Power Book II: Ghost will return to Starz Friday for season 3. Unlike the previous two seasons, the third was led by showrunner Brett Mahoney, who took over the position for his friend Courtney A. Kemp.
Mahoney’s office at Brooklyn’s Steiner Studios was next to Kemp’s for years before he was offered the position. When the Power universe blew up, she asked him to get on board, giving him the chance to work with her for season 2. “I didn’t know that she was going to move, but it actually ended up being a good transition,” he tells ABC Audio. By the time he was asked to take over the show, he’d already had conversations with Kemp about her plans for future seasons.
As the new showrunner, Mahoney admits he feels “pressure from the audience because people love the show so much,” but says the series will see the same themes from Power “in terms of family, ambition, power.”
“I see it as a coming-of-age story for Tariq,” he says. “He’s got choices to make, and we’re going to see that character evolve over time.”
Season 3 of Ghost will return with familiar characters. But new to the season is Caroline Chikezie, who’ll portray Noma, a powerful woman with a global empire she’ll do anything to protect.
Caroline says Noma will bring a little more balance to the series.
“Monet, portrayed by the fabulous Mary J. Blige, yeah she’s holding it down for us females,” she says. “But it’s nice now to have another bada** … on Ghost, so I feel that she’s bringing a bit more balance … The men need to be scared. OK. They need to start being scared of these women queenpins because we’re out there, and we’re coming for their spot.”
Michael Bublé shared how he killed time in Copenhagen, Denmark, telling his Instagram followers he did, “Day drinking, bicycles, and open faces [sic] sandwiches.” The singer raved while diving into a local dish, “I love it here!” He’ll play in the city Tuesday night.
John Mayer debuted a new song during a recent concert. Guitar World reports the song is apparently called “Driftin’.” No further information, like when he’ll release it as a single, is available.
John will also headline the Oceans Calling Festival, which runs September 29 to October 1 in Ocean City, Maryland. Other headliners include Alanis Morissette, The Lumineers and Jack Johnson. Performers include Sheryl Crow, O.A.R. and Weezer. Tickets will be sold on the event’s official website.
Lady Gaga shared a clip of another person who fell on the red carpet — not the photographer she helped get up after his spill. The TikTok video shows a woman in a knee-length white dress taking a tumble as she was following Kate Hudson. Gaga wrote, “No one knows she’s my best friend and we both had back to back red carpet falls.”
Kelly Clarkson praised Billy Porter during her daytime talk show for his riveting gospel performance of “Stronger.” Porter belted out her 2011 hit on That’s My Jam. Kelly raved, “That’s my favorite cover, literally, of any song I’ve ever performed.” She also said Porter made her want to make “the church version” of the song.
Ed Sheeran finally previewed a clip of the finished version of his new song “Eyes Closed” on TikTok. The 17-second teaser gives fans a better idea of what the full version will sound like when it drops next Friday.
Selena Gomez shared a bare-faced selfie on Instagram that was liked over 1 million times in just eight minutes, Page Six reports. Selena captioned it “Violet chemistry,” which is a song off of Miley Cyrus‘ new Endless Summer Vacation album. Selena also tagged Miley in the post, who in turn commented with a red heart emoji.
John Mayer debuted a new song during a recent concert. Guitar World reports the song is apparently called “Driftin’.” No further information, like when he’ll release it as a single, is available.
John will also headline the Oceans Calling Festival, which runs September 29 to October 1 in Ocean City, Maryland. Other headliners include Alanis Morissette, The Lumineers and Jack Johnson. Performers include Sheryl Crow, O.A.R. and Weezer. Tickets will be sold on the event’s official website.
Kelly Clarkson praised Billy Porter during her daytime talk show for his riveting gospel performance of “Stronger.” Porter belted out her 2011 hit on the show That’s My Jam. Kelly raved, “That’s my favorite cover, literally, of any song I’ve ever performed.” She also said Porter made her want to make “the church version” of the song.
Ed Sheeran finally previewed a clip of the finished version of his new song “Eyes Closed” on TikTok. The 17-second teaser gives fans a better idea of what the full version will sound like when it drops next Friday.
Lady Gaga shared a clip of another person who fell on the red carpet — not the photographer she helped get up after his spill. The TikTok video shows a woman in a knee-length white dress taking a tumble as she was following Kate Hudson. Gaga wrote, “No one knows she’s my best friend and we both had back to back red carpet falls.”
Matthew McConaughey and his pal Woody Harrelson are getting back together again for a project that couldn’t be more different than their pairing on True Detective.
The as-yet-untitled project comes from Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek alum David West Read. The half-hour comedy, slated for 10 episodes,isreportedly “a heartfelt odd couple love story revolving around the strange and beautiful bond between Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.”
Apple TV+ continues, “Matthew and Woody’s friendship is tested when their combined families attempt to live together on Matthew’s ranch in Texas.”
As most know, the pair have been tight for decades, with Woody recently referring to McConaughey as “my weed guy” in a promo for his Saturday Night Live hosting stint.
(NEW YORK) — Recently, a review from the Cochrane Library set off a firestorm after headlines declared research published by the respected organization’s study found masks don’t work and don’t stop community transmission of respiratory viruses like COVID-19.
Over a two-month period, some commentators and politicians took to op-ed pieces and social media to say the study proved masks weren’t needed the whole time and that mandates had been ineffective.
However, the editor-in-chief of the Cochrane Library, Dr. Karla Soares-Weiser, issued a statement on March 10 to say the analysis had been misinterpreted and that the review didn’t find that masks do not work.
Rather it looked at how effective masking programs, like mandates, were at slowing the spread of respiratory viruses and, from there, found the results to be inconclusive.
“Many commentators have claimed that a recently updated Cochrane Review shows that ‘masks don’t work,’ which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation,” Soares-Weiser wrote. “It would be accurate to say that the review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses, and that the results were inconclusive.”
Experts told ABC News the findings from the meta-analysis from the Cochrane Library have not been accurately represented and that evidence shows masks do help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
How the Cochrane review addressed different questions
The Cochrane review, published in late January, looked at several studies that had examined physical interventions to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.
Many of the studies analyzed looked at masking interventions, meaning how effective masks are if people are given masks and information about masking, and encouraged to wear them.
However, giving people masks does not necessarily mean that people will wear masks.
“The study was misinterpreted and, when you give it a very quick glance, you see how that would happen,” Dr. Jessica Justman, an associate professor of medicine in epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, told ABC News. “It’s looking at interventions that tried to promote the use of different kinds of protective equipment, such as masks, and the outcomes are all going to depend on how well people actually adhere to the particular type of protective equipment.”
She continued, “So, it’s not as much a study of the mask but a study of the intervention to get people to wear a mask.”
Additionally, many of the studies analyzed in the Cochrane review didn’t look at whether people were wearing them all the time, like a at home around others, and if they were wearing them properly, including tight-fitting and covering the nose and mouth.
“Masks work if you wear them,” Justman said. “But if you wear them very imperfectly, if you wear them in a way where they are only loosely fitting on your face and you take them off, let’s say in a crowded restaurant to eat a meal, you can’t then conclude when you get COVID that the mask didn’t protect you because if you don’t wear the mask properly, you’re not going to get the full protection.”
Ramifications of people misinterpreting the results
Because the review was misinterpreted to say masks don’t work rather than the results being inconclusive, Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, a professor of health policy and management at City University of New York School of Public Health, said this could influence people to believe they don’t need to wear a mask, which could have consequences.
“This has potential ramifications like long COVID, potential hospitalization and we have to wonder how many lives could have been saved, hospitalizations could have been averted how many cases of long COIVD be avoided if masks were more prevalent,” he said.
Lee added it helps that the editor-in-chief issued the statement, but worried the misinterpretation has already been widely spread and it will be hard to change people’s minds.
“The concern is that the initial message has already been amplified and the degree to which it was amplified was significant,” he said. “One of the challenges is, once information gets out there, it takes twice, triple, sometimes quadruple, or even more than that, the effort to try to correct information that’s already out there.”
What the science tells us about masks
“We already have information from other studies that show almost a dose-response relationship between wearing no mask at all, wearing a cloth mask, wearing a surgical mask and wearing an N95,” Justman said. “As you go up the ladder, so to speak, with each step of a better-quality mask, you see more protection.”
One example is a study published in February 2022 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examining those who said they wore masks all the time in indoor public settings.
Researchers found cloth masks were associated with a 56% decrease in testing positive for COVID-19, surgical masks by 66% and N95/KN95 masks by 83% compared to those who didn’t wear masks or face coverings.
Lee added that masks are population-based interventions, not individual-based interventions, meaning their efficacy depends on not just one person wearing a mask but how many people are wearing masks too.
“We know that masks not only protect the wearer from other people and from the virus, but they also protect other people from the wearer, because if someone’s infectious and shedding the virus, the mask can prevent them from spewing the virus into air, or at least reducing the amount of virus the air,” he said.
Citadel, the spy series from Avengers directors Joe and Anthony Russo, is reportedly getting a second season, even before its launch on Amazon’s Prime Video.
While the studio and the filmmaking sibs’ production company AGBO are still mum, The Hollywood Reporter says a season 2 is a go — ahead of its April 28 premiere on the streaming service.
The show stars Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas as a pair of spies who worked for the secretive agency known as Citadel until a shadowy agency known as Manticore destroyed it. The pair escape with their lives, but their memories were erased and their past lives were forgotten. However, they reunite, and they “embark on a mission that takes them around the world … all while contending with a relationship built on secrets, lies, and a dangerous-yet-undying love.”
(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles prosecutors announced felony charges Tuesday in connection with a deadly COVID-19 outbreak that occurred at an upscale assisted living facility early in the pandemic.
The charges, which include felony elder endangerment, follow a two-and-a-half-year investigation into the outbreak at the Silverado Senior Living Management facility, LA County District Attorney George Gascón said during a press briefing Tuesday.
Sixty residents and 45 employees at Silverado Beverly Place contracted COVID-19 in what Gascón called “one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19” in an assisted living facility in California. Thirteen residents and a nurse died, Gascón said.
The investigation began following the death of the staff member, identified as 32-year-old Brittany Ringo.
Prosecutors allege Silverado admitted a new resident on March 19, 2020, despite protocols at the time limiting outside visitors, including patients. The facility also allegedly failed to test the patient for COVID-19 or quarantine the patient for 14 days prior to admission, as required by health protocols, according to prosecutors. The new patient began showing COVID-19 symptoms a day after arrival and tested positive for the virus that evening, according to Gascón.
Ringo was allegedly ordered to admit the new resident, who had come “directly to the facility from the airport” from a COVID-19 “hotspot” in New York City, Gascón said. She tested positive for COVID-19 on March 25, 2020, and died on April 20, 2020, according to the district attorney.
“We have evidence to support that the protocols were not followed due to financial considerations of accepting this patient from New York,” Gascón said. “We believe that Silverado put the interests and financial gain in profit over the safety considerations for their patients and employees.”
Silverado Senior Living Management and three managers — CEO Loren Shook, administrator Jason Russo and Kimberly Butrum, a vice president — have been charged with 13 counts of felony elder endangerment and five felony counts of violation causing death in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak, prosecutors said. Arraignment was expected Tuesday.
Silverado did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the charges.
At the start of the outbreak, Silverado defended its actions in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our residents and the associates who care for them each day, and we’re proud of our team’s dedication and professionalism during this pandemic,” Jeff Frum, a spokesman for the facility’s parent company, told the paper in March 2020.
The facility specializes in caring for elderly residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia, prosecutors said.
The case was treated as an industrial workplace accident, prosecutors said. The investigation, led by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, took over two years due to COVID-19 restrictions at the time and due to several employees leaving the facility, prosecutors said.
The charges follow a lawsuit against the facility filed late last year by relatives of several residents and the nurse who died.
(WASHINGTON) — According to the CDC, one in five Americans will experience mental illness each year and among them is Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who was recently hospitalized for clinical depression.
In response, New York Congressman Ritchie Torres has opened about his own mental health struggles. Torres spoke to “GMA3” hosts DeMarco Morgan and Eva Pilgrim about his experience with depression and how it has motivated him to be a champion for more mental health awareness and resources.
EVA PILGRIM: You say that you would not be alive, let alone in Congress, if it was not for mental health care. Talk to us about your journey and why you felt like you need to share it now.
RITCHIE TORRES: More than 15 years ago, I was at the lowest point of my life. I had dropped out of college. I found myself struggling with depression. There were moments when I thought of even taking my own life, because I felt as if the world around me had collapsed. I had to be hospitalized. And so I never thought in my wildest dreams, seven years later, I’d become the youngest elected official in New York City. And then today, I would be before you as a United States congressman. And I would not be alive were it not for the power of mental health care. And I feel like I have an obligation to tell my story in the hopes of breaking the shame and silence, and stigma that too often surrounds the subject of mental health.
DEMARCO MORGAN: And you are the first openly gay Afro-Latino in Congress. Can you talk about, you know, how you have compared coming out about your sexuality to coming out about depression? How so?
TORRES: Look, there is an analogy there. When you’re coming out of the closet, the process of coming out, the integrity that it demands of you, teaches you what I call an ethic of radical authenticity, of radical transparency. And when you’re out of the closet, you’re motivated to be transparent about every aspect of your life, including your struggle with depression. And so my experience of coming out has inspired me to be honest and open about my lifelong struggle with depression.
MORGAN: So you also think that there are people in the closet about, you know, being depressed and living with depression?
TORRES: We live in a society that historically has shamed people for experiencing mental illness, that has framed mental illness as a failure of character or a failure of willpower. And I’m here to send a message that mental illness is nothing of which to be ashamed, that there are millions of Americans who struggle with depression and anxiety. And I’m living proof that you can overcome those mental health barriers that keep you from becoming the best version of yourself.
PILGRIM: You’re talking about that shame, that stigma that’s associated with mental illness. You say it’s not broken yet, but it is breaking. What progress have we made? What do you think we need to do to make the full progress?
TORRES: Look, when you have a United States senator publicly acknowledge that he’s admitting himself into the hospital for depression, that’s a culturally consequential moment. That’s a breakthrough for mental health awareness. And I tell my story, because I see mental health awareness as a form of public service. And so more people are telling their stories. And no matter what position you hold in life, whether you’re rich or poor, black or white. Mental health is a universal experience. We all have either had experience with mental illness or we know someone we love who’s had those experiences.
MORGAN: And how has your battle with depression influenced your work in Washington and sort of changed the way that you represent your constituents who are dealing with depression?
TORRES: Well, especially in the world of COVID, my experience with depression has motivated me to be a champion of mental health awareness in Congress. I think I began experiencing depression when I was in high school, and my school was so chronically under resourced that there were no psychologists or psychiatrists on site. And if I had been given access to mental health care when I was in high school, then all the crises that followed could have been prevented. And so in the last federal budget, I secured millions of dollars to support the Montefiore School Health Program, which is the largest network of school based health centers, which services about 42,000 students. Our schools are like our second homes, and our schools should be hubs of mental health services.
PILGRIM: The first lines of defense for a lot of these students. You’re a congressmen. So what can legislators do to help this situation?
TORRES: Well, first and foremost, we have to recognize that health care, including mental health care, is a human right. The United States has the highest health care expenditures, but we have the worst health outcomes. And even if you have insurance, there are interminably long waiting periods for psychologists and psychiatrists. There’s a severe shortage of mental health professionals in America. So we have to fix our broken health care system. Because if you’re generation Z, especially, you’ve lived through the isolation of COVID, you’re the first generation to grow up on social media. Those are profound mental health events that will have consequences long after the pandemic is gone.
MORGAN: You’ve also said that it is much worse to let depression fester than to get treatment. What advice would you give someone who’s going through depression, doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know how to find the resources?
TORRES: Look, there’s no one size fits all. There’s no magic bullet. But my experience tells me that those who struggle with depression could benefit from medication and psychotherapy. Every morning I take an antidepressant, Wellbutrin. It enables me to function as a productive person in public service, and I feel no shame in admitting it. And I would encourage others to do the same, if that can make a difference in your life.
MORGAN: All right. Thank you. And thanks a lot for coming on to the show as well.
(LAUREL, Miss.) — Rasheem Carter, a Mississippi Black man who went missing last October after claiming he was being targeted by white men in his community, was found dead and body dismembered shortly after according to a newly released autopsy, and his family is asking for a federal probe into his death.
Carter was reported missing two days after his last known sighting in Laurel, Mississippi, last October and days after telling his mother and the police about being targeted by white men in the community.
Around a month later on Nov. 2, the 25-year-old’s remains were found in a wooded area south of Taylorsville.
“One thing is for certain … This was not a natural killing. This was not a natural death. This represents a young man who was killed,” attorney Ben Crump said during a press conference Monday, releasing the findings of an autopsy report by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office.
The report states that the conditions of the remains at the time of the autopsy make it difficult to determine exact timing of the injuries, and states there were signs of animal activity on the remains clouding the picture.
The medical examiner ruled that the cause and manner of death are both undetermined in the report.
Crump, in collaboration with his co-counsel Carlos Moore, is calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to open a federal investigation into Carter’s death.
Carter’s head was severed from his body, with his spinal cord recovered in an area separate from his head, according to Crump.
“They have recently found remains that they believe are also Rasheem Carter at another part of where he went missing, and what that tells us is, this was a nefarious act. This was an evil act. Somebody murdered Rasheem Carter. And we cannot let them get away with this,” Crump said.
According to a statement by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation sent to ABC News, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the investigation of Carter’s death. Since it is an open investigation, they did not wish to comment further at this time and any further information and updates should come from the lead agency, Smith County Sheriff’s Department.
The Smith County Sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for a statement.
The Smith County Sheriff’s Office “had no reason to believe foul play was involved” when they first found Carter last year, according to a statement released on Facebook a day after he was found.
The department’s initial press release caused small peaceful protests throughout the community, with members skeptical of no foul play being involved.
“Clearly Rasheem’s death was not a natural death,” said Ricky McDonald, president of the Jefferson County NAACP chapter, said at the press conference. “After Rasheem was found shortly after law enforcement there says that it was no foul play. How can it not be foul play when his body was dismembered? How can it not be foul play when his body parts was scattered all over the land in which he was found.”
Days before he was reported missing, Carter discussed with his mother his concerns for his safety detailed in a text message between the two.
After specifying a name in the text message who Carter felt threatened by, he continued in the message that “if anything happens… he’s responsible for it. … He got these guys wanting to kill me,” according to text messages his mother read during the press conference.
“My son told me that it was three truckloads of white guys trying to kill him. And at the time that he told me, as a mother, you know, I had to think fast. So I told him to go to the police station because I felt in my heart they would serve and protect like they are obligated to do,” she said.
Carter visited the Taylorsville Police Department on two separate occasions leading up to his disappearance, according to Chief of Laurel Police Department Tommy Cox, whose department filed the initial missing persons case after the family came to them for help.
The Taylorsville Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News for comment.
“This doesn’t seem like the act of just one individual,” Crump said during the press conference. “It kind of lines up with what Tiffany said, there was a lynch mob of three trucks chasing her son before he went missing.”
Jo Dee Messina appeared on NBC’s Today show to perform her hit single “Heads Carolina, Tails California.” While there, she promoted her newly released greatest hits collection, The Best of Jo Dee Messina, and teased new music coming “in the next couple months.” In case you missed it, watch Jo Dee’s performance on the Today show’s website.
BMG/BBR Music Group has announced the signing of a new trio, The Frontman. The supergroup comprises members of three ’90s country bands: former Lonestar lead singer Richie McDonald, former Little Texas lead vocalist and guitarist Tim Rushlow, and Larry Stewart of Restless Heart.
Willie Nelson has announced the first 16 shows of his 2023 Outlaw Music Festival Tour. “I can’t wait to be on the road with the amazing group of artists joining us on this year’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour,” Willie shares. “It is always a great day of music and fun with family, friends and the incredible fans, and even more special this year in celebration of my 90th birthday.” Margo Price, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, The Avett Brothers and Brittney Spencer are included in the lineup. View the full list of tour dates and performers at the festival’s website.
