Earlier this week, the Harlem Festival of Culture announced that Lil’ Kim was launching the countdown to the annual event with The Jump Off with Lil’ Kim and Friends, the rapper’s first headlining show at the Apollo Theater. No lineup was unveiled at the time, but now a few of those “friends” have been revealed.
Joining Kim’s show will be Remy Ma, Ashanti and fellow Brooklynite Fivio Foreign. Additional performers will be announced at a later date.
The Jump Off with Lil’ Kim and Friends is slated to take place January 26, the 89th anniversary of the Apollo. According to the HFC, the event is also a perfect way to kick off the year celebrating hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.
“One of the tenants of HFC’s mission is to celebrate and preserve the cultural contributions of the Black Diaspora in music, media, art, fashion and entertainment,” said Yvonne McNair, HFC’s co-founder and technical & talent producer.
She added, “Hip hop culture has touched every single part of society and there is no artist that better represents its far-reaching impact than Lil’ Kim. We are so thrilled that Kim will help us to curate the evening to bring a full one-of-kind music experience to audiences in the city where it all began.”
(NEW YORK) — Victims of Jen Shah’s telemarketing scam are speaking out publicly for the first time after the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.
Trisha, a 75-year-old retiree who lives in North Carolina and who asked not to use her last name, told “Nightline” she was “shell-shocked” after the Federal Trade Commission told her she may have been a victim of the scam.
“But it turned out to be true,” she said.
The decades long scheme involved telemarketers calling potential victims and claiming to offer services like website building and business coaching. Shah and her team specifically targeted older and vulnerable people, according to prosecutors. Shah pleaded guilty to wire fraud last July and was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison by a federal judge on Jan. 6 for defrauding thousands of people.
In 2016, Trisha created a website while attempting to start an online business. About three weeks later, she says she got a phone call from someone who gave her a business pitch.
“He did a sales speech about all of the perks if I went with them that they could teach me,” Trisha said. She paid the telemarketer $12,000 in that first transaction.
Over the course of several months, Trisha would finish a program, then immediately get a phone call to start a new one. The sales pitches were good, but full of empty promises.
“I invested more than half of the savings I had for retirement. I gave them directly about $47,000,” Trisha said.
It was Trisha’s story, and others like her, that would help bring down Shah’s network.
The FTC also found 44-year-old Iowa resident Molly McLaughlin, who said she went into bankruptcy after spending putting $44,000 on credit cards for the courses. “I couldn’t pay bills. I couldn’t make my rent. I really just couldn’t do anything,” she said.
Ralph Hallock, a World War II veteran, lost more than $100,000 dollars in the scam. He took his own life at the age of 92. His family told “Impact” they believe the scam contributed to his death.
There could be thousands of victims like them, according to prosecutors.
Trisha said she was hesitant to speak to the media, because she felt ashamed for falling for the scheme.
“I did feel shame. This is not easy for me, this interview, everything, because I’m telling the world I was stupid enough to get caught in a scam, and I’m not stupid person. But I did make a big mistake. Do I want to tell the world that? No, I really don’t. But I don’t want other people to have to go through that shame that I went through,” Trisha said.
As “Real Housewives” viewers watched the excessive wealth on display every episode, they had no idea that federal investigators were already on Shah’s trail. Even before the show debuted, the feds had been arresting suspects connected to Shah’s telemarketing scheme.
After Shah pleaded guilty, a trove of evidence against her was released. In text messages, Shah and her co-conspirators, including Stuart Smith, discussed ways to keep customers hooked and spending more money.
“[Shah] often joked about the victims’ suffering and her employees’ ability to victimize them,” stated a sentencing memo from federal prosecutors.
Trisha was one of several victims who submitted victim impact statements to the judge before sentencing. Others included a man who said he became homeless after the scheme.
For years, Trisha says she didn’t have any idea who was behind the scam that stole her retirement money. It wasn’t until months after Shah pleaded guilty that Trisha found out a “Real Housewives” star was linked to her case. Trisha said she is not a big TV watcher and had never seen the show.
Most people in Trisha’s life had no idea it happened to her — not even her family knows just how bad it got.
“I am just recovering from being in deep depression. And I’m gonna cry. You get to the point where there is no way out. That started when I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. I saw my mother and my brother both die that way,” Trisha said.
Trisha now says she’s on a mission to help potential scam victims.
“Anyone that we can stop is a gift to the families,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Tim Kaine announced Friday he will seek a third term, which is welcome news for Democrats as they face a tough 2024 cycle.
Kaine, who has represented Virginia in the U.S. Senate since 2013, said “there is so much to be done.”
“I am happy to announce that I will seek re-election in 2024 to keep delivering results for Virginia,” he said in a statement. “I’ve been honored to serve people as a missionary, civil rights lawyer, and elected official at the local, state, and federal levels. I love the Commonwealth and its citizens and want to keep being your Senator.”
Kaine handily won reelection in 2018, and Virginia is considered a must-keep seat for Democrats with control of the chamber on the line.
Democrats have more than twice as many Senate seats to defend in 2024 as Republicans, and the party already suffered a blow when Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., announced she would not be seeking another term in the battleground state.
Had Kaine decided not to run, it would’ve created an open seat in Virginia and placed even more pressure on Democrats as they try to hold onto their narrow majority in the Senate. Currently, Democrats and the independents who caucus with them hold a narrow 51-seat majority in the chamber.
Kaine acknowledged the tough map for Democrats as he spoke to reporters in Virginia on Friday.
“In thinking about serving for the next eight years, what’s the chances that I’m in the minority? That’s a significant chance,” Kaine said.
“It just tells you how closely divided our nation is,” he added.
The landscape in Virginia has changed since Kaine’s last election, with Republicans gaining ground statewide in 2021 with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s victory.
Kaine began his career in the state as a civil rights attorney before turning to politics, eventually being elected as Virginia’s lieutenant governor and then governor. He was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and rose to national prominence in the 2016 presidential race as Hillary Clinton’s running mate.
As he announced his decision to run for reelection, Kaine touted his work in helping to pass the Affordable Care Act during the Obama administration and more recent legislation on gun safety and infrastructure.
“I’m a servant. I love Virginia. I’m proud of what I’ve done. I got a whole lot more I want to do,” Kaine said. “That’s the four reasons.”
Rick Wakeman is sharing some more info about his upcoming new album, A Gallery of the Imagination. The Yes keyboardist just announced the record will drop February 24, and he’s also shared the 12-song track list.
Wakeman describes A Gallery of the Imagination as a concept album inspired by his first piano teacher, Mrs. Symes, who taught him a lesson he never forgot: “When you play, you are painting pictures through music.”
“It is a very tactile album,” Rick explains. “I’d like to feel that people can actually touch the music.”
The album is available for preorder now and will come out in a variety of formats, including CD, two-disc CD+ DVD set with surround sound audio and hi-res stereo, two-LP on black vinyl, two-LP on colored vinyl and a super deluxe limited edition set that includes a 24-page book.
A Gallery of the Imagination track list:
“Hidden Depths”
“The Man In The Moon”
“A Mirage in the Clouds”
“The Creek”
“My Moonlight Dream”
“Only When I Cry”
“Cuban Carnival”
“Just A Memory”
“The Dinner Party”
“A Day Spent On The Pier”
“The Visitation”
“The Eyes of a Child”
Gloria Estefan, Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle and Dolly Parton are wearing their game day best in the new video for “Gonna Be You,” from the upcoming movie 80 for Brady.
The movie, based on a true story, stars Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field and Lily Tomlin as four best friends who take a trip to the Super Bowl in 2017 to see their hero Tom Brady play. It hits theaters on February 3.
Songwriter Diane Warren recruited Gloria, Cyndi, Belinda, Dolly and Blondie‘s Debbie Harry to sing on “Gonna Be You.” Debbie doesn’t appear in the video, but the other women do, all rocking blinged-out Tom Brady football jerseys with their names on the back and singing the song, intercut with footage of the film.
“What an honor to sing a song by my favorite songwriter with four other women who I have been a fan of for years! It doesn’t get much better than this,” says Belinda in a statement.
Cyndi adds, “This was such a great project to be part of because it was nice to be able to join forces with my pals for the song. Each of these women mean a lot to me. Friendships between women are important and I think Diane’s lyrics captured that. It was really touching. You don’t often see female ‘buddy movies’ so this was fun.”
Dolly says the project was a joy, adding, “This is very exciting to me. I love feeling like I’m still part of something great and being with those gals that we know are great was a thrill.”
And Gloria says, “What an honor to share this incredible experience with women that I have admired for decades!”
Selena Gomez seems to want to shut down reports that she’s dating The Chainsmokers‘ Drew Taggart — or anyone, really.
The New York Postran pictures of Selena and Drew on a “date” at a New York City bowling alley on Sunday and reported they were “making out” like teenagers. But on Thursday, she posted a black-and-white image in a now-deleted Instagram Story — captured by Pop Base — that reads “I Like Being Alone Too Much.”
On the bottom, she added #iamsingle.
A source tells People that Selena and Drew were at the bowling alley as part of a group, not on a one-on-one date.
Drew had recently been linked to Steve Jobs‘ daughter Eve. Before that, he dated model and DJ Chantel Jeffries; the two broke up in April 2021. As for Selena, in November she told Jay Shetty‘s On Purpose podcast that she “still believes and still hopes” for love, adding, “I would rather continue to get my heart broken than to not feel at all.”
This week marked the 40th anniversary of the release of Bryan Adams’ breakthrough album, Cuts Like a Knife. The album, Bryan’s third, was his first U.S. top 10 album and gave him his first three U.S. hit singles: “Straight from the Heart,” the title track and “This Time.” Bryan says credit for much of the album’s success goes to MTV.
Bryan tells ABC Audio that MTV was hugely responsible for the successful 1983 release: “There was a fraternity of probably 10 artists that they put on heavy rotation: Madonna, Dire Straits, Michael Jackson, myself, Duran Duran. And we got played over and over.”
In fact, the video for “Cuts Like a Knife,” starring a Penthouse model named Raquel Pena, was one of the most popular videos of 1983. It was filmed in the empty swimming pool of an abandoned YMCA in LA, which was also the location for the party Bryan’s label threw when the album went Platinum.
“Back then, when MTV first started, it was a cable thing … and not everybody had cable,” Bryan says. “But anyone that did have cable was getting all these songs all the time. So I’m really, really grateful to them. I wish it still existed.”
As previously reported, Bryan and his band performed Cuts Like a Knife in its entirety at London’s Royal Albert Hall in May 2022; the full performance hits streaming on February 3. He believes the album holds up after 40 years.
“It was really exciting to go back and listen to those songs,” Bryan says. “Some of the songs I’d never played ever live. I had to sit in a rehearsal hall for a few days and get my head around it.”
After teasing it with images of a snowflake, Kim Petras has finally revealed her new single, which is called, appropriately, “brrr.”
The industrial-tinged track also comes with a lyric video, in which Kim sings, “You should pull me up closer/Turn the heat up in your Rover/Why don’t you take it out on me/If you think you’re so cold — brrr!”
“brrr” is the follow-up to Kim’s single “If Jesus Was a Rock Star.”
On Monday, Kim will appear on Late Night with Seth Meyers. In addition to giving the debut live performance of “brr,” she’ll sit for her first late-night television interview.
It’s the start of a busy couple months for Kim: She and Sam Smith‘s number-one duet, “Unholy,” will compete for Best Group/Duo Performance at the Grammys on February 5, and the two will also perform “Unholy” at the BRIT Awards on February 11, where it’s up for Song of the Year.
Kim, Spotify’s Songwriter of the Month for January, also just received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Music Artist. On top of all that, she’ll headline Sydney WorldPride this March in Australia.
First came The Father, now comes The Son from writer-director Florian Zeller — the second film based on his trilogy of plays with Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Hugh Jackman. Jackman plays a workaholic father struggling with his deeply depressed son, looking to prevent the mistakes of his own upbringing.
“One of the beautiful things about this story is how hard it is to be objective, particularly with your own children,” Jackman tells ABC Audio. “Being able to be present is so much easier when it’s someone else’s kid, but when it’s your own, you’re so clouded in your own fears and worries and also not knowing what to do.”
It’s a personal role for Jackman, with its themes of fatherhood hitting close to home when the X-Men star’s father passed away during production. But Jackman pressed on, his father’s death adding more weight to his approach of the character.
“It was very difficult … shooting some of the very heavy scenes. I remember feeling his presence,” Jackman says. “I was a bit of a hot mess, I’ll admit, during this but I guess that’s what the character was going through, too.”
The Son explores mental illness and what happens to those in the middle of it all. “Everyone has this story somewhere. This story of a mental health journey. The pain of grief,” says Dern, who plays Jackman’s ex-wife.
Both she and co-star Kirby hope The Son inspires more dialogue on the topic.
“Don’t be afraid to look at the dark things inside yourself and be brave … so that you can begin to talk about them, heal them, share them,” Kirby says.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Florida has sanctioned former President Donald Trump and his attorney Alina Habba, ordering them to pay fines of nearly $1 million for filing what he deemed to be a frivolous lawsuit claiming that Hillary Clinton and others involved in the Russia investigation unlawfully conspired to damage Trump’s reputation.
The opinion from Judge David Middlebrooks calls Trump “a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries.”
“He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions,” Middlebrooks wrote in his opinion.
“As such, I find that sanctions should be imposed upon Mr. Trump and his lead counsel, Ms. Habba,” wrote the judge.
Habba did not immediately return a request for comment from ABC News.
Trump sued Clinton, his 2016 presidential challenger, for allegedly “acting in concert” with top FBI leadership to invent what became known as the Russia investigation into interference in the 2016 election. Trump had argued that the Russia probe was “prolonged and exacerbated by the presence of a small faction of Clinton loyalists who were well-positioned within the Department of Justice.”
Judge Middlebrooks dismissed the lawsuit this past September.
Middlebrooks’ sanctions, issued late Thursday, direct Habba and Trump to pay $938,000 to 18 defendants in the case.
“A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans, and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm,” Middlebrooks wrote in his opinion.
The judge also cautioned Trump’s attorneys that they could face sanctions over their separate lawsuit targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James, who in September filed a $250 million suit against Trump and his family members for allegedly defrauding lenders and others with false and misleading financial statements.
