Legendary composer Burt Bacharach passed away Wednesday, February 8, at the age of 94. His publicist confirmed the news, sharing that he died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles.
Bacharach’s more than 50-year career resulted in a slew of chart-topping hits, including 48 Top 100 songs, nine #1 tunes and more than 500 compositions. Many of his hits were written with lyricist Hal David, with some of the most well-known tracks recorded by Dionne Warwick, including “Walk On By,” “Do You Know The Way To San Jose,” “I Know I’ll Never Love This Way Again,” “I Say A Little Prayer For You” and the theme song for the 1968 movie “Alfie.”
The pair also wrote several smashes for the big screen, including “What’s New Pussycat,” which was recorded by Tom Jones, and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which earned them the Oscar for Best Original Song.
He later teamed up with Carole Bayer Sager, whom he was married to from 1981 to 1992. Their partnership produced even more hits, including “Arthur’s Theme (Beset That You Can Do),” which they wrote with Christopher Cross and Peter Allen for the 1981 movie Arthur. The tune topped the chart and also won an Oscar for Best Original Song. They also wrote the #1 song “That’s What Friends Are For,” which reteamed Bacharach with Warwick and featured Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder. The tune went on to win a Grammy for Song of the Year.
In 1998, he collaborated with Elvis Costello on the album Painted from Memory, earning a Grammy for the song “I Still Have That Other Girl.”
Bacharach also made several appearances in front of the camera and had a famous cameo in Mike Myers’ 1997 film, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, and its sequels.
Bacharach is a six-time Grammy winner and three-time Oscar winner. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, and he and David were awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2012.
Amazon Studios has just dropped the trailer to Air, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon‘s fact-based film about the creation of one of the most iconic pieces of footwear ever created: Nike’s Air Jordan.
It’s 1984 and “nobody knows what a Nike is.” Enter Damon as sneaker company executive Sonny Vaccaro, who lobbies director Affleck, playing Nike co-founder Phil Knight, with an idea to put the company on the map: creating “the greatest basketball shoe that’s ever been made,” built around an unknown college basketball player named Michael Jordan.
The trailer shows Damon personally courting the future court star’s mom, Deloris, played by another Oscar winner, Viola Davis, all the while trying to convince the company he’s not out of his mind. “I’m willing to bet my career on one guy,” Damon says.
“I believe in your son,” he tells MJ’s mom. “I believe he’s the future. And his story is going to make us want to fly. But a shoe is just a shoe.”
“Until my son steps into it,” she responds.
The trailer closes with Affleck’s Knight asking of the shoe, “Got a name for it?”
“Air Jordan,” Damon’s character replies breathlessly.
“I dunno. Maybe it’ll grow on me,” Affleck replies.
The movie, which also stars Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker and Marlon Wayans, hits theaters April 5.
The Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was their first exposure to an American audience.
The band performed the songs “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” and “She Loves You” and then later returned to perform “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
The performance was seen by a then-record 73 million viewers, and helped Sullivan top the nightly ratings for the first time in seven years.
The show is considered one of the seminal moments in pop culture and launched Beatlemania in America.
(NEW YORK) — The parents and sister of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer killed in the Rust on-set shooting, plan to file a new lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and the film, according to the family’s attorney.
Their attorney, Gloria Allred, said she will be holding a press briefing Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET to announce the filing of the lawsuit.
Hutchins was working as a cinematographer on the Western when Baldwin accidentally shot and killed her while he was practicing using a handgun on the New Mexico set in October 2021. Director Joel Souza was also injured in the shooting.
Her husband, with whom she shared a young son, previously reached a settlement in his wrongful death lawsuit against the producers of the film.
Baldwin and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, have been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the death Hutchins. They are scheduled to make their first court appearance virtually on Feb. 24.
Prosecutors claim that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed failed to correct reckless safety violations in their roles as producer and armorer, respectively, and that Baldwin had his finger inside the trigger and it was pulled — contradicting his statements saying he never pulled the trigger.
Attorneys for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed vowed to fight the charges.
First assistant director David Halls has already agreed to plead no contest for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. The plea agreement is pending a judge’s approval, prosecutors said. A plea conference has been scheduled for March 8.
Several other lawsuits have also been filed in the wake of the fatal on-set shooting.
The film’s script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, who is also represented by Allred, filed a civil suit in November 2021 accusing Baldwin of “playing Russian roulette” by pointing a Colt .45 revolver at Hutchins.
In November 2022, Baldwin filed a lawsuit over the fatal shooting, alleging negligence of several of the film’s crew members. The cross-complaint followed the lawsuit filed by Mitchell.
Gutierrez-Reed also filed a lawsuit early last year against the prop provider.
(NEW YORK) — Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson faced lawmakers Thursday in a highly-anticipated Senate Commerce Committee hearing to answer for the airline’s historic holiday meltdown.
“Let me be clear: we messed up,” Watterson testified. “In hindsight, we did not have enough winter operational resilience.”
The largest domestic airline in the U.S., Southwest canceled more than 16,000 flights over an 11-day period at the end of December due to a combination of severe winter weather, staffing shortages and technology issues, the company said. Thousands were left stranded in airports across the country instead of at home for the holidays.
Lawmakers want the company to explain the massive disruption at Thursday’s Senate hearing, titled “Strengthening Airline Operations and Consumer Protections.”
“The American people have a lot of questions about the Southwest debacle in December that left passengers stranded or unable to be with loved ones over the holidays,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Wednesday. “We’re going to ask for answers to those questions. I’m interested in hearing the pilot’s testimony that this debacle could have been avoided if Southwest had made investments sooner.”
In addition to Watterson, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association President Captain Casey Murray, Sharon Pinkerton, a senior official with Airlines for America, and Paul Hudson of Flyers’ Rights, a passenger advocacy organization, testified.
Murray said that he and other Southwest pilots saw the meltdown coming but that company leaders ignored their warnings.
“For years, our pilots have been sounding the alarm about Southwest’s inadequate crew scheduling technology and outdated operational processes. Unfortunately, those warnings have been summarily ignored by Southwest leaders,” he said.
He said his goal in participating in the hearing is to help ensure it never happens again.
“Today’s hearing is not to say we told you so. Right doesn’t make our pilots feel any more secure. Our hearts are broken. The December 2022 meltdown was as tragic as it was historic,” he said. “While it would be easy to kick our company when it’s down, this is our company and consequently our careers and our livelihoods.”
Ahead of the hearing, ABC News obtained messages sent to Southwest Airlines’ cockpits during this winter’s meltdown which illustrate the dysfunction taking place at the company.
“Scheduling is asking to confirm who is operating this flight. Please send Employee ID numbers to confirm. It’s a mess down here,” one message said.
Southwest had no idea where their crews were, who was flying their planes and was unable to contact pilots and flight attendants for days.
The airline flew more than 500 empty flights, many on routes that had been cancelled and could have been full of passengers while more than two million people were stranded.
“No updates here. Scheduling is so far behind we were told we aren’t allowed to walk over and talk to them,” another note from a flight dispatcher to a cockpit read.
Last month, in an exclusive interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan apologized for the debacle.
“There’s just no way almost to apologize enough because we love our customers, we love our people and really impacted their plans,” Jordan said. “There will be a lot of lessons learned that come out of this.”
The chaos cost the company as much as $825 million in lost revenue and added expenses, the company said in a government filing last month.
(WASHINGTON) — A State Department official said Thursday that the U.S. is looking into taking action against China for the surveillance balloons sent into American skies.
The official said Washington is considering “taking action against PRC (People’s Republic of China) entities linked to the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) that supported the balloon’s incursion into U.S. airspace” as well as “broader efforts to expose and address the PRC’s larger surveillance activities that pose a threat to our national security, and to our allies and partners.”
The official reiterated the administration’s argument that shooting down the balloon spotted over the U.S. last week “sent a clear message to China.”
Beijing was caught red-handed, the official said, and now is flailing as it tries try to string together excuses.
“From the PRC’s messaging and public comments, it’s clear that they have been scrambling to explain why they violated U.S. sovereignty and still have no plausible explanation – and have found themselves on their heels,” the official said. “As we saw with the second balloon over Central and South America that they just acknowledged, they also have no explanation for why they violated the airspace of Central and South American countries. The PRC’s program will only continue to be exposed, making it harder for the PRC to use this program.”
The comments come as all members of Congress were getting classified briefings on the balloon and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was set to testify on U.S.-China relations before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday revealed that the U.S. assesses the alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down over the weekend was part of an expansive surveillance program aimed at gathering intelligence from targets around the globe.
(NEW YORK) — After nearly 9,500 laser strikes were reported against aircraft last year, U.S. officials are calling on manufacturers to warn customers of potential risks.
The acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Billy Nolen, wrote to laser manufacturers and distributors on Thursday asking them to add or enhance warning labels on their packaging to increase consumer awareness of safety risks and federal laws when using lasers.
“Lasers may seem like just [a] toy, office tool, or game for most, but they can incapacitate pilots putting thousands of passengers at risk every year,” Nolen wrote in the letter, obtained exclusively by ABC News.
Experts agree: Laser strikes can distract pilots and even lead to temporary blindness.
“The problem with lasers fired into cockpits is the possibility of flying blind with not only one pilot, but possibly both,” ABC News contributor and former commercial pilot John Nance said in an interview. “And for those moments, to have a laser flashing your eye and distracting you, even if it doesn’t blind you, it’s extremely dangerous. If you do this enough, over time, we’re going to have a disaster.”
The total laser strike reports for 2022 were down slightly from a record high seen in 2021, when the FAA said it was aware of more than 9,700 incidents.
Since 2010, 277 pilots have reported injuries from laser strikes, according to data from the agency.
“Placing information directly in the hands of individuals ensures everyone knows the risk – and the penalties – of pointing lasers at aircraft. If you already have a warning on your packaging, the FAA asks that your company increase the warning’s prominence,” Nolen wrote in his Thursday letter.
Intentionally aiming lasers at aircrafts violates federal law. Individuals may face up to $11,000 in civil penalties per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple incidents.
Violators can also face criminal penalties from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
Last year, a paramedic aboard a Utah medical helicopter was temporarily blinded after the chopper experienced a laser strike, according to local officials. The helicopter was transporting a patient at the time and was able to land safely.
In late January, a Florida grand jury indicted a man for allegedly pointing a laser at U.S. Coast Guard and Miami-Dade County Police helicopters. The complaint accused him of intending to continue pointing a laser at the helicopters and telling that intention to law enforcement officers.
Reboot, the comedy series from Modern Family co-creator Steve Levitan, is officially dead following its cancellation at Hulu after one season. “Well, that seems to be a wrap on Reboot,” Levitan tweeted on Monday. “Very proud of our amazing cast and crew and what we did together. Thanks to all who watched and said such nice things. Haven’t seen it? Check us out on Hulu if you can find it,” he added, along with the hashtag, #UnintentionalLimitedSeries. Levitan had been shopping the series to other potential outlets following the January 30 news of its cancellation. Reboot followed the cast of a fictional sitcom who reunite in an effort to reboot the series for Hulu. Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville and Judy Greer starred alongside Paul Reiser and Rachel Bloom…
The Apple TV+ spy thriller Tehran has been renewed for a third season. The series stars Niv Sultan as a Mossad hacker-agent whose failed mission to help destroy Iran’s nuclear reactor forces her to plan an operation that will place everyone dear to her in jeopardy. In season three, she “must find a way to reinvent herself and win back the Mossad’s support if she is to survive,” per the streamer. House alum Hugh Laurie joins the season three cast as a South African nuclear inspector…
Following Trevor Noah’s exit from The Daily Show back in December, Comedy Central has set dates for the next five guest hosts. Former Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj, best known for his Netflix talk show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, will take the anchor chair the week of February 27, followed by the Scary Movie franchise’s Marlon Wayans the week of March 6, Harold & Kumar star Kal Penn the week of March 13, Saturday Night Live alum and former U.S. Senator Al Franken the week of March 20, and comic and actor John Leguizamo the week of March 27. The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11 p.m. ET on Comedy Central…
(NEW YORK) — Kamilah Moore, the chair of California’s Reparations Task Force, is a direct descendant of enslaved people in the United States.
Now, she’s one of several leaders behind the nation’s groundbreaking reparations effort to examine the impact slavery and systemic racism has had on Black Americans and how to reverse the harm it’s done.
“I grew up in an environment where we took pride in learning about our history as African Americans,” Moore said. “I learned very early on about the reparations movement … and that history just always stayed with me.”
The first-in-the-nation state-backed task force is just one of several efforts in California alone. Other efforts for reparations have been seen in San Francisco and Palm Springs.
In Palm Springs, hundreds of Black and Mexican families are seeking millions of dollars in restitution for being forcibly evicted from the Section 14 neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s.
In San Francisco, the city’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee recommended providing a one-time payment of $5 million to eligible recipients, as well as directing funding to target community issues concerning housing, education disparities and the racial wealth gap.
“This really is about payment and redress for unpaid labor, for restrictive covenants and for legislation that was particularly [targeted against the] Black community and created a system of harm for the Black community,” said Tinisch Hollins, the vice chair of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission working on the reparations effort.
Across the board, reparations task force members say one of the major forces stopping progress for the movement is how much people don’t understand.
Moore said her task force is often asked: “Why California? California wasn’t a slave state!”
California entered the Union in 1850 as a free state. However, up to 1,500 enslaved African Americans lived in California by 1852, according to the state task force’s preliminary report on reparations recommendations.
The report found that the state of California and the various arms of its government have played an active role in perpetuating systemic racism against Black Californians.
Researchers have found that housing and employment discrimination, displacement of communities of color and educational segregation have impacted the economic and social prosperity of Black people in the state.
It can be seen in the displacement of Black residents, disparities in Black home appraisals, over policing and over incarceration in Black communities, and more that has stifled the potential for wealth growth among Black residents.
Racism has shaped the lives of Black Californians, with some discriminatory practices continuing into the ’70s, ’80s and still hindering or disadvantaging state residents today, they say.
This is why some say reparations are a necessity.
“Reparations is a debt owed to those who suffered gross human rights violations, and even their direct descendants and many repertory justice groups around the world are still owed reparations because of the concept of direct extended standing in the shoes of their ancestors,” Moore said.
Critics of reparations in the state argue that since the state did not practice slavery, it should not be obligated to atone for racism. About 68% of Americans say descendants of slaves should not be repaid, according to Pew Research Center.
Some, including Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, have also argued that no one who enslaved Black Americans is alive and, therefore, bear no responsibility for addressing this.
“I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea,” said McConnell in 2019 regarding a House hearing on federal reparations.
Reparations can come in many different forms. Moore describes five main arrangements that fall under the reparations umbrella: compensation, restitution, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.
Compensation is what is typically thought of as “reparations,” as it refers to cash payments given to recipients.
Restitution reverses a particular violation. For example, the return of land or housing to someone from whom it was taken is a common form of reparations seen in the Native and Indigenous fight for reparations.
Rehabilitative reparations often come in the form of mental health, medical, legal or social services and the like.
Satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, according to Moore, come in the forms of policy reform, removing legal slavery language from state constitutions, public apologies from officials, memorials and more.
“The general consensus is that we can go on forever listing the harm that has happened,” Hollins said.
“People need and want restoration for that harm now. They don’t want to wait another five years or another decade creating reports to evaluate the harm that’s been done. The harm that’s been done will be experienced in perpetuity by the Black community in San Francisco and throughout the country,” Hollins said.
Different recommendations under these five forms have been submitted for deliberation by the California task force, and the San Francisco effort just held a public hearing Tuesday on the plan.
As this groundbreaking effort continues forward with uncertainty and no guarantee that their recommendations will be officially granted, California leaders are asking themselves:
“What can be done now that’s scalable? And then how do we make sure that the harm is not only repaired but prevented in perpetuity? That’s what Black people care about right now,” said Sheryl Davis, the executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.
Final reports from both committees will be submitted in summer 2023.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Evangeline Lilly has been in touch with fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Jeremy Renner since his New Year’s Day snow plow accident, and calls his recovery “a miracle.”
“I walked in his house and got chicken skin because I was like, ‘Why are you mobile? Why are you mobile? What’s happening?’” Lilly, who first starred alongside Renner in 2008’s The Hurt Locker told Access Hollywood recently. “I expected to sit at his bedside and hold his hand while he moaned and groaned in pain and wasn’t able to move. He was wheeling himself around, laughing with his friends.”
“It’s a miracle,” she continued. “It’s a straight up miracle. He’s made of something really tough, that guy. You’ve always been able to see that in him and he is recovering incredibly.”
Describing the New Year’s Day snow plow accident that left Renner hospitalized in critical condition and requiring emergency surgery, Lilly says, “It was really intense. I mean, he had a near-death experience that was highly traumatic, and he was awake for the whole thing…I’m still having moments where some of the stuff he told me that he experienced and retelling me the story of what went on and the things he could hear and the things that he could see.”
“That’s like what nightmares are made out of, and he lived through it and he’s on the other side now,” she added.
