Sebastian Stan has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since his James “Bucky” Barnes appeared in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. He has since appeared in six other Marvel movies, as well as the spinoff Disney+ show The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
Bucky will also appear in the 2024 MCU team-up film Thunderbolts, about a group of super-people led by Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, previously played by the late William Hurt. However, Hurt’s character has been recast with Harrison Ford for the upcoming fourth Captain America film, and Ford recently confirmed Thunderbolts, as well.
Stan has been sworn to Marvel Studios’ secrecy for more than a decade, so he wasn’t about to spill any tea to ABC Audio last week. But he said with a laugh about Ford, “Well, if he’s in the movie, that would be amazing!”
He demurred, “But I don’t know if he actually is or not, so you might have to ask somebody else about that. But he is incredible. I was actually seeing that Indiana Jones trailer and … I’m really excited to see that.”
Speaking of Bucky, we asked him what he’ll do now, seeing as Rocket Raccoon was gifted the Winter Soldier’s cybernetic arm in the closing moments of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. “I dunno. Maybe I’ll just get another arm,” he deadpanned.
Stan has been working outside the MCU, as well, logging solid performances in movies like I, Tonya. He recently earned a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for Pam & Tommy, and he’ll appear in Apple TV+’s upcoming thriller Sharper. “I feel very lucky, for sure,” he says.
Sharper will be in select theaters Friday, February 10, before dropping on Apple TV+ Friday, February 17.
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
If there’s one star who’s been known for her unique sense of style, it’s Erykah Badu. Since her early days in the music industry, she’s had what Vogue called an “ethereal personal style and signature sound” that she continues to flaunt. Funnily enough, Badu only recently learned about fashion brands. She tells Vogue that she was more concerned about putting an outfit together than the designers behind the clothing.
“I didn’t know all the houses and names of designers until I was in my 30s or 40s,” says Badu, who graces the cover of the magazine’s March issue. “What I had was a good understanding of look and shape, the way I did with paper dolls when I was a child.”
“For me, it’s about seeing things coming together, like making a cake from beginning to end,” she continues.
Of the many memorable looks Badu rocked in her career, the singer recalls the 1996 Soul Train Awards in Los Angeles, when she donned the “tallest turban” Questlove said he’d seen in his life.
“I remember being among an elite group of young people who were really embracing what it meant to be an African here, generationally,” Badu says. “We embraced locs and ’fros and our natural state, our fabrics and jewelry. It was a beautiful time.”
She realizes that she’s influenced a whole new generation of artists who have the same energy.
“I feel I’ve poked this hole in the dam. It’s this little hole and all this water is seeping through,” says Badu. “Now all the people who have the same energy are able to experience what I experience. It’s a rebirthing process, and I feel like I’m a midwife.”
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas is suing the Biden administration and asking a judge to block a rule requiring pharmacies to fill prescriptions for abortion pills.
The Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance in mid-July — just three-and-a-half weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — to 60,000 retail pharmacies across the country.
Under the guidance, the federal agency reminded them that if they refused to supply abortion-inducing prescriptions, they could be violating federal law.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the HHS by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Western District of Texas Midland Division.
In the lawsuit, Paxton claims the Supreme’s Court decision over the summer shows that states can implement their own laws when it comes to governing abortion and that the federal government does not have any right to intervene.
Pharmacies that dispense abortion pills in states where abortion is severely restricted could be violating state law, Paxton claims.
“The Biden Administration knows that it has no legal authority to institute this radical abortion agenda, so now it’s trying to intimidate every pharmacy in America by threatening to withhold federal funds,” Paxton said in a statement. “It’s not going to work.”
The statement continued,” Texas and several other states across the country have dutifully passed laws to protect the unborn, and we are not going to back down just because unelected bureaucrats in Washington want to create illegal, extremist federal policies.”
HHS did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed Americans to order mifepristone, an abortion drug, through mail-order pharmacies or at retail chains such as CVS or Walgreens provided it’s under a certified prescriber or a certified pharmacy.
Both chains said they were asking for FDA certification to be able mail abortion pills.
However, a group of 20 state attorneys general — led by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey — wrote a letter to CVS and Walgreens warning that dispensing abortion pills by mail could be illegal.
“Federal law expressly prohibits using the mail to send or receive any drug that will ‘be used or applied for producing abortion’,” Bailey wrote. “The text could not be clearer: ‘every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion…shall not be conveyed in the mails.’ And anyone who ‘knowingly takes any such thing from the mails for the purpose of circulating’ is guilty of a federal crime.”
The Texas lawsuit comes just days before a ruling is expected to come from a federal judge in the Lone Star State on abortion medication.
A lawsuit was filed in November by a conservative legal group asking that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone be revoked and that the drug be pulled from the market, claiming that the drug harms patients.
If the Texas judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs, there would be a nationwide injunction on mifepristone, affecting even states where the procedure is legal.
(DEFOREST, Wis.) — Embracing good reviews of his State of the Union performance Tuesday night, President Joe Biden on Wednesday revisited some of his key themes, making his case to “finish the job” on the road in Wisconsin, a 2024 election battleground state.
While Republican leaders on Wednesday defended their members heckling him Tuesday night, arguing he was lying when he said “some Republicans” want to cut Social Security and Medicare, Biden brought receipts out to prove his point.
“We had a spirited debate last night with my Republican friends,” Biden said at a union training center in DeForest. “Our Republican friends, they seemed shocked when I raised the plans of some of the members of their caucus to cut Social Security — and Marjorie Taylor Greene and others stood up and said, ‘Liar, liar.'”
Biden said Tuesday night that he was “politely not naming them,” but on Wednesday, he showed the crowd proposals and repeated comments from Republican Sens. Rick Scott, Ron Johnson and Mike Lee — calling them out by name.
“I remind you that Rick Scott from Florida, the guy who ran the U.S. Senate campaign, has a plan — I got his brochure right here,” Biden said, holding up Scott’s brochure. “Here’s what he says in his plan … He says ‘All federal legislation sunsets every five years. If a law is worth keeping Congress can pass it again.'”
“And by the way, you have senator named Ron Johnson … Ron Johnson on Social Security and Medicare, quote, ‘We should transfer everything. So, we have to consider everything every year,'” Biden continued. “Come on, man.”
Biden also raised a video from 2010, circulating on social media, in which he said Lee floats cuts to the programs. The White House also tweeted a link to a Newsweek article earlier in the day highlighting the video of Lee.
“They played last night, something I didn’t even know existed,” Biden said. “A video of him saying, ‘I’m here right now to tell you one thing you’ve probably never heard from a politician: It’ll be my objective to phase out Social Security. Pull up by its roots. Get rid of it… Then he adds — I’m quoting this now, ‘Medicare and Medicaid are the same sort. They need to be pulled up.'”
“Sounds pretty clear to me. How about you?” Biden told the audience. “But they sure didn’t like me calling ’em on it.”
“Look, a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. Well, let me just say this …. My veto pen [will] make it a nightmare,” he told the union crowd.
Biden ultimately spun the contentious moment in the House chamber as “good news.”
“I found it interesting that when I called them out on it last night, it sounded like they agreed to take these cuts off the table,” Biden said with confidence. “I sure hope that’s true. I’ll believe it when I see it and their budget’s laid down with the cuts they’re proposing, but it looks like we negotiated a deal last night on the floor of the House of Representatives.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy again on Wednesday hotly insisted he’s told Biden Social Security and Medicare are “off the table” in negotiating the standoff over raising the debt ceiling, despite the GOP demanding spending cuts. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has previously said Scott’s proposal is not part of the GOP’s agenda, calling it a “non-starter.”
Scott defended his proposal Wednesday, tweeting Biden was “twisting his words.”
Many of the themes of Biden’s speech Wednesday, as he appears to lay the groundwork for a reelection campaign, echoed those in his State of the Union address, including saying he wants to keep working across the aisle on bipartisan legislation.
“If we could work together last Congress, there’s no reason we can’t get things done as well this Congress, and I mean that,” Biden said.
ABC News’ Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The most dramatic moment of Tuesday’s State of the Union address came when several Republicans audibly booed President Joe Biden, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene even shouting he’s a “liar.”
The cause of their anger: what he claims “some Republicans” want to do to Social Security.
Biden accused some in the GOP of wanting to make changes to the entitlement program, which 65 million Americans currently rely on, including putting the money spent to a vote.
Given how politically sensitive the subject is, the Republican pushback was swift, and Biden quickly turned the tables.
“So, folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right? They’re not to be touched?” Biden shot back. “All right. All right. We got unanimity.”
The back-and-forth represented a debate Democrats and Republicans have been engaged in for months over Social Security, especially when it comes to government spending and the debt ceiling. Republicans have demanded spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling and avoiding default, but the party has not laid out exactly what cuts it wants.
Here’s what Tuesday night’s fight is all about:
What proposal was Biden referencing?
While Biden said in his speech he was “politely not naming” any one lawmaker, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida last year proposed “sunsetting” all federal programs every five years, unless Congress votes to renew them. Social Security would theoretically fall under that broad umbrella.
“Anybody who doubts it, contact my office. I’ll give you a copy. I’ll give you a copy of the proposal,” Biden said to counter the shouts of “liar.”
Richard Johnson, a senior fellow and director of the retirement policy program at liberal-leaning Urban Institute, said it’s hard to imagine Scott’s proposal would be “workable.”
“It would certainly undermine confidence in the program,” Johnson told ABC News. “It would really create a lot of uncertainty about people’s retirement benefits in the future.”
Do Republicans support Scott’s plan?
The proposal wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was quick to call Scott’s plan a “nonstarter” after it was released.
“We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half of the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years,” he said at the time.
Scott defended his proposal on Wednesday, stating he doesn’t want cuts to Social Security and that he “will not be silenced by the Washington establishment.”
What have Republicans said about Social Security?
Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said while Democrats have been consistent in their views against cuts to Social Security, Republicans’ positions are a bit murkier.
“That’s simply because they’re not speaking with one voice, and there’s different views among Republicans both on the policy they would want and the strategy they would advocate to get to that policy,” Biggs told ABC News.
Along with Scott’s plan, Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson had suggested making the program’s funding discretionary rather than mandatory and up for approval every year. Johnson said the intent is to better track Social Security funding, but experts have worried it could subject the program to protracted budget battles.
The Republican Study Committee, which represents the largest group of House Republicans, previously called for raising the age for Social Security to 70 for younger workers and trimming auxiliary benefits for high-income earners in order to cut costs.
When the debt ceiling issue began, some Republicans seeking spending cuts proposed thinking about how Social Security — which accounted for nearly 20% of federal spending, or $1.22 trillion, last fiscal year — could be altered.
Where does Social Security stand in the debt ceiling debate?
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, before Republicans won back control of the House, raised eyebrows when he told Punchbowl News in October he wouldn’t “predetermine” whether reforming the entitlement program would be part of the negotiations.
But McCarthy’s since said cuts to Social Security and Medicare won’t be part of GOP demands in the debt ceiling talks.
“Cuts to Medicare and Social Security, they’re off the table,” he told reporters on the eve of Biden’s State of the Union address.
What about the problems facing Social Security?
As the back-and-forth between Democrats and Republicans continues, Congress will eventually need to act on Social Security as it faces a long-term funding shortfall.
With more retirees taking out the system than there are workers putting into it, the Social Security trust fund has estimated that by 2034 it would be able to cover only 77% of scheduled benefits. They’ve asked Congress to address the issue before it gets to that point.
Possible solutions include raising the full retirement age, increasing the payroll tax, reducing benefits for higher earners and more. In contrast to GOP proposals, Democrats have so far generally coalesced around Social Security tax increases for the wealthy, while significantly increasing benefits.
“Congress has been a poor steward of this program, in the sense that they simply delayed acting on the solvency issue and it’s clear they’re delaying and for political purposes because they don’t want to make the difficult decisions,” Biggs said.
“But it can’t kick the can down the road forever. And the longer you kick it down the road, the harder it gets.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former Twitter executives told a House committee Wednesday that the social media company made a mistake in its handling of a controversial New York Post story on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
The action by the social media platform just weeks before the 2020 election unleashed a wave of backlash from Republicans, who accused Twitter executives of suppressing the story to shield President Joe Biden and his family from what they say was damaging material found on a laptop hard drive belonging to the president’s son.
During a hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Republicans grilled the three executives about the company’s decision to block users from sharing the story on the younger Biden, and suggested the social media giant acted under orders from the government when it suppressed the story.
“America witnessed a coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news and the intelligence communities to suppress and de-legitimize the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop and its contents,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in his opening remarks.
The former Twitter employees called the platform’s decision regarding the story a “mistake,” but denied that they had acted in concert with government officials.
“I’ve been clear that in my judgment at the time, Twitter should not have taken action to block the New York Post’s reporting,” said Yoel Roth, former head of safety and integrity. He said the company made the decision because the Biden laptop story was reminiscent of the 2016 Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee.
Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s former chief legal officer, echoed Roth by saying that Twitter admitted that “its initial action was wrong” and changed its policy within 24 hours.
“The New York Post chose not to delete its original tweets, so Twitter made an exception after two weeks to retroactively apply the new policy to the Post’s tweets,” Gadde said. “In hindsight, Twitter should have reinstated the Post account immediately.”
During the hearing Roth also said that Twitter’s relationship with government employees would benefit from increased transparency.
“Transparency is at the heart of this work, and it’s where I think Twitter — and all of social media — can and must do better,” Roth said. “Trust is built on understanding, and right now the vast majority of people don’t understand how or why content moderation decisions are made.”
Republicans accused former Twitter executives of “being terrified” of Joe Biden not winning 2020 election and colluding with the FBI.
“You were entrusted with the highest level of power at Twitter, but when you were faced with the New York Post story, instead of allowing people to judge the information for themselves, you rushed to find a reason why the American people shouldn’t see it,” said Comer. “In a matter of hours, you were deciding on the truth of a story that spans years and dozens of complex international transactions. You did this because you were terrified of Joe Biden not winning the election in 2020.”
Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused the Twitter executives of having “weekly meetings” with the FBI and accused the executives of colluding with the agency to remove the New York Post article.
“I think you guys wanted it to be taken down,” Jordan said. “They send you all kinds of emails … I think you guys wanted to take it down. I think you guys got played by the FBI.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who was briefly suspended by Twitter in 2021 for tweeting the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, also accused the former Twitter employees of “colluding with the FBI.”
“I am angry for the millions of Americans who were silenced because of your decisions, because of your actions, because of your collusion with the federal government,” Boebert said.
“We don’t know where the FBI ends and Twitter begins,” Boebert said.
But Roth denied the accusations, telling the committee that the FBI did not tell Twitter the laptop hard drive was fake or hacked.
Twitter’s former Deputy Counsel James Baker, who was fired by new Twitter CEO Elon Musk in December, also said he was not in communication with the FBI about the company’s decision to suppress the article.
At one point during the hearing, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., asked former Twitter employee Anika Collier Navaroli about a request made by the Trump White House that Twitter remove a tweet from celebrity Chrissy Teigen that insulted then-President Donald Trump.
“The White House almost immediately thereafter contacted Twitter to demand the tweet be taken down. Is that accurate?” Connolly asked Navaroli.
“I do remember hearing we’d received a request from the White House to make sure we evaluated this tweet, and they wanted it to come down because it was a derogatory statement directed at the president,” Navaroli replied.
Twitter did not remove the tweet, she said.
During the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said that Republicans were focusing on a “two-year-old story” about a private company that is allowed to make decisions on what content to allow on its platform.
“The key point here is that it was Twitter’s decision,” Raskin said in his opening statements. “Twitter is a private media company. In America, private media companies can decide what to publish.”
“Instead of letting this trivial pursuit go, my colleagues have tried to whip up a faux scandal about this two-day lapse in their ability to spread Hunter Biden propaganda on a private media platform,” Raskin said of the hearing. “Silly does not even begin to capture this obsession.”
Democrats instead focused on how the social media platform may have helped to incite violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“What makes this hearing tragic is that, if our colleagues really wanted to examine a serious problem involving American democracy and social media, my friends, it is staring us in the face right now, “said Raskin.
Navaroli also argued that lawmakers should be focusing on “Twitter’s failure to act before Jan. 6.”
“Twitter leadership bent and broke their own rules in order to protect some of the most dangerous speech on the platform” in the months leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Navaroli said.
(BURBANK, Calif.) — ) — Disney is set to lay off 7,000 workers, CEO Bob Iger said on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday.
The company is targeting a total of $5.5 billion in cost savings, some of which will come from the reduction in workforce, Iger said.
“This reorganization will result in a more cost-effective, coordinated and streamlined approach to our operations,” Iger said. “I do not make this decision lightly.”
The job cuts will coincide with a restructuring that will divide the company into three core businesses: Disney Entertainment, ESPN and Disney Parks, Iger said.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Luke Bryan resumes his Vegas residency at Resorts World Wednesday night, with more shows coming Friday and Saturday. If you can’t make it this time, never fear: he’s back March 22.
The Academy of Country Music is reporting the passing of songwriter Pat Bunch, who was nominated for Single of the Year in 1987 for the Restless Heart hit “I’ll Still Be Loving You.”
Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives will put out their first new album in six years, Altitude, on May 19. You can check out the visualizer video for “Country Star” now.
Ed Sheeran is making good on his promise to help in the ongoing flood relief efforts in Auckland, New Zealand.
He and Whittaker’s Chocolate, the New Zealand company he’s had a hilarious back-and-forth with recently, teamed up for a special auction. All funds will go toward flood response efforts.
To recap, Ed seemingly maligned New Zealand’s chocolate quality in an old tweet and recently apologized for what he said. Whittaker’s Chocolate offered an olive branch by making him a special chocolate bar — called the Ed Block — with his face on the foil wrapping.
Ed accepted it, but jokingly requested they change the image to that of a less-flattering photo of his face.
Whittaker’s redesigned their chocolate bars and announced they will be auctioning off the limited edition candy. “Ed’s sharing!” they wrote in an Instagram Story. “We’ve paired up with Ed to auction FIVE Special Ed-ition bundles.”
The company continued in another slide, “Each bundle includes a signed one-of-a-kind tee, signed Special Edition Ed Block, and a year’s supply of Whittaker’s Chocolate!”
The auction is now live. Bidding closes Sunday, February 12, at 2 a.m. ET.
The company said all proceeds will benefit the Auckland Flood Response organization. For those who just want to help the flood recovery efforts, Whittaker’s directed fans to donate to their Givealittle page, which has a fundraising goal of 100,000 New Zealand dollars.
Auckland was hit by catastrophic flooding last month after experiencing historic downpours across several days, reports The Guardian. At least four people were killed while hundreds more were forced to evacuate.
We’ve been hearing a lot about the legal battles between Journey members Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain, but it seems there’s even more drama going on with the band. In case you missed it, Journey’s current lead singer, Arnel Pineda, recently posted a series of cryptic tweets that suggest he’s unhappy with how things are going with the group.
“(I’)m with the band to sing the legacy..if some of them are tired of me being with them, with all means, they can fire me anytime..,” he tweeted. “and don’t lecture me about spiritual BS..#walkthetalk.”
And that’s not all. He followed up with, “all i know? is #ivepaidmydues so stop reminding me where i came from..coz it’s in my heart everyday..”
He added, “you just don’t pay attention..im not a slave..im a human being like anybody else..#wrongiswrong #rightisright that simple..”
So far none of the current Journey members have commented on Pineda’s remarks, although Jeff Scott Soto, who had a short stint as Journey’s lead singer from 2006 to 2007, did respond.
“You have NOTHING or NO ONE to answer to brother, you’re a kind, gentle and huge heart with a huge talent to match, it’s the age old crap when you achieve success and happiness, there are many who want to break you down! Stay the course, YOUR course, I’m proud to be your friend!” he tweeted.
Regardless of all the drama, Journey continues on their 50th anniversary tour. The trek hits Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday.
