Speaking with People, the 43-year-old singer explained why she’ll still fly through the air during her upcoming tour. “I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast before I was a singer. And once you get to fly, why would you not?” she reasoned.
Pink continued, “My mom was like, ‘Are you ever going to stay on the ground?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to stand there [and] lip sync. Sure, that sounds fun.'”
“No, why would I stay on the ground if I don’t have to? It’s really fun, it’s really physical, it’s really hard, it keeps me engaged, and it keeps me humble,” she added.
So what inspired Pink to soar through the air during her performances? We can thank Cher for that. Pink says she had the idea after watching the legendary singer’s Living Proof: The Farewell Tour in the early 2000s.
That said, Pink doesn’t think she’ll stop with the acrobatics anytime soon. “If there was a thing I would’ve stopped for, it would’ve been my kids, but now they get to do it at soundcheck though — we’re all good,” she said.
Pink’s North American tour — her first since 2019 — kicks off October 12 in Sacramento, California. It wraps up November 18 in Orlando, Florida.
Parker McCollum took to Instagram and TikTok to reveal the look of his newly designed tour bus.
Boasting a clean, minimalistic and luxurious layout, Parker’s new Dreamliner Coach is an alluring house on wheels for any entertainer and touring musician. From the clips shared, it appears it has a mix of gray, silver, white and gold finishes that add to its overall elegance.
“Took 6 months to design and build this bus! 1000% worth the wait!” the Texas native said in the video’s caption. Several artists were green with envy on Parker’s Instagram post, with the Josh Abbott Band commenting, “Damn dude, you weren’t playin’. [exhaling emoji]”
Parker’s single “Handle On You” is currently No. 7 and climbing on the country chart.
When Paul Mescal agreed to act in Aftersun, awards were the last thing on his mind. So, when he found out he was up for best leading actor at this year’s Academy Awards, Mescal tells ABC Audio it came as a shock.
“The way awards season works, there’s always three or four [performances] that are fairly sure bets as you get to Oscar nominations morning. And we were never, ever inside that,” Mescal says. “The drama of that actually happening is probably something that won’t ever happen again.”
While being an Oscar-nominated actor seemed like a far-off dream, Mescal says there was one person who always believed in him — his mother.
“She’s had that date booked in her diary for years. She had lots of confidence, probably more confidence than I did, that this was ever going to happen,” Mescal says.
That date is quickly approaching. Mescal and his mother will attend the ceremony on March 12, and he says he’s been thinking about what it will feel like to experience the Oscars in person.
“I just have a hyper fixation of what it’s going to feel like,” Mescal says. “I distinctly remember waking up in the middle of the night to watch it back in Ireland. That’s the image in my head, is sitting in the car with my mum and driving to it.”
While Mescal’s mother will sit next to him during the ceremony, his father will also attend, seated elsewhere in the theater. Their support, Mescal says, was crucial in getting him to this moment.
“I feel like I’ve had a network of people around me who never said no,” Mescal said. “If I’m ever going to be a parent, I’m going to take a leaf out of their book and never say no. Ever.”
The final trailer for Scream VI starts off where it all began: a ringing phone.
Franchise mainstay Courteney Cox takes a call from Ghostface, who comments, “Strange you and I have never spoken on the phone. This is long overdue.”
Intercut with rave reviews from outlets that got a peek, we see the robed killer stalking Scream V‘s survivors — including Jenna Ortega‘s Tara, Melissa Barrera‘s Sam, Jasmin Savoy Brown‘s Mindy and Mason Gooding‘s Chad — both below and above the streets of New York City.
The group also encounters “a shrine” to the murderer, featuring mannequins of his earlier incarnations.
However, they’re not going down without a fight. “We’ve got to lure him in,” Tara says, “and we execute him.”
Judging by the clips that follow, however, that’s apparently easier said than done.
(WASHINGTON) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday warned of potentially devastating consequences of a U.S. debt default and called on Congress to raise the debt ceiling.
Speaking to the Senate banking committee, Powell said a potential U.S. debt default could be “extraordinarily adverse and do longstanding harm.”
“At the end of the day, there is only one solution to this problem and that is Congress,” he added. “Congress really needs to raise the debt ceiling. That’s the only way out.”
The U.S. risks defaulting on its debts as early as July unless the borrowing limit is raised, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report last month.
The federal government on Jan. 19 reached its approximately $31.4 trillion debt ceiling — which legally caps how much the U.S. can borrow to pay for what tax and other revenue doesn’t cover — and the Treasury Department has since been using “extraordinary measures” along with its current cash flow to keep the government’s obligations paid.
Failure to raise the debt limit and the ensuing default on U.S. debt — which have never happened before — would all but ensure a U.S. recession that could put millions out of work, economists and budget analysts previously told ABC News.
The remarks from Powell add urgency to an ongoing political dispute in Congress over the debt ceiling.
Some Republicans in the House have resisted an increase of the debt limit unless Democrats agree to spending cuts. The Biden administration, however, has repeatedly said that it will not negotiate over the debt ceiling and that a discussion over spending should occur separately.
When asked whether the current uncertainty about a debt ceiling increase has damaged the economy, Powell said, “In principle, it could.”
“I think markets tend and observers tend to watch this and tend to think that it will work out and it has in the past worked out,” he added. “And it needs to work out this time, too.”
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, was set to testify to a separate Senate committee on Tuesday on the risk posed by a debt default.
“The Treasury debt limit is an immediate threat to any optimism the economy can skirt recession in the coming year and poses a long-term threat to the nation’s finances and economic growth,” Zandi will tell senators, according to his prepared remarks. “Financial markets and the economy would be hit hard.”
In addition to comments about the debt ceiling, Powell spoke at length about inflation, which has fallen significantly from a summer peak but is more than triple the Fed’s target of 2%.
The inflation fight “has a long way to go and is likely to be bumpy,” Powell said.
The Fed last month imposed the latest in an aggressive string of borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.
In all, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 4.5% over the past year.
Citing elevated inflation and a tight jobs market, Powell said the central bank expects “ongoing increases” to its benchmark interest rate and a sustained period of elevated rates before a change in policy.
Powell has repeatedly said that the Fed will keep its benchmark interest rate elevated until inflation reaches the central bank’s 2% target. That means borrowers face higher costs for everything from car loans to credit card debt to mortgages.
“We will stay the course until the job is done,” Powell said on Tuesday.
Despite heightened borrowing costs, the economy has largely defied an anticipated slowdown.
The economy added a staggering 517,000 jobs in January, well above the breakneck pace of some 400,000 monthly jobs added on average last year, according to government data released last month.
Fresh retail sales data last month blew past economist expectations, suggesting resilient consumer spending, the lifeblood of the U.S. economy.
The combination of easing inflation and sustained economic growth have rasied hope among some of a “soft landing,” in which the Fed slows the economy and brings down inflation while preventing the U.S. from entering a recession.
The hot economy could cause inflation to rise, however, prompting the Fed to raise rates further and risk a deeper and more prolonged economic slowdown.
A survey conducted last month by the National Association for Business Economics found that 58% of economists expect a recession in 2023.
Some Democratic senators have raised fears that continued rate hikes could cause an economic downturn that hurts low- and middle-income Americans.
“Raising interest rates can’t rebuild our supply chains and fix demand imbalances from the pandemic,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown. “Raising interest rates won’t end Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.”
“Not only will higher interest rates not solve it,” the Ohio Democrat added. “If they’re overdone, they’ll make it worse.”
In response, Powell acknowledged the complex reasons for heightened inflation but reaffirmed the role of the Fed in addressing price increases.
“We’re well aware that this particular situation involves a mix of forces, not all of which our tools can affect,” Powell said. “But there is a job here for us to do.”
Van Morrison is giving fans one more taste of his new record, Moving on Skiffle, before it’s finally released on Friday. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just shared the new track “Freight Train,” his interpretation of the American folk song written by Elizabeth Cotten in the early 20th century.
The 23-track Moving on Skiffle is being released as a two-CD set, as a two-LP vinyl package, on cassette and via digital formats. It features a variety of cover tunes reworked by Van, including the already released “Worried Man Blues,” “This Loving Light of Mine” and “Streamline Train.”
Van is set to promote the album with a series of European dates, including March 13, 14 and 15 at The Stables in Milton Keynes, England, and April 6 and 7 at Whitla Hall in Belfast, Ireland. He hits the U.S. in September with a three-night Las Vegas stand at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. A complete list of dates can be found at vanmorrison.com.
Michael Bublé may have picked up his fifth Grammy Award, but he was a no-show at the ceremony — and for a very good reason.
Speaking with British outlet The Sun, the singer explained the most-recent Grammy Awards coincided with his show in Milan, Italy, where he was serenading thousands of fans. He learned his new album, Higher, won Best Traditional Pop Album once he stepped off stage.
“So the fact I won that while I was on stage in the middle of 15,000 [fans], being the most present I could possibly be, that made it completely sweet for me. I got to win something for the past, while in the present,” he expressed.
Michael also joked he has a habit of missing the Grammys. “It is the fourth or fifth time I have won when I haven’t been there,” he cracked. “I don’t think I have won when I have been there. But I couldn’t not go to the Grammys (then) because I love meeting my heroes. I am willing to lose to meet the people I love.”
In addition to picking up a new Grammy, Michael also picked up the razor blade and shaving cream — a decision he says he regrets.
Michael explained his kids badgered him into shaving off his facial hair. “My kids kept saying, ‘Papi, can you shave because when we kiss you it is itchy?'” he said.
“So I shaved and then I looked at this face. I haven’t seen this face, I am not kidding you. I haven’t shaved for maybe 15 years,” he continued. “My kids saw me and said, ‘Put the beard back on Papi.’ I look eight years younger and 15 [pounds] fatter.”
Michael shares four children with wife Luisana Lopilato.
Chance the Rapper says his Black Star Line Festival in Ghana “was very successful,” but he’s “thinking about hosting the next one in Kingston, Jamaica.” He shared the news during his chat on Jimmy Fallon‘s Tonight Show, adding he and his team are still trying to talk things out.
“We’re still working it out in our heads. And we love the city of Accra and Ghana and West Africa as a whole,” he said. “We just want to continue to, like, create community in other spaces.”
The Ghana festival took place earlier this year and featured a star-studded lineup, including Erykah Badu, Dave Chappelle, T-Pain, Jeremih, Sarkodie, Tobe Nwigwe, Asakaa Boys and M.anifest. “It was magical,” he said, as it held 52,000 people and is now “the largest concert in the history of Ghana.”
Chance also talked to Jimmy about being a coach on season 23 of The Voice andthe time he was separated from his eldest daughter, Kensli, on a flight, and Martin Short offered her his seat.
“I super freaked out,” the rapper said. “He was really, really nice and I don’t think he knows who I am. So I think he just did it … that’s a really kind gesture.”
In addition to the interview, Chance played a round of Peanut Butter That’s My Jam Tic-Tac-Toe and took the stage to perform his recent song “Yah Know.”
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Five women are suing the state of Texas over its strict abortion laws, saying they were denied the procedure even though their lives were in danger.
The lawsuit — filed in state court Monday by the Center for Reproductive Rights — marks the first time that women, rather than doctors on behalf of their patients or advocacy groups, have taken legal action since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
According to the lawsuit, the women were “denied necessary and potentially life-saving obstetrical care because medical professionals throughout the state fear liability under Texas’s abortion bans.”
Texas does not allow abortions after six weeks of pregnancy except for “medical emergencies,” which is not defined. The suit asks that physicians be allowed to determine what qualifies under the exception.
The five women — Ashley Brandt, Lauren Hall, Lauren Miller, Anna Zargarian and Amanda Zurawski — said they were all excited about their pregnancies but were denied care when their lives were in danger, the lawsuit states.
Zurawski, 35, from Austin, was diagnosed with an “incomplete cervix” — which occurs when cervical tissue weakens and prematurely dilates the cervix — at 17 weeks and was told her baby would not survive, according to the lawsuit.
Under Texas’s abortion law, doctors said there wasn’t much they could do for Zurawski because cardiac activity still could be detected.
After she developed sepsis, Zurawski said she was induced so she could deliver the fetus. She developed sepsis again and had so much scar tissue from the infections that one of her fallopian tubes is permanently closed, the lawsuit states.
Hall, 28, from outside Dallas, was told her baby would not survive after a scan revealed the fetus had anencephaly, a condition in which a baby does not develop a skull and had a severely underdeveloped brain.
A maternal-fetal medicine specialist told her continuing the pregnancy could result in hemorrhage or pre-term birth but that she couldn’t have an abortion due to Texas’ laws. Hall was forced to travel to Seattle for the procedure.
Miller, 35, from Dallas, learned she was carrying twins but a scan at 12 weeks showed one of them had trisomy 18, which is a chromosomal condition that results in severe abnormalities and developmental delays.
According to the lawsuit, she traveled to Colorado to receive a selective fetal reduction, which aborted the fetus with the chromosomal condition. Miller continued her pregnancy with the other twin, who has shown no signs of abnormalities, and she is due the end of the month.
Brandt, 31, from Dallas, Texas, also learned she was pregnant in May 2022 with twins. A scan, however, revealed that one had a condition known as acrania, which is when the fetus does not develop a skull, the lawsuit states.
The condition progressed to exencephaly, in which brain tissue is freely floating in amniotic fluid. Continuing the pregnancy could have increased her risk of miscarriage or premature labor. She, too, traveled to Colorado after being unable to obtain an abortion, according to the lawsuit.
The final plaintiff, Zargarian, 33, from Austin, was 19 weeks pregnant when she said she was diagnosed with preterm premature rupture of membranes, which occurs when the membranes break before a woman goes into labor.
She was at high risk of sepsis or hemorrhaging if she continued the pregnancy but could not obtain an abortion. Zargarian also went to Colorado to obtain an abortion, legal filings show.
The women plan to tell their stories on the steps of the Texas Capitol on Tuesday.
In September 2021, the state passed the so-called Texas Heartbeat Act — better known as SB 8 — which bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which typically occurs around six weeks, before most women know they’re pregnant.
The law does not include exceptions for rape or incest or if the fetus has a fatal or untreatable condition. The only exception is for “medical emergencies,” but it is undefined, making it unclear what qualifies.
SB 8 also allows private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion.
Additionally, after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, Texas passed a trigger law making abortion a second-degree felony “for a person who knowingly performs, induces, or attempts an abortion.”
If the pregnancy is successfully aborted, the offense becomes a first-degree felony, according to the law.
According to the Texas Penal Code, the punishment for a first-degree penalty could be up to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The penalty for a second-degree felony is up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
In a statement, Vice President Kamala Harris expressed support fro the lawsuit.
“The lawsuit includes devastating, first-hand accounts of women’s lives almost lost after they were denied the health care they needed, because of extreme efforts by Republican officials to control women’s bodies,” she said.
The statement continued, “Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, the President and I believe women — in consultation with their doctors — should be in charge of their reproductive health care, not politicians.”
ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.
After a four-year hiatus, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has been rebooted and is returning to the runway — this time featuring models of different body types and ethnicities. But Lizzo is concerned that the new changes being instituted are disingenuous.
The singer retweeted the teaser promoting the show’s revival and commented, “This is a win for inclusivity for inclusivity’s sake.” Lizzo also questioned how long the fashion show will feature diverse models.
“But if brands start doing this only because they’ve received backlash then what happens when the ‘trends’ change again?” Lizzo continued. She added, “Do the CEOs of these companies value true inclusivity? Or do they just value money?”
The fashion show was canceled in 2019 following criticism the brand was excluding certain body types and backgrounds.
Victoria’s Secret responded to the critique in a statement to Page Six, which says the company is working “to put our customer at the center of all we do and reinforce our commitment to championing women’s voices and their unique perspectives.”
“As we’ve previously shared, our new brand projection and mission will continue to be our guiding principle. This will lead us into new spaces like reclaiming one of our best marketing and entertainment properties to date and turning it on its head to reflect who we are today. We’re excited to share more later this year,” the statement concluded.
