Taylor Swift‘s album folklore came out during the pandemic, so opportunities to perform its songs live have been few. But she finally gave one of the album’s tracks its onstage premiere Wednesday night in London.
Billboard reports that during Bon Iver‘s show at the OVO Arena Wembley, folklore contributor Justin Vernon brought Taylor out onstage for a performance of their folklore duet, “exile.” Taylor’s other folklore contributor, The National‘s Aaron Dessner, was also part of the performance.
In fan-recorded video of the moment, which has been uploaded to Twitter, Vernon calls Taylor “the most talented person in the world,” and she replies by calling both Vernon and Dessner “the most talented person in the world.”
“All right, good night everybody,” Vernon jokes after the performance. “We don’t know what to do now.”
Dessner and Vernon also contributed to Taylor’s folklore follow-up, evermore. In addition, Dessner co-wrote and co-produced four songs on the 3 a.m. edition of Taylor’s new album, Midnights, which features seven additional tracks.
Nyong’o as Nakia in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ — Marvel Studios
At the Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverpremiere Wednesday night in Los Angeles, stars Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett and Letitia Wrighttold Good Morning America that it’s a surreal feeling to be back with the sequel. Wright, who plays Shuri, called it, “incredible.”
“To be back is surreal — to bring the world of Wakanda back for everyone and hoping that when people see it, they really love it and really enjoy it,” said Wright. “Seeing everybody just dedicate so much love into the script…It’s truly a family.”
Wakanda Forever, directed by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, is a follow-up to the 2018 Oscar-winning global phenomenon. The role of King T’Challa/Black Panther, which was played by the late Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer in 2020, was not recast, in deference to Boseman and his fans.
On Wednesday night, Bassett, who plays T’Challa’s mother, Queen Ramonda, shared how they honored Boseman’s legacy in the sequel.
“You’ll see his face, you’ll see his visage, you’ll feel our hearts, and our love for him,” Bassett said. “It’s there, it’s evident in our faces, in our stance, in the detail, in the renderings — we don’t forget him at all.”
Oscar-winner Nyong’o reprises her role as Nakia, said the cast bonded in Boseman’s absence. “Luckily, the story leans into the loss that we experienced, so we could bring our grief to work and put it to good work,” she shared. “And we leaned on each other, you know, because we all lost someone dear to us. And so we had each other for support…”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens November 11 from Marvel Studios, which is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Col. Steven McCraw, is expected to give an update on the Uvalde shooting probe and the DPS’s internal investigation at a public safety commission meeting in Austin on Thursday.
Families of the Robb Elementary School victims are also expected to speak.
This will mark the first public update since mid-July.
Nineteen children and two teachers were shot and killed with an AR-15-style rifle in the May 24 massacre. Nearly 400 officers rushed to the school, but didn’t go into the classroom where the gunman was confined with his victims until over an hour later.
That slow response has led to a wide chorus of criticism for the responders. The school district’s police chief was fired, as was one of the first Texas state troopers to arrive at the scene. A second trooper who left DPS to work for the Uvalde school system has since been terminated by the district.
Uvalde’s entire school district police force has also been suspended.
(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.) — The Grand Rapids, Michigan police officer charged with second-degree murder in Patrick Lyoya’s death had a preliminary court hearing on Thursday.
Evidence presented in the preliminary hearing will determine if there’s probable cause that Christopher Schurr, a seven-year veteran of the Grand Rapids Police Department, killed Lyoya. If probable cause is determined, the case may continue to a jury trial.
Schurr pleaded not guilty during his arraignment.
Lyoya, a 26-year-old native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was shot in the head on April 4 after Schurr pulled him over for a faulty license plate. His death prompted protests throughout Grand Rapids.
Body camera video showed Schurr shouting at Lyoya to “get in the car.” The footage was released nine days after the shooting.
Schurr can be heard asking Lyoya if he spoke English and then demanding that Lyoya show his driver’s license. Lyoya turned to a passenger in the car, closed the door and started to walk away from Schurr, according to the video.
Lyoya started to run. Schurr grabbed Lyoya and struggled with him before eventually forcing him to the ground, shouting “Stop resisting,” “Let go” and “Drop the Taser,” according to the video. Police said Lyoya grabbed at Schurr’s stun gun during the altercation.
The body camera was deactivated during the struggle, according to police.
Lyoya was then shot in the back of the head, according to an independent autopsy report and the Kent County medical examiner.
Schurr was fired from the Grand Rapids Police Department in June after waiving his right to a discharge hearing.
Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur shares her photo diary from the band’s tour in 1994 and 1995 in the latest issue of the revived CREEM magazine.
In an exclusive preview of the issue provided to ABC Audio, Auf der Mar reveals photos she took during the trek, which included performances at Lollaplooza and on the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards.
Alongside a photo from rehearsals at the VMAs, Auf der Maur recalls how Courtney Love “threw her shoes and lipstick at Madonna while she was talking to MTV’s Kurt Loder on the red carpet, interrupting and crashing their interview.”
“But this is a moment where we’re all at our most presentable,” Auf der Mar says of the rehearsal shot. “This dysfunctional family playing the part alongside the other famous people who are waiting their turn to do run-throughs.”
The new issue of CREEM, its second since the magazine relaunched in September after being out of print for 33 years, will be out December 15. It also includes pieces on Creedence Clearwater Revival, Henry Rollins and The Kills‘ Alison Mosshart. Visit CREEM.com for more info.
Ye made an “unauthorized” visit to the Los Angeles offices of Skechers on Wednesday in the wake of a firestorm over his antisemitic comments.
Skechers announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon that Ye — who was formerly known as Kanye West — “arrived unannounced and without invitation,” and after engaging in “unauthorized filming,” the rapper was escorted off the premises by two Skechers executives.
“Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West,” the statement said. “We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech.”
Skechers is the latest brand to speak out against Ye after following antisemitic remarks he made on Twitter a few weeks ago. Adidas announced Tuesday that it was cutting ties with the rapper, after Gap ended its partnership with him last month.
Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency also announced Monday that it would no longer represent Ye, while film and television studio MRC said it would shelve a documentary on him.
Nasim Pedrad‘s coming-of-age sitcom, Chad, has landed at the Roku Channel, after it was cancelled by TBS after one season. Pedrad, in a statement obtained by Entertainment Weekly, said she was “thrilled” by the news, adding, “So much of my heart is infused in this show.” Chad follows a 14-year-old pubescent boy — played by Pedrad — navigating his first year of high school on a mission to become popular…
The first teaser trailer for The Last Jedi and Knives Out writer-director Rian Johnson‘s first TV project, the Peacock mystery series Poker Face, came out on Wednesday. The show, per the streamer, “is “a 10-episode ‘mystery-of-the-week’ series following Natasha Lyonne‘s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.” Adrien Brody, Chloë Sevigny, Dascha Polanco, Ron Perlman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tim Meadows and Lil Rel Howery also show up in the trailer. The first four episodes of Poker Face drop Jan. 26 on Peacock, with the final six episodes premiering weekly on Thursdays…(The trailer contains censored profanity.)
Variety reports Seth Rogen‘s 2016 R-rated animated comedy, Sausage Party, is making a return — as an animated series on Amazon Prime Video. The eight-episode series, titled Sausage Party: Foodtopia, reunites several cast members from the film, including Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, Edward Norton and David Krumholtz, along with new additions Will Forte, Sam Richardson, Natasha Rothwell and Yassir Lester. Sausage Party earned over $140 million worldwide…
The CW’s Nancy Drew will end with its upcoming fourth season, according to Variety. The teen drama, which premiered in 2019, is a contemporary spin on the beloved book series that stars Kennedy McMann as the teenage detective. The CW’s version is the third TV adaptation of the long-running book series, written by several authors under the collective pen name Carolyn Keene. A premiere date for season 4 has yet to be announced…
The Upshaws will be back for a third season at Netflix, according to Deadline. The comedy series from Regina Hicks and Wanda Sykes follows Sykes, Mike Epps and Kim Fields as a working-class African American family in Indiana struggling to make ends meet while juggling everyday family drama. Season 2 premiered in June and will return in early 2023 with the season’s remaining episodes…
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. economy expanded significantly to kick off the second half of the year, marking a dramatic reversal from the contraction experienced over the first six months, government data showed.
U.S. gross domestic product grew 2.6% over the three months ending in September, according to data released Thursday. By contrast, economic activity shrank a combined 2.2% over the first six months of the year.
The economic growth defies Federal Reserve efforts to slow economic activity and slash consumer demand in its fight against inflation.
The data arrives less than two weeks before the midterm elections, possibly bolstering Democratic claims of economic stewardship as polls show voters prefer Republicans on the issue.
Fears of an imminent recession may quiet in response to the data, which ends the streak of two consecutive quarters of negative GDP that many consider shorthand for identifying a downturn as a recession.
The National Bureau of Economic Research, or NBER, a research organization seen as the formal authority for identifying recessions, uses a more complicated definition that takes into account an array of factors. Many economists believe the U.S. has averted a recession so far this year.
Still, the positive overall indicator may veil signs of a cooling economy. The economic growth stemmed in part from a reduced trade deficit, signaling that the U.S. narrowed the gap between imported and exported goods, compared to the previous quarter. But that development also suggests that U.S. demand for imported goods has weakened.
In an effort to dial back inflation, the Fed has raised the benchmark interest rate by 0.75% at each of its last three meetings. Prior to this year, the Fed last matched a hike of this magnitude in 1994.
The rate increases appear to have slowed key sectors of the economy, sending mortgage rates soaring and slowing the construction of new homes.
U.S. hiring remains robust, however. Employers added 263,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell slightly from 3.7% to 3.5%.
But hiring has fallen from a breakneck pace sustained earlier in the year, suggesting that the Fed’s rate hikes may have begun to cool off the labor market. By the end of 2023, central bank moves will raise the unemployment rate from its current level of 3.7% to 4.4%, the Fed predicted last month.
(NEW YORK) — Prince Harry’s memoir will hit bookstores Jan. 10, 2023, Penguin Random House says.
The news, which leaked earlier on Wednesday by publishing insiders, was confirmed by Random House, who said “readers everywhere will be part of a landmark publication: the story of Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex,” in a tweet. “Personal and emotionally powerful, ‘SPARE’ will be published by @transworldbooks, supporting two special charities. Details at http://princeharrymemoir.com.”
On 10 January 2023, readers everywhere will be part of a landmark publication: the story of Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. Personal and emotionally powerful, SPARE will be published by @transworldbooks, supporting two special charities. Details at https://t.co/3y6Vh4WRbx. pic.twitter.com/r3yXdWdt6K
Last year, Penguin Random House released a statement from Harry, the duke of Sussex, who announced his plans to release a memoir about his “firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.”
“I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” Harry said in the statement at the time. “I’ve worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story — the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned — I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think.”
He added that he is “deeply grateful for the opportunity” to share what he’s learned over the course of his life so far.
Harry is the youngest son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana and is the husband of Meghan Markle, the duchess of Sussex. In 2020, he and Meghan stepped down from their senior roles with the royal family and now live in California with their two children, Archie, 2, and Lilibet, 1.
(NEW YORK) — Some hospitals across the United States say their beds are full as cases of respiratory viruses continue to increase among children.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infections due to respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, have spiked by 69% over the last four weeks from 4,667 to 7,917 and are appearing earlier than usual.
At the same time, doctors are preparing for what could be the most severe flu season seen in years after little-to-no flu activity during the pandemic and the potential threat of COVID-19, which has traditionally increased during Thanksgiving over the last two years.
Dr. Anita Patel, attending in pediatric critical care medicine at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said she and her colleagues are seeing a rapidly diminishing number of available pediatric beds.
“We have been operating at essentially near capacity for the past several weeks,” she told ABC News.
Patel said the high number of patients is mainly due to a mix of RSV cases and flu cases, the latter of which are 10 times higher this year compared to last year at her hospital.
“What I can tell you about the flu, which is pretty dramatic compared to last year, is we’ve seen already 80 patients that are positive for the flu across our health system, which is compared to only eight from last year. So, we really are seeing this early flu surge,” she said.
Because of the surge in patients, this has led to between 10 and 20 children at any given point at Children’s National emergency room waiting for a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) bed, although Patel says PICU-level care has been provided to kids who are waiting to be transferred.
Additionally, staff at University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital, in Oakland, say they are currently operating at capacity.
“We are earlier than usual in having a situation where our beds are full,” Dr. April Zaat, a pediatric hospitalist at Benioff Children’s, told local affiliate KGO-TV ABC 7. “I came in this morning and I’m on one of the in-patient teams. My team is full, our respiratory unit is full, and there were five to seven kids in the emergency room waiting for beds.”
Zaat continued, “A lot of them have respiratory illnesses, like rhinovirus, enteroviruses. Sort of a potpourri if you will of respiratory viruses that are causing virus in kids. RSV is the main player.”
Doctors are urging parents to get their children vaccinated, particularly against COVID-19 and the flu, to protect themselves and to help prevent an already strained health care system from becoming overburdened.
“One of the best ways to keep kids and adults out of the hospital is to make sure they’re up to date on their vaccinations,” Patel said. “I’m not just a PICU doctor, I’m also a mom. I made sure that my two-and-a-half-year-old is up to date on not only her COVID vaccination, but she’s also received her flu shot — and that is one of the best ways to prevent severe disease and hospitalization in our children.”
In addition, Patel recommended that parents make sure their children are practicing good hand hygiene and staying home if they are sick. She also suggested families that have high-risk members consider wearing masks when indoors.
“Despite the constant debate about whether they work, the truth is that when masks are mandated viral transmission was very low,” she said. “So, particularly in families where there are high-risk individuals at home, I would not hesitate to ask your children to wear masks if they’re amenable to that.”
