In the new film Women Talking, which expands to a wider theatrical release Friday, Claire Foy stars as a woman coming to terms with the years of ritualistic abuse inflicted upon her small religious community.
It’s a role that tackles a lot of complex ideas. And while those serious moments were handled, Foy tells ABC Audio that the cast was also able to extract moments of levity out of the material.
“A lot of people believe that it would be incredibly heavy and intense, and the film is actually very hopeful and full of love and also humor,” Foy says.
According to Foy, this is due in part to the film’s director, Sarah Polley.
“She’s the most incredible filmmaker. She was able to hold enough space for all of us. She was able to make us all feel valued,” Foy says. “We just were all there for her, basically. We just wanted to support her in what she was trying to make.”
And they did just that. The film consists of a cast of nearly all women — something Foy describes as an “incredibly unique” concept.
“I’ve never had that experience before,” Foy says. “Judith [Ivey] and Sheila [McCarthy], who’ve been acting the longest out of all of us, have never had that experience either, so that says everything, doesn’t it?”
Even now, Foy says the special experience of making the film left a lasting impact on her life.
“It was so profound,” Foy says. “I think the relationships that we created on and off screen are really incredible, and also a testament to Sarah, who allowed the environment for us to do that and to be supportive of us in what we were trying to do.”
A new book of writings by the late Lou Reed is due out later this year, but it won’t be giving insight into his music. Instead, it will focus on one of his other interests — tai chi.
Reed began practicing the Chinese meditative movements in the ’80s. The new book The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi, being published by HarperOne, is described as “a comprehensive collection of Reed’s writings on Tai Chi.”
Edited by his wife, musician Laurie Anderson, along with Stephan Berwick, Bob Currie and Scott Richman, the book includes conversations Reed had with a variety of people, including Iggy Pop, the late music producer Hal Willner, artist Julian Schnabel and some tai chi practitioners.
The unpublished writings in the book cover such subjects as the “technique, practice and purpose of martial arts,” and has Reed sharing his thoughts and observations on meditation and life.
The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi is due out March 14.
Music identification app Shazam has predicted that Rosa Linn is poised for a “global breakthrough” in 2023, thanks to the worldwide success of her hit song “Snap.” Rosa is working on her debut right now, but if you think it’s going to consist of a bunch of songs that sound like “Snap,” well, you’re wrong.
“Nope,” laughed Rosa when ABC Audio asked her if “Snap” is representative of the rest of her music. “It’s funny because I wrote ‘Snap’ after listening to a lot of Mumford & Sons — one specific album, Delta. And I … wrote “Snap” and it turned out great … [but] now I think everyone expects this folky, country-ish vibe, but it’s not really me.”
“I’m more, like, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, U2, Sting, y’know?” Rosa continued. However, she doesn’t want to confuse fans who check out her debut album and think a completely different artist made it.
“Of course, I will make sure that all the fans of ‘Snap’ don’t get, like, completely surprised, being like, “This is Rosa Linn?’ You know what I’m saying?” the Armenian singer noted. “I need to kinda, like, find a balance and slowly transform who I really want to be and how [I want] to sound.”
So far, there’s no timeline for Rosa’s album. After her breakthrough 2022, which saw her perform on Eurovision, go viral on TikTok and make her U.S. TV debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden, she’ll spend part of 2023 opening for Sheeran on the North American leg of his Mathematics tour.
Yes, your suspicious are correct: Iggy Pop is, indeed, very cool.
Don’t take our word for it, just ask Andrew Watt, who produced the Godfather of Punk’s new album, Every Loser.
“He’s so cool and laid back,” Watt tells ABC Audio of Iggy.
In working with the “Lust for Life” rocker, Watt would send music ideas to Pop, who would then return with feedback.
“It was just, like, ‘OK, I’m just gonna make music and I’ll send you stuff, and the stuff you like that inspires songs, great!'” Watt explains. “‘And if you don’t like it, tell me if you don’t like it and point me in a direction. But I’m just gonna kinda go.'”
All in all, producing Every Loser was a “quite painless” process.
“If [Pop] felt he needed something to go longer or shorter, he’d tell us,” Watt says. “He wrote the toplines 100 percent himself.”
Every Loser is out now. It includes contributions from Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N’ Roses‘ Duff McKagan, Blink-182‘s Travis Barker, Dave Navarro and Eric Avery of Jane’s Addiction, Pearl Jam‘s Stone Gossard, ex-RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
In May 1973, Carole King, riding high thanks to the success of her album Tapestry, returned to her hometown of New York City and performed for 100,000 fans in Central Park. The show was filmed and recorded, but has never been released — until now.
Home Again: Carole King Live In Central Park, a new concert documentary capturing that performance, will premiere January 19 at New York’s IFC Film Center. It’ll be followed by a Q&A with producer Lou Adler, who organized the free concert — the first one ever held on Central Park’s Great Lawn — and commissioned its recording and filming. Adler was also interviewed for the film, as were Carole, the concert promoter and other key players.
Then, on February 9, which just happens to be Carole’s 81st birthday, the film will start streaming exclusively on The Coda Collection, a subscription streaming platform featuring an exclusive, curated selection of music documentaries, concert film and series, available via Amazon Prime Video Channels.
On February 10, a live album, Home Again, will be released digitally. It’s available to presave now.
“Tapestry had become such a huge hit, and I really wanted to give something back to the people,” Carole says of the performance. “When I first walked on stage, in Central Park, in front of the Great Lawn, and it’s full of people … it was kind of terrifying for a minute.”
“Then the crowd began to cheer, and it was like a wave coming toward me. There was just so much love. It was too much to take in, but I realized all I had to do was sit down and start playing.”
Here’s the concert set list:
“Beautiful”
“Been To Canaan”
“Way Over Yonder”
“Smackwater Jack”
“Home Again”
“Sweet Seasons”
“It’s Too Late”
“Fantasy Beginning”
“You’ve Been Around Too Long”
“Being At War With Each Other”
“That’s How Things Go Down”
“Haywood”
“A Quiet Place To Live”
“You Light Up My Life”
“Corazón”
“Believe In Humanity”
“Fantasy End”
“You’ve Got A Friend”
The ladies of Harlem are making a comeback. Prime Video released the trailer for season 2 of the show, which will premiere next month. It sees best friend group Camille (Meagan Good), Tye (Jerrie Johnson), Quinn (Grace Byers) and Angie (Shoniqua Shandal) as they continue to navigate relationships and careers.
The trailer also introduces fans to other members of season 2’s cast, which includes returning cast members Tyler Lepley, who portrays Camille’s ex Ian; Sullivan Jones, Camille’s love interest Jameson;and Whoopi Goldberg aka Dr. Elise Pruitt,as well as a few newcomers. Rachel True, Courtnee Carter and Luke Forbes join the cast as recurring stars, while Rick Fox, Sherri Shepherd, Countess Vaughn and Lil Rel Howery will make guest appearances.
Season 2 of Harlem will premiere February 3 on Amazon Prime Video, with two episodes airing every week. There are a total of eight episodes this season.
Vernon Sanders, head of global television at Amazon Studios, released a statement about the show’s upcoming return.
“Culturally relevant, critically acclaimed, and hysterical, Harlem and Tracy Oliver accomplished something very special with the first season of this show,” he said. “Tackling real-life strife with levity and laughs, the show means so much to our global Prime Video customers and perfectly fits the types of stories we aim to tell. We look forward to following the Season Two journey of Camille, Quinn, Angie, and Tye, and giving fans more reasons to laugh out loud as they cheer on these four dynamic Black women doing it their way.”
(COLUMBIA, S.C.) — South Carolina’s Supreme Court struck down the state’s six-week abortion ban Thursday, claiming it violates the state’s constitution.
The 2021 so-called “heartbeat act” bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is typically around six weeks, before most women know they are pregnant. It included exceptions for rape, incest and if the mother’s life is in danger.
The ban had previously been [suspended] by federal courts, but took effect after the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer. The ban was temporarily blocked in August while the state’s Supreme Court heard the case.
In a 3-2 ruling, the court agreed with the plaintiffs — which included Planned Parenthood South Atlantic — and said the ban violated a patient’s right to privacy.
“We hold that the decision to terminate a pregnancy rests upon the utmost personal and private considerations imaginable, and implicates a woman’s right to privacy,” Justice Kaye Hearn wrote in the majority opinion. “While this right is not absolute and must be balanced against the State’s interest in protecting unborn life, this Act, which severely limits — and in many instances completely forecloses — abortion, is an unreasonable restriction upon a woman’s right to privacy.”
The two justices who voted to uphold the ban said the right to privacy in the state’s constitution only applies to searches and seizures.
“The court’s decision means that our patients can continue to come to us, their trusted health care providers, to access abortion and other essential health services in South Carolina,” Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic said in a statement.
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary commended the decision and wrote in a tweet that the White House is “encouraged by South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruling today on the state’s extreme and dangerous abortion ban. Women should be able to make their own decisions about their bodies.”
However, conservatives, including Governor Henry McMaster — who signed the original ban into law — blasted the justices for their ruling.
“Our State Supreme Court has found a right in our Constitution which was never intended by the people of South Carolina,” he tweeted. “With this opinion, the Court has clearly exceeded its authority. The people have spoken through their elected representatives multiple times on this issue.”
McMaster added, “I look forward to working with the General Assembly to correct this error.”
(CINCINNATI, Ohio) — Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is starting to wake up after collapsing from cardiac arrest during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, physicians treating him at University of Cincinnati Medical Center said.
Hamlin has shown “substantial improvement” in the past 24 hours and it appears his neurological function is intact, UC Health’s Dr. William Knight IV and Dr. Timothy Pritts said during a press briefing Thursday.
When Hamlin first woke up last night, he asked, “Did we win?” according to the doctors, which they took as a good sign.
“So we know that it’s not only that the lights are on. We know that he’s home. And it appears that all the cylinders are firing within his brain, which is greatly gratifying for all of us,” Knight said.
Hamlin can’t speak yet, as he is still intubated, but is able to shake his head and write short notes on paper, they said. His family and the Bills staff have discussed with him what happened and the support he’s received, according to the doctors.
He continues to be critically ill and remains on a ventilator, but has good lung function, the doctors said. He is heading in the right direction, they said, and noted his age, fitness level and the quick care he received on the field during Monday night’s game as contributing to his improvement.
The Bills also said Hamlin is showing “remarkable improvement” after the incident.
“Per the physicians caring for Damar Hamlin at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Damar has shown remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours,” the team said in a statement on Twitter Thursday morning. “While still critically ill, he has demonstrated that he appears to be neurologically intact. His lung continue to heal and he is making steady progress.”
Hamlin’s teammate, fellow defensive back Kaiir Elam, also tweeted Thursday morning that Hamlin was “doing better, awake and showing more signs of improvement.”
Hamlin woke up “much sooner than expected,” Dr. Thom Mayer, an NFL Players’ Association medical official, told reporters on a Zoom call Thursday.
“All signs are highly optimistic and point to what is likely to be a full neurological recovery,” Mayer said, though cautioned that “there is a long way to go.”
‘Something that we’ll never forget’
Bills head coach Sean McDermott teared up talking about Hamlin and his recovery.
“Glory to God for his keeping Damar and his family in the palm of his hand over the last couple of days,” McDermott said during a press briefing Thursday.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen told reporters the scene on the field has been playing “over and over” in his head.
“It’s something that we’ll never forget, but to know that Damar is doing okay … we heard that news this morning and there’s nothing that could have been told to us to bring our day down,” he said.
“We’re extremely happy for him and his family,” he continued. “We just want to love up on him, so the next chance we get.”
Hamlin, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition in the intensive care unit at University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The second-year safety from the University of Pittsburgh collapsed during the Monday Night Football game against the Bengals after making a tackle in the first quarter.
The game was halted and then suspended indefinitely after doctors provided CPR to resuscitate Hamlin on the field before taking him to the hospital. The NFL announced Thursday night that the Bills-Bengals game will not resume and has been canceled.
Doctors had told family members Wednesday morning that Hamlin’s condition was moving in a “positive direction,” according to Hamlin family spokesperson Jordon Rooney.
In an interview with ABC News, Rooney also clarified statements made by Hamlin’s uncle, Dorrian Glenn, who said Tuesday that Hamlin had to be resuscitated twice — on the field and at the hospital. Rooney said that was a misunderstanding and that Hamlin was not resuscitated more than once.
Responding to reports that the defibrillator used on Hamlin malfunctioned, Rooney said those reports were incorrect and that all of the medical equipment worked properly.
President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday that he spoke to Hamlin’s parents “at length,” though he did not elaborate on the conversation.
Hamlin’s family thanked the “dedicated first responders and healthcare professionals” at the hospital for their “exceptional care” in a statement released Tuesday.
Likely life-saving on-field response
Medical staff from both team teams responded at the scene, Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said.
“It’s certainly not an exaggeration to say that the skilled and immediate response by all of these talented caregivers prevented a very tragic outcome at that moment,” Sills told reporters during a briefing by the NFL on Wednesday.
There has been some speculation in the medical community that Hamlin suffered from commotio cordis, a rare condition that occurs when the heart’s rhythm is disrupted due to a blow to the chest that lands at a very specific moment in the heartbeat.
Knight, from UC Health, said it’s too early to tell if that were the case, but that the condition is “on the list of considerations” while they work through testing.
Sills also said it “certainly is possible” that Hamlin had the condition, but that “there’s still a lot of investigation that needs to happen.”
Commotio cordis is “almost a diagnosis of exclusion,” meaning that no other cause has been found, Sills said. In some cases of cardiac arrest, the cause may go undiagnosed, Dr. Jim Ellis, the NFL’s director of emergency preparedness, said.
“The difficulty you have in this particular case, obviously a 24-year-old, very healthy, fit male, sometimes you just may not find the cause,” he told reporters during a press call. “There’s not always a pathway. You can’t get an MRI, a CT scan, there’s no blood test in particular that’s going to tell you exactly why they had that, certainly nothing for commotio cordis.”
Sills said the league will examine whether any changes need to be made to the players’ protective equipment, as is customary after someone is evacuated from the field. Shoulder pads typically cover the sternum, which is the “major area of interest for prevention” of commotio cordis, he said.
Both doctors commended the quick response on the field.
“I think the important lesson that we can all take away from this is really, for every sport at every level, for preparation for a sudden cardiac event,” including proper training and having automated external defibrillators available, Sills said.
“That is a very, very key message and something we can all learn from,” he added.
Troy Vincent, the league’s executive vice president of football operations, got emotional talking about Hamlin and called the medical response “outstanding.”
“You gave our brother Damar another day to live, another chance to fight,” Vincent said, his voice shaking.
Bills return to practice
Buffalo Bills players returned to their practice facility on Wednesday.
The New England Patriots, who are still scheduled to face Buffalo in Sunday’s final game of the season, said in a statement both teams had been given an extra day before meeting with the media “due to these unique circumstances.”
McDermott told reporters Thursday that the Bills playing their next scheduled game this weekend is what “Damar would’ve wanted.”
Vincent told reporters Wednesday that he is letting the Bills take the lead on whether to postpone the game.
“It’s really important that we just keep the pulse of the coach and the players, and don’t get in front of that,” he said. “And we will allow [Bills head coach] Sean [McDermott] and his team and his staff and the players, which are the most important thing here, to guide us if we have to make that decision collectively with the club.”
The Pro Football Hall of Fame also announced Tuesday night it would be delaying its announcement of the 15 finalists for this year’s class out of respect to Hamlin.
ABC News’ Mark Osborne, Will McDuffie, Matt Foster and Alexandra Faul contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — As the House barrels toward a historic fourth day of speaker deliberations, Republicans and Democrats are warning that the paralysis in the chamber is impacting their work on Capitol Hill — and the interests of some constituents.
Because the House is required to select a speaker before swearing in members-elect, the House is in a state of suspended animation until Republicans can settle on a leader.
The path forward was still unclear on Thursday night as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy suffered defeat after defeat after defeat until lawmakers voted to adjourn until Friday.
Without a speaker and sworn-in members, the chamber can’t take up and pass legislation or set up committees. Some lawmakers are warning that they have lost their access to classified briefings until they can take their oaths of office.
“We’ve seen what happens over the last two years when deterrence fails, when weakness invites aggression,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s up to this Congress to restore deterrence, to restore peace through strength. But we aren’t able to do that vital work until we actually get past the speaker vote, populate our committees and start getting to work.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott that the speakership showdown is a “shame for the country.”
“This is a great institution. And really, I wish they voted [to] elect the speaker on the first vote because we have important work to do. And this undermines that,” she said.
Obtain security clearances, access briefings
Top lawmakers have said that they won’t have security clearance until they are sworn in. That means they can’t take classified briefings with military, intelligence and senior administration officials on a whole range of sensitive issues — one of their main oversight responsibilities.
“The Biden administration is going unchecked and there is no oversight of the White House, State Department, Department of Defense, or the intelligence community. We cannot let personal politics place the safety and security of the United States at risk,” Republican Reps. Mike Turner, Mike McCaul and Mike Rogers said in a joint statement.
Those three lawmakers will lead the influential House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Armed Services committees in the new Congress.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said a speaker needs to be chosen for “national security reasons.”
“In fact, much of the national security work that we need to be doing is interrupted right now because we don’t have a speaker of the House because we’re not routinely getting those briefings,” Barr told ABC News’ Linsey Davis.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price, when asked Thursday about the implications of the drawn-out battle for the speaker’s gavel, told reporters: “This is obviously something that we’re watching. The U.S. Congress has indispensable functions when it comes to foreign policy.”
Constituent casework
Congressional offices routinely help hundreds — if not thousands — of constituents every year with interactions with the federal government. From helping Americans renew passports to applying for federal benefits and updating tax information, this casework makes up a large chunk of the work on Capitol Hill and in offices across the country.
But because members of Congress have not been sworn in, many offices and members are claiming that they have run into issues interfacing with the federal government.
“My office was informed by an agency today that they cannot communicate with my staff regarding active casework because we are not yet sworn in!” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., tweeted on Thursday. “The handful holding up the speaker election is not helping Americans but directly hurting them.”
Democratic offices were instructed on Thursday not to accept new casework from constituents, only to have that guidance updated and reversed later in the day.
Politico has reported that the Internal Revenue Service told one Republican office that they couldn’t help them until members are sworn in.
Payroll for staffers
There is widespread concern on Capitol Hill that some staffers will not get paid later this month without members being sworn in.
This is a worry particularly on committees, where budgets are allocated based on the number of members on the panel, and in some new member offices, where many staffers have not been onboarded and can’t yet access their work email, phones or computers.
The New York Times reported that there is “no authority” to process payroll for committee staff without the chamber approving a rules package, another step that follows the selection of a speaker.
(NEW YORK) — When the mpox outbreak first struck the United States over the summer, experts said it was mostly affecting minority men.
But new federal data published Thursday shows that among the few hundred cases diagnosed in women — less than 3% of total U.S. cases — Black and Hispanic women were disproportionately affected.
The report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at cisgender and pregnant women who were diagnosed with the rare disease between May 11, 2022 and Nov. 7, 2022.
The 2022 outbreak was primarily concentrated in men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary, although health officials have said anyone — regardless of sexual orientation — is at risk if they have direct contact with an infected patient.
Over the six-month period, 769 women aged 15 and older were diagnosed with mpox across the country, including 23 who were pregnant or recently pregnant.
Among infections of cisgender women with available data, 44% were among Black women, 25% among white women and 23% among Hispanic women.
This means Black and Hispanic women make up 67% of all mpox cases among women in the United States despite making up a little over 20% of the population, as of 2019.
“This finding is similar to disparities among mpox cases in the United States overall and underscores the continued need for public health efforts to provide education on prevention of mpox and ensure equitable access to mpox vaccination, testing, and treatment,” the authors wrote.
Among the roughly 60% of women with data on their recent sexual behaviors, 73% reported sexual activity or close intimate contact as the likely way they were exposed.
The most common symptom was rash with 93% reporting lesions, particularly on the legs, arms, genitals and chest or stomach.
Other common symptoms included itchy skin at 57%, headache at 54%, malaise at 54%, fever at 49%, and chills at 49% Less than half of the women had data for symptoms.
“Rash location was similar when comparing cisgender women who reported recent sexual exposure with those who did not,” the report read.
Additionally, among the 23 pregnant or recently pregnant women who were diagnosed with mpox, nine reported sexual contact as likely exposure and three reported household contact. The remaining 11 didn’t have exposure data available.
One recently pregnant woman was breastfeeding, and she developed lesions four days after giving birth, under her breast. The newborn subsequently developed lesions on the chest and face six days later, showing how infectious mpox lesions can be.
The CDC said the report also illustrates how more public health efforts needs to be placed on reaching cisgender women at risk for infection.
“Clinicians caring for cisgender women and pregnant persons should become familiar with clinical considerations for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mpox and should provide pre- and postexposure prophylaxis if indicated,” the team wrote. “Vaccination with JYNNEOS should be provided to eligible persons, including those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and providers should discuss vaccination risks and benefits.”
