Wyn Starks, the former America’s Got Talent contestant best known for his song “Who I Am,” has a holiday hit on his hands with his upbeat cover of “Pure Imagination,” from the classic film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. While it’s not generally considered a Christmas song, other artists have recorded it as one, so Wyn figured he’d put his own spin on it.
“I have such fond memories of the song, you know, watching Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory when I was a kid,” he tells ABC Audio. “For some reason, it always … gave me that holiday feel. And I’ve seen people do it before, like, they did more of a holiday rendition. I was like, ‘That would be a really cool approach,’ but approaching it in my way … something that could be for the holiday, but also be for any time.”
Wyn’s rendition is unique because it starts out slow and then becomes super-fast and jazzy. Wyn says the arrangement was his producer’s idea, and he loved it.
“It ended up turning out so beautifully,” he says. “I was just so happy to be able to share it especially because it brings back such nostalgia for me, the song.”
Wyn recalls “beautiful” Christmases of his childhood, which included watching Willy Wonka with his twin brother who, sadly, died five years ago.
“We always watched [the movie] during the holidays, even though it’s not a holiday movie. And that’s how I want the song to feel to people,” he explains, adding, “It feels very holiday-ish, because of the fantastical feeling you get hearing it.”
Wyn is planning to release a new album in early 2026.
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For the 2025 holiday, fans are sharing a special moment between Dylan Scott and his dad, Scotty Robinson.
Dylan recorded “Two Christmas Trees,” an emotional song about a little boy navigating the season going between two households.
“My dad wrote it in the ’80s, so I’ve heard it my whole life,” Dylan tells ABC Audio. “Fortunately, I did not grow up in that situation that the song’s talking about, but a lot of families have. It’s very real.”
“And we had to do a Christmas song this year, and I thought, well, if I’m gonna do one, I’m gonna do it for my dad. Something cool, something special,” he adds.
Fans got to see the moment Dylan played “Two Christmas Trees” for his dad thanks to social media.
“I said, ‘I’m gonna play this song for him and surprise him, but you’re not gonna get the emotional dad, you’re gonna get the dad that I’ve always had, the constructive criticism dad, “Hey you’re playing too hard” or “you’re singing too hard,”‘” Dylan explains. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I mean, you don’t need a yes person in your life, you never get better with that, right? You’ve gotta have the guy that’s like, ‘Hey son, do it this way, do it like this.’ And so, yeah, he did the exact same thing I thought he would.”
Dylan’s 8-year-old son, Beckett Robinson, sings on the track as well.
Alex Warren and Myles Smith at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2025. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)
You know you’re really friends with someone when you get matching tattoos — and new BFFs Alex Warren and Myles Smith have officially taken that huge step.
Myles posted photos on Instagram showing off the new ink: He has “Pookie” tatted on his forearm, while Alex appears to have the same word on his bicep. “Pookie” is what the two call each other, and the tattoos came in commemoration the past few weeks, during which they both played multiple concerts together.
“So much laughter, so little sleep, and somehow still finding moments that will stay with me forever,” Myles wrote on Instagram. “And yes, Alex and I got matching ‘pookie’ tattoos because apparently we needed something permanent to mark the chaos and love of it all.”
So how did the nickname “Pookie” start in the first place? Alex told ABC Audio, “I started calling him ‘Pookie’ first, and I think now it’s just become this thing.”
“He heard me call [my wife] Kouvr it, and then he was like, ‘Oh, I have to start that,'” Alex added.
Both Alex and Myles have major tours planned for 2026. Reflecting on the recent run of shows, Myles wrote on Instagram to his fans, “I don’t take a single face in the crowd for granted. Thank you for trusting me with your stories, your time, your energy. Thank you for letting these songs belong to us together. Thank you for being patient, kind, and so wildly present.”
“I’m going to rest, breathe, and soak this all in before we do it again,” he continued. “I already miss you.”
Kendrick Lamar performs with SZA during Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 09, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” has landed on yet another year-end roundup, recently earning a spot on former President Barack Obama’s Favorite Music of 2025list.
The song appears on his latest annual playlist, which also includes Olivia Dean’s “Nice to Each Other,” Burna Boy’s “TaTaTa” featuring Travis Scott, Gunna’s “Just Say Dat,” Chance the Rapper and Jamila Woods’ “No More Old Men,” Drake’s “Nokia” and Olamide‘s “99” featuring Daecolm, Seyi Vibez, Asake and Young John.
Obama also shared his favorite books and films of 2025. Among the movie selections were One Battle After Another, starring Teyana Taylor, and Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan.
“As 2025 comes to a close, I’m continuing a tradition that I started during my time in the White House: sharing my annual lists of favorite books, movies, and music,” Obama wrote on his socials. “I hope you find something new to enjoy—and please send any recommendations for me to check out!”
Sir Paul McCartney performs at The O2 Arena during his ‘Got Back’ world tour on December 18, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jim Dyson/Getty Images)
Paul McCartney has reacted to the news that the German company Höfner, known for making guitars and basses, has filed for bankruptcy.
McCartney, a longtime user of the Höfner 500/1 violin bass, posted on Instagram that he was “sad to see Höfner go out of business.”
“They have been making instruments for over 100 years, and I bought my first Höfner bass in the sixties. I have loved it ever since,” he wrote, next to a black-and-white photo of him holding one of the company’s basses. “It’s a wonderful instrument to play: lightweight, and it encourages me to play quite freely. It also offers pleasing variations in tone that I enjoy.”
Finally, McCartney noted, “So, commiserations to everyone at Höfner, and thank you for all your help over the years.”
McCartney’s original Höfner bass was returned to him in 2024 after being missing for 50 years. He purchased the bass in Hamburg, Germany, in 1961 and used it to write such Beatles classics as “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You.”
After it was returned to McCartney, he played it for the first time at his December 2024 concert at London’s 02 Arena, the same show where he reunited with his Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr.
In September, it was announced that the story of how the bass was found will be the subject of the new documentary The Beatle and the Bass, with McCartney appearing in the flick. So far there’s no word on where or when the film will be released.
Will Arnett and Laura Dern star in Bradley Cooper’s film, ‘Is This Thing On?’ (Jason McDonald/Searchlight Pictures)
Bradley Cooper directs Will Arnett in his third film, Is This Thing On?
The new movie, which arrives in theaters on Friday, tells the story of a marriage falling apart. It follows Arnett’s Alex, who copes with the grief of separating from his wife Tess, played by Laura Dern, by becoming a stand-up comedian.
Arnett and Dern participated in a press conference after a screening of Is This Thing On? at the 2025 New York Film Festival, where they spoke about the process of creating this new film.
Arnett, who is a comedian himself, said he purposefully played Alex to be less funny than he is in real life.
“That progression of Alex as a stand-up was really important to us,” Arnett said. “He’s not the Michael Jordan of comedy. So, the first time he goes onstage, he’s never been in front of a mic in front of people before. And then you see him progressively get comfortable.”
The actor said there were even times on set where he’d deliver a joke as Alex and it “was too good.”
“It was too clean,” Arnett said. “[It] actually made people who were there actually watching laugh.”
Dern said that Arnett was “the greatest dance partner any girl could ever ask for as an actor.”
“That was a very beautiful, incredible acting opportunity for me and really beautiful to have Bradley hold us in it. It was really incredible through rehearsal, all the way through every day of work together,” Dern said. “It takes a lot of bravery to be willing to be pure and simple in truth, and so I really revere that in the experience we had.”
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Is This Thing On? distributor Searchlight Pictures.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the Diplomatic Room of the White House on December 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would be “addressing the country about all of his historic accomplishments over the past year, and maybe teasing some policy that will be coming in the new year, as well.” (Photo by Doug Mills – Pool/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The White House announced Thursday that the board at the Kennedy Center, which President Donald Trump now chairs and is newly filled with his appointees, has voted “unanimously” to rename the building the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”
“I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, have just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a social media post.
“Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation. Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future! The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur,” Leavitt continued.
The move raises legal questions, as it appears congressional approval would be needed to make the name change.
David Super, a professor at Georgetown Law, told ABC News that federal statute (Title 20 of the U.S. Code, section 76i) designates the building “the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”
“I suppose he could rename some parts of the building, but he cannot rename the building itself or the center itself,” Super said.
Back in February, Trump fired multiple members from the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees and became its chairman. Several of his administration officials were then installed as board members — including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, second lady Usha Vance, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor.
When asked about the board’s vote to rename the center during an executive order signing in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said he was “honored” and “surprised.”
“Well, I was honored by it. It’s board, it’s a very distinguished board, most distinguished people in the country. And I was surprised by it. I was honored by it,” Trump said.
While Trump and the White House said the vote was unanimous, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who sits on the Kennedy Board of Trustees as one of its ex-officio members, said she was muted on the call during the vote and could not voice her opposition to the name change.
Beatty told reporters that “a lot of time was spent praising the president” before a proposal was made to rename the building.
“At that point, I said, ‘I have something to say,’ and I was muted, and as I continued to try to unmute, to ask questions and voice my opposition to this, I received a note saying that I would not be unmuted,” Beatty said. “I was not allowed to vote because I was muted. I would not have supported this.”
Beatty and Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree, the ranking member on the House Appropriations subcommittee on the interior, said they were looking at ways to push back on the change in Congress.
“We also believe this is illegal. This is our living monument to JFK,” Pingree said.
Though Trump said he was “surprised,” he has repeatedly referred to the center as the “Trump-Kennedy Center” before the change was announced on Thursday.
“On Dec. 5 of this year, the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place at the Kennedy Center. Some people refer to [it] as the Trump-Kennedy Center, but we’re not prepared to do that quite yet– maybe in a week or so,” Trump said on August 22.
Trump on Thursday said his administration “saved” the historic arts and culture center.
“We’re saving the building. We saved the building. The building was in such bad shape — physically, financially, in every other way,” he said. “And now it’s very solid and very strong.”
Despite Leavitt and Trump’s claims that he has rescued the building financially, the Washington Post reported in late October that ticket sales have plummeted since Trump’s takeover.
Several high-profile artists and shows have canceled appearances at the venue since Trump became its leader, including actress Issa Rae and the Broadway show “Hamilton.”
ABC News’ John Parkinson contributed to this report.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing his administration to move cannabis into a less restrictive federal category, setting in motion a regulatory shift that could alter the legal and commercial landscape for the drug nationwide. Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomb
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Thursday a series of proposed actions to limit access to gender-affirming care for minors.
It comes after HHS released a final version of its report on pediatric gender-affirming care last month, claiming it found “medical dangers posed to children,” which received pushback from medical groups.
Speaking at press event, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said doctors providing gender-affirming care for minors are endangering lives and lambasted medical organizations that have supported such care for transgender youth.
“They betrayed their Hippocratic Oath to do no harm,” Kennedy said. “So-called ‘gender affirming care’ has inflicted lasting physical and psychological damage on vulnerable young people. This is not medicine. It is malpractice. We’re done with junk science, driven by ideological pursuits, not the well-being of children.”
Kennedy also signed a declaration finding that gender-affirming surgeries do not meet professional recognized standards of health care, with an HHS press release stating that doctors who perform these procedures would be deemed “out of compliance with those standards.”
The proposed regulations include actions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).
CMS will issue a proposal barring hospitals from participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs if they provide gender-affirming to children under age 18.
Another CMS proposal will prohibit federal Medicaid funding for hospitals providing gender-affirming care on children under age 18 and funding from the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Additionally, the FDA is issuing warning letters to 12 manufacturers and retailers for “illegal marketing” of breast binders, a compression garment worn to flatten the appearance of breasts, to children with gender dysphoria.
The agency said the letters will note that the companies are facing significant regulatory violations and how to take corrective action.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary claimed that long-term use of breast binders among children has been linked to pain and compromised lung function. Physicians say chest binding is generally considered safe when practiced with a physician’s guidance.
“Pushing transgender ideology in children is predatory. It’s wrong, and it needs to stop,” Makary said at Thursday’s press event.
The top pediatrician group in the nation reacted to Kennedy’s declaration and the proposed actions, saying they set a “dangerous precedent.”
“Unprecedented actions and harmful rhetoric [took] place today,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said in response to the HHS announcement. They went further, saying that the proposed rules were a “baseless intrusion in the patient-physician relationship.”
Lastly, the HHS announced the OCR will move to reverse a Biden-era rule that included gender dysphoria within the definition of a disability.
November’s HHS report alleged that gender-affirming care — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender-affirming surgeries— caused significant, long-term damage.
An early version of the report, published in May, referred to itself as a “comprehensive review” of transgender care for children and teens, calling for a broader use of psychotherapy for young people with gender dysphoria rather than gender-affirming medical interventions.
The HHS referred to the final version of the report as “peer-reviewed,” but some of those who reviewed the contents are researchers who have spoken against gender affirming care.
Some major medical groups pushed back, stating that psychotherapy first is the standard approach in gender-affirming care and that additional care, such as hormonal therapies, only occurs after in-depth evaluations between patients and doctors.
“Everyone in this country should have access to the care they need to stay healthy, including transgender and nonbinary young people,” Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, senior vice president of public engagement campaigns at The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focusing on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ+ youth, said in a statement.
“Personal medical decisions ought to be made between patients, their doctors, and their families — not through a one-size-fits-all mandate from the federal government,” the statement continued. “The multitude of efforts we are seeing from federal legislators to strip transgender and nonbinary youth of the health care they need is deeply troubling.”
In January, Trump signed an executive order stating the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” gender transition of those under age 19 and would “rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
Transgender adults and youth may experience extreme psychological distress due to a mismatch in their gender presentation and identity, medical groups have said. They experience significantly higher rates of suicide than the general population, but some studies suggest gender-affirming care eases those feelings of distress.
While some individuals and groups have called for a slower approach to gender-affirming care for minors, other pediatric gender care experts and advocates have said ending such care can have a harmful effect on patients’ mental health and well-being.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
