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday on Good Morning America.
There are also several dozen Americans currently making their way to Sudan’s main seaport via a United Nations-led convoy, which the U.S. is monitoring via “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to ensure their safety,” according to Kirby.
“We still have military forces prepositioned in the region ready to respond if need be. But right now, it’s not very safe to try to run some larger evacuation either out of the nearby air base or even just through rotary lift like we did the other night because the fighting is so intense,” he added. “The safest thing for Americans to do — those who have decided to stay in Sudan despite the warnings to leave — is to shelter in place and to not move around too much in the city of Khartoum.”
Meanwhile, many Sudanese civilians are trapped in the crossfire or are risking their lives attempting to flee by car to neighboring countries. Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala, who lives in Egypt’s capital, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that his family is “on the road from Sudan to Cairo through Aswan.” But he said his uncle’s wife, who has been in a coma since before the conflict, still needs help getting out.
Abu Alala also posted photos that his family had shared showing stray bullets on the balcony and in the exterior walls of their home in Khartoum. He wrote in an earlier Facebook post that he was “very worried about what is happening” in his home country but that “we all saw it coming.”
The violence erupted in Sudan on April 15 in a culmination of weeks of tensions between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful Sudanese paramilitary group. The two men were once allies who had jointly orchestrated a military coup in 2021 that dissolved Sudan’s power-sharing government and derailed its short-lived transition to democracy, following the ousting of a long-time dictator in 2019. Now, they are battling for control of the resource-rich North African nation and neither has shown any real indication of backing down, as proposed cease-fires have persistently collapsed.
The clashes started in Khartoum and quickly spread to other Sudanese cities, though “the heaviest concentration of fighting” remains centered in the densely populated capital, according to the World Health Organization, the global health arm of the U.N. The international community has repeatedly called on Sudan’s warring parties to immediately lay down their arms and engage in dialogue.
More than 420 people have been killed and over 3,700 others have been wounded in the conflict, according to the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. At least 273 civilians are among the dead and 1,579 among the injured, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties. At least one American citizen has been killed in Sudan since the violence broke out, according to the U.S. Department of State.
The widespread clashes have left dozens of hospitals across Sudan either damaged or destroyed, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, which called the issue “a clear violation of international humanitarian law.” As of Sunday, about two-thirds of hospitals in and around the conflict zones were out of service after being bombed, while others were under threat of closure due to a lack power, staffing, medical supplies, food and water.
The U.S. is concerned that Sudan’s conflict could spread further and has been in contact with the rival sides “every single day … trying to get them to put down their arms, to abide by the cease-fires that they themselves say they want and to return to some sort of civilian authority,” according to Kirby.
“We’re doing everything we can to get this fighting stopped,” he told ABC News. “This is a centrally located, very important, very large African country. We are concerned that other partners, other nations will be affected by this — not just in the region, but beyond — so that’s why we’re working so hard to get this violence stopped.”
ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawi, Shannon Crawford, Ellie Kaufman, Luis Martinez, Joe Simonetti and Edward Szekeres contributed to this report.
