Harry Styles continues to shake up Seoul, and he was joined by some “Dynamite” talent — albeit backstage.
Harry’s Love on Tour is embarking on its Asian leg and brought him to South Korea. He previously hung out with BLACKPINK‘s Rosé, who was at his show alongside bandmate Jennie.
It was also reported four members of BTS —RM, Suga, V and Jungkook — were in the crowd. They recently revealed they also hung out with Harry backstage.
RM and V took to their Instagram Stories with pictures of their meeting. The boys are flashing various peace signs or making heart gestures with their hands.
V and Jungkook trended on social media after fans snagged video of them dancing in the crowd as Harry belted out One Direction‘s “What Makes You Beautiful.”
Speaking of BTS, the group is collaborating with Dr. Martens shoes for a BT21 collection. The shoes are embossed with the BT21 characters, which were drawn by members of BTS and given personalities. The characters are named Cooky, Mang, RJ, Tata, Shooky and Koya.
Fans won’t have to wait too long to snatch up a pair because they drop Thursday, March 30, on drmartens.com. Prices range from $140 to $190 a pair.
NBA Youngboy‘s new album is nearly a month away. In a post shared to his Twitter account Tuesday, he announced the project titled Don’t Try This At Home will drop on April 21, with 33 tracks available for fans to stream.
He also shared the album’s cover art, which featured Baton Rouge’s F.G. Clark Activity Center with the name of his album on its roof.
Youngboy’s upcoming effort will follow I Rest My Case, released in January. Though he told Billboard that he’ll try to steer clear of negativity in his music, he let Rap Radar know that he’s going to “talk crazy.”
“I’ma talk crazy on there,” he said. “I’ma show you Murda Man. I’ma talk crazy on there, but I’m letting you know though, don’t try this at home. It’s all entertainment, bruh. I’ma talk my s*** and everything I’m talking, letting you know, don’t try this at home.”
“Entertainment and reality is very different,” Youngboy continued. “What I do think, some of the entertainers make their entertainment their reality also, if I said that right.”
(NEW YORK) — A grand jury is continuing to weigh charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
No current or former president has ever been indicted for criminal conduct.
Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern. Check back for updates:
Mar 22, 12:51 PM EDT
Manhattan grand jury to reconvene as early as Thursday
The Manhattan grand jury weighing charges against former President Donald Trump in connection to the Stormy Daniels hush payment investigation is not meeting on Wednesday, sources told ABC News. The earliest the grand jury would reconvene is Thursday, sources said.
The grand jurors were called Wednesday morning and told they were not needed during the day as scheduled, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The grand jurors were told to be prepared to reconvene on Thursday when it’s possible they will hear from at least one additional witness, the sources said.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing grand jury matters.
-ABC News’ John Santucci and Luke Barr
Mar 22, 8:25 AM EDT
With Trump case looming, what is an indictment?
Criminal prosecution proceedings typically start with an arrest and a court appearance, but legal experts say that on many occasions, especially in white collar crimes, suspects aren’t hit with charges or a visit from an officer until long after an official investigation is underway.
Typically, if a crime is being investigated, law enforcement agents will make an arrest, file initial charges and bring a suspect to be arraigned in court, Vincent Southerland, an assistant professor of clinical law and the director of the criminal defense and reentry clinic at NYU School of Law, told ABC News.
After this arraignment, prosecutors would impanel a grand jury for a formal criminal indictment. Southerland, who has been practicing law in New York state for 19 years, said this process includes giving the jury evidence, possible testimony and other exhibits before they can officially charge a person with felonies.
A Manhattan grand jury is currently investigating Trump’s possible role in the hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The former president has denied any wrongdoing and having an affair with Daniels. His attorneys have framed the funds as a response to an extortion plot.
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira
Mar 21, 6:11 PM EDT
Pence discourages protests if Trump indicted
Former Vice President Mike Pence discouraged any protests should a grand jury indict Donald Trump.
“Every American has the right to let their voice be heard. The Constitution provides the right to peaceably assemble. But I think in this instance, I would discourage Americans from engaging in protests if in fact the former president is indicted,” Pence said Tuesday when asked by ABC News if Americans should protest a possible indictment.
Pence said he understood the “frustration” while calling the case “politically motivated.”
“But I think letting our voices be heard in other ways, and in not engaging in protests, I think is most prudent at this time,” he said.
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Mar 21, 11:00 AM EDT
McCarthy grows frustrated as Trump questions persist at House GOP retreat
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy again ripped into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg when asked about the potential charges against former President Donald Trump at a Tuesday press conference at the House GOP retreat in Orlando.
When McCarthy was asked directly if had concerns about Trump’s alleged conduct regarding the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, he didn’t answer the question and instead pivoted to talking about Hillary Clinton and Bragg.
“What we see before us is a political game being played by a local. Look, this isn’t New York City, this is just a Manhattan,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said he hasn’t spoken to Trump in three weeks.
When asked if Trump is still the leader of the Republican Party, McCarthy took a jab at the press: “In the press room, for all of you, he is.”
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin
Mar 21, 10:14 AM EDT
Grand jury to reconvene on Wednesday
A grand jury will reconvene on Wednesday to continue to weigh charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, paid $130,000 to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign to allegedly keep her from talking about an affair she claimed to have had with Trump.
Trump has denied the affair and his attorneys have framed the funds as an extortion payment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is mulling whether to charge Trump with falsifying business records, after the Trump Organization allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payment then logged the reimbursement as a legal expense, sources have told ABC News. Trump has called the payment “a private contract between two parties” and has denied all wrongdoing.
Trump this weekend wrote on his Truth Social platform that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday.
The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating security plans with the NYPD in the event of an indictment and arraignment in an open courtroom in Manhattan, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The two agencies had a call Monday to discuss logistics, including court security and how Trump would potentially surrender for booking and processing, according to sources briefed on the discussions. White collar criminal defendants in New York are typically allowed to negotiate a surrender.
Is Quavo the karaoke king? The rapper showed off his skills during his appearance on Jimmy Fallon‘s variety show That’s My Jam.
On the show, he was tasked with performing a “nonsense karaoke” version of Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz’s “Get Low,” which featured a whole new set of words to the beat.
“Pickle brine/ Taste like wine/ Straightening my teeth with Invisalign/ Jello, Jello, Jello, Jello, Jello, Jello/ I bought a Kindle at the mall/ Belly flop’d Niagara falls/ Read a book opened by Roald Dahl,” Quavo rapped to the beat as the crowd waved their hands in the air.
Quavo’s appearance follows previously released singles “Greatness” and “Without You,” both tributes to his nephew/Migos mate Takeoff, who passed away outside a Houston bowling alley in November.
Lindsey Buckingham seems to be trolling folks on social media. Following the premiere of the Amazon Prime series Daisy Jones & the Six, a clip of Fleetwood Mac’s 1997 reunion concert performance of “Silver Springs” has gone viral on social media, and Lindsey appears to have responded.
Buckingham shared a portion of the performance on TikTok, featuring just his guitar solo, stopping just as Stevie Nicks is about to sing the song she wrote about their breakup. Buckingham captioned the clip, “I hear we’re talking about that ‘97 Silver Springs’ again…,” which prompted several responses on social media.
“Leaving in the solo but cutting off before the bridge when Stevie stares a hole right through your soul,” one person commented, while another added, “He knows well and good that is not the part we’re talking about.” Daisy Jones star Riley Keough responded to his post, “Yes we are.”
“Silver Springs” was written for 1997’s Rumours, but was left off of it. It became a B-side for “Go Your Own Way,” and the live version was featured on the 1997 album The Dance. The performance clip has gone viral because Daisy Jones author Taylor Jenkins Reid says the book was inspired by watching that Fleetwood Mac concert, and particularly mentioned the performances of “Silver Springs” and “Landslide.”
(LOS ANGELES) — For the second straight day, classes were canceled for more than 400,000 Los Angeles public school students as tens of thousands of service workers, backed by the powerful teachers union, continued to strike.
Custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, special education assistants and other members of the Service Employees International Union Local 99 walked picket lines Wednesday morning with no new negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District publicly announced. The 30,000 members of the service employees union are demanding higher wages and better working conditions, and are planning to stay off the job for a third day on Thursday.
The labor action is the first major work stoppage for the nation’s second largest school district since a 2019 strike by the 35,000 members of the United Teachers Los Angeles Union.
The teachers union is honoring the service union’s picket lines, forcing the school district to shut down schools.
Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of the UTLA, said her members are supporting the service employees’ demands to show “respect to the education workers that keep our schools working and our children safe.”
“We stand in solidarity with them, recognizing that their struggles are our struggles … that the only way we achieve our goals is by standing collectively together,” Myart-Cruz said.
The service workers union has called for a three-day strike.
Hopes of avoiding a strike were dashed on Monday when a new effort to jumpstart labor negotiations broke down at the last minute, officials said.
“Despite our invitation for a transparent, honest conversation that perhaps would result in a meaningful solution that would avoid a strike, we were never able to be in the same room or at the same table to address these issues,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in a statement.
Carvalho said he and the district’s negotiating team waited for hours on Monday to resume labor talks, but never got a response from the service workers union.
“We’ve run out of time,” said Carvalho, adding that he is still hopeful that negotiations will resume soon.
Max Arias, executive director of the service workers union, said the union had agreed to “enter a confidential mediation process” with the LAUSD.
“Unfortunately, LAUSD broke that confidentiality by sharing it with the media before our bargaining team, which makes all decisions, had a chance to discuss how to proceed,” Arias said. “This is yet another example of the school district’s continued disrespect of school workers. We are ready to strike.”
Conrado Guerrero, president of the local service workers’ union and a building engineer for the school district, said Tuesday that the “LAUSD has pushed us to a strike.”
“I showed up every day, I installed air filters in classrooms and other facilities. My work was essential for student health,” Guerrero told ABC News. “But it seems LAUSD has forgotten that.”
The service employees have been working without a contract since June 2020.
“We’re not getting an equitable wage to feed families, have housing,” Fatima Grayson, a striking special education assistant, told ABC Los Angeles station KABC. “A lot of people that do work for LAUSD have to work two jobs.”
In December 2022, the union declared an impasse in negotiations, prompting the appointment of a state mediator.
The service workers’ union said many of its members earn “poverty wages” of $25,000 per year and are demanding a 30% pay hike, with an additional pay increase for the lowest-paid workers.
Carvalho said on Monday that the school district had upped its most recent offer to a 23% wage increase, along with a 3% “cash-in-hand bonus.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the city is helping parents cope with the strike by making recreation centers available to students. All city public libraries will also remain open and the Los Angeles Zoo is offering free admission to students during the strike.
Many parents said they are standing behind the service workers, including some who plan to walk the picket line with the striking employees.
“We have some of our most underpaid workers doing some of the most challenging jobs on our campuses,” parent Jenna Schwartz told KABC. “The majority aren’t receiving health care. They’ve been negotiating for years to no avail.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles, joined service workers on the picket line Tuesday, saying he is supporting “all those who take such good care of our kids who are there in school.”
“I stand here with people of Los Angeles who believe that those that have these important responsibilities should not have to live in poverty,” Schiff said. “The median income of our bus drivers and our cafeteria workers that are school age is $25,000 a year. Those are poverty wages. People with some of the most important responsibilities in our schools should not have to live in poverty.”
ABC News’ Flor Tolentino contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A “bomb cyclone” is wreaking havoc across an already soaked California, killing at least two people whose vehicles were crushed by falling trees in the San Francisco Bay Area, officials said.
A dramatic drop in atmospheric pressure triggered the so-called bomb cyclone that swept in from the Pacific Ocean and clobbered the San Francisco area. The storm packed heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 90 mph that knocked down trees, blocking major roadways and highways, officials said.
Tens of thousands of utility customers lost power, according to officials.
One person was killed and another was injured in the gated community of Rossmoor, about 25 miles east of San Francisco, when a tree fell on a moving car, according to the California Highway Patrol. Another motorist was killed around 1:30 p.m. local time Tuesday when a toppled tree crushed a work van in San Mateo County, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, according to CHP.
On Wednesday morning, the town of Woodside, about 32 miles south of San Francisco, was under a “highly recommended evacuation” after a mudslide shut down a road, impacting about 30 homes, officials said.
“If you live in this area, please pack your ‘Go Bag,’ with all necessary essentials: insurance policy, pets, medications, a change of clothes, and LEAVE NOW,” San Mateo County officials said in a Twitter post Wednesday. “Once the road gives out completely, residents in that area will not have access to emergency services for the foreseeable future.”
The mudslide unfolded as the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for Woodside and nearby San Mateo County communities Wednesday morning after about 3 inches of rain fell in the area over a 24-hour period.
The powerful springtime storm is also being blamed for the derailment of an Amtrak train near Martinez, about 35 miles east of San Francisco. The train was carrying 55 passengers when it struck a downed tree on the tracks, according to Amtrak officials. No injuries were reported.
High wind gusts also caused a tractor-trailer rig to overturn on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, blocking the eastbound lanes and snarling traffic during the evening commute, according to CHP.
The winds were so strong in downtown San Francisco Tuesday that it knocked out windows in high-rise buildings, sending shattered glass to the ground, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
San Francisco International Airport recorded wind gusts of 64 mph, while gusty winds reached 74 mph in Oakland. Gusts hit nearly 90 mph between San Francisco and Sacramento.
The “bomb cyclone” developed off the coast of San Francisco Tuesday when the atmospheric pressure dropped 24 millibars in 17 hours, producing the strongest March storm ever recorded in the Bay Area.
The same storm system walloped Southern California Tuesday with wind gusts of up to 100 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles. The town of Lytle Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains recorded more than 6 inches of rain, while nearly an inch-and-a-half of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles.
The weather system is expected to weaken Wednesday, but most of California will remain under a flood watch and high-wind alerts are expected to persist into the afternoon.
The storm, the latest in a series of atmospheric river systems that has nearly eliminated the state’s multi-year drought, is expected to move southeast, bringing severe weather to parts of Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma. Severe weather on Thursday and Friday could produce large hail and damaging winds from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to San Angelo, more than 250 miles southwest of Dallas.
As the storm moves east on Friday, a possible tornado outbreak could form in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service.
Not only was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson‘s Black Adam ultimately unsuccessful, but at least according to Shazam star Zachary Levi, Johnson’s failed attempt to shape the DC universe around himself also hurt Shazam‘s sequel.
Levi reposted a story from The Wrap that confirmed Johnson personally blocked Levi from appearing as Shazam in Black Adam. He also reportedly ordered a last-minute nixing of a Shazam sequel after-credits scene in which Levi’s character would be recruited into Black Adam‘s Justice Society of America.
It was all a part of Johnson’s efforts to “undermine Shazam,” the trade reports.
While the character of Black Adam is canonically a foil of Levi’s red-suited hero, Johnson refused to appear as the heavy in 2019’s Shazam and publicly set his sights on an Adam/Superman matchup instead. He even lured Henry Cavill out of superhero retirement to play the latter in an Adam after-credits, only to have the entire thing blow up in his face when the movie underperformed, and James Gunn and Peter Safran made new superhero plans for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Shazam‘s sequel managed to top the box office over last weekend, albeit with a weak $30 million bow. While the original had a 90% from ratings aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an 82% Audience Score, critics and fans are split on the follow-up, with a 51% from critics — but an actually better audience score than the original, at 87%.
Levi addressed this disconnect via Twitter, explaining in a now-deleted Tweet, “I think the biggest issue we’re having is marketing. This is a perfect family movie, and yet a lot of families aren’t aware of that. Which is just a shame.”
Elton John’s “Rocket Man” is one of his biggest hits, but apparently even Elton didn’t know what the song was about until recently.
Elton is celebrating last year’s 50th anniversary of Honky Château, the album “Rocket Man” is on, and in a clip posted to Instagram, we see the moment he learned what the tune was really about.
“’Rocket Man’ was our first-ever number-one record I think. And it was on the Honky Château record,” he says. “It was a pretty easy song to write a melody to because it’s a song about space so it’s quite a spacious song.”
But apparently it really isn’t about space, with Elton’s songwriting partner Bernie Taupin setting him straight.
“It was actually a song inspired by Ray Bradbury from his book of science-fiction short stories called The Illustrated Man,” Taupin explains. “In that book, there was a story called The Rocket Man, which was about how astronauts in the future would become sort of an everyday job, so I kinda took that idea and ran with it.”
Well, that was news to Elton, who responded, “Do you know, I never knew that.” He captioned the clip “you learn something new every day.”
Elton is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Honky Château with an anniversary edition, which is dropping Friday. It is available for preorder now.
Smash, the short-lived Broadway musical-themed NBC show, is coming to the Great White Way in 2024.
In an announcement Wednesday, the TV show’s producers Steven Spielberg and Neil Meron trumpeted that a Broadway version of the musical series about a Broadway musical will be directed by The Producers Tony winner Susan Stroman for the 2024-25 season.
The upcoming production will feature beloved songs from the series, which was about the mounting of a fictitious Marilyn Monroe musical called Bombshell, but also new tracks from Hairspray legends Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman.
Starring Katharine McPhee, Megan Hilty and Debra Messing, Smash only ran for two seasons, but Spielberg noted how it remains “near and dear” to his heart.
He adds, “It was always my hope that a musical inspired by the show would eventually come to the stage. We now have an incredible creative team, and I’m looking forward to completing the Smash journey which began with my producing partners over ten years ago.”
Meron added, “Ever since the show ended in 2012, not a week goes by that someone doesn’t ask us when will they see Smash as a musical. We think we’ve come up with something the die-hard series fans will love but that will also be exciting for people who never saw an episode of the show.”
