Pedro Pascal is making his Saturday Night Live debut this weekend, but he’s having some trouble transitioning away from his hit HBO show The Last of Us.
A new spot shows the Game of Thrones and Mandalorian vet taking in SNL’s studio 8H. “Little Pedro Pascal from Santiago, Chile, hosting Saturday Night Live,” he muses. Suddenly, he hears something suspicious and spots a shadowy form creeping around. He spots a “clicker,” one of the infected, zombie-like humans that stalk him on The Last of Us, and grabs a hammer to dispatch it.
Just as he’s about to strike, Sarah Sherman interrupts him: “What are you doing, you psycho?!” she asks. “That’s Matt, our new cast member,” she says of the hideous creature, consoling him with fellow SNL player Molly Kearney.
Sarah then tells Pedro, “Listen, I know this is your first time hosting SNL, but a little advice: Don’t hit the cast members with a hammer, you maniac!”
Kearney advises him, “We’re gonna get past this, but gotta be honest: Not the best first impression. Get better.”
Pascal then says to himself, “This place is nuts,” adding with a crazy grin to camera: “I LIKE IT!”
Coldplay returns to SNL this weekend as the musical guest.
Sheryl Crow has been a fixture at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for many years, but now she’s got a chance to be there as an inductee herself. On Wednesday, she was announced as a nominee for induction into the Rock Hall’s Class of 2023.
“I just want to say I’m so honored and just, I’m blown away! I’m blown away,” Sheryl says in a video message on Instagram. “I can’t believe I’m nominated to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”
“I’ve been to the Rock Hall of Fame when it wasn’t televised and got to see Bob Dylan … [and] Fleetwood Mac I got to induct,” she continued. “I got to see Prince and Tom Petty, and obviously, the people that have influenced me and brought me to where I am and made me want to be what I am and made me want to do what I’m doing for all these years are in the Hall of Fame. So it just feels monumentally sacred.”
She concluded, “I just want to say thank you to the powers that be here or whoever put me on that list. It’s just, it really means so much to me. So thank you.”
John Mayer wrote in the comments, “You’re a shoo-in!!“
We’ll find out in May who the official inductees will be. Sheryl is nominated along with 13 other acts, including Cyndi Lauper, Kate Bush, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, The Spinners, Soundgarden, Iron Maiden and Rage Against the Machine.
Speaking of Willie, Sheryl also did a separate post showing them together and wrote, “Congrats to my friend and hero @willienelsonofficial for his @rockhall Hall Of Fame nomination! Long overdue but so happy to be nominated along with you!”
(BLOOMFIELD, N.J.) — A 26-year-old man is facing federal charges for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at a New Jersey synagogue.
Nicholas Malindretos, of Clifton, New Jersey, is accused of trying to firebomb the doors of Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield this weekend.
According to the charging documents, a surveillance camera caught Malindretos approaching the synagogue in the middle of the night while wearing a mask and gloves. The video showed the attacker walk to the entrance and ignite a wick on the top of a bottle before throwing it at the front glass doors. The synagogue was not damaged.
Malindretos was tracked, in part, through his car, which was recorded near the synagogue shortly before and after the incident, the FBI said.
Temple Ner Tamid Rabbi Marc Katz said in a statement, “We have prayed, reflected, and have helped each other heal from this traumatic event.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy met with members of the synagogue on Tuesday.
On Thursday evening, the congregation will come together with the local community and New Jersey leaders for an “evening of prayer, healing and unity.”
“We must not forget that many communities across the country have suffered from violent and hateful attacks over the past months,” Katz said.
“We hope that Thursday evening’s community event will be an opportunity to join together in solidarity across faiths and regions of the state, to unite, strengthen the voices of the great majority, and show that there is no place for violence or hate,” he said.
Malindretos is due in court Thursday afternoon.
If convicted of attempted use of fire to damage and destroy a building used in interstate commerce, Malindretos faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison.
It’s been a six-year wait that for fans has felt longer, but Bruce Springsteenand the E Street were back on stage in Tampa Wednesday night treating fans to a set filled with a mix of new tracks and classic cuts.
Fans were treated to several songs off 2020‘s Letters to You album, including the title track, “Ghosts,” “House of a Thousand Guitars,” “Burnin’ Train” and a solo acoustic version of “Last Man Standing,” which The Boss dedicated to his former Castiles bandmate George Theiss, who passed away in 2018.
“His passing would leave me as the last surviving member of my first band, so it’s kind of like standing on the tracks with the hot light of an oncoming train bearing down on you,” Springsteen told the crowd, according to the Asbury Park Press. “It brings a clarity of thought and a purpose that you might have not previously experienced.” He added, “At 15 it’s all hellos. At 73 it’s a lot of goodbyes. That’s why you have to make the most of right now.”
The set list also included two songs from Bruce’s Only the Strong Survive solo album, “Night Shift,” and “Don’t Play That Song,” along with lots of old favorites, including the opener “No Surrender,” “Rosalita,” “Born to Run,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Glory Days” and more, along with some deeper cuts like “Kitty’s Back” and “E Street Shuffle.”
The Boss ended the night with another solo acoustic performance, the Letters to You track “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”
Next up, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s bring the tour to Atlanta, Georgia on Friday.
Jessica Simpson once dated her movie star crush, only to find out she was the other woman.
In an excerpt from her short story, Movie Star: They Always Say They’re Single, the singer recalls dating a “massive movie star” who claimed to be single, only to discover a red carpet photo of the unnamed celebrity and his then-girlfriend, according to Us Weekly.
“I was never ever in a million years going to be the other woman,” she writes, asserting that the movie star told her their relationship was “completely over” and he was only interested in pursuing Simpson.
The pair entered into a whirlwind romance, but despite thinking “there was something sexy and enticing” about it, she also believed “there was also something demeaning about it” as well.
“I felt like a call girl,” Simpson, 42, shares, explaining it felt like he was trying to “hide” her from his “chick…I didn’t care if he was my teenage fantasy come to life, this was not a choice that same girl, my younger self, would be proud of.”
Movie Star: They Always Say They’re Single is currently available as an ebook and audiobook.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — The police traffic stop that led to Tyre Nichols’ death was detailed in an incident report obtained by ABC News, as well as a Memphis Police statement, but the written statements provide a different account from what the body camera footage of the disturbing encounter has revealed.
Nichols, a 19-year-old Black man, died after a confrontation with police in which he was beaten following a traffic stop.
The footage shows officers beating Nichols and targeting him with pepper spray as he begins yelling for his mother, who lived near the site of the encounter.
In body camera footage, officers can be seen standing over Nichols while he’s on the ground. As two officers hold him down, a third kicks him. A fourth officer comes over with a baton and the officers pick up Nichols from the ground and hold him up while officers appear to strike him in the face and torso.
The officers yell multiple times at Nichols to “give me your hands.” The officer with the baton can be heard saying, “I’ma baton the f— out of you” – then appears to strike him on the upper body three times. Officers pull Nichols to a stand, then appear to punch and slap him.
The official incident report does not mention that Nichols was kicked and punched by the officers. It also claims that Nichols started to fight with officers, reached for their guns, pulled on their duty belts and grabbed at least one officer by his vest. This cannot be seen in body camera footage.
Officers can be heard in the aftermath claiming that Nichols reached for their guns.
“Suspect Tyre Nichols was refusing a lawful detention by law enforcement officers and he started to fight with detectives,” the report reads.
It says Nichols was “sweating profusely” and “irate” when he exited the vehicle.
The report also claims Nichols “began actively resisting by pulling duty belts and grabbing Officer Smith by the vest.”
It describes the use of chemical agents and the use of the baton to strike Nichols.
The report says the Memphis Police Department officer responded to an “aggravated assault” and that former MPD Officer Martin had observed Nichols’ vehicle “driving recklessly at a high rate of speed” and “into oncoming traffic.”
The initial statement from the Memphis Police Department failed to mention the details of the physical altercations.
It’s not the only example in recent years of police reports or statements not aligning with details seen in body camera footage or other evidence.
Some law enforcement experts and lawyers argue that when people are in fast-paced, high-intensity situations, they may not be equipped to “record” key details the way a body camera can.
“There’s no training that any human being can go through that is going to teach them how to record an event like a machine,” said Michael Rains, a California attorney who has represented law enforcement in civil and criminal litigation.
Two former law enforcement officers told ABC News that every person’s recollection of an event can differ.
“We learned to not say that eyewitness testimony is the only thing,” TJ Kennedy, a public safety and de-escalation expert, told ABC News. “You have to put it all together.”
However, “It’s not to say that an officer wouldn’t lie or try to lie because we all know that that can happen,” Rains adds.
Some officers get a chance to look at body camera footage before submitting their report, while others may not be allowed to because of local legal restrictions, according to ABC News contributor and former San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan.
It’s an ongoing debate in the industry, he said. Does it help officers recollect the events? Or does it cause officers to change their narrative based on what they saw in the footage?
“Now we have that conflict between what is the officer perceiving versus what the actual camera is showing,” said Burguan in an interview with ABC News.
Discrepancies in police reports, official statements and official documents have been seen in several recent police brutality cases.
George Floyd incident
The Minneapolis Police Department also has been criticized over its initial statement detailing the murder of George Floyd by then-MPD Police Officer Derek Chauvin.
“After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance,” read the May 26, 2020, statement.
The report fails to mention that Chauvin held his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes, a moment captured on cellphone video by bystanders. The video prompted protests worldwide against police brutality.
Floyd, who was handcuffed and in a prone position on the pavement, repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe before falling unconscious and losing a pulse, according to evidence presented at Chauvin’s state trial.
Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He pleaded guilty to violating Floyd’s civil rights.
Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in March 2020 by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers executing a no-knock search warrant on her home.
Her death became one of several that year that prompted global protests.
Details concerning the legitimacy of the search warrant unveiled by the Department of Justice in August 2022 prompted more ire.
The DOJ charged Detective Joshua Jaynes, former Louisville Detective Kelly Goodlett and Sgt. Kyle Meany for allegedly violating Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights when they sought a warrant to search Taylor’s home while knowing they lacked “probable cause.”
The DOJ alleged that the officers knew their affidavit supporting the warrant contained false and misleading information and it omitted other material information, resulting in her death.
“Among other things, the affidavit falsely claimed that officers had verified that the target of the alleged drug trafficking operation had received packages at Ms. Taylor’s address. In fact, defendants Jaynes and Goodlett knew that was not true,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a press conference on the charges.
Garland also alleged that Jaynes and Goodlett knew armed officers would be carrying out the raid at Taylor’s home, and that conducting the search could create “a dangerous situation for anyone who happened to be in Ms. Taylor’s home.”
Goodlett pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the civil rights of Taylor. Jaynes and Meany have both pleaded not guilty. The next status hearing for the trial is scheduled for Feb. 21.
Casey Goodson
Casey Goodson, 23, was shot and killed by Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jason Meade while Goodson entered his home on Dec. 4, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio.
However, the details of the fatal incident from authorities and Goodson’s family don’t match up.
Goodson’s family said he was returning from a dentist appointment and had a Subway sandwich in his hand, according to family co-counsel Sean L. Walton.
“Casey had the screen door open and his keys in the door, and Deputy Jason Meade fired shots at Casey,” Walton told ABC News. “He fell into the house, where he lay in his kitchen.”
Meade, who had been taking part in an unsuccessful search for a fugitive along with the U.S. Marshals Service, said Goodson — who was not the target of the search — waved a gun at him when he drove by in his police car.
Meade confronted Goodson outside his home, and Goodson allegedly refused to drop his gun, U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin said at a press conference. Tobin later withdrew those remarks about Goodson waving a gun.
Meade is charged with murder and pleaded not guilty.
Meade’s attorney, Mark C. Collins, has said in a December 2021 statement that his client “acted within his lawful duties as an officer of the law when he pursued Mr. Goodson,” and said Meade fired his weapon at Goodson in “fear for his life as well as those inside the house.”
Baby number two is on the way for Bachelor in Paradise alums Astrid Loch and Kevin Wendt.
Wendt celebrated the exciting news on Wednesday, which also happened to be his 39th birthday, sharing a pair of adorable family photos to Instagram. In the first snapshot, Wendt is sitting on the floor with their one-year-old son Auggy in his lap while Loch, who’s off camera, holds the positive pregnancy test in view. The second is a photo of the happy trio.
“Happy birthday to me! Auggy is going to be a big brother this fall!!” Wendt announced. “Who would have thought the best birthday gift I ever got was pee on a stick.”
The BiP star went on to share that the pregnancy is only four weeks along, which “isn’t something you see often.”
“But sharing a couples struggle to conceive usually isn’t either, and we wanted to be transparent this time around as we headed into another round of IVF,” he wrote. “So fingers crossed this pregnancy is smooth sailing from here as we continue to try and grow our little Wendt gang.”
Bachelor Nation flooded the comments section to congratulate the expecting parents.
Fellow BiP alum Raven Gates, who is expecting her second child with Adam Gottschalk, wrote, “Congrats you guys.. & Happy birthday! What a gift!!”
Vanessa Grimaldi chimed, “Best news ever and best birthday first ever!!!!!”
The Fox drama The Cleaning Lady has been renewed for a third season, the network announced on Wednesday. The series follows Élodie Yung as a Cambodian doctor who comes to the U.S. to receive medical treatment for her ailing son, but is forced into hiding when the system fails her. She becomes an on-call crime scene cleaning lady for the mob, while keeping secrets from her undocumented Filipina sister-in-law — played by Ginger Gonzaga — and dodging the FBI…
Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler has been canceled at HBO Max after three seasons, according to Variety. The show’s first two seasons aired on Epix between 2019 and 2021, before season three launched on the streamer in 2022. The move comes as DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran are looking to reboot the DC franchise at Warner Bros. Pennyworth, from Gotham creator Bruno Heller, starred The Imitation Game‘s Jack Bannon as Bruce Wayne’s legendary butler, Alfred Pennyworth, a former British soldier in his 20s who forms a security company and is hired by young doctor and soon to be billionaire Thomas Wayne in1960s London…
Avatar: The Way of Water marked another milestone on Wednesday. James Cameron‘s Avatar sequel crossed $623.5 million at the North American box office, eclipsing The Avengers‘ $623.4 million to become the 10th-highest-grossing domestic release of all time. Globally, Avatar: The Way of Water ranks as the fourth-biggest movie in history with $2.128 billion, trailing the first Avatar with $2.92 billion, Avengers: Endgame with $2.7 billion and Titanic with $2.19 billion. A third Avatar movie is set to debut in December 2024, with plans for fourth and fifth installments to follow…
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen are keeping it all in the family when it comes to their daughter Esti‘s name.
While speaking with E! News, the “All of Me” singer, who welcomed his third child, Esti Maxine Stephens, with his wife on January 13, shared that the name was all Teigen’s idea and it was only later that they realized it had a family connection.
“It turns out, my great-grandmother was named Esther,” Legend said, adding, “It wasn’t intentionally after someone, but once Chrissy told me that idea, I was like, ‘Oh, my great-grandmother’s name was Esther.'”
The newborn’s middle name also bears a family connection, which the 44-year-old said was more intentional.
“We wanted to already name her middle name Maxine after my grandmother, whose middle name was Maxine,” he shared. “So, it’s a lot of my family in the name.”
Legend and Teigen also share six-year-old daughter Luna and four-year-old son Miles.
(NEW YORK) — A 30-year-old woman found fatally shot in her Sayreville, New Jersey townhouse complex has been identified by local officials as Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour.
She was shot while inside her white SUV, which appears to have then crashed on Samuel Circle at around 7:22 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.
She sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. She lived in the townhouse complex where she was killed, just steps from her home.
She preliminarily appears to have been the target of the gunfire but a motive for the shooting was not immediately disclosed.
Mahesh Chitnis, who serves on Sayreville’s Human Relations Commission, posted on Facebook that the victim, who was also his neighbor, was “killed 300 feet from my home … She was shot while returning back home. She was a woman full of life.”
Hours later, her SUV was towed away by police, who did not say if a suspect was identified or an arrest was made.
Dwumfour was elected to the council in 2021 and worked as a business analyst and part-time EMT.
“The female had succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced on scene,” Middlesex County Prosecutors Office said in a statement. “This is an active and ongoing investigation anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to call Detective Rebecca Morales of the Sayreville Police Department at 732-727-4444 or Detective Michelle Coppola of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office 732-745-3477.”
